December 8, 1996
Diagon Alley was quiet and gray as I stepped out of the Leaky Cauldron. The streets were empty, shops were boarded up and the recollection of war came down upon me through the drama of my personal life and I suddenly felt very selfish for my self centeredness. Reading the news was no longer the kind of blood sport I used to enjoy, now it was a matter on which deaths or disappearances would be front page news, the annihilation of entire families, children left orphaned by the mere grace of staying with their grandparents.
I pulled my cloak a little higher to help hide my face from a passerby as a stray newspaper tumbled down the street. The cold air nipped my cheeks and bit my nose. I sniffled loudly as I looked around for the shop I had blown past on my way to the little cheese shop that I liked to go to for girl's night.
"Evil warding charm!" An old woman called to me from a pop-up stall. "Protection from the imperius curse!"
I waved her off and continued my walk, making an effort to not call attention to myself by telling her what I really thought of such things.
The Weasley shop was an abrasive orange color that stood out boldly on this dank, depressing street. A strange joviality in this strange, sad time. The windows displayed and assortment of odd items and posters, one proclaiming the value of something called U-No-Poo which made me cackle like a hag, getting the attention of the people nearby who looked at me with concern for my sanity as they stepped away to move down the street to the sparsely populated shops down the street. There was a low hum of noise and shrieks of laughter from the other side of the door.
I pushed the door open, the bell jingled loudly over my head as I stepped inside.
The interior of the shop matched everything the outside of it implied. It was bright and garishly colorful, a crowd of young children were running around examining everything on the shelves and playing with the test products. Their parents were following behind them, tense but intrigued by the complex displays of magic and more focused on the items labeled for personal protection.
A shrill caterwauling of "I will have order!" came from over my head in a familiar voice that made me wince. I looked up to find a miniature of Dolores Umbridge riding across a wire on a unicycle shrieking to only be heard occasionally over the crowd if I stood in the right place.
This shop was busy, if I had truly wondered where Diagon Alley's usual crowd had gone since the war started, I had just found them as they were all clearly here. Amazing. I guess people are always looking for joy and levity in dark times. I examined something called a Decoy Detonator and an impressive array of fireworks with an assortment of silly, creative names. There were Wildfire Whizbangs! Assorted Candy! More things than I could ever remember if I was ever asked!
And I was completely lost.
My gaze drifted to the center of the crowd where a red headed man was holding court over a group of small children. His voice was loud as he held one of his devices aloft to explain what it did. He was broad shouldered, taller than me by a few inches, covered in freckles and wore a devil may care smile to explain away any thoughts or concerns I had about his magenta robes clashing with his hair in an indescribably horrible way.
It did not truly occur to me until I saw the second man who was identical to the first come out from behind a nearby shelf that these were indeed Percy's brothers. It became easy to place the pair when I recalled the photograph from Arthur Weasley's office. They were older than they were in the picture, they both looked to be around my age, their faces still had a round quality of youth in them. Where Percy was tall and lanky, the twins were stocky and broad shouldered, their hair was a shade lighter than Percy's, messy in a way that was charming that Percy would never allow for himself. I wondered if there was anything to mark them as related at all.
I found it when the second twin shot me a grin before putting down his wares to walk in my direction. The uniform for this shop clashed violently with his red hair in a way that left me both fascinated and a bit blinded by the sheer intensity of the mad-wizard aesthetic.
"Hello there!" The young man stuck out his hand, his expression growing increasingly playful. "Name's Fred, that's my brother George."
"I'm Audrey, it's nice to meet you." I glanced between Fred and George, the photograph left me the idea of the twins but the reality was different for how it confirmed how absolutely identical they were. "Your poor mother. How did she ever tell you apart?
He leaned a bit closer, his smile widening as our hands fell back to our sides. "The secret is that we're not identical."
"Really? Let me guess, one of you has extra freckles?"
Fred shrugged, his smile never leaving his face. "I'm the handsome one. They say I'm the best looking Weasley brother."
I did my best to ignore my preference for redheads and the easy line Fred had laid before me. Something about preferring men with glasses.
"Flirt," I rolled my eyes with a coy grin. "I'm hoping to put a Christmas box together for my kid sister in America. I was wondering if you had anything to recommend?"
He lit up, "That's where you're from. I thought you were Canadian."
"Close. I'm from New York. Not that far from Canada in the grand scheme of things."
