A/N - Written for Round 9 of the QLFC. We were given a pairing by our Captain and my prompt was to write about an awkward or uncomfortable situation involving that pairing. Rated T for a bit of innuendo.
"Arthur!" Molly called as she came into the shed. Arthur immediately shoved his arm behind his back.
"Yes Molly?" he said as innocently as he could manage.
"What are you doing out here?" she asked. "Aunt Muriel is going to be here in a few minutes."
"Oh, Muriel, yes, yes of course," Arthur said. "I'll be finished in just a moment." Molly stared at him, eyes narrowing. He maintained eye contact with her and attempted to keep a neutral look on his face.
"Arthur Weasley," she hissed, hands on hips. "What have you gotten yourself into now?"
"I don't," Arthur cleared his throat. "I don't know what you mean."
"What do you have behind your back?" she demanded.
"Oh, that's just, it's nothing," Arthur replied feeling the heat creeping into his cheeks. Molly crossed her arms and glared at him. Arthur sighed in defeat. He brought his hand out from behind his back. Something silver hung from his wrist. It looked like some kind of bracelet that attached to another bracelet by a small chain.
"What in Merlin's name is that?" Molly asked, walking closer to him.
"They're called wristcuffs," Arthur said. "No, that isn't right." His brow furrowed in thought for a few moments and then he looked up in triumph. "Handcuffs, they're called handcuffs." Molly gave him a long-suffering look.
"And just why do you have them?" she questioned.
"Oh, well, I, erm," he shifted nervously. Molly sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger.
"Please don't tell me that you brought something home from work again," she said. Arthur said nothing and Molly sighed again. "Well, just take them off and come inside. I need you to help me with the twins." Arthur remained where he was. Molly's eyes narrowed again.
"You can get them off, can't you?" she asked.
"Erm," Arthur paused. "Not exactly." Molly's hands went back to her hips.
"And why not?" she demanded.
"Well, you see, it seems that they need a key to unlock them and I don't have it," Arthur admitted sheepishly. Molly walked towards him, pulling her wand from her pocket as she did so.
"Oh honestly Arthur, are you a wizard or not?" she said in exasperation. "Aloho-"
"No, Molly, don't!" Arthur shouted.
"-mora," she finished. The free end of the handcuffs immediately rose up into the air and snapped itself on Molly's wrist, tightening almost painfully. She stared at Arthur in horror.
"That's how I got stuck in them in the first place," he admitted in defeat.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"They were locked when I got them," he explained. "And I was trying to open them and as soon as I cast the spell, this side locked on my wrist."
"Well now what are we supposed to do?" Molly questioned. "We can't walk around like this all day and Muriel will be here any minute."
"I don't know," Arthur admitted.
"Maybe we can cut them off," Molly suggested.
"I don't know, they're awfully tight and I wouldn't want to risk cutting your skin," Arthur said in concern.
"Well, we could at least cut the chain," Molly mused. "Then we could disillusion the bracelets until we could figure out the charms that are on them." Arthur thought for a minute and then nodded.
"All right," he agreed. He took his wand from his sleeve and cast the severing charm on the chain linking the cuffs together. Instead of splitting, however, a new chain grew from the middle of the first with two new bracelets on it. Arthur, shocked into a stupor, stared as one of the cuffs snapped itself on his other wrist, causing his arms to cross one over the other. Molly tried to dodge away from the fourth cuff, but she tripped over Arthur's foot and her free hand shot out toward the table in front of her to catch herself. Her hand ended up near Arthur's hip and the new chain lengthened until the cuff could snap into place. As Molly tried to stand and regain her balance, the chain shortened again, forcing her to rest her hand on Arthur's hip. His crossed wrists were trapped between their bodies, which were pressed together rather closely given the shortness of the chains. Her wand arm was the only thing still relatively free in that she could still move it slightly and still held her wand in her hand.
Arthur looked down at her and smiled sheepishly. She glared at him angrily and he was surprised that there wasn't actually steam coming out of her ears. He swallowed nervously.
"I'm sorry Mollywobbles," he said quietly.
"Don't you try to sweet talk me, Arthur Weasley," she snapped. "Oh sweet Merlin, I can't even imagine what the boys are up to in the house." Fred and George, even at not yet three, could manage to upend a room in seconds. Bill and Charlie could keep them under control for a short time, but she had definitely been out here longer than that. She didn't have to worry about Percy at least, good boy that he was. And thank goodness Ronnie was napping.
