Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Fast & Furious.
A Weasley in L.A.
"Talking"
"Thinking"
It was a slow day at the garage. Everyone was working on their own cars while music played from the office. It was the kind of day where they were what they appeared to be, a garage for repair and restoration. The sun was high above and the day felt long. It felt like nothing was going to happen.
Letty was the first one to notice they had company. A man stood at the garage door, watching them all. Aside from the fact he was old enough to be a father (wrinkles and all), it was clear that he wasn't a local. Who the fuck wore a sweater in the middle of an L.A. summer? "Can we help ya?" she asked.
The garage stopped as everyone looked at the stranger. "Oh, sorry if I disturbed you," he said, smiling. The sun made his red hair turn brighter, if that was possible.
Vince was astounded by the accent. "What's a Brit doing here?" he asked.
"I was walking by and I happened to notice your cars." The stranger ambled towards the closest one, Letty's, and peered underneath the hood. "Fascinating. Completely fascinating."
Now, Letty was all for the finer parts of building and repairing a race car. But there was such a thing as getting too close without permission. She leaned in from the other side, making sure he would be able to see everything. "Like what you see?" she asked, letting her voice purr.
"Yes, I do." Not once did his eyes leave the engine. "This is nothing like I've seen before. Seems quite complicated."
Jessie laughed. "It's not all that hard, once you know what you're doing," he said as he came over.
The stranger nodded. "Yes, I suppose that's true."
"You got a name, man?"
He looked up. There were plenty of eyes looking at him. Not a single one was friendly. Fortunately for the stranger, he knew what he had to do. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me." The smile pulled his lips wide, showing no teeth. "I'm Arthur."
"Jessie." He glanced across the car. "And this is Letty's car you're looking at."
This time, the stranger did see her. "Hello, Letty."
"Hey," she said back, losing the purr. This guy wasn't looking at her like other guys did. Maybe it was the fact he was old enough to be her dad. In any case, nothing would've happened. "So, you like cars then?"
"Oh, yes, I do."
"You drive?"
"I used to. There was an unfortunate incident with my son, and we lost the car."
Everyone else shared a look. They knew what that meant. Cops took the car. "What did you drive?" Leon asked, leaning against his own car.
"A Ford Anglia."
The silence that followed only happened because the crew were looking at one another. Unsurprisingly, Jessie was the one having the hardest time holding in his laughs. Vince didn't bother hiding his smirk. "What year?" he asked.
Arthur actually had to stop and think about it. "I believe it was made in the sixties. At least that I was told."
Letty rolled his eyes. So he didn't even know what the year it was? He probably bought it the minute he could. "Why'd you even buy that kind of car?" she asked. No one she knew would be caught dead near one. Granted she didn't know that many English people (if any), but she kept it to herself.
"It was rather cheap when I came across it. The owner was quite happy to get rid of it."
"I'll bet," Leon said.
"Took a bit of doing getting it home, but I'm glad I found it in that junkyard."
And just like that, the humor in the garage vanished. The only reason a car would've been in a junkyard was if it was junk itself. Yet this guy talked about his car with pride. The kind of pride that came with driving the car. So, that meant only one thing.
"You rebuilt it?" Dom asked. His quiet voice got everyone's attention.
Arthur looked up and smiled. "I did. Took some effort, but I was able to get it working."
One look and everyone knew what Dom was thinking. They were thinking it too. It was one thing to laugh at a man's car, especially if it was an old car better off left stripped for parts. It was another thing entirely when said car had been rebuilt from the engine up.
And from the sound of things, it had also been Arthur's first car. No matter what kind it was, someone's first car was treasured and deserved respect. They didn't know anything about Arthur, but he got some respect from them now.
Letty noticed how Arthur went back to staring at the engine. He kept looking it over and over yet seemed rather confused. "Something the matter, Art?" she asked.
"Hm?" His confusion lasted a moment as he looked up. "Hm? Me?"
The laugh slipped out. She wasn't being rude. It was just that he acted like no one had called him that before. Well, maybe that was the case back in England. "Yeah, you. You're looking at the engine like you can't figure it out."
"It is a bit different from what I know," he admitted, looking back down. "And there does seem to be more." His eyes found the NOS cannister resting by the wheel. Then he looked at the engine again. "I don't see where you're going to put that here."
"Nah, man," Jessie said with a grin. "You put the NOS in the back. Easier to secure and hook up to the gas tank."
"Ah. That would make sense." His eyes found the cannister once more. "One question, though: what is NOS?"
And that alone answered a lot about the man. "You don't race, do you?" Letty asked him. She already figured what the answer was, but it still had to be asked.
The look on his face was equal parts surprised and amazed. Then it turned thoughtful. "Race?" he said to himself. "Yes, I guess that would make sense. The spirit of competition and all that." His words were odd, and somewhat fancy. That last part, they chalked up to his accent.
"Guessing you don't, then?" Leon asked.
He shook his head. "No. Although it does sound interesting." He glanced around the garage, looking at everything and everyone. "Is this NOS important?" he asked Jessie.
"Yeah, enough to make the difference in a race. Gives your car a boost." Jessie reached down and tapped the cannister with a light touch. "You hook this up right, even an Anglica would take off."
"Really?" He considered the cannister again, this time with an interested eye. No one needed to guess what was going through his head at the moment. Letty was willing to bet he was about to ask if he could buy some. "But wouldn't that hamper the control of the car?"
