The Mother Who Cried Werewolf
Chapter Eleven
To and Fro
The room was tense with silence until the sound of the kettle whistling brought Arthur back to reality. He took the kettle off the heat and poured him, Bill and Charlie three warm cups of tea. The smell of his favourite brew did nothing to distract him from how conflicted he was.
Bill had been rattling on for the last half hour about how Percy wasn't happy about Molly being around the house and that he didn't trust them enough to tell them why. He didn't know why this surprised him, considering Percy was more complicated than a sixteen-inch Potions essay.
How in Merlin's name was he supposed to kick his wife out of the house for a second time? And what was he supposed to say now?
Molly was out of the house, back in, and now, Arthur was pushing her out again? For Merlin's sake.
"Dad, are you okay?" Bill asked. He was biting his lower lip so hard he was chewing the skin off. The last time he looked this worried, it was when he'd tried to come to terms with how upset his mum was that he was leaving Britain to be a Curse Breaker in Egypt.
Arthur stirred in the sugar; eyebrows knitted in concentration. "Just peachy keen," he said, imitating Percy.
"I guess we've jumped the broom on this, haven't we?"
Bill didn't do any of that. Arthur did. He brought this on himself because he couldn't read his son's body cues enough to know that Percy wanted nothing to do with Molly. "I suppose I have," Arthur said.
"Dad, how are you going to tell mum about this?" Charlie asked.
"I don't know if I can."
"But dad, what if she has been hurting him?"
"And what if she hasn't?"
Which one did you believe? Arthur felt like he was between a rock and a hard place. If he pushed Molly out, he had lost all credibility he'd ever have with her. He'd made a farce of their family, their marriage, and he didn't think he'd ever be able to correct that if he kicked her out again. If he'd let her stay there, there was a constant unease every time she was alone with Percy.
"Did Molly ever hurt either of you?" Arthur asked.
"Dad, of course not!" Bill said. He sounded surprised that Arthur could even suggest that.
"Do you know if she's done anything to anyone else?"
"Dad!" Ginny said from the doorway. She looked shocked at Arthur's accusation too.
Arthur didn't know if he could exactly write to the twins and Ron in their letters.
"No, dad," Charlie said. "I don't think she's done anything to anyone else. I think it's just Percy. But I'm not sure."
"She wouldn't," Bill said. "I don't think that she would."
"How would you know?" Charlie asked as he shoved Bill to the side. Small bits of tea splashed onto Bill's boots.
"Hey! Those are real dragonhide!"
"Serves you right."
Arthur thought it was just Percy too. His wife had changed after she'd had him. She'd had a horrific pregnancy and even more traumatising birth, and he was the fussiest baby they'd had. She could barely cope with him. Arthur knew that he hadn't been there for her as much as he should. But if he threw her out again, he'd be turning his back on his wife for a second time without any objective evidence that she'd done anything wrong.
"There's no real proof of that," Arthur said. "Just a box of chocolates."
"So, you keep saying, dad," Charlie said. "But what about the hospital staff? They've said they thought that mum has been doing the same thing to Percy? Because I think it's too much of a coincidence. And I've never heard mum mention anything about Percy's heart before. I don't think that she knew. Have you?"
"I can't say I've been paying much attention, I'm afraid."
"I think it's too much of a coincidence that mum left, and suddenly, Percy's collapsed the next day," Bill said.
Both good points, Arthur wagered. "I think your mother's moved back in too quickly," Arthur said. "I think we should do a bit of a trial run then. Have her around for a few hours every day." That sounded like a decent compromise with him. And he wouldn't have to leave Percy alone with her that way.
"Yeah, dad," Bill said. He added cream to his tea. "That sounds good."
Charlie didn't look convinced. "Dad, I don't think I trust mum anymore. I don't think she should be here."
Arthur didn't know if he'd come to that conclusion himself. He was at a standstill, and his suggestion made more sense to him. Talking to Molly about it, though, was another beast. Arthur took a biscuit out of the tin and dunked it into his tea before eating it. Bill copied Arthur and Charlie wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"You're animals, the lot of you," Charlie said. "That's a perfect biscuit you've ruined."
As Arthur and Bill started demolishing biscuits from the tin, Percy walked into the kitchen and joined them. He refused to sit down no matter how much Arthur insisted that he did and was scoffing the lot at the rate of two chocolate digestives.
"I want to go to Audrey's house," Percy said in between mouthfuls.
"Where is it?" Arthur asked.
"London."
Arthur supposed that was feasible enough. "Do you have the address?" Percy, who was still eating biscuits, nodded his head. There were crumbs all over the floor and down his pyjama top. "Does she know that you're coming?"
Percy swallowed and, without skipping a beat, said, "She's invited me for dinner."
