Anniversary
Arthur and Molly Weasley know how to throw a party.
Maybe it’s because of the wars; no one knew if or when their time was up, so any gathering had to be something of a spectacle. Since it may be someone’s last.
Event though the threat of war was long over, habits remain.
He and Audrey and girls arrive about fifteen minutes late. Mum said to arrive at 5:00pm, which really meant 5:15pm. Since the war, she’s allowed herself to be late, and that translated into everything starting late. At first it had quite annoyed Percy, but now it’s almost a comfort. Life and death no longer depending on being on time. Being late meant you simply could.
When they arrive, Percy takes a moment to admire the Burrow. His parents had transformed it from his childhood home and garden to a wonderful event space. The soft glow of fairy lights dances around the backyard, where tables adorned with white tablecloths are set up.
The scent of grilled steak wafts through the air, mingling with the laughter and chatter of family and friends.
As soon they arrive, Percy grips the girls’ shoulder before they can run off to be with their cousins
“Awh, but Dad!” Molly whines.
“Just a moment, we need to say hello to Grandpa and Grandma. Then you can go play.” Percy says. Molly deflates a little but nods.
He holds her hand, and Lucy holds Audrey’s as they approach the Burrow. His mother sees him from the kitchen window.
She meets them by the door.
“There are my girls!” She calls to the twins. They rush up and hug her, like they hadn’t just been there a few weeks ago. His mum plants kisses on them all over them; their foreheads and cheeks, until they start to squirm.
“Oh, go on then. Don’t leave the property! We’ll be eating soon.”
“Okay!” The girls chorus, and they rush off to join the other children. Percy can see that Teddy is there, not quite yet 13, and Bill’s children, Victoire who is also Teddy’s age, and Dominique. He assumes Louis, the toddler, must be with Bill or Fleur. There’s also Rose and Hugo who are a little bit older and younger than the twins, respectively. Freddy is there too, which means that George and Angelina must have beaten them there, much to Percy’s surprise.
Once the girls run off, mum turns to them.
“Oh, Audrey it’s so good to see you.”
“I’m here, too.” Percy protests without any real heat. His mum smacks him lightly with the dishtowel she’s holding. Even at her own party, she’s cooking. Merlin.
“It’s lovely to see you, too.” She wraps him in a brief hug.
“This is for you.” Audrey says, handing his mother a bottle of wine. She’s perfect in a navy sleek dress, her hair slicked back in a lovely cascade of pin curls.
“Oh, you didn’t have to!’ Mum protests.
“Nonsense,” Audrey says. “It’s not every day you’ve been married for 40 years. I can’t wait until we get there.” She says to Percy, wrapping her arm under his, smiling at him. He smiles back.
“Aren’t you too just adorable. Let me put this out.”
“Do you need any help?” Percy asks as his mother uncorks the bottle with her wand.
“No, I’m alright dear. Go enjoy yourselves.”
Percy leans in and kisses his mother on the cheek, and he and Audrey head out into the garden.
There’s a canopy supported by golden poles, with a glorious view of the sunlit orchard and surrounding countryside. From the center of the tent is gleaming dance floor. It must have taken a lot of tricky magic to make the Burrow look so elegant.
He spies his extended family, some second cousins and aunts and such and feels his heart skip a beat. Networking, kissing arse, those were things he could do at work, mostly because he didn’t give a flying wampus about what his coworkers thought of him now. With family…
Audrey slips her hand into his and squeezes it. She looks up at him through her long, thick lashes.
“It’ll be okay, babe.”
He feels reassured after that, so he squeezes her hand back and heads into the fray.
It’s exhausting, having to repeat the same lines over and over again. Yes, he was still at the Ministry. Yes, the girls were getting quite big now. No, we haven’t thought about having another, or going for a boy.
He felt sort of pathetic next to Audrey who was effortlessly charming everyone around her. As they glided from conversation to conversation, her laughter rang out like music. She was charming the pants off an elderly relative when Percy sees him, chatting over shrimps with whom he thinks used to be a professor at Dumstrang.
“Oliver?” he asks.
The Quidditch player turns around. He’s dressed in a muggle suit. It’s navy blue and tailored to fit every inch of his muscular form. His eyes are bright, and he’s got a bit of flush to his cheeks, probably due to the summer weather.
