One-shot: Molly/OMC, Percy/Audrey
Title: An Unfortunate Meeting
Author/Artist: mollywheezy
Characters: Molly Weasley/OMC, Percy/Audrey
Word Count: ~1700
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: Percy meets Molly's boyfriend in a less than ideal way.
Disclaimer: JKR owns the universe-I am only playing in her sandbox. ;)
Author’s Notes: Sequel to "Meetings" which I wrote for the 2014 interhouse_fest. Thanks to rumpelsnorcack for her betaing and encouragement for both stories (as well as many others ;) ).
"I'm off, dear! Have a good day!" Percy quickly hugged and kissed Audrey as he was headed out the door.
"You too, love."
He had almost closed the door behind him when Audrey called out, "Percy, wait!" He poked his head back in the door.
"I don't think you should Apparate directly into Molly's flat."
"Why not? I always have before."
"Just call it mother's intuition and don't, OK?"
"OK."
Percy heeded his wife's advice and now stood outside his daughter's flat holding bags of breakfast food in one hand and knocking with the other. After several tries receiving no answer, Percy put down the food, removed his wand from his robes, and cast a sonorous charm against the door, which served to magnify all internal sounds. It was occasionally helpful having a brother and brother-in-law who were Aurors, after all.
Once Percy cast the charm and put his ear to the door, he clearly heard the sound of a running shower.
That explained why Molly wasn't answering the door! He Apparated inside, found plates and cutlery, and began setting out the food items, very much looking forward to having breakfast with his daughter.
This had become rather a tradition for them since Molly got her own flat. They didn't have a set day or time, but every so often, Percy would drop by and surprise her with breakfast, they would eat, and then go to the Ministry together for work.
Percy missed Molly. He hadn't seen her in over a month which was a record, but with her weeklong business trip to Greece, her deciding to stay an extra week in Greece for vacation, and then his and Audrey's trip to the States, there hadn't been time to get together. They had Flooed several times, but it just wasn't the same.
Percy had breakfast set out, and was just finishing adding warming charms to the plates when he heard a noise behind him, turned to look, and dropped his wand in shock. Standing before him was a young man wearing only a pink towel around his waist. Percy used the word "wearing" rather loosely, as the lad was holding the towel closed with one hand, leaving quite a gap of exposed skin.
Towel bloke spoke, "Er . . . hello?"
"Hello," Percy responded tersely. He did not want to think about what it meant that the shower was still running, although he knew perfectly well. He was definitely interrupting. "Well, I brought breakfast. I'll just . . . leave you to it." Percy picked up his wand, and despite the "Wait, Sir!" he heard behind him, Disapparated.
Percy thought he was rather lucky not to have splinched himself, as he hurried down the Ministry corridor towards Audrey's office. He hoped he was still early enough to catch her before her morning meeting.
As soon as he opened her door, closing and imperturbing it behind him, she asked, "Oh Percy, what happened?"
"A young man with a towel around his waist is what happened."
"I told you not to Apparate directly into her flat!"
"Did you know about this bloke? Why didn't you tell me then? And come to think of it, why didn't Molly tell me? I thought we were close . . ."
"Oh love," Audrey came out from behind her desk and wrapped her arms around Percy. "Molly didn't tell me anything until we received an owl from her just after you left this morning. I sent Hermes with a note, but was obviously too late."
"Then how . . ."
"I told you it was mother's intuition, which Molly's owl confirmed. And her owl was addressed to both of us, just so you know."
"But why . . ."
"Love, Molly is just like you in the way she thinks about things and processes them in her head before she shares with anyone. Lucy is more like me-we're the ones who think out loud."
"Well, I know," Percy sighed. "I guess . . . I've been replaced." Percy dropped his head onto Audrey's shoulder with another sigh.
Audrey shook Percy's head off her shoulder, and putting a hand on each of his cheeks made him look her in the eye. "Now, you listen to me Percival Ignatius Weasley. Our daughters love you and nobody will ever replace you in their hearts. We want our daughters to find men who love them and with whom they can have the happiness you and I have. Don't we?"
"Yes," Percy muttered.
"Besides, grandchildren might be fun." Audrey kissed Percy quickly on the lips and released his face.
Percy spluttered, "I don't want grandchildren today!"