"Are you sure you can eat dinner now that you've polished the whole biscuit tin?" Bill asked.
"Hilarious," Percy said. He took three more biscuits and stuffed them in his throat before walking away.
After finishing his tea, Arthur passed by Percy's room to find out he'd already changed. His hospital holdall was unzipped, stuffed with books and clothes beside him. Percy was in a pair of loose white trousers, a black t-shirt with artsy runes, and an oversized black coat. All his clothes looked like they were dug up from the depths of Bill's closet. If Arthur walked close enough, he was sure that there would be a film of dust on that coat.
"What's that for? Are you planning on staying there?" Arthur asked as he gestured to Percy's holdall.
Percy liked to make decisions without telling anyone. He came back home and wanted to sleep on the couch. He decided to go to Audrey's house and had packed like he would stay there for the night. "I don't know," he said.
"What about your medicine?"
"I don't have to be in Devon to take it."
Cheeky lad. Arthur would give him that. "Did you pack it with you?" he asked. Percy nodded his head. "Your mother will have my head knowing I've let you go into a stranger's house and stay the night." He chuckled.
"Yeah, well, I don't care," Percy said. "She can deal with it by herself. She's not a child."
"She cares about you. You can't blame a mother for caring."
"I bet Dementors care more about the prisoners they're looking after."
Percy's barbed comment was hard to ignore. There was no mistaking that he loathed his mother. He didn't know if it was just that their relationship was strained or if it was something more, but a change of scenery would do him good.
Arthur was horrible at directions. Percy wasn't any better. They must have spent ages circling London when they got there, looking for Audrey's flat. It wasn't the poor lass' fault either. The directions she gave Percy were clear and concise, but it was a shame that neither of them knew how to follow them. Out of sheer luck, Percy spotted the newly opened fish and chip shop that they were supposed to use as their landmark. They must've spent a whole half hour just running about London like two headless chickens before that.
Audrey's apartment complex was unassuming from afar. As they headed to the flat, Percy got sidetracked by a stall near a robe shop next to the apartments. Percy gawked at the vendor and watched him paint a dragon with nothing more than a thin brush and a glop of red paint. Arthur watched Percy's facial expressions change as he took in the sight of the drawing. What started as amusement turned quickly into astonishment. It was more than he'd gotten from Percy before. Usually, Arthur found it hard to read any of his expressions. It was a quick drawing, without much detail, but Percy stared at it like it was the next Oliver Cartwright.
"Which one is this?" Percy asked.
"That's a Chinese Fireball," Arthur said. Seeing as Percy was so transfixed by it, he turned to the vendor and asked, "How much?"
After shelling out the money he barely had, the vendor handed the drawing over to Percy after applying a quick-drying spell and adding a few extra touches. After he finished, the dragon was glossy with glowed scales and had moving dark eyes.
Percy gingerly took the drawing after Arthur had paid for it. He ran his thumb through the page, feeling the brush strokes. It took Arthur a few attempts to remind Percy that Audrey expected him.
Audrey's flat was on the second floor. Percy could barely climb up the stairs. By the time they'd gotten to the door, Percy was heavily sweating and had to lean against the wall to catch his breath. Arthur stood there waiting for a few minutes until he felt like Percy's breathing was deeper, more controlled before he knocked on the door. A young woman who looked like she was around Charlie's age answered. She introduced herself as Sunflower, Audrey's sister, and invited them in.
Sunflower! Arthur hoped that this wasn't her real name.
The flat was small but tidy. A pink carpet covered most of the light wooden floorboards. The couches, chairs and pillows were an array of colours—red, orange, pink, and yellow. They looked like they belonged in a bag of Honeyduke's gummy sweets. Lamps were adorning the room, all in the shapes of wands and cauldrons, changing colour. There was a stack of no-heat candles by the table. A brown-haired toddler was sitting on the couch, cramming cookies into her mouth a la Percy style. The smell of freshly baked cookies and vanilla filled the air.
Sunflower disappeared into one of the rooms, and Audrey emerged out of her room. She was wearing a pair of pink trousers and a white shirt. Her hair was done up in curls, and her nails were painted white. She had a couple of dangly earrings on with a few studs. Arthur didn't notice it before, but she had at least three piercings in her ear—and was that one in her nose? Blimey.
Arthur wondered if Percy even noticed that she'd made an effort or if he was as oblivious as Arthur used to be.
She said her hellos and took his holdall from him, gesturing for him to follow her into her room.
Sunflower returned with a tray with a floral teapot, carnation pink teacups, and a canister of sugar and cream in a jug. She invited him in for tea, and he looked for the least dainty chair to sit down on. He was afraid it might break under his weight. She asked him how he wanted his tea—black, two sugars, a dash of cream—and handed it.