Percy taps Audrey on the shoulder to let her know he’s walking away and she waves him off, apparently entranced in discussing current Goblin-Wizard relations with his great-great uncle twice removed.
“Percy!” Oliver calls, delighted. He smiles as he hugs Percy, smelling of old leather. When they pull away, Oliver’s hang lingers on his shoulder.
“Fancy seeing you here.” Oliver says.
“I should say, it’s my own parent’s party.” Percy quips. “What are you doing here?”
Olliver shrugs, withdrawing his hand. Percy feels stupid for wishing he hadn’t.
“George invited me. I used to come ‘round a lot, remember? Your Mum insisted.”
Percy did remember. Oliver’s father had gotten sick, really sick, with some kind of cancer. They didn’t think he would survive. Oliver had a hard time coping with it. During the summer of their fourth year, he’d spent days on end at The Burrow, avoiding the hospital and his ill father. He had been there more as a friend to the twins, but it he’d been around enough for Percy to get properly acquainted outside of school.
“That sounds like her.” Percy admits. His mother has always had a penchant for strays, Oliver and Harry were only a few of any number of children she’d opened the Burrow to. There was a girl Percy’s first year who couldn’t go home for the holidays and his mother insisted he invite her. Percy can’t even remember her name but apparently, she and his mother still exchange the occasional letter.
Oliver shrugs again, giving him a shy smile. "She’s hard to say no to.”
Percy thinks about his estrangement. The letters and packages he never opened.
“She’s determined.” Percy says dryly. Oliver tilts his head back and laughs, loud and beautiful.
They stare at each other after for a long, long moment. Just smiling. Circe, he could do this all day. Silence with Oliver was easy.
Oliver breaks the silence first. “Perce, so I heard-,” before he can finish, Audrey is there, taking Percy’s arm.
“Percy, I was looking for you-, oh hello. Oliver, right?” she asks.
Oliver swallows whatever he had been about to say. “Yes. Audrey?”
She nods and takes his hand. They shake. Percy tries not to think about the first time Audrey met Oliver. And what happened after.
“So good to meet you, finally. Percy’s told me a lot about you.”
Percy looks at her curiously. He’s not sure he’s told her anything about him, other then they’d roomed together, he played professional Quidditch now and had been Percy’s friend at school.
“You as well.” Oliver says with a nod. At least that was true- Percy had told Oliver all about Audrey when they’d met at the café just before he got sick.
His wife tugs at his arm a little. “Well, we’ve got a lot of people to see. Nice seeing you, Oliver.” She starts to pull Percy away. He gives Oliver a sheepish shrug over his shoulder and lets Audrey take him back into the crowd of people.
Percy’s half-expecting for Audrey to say something, anything, about seeing Oliver again, but she just flits around the party like she hasn’t a care in the world.
They chat a bit more with people he doesn’t know, until it seems like everyone is getting ready to eat. He spends most of the time picking at his food and trying to get Molly to stay in her seat and eat something more than bread.
When the meal’s over, music starts to play from some enchanted speakers, and the sun has fully set.
Percy is checking to make sure his squirming daughter ate at least on vegetable when Dominique rushes up to their table. She’s about the twin’s age, missing two front teeth, and has already torn a hole in one of her stockings. She’s adorable.
“Uncle Percy! Can Molly and Lucy play?”
Percy looks at Molly’s plate and sighs. There’s a carrot with bite marks in it; close enough. He’s got to pick and choose his battles. He peeks at Lucy’s plate, which is considerably clearer.
“Go on, then.” He tells the children. Lucy and Molly shriek with joy He watches them go, running through the crowd of bodies.
Audrey stands. “I’m going to get us some drinks. What do you want?”
“I’m fine, thank you.” Percy tells her. She nods walks away without comment, headed to the open bar.
He lets his eyes linger on her until he can no longer see her anymore and turns his attention to his own meal. Dealing with Molly left him little time to eat. He’s about to tuck into some cold but delicious-smelling mashed potatoes when the chair next to him scrapes on the floor. Percy looks up. It’s Bill, holding a dozing toddler in his arms.
