Audrey swooped past Percy, who was standing next to the fireplace noisily huffing as he continued to look at his watch, as she finished grabbing the last of the family's things. As she finished her mental checklist she herded the girls towards the fireplace. They were on their way to dinner at the Burrow, and to Percy's great annoyance they were running behind. He huffed as he looked at her, expecting her to remember some last thing she'd forgotten.
"My darling Percy, love of my life." Audrey started, giving Percy a bitterly sweet smile.
"Yes?" Percy asked.
"That is in no way constructive, and if you don't stop I'm going to shove you're wand right up you're a…oh blimey, I almost forgot you're mum's cookbook!" Audrey interrupted herself as she ran off to fetch the cook book. "Alright, I think I have everything." She said, out of breath, as she skidded to a halt in front of the fireplace.
"Finally." Percy said checking his watch. "Alright everyone, you know what to do." He said as he grabbed the pot of floo powder. Without another word he stepped in, and sent himself to the Burrow.
"Alright girls, off you go, before you're dad get's his knickers in a knot so tight he can't breath." Audrey said with a laugh as she shooed Lucy in next.
After Lucy had disappeared Molly climbed in, and looked at her mum tentatively, she was always nervous about using the floo network.
"Remember, clear words." Audrey reminded with a friendly smile. She listened carefully, and was relieved to hear the words come out perfectly; she smiled and sent herself to the Burrow.
"I did it." Molly said as soon as Audrey appeared in the fireplace.
"Yes you did, I'd give you an outstanding for sure." Audrey said, patting her daughter on the head.
"Audrey, good to see you dear." Mrs. Wesley said giving Audrey a hug.
"It's wonderful to see you again Molly, the house smells fantastic, whatever you're cooking is bound to be delicious." Audrey said as she handed Molly her cookbook.
"You're too sweet, Dear, always have been." Molly said.
"You wouldn't say that if you had heard her earlier." Percy piped in from the other room.
"Love you too Darling." Audrey said rolling her eyes and smiling at Molly.
"Unruly, this one is." George said from the living room as he threw a pillow at Audrey.
"Nice to see you too, George." Audrey said, catching it and tossing it back instinctively.
Audrey squeezed past Charlie on her way into the living room. After five marriages and twelve children resulting from those marriages, the Burrow became a sea of people every time the family got together. So much so that it was impossible to have their usual weekly family dinners anywhere but out in the garden, there simply wasn't enough room at the table. Audrey made her way towards the couch only to see Percy sitting down next to Harry chatting away, no doubt about work at the ministry.
"Good to see you, Harry, don't let him chat your ear off like last time." Audrey said with a wink. She ruffled Percy's hair as she walked past to the couch where she sat down on George's lap. "I'm sure you've missed me terrible Forge." She said with a smile.
"It's been nearly unbearable." George said, pushing her off his lap onto the seat beside him.
"I can only imagine." Audrey said with a smile. "How's business?" She asked.
"Fantastic as always, how's business for you?" He asked.
"Sweet." Audrey said, laughing at her little joke.
George and Audrey saw each other all too often, their shops being right across the street from each other on Diagon Alley. Through the years they had learned to be very good friends, getting a good head start on their friendship while at Hogwarts. Audrey had always admired Fred and George's enthusiasm, and Fred and George had always admired Audrey's uniqueness.
"Mum!" Molly ran in, out of breath, being trailed by her cousins.
"Yes?" Audrey asked, seeing all the younger girls.
"I told them about your story, they want to hear what happens next." Molly said.
Audrey smiled. "Well, we can all sit together at dinner and I'll tell you about when I came here for Christmas holiday the first time." Audrey said.
Molly nodded fiercely. "Alright!" She said before grabbing her cousins and running off.
"Don't run." Audrey called after her, though she just let the end taper off, knowing it was no use.
"What story is this?" Ginny asked, setting a tray of snacks on the table in front of George.
"The girls wanted to know how Percy and I met, and so we've been telling them stories about our relationship through the years." Audrey explained as she grabbed a cake.