Arthur's taste in tea changed so often that tea was a hit and miss thing for him. But this one hit the spot.
"Um, Mr Weasley… are they together?" Sunflower asked. "Do you know?"
"I'm not sure."
"I don't think I'm sure either," Sunflower said. She smiled at him. She drank her tea slowly. She was wearing a cream sundress even though it was freezing outside. Her hair was long, brown and tied back. "I think Percy's staying over. Does he have any medicine that he needs to take?" when Sunflower asked, Arthur went through his potions list. He could barely pronounce the names of some of them and had resigned to going by colour. Sunflower listened intently and seemed to understand. "Oh, alright. And does he have any sort of…special dietary requirements?"
"No," Arthur said. "But he may eat you out of house and home."
He imagined them all sitting down to eat with small dishes with perfectly portioned pieces of lasagne whilst Percy ate out of the pan.
"That's alright," Sunflower said. "I've made enough blueberry loaves, apple crumbles and carrot cakes for the whole of the Ministry, I'd reckon."
She gestured towards the kitchen. Arthur could see the door was open, and there were rows upon rows of cakes even from where he was sitting. "I run a bakery from home," she said. She pulled out her wand and presented him with a glossy purple-and-yellow pamphlet for STAKES AND CAKES with an Accio.
"Stakes?" Arthur echoed.
"Yes, well…" Sunflower said. "I'm a vampire, so that's a play on that."
Arthur jerked his head up. "Vampire?" he asked.
"Yes. Vampire. You know, the living dead. That sort of thing."
"The living…" Arthur said. He was stunned. "Does this mean that Audrey's a vampire?"
"Yeah, didn't you know?"
"An asthmatic vampire?"
"That is funny now that you've put it like that."
Somehow, Percy missed that crucial detail. Arthur tried to recover from that but was failing quite miserably.
Sunflower began launching into an explanation of all the funny names she made up for her baked goods to emphasise that they were a spooky bakery. Their birthday cakes were called tombstone cakes, and their signature icing was blood red. She decorated the blueberries with white icing and made them into eyeballs with raisins for her blueberry loaves. The apple crumble was bleeding out. The carrot cake pictures made them look like they were made to feed a ghoulish rabbit. Arthur smiled awkwardly, planning to make an escape when the conversation permitted.
"Mr Weasley, do you want another cup of tea?" Sunflower asked after she finished her spiel.
"No, thank you," Arthur couldn't get himself to look away from the pamphlet in his hands. He didn't notice that the Danish pastries were bat-shaped before. "Well, um…you look very rosy for someone considered to be living dead."
"Why thank you," Sunflower said. "I've been using this remedy, you know. It's rejuvenating."
"It shows."
"Thank you so much. I know garlic is toxic and all, but sometimes I rub some garlic-scented face cream, and it brings me to life!"
"How…um…unique."
Sunflower laughed.
"I must dash," Arthur said. "But it's been lovely. I'll just have a bit of a chat with Percy before I go."
Sunflower led him to Audrey's room. When Arthur opened the door, he swore he was about to double over from a coronary. With the pink clothes and dangly earrings, Pretty Audrey had an all-black room with more rock band posters than Bill did. There were leather jackets on the floor and a stuffed teddy that had seen better days. He swore there was a bloodstain on a tea mug. The radio at the far end of the room was announcing Quidditch scores. There was a carpet with a massive skull on it. Percy was sitting in bed with this girl, and their lips looked like they might as well be glued together. Audrey broke the kiss apart and looked away from Arthur. Percy's ears flushed red.
"Percy, a word," Arthur said.
Percy got up from the bed and walked over to him. Arthur's instinct was to grab Percy and drag him out of the house, but he was already on thin ice with Percy as it was. They stepped out of the room together. The air felt tense, and the warm scent of cookies made Arthur double over. Blood cookies? Arthur thought.
"When did that happen?" Arthur asked.
"Just now," Percy said. "We were just talking."
"Just talking, and then you were just snogging."
"Father, please," Percy said. He rubbed his temple, sighing deeply.
"Your girlfriend's a vampire."
Percy looked surprised by that. He hadn't known either.
"She's not my girlfriend—well, I don't know. We haven't talked about it," Percy said. He was as surprised as the twins' teachers were when they unleashed wreckage on the students once again. "I'll see you tomorrow then." As if it was the most normal thing in the world to know that your girlfriend was a different species to you entirely.
"I don't think you should be snogging too long in your condition."
Percy rolled his eyes. "My girlfriend is not going to eat me," he said.
"I might," Audrey said when she poked her head out of the door. "Do you want some tea? I could make us a few cups. And I've made Flo make a few of your favourite salted caramel puddings."
Percy wrinkled his nose. "No more of those, please, but yes, I'd love some tea," he said. "Are you a vampire?"
