Hey everyone. This story was written for The Assignment, Character Appreciation in August Writing Club, and Disney Challenge in August Writing Club on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The prompt for the assignment was write about someone learning to slow down and take things easy. The character appreciation prompt was Percy 11. Relationship Father/Daughter. The Disney Challenge prompt was the dialogue of "That's a piecrust promise. Easily made, easily broken." I hope you all enjoy Learning to Smell the Flowers.
"Percy, you need to relax," came the voice of his wife Audrey from the couch where she sat reading a book. "Why don't you do something fun with the girls? Or sit and read a book? You always worry so much."
Looking over at his wife he shook his head. Audrey would never understand what he goes through on a daily basis. Ever since he had turned his back on his family all those years ago he felt the need to make up for it. He couldn't relax now. He had to make it right for his girls. For his parents. But especially for his brother Fred.
"I can't," he states as though just saying this will end the discussion. He knows it won't but he still says it anyway.
"Percy Ignatius Weasley," she puts her book down and stands up her hands on her hips, "I want you to relax and do something fun with our girls. They're always complaining how they never see you, dear. You don't want to be that sort of father. Do you?"
He stares her down knowing that this to is futile. Because her tiny stature and the fierceness with which she is staring at him actually are beginning to scare him. He nods his head afraid to say anything else. Sighing in relief when she retakes her seat calling out to their children. He hears their eager feet running down the stairs.
"Girls," she says pleasantly with a huge smile on her face, "your father wants to spend some time with you. Why don't you go and get ready to go out somewhere fun while Mummy and Daddy talk a bit?"
"Ok," come the overly excited voices of his daughters and it shocks him that they are that excited to be around him. Shouldn't they feel as though he betrayed them. Like his parents and siblings did at one point and in his own mind still do.
"This is going to be so much fun," cried Lucy as her and Molly both excitedly hugged him before running up the stairs.
He could hear them chatter excitedly about what they would like to do as they headed towards their rooms to get ready. Turning towards his wife Percy can hear himself sigh.
"What?" Audrey asks looking at him over the top of her book. "Molly and Lucy love you, Percy. Your whole family loves you. I don't know why you won't believe me. But hopefully you'll believe them." She went back to reading before calling over her book to him. "I will ask them if they had fun with you today. You do know that? Right?"
"I promise you they will have a fun time," he told her sighing yet again. "If they don't you can do whatever you want to me."
"That's a piecrust promise," she tells him looking at him over the top of her book yet again. "Easily made, easily broken."
"It won't be like that, Audrey. I promise."
Just then the girls came running back down the stairs jumping up and down excitedly. They pulled his hands dragging him towards the door. Just as the door was about to close behind them he could swear he saw her smirk at him.
"So," he didn't know how to begin to say what he wanted, "what do you girls want to do?"
"Cousin Rosie told us about this fun sport called Roller blading," Molly said excitedly. "She said you can buy the Roller blades at a Muggle store. Can we buy them, Dad?"
"Can we?" asked Lucy jumping up and down in front of him.
"I guess," he said not knowing what else to say. "Let me call Aunt Hermione and see if she can suggest a good place to buy them."
They both nodded looking at me as though to say "why aren't you calling already?".
Sighing he picked up the phone and hit Hermione's number. He was still getting used to using the thing after all these years and it took two calls to actually get to the right number. A few rings later she picked up the phone.
"Percy," Hermione sounded shocked to hear from him, "is something wrong? Is it Audrey or one of the girls?"
He could hear the alarm in her voice. Almost panic like.
"Nothing is wrong," he told her. "I was actually calling you to see if you could tell me where I can buy some roller blades. Apparently Rosie told them it was fun and they want to try it."
"Don't worry about it," she told me "Rosie and I thought it would be fun to have a little family fun night. We bought roller blades for everyone."
"Hermione, you are a life saver."
"We'll meet you guys over at the skating rink."
After giving him the address to the place we hung up. He looked over at the girls who looked like they wanted to mutiny at any minute.
