inquiries to any comments on the last chapter:
FairyRave: i had to look back at the chapter and saw exactly where you were getting at. funny cause i didn't think about it that way until i read this comment!
Chapter Fifty-Four
Minutes after entering the Burrow, Audrey collapsed on a rickety old chair. She placed her head into her already wet, pale hands and sobbed with reckless abandon.
Audrey wished that she was sobbing over the fact that her skin had become absolutely covered in strange, strawberry-coloured rashes from Molly's knitted mouldy banana frock. She wished she was sobbing over the fact that three hours ago, she'd found out that her favourite Quidditch team had lost a major match ("It's alright, Audrey," Fred had told her. "I'm sorry that your Quidditch team sucks more than the Chudley Canons." She digressed. Percy could play better than any player on the Chudley Canons... and the Wigtown Wanderers were leaps better than any other European team!) Audrey wished she was sobbing over the fact that it was absolutely freezing tonight, so much so that she was sure that her toes had broken off and were currently rolling around in her heeled Mary Jane shoes. Normally, losing body parts were a very good reason to dissolve into a heaping, sobbing mess but...
Instead, her tears were a product of the fact that the scene that had played out in front of her only moments ago. There she was, taking Percy down a notch (or two... or ten in front of his own mother—whom happened to agree with her!) and he happened to hear every single word that she said... and she still hadn't found out why he'd left the shed in the first place! But oh, he'd heard her and—
Godric... what a truly appalling ordeal. And as one could see, she was handling it rather well! She'd only ploughed through half a tissue box effortlessly, cursed the walls for being walls and attempted to see if there were any garden gnomes she could fling stones at.
Percy? Bonkers? No, he was perfectly sane compared to her at the moment.
Audrey attempted to go see him after the calamity had happened. She found him sitting by his bed. He was sobbing, fingernails digging into his thighs and big, fat tears cascading down his eyes. The minute he caught sight of her, Percy started shaking his head, begging her to leave ("Please. I do not wish for anyone to see me in this dishevelled state. I still wish to preserve the smallest shard of dignity I have left."). She could've argued with him but he'd been so distressed and Audrey didn't think that she could dare disregard his wishes when he was in such a state... especially when she was the one that put him in it!
She sighed deeply, turning her face towards the Weasley family clock. What a lying, poorly constructed hunk of wood! All of the handles of the clock were pointed at Home.
Firstly, Percy was living in a shed with walls that he loathed the shade of, completely secluded from the rest of the house. He was also probably attempting to empty his body of its blood content before sunrise tomorrow. Secondly, Charlie was in Romania. Thirdly, Bill was bouncing between houses. Fourthly, the twins only visited to take the mickey out of her and Percy. And lastly, Ron, Ginny and Arthur were barely in the house as it was! They treated it more like a hostel than a home!
Audrey wished she could burn the blasted clock down and then dance around the ashes.
However, she did not think that Molly would appreciate this.
In her attempt to calm herself down, Audrey went to fix herself up a plate of supper. Her plate consisted of a salty and sweet coconut cake with a discerning blue colour from the food colouring (Molly called it a sea salt cake. Ginny called it an abomination that should be fed to those that were undeserving of love), a chicken breast along with a tomato, carrot and cucumber salad. Audrey happily chomped her way through most of her proper meal, before tucking into the cake.
She did not understand how Percy could eat this by the dragon load... at least not without his teeth suddenly disintegrating. She could barely eat more than a mouthful before she felt like falling into a sugar coma!
("I suppose it is slightly sweet cake," she could remember Percy telling her when she'd asked what in Merlin's name a sea salt cake was. "Though I believe that's because the name is misnomer. I think the chunks of sea salt are there to simply accentuate the sweetness.")
Slightly sweet cake? Audrey wondered what kind of cakes he'd been eating all his life. She also wondered how he even managed to detect the most miniscule amount of salt in this product.
As Audrey was attempting to choke down what felt like a spoonful of pure icing sugar, a certain blonde-haired girl with hair as long as Rapunzel's hair trotted into the living room.
