Hey everyone! This story was brought to you by Aquatic Studies: Types of Sharks assignment, Ultimate Battle Competition, Days of the Year, Flower Prompts, Tarot Cards, Afternoon Tea, Bunny Racing, Spring Cleaning, Flower Arranging Station, Teacup Ride, Bunny Bingo, Guess the Name, Planting Flowers, April Fools!, Say it With Flowers, All is Ours Day, Bingo, Sophie's Shelf, Elizabeth's Empire, Film Festival on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Also for Link Maker on Monthly Challenges for All. Also for Reserve League 2.0 on The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.
Aquatic Studies: Types of Sharks: Task 9 - Write about someone who appears to be mean, but is really a big softy
Ultimate Battle Competition: (Rare) Artist's Beret Price 3,000 words Luna Lovegood
Days of the Year: April 21st Kindergarten Day - Include a child aged between 5 and 6 years old in your story.
Flower Prompts: Crocus (plot point) Receiving a new task/order/assignment
Tarot Cards: The Fool (theme) New Beginnings
Afternoon Tea: Egg in the Hole Bacon Sandwich (character) Pansy Parkinson
Bunny Racing: 52. (trait) impatient
Spring Cleaning: Clean telescopes at Astronomy tower Muggle - Write about observing someone/something from a distance.
Flower Arranging Station: 4. Lily (character) Pansy Parkinson
Teacup Ride: Pink Stripes (character) Padma Patil
Bunny Bingo: (word) desire
Guess the Name: Dreamer (action) waving
Planting Flower: Watering prompt 3 (trait) caring
April Fools!: Muggle pranks Fake Pregnancy Test (character) Molly Weasley
Say it With Flowers: Iris, blue: faith and hope (character) Padma Patil
All is Ours Day: A couple that recurred across different houses (AU) Single Parent
Bingo: 5E (family) Weasleys
Sophie's Shelf: Greyscale (trait/personality) stony exterior
Elizabeth's Empire: Snowblaze (S) (character) Luna Lovegood
Film Festival: (AU) Single Parent
Link Maker: Harry Potter characters used, 3,098 words
Reserve League 2.0: Season 1 Round 5 Weasley Captain Write a fic about Bill
Warning for Sound of Music!AU, discrimination, mentions of character death and bit out of character due to the AUs that were used. Word count is 3,098 words. I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of Sounds Like Music.
Pansy looked around her dark eyes wide with the excitement of being off on her own. Alone with no one to judge her for her past actions. No one to remind her that she wasn't anyone's particularly favorite person. The wind blowing softly in her dark raven hair as she twirled along the hillside of the country, a song in her heart that she just didn't know how to express.
It was a very bad time for ex-Death Eaters, or for that matter, ex-Slytherins to be spotted out and about by themselves. Times were getting dark yet again in Wizarding London. Just like they had when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was first coming back to power. Pansy was pretty sure that that was impossible. She'd seen the Dark Lord defeated. She'd been there on that very day nineteen years ago. He couldn't be coming back.
The tolling of bells from the town of Ottery St. Catchpole caught her attention. She'd been sent to a reeducation program to help her see the errors of her way. Which she really didn't need because she knew how wrong she'd been when she tried to turn Harry Potter over in the first place. The tolling of the bells signaled one of two things. One a supposed Death Eater attack. Two the end of classes for the day and the beginning of mealtime.
Mealtime was an important thing when you were in reeducation. The proctors always made sure that everyone was present and accounted for during mealtimes. At least they were supposed to. On several different occasions, a number of the young women who'd been sent to reeducation went without their suppers because they'd been late for meeting the last bell's toll.
"Shit," Pansy exclaimed, as she gathered up her shoes which she'd taken off and ran with all speed back to the reeducation program's building. She was glad that she was soon to take her Proctor's test and become one of those that did the reeducation. At least then she'd get better food than the gruel that was currently being served in the dining hall.
"You almost missed the last bell again, Pansy," her friend Daphne said, as she slid into the seat next to the blonde girl. "Don't tell me you were out dancing along the hillsides again."
