Annie and Percy apparated back to the Burrow. A loud popping sound echoed in the living room as they arrived. Once their feet were planted firmly on the ground, Percy released Annie from their Side-by-Side Apparation. Percy smiled at her and held his arm out, gesturing her to the dining table.
Annie walked over to the table and sat down as the aroma of the beef stew and homemade bread filled the air. Annie closed her eyes and inhaled the scent as if it were intoxicating. Percy looked at her as he sat down and smiled as he witnessed her reaction to the wonderful smells.
Annie opened her eyes to see Percy grinning at her. "What?" She asked, smiling as if she waited for him to say something funny.
"The way you reacted to the smell of mum's cooking." He replied.
"Well, my mum's cooking wasn't very good." She explained, trying to hold back a laugh.
Just then, a loud popping sound emanated in the house again. Another redhead appeared in the form of George Weasley. When Percy spotted George, his face turned kind of grim because it reminded him of Fred. He felt his chest tighten slightly so he looked away. At this same time, George spotted Annie and Percy at the kitchen table so he walked over.
George turned to Percy looking a little shocked. "Wow Percy. What are you doing here?" He asked.
"Broke. Needed a place to stay." He answered, giving the simple answer.
"Oh," said George, turning to Annie. "And I see Annie is still here." He stated, smiling at her.
All of a sudden, George picked Annie up from out of her seat and slung her over his shoulder. He tickled her with his one free arm since the other held her in place.
Annie laughed uncontrollably while Percy looked on with shock. "Put me down!" Annie gasped, trying to breathe from the tickling.
"Do you like snow, Annie?" George asked, smirking.
"No! No I don't!" She shouted, knowing exactly what he meant.
George walked over to the front door and opened it, allowing the cold, bitter wind to blow inside. The snow covered the ground and it appeared to be about a foot deep. The cold had already turned their cheeks red and no way were they dressed for going outside. They had a sweater on at the most and it couldn't block the bitter chill.
George stepped outside and Percy followed behind, unaware of George's intentions. "What are you doing?" Percy asked in a high voice.
George grinned. "Showing Annie the snow." He answered.
At this point, Annie had been kicking and screaming. "Are you nuts? It's freezing out here! Put me down!" She shouted.
"Put you down?" questioned George, smirking. "Alright."
"Noooo!" Annie shouted before being thrown down into the snow by George.
Annie laid face down in the snow and she laid perfectly still. George walked over to her and bent down slightly. "Annie?" He questioned, hoping she had not been hurt.
Just then, Annie grabbed George by the wrist and pulled him down into the snow. She grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at him. The snow hit him straight in his ear. "Hey! Try hitting the holey side!" He exclaimed before laughing and throwing more snow at her.
By then, Annie and George were laughing and tossing snow at each other even though both were freezing. Percy watched the two and wondered when Annie and George had gotten close. He remembered George and Fred playing with Annie and him sometimes, but now they were all in their twenties and acting like little kids. He remembered Annie and him being best friends, but never Annie and George. "Real mature you guys." He stated, rolling his eyes.
"Lighten up Percy." George said, throwing a snowball at Percy.
Annie laughed and threw some snow at him also. The snow hit him in the stomach since he had still been standing. "Think that's funny do you?" He asked, giving them a teasing glare.
Annie and George nodded. This caused Percy to march right over to Annie and pick her up off the ground. He threw her over his shoulder and spun around, causing her to spin around also. "Percy!" exclaimed Annie while giggling. "Put me down!"
Percy grinned. "Alright!" He said, throwing her down into the snow just like George did.
This time, a loud crack sounded as Annie hit the ground and a scream came from her mouth. George and Percy rushed over to her and knelt down. They noticed Annie holding her wrist. "I think it's broken." Annie said, wincing in pain and trying to hold back tears. "I'm so sorry, Annie." Percy apologized, looking really guilty and concerned.
"Let's take her to mum." George suggested.