Avis' belly had gotten rounder since she'd been in the Burrow, and yesterday, she lost her first tooth (and then ate it because apparently, part-troll babies had stomachs of steel and intestines of lead. Meanwhile, Audrey's body was too weak to withstand a slice of cake). Penelope managed to get it all on video camera much to Ron's horror, whom had decided that he'd witnessed the most revolting thing in his life ("Hermione, she ATE her tooth! She bloody ate a part of herself! That's got to be some sort of self... self-cannibalism!").
Also, much to Bill's absolute irritation; Penelope had additionally managed to snag live footage of the unusual rash on his bum. Like a strange Rorschach test, everyone could see something entirely different when they had a look at it. Audrey honestly thought it was glumbumble shaped.
Harry did not seem too keen on playing along, mentioning that every time he had a look at something like this, he could see the blasted Grim. Audrey thought he might need to get his glasses checked out and his head partially examined. She did offer to do this for him, but for some odd reason, he declined!
Five-month-old-but-by-some-unusual-magic-looked-like-a-six-year-old Avis Flint had wandered towards Audrey and stole a bit of the sea salt cake from her plate. She crushed it into the palm of her hand before shoving the fistful of it into her mouth. Thick flecks of coconut now adorned not only the carpet, but also Avis' mouth and hands. Audrey thought that it really brought out the most recent stain embellishing the carpet—the hot cocoa stain that was attributed to a very moody Ron and a very energetic Avis. Technically, however, it wasn't his fault he'd accidentally stepped on Avis' hair.
"Someone should cut that wretched thing!" Ron yet again did not seem much smitten by Avis and her childlike innocence. "Merlin, if it grows any longer, it's going to eat us all!"
"You try to cut it! Just try to!" Penelope had replied.
Whenever anyone attempted to cut Avis' hair, she would clasp her small chubby hands over her long locks, and then start to wail.
By the sounds of Avis' cries, Audrey would've thought she'd seen George's mathematical skills.
It was eerie how no matter what triggered Avis' screeches, they would come to a nearly frightening halt when Molly would walk into the room. In fact, Avis' favourite and most predominant past time seemed to stalking Molly Weasley. The yellow-haired bundle had gotten so used to Molly's presence that she would throw terrible fits when Molly would go use the lavatory ("I'll just be a moment, dear! Just a moment!" Audrey could remember Molly trying to explain to an attached Avis, whom normally did nothing but stare at her with unblinking eyes. "Where's your mum? Go look for your mum! ... Oh, ARTHUR! Come take her away!")
According to all the part-troll baby development books that Audrey was forced to read in the past to be able to pass her clinical examinations, Avis was developing very normally. At the current moment, she would be stuck looking like a six-year-old for another five or so years before she grew (quickly!) again. She was due to start talking any minute now. Penelope had been eagerly waiting and insisted on walking around with her video camera, much to Arthur's excitement and everyone else's (especially Bill's) annoyance.
Audrey pushed the plate aside, brushing away coconut from Avis' face and mouth.
"Where is Lucy?" Penelope's voice had startled Audrey, whom felt her heart do a bit of a jolt. Audrey was far from blind. She knew that despite the younger girl being married to Marcus Flint, she did have something for her Percy. In fact, Audrey would have to be blinder than a half-vampire to not be able to notice it. "I swear it's like she's never around you nowadays."
"That's because she isn't," Audrey replied. "Charlie's taken her down to Romania."
Penelope gaped at Audrey. "How could you just let your eight-year-old daughter go to the Romanian dragon reserve? Forgoing the fact that you're not there to chaperone her... forgive me for criticising, but it does seem somewhat irresponsible to have your child be in a country you've probably never been in, toying around with nearly untameable beasts that breathe fire."
Audrey attempted to restrain herself from attempting to tear off that little tart's blonde curls.
"Lucy is being chaperoned... by Charlie and she writes me every single day!" Audrey said coldly. "Things have been in a proper shamble these days. I thought that a nice trip up to Romania would do her wonders, especially since Charlie seems to be dying to take someone down there. She's always wanted to go and I trust Charlie enough—and if I were you, I'd stop critiquing other people's parenting skills."