There was something in his face that I was struggling to place. A familiarity as he seemed to take me in entirely with a probing brown eyed stare. It was not uncomfortable, it just felt like he knew things that I had not shared in the last few minutes.
Fred motioned for me to follow him and he led me further back into the shop. Rows of colorful boxes that made no sense to me with increasingly silly and unusual names greeted my senses in an overwhelming fashion. For two young men who were probably a little younger than I was, having a shop of this nature was very impressive in itself, let alone being Diagon Alley's most booming business.
We stopped in front of a shelf of items that had labels like Fever Fudge and Puking Pastilles.
"How old is your sister?"
"Twelve, she's at Ilvermorny so I'd like something that I could send overseas without getting caught in customs."
Fred put two boxes of Fever Fudge and another two of Puking Pastilles in the bag I was holding. "These are good for ditching class." He must have seen my expression of mild shock and horror at the idea. He laughed. "Good for getting out of work and other obligations too."
Perfect! I could not tell him that. It would make me look like a hypocrite. Which I was. A big flaming hypocrite.
No one has to know I've wanted to skip Astronomy plenty of times.
"Now," he clapped his hands in satisfaction as he put another couple of items in the box for me that I would have to double check to make sure they were appropriate for my kid sister and not something she could use in whatever schemes went on in that odd little mind. "I think that should be enough to start off any young troublemaker. Perhaps we can find something for you, I am told that Ministry work is dead boring."
"How did you know I worked for the Ministry?"
Fred shrugged, "Dad mentioned some nice American girl was working in the Minister's Office. Not a stretch to think you're it."
I was going to be polite. Percy's family was not my business. I had my own family issues but this did not need to be solved in the same manner my family tried to solve our own, with words of hate and acts of violence borne of pride and arrogance.
"I see. How is Percy related to you then? A cousin perhaps?"
Fred gave me a hard look, his customer service smile never leaving his face giving him an aura of menace that I refused to be intimidated by.
"He's my brother."
"Really?"
It would be easier to play dumb. I was an outsider to this family drama and people always said more when they were angry about something or at someone.
I knew what someone leaving the family could do. The Weasleys acted very much like my own family after Alex left from what I had seen and heard over the last year. I should be disturbed by how comfortable it felt to dwell this close to the fire, but perhaps it made me more willing to poke the sleeping dragon. Fred was very quick to correct me and that hard stare may have been hiding hurt from an older sibling leaving the nest with, from my understanding, a whole lot of drama and far more emotional fallout then had been managed at the Byrgen House.
The hurt was something I understood too well.
"I never would have believed it. He's mentioned having siblings but I just assumed they were all much younger."
"Wow."
"I mean, he sounds like an old man sometimes."
A huff of laughter escaped Fred that he was quick to try and cover with indifference.
"You must work for the Minister then."
I nodded. "It's…" I paused, choosing my words carefully. "It's not MACUSA. More lax, less militant."
"Don't be smug, we know you all have dark wizards in America."
"We're better at making sure they're dead than you all are."
"Low blow." He laughed and led me over to the WonderWitch section that smelled of… cologne I recognized from when I was dancing with Percy. The slightly musky scent that brought back memories of the time we spent in the maze, the smell of him as he showed me the stars. There was no way he bought that here! There was an aroma of old parchment mixed in with fresh grass that made me weak at the knees for a moment. It was coming from a blindingly pink display labeled WonderWitch with signs and clever ads advertising… Love potions.
My stomach curled, memories of reading the newspaper article my brother had written about Valencia Talbott's assault invaded my mind, mists of memory in a cold chill that gripped and squeezed in a way that was horrifying and uncomfortable. I was older than I was when I first read her account, but the memories came back as fresh as if it was something I had read only minutes ago. They sold these things over the counter? As a joke? There was nothing funny in manufactured lust! There was no joy in being a victim of it.
"I was not aware you sold love potions," my voice was low and quiet in a way that was unfamiliar to me.
"Yep! One of our best sellers!"
I was sure I was going to be sick.
"I think I've got everything I need," my tone was brusk as I took a step away from the display. I was not going to be confrontational, I was going to bite my tongue on the matter but continue to be disgusted in private. This was not something I was prepared for today, I was always very considerate in my actions and dissent in society and I saw no reason for that to change now.
