Chapter 10 - Sunrises
12 September 1999
"Hey - Prophet owl's here!"
As George opened the window, a small tawny owl swooped into the kitchen and dropped the rolled up newspaper in the middle of the dining table, which was covered in dishes and cutlery leftover from the large breakfast. The week following the attack at the Shacklebolt Estate had been a hectic one. Percy, Audrey, and the whole Shacklebolt family had constantly been in and out of the Wizengamot giving testimonies and journalists were all over the place. However, Kingsley was doing everything in his power to get the trial expedited and over with as soon as possible.
In the midst of testimonies, however, many Order secrets had begun to come out to the public - namely, Percy's involvement. It was unavoidable once Percy was sitting in the Wizengamot and being asked whether he had had any previous encounters with the accused, and the onslaught of questions that had followed had been a nightmare. Fortunately, though, Audrey had been by his side the whole time, just like when he had told his family.
Still, when Percy had received the letter from Rita Skeeter requesting an interview, he had been reluctant. That is, until Audrey made a good point: he could control his story, or he could let the old bag gab away however she wanted. Now, as the Burrow was filled with silence, the headline ominously stared back at him.
FORMER ORDER SPY SPILLS ALL: DRAMA, INTRIGUE, AND HEARTACHE
"Well, she certainly embellished," Percy declared, breaking the silence.
"Could be worse," Audrey said optimistically. She nodded towards the newspaper and added, "Do the honours, Perce."
Everyone in the small kitchen - Molly, Arthur, George, Ron, and Hermione - intently stared at Percy, then back at the newspaper in anticipation. With a deep breath, Percy reached forward and unrolled the paper.
"'Once upon a time, the name Percy Weasley would have meant less than nothing to all households of the wizarding world - ' wow, really, that's how she's going to start?" Percy began to read.
"Keep goin', you need to be brought down a couple pegs," George urged jokingly.
With a sigh, Percy continued, "' - but today I have the honour of introducing you to the Order of the Phoenix's bravest hero. Here follow the tales of a man that has given up more than most for the sake of doing the good thing for all magical kind.' And then it just goes on about some missions I did."
"Perce," Ron started with a serious tone, "for twenty-three years, you have been nothing but a pompous prat, but now - now - you act modest. What bloody missions?"
"Well the first one she talks about is the one where I stopped that last decree Umbridge wanted to get passed, back when she was Headmistress," Percy explained. "It was the one allowing physical punishment of students but Fudge never got it because, uh, I may have replaced it with a rather embarrassing letter bearing Umbridge's forged signature."
"Perfect, prudish Percival Weasley, did you just confess to damaging Ministry property and forging an official's signature?" George exclaimed sarcastically.
"Settle down, would you?" Percy grumbled. "Then it goes on about how I smuggled a muggle-born and his family out of the Ministry."
"The McConnells," Audrey intervened. "Keegan and I received them on the other end of the portkey."
"Wait - really?" Percy asked as he turned to look at Audrey in shock. "Blimey, we had a lot of close calls," he added observantly.
"You mean Gregor McConnell?" Arthur asked. "He... he pushed me out of the way of a blast when we were at Hogwarts."
Audrey glanced at Percy and smiled when she saw the look on his face. She could tell he was trying to down-play the article, but he seemed proud. He had a glint in his eye that she hadn't seen before. When he glanced her way, he didn't hesitate to return her smile.
"The, uh, last part actually talks about the mission that Audrey and her brother did, and how she saved my bloody neck," Percy continued, looking back down at the newspaper in his hands, a wide grin still on his face. "And then it ends with, 'While the war may be over, the list of heroes we must thank for their sacrifices continues to grow. Today, you can add Percy Weasley to that list: a perfect example of selflessness and bravery. Tune in - ' Oh, bloody hell."
"What's wrong?" Audrey asked curiously. She leaned in to get a better look at the article and rolled her eyes as she got a glimpse of the words.
Percy rolled his eyes and continued, "'Tune in next week for the hot gossip on his hero belle, Audrey Shacklebolt. There is more to this pureblood princess and her hero spy than meets the eye.'"