Audrey giggled, "They do take nine months, you know. Oh, you should just see your face! Don't worry. Here, read Molly's letter. You'll feel better."
Dear Mum and Daddy,
I have some truly wonderful news! I wanted to tell you in person, but we've all been so busy lately, I haven't had a chance and didn't want to wait any longer. I met a man in Greece, and he's wonderful. Mason's moving to England so we won't have to have a long distance relationship. He actually has an interview at the Ministry today. I want both of you to meet him. I just know you'll like him. Maybe we could all get together this weekend?
Hugs and Kisses!
Molly
"She does sound happy," Percy agreed. "And it seems like she meant to tell us, so I guess I feel better."
"Good." Audrey kissed Percy again more deeply this time.
Percy jumped back in surprise when a paper airplane memo hit him in the ear. "Ow! I hate these things."
Percy opened the memo, and said, "I need to go. They want me to sit in on an interview. You don't think it could be . . ."
"I'm sure there is more than one interview happening at the Ministry this morning," Audrey chuckled.
"I'll see you later, love."
Percy gave his wife a quick hug and left her office. He really did not feel like sitting in on an interview this morning, but since he had spearheaded the implementation of the new ministry interview policy, he couldn't complain. There had to be a minimum of three unrelated people from three different departments for each interview. None of the interviewers could have any personal connection to the interviewee either. The idea was to prevent blatant nepotism of unqualified applicants. Of course, Percy's dad, brother, brother-in-law, wife, and daughter all worked for the Ministry, but all were also well trained and very qualified for their positions and didn't get them because of who they knew. The hope was to prevent some future dark wizard taking over and stuffing their supporters into every position like Voldemort had.
Percy arrived at the specified office. He didn't know either of the other interviewers so they made quick work of introductions. Percy picked up a resume of the interviewee. The name at the top read "Mason Kokinos". Percy had a sinking feeling in his stomach. How many Masons could there be with Greek surnames? When the door opened, his fears were confirmed. Mason Kokinos was towel bloke, Molly's boyfriend. Percy wondered if he should excuse himself from the interview, but that would be rather embarrassing for the young man, and for himself, too, if he had to explain why he was recusing himself.
Percy gave Mason credit, after greeting the other two interviewers, his eyes widened only slightly upon seeing Percy, and he greeted him just as he had the others. They settled in for the interview. Percy kept quiet at first just listening as Mason answered his colleagues' questions. Percy hated to admit it, but he was doing quite well.
When it was Percy's turn, he pulled out his favorite series of questions. All applicants to the Ministry signed a statement that they had studied and were familiar with the policies and procedures of the Ministry. Unfortunately Percy found most applicants lied and were unable to answer even the simplest question to prove they had read the material. Percy decided to give Mason the benefit of the doubt and assume he had done his reading. He asked him a difficult policy question, and Mason gave a well-reasoned answer. Percy pulled out all the stops and asked the most difficult questions of obscure Ministry minutiae that he could think of, and Mason answered every question correctly. Against his will, Percy had never been more impressed.
They excused Mason from the room to talk about the interview amongst themselves. "Blimey, Weasley! I've never heard anyone ask such difficult questions!" Percy explained his reasoning to his colleagues.
They nodded thoughtfully. After only a few minutes of conversation they arrived at a unanimous decision to hire young Mr Kokinos immediately. They all congratulated the happy young man, and once again, Percy pretended he had never seen him before.
When they were finished, all went their separate ways. Percy stopped by the Ministry's library before returning to Audrey's office to tell her the news, or at least leave her a note if she was out. He was glad to find her there. Without preamble, Percy said," It was him."
"And?" Audrey asked.
"And, he's . . . brilliant, if I'm to be honest. He answered all of my questions perfectly! Nobody's managed that before. I'm quite impressed with him. We pretended we had never met before, of course."
"So he got the job?"
"Obviously. We aren't letting someone that intelligent get away."
"I'm glad to hear it. I received another owl from Molly. She wants us all to have dinner tonight to celebrate Mason's new English job and get to meet him properly."
"I'm good with that."
"What took you so long after the interview?"
"Oh! I stopped by the library. I remember reading somewhere that Greek surnames have meanings, and I wanted to look up Mason's last name."
Audrey waited and when Percy didn't continue, she said, "Well?"
