Audrey knew a lost cause when she saw one, and even if she didn't, it would be hard to miss this one. She had come with Percy to the second viewing with his father and Bill. Fred and George had got wind and turned up as well and the collective unease on their faces when they saw the state of the house made her laugh silently to herself. The hesitant questioning of if this was really the best they could afford had her stuffing her fist in her mouth to stifle the giggles. They had stood there huddled together in the grimy front room looking around with concern giving her and Percy such looks of worry she hadn't been able to not laugh.
Percy had then gone on, of course, to wax lyrical about the opportunities. Building something of his own for them both. She'd heard a variant of this speech before of course, but she watched as both Arthur and Bill listened their expressions changing from wary caution to deepening understanding. There must be something about magic making you able to do things that made you want to do things because Arthur and Bill started looking around the sitting room with renewed interest. Even the twins seemed to have been caught by the idea although for those two it was less surprising they spent so much time finding potential it made sense they could see what Percy was driving at.
Either way, it seemed not to matter, the house wove its spell on the Weasley men as surely as it had on Percy, and Audrey just knew that she would end up living here. It was possibly a good thing that she was now ignoring the atmosphere of 'recently deceased elderly person' and starting to come around to Percy's point of view.
The estate agent had remained outside in their car during the viewing which had made it easier for Percy to explain how he was going to put in a fireplace worthy of floo travel into the cellar so it could be easily hidden from her family and friends. How the garden could be warded so they could have privacy though it wasn't big enough for real broom flying it would be suitable later. She ignored the significant looks exchanged between the elder siblings and their father.
The conversation between the three of them had descended into the confusing depths of hearth magic, and despite her general curiosity about how that would affect their future home Audrey wandered off to find where the twins had gone.
She found them poking around upstairs.
"Audrey!" They greeted her. "This is certainly something."
Audrey laughed. "I know it is a fixer-upper. My Dad found it for us, it's cheap it's the size we wanted in the area we wanted without plunging us into thousands of pounds of debt for years to come. And weirdly Percy really likes it."
Fred snorted. "Has he seen the bathroom?"
"Yes," Audrey said with a smile. "And the garden, the cellar and the kitchen, but it doesn't seem to matter."
"I've had never have guessed," George said gingerly leaning up against a doorframe. "He was always so neat and proper. His school uniform was always perfect he looked like he'd spelled it that way."
Audrey shrugged. "He wants to do it himself, to fix it and build something. I get that."
"Do you like it? The house?"
Audrey looked around the grimy landing. The dirty lightbulb casting a depressing yellow hue on the filthy walls. "There's a feeling you get with houses," Audrey said. "They've got history and a story of their own. I think this house has been neglected for so long it's crying out for someone to love it, to make it a home. There's a house up the road for sale that hasn't been let go and its lovely. Not perfect and completely outside of our budget but I can see how this house could become that."
"You're both mad you know," Fred said cheerfully.
"Yes," Audrey agreed. "But Percy is going to learn the magic necessary, and I'll do whatever can that can't be done by magic."
"We'll help," George said. "Dad and Bill will too by the look on their faces."
"See," Audrey laughingly accused. "You aren't immune to the idea of fixing it up either."
"No," George agreed. "The Burrow is a bit like this. Not structurally of course but it was added on to by Mum and Dad as they needed it. It's not well organised or anything but it fairly hums with our family's magic, and there's something about it. I can understand Percy wanting that."
"How soon will you be able to have it?" Fred asked as the three of them made their way downstairs.
"We'll be cash buyers so no more than a couple of weeks. All the surveys will need to be done of course which is what takes the time but it's possible we will have the keys before Percy's notice is up on his flat."
It took three weeks for the purchase to go through, the survey threw up nothing unexpected, and Rick was able to negotiate a price of sixty-five thousand. While they could have afforded to buy it outright, they went to the bank for a twenty-thousand-pound mortgage so not to tie all their money up in the house leaving some left for the work that couldn't be done by magic.
Audrey and Percy went to collect the keys together having both arranged to take the afternoon off work. They went straight to the house letting themselves in through the front door. Stood in the hall, the sun trying and failing to properly illuminate the space through the dirty glass Audrey took Percy's hand.
"So, home."