"Ugh, she even bloody rhymed it," Ron said with disgust, "Classic Rita Skeeter, ladies and gentlemen."
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Audrey declared tiredly. "For now, enjoy being a hero, Percy. You earned it."
"Skeeter or not," Molly started, leaning across the table to grab the newspaper from Percy, "this is getting framed and put in the living room."
"Nestled right alongside all of Percy's other awards," George teased as Molly promptly left the kitchen with Arthur following closely behind. "I call it 'The Shrine of Humongous Bighead.'"
As everyone else began to disperse and leave the kitchen, Percy leaned in towards Audrey, a mild look of annoyance on his face, and explained, "He means Head Boy."
"Oh, I know," Audrey replied with a smirk, "Him and Fred pretended like they didn't know who I was talking about if I didn't use that nickname for all of our fifth year. So - "
"So you're familiar," Percy interrupted with a sigh. Although he sounded annoyed, Audrey could see a small smile cracking his glare.
Leaning in closer, Audrey whispered, "You know, if you still have that badge, I think it would still look rather good on you."
"You want to me to wear my Hogwarts uniform?" Percy asked in confusion.
"I meant just the badge."
"I like where your head's at."
31 December 1999
Percy cleaned his glasses for possibly the tenth time in the last half hour, then gently perched them on his face again as he looked in the mirror in his old childhood bedroom. He had managed to tame his curly red hair for the night, and had put on his best set of dress robes. Deciding that this would be his final inspection, Percy gave himself a satisfied nod before opening the door to enter the chaos that was filling the rest of the Burrow.
Almost instantly, Percy was surrounded by the shouting and noise of his family attempting to get ready for the big New Year's Eve party that the Shacklebolts were hosting. He was nervous for the event, although not because it meant he would be facing Audrey's whole family. After Kelsey had been taken care of and things had settled down, Percy had actually regularly kept in touch with Audrey's parents. By all accounts, it seemed that he had made a good impression on them, and he couldn't be any happier.
When Percy's eyes found Ginny and George in the living room playing Exploding Snap, however, his happiness did fall a few steps.
"Hey! You two!" he exclaimed, storming towards his siblings. "You're not even dressed!"
"Ah yes, thank you, Captain Obvious," George bit back with a smirk. "Don't get your knickers in a twist - we'll go change now."
"This was a task for an hour ago!" Percy shouted as George and Ginny rolled their eyes at him and trudged their way upstairs.
Looking around rather frantically, Percy called out, "Ron! Harry!"
"I've got them!" Hermione shouted back. Deciding that she was probably the only other responsible person in the whole house, Percy considered that handled and went into the kitchen to join his older brothers.
Bill and Fleur stood by the window, seemingly calm in the midst of the loud house. Fleur was now sporting a visible baby bump, which had resulted in Molly being even more overbearing than usual; however, for the first time ever, Fleur seemed to be enjoying the attention her mother-in-law was giving her. Sitting at the dining table, Charlie was deep in conversation with his new girlfriend, a witch that he worked with in Romania by the name of Raluca. Admittedly, Charlie not showing up alone for the first Christmas ever had been the highlight of everyone's holidays.
For now, anyways.
Feeling a strong hand on his shoulder, Percy turned his head to see Arthur standing beside him. "How're you feeling, Perce?" his father asked with a grin.
"Nervous - definitely nervous," Percy replied, "but excited."
"That's a good sign," Arthur said reassuringly.
Percy nodded as his father left to extract Molly from Fleur's side. Looking down at his watch, the panic set in again. "People! We're already running late!" Percy shouted.
"Oi, relax," George grumbled as he entered the kitchen, fully dressed, "Haven't seen you this worked up since you graduated."
Percy only rolled his eyes at George, but he felt the smile spreading across his face as the rest of his family filled the small kitchen of the Burrow. The last time he remembered his whole family, Harry and Hermione included, crowded together in the Burrow like this had been Fred's funeral. Now, for the first time in a while, it was for a happy reason.