Penelope raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's the kind of response I'd expect from someone that cannot critique my parenting skills because there is nothing to critique about!"
Nothing to critique about? Did Penelope really think that highly of herself? Audrey wondered.
"If I was to critique your parenting skills," Audrey's voice was calm and collected "I'd mention that putting Avis in a situation where she might be constrained is a terrible move. When she's older, she might actually want to go see dragons or go thestral riding or other activities that one typically associate with death and disability but children seem to find a good load of fun nowadays!"
"My Avis would never—" Penelope huffed.
"She might," Audrey raised an eyebrow at Penelope. Did Penelope really think that Avis was going to grow up exactly like her? "I do want to mention that if you are going to restrict such things from her in the future, that you'd keep in mind that the outcome would be abysmal."
Penelope nodded her head. "Very abysmal! She won't be torn to shreds, and I wouldn't have to worry about her frolicking about with some dragon tamer that's promised her a good night out!"
"Oh, please, my eight year old daughter is not interested in frolicking about with any lad!" Audrey was in complete disbelief. "And as for Avis... from what I know, part trolls do not do well with restrictions. Apparently, if you attempt to contain their natural instincts, they grow up acting unsure, uncertain of themselves and depriving themselves of basic pleasures in their life. They tend to question their own intelligence and let people walk all over them in an unbearable fashion."
"Is... is that a jab at my husband?" Penelope's cheeks were turning red from anger.
Audrey's face remained still. "No, it is not. It's a word of advice," she said.
Translation: it was definitely a jab at her husband and Penelope would have to be a fool to believe otherwise.
"Deprive themselves of basic pleasures of life?" Penelope mocked in a high pitched voice. "Firstly, Marcus can't eat because of his teeth! It is not because he is depriving himself of—"
"I am too bloody old to play these games with you, Penelope. You're only mentioning all of this because you see me as unworthy of Percy's affection," Audrey warned in a tone that could rival Percy's stiff and stern one. "I do not appreciate it. Grow up. I urge you to attempt to respect that Percy likes me and to move on instead of attempting to find faults in me."
Penelope's lips twisted into a sardonic smile. "I'm sure that's why Percy is absolutely ecstatic right about now, sitting in his shed and thinking of all the good, sweet things that you've done for him!" she waved her arms around in a melodramatic fashion. "He will forget about what you've told him, Audrey, but I won't. I won't let you forget about this for the rest of eternity if so be it. You know that Molly's told me what you've said about him. That you might leave him—"
"—is this coming from someone that has thrown her husband out of their flat out for FIVE WHOLE BLOODY MONTHS after he'd saved her life—" an agitated Audrey argued.
"—because Percy's so mentally unhinged! You can't even look at him without realising he's the textbook definition of someone that's bonkers! In fact, I can't hold a proper conversation with him at all because all he says is complete gibberish!" Penelope finished off her sentence. "Percy is not as bad as you think he is for what he's bloody gone through. He's not all there. It's like he's a shell of himself but Godric, he's trying! Do you really think so lowly of him? You know that he has a problem. Everyone knows that he has a problem but you're forcing it out of him and watching him implode and then saying that he's unstable!"
Audrey gawked at Penelope, whom was staring at her with livid blue eyes. That little tight-arsed tart!
"Listen, sweetheart," Audrey offered a sickly sweet smile to the blonde. "I love Percy, but I'm not blind to the fact that taking care of him is an excruciating, exhausting process—"
"How loving!" Penelope spat out. "Percy is really lucky to have you around!"
Ignoring her, Audrey continued to explain her point. "When Lucy grows up, she'll pick up on this. In fact, if I leave her long enough around him, she will definitely pick up on the fact that something is wrong. I'm just coming to terms with the idea that there is a chance that Percy might never get any better, even though I know that he's trying his hardest. You're right. He is a shell of himself. The ward properly did him in and the only reason we're forcing it out of him is because otherwise, Percy would never bloody admit he has a problem. He'd just pretend like he's the same person he was before the ward, and then one day just erupt... and I'm sure at that particular day, the mess would be too great for anyone to even attempt to clean up. I've purposely pushed him beyond so many boundaries because I feel like that's what he needs. I felt like he needed to be out of his comfort zone. Honestly, if it were up to him, we'd still be living in my flat and I'd be trying to explain to Lucy why I have to tend to Percy before I can even think of making her breakfast."
