Talents Best Left Hidden by WeasleyForMe & Clover Bay

When all of the Weasleys gather together to celebrate Molly's birthday, a plethora of talents are revealed! This is a birthday story for Jazz E. Roisin written with Clover Bay!

Prompts: talent show, Irish dancing, lovesick. Pairing: Hermione/Percy.


Hermione had gathered around the dining table at the Burrow, along with the entire Weasley clan, in celebration of Molly's birthday. Everyone passed mismatched serving bowls back and forth over the constant chatter of conversation, and Molly beamed brightly at her assorted relatives from her place at the head of the table. It was a rare occasion to have everyone present, and she was overjoyed that Hermione and Percy were able to come, having just returned from their honeymoon.

Molly had to dab a tear from her eye as she saw Percy gently take Hermione's hand and place soft kisses along her knuckles. "Those two are going to last forever," Molly whispered to her husband, nodding to the young couple.

"Indeed they will," Arthur replied, gently kissing his wife on the cheek.

Everyone was enjoying the overwhelming feeling of being home as they finished their meal. "We've brought dessert!" Hermione announced as Percy sent all of the dinner plates to the sink.

"How have the two of you stopped shagging long enough to make desserts?" George asked loudly as the newlyweds stood to retrieve the aforementioned sweets.

"George! Watch your mouth!"

"Sorry, Mum," he muttered, receiving silent laughter from each of his brothers, except for Percy.

"That's none of your business. And furthermore, we purchased them, we didn't make them," Percy sniffed, red-faced and rather embarrassed. Hermione just turned and gave him a wink as they headed for the kitchen.

"How did we stop shagging long enough to pick these up?" Hermione asked slyly once they were out of earshot, and she opened up a box of cupcakes and arranged them on a platter.

Percy stammered and his cheeks flushed even further. "H-Hermione, you're going to make my cheeks permanently red!" he told her, pushing his tortoiseshell glasses further up on his nose.

She just grinned at her husband and carried the multi-coloured cupcakes into the dining room and the family erupted into an overly loud version of the birthday song.

Aside from the birthday girl and the newlyweds, everyone else was now sporting hair colors in every shade of the rainbow.

"What's the matter, George? Don't you recognize your own products?" Hermione laughed as Percy gently rubbed her back, pulling her chair closer to his. George ran his fingers through his lovely magenta locks, amazed that he'd been outsmarted by Percy.

"And on that note," Bill said distracting George from throwing the lone cupcake still sitting on the platter, "mum, we wanted to do more for your birthday than just buy gifts. Think of this as our version of the 'Weasley sweaters' you so lovingly make for each of us."

"That's sweet, but you didn't . . ." Molly began.

"Of course we did," Charlie said, picking up where Bill left off. "We've heard you reminisce about the years you had a full house, with us running around everywhere. So, we made a special gift - a Pensieve collage of memories from something you probably never knew about." His mischievous smirk caused her eyebrows to disappear below into her fringe.

Percy and Hermione were caught up whispering to one another, completely missing Bill and Charlie's presentation of their present. "Oi! Love birds! We're going to the den."

"Yeah . . and Hermione, you might see a few things about Perce you didn't know," Ron said before ducking out of the way of Percy's outstretched arm.

Molly settled in on the couch amongst her family members, still puzzled by her gift. She watched as each of her children, from Bill all the way down to Ginny, pulled a silver coloured memory strand from their temple and placed it in a Pensieve. Then Arthur ran a cable from the Pensieve to a Muggle projection device, and with a bit of wandwork, the odd projector sprung to life, and images of Molly's children appeared on the opposite wall of the den.

"Here you go, Mum," Fred announced as the image of a six year old Ginny in a lilac tutu appeared on the wall, and he quickly dimmed the lights. "We used to perform in a talent show of sorts in this very room for our own entertainment. Now we present to you our memories for your enjoyment."

Molly clapped her hands over her mouth to contain her joy and amusement as she watched her daughter perform an uncoordinated ballet routine when she had been much younger. Little Ginny spun in place before smiling a toothless grin, when suddenly Fred and George appeared in the picture with her.

"We love dancing!" Fred called out, many years before his voice had deepened.

"Dance with us, Ginny!" George yelled in a similar high pitched voice, and soon the three of them started to bob up and down to an Irish jig as they squawked and imitated bagpipe noises.

The twins looped arms with Ginny, and they carried her 'offstage' ending their Irish dance.