"Home," Percy said pulling her into an embrace. "Thank you. I know you aren't as sold on this as I am."
"I'm not against it Percy, I wouldn't have agreed to it if I was. I'm nervous about how much work it will need and how much money we'll need to spend despite how much magic can save us."
Percy squeezed her gently in acknowledgement. "I haven't been idle while the sale was going through."
"I know," Audrey interrupted with a smile. "'100 spells for the home'. I found it when we were packing up your flat."
Percy grinned abashedly shrugging. "It's Dad's he leant it to me. They will be coming over at the weekend to put the hearthstone in."
Percy let her go and went to the front door poking his head out. He left the door open and retreated further up the hall checking to ensure he couldn't be seen from the street although the overgrown front garden largely blocked the sight lines from the pavement.
Audrey watched him withdraw his wand and with the promised swish and flick Percy sent a spell at the front door. Stepping forward and taking her hand, he smiled and indicated the door. The glass was sparkling clean inside and out. The grime was gone and the paint now an attractive green colour, though peeling and cracked. The door knocker and letterbox were revealed to be a tarnished bronze from under the layer of dirt that had coloured them black.
Audrey smiled in delight.
"Wait, there's more," Percy pulled her back up the hall where they couldn't be seen again. Another flourish and Percy lea her back to the door. The paint looked good as new, and the letterbox and knocker gleamed untarnished and bright bronze.
Audrey swung the door shut and it smoothly slotted into its frame the slight sticking gone with Percy's spells. The stained-glass porthole in the upper half of the door now let sunshine spill in beautiful colours into the hall. Audrey felt the tears come up the back of her throat at the restored door. It was beautiful, and it showed her the real possibility that Percy had hung on to while she had been so uncertain.
She turned to Percy who was looking pleased with the door. "How much can you do today?"
Percy shrugged. "The windows can be cleaned easily enough. I can clean the nets, which we are going to have to leave up until we're done as we can't let anyone see what I'm doing. But they will at least be clean," Percy made a moue of disgust at the sagging grey fabric hanging in the front room windows.
"I'm going to cast a cleaning charm on the paint outside as well although I'll use a weaker one over several days, so the neighbours don't get suspicious. It's quite dirty, and it would be noticeable if it were suddenly clean overnight."
Audrey nodded in understanding. "What about the guttering? Can you fix that? The survey said it would need replacing."
Percy nodded. "Yes, I can do, this weekend once it's gone dark I'll do that. I can do it all at once since no one really pays attention to it. I'll go up into the loft and put the charm on the roof as well this weekend."
"What can you do now?" Audrey asked looking around the front room they had moved into.
"Well," Percy said with an excited grin. "We'll need to open the doors and windows first, then I'll show you?"
"Alright," Audrey nodded stepping over to the front bay window and inspecting the window opener. Gingerly she lifted the bar and shoved the frame with her hand. Paint cracked and flaked as the window opened. She suppressed the desire to wipe her hands on her jeans. Once they were done, she'd wash them in the sink. Her face dropped as she realised the house didn't have a sink in either the kitchen or bathroom.
Percy noticed the fall in her expression and raised a querying eyebrow as he wrestled with the other window.
"There's no sink to wash in," she explained.
Percy shook his head slightly holding out his hand. "Give me your hands."
Audrey held them out and watched as Percy waved his wand over them. Instantly they were clean, and Audrey turned them over in surprise.
"Just like Magic," Percy said laughingly smug.
Audrey dropped her hands rolling her eyes. "Alright smart arse, I forget okay. This is probably the most magic I've seen other than the stuff that does the dishes."
Percy dropped a kiss on her head. "Well hold on to your hat then. I don't think we're going to get the windows open without a fight considering it looks like they have been painted shut. So," Percy left the room with Audrey on his heels. In the dining room, he pointed his wand at the window and with a quick pronouncement of Latin they popped open. Into the kitchen and the same spell was cast on the door and windows. Then he turned half jogging upstairs with Audrey following poking his head into each room where the windows all instantly obeyed his wand.
Back downstairs in the hall, Percy pulled Audrey close to his chest facing outward, one arm wrapped around her waist keeping her there while his wand arm flourished in front of them both. "Stay still," Percy instructed. "Mum usually kicked us all out of the house before she did this. It's going to get a little blustery in here."
