Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, except Crystal who I've probably borrowed from somewhere else. The characters and the world of Harry Potter belong to people more talented and cleverer that I. This story is merely intended as a tribute and as a bit of silly fanfic fluff.
Author's Note: Thanks again for the encouragement and the comments, both positive and negative. I can't remember if Penny father's first name was in the books so I've named him Roger.
Mega-soppiness and angst warning.
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Crystal
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Part Five
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"Is everyone ready now?" Arthur Weasley's frustration was showing in his voice, a rare event in the Burrow.
"Uh, yeah, Dad." Charlie sat down on the sofa and levitated a large bowl of potato crisps and a tall glass of pumpkin juice onto nearby side table.
"Uh huh," added George through a mouthful of hot cocoa. Bill and Molly, who were waiting anxiously for Arthur to begin reading, nodded.
"Very well," Arthur fiddled with the parchments for a few moments then, when he decided Charlie and George had been punished enough for their childish behaviour, he began to read aloud.
"Dear Father, Mother, William, Charles, Frederick," Arthur hesitated for a moment then continued reading, "George, Ronald and Virginia, Hello. Tomorrow is Christmas Day and I find myself thinking of you, my family."
"Good of him to tell us we're his family," Charlie grinned.
"How long is this thing?" Bill muttered.
"Sssh!" Molly glared at her eldest sons.
"I must apologise," read Arthur in a firm voice, "for departing England without warning or explanation and for any pain my departure may have caused: although my position in the family leads me to believe that I shall not be greatly missed."
"Not missed?" Molly sniffed, "How could he believe...?"
"Dear, maybe he will explain later?" Arthur snapped. Molly fell silent and Arthur sent her a silent, apologetic glance. Then he continued to read.
"As a dutiful son I should explain why I left England. Penelope and I have discussed this and she agrees it is best that I tell you, even though this letter may cause our deaths if it were to fall into the wrong hands."
"That's our Perce the drama queen," Charlie chuckled dryly. He sat back in surprise when everyone else yelled 'shut up' at him.
"The first thing you should know is that Penelope and I did not have to get married. I am sure that Charlie, Fred and George will be disappointed to know that Penelope was not pregnant, nor was her father carrying a Muggle shotgun or threatening me with any or all of the forbidden curses. I wish the reasons for our marriage were that simple for I could face a such a dishonour with equanimity."
Arthur sighed again. As much as he loved Percy he wished the boy would write in plain English. He read the next twelve paragraphs silently then summarised them, "Percy and Penny were engaged for months but didn't tell anyone because Roger Clearwater, her father, asked them to wait. Ummm... oh I see... Roger got into a dispute over land with a neighbour. The neighbour was a suspected Death Eater and decided to bypass the Wizard's Court and win the dispute his way. Uhhh... Percy and Penny were about to announce their engagement at the Clearwater's party..."
"The one that was cancelled at the last minute?" Molly asked. Her husband nodded and Molly saw an expression of shock cross his face. "Arthur?"
"The Death Eater's solution was to kill all the Clearwaters and anyone else with a claim to the land. Five of the Clearwaters were killed on their way to the party." Arthur closed his eyes for a moment then opened them and began reading Percy's words aloud.
"The Clearwaters had been receiving threats for some time but this did not worry me greatly. When I was with the Ministry I was often threatened by Death Eaters, or possible Death Eaters, because I worked for Mr Crouch. The added threats from them because of Penelope were minimal in comparison.
"As soon as Roger Clearwater and I realised our folly, Mr Clearwater put his own plan into action. He was determined that regardless of whatever happened to the rest of his family he would make sure that Penelope would be safe. His plan was that Penelope should go into hiding in Europe, however he did not wish for her to travel alone and unprotected. What he suggested was that Penelope and I marry immediately. He would supply us with enough money to survive comfortably for a year or stringently for two. Mr Clearwater's expectation was that he would work with the Ministry and the Aurors to catch the Death Eater concerned with the evidence they needed to stop the murders. Penelope and I would return once the culprit was in Azkabahan.
"I was not happy with the idea of doing something so dishonourable and improper, even though the two things I wanted most were to be married to Penelope and rid of my Ministry job. I only agreed to the arrangement after a long talk with Mr Clearwater. Roger and I then persuaded Penelope and her mother that the plan was a good idea. Penelope and I were married very quietly on the night the party was to have occurred. The only other people present were the senior wizard who performed the ceremony, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Moody as the independent witness.
"As you know Penelope's parents were murdered four days after Penelope and I left England. Penelope wanted to return to arrange her parents' funeral but, after a long discussion, she agreed not to return at that time. I am glad that she did not return because I later found out that Penelope and I were accused of the murders. It was only the word of the celebrant that kept us from being hunted down by the Aurors.