Fred motioned me over towards the counter with a shrug and proceeded to tally up the total cost of my purchases with a smile and a very flirtatious wink. I assured him that my sister would enjoy the things he picked out for me. Though, privately, I knew the Fever Fudge would be of particular use to me.
More niceties were exchanged, though I could see George trying to shout his twin back over to be helpful while Fred waved him off to escort me to the door and hold it open for me.
"I'm taking my break, George!"
"No you're not!" A sharp voice said from the depths of the shop as the door closed behind us. Fred opted to ignore his brother.
"So, doing anything tonight?"
"I'm sorry?"
I was really having a hell of a weekend.
"My brother and I are going out for drinks with a lady friend of ours and perhaps we could make it a double date?"
"A double date?" I giggled awkwardly, trying not to think about Percy, as I shifted my bag of purchases to my other arm. "What do we have in common to talk about?"
"That's the fun part, we get to find out together. We both have sisters, we could start with them?"
"Is your sister likely to become either an Auror or a serial killer too?"
Fred's laugh was high and infectious.
"I also have an older brother."
"He's not protective is he?" His eyebrows wiggled suggestively, lecherous and playful.
"I don't think so," I paused, it was odd to mention Alex to a stranger, but the only other reason I could offer to refuse was the fact that last night I kissed his brother.
Isolt's panties this is so awkward.
Do I lean in and lie about Alex? Say that he's a MACUSA Auror, leaning into both reputations of Aurors as a whole with MACUSA's bloodthirsty reputation? This man made explosives for a living, I doubted a scary Auror brother would be a deterrent for him, he'd probably see it as a challenge.
"Don't think so?"
"My brother has not spoken to me since I was thirteen."
That sounded awful.
By the look on Fred's face, the wide eyes and tightening mouth that reminded me of Percy when he was displeased about something, he seemed to agree with the thought. Something in me wanted to press and twist at something that mocked me with similarities to my own family. Though, from the look on his face, I did not think that would be necessary, Fred was impulsive and would not need much encouragement from me.
"He sounds like my brother. Let me guess, he put his work over his family? Told your dad he was scum on his way out?"
Um. Yes.
"A family doesn't deserve blind loyalty by the act of sharing blood."
There was a huff from Fred, "He's free to come back and apologize at any time."
I imagined there was less apologizing in Fred's vision than there was absolute groveling.
"You sound like my father and I don't speak to him. Everyone else is wrong and he's always right. Do you think you bear no sin? That the fault only belongs to one person? It takes two people to fight and more to isolate someone and ensure it continues."
Fred gave me a very hard stare, like he was willing to argue the matter of philosophy but was torn by the fact I was also a paying customer individually and professionally as I worked directly for the Minister. Though, I doubted he really cared for such things. Like me, he may have been fascinated by what similarities we clearly shared in our family matters, left behind by an older sibling who we had not spoken with in a long time.
"Here's the difference between us. I do not care who was right and who was wrong. I'm actively looking for my brother, you've shut yours out long ago. I hope you all swallow your pride and find it in yourselves to make amends before something terrible happens." There was a stubborn set to my jaw and a chilly ferocity I seemed to be growing accustomed to. "Thank you for your help today, Mr. Weasley, it was very much appreciated."
I turned away, the cold gray streets were all I could see as I walked back to the Leaky Cauldron. The shouts of charm sellers became a senseless interruption to my thoughts. I was going back to my apartment to have lunch, and then spend the rest of the day in bed, panicking over the week to come between reading the novel I had borrowed from Misty about a baker and florist who solved crimes together.
It was easier than dealing with my life at the moment.
Oo0Oo0
December 9, 1996
I stole a glance in the mirror, my skin had taken on a sickly pallor as I sniffled and sneezed as an ache moved up my body, settling in my shoulders and other joints with shakes as beads of sweat began to form on my brow.
Heh, those diabolical doppelgängers might be geniuses.
I would never say that sentence aloud.
I fumbled with the floo powder jar before throwing a pinch of it into the fireplace, the flames growing into a brilliant green that sparkled like emeralds. I coughed and wiped the sweat from my brow before sticking my head into the fire and speaking my destination. The whooshing sensation dropped me in the floo department where I saw the floo secretary looking down at me with parchment in hand.
"Name and department please."
"Audrey Graves. Minister's Support Staff Office."
"Reason for calling."
"I'm diseased, Maeve." I began to cough to make a point.