"All right, be clear when you're in the Floo: Shacklebolt Estate, Hornsea."
Audrey instinctively turned her head as she heard the roar of the Floo, considerably softer when covered up by the loud music playing in the main hall. She excused herself from her father's side as she made her way out of the hall and started to head towards the study.
She quickly stopped by her old bedroom, giving herself one final look-over in the mirror. She had left her hair down, wavy and swaying with every movement. Her gown was a deep burgundy colour and form-fitting. The sleeves were simple lace of the same colour and the dress left her back entirely bare all the way down to her waist. Except for the healed scar running diagonally across her back, she looked exactly how she had looked that night seven months ago.
The night her and Percy had first kissed.
With a satisfied nod, Audrey made her way to the study once more. As soon as she entered, she found the room full with the whole Weasley family. Audrey met Percy's eyes and he started heading towards her, the room growing quiet. She could see the surprise on his face as he recognized the dress. The grin he was sporting was contagious.
"This is... you look beautiful," Percy finally said.
"Thank you," Audrey replied with a proud smile, "you're looking rather dapper yourself."
"People are in the room!" George piped in as he popped up behind Percy and gave his older brother a much too strong pat on the back.
Percy rolled his eyes at George's outburst but Audrey only laughed and took hold of Percy's hand. "Well in that case, follow me," she declared.
With Percy by her side, Audrey led everyone back to the main hall, the sounds of music and conversation getting louder with each step. Everyone was visibly filled with awe as they entered the hall. The ceiling was covered in garlands of silver flowers. Large wreaths hung on the wall and beautiful glass vases of poinsettias were at the centre of each table. A Charmed mistletoe was zooming around the room, coming to an abrupt stop over its next pair of victims: Keegan and Daphne. Dramatic as always, Keegan dipped her down as if dancing before kissing her, earning a loud chorus of 'whoop's from his co-workers.
"Welcome to the Shacklebolts' New Year's Eve party!" Audrey introduced as she turned to face the rest of the Weasley family. "Make yourself at home."
One by one, everyone began to disperse as they recognized old friends or simply felt like joining in on the dancing. Soon enough, only Percy and Audrey were left standing together.
"This is amazing," Percy said as he looked around the room.
"You don't want to know how stressful it was to be around my mum this last month," Audrey replied, "but it looks like it paid off."
"Ah, just who I was looking for!"
Audrey and Percy turned around at the sound of Lucinda's voice. Of course, Audrey should have known that her grandmother wouldn't be one to wait around for Audrey to come to her - rather, Lucinda was a fan of taking matters into her own hands.
"Well, Audrey, please introduce us," the older woman said pointedly.
"Percy, meet my grandmother, Lucinda. Gran, this is Percy, my boyfriend," Audrey introduced with a smile.
"Pleased to finally meet you dear," Lucinda said as she shook Percy's hand. "Kris speaks of you very highly."
"I am truly happy to hear that," Percy replied politely.
"So polite," Lucinda noted as she looked Audrey's way, as if that would mean Percy was out of earshot. Taking a step back and looking at the couple with a proud smile, she added, "Now go enjoy yourselves!"
Hooking her arm with Percy's, Audrey chuckled at her grandmother and led him into the party. With a wave of her wand, two glasses of champagne floated towards her and Percy and they each took a glass as they continued walking. "Gran can be a lot, but she means well," Audrey said with a shrug.
"If you think that's a lot, wait 'til you meet Muriel," Percy replied with a shake of his head. "Besides, I kind of like that my biggest worry is being bombarded by your grandmother."
"Well, when you put it that way, we've definitely fried bigger fish," Audrey admitted. It really was nice, for the first time ever, to not feel like she had to watch her back at every turn.
As the couple made their way around the large room, they stopped a few times to talk to several people they both recognized from work. It felt so natural to be by Percy's side even for the simplest conversations, and Audrey found herself enjoying introducing him to the rest of her family. Soon enough, Audrey spotted Sabina and made her way over to her best friend with Percy in tow.
"Sab! I'm so glad you're here," Audrey said as she went to hug her friend.