The years have been kind to his eldest brother. The scars across his face have faded to light pink lines. His face, while aged, has aged very well. He looks relaxed and comfortable, even with a toddler drooling on his arm. Fatherhood suits him well.
“Hey Perce.” He greets, shifting his arm to better carry Louis. “Girls running you?”
“Ragid.” Percy agrees. “I’d almost have half a mind to do a bunk if Audrey didn’t have the keys.”
“You have a wand. You’re a wizard.”
“Oh, quite right.”
Bill and Percy both chuckle. Louis starts to drool again, so Percy hands Bill a napkin to wipe it away before it gets onto his pants.
“They did a great job,” Percy comments, nodding at the décor. Bill nods in agreement, humming a bit.
“They did. Remind me of my wedding. Without all the fighting and fire, of course.”
Percy winces. He hadn’t been invited to Bill’s wedding, not that he had been expecting it. Though he’d brewed a Polyjuice under his bed in hopes of attending the wedding, the Ministry had been attacked before he’d gotten a chance. He’d been there when Scrimgeour had died. Lots of people at the Ministry had been. You-Know-Who made it a show, and everyone who was unlucky enough was included.
Later, after he’d made it to his small flat, days after the coup, exhausted and bloody, body aching from cruciatus, voice lost and his throat raw, he’d picked up a copy of The Daily Prophet and found out about what happened at the wedding.
“I’m sure it was lovely.” He says stiffly, trying very, very hard to not think about Scrimgeour’s screams, or his own. He rubs his shoulder. He’d gotten is snapped with a bone-breaking curse during the whole ordeal.
“Mum knows how to throw a party.” Bill nods in confirmation, eyeing Percy as he rubs his shoulder.
“You alright, mate?”
Percy nods. “Fine, fine. Old injury.”
Bill frowns, thinking for a moment. “I don’t recall you ever-,”
Percy jumps up from his chair quickly. He spies his daughters. “I think I see Molly trying to feed Lucy a frog.”
He leaves Bill sitting alone at the table.
Once he’s successfully gotten Molly to stop threating Lucy with a random frog she found, and comforted Lucy until her tears dried, he finds Audrey again. She looks radiant, with her tanned skin and dark hair, she practically glows in the fairy lights. She’s in the middle of a conversation, a glass of wine in hand. One of his cousins is giggling with her, one hand on her forearm in an attempt to keep herself steady from the laughter.
He slips next to Audrey, easing into the small group. He sees George and Angelina are there, along with the cousin giggling and few other friends and colleagues of his father’s. On closer inspection, George as a tight smile across his face, not quite reaching his eyes.
“What?” he asks as his cousins takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
“Is it true you color-code your socks?” one of his cousins asks. She’s barely able to hold back her laughter in front of him.
“Uh, well… it’s a practical system,” Percy stammers, wishing he could disappear.
“Obnoxious but consistent, that’s what I always say.” Audrey says, drawing chuckles from nearby relatives. His cheeks flush crimson as the laughter surrounds him, the warmth of the evening suddenly feeling suddenly stifling.
“Oh, come on, Audrey, that’s not fair,” he mutters, a weak smile plastering his face
Percy knew she could be sharp-tongued and dismissive, especially when she was feeling particularly bold. By the half-empty glass of wine in her hand, he was starting to see why.
“You know I love you, Percy. Color-coded socks and all.” She plants a wet kiss on his cheek, and Percy flushes further. He’s about to say something, when there’s the clinking of a glass, gathering everyone’s attention. It’s his father. It looks like he’s about to give a speech.
"If I could have your ears, please! If someone could find my wife, thank you" he calls, his voice warm and inviting. "I promise to keep this short—after all, I know there’s cake waiting!"
There’s some laughter drawn from the crowd of people. Percy takes Audrey, unsteady on her feet and takes her back to their table, getting her seated in a chair. He finds the girls similarly and gathers them to sit by their mother.
His father places his wand to his jaw, amplifying his voice across the party. He looks at Mum, who’s absolutely beaming, her eyes glistening with tears before he’s even started talking.
"Forty years ago," Dad begin, "I was just a young man with wild ideas and a heart full of dreams. And there was Molly—brilliant, beautiful, and a bit too clever for my own good!"
