House: Slytherin

Category: Theme

Prompt: [Speech] "Why are there letters? You told me math was all about numbers."

Word count: 2159

A/N: This is a slight AU. I changed Rose and Hugo's relative ages, so just a heads up :)

oO0Oo

"Mum?" Rose's voice carried throughout the house. "Can you come here please?"

Ron sighed. He had just sat down to polish his Cleansweep. "Mum's not here," he called back. "What is it, Rose?"

"I need help," Rose shouted back.

"With what?"

"It's maths!"

"Fine," Ron said with a groan, getting to his feet. "Where are you?"

"In my room."

That was surprising. Normally, she did homework in the kitchen, saying it was more "happy" in there; however, when Ron passed the kitchen, he quickly understood why Rose had decided to relocate. Hugo must have decided to explore the pantry today. Flour filled the air, and the floor was strewn with shards of broken glass. Frowning at the sight, Ron hurried on. He'd clean that up later, before 'Mione got back from work. After all, helping Rose couldn't take that long.

He knocked on Rose's room. "May I come in?"

"Of course, Daddy," she answered, turning around in her swivel chair to smile at him.

Ron smiled. "Now, what is it you needed help on?" he asked, trying to peek over her shoulder.

"It's muggle maths." She held up the piece of paper, and Ron's eyes swum. It was covered in meticulous calculations. "Mum said I needed to learn algebra before I took Arithmancy, but I don't get it!"

"I'll try to help." Ron magicked a chair into existence, then sat down beside his daughter. "So, what is it you don't understand?"

Rose frowned, then pointed her quill at a particularly messy portion of the paper. "Well, why are there letters? You told me math was all about numbers."

Ron sighed heavily, desperately wracking his brain for anything Hermione might have said regarding Arithmancy. "Umm… in maths, there's this thing called 'variables'."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, and these variables are letters." Ron grinned, proud to have remembered anything.

"But what do variables do?" Rose asked, her brow furrowed in concentration. "And why would I use them?"

"Um, I think— I think— I think you should ask your mother. Now, I should go clean up Hugo's mess." Ron got to his feet; however, before he had taken a step, Rose's frantic stream of words made him stop.

"But Dad! I was supposed to have finished this yesterday but I went playing Quidditch with Albus and mum told me that I had to have this done by now or else, and she used that tone where she means that she'll lecture me if I don't and you know how long her lectures are!" She looked up at him with desperate eyes. "And Hugo's mess in the kitchen is sort of my fault… I showed him how to open the child-proof cabinets because he wouldn't leave me alone when I was doing my homework."

Ron blinked. "Say that again," he said, sitting back down in his conjured chair.

"I need to have this done before mum gets home. And Hugo's mess is my fault."

"Okay. Let's deal with your maths problem first. Do you have any books?"

"Dad, I already tried those before I asked you for help."

"I see how it is," Ron laughed. "But seriously?"

"Yeah, there was nothing. You were my last hope, Dad."

"Well, that's unacceptable," Ron said. "You need help from someone better at maths than me… how about we Floo-call Uncle Percy? He got an O in Arithmancy."

"He did?"

"Yeah, he spent that entire year studying, though, so it wasn't a surprise. You'd better not do that, Rosie, or I'll make Albus throw you into the Great Lake so you can get some exercise."

"Very funny," Rose said dryly. She gathered her papers and pens, then smiled up at Ron. "Can we Floo Uncle Percy now? Mum should be home soon."

"Hopefully, she takes her time at the office," Ron replied with a wink. "After all, you've still got that homework, and I've got to clean up the mess Hugo made. Now, come on." He took Rose's hand and led her to the study. There, he lit a fire in the grate and tossed a pinch of Floo-Powder inside. As the flames turned a deep emerald green, he shouted, "Percy's Apartment!"

"Who is it?"

Ron grinned at Rose. "Do you recognize Uncle Percy's voice? It always sounds rather grumpy."

"Very funny, Ron." Percy's head had appeared in the fireplace. "You're lucky, you know. I was just about to leave the apartment."

"You got a date?" Ron asked.

"Perhaps," his brother answered. "But why are you calling?"

"Rosie has a question for you," Ron said, pushing Rose forward. "And this time, it's not about your love life."

"What is it, Rose?" Percy asked, his voice gentler than when he had been speaking with Ron.

"I've got a question about this muggle maths called algebra," Rose said, showing Percy her sheaf of papers. "I solved the equations, but then suddenly there were these letters in the equation! How am I supposed to solve 2x = y and y = x + 1? It's impossible!"

"Oh, I recall that unit. Not that I am currently dealing with maths, not in my job at the Ministry, but I vaguely remember Professor Vector saying to find one of the variables in term of the other and then plug that it into the other equation—"

"Percy, are you coming?" From the emerald flames came a voice, a male voice which Ron could almost place. "If you don't hurry up, we're going to be late for our reservation!"

"Oh ho!" Ron chortled, rubbing his hands together. "You got a boyfriend, Perce?"

If it were possible for a green head to blush, Percy did so. "He's just a friend—"

"Right." Ron grinned. "Wait 'til I tell Ginny, she'll be over the moon. Always going on and on about you needing to be happy—"

"Okay, that's it. We're not missing this dinner." A hand reached into the flames and yanked Percy back. "Tell Potter I said hi, Ron."

"How do you know Harry?"

"I was his first captain. Cheers, Ron." With that, the flames returned to their usual orange and crackled peacefully in the grate.

Ron turned to Rose, grinning from ear to ear. "Can you believe it?" he said. "Percy has a boyfriend, and it's Oliver Wood."

Rose rolled her eyes. "That's great dad, I'll have another uncle, but I need to finish my maths homework!" She held up the bedraggled sheet of paper. "Mum'll be home any second, and I didn't get Uncle Percy's explanation at all."