"Since then we have travelled from city to city, using magic only when it was absolutely necessary and living for the day. Our recklessness has meant that we will be parents earlier than we had planned, around June we believe. The Muggle Doctors are quite inaccurate with their predictions and cannot give us an exact day.
"Father and Mother, I hope that we shall be home in England by the time our child arrives and that you may see your grandchild in person. If you are receiving this letter after my death, I apologise for disappointing you and hope you will understand why I left. Your loving son, Percival Weasley."
Arthur sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. His mind was churning with imagined scenes of the teenage couple trying to survive in the Muggle world in an unfamiliar country. Why in the world had Roger Clearwater let the situation get so out of control? Poor Penny had paid the price for her father's stupidity.
Molly was crying quietly in her chair. The thought of losing Percy as well as Fred had overpowered her.
Bill gave his brothers a signal. Charlie and George took the hint and went into the kitchen to make a pot of tea. Meanwhile Bill used his charm to move his parents to the sofa. Bill watched his Dad click out of his daydream and back to the present.
Arthur took hold his wife's hand and, comforted by his touch, she soon stopped crying. By the time the tea things were on the table, Molly had calmed down enough to gripe about the chipped mugs on the tray.
"Let's leave the rest 'til later," Charlie suggested. He didn't need to read the parchment to know what had happened to Percy. He'd heard most of it from Dumbledore and Percy himself, six months ago.
"I've got to head off tomorrow," Bill replied. "I suppose I could take them to my room and read them alone."
"No," said George. "We need to read them now. Together. Or it'll be like when Fred died." Everyone winced at the memories George's words evoked and no one objected when Bill picked up the bundle of parchment.
Percy would have been surprised to learn that his family wanted to hear what he had to say. He would have been even more surprised at the reaction his family had to his words scrawled messily across a small piece of parchment. Words that were written so messily that Bill had to cast a spell to decipher them.
"Penelope's dead. My beautiful girl's gone and I can't even bury her. I never knew anything could hurt as much as this. Why did she have to die? It should be me. I should be me lying in that muddy street. It should be my body waiting for the Muggle police to find it not hers. I promised to protect her and I failed. I always fail. Why didn't I stay there with her? Why did I run?
"Her beautiful hair was in the gutter. She would have hated that. She always liked to look her best. I left her, Mum. I found her there and I left her.
"I have to keep running. I don't know if the Death Eaters know about Crystal. The damn land's Crystal's now. How am I ever going to tell her that I left her mother dead in the street?"
Bill stopped reading and looked at his stunned family.
"I think I'm going to need something stronger than tea," he said hoarsely.
To be continued
Author's Note: Thanks again for the encouragement and the comments, both positive and negative. I can't remember if Penny father's first name was in the books so I've named him Roger.
Mega-soppiness and angst warning.
--------
Crystal
--------
Part Five
--------
"Is everyone ready now?" Arthur Weasley's frustration was showing in his voice, a rare event in the Burrow.
"Uh, yeah, Dad." Charlie sat down on the sofa and levitated a large bowl of potato crisps and a tall glass of pumpkin juice onto nearby side table.
"Uh huh," added George through a mouthful of hot cocoa. Bill and Molly, who were waiting anxiously for Arthur to begin reading, nodded.
"Very well," Arthur fiddled with the parchments for a few moments then, when he decided Charlie and George had been punished enough for their childish behaviour, he began to read aloud.
"Dear Father, Mother, William, Charles, Frederick," Arthur hesitated for a moment then continued reading, "George, Ronald and Virginia, Hello. Tomorrow is Christmas Day and I find myself thinking of you, my family."
"Good of him to tell us we're his family," Charlie grinned.
"How long is this thing?" Bill muttered.
"Sssh!" Molly glared at her eldest sons.
"I must apologise," read Arthur in a firm voice, "for departing England without warning or explanation and for any pain my departure may have caused: although my position in the family leads me to believe that I shall not be greatly missed."
"Not missed?" Molly sniffed, "How could he believe...?"
"Dear, maybe he will explain later?" Arthur snapped. Molly fell silent and Arthur sent her a silent, apologetic glance. Then he continued to read.
"As a dutiful son I should explain why I left England. Penelope and I have discussed this and she agrees it is best that I tell you, even though this letter may cause our deaths if it were to fall into the wrong hands."
"That's our Perce the drama queen," Charlie chuckled dryly. He sat back in surprise when everyone else yelled 'shut up' at him.
"The first thing you should know is that Penelope and I did not have to get married. I am sure that Charlie, Fred and George will be disappointed to know that Penelope was not pregnant, nor was her father carrying a Muggle shotgun or threatening me with any or all of the forbidden curses. I wish the reasons for our marriage were that simple for I could face a such a dishonour with equanimity."