The memories shifted, revealing a young Percy, with miniature glasses that were an exact replica of his current spectacles, sitting behind the ottoman and shuffling papers as he served as the commentator for the 'Quidditch' game being played in the den. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is turning into an exciting game between Bill the Bruiser and Charlie the Charger. Fred and George have protected the rings very well today keeping the score at only 30 to 50."

Since they weren't allowed to fly their brooms in the house, Bill and Charlie galloped around the room 'riding' their brooms with the straw ends brushing the carpeted floor behind them.

"And the Bruiser's got the quaffle. Oh no! The bludgers are really starting to fly!" Ginny and Ron started throwing parchment bludgers at their oldest brothers, aiming as accurately as their uncoordinated arms would allow. "Ouch - right to the nose with that one!"

Bill threw the quaffle and a loud crash accompanied by the unmistakable shattering of glass was heard before scene started to fade into one of Percy and Ron.

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" squeaked young Ron, wearing a wig made from a mop head and batting his eyelashes at Percy. He was perched halfway up the stairs on his balcony, and he made a rather pathetic looking Juliet.

Percy cleared his voice and adjusted his glasses, and soon lovesickness began to pour from his lips. "O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art as glorious to this night, being over my head!" He continued to read Romeo's monolog with the heart wrenching emotion of a seasoned thespian. "My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee!"

Ron and Percy stood on the stairs and took a bow before the memories started to get fuzzy and change form once more.

Bill reemerged with his back to them, waving his arm as he tried to direct his younger brothers and sister in singing Hogwarts' alma mater.

"Why do you get to be the 'rector?" Ginny's childish voice asked.

"Yeah," the twins chimed in together.

"Because I've actually been to Hogwarts, and you don't know how it goes," Bill answered pigheadedly. This answer seemed to be enough for them and they waited on him to point in their direction to begin.

As Bill pointed at Charlie, he began to sing, "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy, Hoggy, Hogwarts . . ."

Next, he signaled for Percy to join in, "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy, Hoggy, Hogwarts . . . "

Fred and George had mischievous grins as they waited for their turn. "The wheels on the Night Bus go round and round, round and round, round and round . . ."

Ron didn't even wait for his turn, deciding to sing with the twins since he already knew the words to that song.

Ginny's giggling and Bill's yelling were drowned out by the increasing volume of the 'Night Bus' song.

And the image on the wall in the den started to fade into a jumble of red hair and a smattering of voices. The projector shut off, and Charlie flicked his wand at the lamp, illuminating the room. "Did you enjoy it?" he asked his mother.

Molly was sitting on the couch between her husband and her only daughter, tears of mirth at the corners of her eyes. "That was simply the most spectacular birthday gift anyone could ask for! And Arthur, the projector was an amazing idea!"

Arthur Weasley flushed at his wife's praise and begun to pack up his invention.

"Where was I when you did this?" Molly asked as she wiped tears of laughter and happiness from her eyes.

"It was when you and dad went to that Muggle bazaar in Ottery St. Catchpole," Percy informed her.

"But that was an annual trip," Molly began.

"Yep," George agreed, "but we don't intend to show you what we did those other times." The matching conspiratorial grins were enough to convince Molly and Arthur that they didn't really want to know.

"Hey Hermione, bet you never knew Percy here was an aspiring announcer and an actor and . . ." Ron asked bringing the attention to the one of them not to be showcased tonight.

"Well, we best be on our way," Percy announced as he stood with his wife, interrupting his brother's attempt at embarrassing him yet again.

"Back to the shagging, eh?" Fred asked waggling his eyebrows at the most commonly picked on Weasley.

Percy glared back at his younger brother, but Hermione just winked at the twins. "Come on, Romeo. It's time to climb my balcony," she told Percy with a wicked grin.

"Hermione, you're as bad as Fred and George!" Percy scolded, adjusting his glasses.

Hermione started to laugh, but was soon engulfed in a fierce hug from the Weasley matriarch. "Oh, it is just a pleasure to have you here with us. You're a Weasley now, dear, and I'm sure there will be many more memories with you in them!" Molly kissed Hermione and then Percy, and sent them on their way.

"Well, I have no idea how you'd ever be able to top that gift," Molly said gratefully to the remaining family.

"We'll think of something," the twins announced in unison, making their mother nervous about the birthdays to come, but thankful that she would spend them with her loved ones.


Happy birthday Jazz! Thanks for reading! Please leave us a review :)