"Oh?" Penelope raised an eyebrow. "And your solution to this debacle is to leave him for something that is not his fault, something that he finds nearly impossible to control and did not ask for and is a product of a trauma that he shouldn't have went through in the first place?"
Audrey's eyes hardened. "Well, what else can I do? I can't deal with this every day! I—"
Penelope cut her off again. "For Godric's sake, do you care about him at all? Do you know how much leaving him will muck him up? Or do you think he's so far gone that it doesn't really matter at all?"
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF PERSON WOULD BE ABLE TO STOMACH SEEING SOMEONE THEY LOVE STRUGGLE LIKE THIS EVERY SINGLE DAY!" Audrey exploded. "BECAUSE I CAN'T!"
Penelope jolted backwards, staring at her with a scared, pale expression. Avis ran to Penelope, clinging onto her. She buried her head into Penelope's robes before she started to cry.
"I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH MORE OF IT I CAN STAND!" Audrey's voice was starting to crack. Tears were starting to form at the corner of her brown eyes. Avis' cries were getting louder but Audrey's yelling was dominating over it easily. "You want me to stay here and watch someone I-I love torture themselves relentlessly because of something that they find nearly impossible to control, did not ask for and is a product of a trauma that they shouldn't have went through in the first place? THOSE WERE YOUR WORDS, WEREN'T THEY, PENELOPE? You want me to stay here and watch him suffer over something that I should've stopped from happening if I cared about him at all but I didn't stop it and now, it's too bloody late and—and Godric, THIS IS SO STUPID!"
Audrey was surprised when Penelope wrapped her arms around her, letting Audrey bury her head into her shoulder. She was taller than Audrey. In fact, in her heeled boots, Penelope was definitely taller than Percy.
"I don't want to leave him but I also can't stay and I don't know what to do but I can't be his caretaker all my life either but at the same time I can't leave him. It's not his fault. He's just a child, he's..." Audrey was choking, sobbing and clinging so tightly onto Penelope she felt her entire body shake. "And I've mucked up so badly. He probably doesn't want to see me again either way. I've made it worse for him. I've probably done it this time. I should leave because he shouldn't have to worry about-about the fact that I'm going off a tangent and upset him like this again. He doesn't bloody deserve this. Godric, he heard his own mother telling me that she had to deal with him because he was her son and-and-and... Oh, Merlin, what am I supposed to do?"
"Audrey, stop," Penelope demanded, her voice starting to crack as well. "Please stop. It's alright. It's alright..."
A few hiccups left Audrey's lips, and she let out a few stifled sobs. She would really love to fall into that sea salt cake induced sugar coma right now. She would love to fall into any coma right now. This was so overwhelming. She couldn't cope with this. She couldn't cope with any of this.
"I love him but what..." Audrey's throat was sore and her body ached. "What am I supposed to d-do...?"
"Audrey, breathe," Penelope pulling Audrey's chin up. She seemed to find her voice. "Look. Let's just go to the shed and talk it out. I'm sure... I'm sure that we can come to a better conclusion here."
"No, I can't," Audrey said, sounding more like Georgia by the second. "He hates me. I'm sure he hates me."
"No, no, no, Percy doesn't hate you. He can't hate you," Penelope was trying to wipe away Audrey's tears but a new stream of tears had followed soon afterwards. "He's bloody in love with you. You're the best thing that's happened to him probably. Come on. Let's go wash up and then we can go talk to him."
"Tomorrow," Audrey insisted.
"I'm leaving tomorrow," Penelope decided to mention. "Avis, Marcus and I are going to go out and see a bit of the world. I think it'll do us some good now. It's taken me forever to draw up the Portkeys that we're going to use to hop about each country but it'll be worth it. At least I hope so."
