Chapter 7 - Camaraderie
31 August 1999
"Can you just sit down for more than five seconds?"
"All right, sorry!" Audrey exclaimed, throwing her hands up defensively, sitting back down in the dining chair with a small smile on her face as she watched Percy move around her kitchen.
Ever since she had been discharged from St. Mungo's, he had stopped by her place for a couple hours after work every day to help her out with whatever she needed, which apparently included cooking for her. In Audrey's typical stubborn fashion, she had resisted the help at first; however, it didn't take long for her to warm up to the idea of having Percy around so much. And, if anything, he clearly seemed to enjoy helping her out. If Audrey didn't know any better, she would have thought she was some sort of experiment for his recipes.
After a few minutes, he came out of the kitchen with two steaming plates in his hands, setting one down in front of Audrey and one in front of himself. "There, shepherd's pie: a classic," he declared.
"You know," Audrey started, "I don't expect you to do all of this for me. I mean, I appreciate it, but - "
"I want to," Percy interrupted. "Seriously, I just like being here for you."
Audrey smiled widely. "I like hearing that."
Percy nodded and, after a short pause added, "Hey, uh, there was actually something we didn't get to finish talking about back at St. Mungo's." He paused for a moment, working up the last bit of courage to bring up what had been at the back of his mind for the last few days. "The scar on your leg - how'd you get it?"
It had been at the back of his mind for quite a while now. The sight of that scar on Audrey's leg had brought back an old memory from the war. He had a feeling he knew exactly how she had gotten that scar, but it almost seemed to much of a coincidence to be true. Still, it would make sense. Audrey had been in the Order and she was skilled enough to have been sent on that kind of mission.
Audrey stayed silent for a moment, looking down at her hands, then let out a small sigh and smiled sadly. "You know how, Knight," she finally replied, meeting his eyes.
In that moment, he perfectly recognized her voice.
Once the portkey had brought them to their destination, all three of them ripped off their Death Eater disguises. The man and the woman from the Order still had Disguising Charms covering their faces - a gold band across their eyes that caused certain features of their face to ripple and get distorted if you looked too long. The only way Percy would have been able to tell who had rescued him would have been by the sound of their voices, but so far that wasn't bringing up any names for him.
The woman dropped to the floor, letting out a small groan of pain and a cough as she stretched out her leg. The man quickly turned to him. "This is your safehouse now. We have a portkey out of here, but Kingsley will be periodically checking in on you. Place is equipped with Apparition Wards, Protection Charms - the whole shebang."
"Yes, all right - what about her? She needs help," Percy replied, nodding towards the woman. Now that she was no longer wearing the Death Eater robes, he could see that the wound was bleeding badly. There were shards of glass sticking out of it and slowly embedding into her skin.
"I'll take care of that," the man replied, grabbing a lamp from one of the tables in the small house. He crouched down next to the woman and got her to grab hold of it. "This is our portkey - it'll activate in a minute. Trust me when I say that the best thing you can do now for the Order is lay low."
"Don't be a hero, Knight," the woman managed to get out with a smirk.
Before Percy could start to argue, the portkey was activated and the two Order members had disappeared.
"It was the same curse as last night," Percy recalled. He had seen the glass coming out of Audrey's back before the Healers had taken her in. "What is that? I've never seen it before."
"My Aunt Kelsey's Glass Snake Curse," Audrey answered bitterly. "She's really out to get me, the raving mad bitch."
"Kelsey as in... Kelsey Rowle?" Percy asked. She was one of the most wanted Death Eaters nowadays, one of the few that had yet to be apprehended, alongside her husband, Thorfinn Rowle, and a few others.
"The one and only," Audrey confirmed. "At least no one's calling her a Shacklebolt anymore."
Percy stayed silent for a moment, then finally asked, "How come you never told me? That you were the one that pulled me out, I mean."
"How come you never told me?" Audrey retorted with a small smirk. "Actually, how come you never told anyone?" she added, genuinely curious.
"It wasn't my time," Percy answered with a shrug. "With Fred's death after the war, that was quite enough for my family to worry about. It was Fred's time. And after that... every scenario I played in my head just sounded like me making excuses for myself. It was too late."
"I suppose so," Audrey agreed tentatively, "but you really don't think your family would want to know?"
Percy shrugged. "Who knows? It could actually help," he admitted. "I'm pretty sure George and Ron have never fully forgiven me. But I also don't see them suddenly warming up to me either."
"True, but I don't think they would have either way," Audrey pointed out. In her experience, people didn't like to admit they were wrong, even if it was the easier option. "At the end of the day, it's your secret to tell - it's stayed safe with me and Keegan this long - but if you do ever decide to tell them, I'll be there to back you up."
"Thank you, Audrey," Percy said sincerely. Then, he frowned slightly and added, "Wait, Keegan was the other Order member that day?"
Audrey laughed and shook her head at Percy. "Nothing escapes the great Percy Weasley!"
4 September 1999
"Hermione, I need your advice."
"My advice?"
Percy let out a heavy sigh and slowly nodded, trying to ignore Hermione's skeptical look. Dinner at The Burrow had just wrapped up and while most of the Weasley family was in the living room enjoying biscuits with tea and Exploding Snap, Percy was sure he could find Hermione in the kitchen pouring over some books for her Auror training. Sure enough, that was exactly how he had found her.
"If I talk about this to any of my brothers or Ginny, they'll just use it as ammunition for new jokes and tell Mum way too much," Percy explained, "plus, I'm doubtful that they would actually be all that helpful."
"My interest is piqued," Hermione declared, "go on."