Maeve looked at me carefully, her face growing increasingly disgusted with my obviously ill appearance.
"It's not dragon pox is it?"
"Bad cold, I think," I wheezed, growing more impressed by my fake illness by the minute.
"You look ghastly."
Just as I hoped.
"I'll transfer you to the Support Staff Office so you can tell them you'll be out for…?"
"Few days. Maybe a week." I coughed and wheezed, inhaling smoke in the process. "I'm afraid it's quite severe."
Maeve muttered something and sent me on my way with a flick of her wand. In the fiery blink of an eye, I was looking around my office from a new prospective, ankle level like a Lilliputian in a land of giants through a glass floor lamp in the Minister's Support Staff Office. These were in the main offices instead of fireplaces, if we lit a fire in every office to directly communicate and take outside calls we would suffocate from the smoke. Also, these were portable, so they could be moved for private calls.
This was a different view. I generally did not like floo calls, I tended to smell like a fireplace when they were done and it made my eyes burn. It only added to my old fashioned preference for letters. I sniffled loudly, my eyes burning slightly from either the ash from the fire or the fever fudge and did my best not to choke on whatever nasty thing was trying to come down my sore throat.
A pair of familiar black shoes stopped in front of me, they were scuffed slightly at the edge of the sole from wear and age, but well maintained in other aspects stopped in front of me. I felt my stomach lurch in horror.
I was expecting Umbridge, I had prepared myself for a false sweetness and equally pretend pity for my fake disease.
Percy and his perfect hair were not what I was expecting to see.
My throat was dry as he knelt in front of the glass lamp, cleaning his glasses on the sleeve of his robe before putting them on his face so he could see who was in the small fire.
"Can I help-"
We made eye contact as he put his glasses back on and the world stopped turning. Percy seemed to freeze in place as a cold chill settled in my chest.
I did not have a plan for this.
His hair glowed with the halo of light from the mage light behind his head, a look of concern on his face personified in a furrowed brow. I felt my mouth grow dry from more than just the fever fudge.
"Hello Audrey," his voice was no longer clipped but quiet and surprised as his gaze wandered over my face in the fire. Heat from more than just my fever surged into my cheeks.
"Morning," I croaked as memories of our kiss in the maze flooded my mind like water from an open dam. How warm he was in the cold air. The way his mouth moved against mine as his hands trailed down to my waist and pulled me closer...
I needed to get off this floo.
But I was also a mature adult and would handle this with grace.
"I won't be in today, or the rest of the week."
His eyes widened and he leaned closer, his voice low and rushed with concern. "What's wrong?"
My attempts to speak were drowned out by a symphony of coughing. When I was able to speak again all I could think to say was, "I have the plague."
"Plague?" He smiled wryly, his mouth slightly crooked and a playful tone to accompany his words. "I'm told the last wizarding plague was in the Middle Ages. I was not aware that it had a resurgence."
"I'm patient zero apparently," my eyes rolled and I tried not to laugh at his teasing, even if it lowered my tense nerves. "I'm in a secure facility being studied."
"I'll tell Umbridge you have the flu, don't want to cause a panic do we?"
I shook my head slowly, my braid swaying gently across my back. This was scary, but it felt so easy.
"Do you want me to get you anything? Medicine maybe?"
Don't make me feel bad for lying, Percy.
I sniffled and shook my head, my throat aching and every instinct in my aching body was telling me to get off the call and eat the other half of the fever fudge tablet. "I'll manage, thank you."
We looked at each other for several moments, I focused on the line forming between his eyebrows a little longer than I should have before speaking up.
"I've got to take my medicine, I'll see you next week."
"Yes, yes of course." He flushed to the tips of his ears as I pulled myself free from my apartment fireplace.
The world around me swirled in varying colors of green with tinges of yellow before my head came out of the fireplace with a hacking, chesty cough. I reached for the purple half of the fever fudge that I had left on the coffee table and popped it in my mouth, hoping it was as quick to work as its counterpart.
The aches in my body stopped almost immediately and all I could think was how impressed I was and that I really could have used those Puking Pastilles when I was a child getting dragged to my father's political rallies.
Sometimes things that can change a person's life come into the world a bit later than needed.
Oo0Oo0
December 13, 1996
Misty pulled me down into a tight hug that left a slight ache in my ribs. I had not seen her all week due to playing hooky from work. She was making happy noises at seeing me and made more when she saw the leftover wine from the Gala that I was peeking out of my expanded purse.