Audrey watched as Percy waved his wand in a convoluted pattern, his spell a garbled string of complicated Latin-sounding words she didn't try to keep track of.
A wind blew in the front door and in through the open windows of the front room which she could see from their position in the hall. It swirled around them, gusting against them, flattened thier clothes to them and catching her hair up tossing it around her head. Her hands came up to tame her hair as her eyes widened at what was happening in front of her and she assumed all over the house. The wind was scouring the walls and ceilings, scouring away the muck, collecting up all the dust and dirt and stripping layers of grime from the floor as it swirled around the interior of the house.
Audrey watched in growing amazement, and the cloud grew darker as more dirt came away from the surfaces. "Where's it going?" Audrey asked raising her voice over the noise of the wind buffeting around the inside of the house.
"The back garden," Percy answered as the wind around them died from a heavy bluster to a light breeze as it exited the house. "There's a spot by the shed that seems to have been a sort of compost heap at one point. I've sent it there."
Audrey looked around her in stunned amazement. The house wasn't sparkling by any stretch, but it was significantly cleaner. The smell that had lingered was gone leaving the cold, sharp smell of the wind. The tiled hall floor was now not only a distinguishable pattern but also colours.
"It's a series of spells," Percy said. "The first does the heavy lifting the next two are more specific."
Audrey nodded and waited patiently in the circle of Percy's arms as he once more raised his wand.
The floor under her feet suddenly changed significantly, the muted colours brightened, the pattern on the tiles standing out in sharp relief. Audrey looked around her wanting to see what other changes there were and noticed that the walls were now clean. A glance upwards showed that the ceiling was white again the plaster showing the cracks that the dirt had hidden.
Percy sagged as the spells complete causing Audrey to whirl in his arms in alarm.
"Percy?"
"It's alright," he said tiredly. "It's a lot of magic and its tiring."
Audrey pulled Percy towards the stair. The carpet no longer looked like it might give either of them a disease, so she pushed him down of to the stairs to sit and rest.
"You didn't say this was going to tire you out," she gently accused.
"Magic is like a physical effort. The more you do, the more you tire. Magical exhaustion is quite possible. Rest will have me back to normal levels, sleep as well. I'll be fine, it's a bit like a muscle, you can use it one way, and you grow used to it, so you don't notice the effort things take. Then you do something different, and it takes more effort, more energy."
"Well, no more for today. We'll lock up and go and get some lunch. Your brothers and Arthur are coming this weekend they can do this hearthstone with you. You will be OK for that won't you?"
"Yes, I'll probably be fine after some lunch. Shall we get something and bring it back here?"
"Yes. Alright." Audrey agreed. "Should I take the nets home with us, and we can put them through the washer?"
"I can clean them," Percy said. "They might still want to go through the washer, but I can get them clean enough."
Audrey got to her feet offering Percy her hand, shaking her head at his comment. "Come on, let's get the windows closed and get some lunch. The washer will do fine for the nets. Not everything has to be done with magic, especially if the washer will get them cleaner. You can dry them if it makes you happier."
Percy rolled his eyes. "Fine have it your way." He raised his wand again, and a distinct thumping could be heard.
Audrey looked at him in concern. "The windows closing," Percy explained. "Come on the back door needs locking. Then lunch."
Audrey trailed after Percy as he locked the door with a key then cast a spell on it.
"What was that?" she asked.
"A locking spell it reinforces the muggle lock."
"Oh, but how will I get through it?"
"You can't, for now, but I'll tie it to the key. Then as long as the key unlocks the door, the magic locks will unlock too."
"You can do that?"
"Yes, it's the same set up I have on my flat. That's why I told you not to copy my keys. Without the added charms you wouldn't have been able to use it."
Percy led Audrey out of the front of the house and closed the door behind him. He locked it with the key then discretely pulled his wand out and cast the locking charm on the door.
"What are we going to do about the kitchen and a bathroom. They need to be fixed before we move in."
Percy shrugged as they walked down the road their house was on in search of the nearest chippy.
"I can fix the floors. I can get some new floorboards and fit them. I can repair the existing plumbing, but we'll need to find someone to fit a new bathroom, and the cooker and hob. The flooring in the kitchen isn't exactly a favourite of mine, and I don't think there are spells enough in the world to repair it."