"I won't tell you then," Pansy said, taking a spoon full of the gruel with a grimace and bringing it up to her mouth. "Besides the hillsides are very beautiful at this time of year."
"I'm sure they are. You do know that it's not safe for people like us to be out and about by ourselves, right?"
Pansy rolled her eyes. She hated being reminded that her daily trips were a danger to her and that she shouldn't make them. She hated that people were still looking at her like she was a pariah and most of all she hated the fact that no matter how much she tried she couldn't change their opinions at all.
The table fell into silence as people started looking towards the head of the table. Pansy's eyes followed everyone else's to find that the Head Proctor of the reeducation program, Luna Lovegood, was walking down the aisle between two of the tables, the one that Pansy was sitting at and it's neighbor. She stopped next to Pansy's chair.
"I was hoping that after diner we might talk," Luna said, an encouraging smile on her face as she looked at Pansy.
"Of course, Head Proctor Lovegood," Pansy said, returning the smile. She couldn't help but feel intrigued by the fact that the Head Proctor wanted to see her. She couldn't stop her head from going to the place of trouble. It seemed like she was always in trouble for the smallest of things nowadays.
"Don't go there," Daphne said, braking Pansy out of her dark and troubled thoughts. "It's not automatically something you did wrong, you know? It could be something you did right. You did, after all, bring in more ex-Death Eaters for reeducation. Maybe she wants to thank you for doing such a great job of making people see reason?"
"Or maybe she's going to let the other shoe drop and tell me I have another year of reeducation to finish after this?" Pansy said, knowing that her troublesome past was always going to be the only thing people saw of her.
From that point on both her mind and the promise of whatever lay in store for her when she reached the Head Proctor's office soured her appetite. Not that she had ever really gained an appetite for the food they served here. She ate it just to gain the nourishment that it gave and not because she liked it. She just couldn't force one more spoonful of the gruel down her system today.
"Where are you going?" Daphne asked as Pansy pushed her chair away from the table. "Aren't you going to finish that?"
Pansy shook her head. "You go ahead and finish it for me," she said, a smile crossing her face. "It's time to go face the music and see what Head Proctor Lovegood has in store for me."
Heart pounding in her ears with every step she took, Pansy watched in fascination as the door of the Head Proctor's office came into view. She figured it was farther away from the dining hall than this. It must have been because her feet felt like they had been walking for hours. Her palms were sweaty and she really just wanted to get this over and done with.
She knocked on the door when she finally reached it, receiving a come in from the Head Proctor. She walked in to find a young girl who was a friend of her's from her time at Hogwarts, Milicent Bulstrode. Milicent was sitting opposite of Head Proctor Lovegood and was just signing into the reeducation program.
"You won't regret this, Milicent," Luna was telling the auburn-haired girl, as she handed her one of the uniforms that would be a constant reminder of her place. "Proctor Patil, could you please show our new student around?"
Padma Patil nodded as she leads Milicent out of the Head Proctor's office. They could hear her voice telling Milicent the rules and times for classes, exercise, and mealtimes. The sounds of the women's retreating feet slowly faded in time.
"Why don't you sit down please, Pansy?" Head Proctor Lovegood said, indicating the chair that Milicent had vacated not too long ago. "I'm sure that you very curious as to why I've called you to my office."
"Actually, I was kind of curious," Pansy told the blonde sitting across from her. "I know I haven't been the easiest of students to teach."
"The hardest students are the ones we teachers take the most pride in," Luna told her. "But that is not what I have brought you here to discuss."
"If it's about the unplanned trips outside of the walls of the reeducation facility," Pansy said, wringing her hands, "I can't really explain them. All I know is that if I don't get out every once in a while I go a bit stir crazy."
"It's not about that either, Pansy."
"Then what is it about, if I may be so bold as to ask, Head Proctor Lovegood?" Pansy watched the younger woman as the blonde folded her hands and steepled the fingers together.
Head Proctor Lovegood looked over something on her desk. It looked like a sheet of paper with some writing on it but Pansy couldn't see what was written clearly on the paper. She waited patiently for Luna to tell her what it was.