More laughter erupts. Percy swallows hard. Something about this whole thing made him almost uncomfortable.
"I never imagined that the girl who stole my heart would become the heart of our family. Through all the ups and downs, Molly has been my anchor. She’s the one who keeps this family together, with her unwavering love and incredible strength."
Dad pauses, scanning the crowd of people, some of whom are his children and grandchildren. He looks proud. "It’s not just our love that’s grown over these years, but the love of our family. Each of you is a testament to the bond Molly and I share. We may have had our fair share of challenges, but I wouldn’t change a thing."
Percy stands up, feeling almost sick. The way his dad talked about his mum, would he ever…
He makes a beeline for the house. Audrey either doesn’t notice or care. Dad’s talking about 40 years of marriage and Percy steps into the house. He spies the cake in the kitchen, half-cut and put onto plates. Mum must have been cutting up the cake before Dad asked for attention.
He rolls up his sleeves, pulling out his wand when he hears the door open behind him. He turns around. It’s George. In the brief moments the door was open, he can hear laughter coming from the party.
“Hi, George. I’m about to cut the-,”
His brother places his hands on his hands on his hips. “What the hell, man?” His voice is strained. Percy blinks, not having expected the hostility.
“I- what are you on about?”
“Why are you letting her treat you like this?”
Percy’s brows knits together. He must have been talking about Audrey embarrassing him. “I’m fine, George. Really. She’s just joking.”
“Joking? It’s not funny when she’s making you look like a fool in front of everyone. On purpose. You deserve better than that,” George shoots back, his frustration palpable enough it makes Percy want to grit his teeth. He turns back to the cake and waves his wand, the cake magically dividing in perfect squares and floating onto paper plates.
Percy shrugs, trying to focus on the cake and not his brother. “It’s not a big deal. She’s just—she’s Audrey. That’s how she is.”
“No, Percy, that’s not how it should be,” George insists, his voice lowering. “You’re my brother, and I care about you. I hate seeing you put up with her nonsense. You don’t have to take it.”
“George, you’re overreacting.”
“No, I’m not. Merlin, Percy. She told you that you couldn’t spend time with Penelope anymore?”
Percy flinches and the piece of cake floating in the air jerks violently. He manages to keep it from hitting the ground. He floats it over to the counter.
“How do you know about that?”
“Penelope called me. She’s upset. She thought something may have happened.”
Percy sets his wand down. “Nothing happened. It’s something that Audrey and I agreed on.”
George’s eyebrows pulse together and he’s looking at Percy with something like… pity. It makes Percy sick to his stomach.
“Percy, that time Charlie saw you with a black eye-,”
Percy feels the familiar tug of guilt and rage in his gut. “I said I’m fine! She’s not always like this. You don’t know her like I do.”
George sighs his expression softening a fraction. His hands leave his hips and drop down by his side. “Maybe I don’t. But I know you, and I know you deserve respect. If she can’t give you that, then what are you doing?”
Percy turned away, his eyes scanning the familiar kitchen filled with memories. He knew George meant well, but it was hard to confront the truth he’d been avoiding. “I just…I thought…It’s just a party; she’s nervous.”
“Or maybe she’s just showing her true colors,” George replies, crossing his arms. “You need to think about what you want, Percy. Not what you think you can change in her.”
Percy takes a deep breath, the weight of his brother’s words pressing down on him. He wasn’t fine—not really. And deep down, he knew it. But admitting that felt like admitting defeat. It was just like before. He’d stuck by the Ministry, and by the time he’d realized he had chosen the wrong side, going back and admitting he was wrong seemed impossible. So he ended up doing what he could without admitting he had been wrong until the very last possible moment.
“Look,” George continues, softer now, perhaps thinking of the same thing, “just think about it, okay? I’m here for you.”
His licks his lips. “George, I think-,”
For the second time that night, he gets interrupted. It’s Ginny, slightly flushed from the wine.
“There you are! Mum wants a picture.”
Percy rolls his sleeves back down, whatever he'd been stupidly about to admit to his brother gone from his tongue. He can't say anything. He's always overreacting. He's also remembering things wrong.
“Sure. Let me find Audrey.”