"Aye, glad to be here. Nice to see you again, too, Percy," she greeted, looking around rather frantically.
"Likewise," Percy replied slowly. "You all right?"
Sabina sighed heavily and met Audrey's eyes. "I've got a situation," she declared. "Your dad told my dad to feel free to bring the team."
Audrey frowned in confusion at her friend. Every year her parents had held this party, her father had always extended an invitation to the Quidditch team that Sab's father coached, Puddlemere United. "Like he always does," Audrey said slowly.
"Merlin's crotchless thong, I need to be more hammered," Sabina muttered, quickly downing her champagne right after and summoning another glass.
"Oh, look - I didn't know Oliver would be here," Percy said as he spotted his friend just entering the hall. He moved to wave him over but Sabina quickly smacked his arm down.
"Are you mad?" she hissed. Shaking her head, she added, "Jebemti, I need to get out of here."
Without another word, Sabina disappeared into the crowd of the party. "Well, it's never good when she starts swearing in Slovenian," Audrey declared as she looked up at Percy.
"What was that all about?" he asked curiously.
"I have a feeling we'll find out eventually," Audrey replied as she watched Sabina disappear into the crowd. "Still wanna go say hi to Oliver?" she asked.
"Actually... I was thinking we could get some fresh air," Percy said, feeling a surge of courage run through him.
"I'd like that," Audrey replied with a smile.
The couple made their way towards the double doors leading out onto a large balcony that overlooked the sea. The area was sealed with Heating Charms to keep out the cold winter breeze, but the view was still breathtaking. A starry sky hung over the strong sea waves rolling onto the beach. Audrey set her champagne glass down on the stone ledge of the balcony as she looked out at the seaside, a small smile of contentment on her face. She felt calm and happy. These were the moments she wished would never end.
"Remember the last time we were alone on a balcony together?" Audrey asked, the smile on her face widening as she continued looking out at the view.
"That's actually exactly what I was thinking about."
Turning to look at Percy, Audrey frowned in confusion when she didn't immediately see him next to her. When she turned around and her eyes finally landed on him, her jaw dropped slightly and her eyes widened in surprise. She felt her breath hitch as she looked down at Percy, down on one knee in front of her with an open ring box in his hand and an incredibly wide grin on his face.
"Audrey Shacklebolt, I want to stargaze with you for the rest of my life, wherever we are," Percy started. "Will you marry me?"
"Will I - ? Yes! Yes!" Audrey replied excitedly, smiling uncontrollably.
Percy quickly got up and put the engagement ring on Audrey's finger then, without a moment's hesitation, wrapped his arm around her waist to bring her close and kiss her. Audrey quickly kissed him back, hands grabbing at his dress robes to pull him even closer. This was a moment that would last forever.
1 January 2000
"Look at that - made it to sunrise."
Audrey blinked rapidly in the hopes that it would make her feel more awake as she took in the first sign of light between the clouds. After the excitement of their engagement and the thrill of the countdown, Audrey and Percy had decided to stay up to see the first sunrise of the year. They had situated themselves on a bench in the gardens, with plenty of blankets, coffee, hot chocolate, and some strong Heating Charms. Overall, Percy was much better at dealing with sleep deprivation than she was.
"First sunrise of the year," Audrey said with a smile. "First sunrise as your fiancée."
With his arm around her waist, Percy gave her a light squeeze and a kiss on the cheek. "I like the sound of that," he said.
"You know what else sounds nice?" Audrey started as she looked over at Percy. "Audrey Weasley sounds pretty nice."
Percy returned Audrey's wide smile. "It sounds perfect," he said quietly.
And with this... I bring you the end of By Moonlight and Sunrises :) Writing this story was super fun, and I can't get enough of these two, so here's some other projects you can look forward to:
- The Tales of Viper and Ace: stories of Audrey and Keegan's Order missions, including their rescue of Percy
- Something New: the hectic week before Percy and Audrey's wedding
- Forbidden Fruit: an explanation for Sabina's frantic behaviour ;)
Until next time, wonderful readers! -C x