Percy nodded and then the two of them helped Annie up and out of the snow. They walked inside and Percy closed the door while George had Annie sit down in a chair. "Mum!" George shouted.
Mrs. Weasley came running downstairs. "What?" she asked. "I was in the middle of cleaning!" she exclaimed, sounding irritated. Then, Mrs. Weasley spotted Annie holding her wrist and Mrs. Weasley could tell Annie looked like she was in pain by her facial expressions. "Oh dear. What happened?" She asked.
"I think my wrist is broken." Annie replied, grimacing in pain.
Mrs. Weasley approached Annie. "Let me see dear." She demanded, holding out her hands.
Annie held out her arm and winced as Mrs. Weasley gently touched her wrist. Annie felt like screaming as Mrs. Weasley examined her wrist, but a couple of tears fell from her eyes instead. "This will have to be taken care of." Mrs. Weasley said, letting go of Annie's wrist.
Annie just nodded as Percy and George looked on with guilt. At this point, the snow, which clung to Annie, Percy, and George, had melted, leaving the three wet and shivering. Mrs. Weasley gave the three of them a look. "Why are you soaking wet, shivering, and how did Annie's wrist get broken?" She asked.
"We were rough housing in the snow." George admitted, acting gleeful about their fun.
Mrs. Weasley glared at her son with her usual death glare. "I swear. You, Fred, Annie, Percy, Bill, and Charlie have been causing trouble since you were little." She explained.
George smiled at the thought, remembering his childhood.
"You're all adults now. It's time to grow up." Mrs. Weasley said.
Annie, Percy, and George looked a little hurt by her words.
"Now. We need to get you out of these wet clothes and fix your wrist. I'll need some help, and since there are no other women here, one of my sons will have to help." Mrs. Weasley explained, looking a little unnerved by having one of her sons help.
George smirked. "Did you mention her changing her clothes? I'll help then." He said, being smart aleck and perverted.
Mrs. Weasley glared at her son while Percy wondered why George would want to see Annie naked. "Go up to your room right now George Weasley, and if you're not ready by dinner, I'll pull you down here by your only ear!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.
George hurried up the stairs, knowing his mother meant business. Then, Mrs. Weasley looked at Percy. "Go change and then come to Annie's room." She demanded.
Percy nodded and headed upstairs, feeling nervous about being around Annie when she's naked. He walked inside his room, stripped of his wet clothes, and put on some dry ones from out of his dresser. At this same time, Mrs. Weasley had helped Annie upstairs to her room. Mrs. Weasley had Annie sit down on her bed while Mrs. Weasley grabbed some dry clothes out of Annie's dresser. "We will get you all cleaned up." Mrs. Weasley said, sounding sure of herself.
Perchy knocked on the door and he pushed the door open slightly, peaking through the crack. Once he realized it had been safe, he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Mrs. Weasley looked at her son and smiled. "Now that your ready, Annie can change." She said.
"Uhh mum." Percy paused.
Mrs. Weasley glared at her son. "Oh, for Merlin's sake Percy. I know you two are of the opposite sex, but you're twenty-three years old and I saw you three rough housing from an upstairs bedroom. I know it was you who broke Annie's wrist so the least you could do is help." Molly Weasley explained.
Percy looked down at the ground while Annie looked like she had been shocked by Mrs. Weasley's behavior. "I'm sick and tired of cleaning up after my children so you can help Annie on your own and I don't care if it is embarrassing!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed like she had been trying to start an argument.
Percy gave his mother a guilty expression. "It was an accident mum." He explained, feeling awful.
Mrs. Weasley glared at him. "Just like abandoning your family was an accident and leaving me to keep the rest of the family together by myself!" She raised her voice cruelly.
"Mum, I didn't mean to hurt you." He replied quietly while Annie watched their argument intently.
"But you did!" she shouted. "And now here you are living at home because you needed help as if it were nothing. As if Fred's death wasn't your fault." She blamed, letting it slip accidentally.