"They're never listened to us so intently in their entire lives." Percy added, tuning in to the conversation.
"That's brilliant, I'll have to start telling Fred and Roxy stories, maybe they'll settle for a few minutes." George said.
"After hearing any story you might have to tell, it's not likely." Ron said with a laugh, before Hermione nudged his side with her elbow.
"Be nice, Ron." She scolded.
"Don't worry Hermione, we're already aware that they're hellions, we couldn't have expected much else. Mum always said what we did as kids will come back on us two-fold from our own kids." George explained.
"I knew this was all your fault, George." Angela said with a laugh.
"I'm innocent." George said.
"When have you ever been innocent?" Charlie asked.
"That accusation hurts down to my very soul, Charlie." George said, feigning heartache.
"I'm sure." Charlie replied.
"Merlin's beard, what are you all doing crowded in here? How is there a single scrap of air left?" Arthur asked walking into the room, and seeing all eleven of them packed into the living room.
"We just haven't migrated out to the garden yet, Arthur." Audrey said standing up, and walking towards the door.
"Well go on, out with you all." Arthur said, shooing everyone out the door.
Audrey laughed as they all filed out past the kitchen and to the back garden.
"Did Gramps kick you all out too?" Lucy asked.
Audrey nodded. "Afraid so." She said. She walked over to her favorite spot in the garden and took a seat under the tall tree planted there. She had so many fond memories under this particular tree that she was always pulled to it when at the Burrow. She laid back in the grass looking up at the clouds through the tree branches.
"Nonconformist." George said as he sat in a chair near where Audrey had sat on the ground. "How can you stand her Percy?" George asked with a laugh.
"I wonder all the time." Percy said as he sat down on the grass next to his wife, who ignored their banter.
Molly and the girls ran up to where Audrey lay. "Tell us the story now then?" She asked, looking down at her mum.
"I suppose. Lucy do you want to hear more of the story?" She called over to where Lucy was sitting as she sat up.
"Yes!" Lucy yelled, grabbing James, Albus, Louis and Fred along with her.
They all sat around Audrey in a circle, and quieted down, to hear the story.
"Is it a scary story?" George asked.
"It has you in it, so it must be." Audrey replied.
"The story." Molly reminded impatiently.
Audrey laughed. "Alright, sorry."
It was the night before Christmas, and Audrey and Percy were lying on the rug in front of the fireplace at the Burrow. Percy has pulled out his favorite Christmas book and they were reading along, and watching as the character moved around the pages. Audrey sat up and grabbed a treat off the table behind her, munched on it as she listened to Percy read the next paragraph of the story from the book. They both laughed as they watched the man on the page fall through a snow bank and disappeared.
"Well, if it isn't Audrey Darcy; the clever, the mysterious," Fred started, walking into the living room with George right next to him.
"The nutter, the enigma." George added.
"The annoyed." Audrey said rolling her eyes at the twins. "What do you two want?" She asked.
"To know what's so funny." Fred said sitting next to Audrey on the floor.
"A Christmas story." Audrey explained, she grabbed the book and showed them the picture. "You can join us if you'd like." She offered, though she could see Percy shaking his head and motioning "no" out of the corner of her eye.
"From the subtle nonverbal clues our favorite brother is trying to convey, I don't believe he want us to hang around. Why not Percy, are you planning a kiss?" Fred asked, putting emphasis on the word kiss.
Percy's cheeks went as red as his hair. "No, no of course not!" He sputtered.
"Ewe, does he kiss you?" James asked, scrunching his nose as he interrupted Audrey.
"No, don't worry, there won't be any kissing for many years." Audrey promised.
"Lame!" George asked.
"Can I go on now?" Audrey asked, turning her head to George.
"By all means. I like this one, I'm in it." He said.
"Shh!" Molly scolded him.
George mimed locking his mouth shut, then pointed to Audrey to signal her to start again.
"Thank you." Audrey said, shaking her head.
