Hey guys! This chapter is a little less Ron/Hermione centric, but it reveals a headcannon I've had for a while thet I kind of hited at a few chapters ago, though you may have missed it. Happy reading!
It had been a good morning; a rare occurence of late. The whole family were sat outside in the late july sun - Molly had made a picnic and they sat around on the grass eating and laughing. Hermione was however absent from the group.
Molly had noticed that she hadn't been around quite as often recently, and she was worried for her son's relationship.
She was about to ask him herself, however Harry beat her to it,
"Where's Hermione? I thought she was coming over today?" He asked, looking around, as though she would appear any moment.
"She's packing." Was all Ron said. He proceeded to pick at the grass next to him.
Harry looked as confused as Molly was.
"Packing?! What?! Where's she going?" He sounded outraged. "She didn't mention going anywhere to me!"
Ron sighed and lay down on his back, "She's going on holiday with her parents, France or something."
Harry's eyes widened, he sat up straighter as Ron closed his eyes, basking in the sun.
"How can she possibly be going to France?! It's not safe! Is she taking an Auror?!"
The rest of the family started to take notice as Harry raised his voice.
"Don't bother mate i've already had this conversation a million times, she's not backing down." Ron mumbled lazily, though Molly could hear the bitterness in his tone.
"How can you be okay with this?! There are still death eater's about! And she's a main target! What if something happens to her?" Harry raged. Ginny put a hand on his leg, looking concerned.
"Ron, Harry's right, she can't leave now, especially not to another country." Ginny added, the rest of the family mumbled in agreement.
"You think I don't know that? I've told her that. She doesn't care. She'll do whatever the hell she wants. Now if you'll excuse me i'd like to sunbathe in peace."
Molly didn't understand. Ron was always one to shout and get angry about things he didn't like, and here he was backing down so easily. She saw the confusion on the faces of the rest of the family as well.
"Ron. Are you sure..." she started
"For Merlin's sake can you guys just please just butt out of my buisness for five minutes?! You have a problem with it, talk to Hermione because she sure as hell isn't listening to me!"
With that he pushed himself up and stormed off to the shed where the brooms were kept.
They sat in silence for a moment before Ginny pushed herself up.
"I'll talk to him..."
"No." George said, "Let me."
He wandered off in the same direction Ron had left in.
Ginny harrumphed and sat back down. Harry grabbed her hand, rubbing circles with his thumb to calm her down.
"Is this a bad time?" A small voice came from behind them. Molly was shocked to notice that a dark haired girl was stood nervously hovering near them. Molly was shocked enough at the sight before she locked eyes with Arthur and saw the worry on his face, forcing her brain into gear.
"Audrey!" Percy jumped up rather quickly, almost running to Audrey's side.
"You know her?" asked Ginny.
"Well, yes, I mean... I wanted to introduce her but..." He trailed off, his mouth opening and closing like the manneqiun on top of WWW.
"Never mind for now, how did she get in?! The wards must be down, Arthur I thought they were supposed to only let family in?!"
"They are!" He responded, equally as panicked.
"Mum..." Percy tried.
"You'd better look into it, how long have they been down? Audrey, where did you come from? How did you get here?" Molly was frantic.
"MUM!" Percy shouted, shocking everyone.
He sighed, "Mum, the wards aren't down. Audrey got through because she is family."
"Ah, great another long lost cousin" Bill laughed, "Who are you related to? Can't say you have the family resemblance..."
"She's not a cousin." Percy said, and it clicked in Molly.
She dreaded the words that were about to come out of his mouth. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ron and George return just in time to hear,
"She's my wife.
Percy reached for Audrey and pulled her to his side, wrapping an arm around her waist. She had the good graces to look very embarrassed.
They sat in shock for what seemed like an age, that is until George burst into hysterical laughter, clapping his hands like a seal at a muggle zoo. He collapsed onto the floor, grabbing his stomach in elated pain. They all watched with a strange fascination, some of the boys were even smiling.
"I'm sorry!" George exclaimed when he could catch enough breath to talk, "I just can't believe that you of all people..." He sat up shaking his head in amazement, a huge grin on his face. Molly's heart soared for a moment before she remembered the circumstances.
George ran over and shook Percy's hand and grabbed Audrey, who looked rather shellshocked, in a rather aggressive hug.
"Welcome to the family!" He shouted, before stage whispering, "Don't take the next hour or so personally, Mum's likely to go a little mad."
"That's an understatement." Muttered Charlie.
"Maybe we should let them have some privacy." Suggested Bill.