Percy laughed. "It's the nickname 'Red'. He'll fit right in to our family."
Author/Artist: mollywheezy
Characters: Molly Weasley/OMC, Percy/Audrey
Word Count: ~1700
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: Percy meets Molly's boyfriend in a less than ideal way.
Disclaimer: JKR owns the universe-I am only playing in her sandbox. ;)
Author’s Notes: Sequel to "Meetings" which I wrote for the 2014 interhouse_fest. Thanks to rumpelsnorcack for her betaing and encouragement for both stories (as well as many others ;) ).
"I'm off, dear! Have a good day!" Percy quickly hugged and kissed Audrey as he was headed out the door.
"You too, love."
He had almost closed the door behind him when Audrey called out, "Percy, wait!" He poked his head back in the door.
"I don't think you should Apparate directly into Molly's flat."
"Why not? I always have before."
"Just call it mother's intuition and don't, OK?"
"OK."
Percy heeded his wife's advice and now stood outside his daughter's flat holding bags of breakfast food in one hand and knocking with the other. After several tries receiving no answer, Percy put down the food, removed his wand from his robes, and cast a sonorous charm against the door, which served to magnify all internal sounds. It was occasionally helpful having a brother and brother-in-law who were Aurors, after all.
Once Percy cast the charm and put his ear to the door, he clearly heard the sound of a running shower.
That explained why Molly wasn't answering the door! He Apparated inside, found plates and cutlery, and began setting out the food items, very much looking forward to having breakfast with his daughter.
This had become rather a tradition for them since Molly got her own flat. They didn't have a set day or time, but every so often, Percy would drop by and surprise her with breakfast, they would eat, and then go to the Ministry together for work.
Percy missed Molly. He hadn't seen her in over a month which was a record, but with her weeklong business trip to Greece, her deciding to stay an extra week in Greece for vacation, and then his and Audrey's trip to the States, there hadn't been time to get together. They had Flooed several times, but it just wasn't the same.
Percy had breakfast set out, and was just finishing adding warming charms to the plates when he heard a noise behind him, turned to look, and dropped his wand in shock. Standing before him was a young man wearing only a pink towel around his waist. Percy used the word "wearing" rather loosely, as the lad was holding the towel closed with one hand, leaving quite a gap of exposed skin.
Towel bloke spoke, "Er . . . hello?"
"Hello," Percy responded tersely. He did not want to think about what it meant that the shower was still running, although he knew perfectly well. He was definitely interrupting. "Well, I brought breakfast. I'll just . . . leave you to it." Percy picked up his wand, and despite the "Wait, Sir!" he heard behind him, Disapparated.
Percy thought he was rather lucky not to have splinched himself, as he hurried down the Ministry corridor towards Audrey's office. He hoped he was still early enough to catch her before her morning meeting.
As soon as he opened her door, closing and imperturbing it behind him, she asked, "Oh Percy, what happened?"
"A young man with a towel around his waist is what happened."
"I told you not to Apparate directly into her flat!"
"Did you know about this bloke? Why didn't you tell me then? And come to think of it, why didn't Molly tell me? I thought we were close . . ."
"Oh love," Audrey came out from behind her desk and wrapped her arms around Percy. "Molly didn't tell me anything until we received an owl from her just after you left this morning. I sent Hermes with a note, but was obviously too late."
"Then how . . ."
"I told you it was mother's intuition, which Molly's owl confirmed. And her owl was addressed to both of us, just so you know."
"But why . . ."
"Love, Molly is just like you in the way she thinks about things and processes them in her head before she shares with anyone. Lucy is more like me-we're the ones who think out loud."
"Well, I know," Percy sighed. "I guess . . . I've been replaced." Percy dropped his head onto Audrey's shoulder with another sigh.
Audrey shook Percy's head off her shoulder, and putting a hand on each of his cheeks made him look her in the eye. "Now, you listen to me Percival Ignatius Weasley. Our daughters love you and nobody will ever replace you in their hearts. We want our daughters to find men who love them and with whom they can have the happiness you and I have. Don't we?"
"Yes," Percy muttered.
"Besides, grandchildren might be fun." Audrey kissed Percy quickly on the lips and released his face.
Percy spluttered, "I don't want grandchildren today!"
Audrey giggled, "They do take nine months, you know. Oh, you should just see your face! Don't worry. Here, read Molly's letter. You'll feel better."