Audrey's cheeks went as red as Percy's as she looked at the twins. "Percy and I are friends." She said matter-of-factly.
"We assumed." George said.
"Well, then you should know friends don't kiss." Audrey said, saying kiss quieter then the rest of the words.
Fred and George laughed. "I think we've caught them, George." Fred said.
Audrey's embarrassment quickly turned to annoyance. "Fred Weasley you haven't caught anything." She said standing up, and crossing her arms, glaring at him.
Percy jumped up to get in between the twins and Audrey. "Don't worry Audrey, they're just being rude. We'll finish the story upstairs." Percy said grabbing Audrey's arm and turning her away from Fred.
"Four galleons says he kisses her." George said to Fred.
"You're on!" Audrey said over her shoulder before Percy pulled her off. They continued up the stairs to his room. He quietly shut the door behind him.
"Those two will make you go mad if you let them get to you." Percy said.
Audrey shook her head. "I've never dealt with siblings, they're annoying." She said with a sigh as she sat down on Percy's bed.
He laughed. "Yes, they are. That's alright. We still have the rest of the book." He said sitting next to her. He opened the book up to the next page, and continued reading.
As it got later and the weather got chillier the two huddled together under the blanket, keeping warm, as they giggled at the story for hours. They often got side-tracked with stories of past Christmases, or just something funny they hadn't remembered to tell each other before. After a very funny story about a lawn gnome accidentally getting stuck in the tree Percy reached down to turn the page of the book at the same time as Audrey grabbed it to turn. His hand grabbed hers, and the two froze, hands still touching. They both looked down at their hands, unable to move. Audrey turned to look at Percy slowly, and opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off by someone clearing their throat in the doorway. They both jumped as they quickly pulled their hands away, and looked over to see Mrs. Wealsey standing there.
"It's time for bed dears." She said with a smile.
Audrey jumped up with a nod, her cheeks bright red. "It is getting late, isn't it?" She mumbled quickly. She stopped at the door and turned back to Percy. She stood there for a second deciding what to say. "Goodnight Percy." She said with a shy smile.
"Goodnight." Percy said, smiling back.
"Goodnight, Mrs. Weasley." Audrey added. She gave one last look at Percy and gave a quiet squeak before running off to Ginny's room where she was staying.
Mrs. Weasley watched her run off before turning back to Percy. She gave a very sweet and knowing smile to her son. "Goodnight Percy." She said before shutting the door behind her, leaving Percy alone in his room. He laid down and pulled his blanket up, drifting off to sleep as his mind wandered towards thoughts of Audrey.
As soon as she reached Ginny's room Audrey immediately jumped into bed, ignoring the questioning looks from Ginny. She pulled the blanket on and let out a silent sigh. She had the most odd feeling and she didn't really know what to make of it. She tried to shake the thoughts as best she could as she fell asleep, though she couldn't stop herself from dreaming of him.
The sun had hardly risen the next morning as Audrey was shaken out of her sleep by Ginny who was nudging her, trying to wake her up.
"It was worth the four galleons." She mumbled the last reminisce of her dreams fading away.
"What was?" Ginny asked, still nudging.
"Huh?" Audrey asked, wiping her eyes as she sat up.
"You said 'it was worth the four galleons.'" Ginny explained.
"Oh, not sure, I must have been dreaming." Audrey said, her cheeks going pink.
Ginny didn't pay anymore thought to it as she remembered the reason she was waking Audrey up. "It's Christmas! You're uncle's downstairs." She said excitedly.
Audrey jumped up out of bed so fast it caused Ginny to jump back, shocked. Audrey grabbed her robe off the hook near her bed, and threw it on. She grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her towards the door.
"Come on!" Audrey said excitedly.
Ginny giggled as she ran along behind Audrey down the stairs.
"Slow down." Audrey heard her uncle say from the bottom of the stairs. She hit the bottom step and jumped at her uncle giving him a hug.
"I've missed you!" She said beaming.