"Yes," Audrey said.
"Oh, alright," Percy said. That was the extent of them trying to figure that one out.
"Are you my boyfriend?"
"I don't know," he said. "We'll figure it out when my father isn't standing right in front of me."
"Oh, okay," Audrey said. "Do you mind if I put saffron in our tea?"
"Just a little."
"Whatever," she said as she walked towards the kitchen. "I'll put as much as I want."
"Then why ask me?"
After Audrey went into the kitchen, Percy led Arthur out to the door. Before Arthur could explain his concerns, Percy reminded him that he was still staying the night and yet again that his maybe-girlfriend was not going to eat him. He was going to an art museum with her later, and they were going to come back to the flat for a late dinner. Arthur reminded Percy five times that he was picking him up in the morning at seven sharp.
Before Percy slammed the door to his face, he heard Sunflower tell Arthur that she would get him a sample of her face cream for him to use if ever he felt terrible about how his skin was wrinkling in his old age.
Retreating home, Arthur felt dissociated from everything around him. His ailing son had a girlfriend who happened to be a vampire. He and Molly needed to be distanced. Meanwhile, the twins and Ron were doing Merlin-knew-what at school, probably terrifying the masses.
At home, Arthur, Molly, Charlie, Bill and Ginny had an awkward dinner with little conversation between them. Molly seemed cold towards Arthur, probably because he'd taken Percy out of the house without her permission.
After dinner, they retreated upstairs to their shared room. Arthur didn't sleep in the same bed as his wife. He slept downstairs on the couch. The house was eerily quiet and had been without the twins and Ron for ages now. Arthur couldn't wait to hide in the shed for the rest of the night after the imminent disaster that this conversation would follow.
"Mollywobbles, we need to talk," Arthur told Molly as she was brushing her hair.
She put the brush down. Her curly hair was tangled. She looked thinner than she ever had.
"What is it now?" she asked. "Think I'm setting Charlie alight, and that's how he got his burns?"
"No."
"Then what is it?"
She turned to him. Her dark eyes were as hard as a stone. Molly pursed her lips tight, but a weariness in her posture made her look defeated.
"I don't think Percy's comfortable having you around," Arthur said. "I may have rushed this."
"Of course, you have," she said. She sounded disconcertingly similar to Percy. "Let me guess. You want me to move out of the house, leave all my children again for the second time whilst you twiddle your thumbs on what to do next?"
"Err…"
Arthur stroked the nape of his neck. He was starting to sweat in his clothes, even though he was wearing a pair of thin yellow pyjamas.
"I left for two days, and my son nearly died! You wouldn't even let me see him."
"I can't ignore how uncomfortable he is around you, Mollywobbles. I think we just need to introduce it more slowly."
"More slowly," Molly said. "Why don't I just kick you out for once?"
Arthur thought that she was joking. "I can't leave this house," he said. "I've paid for it for one."
"And why not?" Molly said. She stood up from the chair, her hairbrush falling to the floor. "You almost killed MY child not a few days after leaving the house! I've told you that he was ill, and you didn't believe me and now, look at what's happened." Her nostrils flared, and she was waving around her hands theatrically. "He went into cardiac arrest two months ago, and now, he's playing tongue Quidditch with his girlfriend without any of us there to supervise him."
If Arthur had stayed there to supervise Percy, his son would never speak to him again.
"Then how come all the healers think that you're the one that's making him ill?" Arthur asked.
"The healers," Molly echoed. "Of course, you've sided with the healers that you've never even met. Why am I not surprised?" her statement was jarring. She was right. Arthur hadn't gone to any of her appointments before. He didn't know what they'd said to her. Maybe they'd pegged her wrong all along. "Do you know anything, Percy?"
Arthur pushed all that aside. "No, I don't," he said. "But neither do you besides how sick he is."
"At least I've tried."
He couldn't argue that. She tried when he hadn't even bothered.
"Maybe we need to see someone," he said. "I don't think that we should be living together just yet. We've just separated. It hasn't been more than a couple of months. There needs to be an adjustment period for that."
Molly scoffed.
"Mollywobbles, please," Arthur was seconds away from dropping to his knees and begging her. He had his hands clasped together and was shaking. Tears were starting to form in his eyes.
"Fine," she said and turned away from him. "I'll suppose I'll just pack my bags! Go back to dear ole Muriel!"
She threw the trunk on the bed as loudly as possible. The sound jolted Arthur from his spot as she threw the dresses she'd already unpacked. Within minutes of her waving her wand around, pictures and jewellery were flying everywhere. A massive box smacked Arthur at the back of his head.
"Ow!" Arthur said.
"What's that, love?" Molly asked as she turned around. "Bit of a headache?"
Arthur supposed he deserved that.