"Lino isn't my favourite either. What if we pulled it up and put some tiles down?"
"We could. It wouldn't be too difficult I don't think."
"Magic or?"
"I'll check the book and see what it recommends. If we can't find a way to do it magically, we'll have to go muggle and find someone."
Percy apparated them both to the house from her flat.
Today the Weasley men were turning up excepting those out of the country or still in school. Today the ward line would be addressed and the hearthstone laid in. Today their house would become a home.
There was a plan of course. The hearthstone would be set in the cellar. A decision she'd queried with her belief that kitchens were the heart of homes. Percy had explained it needed to be set in the foundations touching the house and the ground it was built upon. That made sense, so she raised no more questions.
Bill had decided he would bring the stone as a gift. Arthur, Fred, and George along with Bill would come and help lay it in lending their magic to power it up and get it running.
Audrey wanted to be there to watch, magic was a huge thing, and she kept getting glimpses. Glimpses were all she was likely to ever get without magic running in her blood, so she didn't want to miss those that were on offer.
Neither Harry or Hermione had laid a hearthstone and Hermione had been very interested in the whole concept. So much so that Audrey suspected if the witch could have managed it she would have been here too. Alas for Hermione, Harry had a Quidditch match, and she was already promised to cheer herself hoarse in the stands.
The Weasleys were due imminently, so Audrey went into the kitchen to drop off the milk, they had migrated a kettle and a collection of cups. But with no fridge, the milk was brought over with them each time they came, and Percy cast a cooling charm on the bottle. Tea things were left on the countertop.
The kitchen was still a mess. They had had the house a week and once the hearthstone was set and the ward line sorted, it, and the bathroom was next on their list to tackle. The house was at least clean now. Clean, however, did not equate to good repair. The dirt had been hiding cracks and holes in the plaster. The skirting boards were under nine layers of gloss paint that had faded yellow, the doors, and door frames were in the same state. The wallpaper was a collection of faded flowers and painted over anaglypta, and it all needed stripping off.
Percy, however, had come prepared, and Audrey knew that she would need to keep her parents away for yet another week to hide the speed in which the house was being fixed up.
They had been surprised by how clean it was only three days after they had collected the keys. Her parents had come armed to do battle against years of dirt and grime only to find that they were late to the party.
Audrey had thought on her feet and claimed Percy had organised a cleaning company to come, to make up for her agreeing to buy a house that was so unclean. Her parents had agreed the idea was sensible, and instead, they had help roll up the carpets in the downstairs room and the stairs.
They had happily loaded them into the back of Rick's estate and hauled them to the tip. Coming back to collect the underlay which was stained, thin and incapable of holding office.
They had stripped out the upstairs carpets as well as Lizzy declared them dreadful. The floorboards underneath were covered in splatters of paint and black with whatever varnish had been applied at the time the house had been constructed.
There had been an agreement that carpet would be returned to the bedrooms and stairs, but the floors would be salvaged downstairs. All the net curtains Percy had wanted to keep up to hide what they were up to, were stripped out by an officious Lizzy who promised that if he really wanted them back, then she'd bring them around the next day once they had been washed dried and ironed. They now hung in the windows once more, starched, clean and still somewhat drab.
Percy had brought some things with him for the when the heathstone was to be laid. He went to drop off his own bundle and Audrey followed him down the stairs to the cooler space. The cellar was, in fact, two rooms mirroring the layout of the front room and dining room above. There were no windows, and a bare bulb hung forlornly from the ceiling in each room over flagged floors. The larger of the two spaces Percy was claiming for himself to put a floo in and some sort of office type space he had yet to clarify.
The back half of the space they were going to give over to the normal sort of thing you kept in a cellar. Although currently, Audrey was sure neither she or Percy owned any of that sort of detritus. She presumed they would in time.
In the space Percy had claimed, there was nothing but whitewashed walls and the floor joists with the wiring and pipework that fed upstairs running alongside.
"What about insulating the walls?" she asked. "I mean its freezing down here."
Percy nodded. "I'll insulate it the wizarding way. Perhaps fix some of those plasterboard sheets to the ceiling to cover the joists wiring and plumbing. The fireplace will provide the main source of heat, and I can use charms to keep the warm circulating and not leaking out of the walls."