Percy took a seat across from her at the dining table. "So, let's say, hypothetically - "
"We both know this is about you so let's keep it simple," Hermione interrupted with a smirk.
Percy let out another sigh. "All right, here's the thing: that whole thing with me getting caught in a Death Eater attack?" Percy started. "I was out having dinner with someone and now her parents have invited me for dinner."
"Oh wow, okay - "
"That's not all," Percy interrupted. "She's Kingsley's niece."
"That was the attack you got caught in?" Hermione asked in a hushed voice. "Wait - you went on a date with Audrey Shacklebolt?"
"What, you know her from Auror training?" Percy questioned.
"Uh, everyone knows her from Auror training," Hermione explained. "She's probably the best duellist in all four years of the programme - even managed to take down the Head Auror during a sparring practice once."
"Wow," Percy said, a dreamy smile appearing on his face.
"Uh, okay, so back on track," Hermione continued a little awkwardly. "You wanna know how to handle meeting her parents?"
"Well, yeah," Percy confirmed. "Both of her parents are insanely intimidating."
"You're not wrong there, but if I were you I wouldn't overthink it," Hermione advised. "If you really wanna do something nice, get flowers for her mum and bring a bottle of wine - but, again, I wouldn't stress it. Making good impressions is kind of your specialty."
"You really think so?" Percy asked uncertainly. "I just want this to go well is all."
It wasn't that he was nervous about a dinner with Audrey's parents - quite the opposite, actually. He was looking forward to the dinner, mostly because it was yet another thing he could do with Audrey by his side. His concern arose more from the fear of her parents not liking him; although hearing Hermione's positivity was starting to put him at ease. Part of him had always suspected that if anyone was smart enough to figure out he had played a role in the Order, it would have been Hermione - although this was never actually something they had talked about.
"Percy, I know you don't hear this nearly enough, so here it is: you're a likeable person," Hermione stated plainly, "you just happen to be part of a really stubborn family."
Percy chuckled lightly and slowly nodded. "Thanks, Hermione, I really needed that."
Audrey's eyes flitted from the cards in her hand to Keegan several times, a blank look on her face. Then, one by one, she laid her cards out on the table, a wide smile slowly spreading on her face.
"Fifteen for two, fifteen for two, and a run for six, loser!" she exclaimed, excitedly moving her peg on the cribbage board between her and Keegan.
"You take this game way too seriously," he said with a roll of his eyes.
"Spoken like someone that just got skunked," Audrey taunted.
She would be the first to admit that she was overly competitive when it came to card games - especially crib. It was just something about the strategizing and the satisfaction of winning that gave her a rush. Plus, she almost always beat Keegan at crib, so it was always good fun for her. Audrey figured he had been so willing to play the card game because of her injury, but if that were the case, she would milk his pity for as long as she could.
"All right, I'm done for the night," Keegan declared, sweeping up the cards. "We've got quite the day tomorrow," he added with a smirk.
Audrey simply rolled her eyes at her brother. "He'll be fine, trust me," she stated.
"Oh, I know he'll be fine," Keegan agreed, "it's you I'm a little worried about."
"Oh yeah, how so?" Audrey questioned.
"Well, aside from your tendency to butt heads with Dad," Keegan started, "this has been moving along pretty quickly."
Audrey sighed - her brother had her there. She was quite skilled at pushing all of her father's buttons, and things with her and Percy were going pretty fast. She hadn't had such a continuous stretch of excitement ever since the war, so even Audrey had wondered if she was simply getting caught up in the moment. However, over the last week, Audrey had realized that she didn't mind how quickly things were moving. She enjoyed being around Percy and he somehow managed to seize every possible opportunity to amaze her a little more. He made her feel that cheesy kind of happy that no one likes to admit they feel.
"Yeah, it has, but it feels right," Audrey replied. "Aside from the part where I almost died, I don't think I would've done things another way."
"If you feel that way, then I think things tomorrow will be just fine," Keegan said with a reassuring smile.
"Plus we had our first kiss like months ago - "
" - wait, wha - "
" - but anyways, enough about me, let's talk about you," Audrey segued rapidly. "How much longer are you planning to put off telling Mum and Dad about your little relationship?"
Keegan shook his head at his sister and replied, "It's not a good time. Her father's still on trial, there's so much going on with - "
"Keegan" Audrey interrupted. "With Daphne Greengrass, it's never going to be a good time. What are you scared of?"
Keegan pursed his lips in thought as the room was filled with silence. "Dad said lay low - "
"Yeah, I know what Dad said," Audrey interrupted once more, then pointed at herself with her thumb. "You see me listening?"
"You never listen," Keegan joked. His happy expression quickly fell, though. "I don't want to get her involved in our stupid drama on top of her own issues."
"Oh, Keegan," Audrey started with a heavy sigh, "we're always going to have drama. Our last name is Shacklebolt. Our uncle is the Minister of Magic. I'm dating a bloody Weasley - there will be no end to this drama. I know what you're actually scared of."
Keegan looked away from his sister's piercing gaze in that moment and crossed his arms. He knew what she was going to say, and she was right.
"You're worried that you're going to scare her off," Audrey declared. "Keegs, listen to me: if she hasn't left your arse after two years, she's not leaving anytime soon."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Keegan replied sarcastically, but Audrey could tell he did appreciate her reasoning. For all of their bickering, Keegan and Audrey were always there for each other and always had each others' backs.
"Plus, you're right," Audrey added, "Gran will love her."
This was a slightly shorter, cheerier chapter to make up for the craziness of the last couple chapters :P Hope you enjoyed! -C x