"Minister of Magic Granger has reached out to us on behalf of her brother-in-law," Luna informed her gently.
"I haven't had any dealings with the Weasleys since my last dealing with Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts," Pansy protested.
"It's nothing like that," Luna said, placatingly holding up her hands to stop Pansy tirade. "Minister Granger has reached out on behalf of her widowed brother-in-law to find someone to watch over his children when he isn't there."
"You think that I have the patience to look after children?" Pansy asked. She wouldn't exactly consider herself the most motherly of beings. In fact, she couldn't really even consider her own mother the most motherly of mothers. Mothers were supposed to teach their daughters to be mothers if she heard correctly.
"I think you have the ability to be patient and caring with these children, yes," Luna said, watching Pansy over her folded hands. "I think that this can be both a rewarding and trying learning experience for you. After all, you want to see the world before joining the Proctor core here at the reeducation center, don't you?"
Pansy nodded. She had always wanted to see parts of the world that weren't part of her usual one. She wanted to do something that would make a difference. She just wasn't aware that anyone else knew of her one true desire also.
"Good," Luna said happily. "I've already told Mr. Bill Weasley that you would be there first thing tomorrow morning to meet him and his children. I hope that you can as much of a help to Mr. Weasley and his children as they can be to you."
Pansy wanted to argue that the Head Proctor should have asked her before agreeing to send Pansy to this man's house. She'd heard many things about Bill Weasley. Many very scary things about him. Including the fact that he was a werewolf and that he enjoyed hunting the staff that was sent to help his children and himself.
"Remember, Pansy, don't judge lest you be judged yourself," Luna said, bringing up the topmost rule of the reeducation facility.
That is how she found herself standing on the doorstep of the majestic looking house along the seashore. The waves of the ocean lapping merrily against the sands of the beach not too far away from where she stood. To be honest, she found herself almost liking this place already. With its tranquil sounds and sights. With a shaking hand, she knocked upon the door, the sound echoing down the hallway in the house.
"It must be pretty big inside if the sound of my knocking echoed like that," she mused to herself as she watched a fluffy cloud pass by overhead. She was just about to knock again when the door opened and she saw him for the first time.
The man that stood before her would have sent anyone running for the hills. He was a tall man, broad-shouldered, with shoulder-length auburn hair. His blue eyes were stormy and it looked like she must have just woken him up from a nap or something like that. The scar across his face didn't help much. Pansy had heard how he'd gotten the scar but only the version that the Death Eaters had wanted people to hear. The version where Bill was the aggressor. The one who attacked Fenrir Greyback. Not that she was stupid enough to believe that story. Anyone who knew Fenrir knew he was the one to attack first.
"You must be the governess the reeducation center sent?" Bill said his voice an icy coldness that sent shivers down her spine.
"I...uh...yes," Pansy answered, praying that she hadn't said anything to upset him. "Head Proctor Lovegood said that Minister Granger asked her to send one of us. So here I am." She held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Pansy Parkinson. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Weasley."
"Parkinson?" Bill mused thoughtfully. "Weren't you the girl that wanted to turn my brother-in-law over to Voldemort during the war?"
"That was then," Pansy said, hating this part of introducing herself, "and this now. I am quite a different person from the one I was back then. I'm sure the more time we spend together you'll be able to see that."
"I'm sure," Bill barked, making her jump.
"I'm sure the children must be excited to meet their new governess?" Pansy asked, trying to get her heartbeat to steady out. "Where are the children?"
"They are in the study studying," Bill said, motioning for her to follow him. "The children have a strict schedule that their mother Fleur used to get them on track. There will be no deviating from the schedule. If you do everything will fall apart and it will all be chaos. Do you understand me?"
Pansy nodded as she tried to keep up while juggling her bags. She wished that he'd slow down and let her at least catch up to him. She had the shorter legs of the two of them.
"Children, line up for your new governess," Bill said, stopping just inside the door of what looked like a grand study.
She watched as three young strawberry blonde-haired children all raced into line in front of her and their father. She followed along as Bill motioned for her too. Walking down the line of children she felt sorry for them. They all looked the same way she had felt when she was still living at home with her parents.