"Aunt Hermione has told me to meet her, Uncle Ron, and their family at skating rink," he told them. "Do you want to do that?"
They both nodded enthusiastically and we headed off towards the roller rink that wasn't that far from Ron and Hermione's house. In fact when we finally reached the rink Ron and Hermione were waiting for us.
"Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione," the girls screamed racing over giving their aunt and uncle hugs and kisses.
"Ron, Hermione, how is everyone?" He asked politely trying to be formal like he always was with is family.
"This is supposed to be a fun day, Percy," Hermione chided him. "I told Audrey that I would keep an eye on you."
"And she promised for me too," Ron added. He then mouthed, "Not my idea. It was her."
"Daddy," Lucy raced over to me on her new roller blades from Aunt Hermione, "you have to come skate with us too."
"I don't have skates," he said as though that would work out well for him.
"Don't worry, Perce, Hermione has you covered too," Ron told him holding out a pair of shoes with little wheels on the bottoms of them.
He looked at them then at Ron and his daughter. "How do you work them?" he asked.
Ron laughed as Hermione shooed him away to go skate with Rosie and Hugo. She looked over at the confused looking Weasley brother then at his young daughters who seemed to know the answer to her question.
"Why don't you girls show your father how you work them?" she suggested to the girls going off in the direction that Ron had gone with their own daughter and son.
"You have move your feet like this," Lucy told him easily getting skating at once.
He tried to do like she did but ended up falling in a painful manner.
"No, Daddy," chided Molly. "You don't sit down with them. You have do like this." She gracefully moved across the floor and back.
"I don't think I can do it," he said after trying one more time. "This sport is to painful for my liking. Couldn't we do something like Wizarding Chess?"
The girls rolled their eyes.
"No," said Lucy. "Only you and Uncle Ron like Wizarding Chess."
Molly held her hand out to me. "You just have to be patient," she told him. "That's what Rosie told us when we learned how to do it." She smiled at some memory of that time. Why did they never tell me they knew how to skate? "Here you can hold my hand." She held her hand out to me.
Looking at his trusting loving daughter he took her hand. If his children could handle this so could he. He slowly inch by inch moved his way towards were everyone else was skating.
"You're doing good," Molly told me with a huge smile. "Just remember don't look down at your feet. It'll just make it harder if you do."
How was he not supposed to look at what he was doing?
"Why are you always at work?" Lucy asked. "Don't you want to be a part of the family any more, Daddy?"
He almost fell over again the question was like a punch to the gut for him. He turned to Lucy slowing almost to a stop. Molly pulled them both into a slower moving circle in the middle of the rink. He saw Hermione give a quizzical look but waved her off.
"I do want to be a part of the family, Luce," he told her. "But it's kind of hard for me. It's been difficult for me since before your Uncle Fred died."
"But everyone has forgiven you," she said practically in tears. "And you didn't do anything to drive me and Molly away. Why are you pushing us?"
Hermione motioned Molly over to where she was skating with Hugo so as to give Lucy and Percy some time alone. Catching her eye Percy mouthed, "Thank you." before turning back to Lucy. He pulled her into a hug.
"I'm sorry you felt like I was pushing you away from me," he told her. "That wasn't my intention at all, sweetheart. I just didn't know how to handle things after everything that went down between the rest of the family and me. But you're right. Your sister and you did nothing wrong. And I'm sorry. I promise that I will no longer push you guys mean the world to me." He turned her face up so she was looking at him. Drying her eyes before pulling her back into another hug. "I love you, baby girl, and I will never stop loving you."
After that things started to look up for Percy. He finally got the hang of skating and was able to keep up with both of his daughters. Audrey was surprised when she saw a the group of them smiling as the came through the door.
"That was the best day ever, Dad," Lucy said giving him a hug as she and her sister headed for the stairs to go get ready for dinner.
"That sounds like it went well," said Audrey.
"It did," Percy told her with smile.
He would never forget the day his daughters got him to slow down and smell the flowers.
I hope you all enjoyed Learning to Smell the Flowers.