"More of your handy tips?"
"Yes," Percy agreed.
"And the fireplace. How much bigger can you make it? Without affecting the house?"
Percy shrugged. "I was going to make it as tall as the room or as tall as I possibly can. It's not going to be quite big enough for Bill to step out of without ducking but he'll only have to duck his head a little I think."
Audrey eyed the chimney breast it was over five-foot-wide and had a large brick hearth that she presumed went a few layers of brick down into the ground to support it as it rose through the height of the house.
"I'll get a gate for it," Percy said reassuringly. "So no one can come through when it's closed."
"Won't that stop you using it?"
"It's our house, I can apparate through the wards. I can set up a charm to let us know if someone is trying to get through. I thought I might leave the shed open for visitors to apparate into, that way they won't be appearing inside the house without invitation while you are here or arousing suspicion in the neighbours."
There was the sound of heavy knocking reverberating through the floor, and they both turned leaving the room and heading for the stairs back up to main part of the house.
There were shadows of people standing on the doorstep. Percy closed the door under the stairs leading to the cellar while Audrey went to open the front door,
George and Fred were stood on the doorstep, and she ushered them in and through to the kitchen.
"It looks a load better," George commented as he walked down the hall sticking his head into the front room and dining room. "Oh," he said as he reached the kitchen.
Audrey didn't stop the wry smile. The kitchen while dirty had looked awful. Now it was clean it was clear that it would have to have alot of attention paid to get it back into a working state again. The cupboards were still hanging off the wall, and the floor was still worn through not that she liked the lino anymore now it was clean.
"It's on the list for today," she said. "Once the hearthstone and wards are done. I have repeatedly been assured that they are the two most important things despite the fact the only running water we have is the outside tap. Or would have if the water was turned on."
"Well," Fred said as he put the kettle on and prepared cups of tea for everyone. "You aren't living here yet and protecting your home is very important and filling a kettle with a charm isn't difficult."
"I know," Audrey said. "But we're currently trying to live in my flat which could probably fit the same space as the front room and dining room combined, and we have this house with all this space. Running water and a working heating system would mean we could live here and fix the decorating."
"You need muggle people to do the plumbing and electrics?"
"Yes," Audrey nodded. "My Dad has contacted a friend of his who is coming out next week to check everything over. He'll give us a quote for what needs doing."
"Can't you just repair the pipes?" Fred asked
"No idea. Certainly not with the electrics and we need more sockets adding to some of the rooms this house hasn't been updated in years and the small bedroom doesn't actually have any sockets in it."
Another knock came from the hall, and Audrey paused listening to see if Percy who hadn't followed them into the kitchen was going to answer it. She heard him move towards the front door and the sounds of Arthur and Bill's arrival. The high, lilting voice that followed them had her standing up from leaning against the counter and moving towards the door.
"Fleur?" Audrey asked in surprise.
"Oui," Fleur came forward to greet her. "Bill told me what he was doing, and I wanted to see your new home. You do not mind?"
"No, of course not, only," Audrey held her hands out gesturing to the house. "It's not exactly liveable yet."
Fleur shrugged. "You will change it yes? Then it matters not."
Fred put the kettle back on as Bill and Arthur joined them in the kitchen.
Once the greetings were out of the way, and the tea brewed Audrey gestured them to follow her through to the dining room where there was more space for the seven of them to discuss things.
The previous owners had left the large dining room table and chairs to be included in the sale of the house. Since it filled the room admirably and it was in good condition now it was clean they had decided to keep it. Everyone took a chair around the table, and Bill pulled a large flat grey rock out of his pocket and placed it on the table.
"I did scout about, and you're nowhere near a ley line. We're going to have to dump a bit of power into it to get it running, but that shouldn't be a problem with so many of us here. The main thing is what do you want on it?"
Percy pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and slid it over to Bill. Arthur leaned in as his elder son perused the list.
Bill pursed his lips. "All of those we can do, I've got a suggestion or two."
"I have as well," Arthur said. "Family wards that I can lay in for you. Did you bring the tools, Bill?"
"Yes," Bill said pulling a roll of soft fabric out of his pocket.
"Right then I suggest we find a way of getting all these to fit on the stone then and then we can get it in." The three moved together around the table, and Fleur gestured to Audrey.