"That is not the Wise Magus Winery is it?"
"Yep!" I held up the bag with a smile as I walked inside, Misty closing the door behind me. "The good stuff that was leftover from the party!"
"You're an angel!" Zara said from the kitchen, "There's room in the fridge."
"On my way."
I was fascinated by the bits of No-Maj life that filled Zara's flat. The refrigerator, as she called it, kept the food cold in the long term without the use of magic and the perfect temperature. Wizards would use a cold cabinet or cupboard with spells on it, but sometimes they would be too powerful and freeze the contents entirely, or there would just be a charm placed on the food to keep it from rotting. It really depended on the family in question.
Zara placed an assortment of chocolates and fruits on the table. Sliced oranges, strawberries, plums, pears and some that I did not recognize.
"So, tell us about the party!" Misty sat down with a brilliant, gleaming smile that made me want to spill all of my secrets. "Any salacious gossip? Did Umbridge really choke on a piece of fancy chocolate?"
How much should I say? I can't keep these secrets forever and it might be nice to get some of this off my chest. Misty and Zara would never tell. I can't talk about Jack, that's such a raw thing and honestly, I am panicking over seeing Percy in person and not between the glass of an office floo call. There was pride in having some kind of normal relationship with another human being, within the bounds of friendship and also in a romantic light that would never go anywhere at all. It would be a nice memory and eventually something I could laugh about when I told stories about my life.
"I did not bear witness to her choking on anything except the boots she was probably licking."
Zara and Misty laughed before I began to describe the party and the array of beautiful robes that made Misty give a dreamy sigh.
"And I got a marriage proposal," this last addition was offhanded and casual in a way that it took a moment for it to register for my friends.
"WHAT?" Misty exclaimed as Zara began to choke on a strawberry. "WHO?"
"My cousin Harrow."
"What did you say?"
"No, of course. I shot him down really hard."
Zara stopped choking and slammed her hand on the table with a bang, "Good! Say not to incest!"
"I can't imagine you stuck around after that. Yikes!" Misty finished her wine and went to refill the glass.
"I didn't. I went to the back garden and…" I debated for a few moments before deciding that I needed to be honest about some aspects of my life. "I kissed Percy!"
Misty spat out her wine. "WHAT!"
"You turned down a proposal and went to snog another man!" Zara was laughing uproariously as Misty babbled incoherently in shock. "Amazing!"
"Percy Weasley?" Misty whispered, her voice high in surprise and disbelief. "Your coworker? Not some random Percy you found on the street?"
My face was hot like I had just stepped onto a beach in the dead of summer.
"You've been making moon eyes at him for months."
"I-I have not!"
Misty smiled like a cat that got the canary. "Yeah you have, when we get lunch together in the cafeteria you get moonstruck if you see him walk in. I don't see the appeal myself, but it's kind of adorable."
Zara was looking between us, her bottom lip between her teeth as she tried not to giggle.
I slumped down on the couch, my eyes on the ceiling in a kind of prayer to be sucked into a black hole. "Was it that obvious?"
"Yes." The pair answered in unison as they clicked their wine glasses together in an apparent victory.
"It was more of a matter of when," Zara stated sagely as she brushed her purple hair from her face. "You just won me a week of not having to do dishes and two galleons by the way. Misty said you would find another ginger or one of you would leave your job so you could date."
Misty's scenario would have been the most likely overall outcome if things were less complicated and there was any asking. "We're not dating. I don't think that will change."
Zara gave me a look. "I went to school with Percy, he's a bit of a nightmare but he knows what he wants out of life, personally and professionally. Give him a chance to sort this out in his own mind and he won't say a word about it in the meantime. The man had a secret girlfriend for a year, I think he just likes to keep things private."
I believed Zara's analysis, but I was sure I would find out myself in the coming days.
Oo0Oo0
Author's Note: Due to recent political events I'm updating a week early. If anyone needs to distract themselves for a time, this is what I can offer you. In turn, that means the next update will be on July 10th and every two weeks after that.
I'm here for irony. The funny kind, not the ironic, terrifying universe we actually live in.
I like to think Fred tells George about meeting Audrey and his failed attempt to ask her out. George brings this up later after the war for his own amusement. I think Fred is the more impulsive twin, the primary product idea guy and George is the one who is good at making the ideas a reality and able to turn a profit.