"If by privacy you mean us sitting over there with extendable ear then sure!" Said George, "Because I am not missing a second of this!" At least for now the mischevious glint was back in his eyes.
"Mum, let me just explain first, before you get mad." Pleaded Percy.
She nodded and so he did; with the whole family listening, he explained how he had moved into the same block of flats as Audrey. Audrey was a muggleborn who had managed to hide because her mother had never told anyone but Audrey who her father was. Percy had been devastated about the loss of his family, though he pretended not to be. Audrey had seen right through that however and had taken to caring for him. She made him meals when he came back late from work, and she became a sort of confidante to him - she actually tried to urge him to get in contact with his family. Eventually, after a few months, they realised that they had feelings for each other. They started dating quietly however, as Audrey said that she didn't want everybody in her business. Percy found out the truth when the war started to get worse, Audrey confessed that she knew her father was a muggle and said that she needed to go into hiding. Percy was shocked at first, but it made him realise a few things; firstly how awful the ideals they were being fed at the ministry really were; and secondly that he really loved her and that if the ministry couldn't see what a wonderful and kind person she was, then he didn't want to be a part of it. He asked her to marry him there and then. However, Audrey didn't want to attract attention to him if she were found out, so he married her in a muggle registry. He felt that then she could move in with him, but no one would know, and she could hide in plain sight with him. He also decided to start fighting the ministry from within, feeding information to the people who were on the ministry's watchlist, who he knew were working with the order. Then when he heard about the battle , he left Audrey asleep in bed and came to join them.
By the end of his story, Molly's anger had mostly faded, Audrey made it better by helping him tell it. She added in things that Percy hadn't thought to, like how Percy had kept a picture of his family on his dresser, and how he had muttered that his mother was going to kill him as he was signing the marriage documents.
The family sat with bated breath as Molly sized Audrey up.
She stood up, walked over to her and pulled her into a tearful hug.
"Thank you." Molly said shakily, "Thank you for bringing him home."
Audrey was tearful as she sighed with relief.
"Welcome to the family." Said Arthur.
"Hear hear!" Said Bill. To which they all laughed. All but Ron, that was. They each gave their congragulations. However Ron's was distant, he seemed lost in thought.
He walked over to George as everyone was conversating. Molly could only just hear.
"You were right." Ron said.
"I usually am." Quipped George. He patted Ron on the head, "Go get her ickle Ronniekins."
Ron shook his head with a bemused grin before he apparated away.
Molly walked over to George, he glanced at her with a knowing smile.
"What did you say to him?" Molly asked.
"Not even going to pretend not to be nosy then?" He replied.
She just mock-glared at him until he sighed dramatically and replied, "I just told him that they always make things so much more difficult for themselves than it needs to be - he has been after her for like four years and now he has her and he needs to just realise that he doesn't need to fight anymore, he has her. Not many people get to have that anymore. That's all that matters." He shrugged, as though he hadn't just said the wisest thing she had ever heard come from his mouth.
"Georgie." She went to wrap him in a hug, he laughed and shoved her off playfully.
"Enough of this nonesense! We have a new person to fuss over!" He pushed her towards Audrey.
later on she was sat at the kitchen table, the family were laughing in the living room, and she was nursing a cuppa. She nearly spilt it all over the table when Ron appeared out of thin air.
"RONALD!" She exclaimed.
He laughed, "We really must stop running into each other in the kitchen!"
Exasperated, she asked, "How did it go?"
He smiled, "We're fine, you don't need to worry."
"Is she going?" Molly asked.
"Yeah, but... it's for the best. She's going to be safe, and it's only for a week. She needs a break, and her parents think that she might get over the nightmares better somewhere else, and if that means without me then that's okay."
"That's very mature of you. What changed?"
"I guess I realised that when you love someone you'll do whatever it takes to make sure they are safe and happy. Weird how this time Percy is actually my role model. Who'd have thought it hey?" He smiled one last time before going into the living room to join the family. Molly followed him and watched as her family all took turns asking Audrey and Percy, who were holding hands on the sofa, all sorts of embarrasing questions. Audrey seemed to take them all very well, joining in on making fun of Percy, but this time in a much more gentle and loving way. Percy was even laughing along, seeming much lighter now that he was around her.
Molly watched her family and marveled at the magic of love, and how it managed to begin to heal wounds that seem so irreparable. She whispered, softly to herself, "Thank you Fred, I love you."
Hope you enjoyed it! And as always thank you for the lovely reviews! Oh, and please do tell me what you think of my Percy headcannon, I've always wondered if anyone had similar ones :)