Ron frowned. "That is a problem. Here, I think I remember what he said." He led her to the study's desk, where Hermione usually worked. "Uncle Percy said to get one variable in teams with the other ones and to solve that way."

"How do I put a variable into a team?"

Ron shrugged. "Maybe your maths books have an answer?"

"Maybe," Rose replied, her shoulders sagging a little. "I'll be up in my room if anybody needs me. But if mum asks, tell her I'm sitting under the big oak tree doing my work there."

"Okay. Good luck, Rosie. I know you can do it." Ron squeezed her shoulder in silent support.

"Thanks, Dad," she said with a small smile. Then she trudged up to her room, letting the door slowly shut behind her.

Ron watched her go, trying his best to delay the inevitable… but when the door swung shut behind Rose, he knew it was time to tackle his next task. He had to clean the kitchen. Hypothetically, a few well-placed household spells would do the trick; however, when Hugo was involved, anything was possible. Ron grimaced. While he was glad his son's accidental magic had manifested so young, it was ridiculously strong and to be honest, a pain at times.

Before he stepped into the kitchen, Ron braced himself. He didn't know what Hugo could have done, but the toddler's imagination was sometimes terrifying. Perhaps he should call Ginny for help… after a few seconds, he discarded that idea. Ginny had young children of her own; she would only laugh at him. He would have to call someone else… hurrying back to the study, he threw a pinch of Floo Powder into the fireplace and shouted, "the Burrow!" Then he knelt on the stone and stuck his head into the flames.

He looked out into the Burrow, which looked unchanged, save for its cleanliness. When he had lived there, it had never been clean. "Mum?" he called, looking out into the house. "Mum, are you there?"

No one answered. The house was silent.

With a sigh, Ron stepped through the fireplace. He found himself within the Burrow now, and after brushing the ash from his clothing, Ron made his way towards the gardens. Perhaps his mum and dad were there, de-gnoming.

And they were. "Mum?" Ron called.

She turned. "Ron!" she shouted, her entire face lighting up. "Arthur, look who's come to visit! Did you bring the children, Ronald?"

"No," Ron replied, grinning a little shamefacedly. "And actually, I'm here to ask for help."

"Hugo again?" she asked.

"Yup."

"Well, while we're walking back to the house you can tell me all about his latest fiasco. Arthur, how about we finish the de-gnoming tomorrow?"

"Sounds great, Molly." His dad slowly got to his feet, grimacing a little and placing a hand over his lower back.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked, taking his father's arm and helping him to his feet.

"I'll be fine. It's just called getting old."

"And still fiddling with that muggle junk," Molly called back. "Now come on. I want to see my grandchildren again."

Ron chuckled. "Coming, mum. We'll Floo home. Why don't you stay for dinner?"

Molly looked at Ron suspiciously. "Who's cooking?"

"Well, Hermione's not, and I haven't started yet, since Hugo's been destroying the kitchen… we're probably going to order some of that muggle take-out that Hermione's so fond of. How does Indian food sound?"

"I guess, although there really is nothing like home cooking." Molly took a pinch of Floo Powder and shouted, "The Granger-Weasleys!" The flames turned green and she stepped through; Ron and Arthur did the same.

When they emerged in Ron's home, then entire house was beginning to smell of… chocolate. "Goodness," Molly said, hurrying toward the kitchen. "I swear that Hugo's accidental magic is stronger every time I visit!"

Ron chuckled. "That's possible, but I'm pretty sure he's not getting stronger. Just more creative." He shuddered.

His dad placed a hand on his back. "It'll be okay, son. Fred and George were the same way. You just might have a prankster in the family."

Ron groaned. "As if there weren't already enough. Well, what should I do, mum?"

Molly turned to him, her expression grave. "We should wait for Hermione to get home. She would probably want to do this herself… she has certainly had the most experience in navigating dangerous situations. I don't know what Hugo has done, but it looks like a minefield in there."

Swallowing hard, Ron peered around his mother. The sight which met his eyes was astounding. The kitchen was a haze of red and yellow beams of light, interspersed with floating green spheres of strange, pulsating energy, and in the center of the kitchen sat Hugo, within the petals of a beautiful golden lightning bolt. "What has he done?"

"I have no idea," Molly replied, shaking her head. "But Hermione is the best for this job."

Ron nodded. "Definitely. But if she has to do this right after coming home from a grueling day at work, she won't be happy." He turned towards the stairs. "Rosie!"

"Yeah, dad?"

"Get the telephone and call that Indian food place. Order mum's favorite dishes and get enough for six people."

"Ooh, who's visiting?"

"Your Grandma and Grandpa Weasley," Ron called back. "Now hurry up, mum should be home any minute now!"

"Okay, on it!"

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Half an hour later, Hermione walked into the house, her feet aching after a long day at the Ministry and wanting nothing more than to sink into her armchair and cozy up with a good book. But as soon as she saw Ron, Rose, Molly, and Arthur sitting cross-legged on the floor, talking in low tones and eating Indian food, she knew her dreams for a calm evening would never become reality. "What is it now?" she said with a sigh.

"Hermione!" Ron rose and kissed her cheek. "It's so good to see you."

"Ron, what happened."

"Hugo," he said simply. "And Rose didn't finish her maths homework, but the kitchen is the biggest problem right now. Also, have some Indian food." He shoved a plate heaped with biryani into her hands.

Hermione looked from the biryani to her husband to Rose to her husband again. Gods, she loved him. "Thanks, Ron," she laughed, giving him a hug. "Let me get changed, eat some biryani, and then I'll look at what Hugo has gotten himself into this time."