Audrey swallowed the lump in her throat and said nothing to this. All she could think about was the fact that Oliver Wood must be livid to hear this. He seemed to have wanted to take Marcus around the world too.
"It's okay," Penelope reiterated, running her hand through Audrey's hair again. Her touch was gentle, almost like air trying to weed through her hair. "Come on. Let's wash up and we can talk to him... everything's going to be fine, Audrey. Everything's going to be fine."
"O... Okay," a weary Audrey agreed.
After a quick wash of her face, she decided to change her frock. Penelope immediately tried to tend to her rashes by applying a thing of Madame Primpernelle's on her skin. The rashes had faded into a less obvious, light pink hue but were still incredibly painful. Audrey would've scratched them silly if not for the fact she wasn't sure where to start scratching. As for clothing, Penelope had apparated back to her flat to try and get Audrey something nice and comfortable to wear.
Returning back to the lavatory, Penelope offered her a pair of robes that could rival with any of Audrey's.
Audrey was surprised the minute that she held them into her hand. They were incredibly soft. The material was so top notch that she had to wonder if Penelope had given Audrey a Twilfitt and Tatting's robe. The price tag was still on (and Audrey really tried not to look at the price, but Godric! She could pay rent for a year with the cost of this frock!), which made Audrey feel worse because Penelope obviously hadn't worn it yet!
"I can't wear this," Audrey was staring over at the colour of it! It was a nice violet shade. It would've go perfectly with Penelope's golden hair and bright blue eyes. "I—"
"Of course you can wear this! Don't worry about it! I have an identical pair of robes at home—same colour, just at a different size," Penelope was quick to protest. "Now, take it and put it on."
A different size? Audrey reiterated. Probably a much smaller size.
Audrey was weary of slipping the robes onto her frame. They seemed a tiny bit snug around her chest.
She looked back at Penelope's frame. Every petite curve of hers looked smooth, and she looked like she had no wobbly bits to speak of! It surprised Audrey that this woman had just had a baby. She was so dainty and willowy that Audrey was afraid to hug her just in she'd break her into pieces. It certainly made Audrey wonder how Penelope looked like before she'd given birth.
"Why would you buy two of the same robes? Especially given the price of one of these!" honestly, when Audrey had opened her big fat mouth, she had meant to show her gratitude instead of asking such an insignificant question. She was absolutely astonished at the look of it. She had never been in such a beautiful pair of robes in her life! This made even the prettiest robes that she had look like second-hand rubbish.
Penelope's cheeks coloured in. "I didn't...err, Marcus bought me these and he doesn't know how to pick sizes. He's used to wearing his oversized duvet as a pair of robes."
Audrey slowly nodded her head. "These robes are so beautiful," she finally managed to say. "Thank you."
She was so taken back by how the fabric seemed to shimmer, but not glitter. It was even softer against her skin and it made her look absolutely darling. In her opinion, Audrey had the most average body type – every part of her was soft. She had dimply thighs and a pudgy, protruding belly with oversized breasts. She did not look the least bit attractive in her opinion. She was nobody's conventional beauty standard, nothing like Penelope with her somewhat hourglass like figure and non-existent waist.
"You're so pretty," Penelope said, and she sounded like she honestly meant it.
WHEN they left the Burrow to go to the shed, Audrey's stomach started to coil again. Audrey's eyes were already pooling with a fresh stream of hot tears, which were already threatening to spill. She found it almost impossible to keep herself steady. Her whole body was shaking and her chest was tightening by the second. Seeing her hesitation, Penelope cracked open the door to the shed and walked in by herself. In the mean time, Audrey was standing outside, trying not to dissolve into a thick gelatinous mess.
Not only ten minutes later did Penelope burst out of the shed. The look of worry etched on her face was not a good sign and Audrey felt the ropes in her stomach twisting and bending even more. "Penny?"
"Audrey... Audrey," Penelope's voice was filled with urgency. She looked close to crying and Audrey could already feel tears running down her cheeks and she didn't even know what was going on. "Percy's gone. And... all his books are missing!"