The oldest, a tall girl with blue-grey eyes stepped forward, staring straight ahead like she was a soldier from the Muggle movies. "Victorie," she said and then stepped back into line with her siblings.
The next oldest child stepped forward, She had blue eyes like her father but unlike his, hers had a smile to them. "Dominique," she said, giving a small wave as she stepped back into line. She nudged the youngest child the only boy in the group to move forward.
The young boy had eyes just like Victorie's but his were shyer and reserved than hers were. He stepped forward and in an almost whisper he said, "Louis." Stepping back to join his sisters he looked at his feet.
Bill nodded towards the table where the older two children's books lay open to the schoolwork they were supposed to be doing. The children jumped to automatically and went back to their schoolwork. It was obvious that Bill wasn't much for helping the children with their schoolwork. That must have been something that his wife did.
She watched as the youngest grabbed a book off the shelf and trudged over to a lonely chair near his sisters. She wondered if anyone had taught the young boy to read. Someone must have because why would choose to pick up a book if he didn't know.
"I'll have someone show you to your room," Bill said, breaking Pansy out of her thoughts on his children. "After you settled in you come back and get acquainted with the children. I'm sure you will find them very easy to deal with."
Pansy was just about to ask Bill a question when she saw the little boy come over and tug on his father's shirttail. She held her breath and backed away. Surely she wasn't about to see the truth of what people said about this man. Surely he wouldn't harm one of his own children.
"Yes, Louis?" Bill said, kneeling down to the level of his youngest child.
"Can you read me a story, Papa?" the little boy asked, holding out the book that he'd picked up from the shelves not too far away from his sisters. "Please?"
It seemed that the room was waiting for bated breath for Bill's answer. Everyone seemed to be on edge and trying not to look at what would happen between the father and child. Then the moment passed and Bill nodded.
"I will," he said, taking the book from his son's hand. "But from now on you must ask your governess, Miss Pansy, to read you a story. I have quite a lot of work to do."
"Yes, Papa," the boy said, looking over towards where Pansy still stood.
She could tell by the look on his face that little Louis would rather have his father read him a story than some stranger. But she didn't think that now was the right moment to bring that up to Bill Weasley. She remembered when one of her own governesses brought up her wanting to spend some time with her own parents. She'd never seen the woman again after that. She needed to make sure that Bill was receptive of what she was saying before she made the attempt or she would suffer the same fate as her own governess.
"Miss Parkinson," a voice by her side said, breaking her from her thoughts, "I'm so glad you've agreed to come and help my son out. I'm Molly Weasley. I'll show you to your room and help you get acquainted with the house and then I'll have to return home."
Pansy and Molly stood in the doorway for a few moments watching as the father and son sat together in the big armchair by the fireplace. Louis sitting on Bill's lap with the book open wide. A smile that Pansy hadn't expected to see on Bill's face was present as he read the story to his son.
"He didn't always use to be like this, my son," Molly said, motioning for Pansy to follow her. "Losing Fleur hit him pretty hard. Harder than it hit the children."
"If you don't mind my asking, what exactly happened to Mrs. Weasley?" Pansy asked, the sight of the father and son duo floating before her eyes and Molly Weasley's words ringing in her ears.
"She got sick with dragon pox and there wasn't really a lot anyone could do to save her," Molly said. "Louis was too young to realize what was happening. He thinks that his mother up and left them."
"Why would he allow his children to think that?"
"Because it's much easier than opening up old wounds and allowing himself to think about her again." She opened the door to a nice looking room and motioned Pansy inside. "Here you are, dearie. Welcome to Shell Cottage."
Pansy watched as the older auburn-haired woman walked off down the hall. So far, she'd learned a lot about the Weasley family. She learned that Bill was widowed due to his wife dying from dragon pox. Their three children were homeschooled and usually did their schoolwork by themselves. Bill Weasley had a soft side that no one, besides his mother and children, knew he had. As she unpacked her things she wondered to herself what else she might learn while she was here.
I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of Sound Like Music as much as I enjoyed writing it.