Annie gasped and Percy looked heartbroken as he stood there. "Maybe it was my fault." He said quietly in a whisper.
Mrs. Weasley's expression softened. "I'm sorry dear. I didn't mean to blame you." She apologized, walking over to her son as if she were about to hug him.
"It's alright," he said, grimly. "I'll help Annie and then be down for dinner." He explained, avoiding his mother's hug.
Mrs. Weasley nodded and then left the room. Annie stood up from her bed and walked over to Percy. She put her good hand on Percy's arm while her broken wrist clung to her body. "I'm sorry. Your mum should have never said those things." She stated, looking at him softly.
"It's fine. Now, lets get you out of these clothes." Percy suggested, not really concerned about nakedness now.
Annie's eyes went wide slightly. "You know your mum just said to help me because she was upset." She explained.
"Maybe so, but you do need help." He explained, letting her know it would be alright.
Annie inhaled a big breath. "Fine, but only help me with the top half because of my arm." She demanded.
Percy nodded. "So what do you want me to do?" He asked.
"Help me take off my shirt." She answered, raising up her arms. She winced slightly, but luckily her arm had not been broken instead.
Percy swallowed nervously and then he placed his hands at the bottom of her shirt, one on each side of her waist. He gripped the bottom of her soaking wet shirt and slowly lifted it off of her and over her head. He threw the shirt down on the floor and his eyes traveled to Annie's bra. It had soaked through with water also, causing it to cling to her body and make her nipples stick out.
Percy cleared his throat, but Annie turned around, her back facing him. "Now unhook my bra and then turn around." She explained.
Percy raised his hands to her delicate bra clasp and gently unhooked it. He turned around and stood there quietly, not sure of what to think.
Annie managed to slip off her bra, pants, and underwear without Percy's help. Once she had become completely naked, she managed to slide on a dry pair of underwear and jeans. She slid on a dry bra, but she couldn't hook it since she needed both hands for that. "Percy. Could you hook my bra for me?" She asked.
Percy turned around to see her back facing him and to see her in a fresh pair of jeans. He moved his hands to her angelic body and gently clasped her bra. He noticed the bra had been a dark red color and this slightly caught his attention. "Red?" He questioned.
Annie turned around and slapped him on the shoulder with her good arm.
"Ow!" exclaimed Percy, rubbing his shoulder. "I'm glad to see one weakened arm doesn't limit the other one."
Annie smirked and grabbed her dry shirt. "Well, I'm sure I'm the only woman you've ever seen in a bra." She joked.
"You might be surprised." Percy replied, smirking.
"Yeah, yeah." She said, shoving her shirt into his hands and lifting her arms above her head.
Percy took the shirt and gently placed it over her head. Then, he carefully slid her arms in and pulled it down around her waist, but he noticed a scar before sliding it down all the way. "You have a scar on your waist." He stated obviously.
Annie put her arms down and looked at him quietly. "Yes. It's from the battle of Hogwarts." She explained.
"Sorry." Percy apologized for something, which had been out of his hands.
"It's alright. Let's just get my wrist fixed before your mum thinks we were shagging." She said, sounding slightly upset after he mentioned her scar.
Percy nodded and gently took her wrist with one hand. With his other hand, he pulled out his wand and pointed it at her wrist. "Metacarpalus Reparus." He uttered and bluish-green light emanated from his wand and hit her wrist.
The light disappeared and Percy looked at Annie's wrist. "How does that feel?" He asked.
Annie bent her wrist slightly and winced. "It's not broken anymore, but it's sore." She answered.
Percy flicked his wand and some bandages appeared around Annie's wrist. She smiled at him. "Thanks, but why didn't you do that spell before I changed?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
Percy smirked and Annie slapped him on the shoulder. Percy rubbed it again and the two acted just like it had been old times. After Annie had become all patched up, Percy and her went downstairs for dinner. They sat at the table where George and Mr. Weasley now sat. The five would eat dinner like they were family and reminisce on old times.