Dear Mum and Daddy,
I have some truly wonderful news! I wanted to tell you in person, but we've all been so busy lately, I haven't had a chance and didn't want to wait any longer. I met a man in Greece, and he's wonderful. Mason's moving to England so we won't have to have a long distance relationship. He actually has an interview at the Ministry today. I want both of you to meet him. I just know you'll like him. Maybe we could all get together this weekend?
Hugs and Kisses!
Molly
"She does sound happy," Percy agreed. "And it seems like she meant to tell us, so I guess I feel better."
"Good." Audrey kissed Percy again more deeply this time.
Percy jumped back in surprise when a paper airplane memo hit him in the ear. "Ow! I hate these things."
Percy opened the memo, and said, "I need to go. They want me to sit in on an interview. You don't think it could be . . ."
"I'm sure there is more than one interview happening at the Ministry this morning," Audrey chuckled.
"I'll see you later, love."
Percy gave his wife a quick hug and left her office. He really did not feel like sitting in on an interview this morning, but since he had spearheaded the implementation of the new ministry interview policy, he couldn't complain. There had to be a minimum of three unrelated people from three different departments for each interview. None of the interviewers could have any personal connection to the interviewee either. The idea was to prevent blatant nepotism of unqualified applicants. Of course, Percy's dad, brother, brother-in-law, wife, and daughter all worked for the Ministry, but all were also well trained and very qualified for their positions and didn't get them because of who they knew. The hope was to prevent some future dark wizard taking over and stuffing their supporters into every position like Voldemort had.
Percy arrived at the specified office. He didn't know either of the other interviewers so they made quick work of introductions. Percy picked up a resume of the interviewee. The name at the top read "Mason Kokinos". Percy had a sinking feeling in his stomach. How many Masons could there be with Greek surnames? When the door opened, his fears were confirmed. Mason Kokinos was towel bloke, Molly's boyfriend. Percy wondered if he should excuse himself from the interview, but that would be rather embarrassing for the young man, and for himself, too, if he had to explain why he was recusing himself.
Percy gave Mason credit, after greeting the other two interviewers, his eyes widened only slightly upon seeing Percy, and he greeted him just as he had the others. They settled in for the interview. Percy kept quiet at first just listening as Mason answered his colleagues' questions. Percy hated to admit it, but he was doing quite well.
When it was Percy's turn, he pulled out his favorite series of questions. All applicants to the Ministry signed a statement that they had studied and were familiar with the policies and procedures of the Ministry. Unfortunately Percy found most applicants lied and were unable to answer even the simplest question to prove they had read the material. Percy decided to give Mason the benefit of the doubt and assume he had done his reading. He asked him a difficult policy question, and Mason gave a well-reasoned answer. Percy pulled out all the stops and asked the most difficult questions of obscure Ministry minutiae that he could think of, and Mason answered every question correctly. Against his will, Percy had never been more impressed.
They excused Mason from the room to talk about the interview amongst themselves. "Blimey, Weasley! I've never heard anyone ask such difficult questions!" Percy explained his reasoning to his colleagues.
They nodded thoughtfully. After only a few minutes of conversation they arrived at a unanimous decision to hire young Mr Kokinos immediately. They all congratulated the happy young man, and once again, Percy pretended he had never seen him before.
When they were finished, all went their separate ways. Percy stopped by the Ministry's library before returning to Audrey's office to tell her the news, or at least leave her a note if she was out. He was glad to find her there. Without preamble, Percy said," It was him."
"And?" Audrey asked.
"And, he's . . . brilliant, if I'm to be honest. He answered all of my questions perfectly! Nobody's managed that before. I'm quite impressed with him. We pretended we had never met before, of course."
"So he got the job?"
"Obviously. We aren't letting someone that intelligent get away."
"I'm glad to hear it. I received another owl from Molly. She wants us all to have dinner tonight to celebrate Mason's new English job and get to meet him properly."
"I'm good with that."
"What took you so long after the interview?"
"Oh! I stopped by the library. I remember reading somewhere that Greek surnames have meanings, and I wanted to look up Mason's last name."
Audrey waited and when Percy didn't continue, she said, "Well?"
Percy laughed. "It's the nickname 'Red'. He'll fit right in to our family."