Arthur sighed again. As much as he loved Percy he wished the boy would write in plain English. He read the next twelve paragraphs silently then summarised them, "Percy and Penny were engaged for months but didn't tell anyone because Roger Clearwater, her father, asked them to wait. Ummm... oh I see... Roger got into a dispute over land with a neighbour. The neighbour was a suspected Death Eater and decided to bypass the Wizard's Court and win the dispute his way. Uhhh... Percy and Penny were about to announce their engagement at the Clearwater's party..."
"The one that was cancelled at the last minute?" Molly asked. Her husband nodded and Molly saw an expression of shock cross his face. "Arthur?"
"The Death Eater's solution was to kill all the Clearwaters and anyone else with a claim to the land. Five of the Clearwaters were killed on their way to the party." Arthur closed his eyes for a moment then opened them and began reading Percy's words aloud.
"The Clearwaters had been receiving threats for some time but this did not worry me greatly. When I was with the Ministry I was often threatened by Death Eaters, or possible Death Eaters, because I worked for Mr Crouch. The added threats from them because of Penelope were minimal in comparison.
"As soon as Roger Clearwater and I realised our folly, Mr Clearwater put his own plan into action. He was determined that regardless of whatever happened to the rest of his family he would make sure that Penelope would be safe. His plan was that Penelope should go into hiding in Europe, however he did not wish for her to travel alone and unprotected. What he suggested was that Penelope and I marry immediately. He would supply us with enough money to survive comfortably for a year or stringently for two. Mr Clearwater's expectation was that he would work with the Ministry and the Aurors to catch the Death Eater concerned with the evidence they needed to stop the murders. Penelope and I would return once the culprit was in Azkabahan.
"I was not happy with the idea of doing something so dishonourable and improper, even though the two things I wanted most were to be married to Penelope and rid of my Ministry job. I only agreed to the arrangement after a long talk with Mr Clearwater. Roger and I then persuaded Penelope and her mother that the plan was a good idea. Penelope and I were married very quietly on the night the party was to have occurred. The only other people present were the senior wizard who performed the ceremony, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Moody as the independent witness.
"As you know Penelope's parents were murdered four days after Penelope and I left England. Penelope wanted to return to arrange her parents' funeral but, after a long discussion, she agreed not to return at that time. I am glad that she did not return because I later found out that Penelope and I were accused of the murders. It was only the word of the celebrant that kept us from being hunted down by the Aurors.
"Since then we have travelled from city to city, using magic only when it was absolutely necessary and living for the day. Our recklessness has meant that we will be parents earlier than we had planned, around June we believe. The Muggle Doctors are quite inaccurate with their predictions and cannot give us an exact day.
"Father and Mother, I hope that we shall be home in England by the time our child arrives and that you may see your grandchild in person. If you are receiving this letter after my death, I apologise for disappointing you and hope you will understand why I left. Your loving son, Percival Weasley."
Arthur sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. His mind was churning with imagined scenes of the teenage couple trying to survive in the Muggle world in an unfamiliar country. Why in the world had Roger Clearwater let the situation get so out of control? Poor Penny had paid the price for her father's stupidity.
Molly was crying quietly in her chair. The thought of losing Percy as well as Fred had overpowered her.
Bill gave his brothers a signal. Charlie and George took the hint and went into the kitchen to make a pot of tea. Meanwhile Bill used his charm to move his parents to the sofa. Bill watched his Dad click out of his daydream and back to the present.
Arthur took hold his wife's hand and, comforted by his touch, she soon stopped crying. By the time the tea things were on the table, Molly had calmed down enough to gripe about the chipped mugs on the tray.
"Let's leave the rest 'til later," Charlie suggested. He didn't need to read the parchment to know what had happened to Percy. He'd heard most of it from Dumbledore and Percy himself, six months ago.
"I've got to head off tomorrow," Bill replied. "I suppose I could take them to my room and read them alone."
"No," said George. "We need to read them now. Together. Or it'll be like when Fred died." Everyone winced at the memories George's words evoked and no one objected when Bill picked up the bundle of parchment.
Percy would have been surprised to learn that his family wanted to hear what he had to say. He would have been even more surprised at the reaction his family had to his words scrawled messily across a small piece of parchment. Words that were written so messily that Bill had to cast a spell to decipher them.
"Penelope's dead. My beautiful girl's gone and I can't even bury her. I never knew anything could hurt as much as this. Why did she have to die? It should be me. I should be me lying in that muddy street. It should be my body waiting for the Muggle police to find it not hers. I promised to protect her and I failed. I always fail. Why didn't I stay there with her? Why did I run?
"Her beautiful hair was in the gutter. She would have hated that. She always liked to look her best. I left her, Mum. I found her there and I left her.
"I have to keep running. I don't know if the Death Eaters know about Crystal. The damn land's Crystal's now. How am I ever going to tell her that I left her mother dead in the street?"
Bill stopped reading and looked at his stunned family.
"I think I'm going to need something stronger than tea," he said hoarsely.
To be continued