If anything, Jessie's smile grew wider. "That depends on what's under the hood and how good you are behind the wheel," he told the newcomer.
"I see." He looked down at the car again. This time, he looked everything about it. "Amazing. Wonderfully amazing."
Letty preened. "Thanks. I do good work," she told him.
"Dad!" Everyone turned towards the garage door. "Dad, you around here?" the young man's voice called out.
Fatherly love brightened Arthur's eyes. "Ron, in here!"
A young man came to a stop at the door. He had the same features as Arthur, red hair included, and he stood a little taller. And he only wore a shirt and jeans. "Oh, hello," he said once he realized there were other people inside.
"Ron, these people allowed me to take a look at their cars." His father waved him over with an eager air. It reminded Letty of a puppy, oddly enough. "They were also telling me about something called NOS. Apparently, it can really do something to a car's gas."
Apprehension flashed through the son's eyes as he got close. He considered the cannister, then the crew. Then finally, he looked at his father. "Dad, Mum would kill us," he said. "And we don't have the Ford anymore."
"I know, Ron." No one doubted the slight rebuke in his voice. "But it's still fascinating. They even mention about how they use their cars to race one another." He paused and then looked at Jessie. "I don't suppose you'd be able to tell me where these races happen?"
The laugh bubbling up Letty's throat got swallowed down fast, leaving a muffled squeak behind clenched teeth. Given how interested Arthur was, of course he would've been interested in the races. That wasn't what made her laugh. It was the image of Arthur and his getup at the races. No doubt he would stand out by. And he would be the oldest person there.
"Dad," his son said before Jessie could, "Mum would kill us. Not only that, she'd find a way to bring us back, just to kill us again." There was fear in his voice, fear and proper respect. He truly believed what he was saying.
Vince still snorted in derision. "Scared of your mommy?" he asked. "Just how old are you?" He smirked when he saw the reddening ears.
He might've found it funny, but he was the only one. "Vince," Dom began.
Arthur walked up to Vince, looking him right in the eye. His amused smirk died quite quickly at the older man's look. "That is my wife you are talking about, young man." His voice didn't shout, only spoke in a cool tone. "Give her the respect she deserves."
As much as he wanted to look away, Vince couldn't. It was like the other guy's eyes held him in place, demanding that he answer, and now. "Uh, yeah, sure. I'm sorry," he finally said.
The look died away as he smiled. "Thank you. Alright, Ron. Let's be on our way." He glanced back at the garage crew. "Thank you for letting me see your cars. I've never seen their like before."
No one had a reply to that. Not until Dom wrote something down and approached the redheads. "Here," he told Arthur, handing him a piece of paper. "If you're still in L.A. in a few days, come to this address. You'll see a street race in action."
He considered the paper briefly. "Thank you, Dom. I believe I will." His son was exasperated but said nothing.
"Just make sure you dress casually," Dom told Arthur, eyeing the sweater. "That's gonna make you stand out."
The redhead glanced down and then at him again. "I am dressed casually." It was the last thing he said before father and son walked out.
It took them all a moment before breaking silence. "So, that happened," Jessie remarked. "You think they're gonna show up?" he asked Dom.
"Maybe."
Vince chuckled. "It's gonna be like nothing the old man had seen before." It would be interesting to see him wander around, staring at the cars. Although, it did make Vince wonder. "You think his kid is going to be there too?"
"I'd bet on it," Leon declared as he smirked. "In fact, I'd bet he'd get distracted by all the girls that show up."
Letty shot it down before it started. "Ain't gonna happen," she said. "The kid's married." All eyes fell onto her, demanding an answer. "I saw the ring." She had only seen it due to the sun glinting off the diamond, but she saw it nonetheless.
"He's married, already?" Jessie asked. "But, he's our age."
"Eh, he's British," Leon shrugged, already moving on. "They do things differently."
No one argued the words. They didn't really know any Brits. Maybe they did marry that young. Aside from that, it wasn't really their business. "Hope Art shows up," Jessie said. "It'll be real interesting to see how he acts."
"You'll have to wait and see, Jessie," Dom told him, not without a little smile. That smile disappeared as he looked at everyone. "And this isn't relaxation time. Get back to work!"
The crew did as they were told. Pretty soon, the day went on as it did. Any thoughts they had about the slightly odd, redhead British man occurred and then put to the side. If they did see him again, it would be at the street race.
For now, they had to worry about the cars that would be doing the racing.
End
Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.
Admittedly, I've never gotten into the Fast & Furious series. My first was Tokyo Drift, then I saw 1 & 2. After that, my interest pretty much came to a stop. Since that's the point where it started going from racing to insane heist movies, I'll take it.
This story came about when I was hiking through Fanfiction and came across a story where Hermione winds up in L.A. and joins Dom's crew. It might've been interesting for some, but I couldn't suspend my disbelief. If there was anyone who was going to run into Dom and his people, it would've been Arthur Weasley.
The time is after Hogwarts for Ron but before the first movie for the crew. I have no idea why the Weasleys are in L.A. They could be taking a vacation or helping MACUSA with something. As to whether or not Arthur shows up for the races, that's up in the air too. I guess it would depend on if he can convince Ron to come with him.
I'll see you all next chapter!