He hugged her tightly. "I've missed you too. I hope you've been well behaved for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley." He said.
Audrey nodded. "On my best behavior." She said.
"Good." He said messing up her hair.
"I've brought you a gift." He said.
"You didn't have to." She said, meaning it.
Ed chuckled as he shook his head. "You're the only kid I've ever met that doesn't expect a gift for Christmas." He said.
Audrey shrugged. "What could I possibly need?" She asked.
"You don't need it, but I think you'll enjoy it." He said pointing at the box on the table behind him.
"Can I open it now?" She asked.
"Yes." He said.
She ran over to the box and opened it up to find a picture of her mum and dad in their shop when it had first opened. They were sitting on the counter, her dad's arm draped over her mum's shoulder, all smiles, laughing and waving at the camera. She pulled it out, holding it still so she could watch them smile and wave happily.
She turned to her uncle. "It's the best gift ever." She said holding it close to her.
"There's more." He said.
She gave him a confused look before turning back to the box, she noticed a single sheet of paper sitting at the bottom. She pulled it out and inspected the wording on it. She shook her head. "I don't get it." She said.
He smiled and pointed at a few words. "These words mean that you own this shop, I bought it for you so after school you can open it back up, only if you want." He explained.
Audrey couldn't even speak; she grabbed her uncle and hugged him as tight as she could. She didn't care if she was getting him wet from her tears, she didn't ever want to let him go.
"Did I do a good job?" he asked.
"The best ever." She said through her tears.
"No tears, your mum and dad would have wanted you to have it." He explained, wiping the tears off her face.
"Audrey what's wrong, why are you crying?" Percy asked from where he stood at the bottom of the stairs, his voice full of concern.
Audrey turned to him and smiled. "They're happy tears. Uncle Ed bought mum and dad's shop for me." She explained, holding up the paper for him to see.
Percy read through it with a smile on his face. "It's brilliant." He said as he finished reading.
Audrey nodded, agreeing with him. She turned back to her uncle. "Your gift is in my bag. So is your Percy." She said running back up the stairs before either could respond. She ran back down with two packages and handed them to their recipients.
Ed opened his to find a new bowler, black with crimson trim.
"It matches your favorite robes." She explained.
"It's fantastic." He said putting it on with a smile as he kissed her cheek.
Percy had opened his already, and was looking at the book in his hand. "How'd you know I wanted this?" he asked looking at her with a confused expression.
She smiled. "I saw you looking at it when we went to Flourish and Blotts. Every time we walked by it you kept picking it up, I assumed you wanted it." She explained.
"Thank you." Percy said hugging her.
"I don't have much to give to you." He said, a bit embarrassed as he handed her a small package.
Audrey grabbed it, and opened it. She looked down at a photo frame with the two of them hugging and waving at the camera on the platform before leaving on the train earlier in the year. "It's fantastic." She said pulling it out.
"You really like it?" He asked.
"I loved it." Audrey explained. "I still have it on the shelf at the shop." She said.
"You reminded me, you owe me four galleons." George said.
"He didn't kiss me that night." Audrey argued.
"Not once did I specify when he would kiss you." George corrected her.
Audrey rolled her eyes as she dug into her pocket and pulled out four galleons, and handed them over to George.
"Thank you, ma'am." He said pocketing the money.
"Time for dinner everyone." Mrs. Weasley said coming outside floating the dinner behind her, and over to the table.
Percy stood up, and helped Audrey up, and the two were about to walk over to the table when Lucy came over and hugged her dad. He smiled down at her.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"Being sweet." She said before she ran off to catch up to the other kids.
Percy ruffled her hair as she ran off. He turned to walk back to the table as Audrey grabbed his hand and stopped him. She pulled him close and gave him a deep kiss. She pulled away as the kiss ended and leaned her head on his chest, not taking her arms from around him.
He looked at her even more confused. "Not that I'm complaining, but what did I do to deserve that?" he asked.
"Because you're sweet, of course." She said with a smile. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the table.