"Will you show me the rest?"
"Yes," Audrey said standing. "Fred, George, Percy was going to put the floo in the cellar. And insulate the walls down there so he can have an office. If we go there first you can get started if you aren't involved in that," Audrey indicated the scribbled diagrams Bill was producing.
The twins nodded standing up. "There's nothing we can add. Bill did our wards, and we don't have a hearthstone in the flat."
Audrey led the way to the cellar leaving the twins examining the walls as she and Fleur returned back upstairs. The tour encompassed the front room then up to the main two bedrooms the hole that the bathroom currently was before ending in the small bedroom at the back.
Fleur looked around at the room. "This would make a good nursery," she commented.
Audrey nodded looking around. "Perhaps, though we aren't planning a family at the moment. Getting the house livable is the first thing. I don't think my parents would mind terribly if we had a child before we got married but Percy would want us to be married before taking that step."
"Once you are married then?"
"Yes," Audrey agreed. "We'll probably have to extend the house a bit if we want more than two."
"It is daunting isn't it," Fleur remarked.
Audrey shot her a quizzical look.
"Bill, he is one of seven!" Fleur explained. "I cannot imagine having that many. Children, magical children are a gift yes but seven." She shuddered. "Two, three even. Perhaps four at a push if they were spaced out, but seven all on top of each other, no I couldn't imagine it."
"Hmm no, two or three might be my limit as well, certainly not seven. I'd never work again. Percy wants a family, but not one as large as his own. And if you think about it if each of them marries and has two or three children, then that's fourteen to twenty-one children. Christmas would be a nightmare you'd never get everyone in one space."
Audrey and Fleur went back to the kitchen. Audrey explained their plan of removing the lino on the floor and fixing whichever cupboards could be saved. Fleur indicated her understanding then pulled her wand from her pocket.
"Then we shall start by getting rid of this floor?" A wave of her wand and the lino was gone. The floor underneath their feet was now grey concrete with the faint outlines of the glue that had previously held the lino down.
"And these cupboards?" Fleur gestured.
"I think we might need to check the wall first," Audrey said. "If the screws have come out of the wall, then the plaster might need fixing. If we can take them off the wall first then put them back on?"
"Yes," Fleur agreed. "If you are keeping them then we can rearrange a little. It would be better to have your sink a little over to the left no? Then it is centred on the window. We can remove and repair them before putting them back."
Audrey nodded in agreement, and Fleur removed the wall cupboards from the wall one at a time with a spell, piling them in the middle of the kitchen.
"There's a spell for putting them back on the wall with screws," Audrey commented. "It's in Percy's book."
Fleur looked interested. "What book is this? I have not heard of such a spell."
"It's one Arthur leant Percy. '100 households spells', its full of things for DIY projects". Audrey carefully manoeuvred around the towers of cupboards. "I'll get it for you it's in the dining room."
Audrey returned with the book and flicked to the correct page handing it to Fleur. While the witch studied the spell and the diagrams showing wand movement Audrey went around the now bare walls checking for broken plaster and failed rawl plugs.
"I think if you can summon the rawl plugs out of the walls and fix the plaster we can rearrange the cupboards to get the best layout before putting them back on the walls. We've got a combined fridge freezer, and there currently isn't space for one so it would be good to make space for that."
Fleur nodded her agreement and summoned the rawl plugs out of the walls. Then she cast several repairing spells on the plaster to seal the holes and fill the cracks.
"Are going to change the wall colour?" Fleur asked as she regarded the now fixed walls which were an unattractive avocado green.
"Yes," Audrey said. "I think well just paint in here not wallpaper."
"What colour?" Fleur asked flourishing her wand again.
"Umm, well, the cupboard doors are wood so maybe cream? I think the work surface is ok," Audrey considered the dark laminate surface. "I don't have any burning desire to change it. The repair and cleaning spells mean it's in good condition."
Fleur flicked her wand, and the walls became a buttery cream colour.
"Oh no, too yellow," Audrey said immediately. Fleur nodded another flick and the yellow faded. Leaving a warm white colour.
"Yes," Audrey nodded. "That's better."
Satisfied Fleur started levitating the cupboards around the room at Audrey's direction as the two women found the best layout for the kitchen. Just as they were discussing the placement of the final wall of cupboards and the need to remove the work surface so they could rearrange the under counter cupboards, Percy stuck his head around the door.