"Well, Muriel will be here soon, you said," Arthur said trying to be helpful. "I'm sure Bill will tell her where we are and perhaps she can help."
"Oh Merlin, I will never hear the end of this," Molly said and dropped her head onto Arthur's chest. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. She sighed and laid her cheek on his shoulder, her hand gripping his hip a bit tighter. Arthur shifted a bit uncomfortably; his wrists were starting to hurt and he was sure one hand was going numb. He shook it a bit to try and get some feeling back into it. Given their close proximity, Molly startled at his movement and leaned into him sharply. He lost his balance and with no hands free to steady himself, fell backwards. Molly grabbed the edge of the table with her wand hand, losing her wand in the process. Given the shortness of the chains, she was pulled forward by Arthur's momentum and they landed in a twisted heap on the shed floor.
Arthur grunted in pain as the back of his head made contact with the hard-packed earth floor. Molly's forehead bumped against his chin when she landed and he bit his tongue. His hands had formed into fists and pushed into her stomach when she fell into him, knocking the wind out of her. She gasped as she tried to regain her breath.
"Are you all right?" Arthur asked, the copper taste of blood in his mouth.
"I think…so," Molly managed to wheeze. "Are you?"
"My head hurts a bit, but I'll be fine," he replied. She rested her forehead on his chest until her breathing finally returned to normal. Once they had finished taking stock of themselves, Arthur realized that one of Molly's hands had come to rest in a rather awkward place on his person and he shifted to try and move her to the side. Molly, not realizing what he was doing tried to brace herself with said hand. Arthur sucked in a breath.
"Molly, don't do that," he ordered.
"Do what?" she asked, pushing on him again. She looked down. "Oh…Oh." She glanced back at Arthur trying to hide a grin. His face was reddening and she couldn't help the laugh that escaped.
"It isn't funny," Arthur said through gritted teeth. He was trying to distract himself by reciting the Ministry employee list in his head. Molly buried her face in his chest and although she made no sound, he could feel her shoulders shaking as she laughed. Unfortunately, this made her hand continually move.
"Molly, for the love of Merlin, stop moving," he begged.
"I'm sorry," she said still laughing, but she did manage to compose herself a few moments later. "What should I do?"
"Just," he paused trying to take deep breaths which was a bit difficult given the situation. "Just lie still."
"All right," she said and held as still as possible. Arthur however, was fighting a losing battle. While her proximity definitely did not help anything, he could also smell her shampoo, the scent he always associated with his wife. The fact that they had six active boys that gave them little time for themselves didn't help matters either.
"What on earth is going on?" a booming voice demanded. Molly managed to turn her head and move, again. Arthur winced and tried to focus on Muriel instead of his wife lying on top of him.
"Aunt Muriel," Molly said, her voice filled with both embarrassment and relief.
"Do you even know what those boys have been up to in the house while you two are out here doing, doing," she waved her hand between the two of them, a look of disgust on her face. "This!"
"No, Aunt Muriel, it isn't what you think," Molly insisted, shifting again. Arthur barely held in a groan. "You see Arthur," but Muriel cut her off.
"What is that on your wrist?" she screeched.
"That's what I'm trying to explain," Molly said. "You see we accidentally got locked into these handcuffs and,"
"I don't want to know about what the two of you are getting up to in the bedroom," Muriel insisted. Arthur's face was so red, he was quite sure it matched his hair. Someone, somewhere really hated him.
"No, Aunt Muriel, that's not what," Molly protested but Muriel was on a roll, it seemed.
"I cannot believe the pair of you!" she shouted. "Don't you have enough children already? And locking yourselves up in some Muggle contraption, no less!" Molly looked at Arthur in confusion.
"What is she talking about?" Molly whispered. Arthur just shook his head, still reciting names in his head. He had moved on to the Wizengamot members now.
"Now get up and out of those things this instant!" Muriel demanded.
"That's just it Aunt Muriel, we can't," Molly explained. "We don't have the key."
"Merlin girl, are you a witch or not?" Muriel said, echoing Molly's earlier words. She pulled her wand from the pocket of her robes and pointed it at the two of them. "Aloho-"
"NO!" Molly and Arthur yelled in unison.
"-mora." Arthur groaned as another chain began to snake its way toward Muriel. Yes, someone really hated him.