"We're ready to go downstairs. You've done a lot in here," he said noticing the improved layout.
Audrey nodded. "Fleur has been a great help. We just need to sort the under counter cupboards, then the cooker and hob need to go in and our fridge freezer can be brought over and we'll be good to go. Well, once we've sorted the floor". Audrey explained as they followed Percy down into the cellar.
In the cellar, the rest of the Weasley were already gathered.
On the flagged floor stood a small dark cauldron of indeterminate age, a ceramic saucer and a small cloth sack.
Percy stepped forward to the cauldron and knelt on the floor next to it removing things from the sack. Laying out the contents within easy reach around him. his brothers and father arrayed behind him one hand one Percy the other on the person next to them making them a connected circle.
A dull green bundle was selected from the floor, and a whisper of spell caught it alight, smouldering, releasing the scent of sage which began to fill the space.
"For cleansing," Fleur whispered from Audrey's side as they watched.
Percy picked up the flask of water and carefully poured it into the cauldron ensuring it didn't splash. Then he picked up a bundle of dill bound in blue and red chords and put that into the cauldron too.
"Do the colours mean anything? Audrey asked just as quietly.
Fleur nodded. "Dill bound in blue and red will keep anyone meaning harm from entering. The lavender is for love, happiness, and wellness. The silver sickle for prosperity. The iron knife for safety and happiness as well." She recited as they watched Percy add each item into the cauldron.
The explanation stopped as Percy carefully lowered the stone into the cauldron.
"You will need to give blood," Fleur hurriedly whispered as Percy placed a piece of wood on the saucer and cut his finger letting three drops of blood dripped onto the wood. Audrey forewarned, stepped forward when Percy's eyes sought her out. She held out a finger nervously but didn't feel the knife pierce her, and she squeezed the three drops of blood down on to the wood with Percy's before sticking her finger in her mouth.
Stepping back to her place by Fleur, the French woman explained. "The wood is sandalwood for protection, wisdom, and good fortune. See, Percy is using dragon's blood as well, this is for protection and healing. Your blood is bound along with Percy's."
The small piece of wood ignited and as the dragon's blood touched it. As the flame consumed the wood, Percy dropped the saucer and its burning contents into the cauldron.
Audrey couldn't help but remember Helen's words about potions all those months ago. She couldn't imagine how any of what was being done wouldn't result in a mess in the bottom of the cauldron, but she didn't look away, she was determined not to miss anything.
Percy drew his wand and placed the tip on the top of the stone inside the cauldron the began to intone the blessing.
"Grant us walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, and laughter to cheer us. Let those we love to be near and may our home always be too small to hold all our friends."
There was a flash of light within the cauldron, and Percy withdrew his wand. The circle was broken as he stood up removing the stone from within the cauldron. Arthur nodded in satisfaction, Bill lifted the flagstone nearest the base of the chimney and made a hole. Percy placed the stone placed in a hole and replaced the soil as Bill lowered the flagstone back into place.
Audrey stepped forward to look inside the cauldron, it was empty. The water and various herbs and ashes the iron, silver and even the ceramic saucer were gone.
Arthur smiled at her curiosity. "The stone absorbed it along with our magic. It has worked very well."
Audrey nodded having to trust Arthur knew what he was talking about because how could a stone absorb an iron knife, silver coin and a ceramic saucer along with the rest of the things, was beyond her. "The blessing?"
"Ah yes. Well, quite a few generations back at least one Weasley was Irish. The cauldron was handed down through the family. Bit of an heirloom."
Fleur came forward and handed Arthur a phial of potion which he accepted with a smile of thanks.
"Pepper up," Fleur answering Audrey's questioning look. "It is draining, and there is still work to do."
"George will take the garden, and Percy and Fred are to go and get some floorboards for the bathroom. I believe you and Fleur are working in the kitchen and I have been tasked with wallpaper removal." Arthur explained.
Audrey followed Arthur and Fleur back upstairs and into the kitchen. Once they had sorted out the rest of the cupboards, she would nip out and get lunch, and they could eat at the dining room table. It would be the first meal they had served in the house, and it was only right that it would be shared with the people helping their house become a home.