Entry tags:

fic: taming the weasleys, hermione/percy, lavender/charlie, rating: adult

Taming the Weasleys - 10/11 - Adult - Percy/Hermione, Charlie/Lavender
Title: Taming the Weasleys (10/11)
Author: silvernatasha
Rating: Adult
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Summary: Despite their mother's nagging, Charlie and Percy Weasley are perfectly happy being single and have no intention of settling down and getting married. The women in their lives, however, have other ideas.
Ships: Percy/Hermione, Charlie/Lavender, slight Charlie/Angelina, slight Fred/Angelina.
A/N: Written for midsummerfest and loosely based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. View the dramatis personae here.
Word Count: 2085.

Chapter Ten: In Which Charlie and Percy Both Do Something a Little Crazy

Percy looked out on the garden, frowning as he saw Hermione reading on a sun lounger. The main reason for his puzzlement was that it was nearly midnight and why should would be out there at that time of night was beyond him.

For the last three days, they had barely been on speaking terms. Their conversations were gradually getting warmer, though, despite the tension that seemed to underlie everything they did. Putting his glass down, Percy wandered barefoot out to the garden, perching on the end of her lounger.

“Hermione?” he asked softly.

She looked up from her book, smiling. “Yes, Percy?”

“Why are you out here reading? It’s getting cold.”

Hermione shrugged. “I thought I’d come out here seeing how lovely the sun is.”

Percy looked up at the night sky. “The sun?” he repeated. “That’s the moon.”

Closing her book, Hermione looked challengingly at Percy. “I say it’s the sun.”

“But it’s the moon!” Percy protested. This was completely ludicrous - first, Hermione was outside reading at midnight and now she was saying that the moon was the sun. Had she spent too long out in the sun? The heat had gone to her head.

Hermione set her book down, sitting up a little straighter. “If I say it’s the sun, then it’s the sun.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Don’t contradict me. Just say it, Percy,” Hermione said softly. “Agree with me. Show me some respect. It’s the sun.”

When she said this, Percy wanted to disagree. He wanted to protest further and tell her that he wasn’t going to demean himself by agreeing to something so ridiculous. If she wanted to talk complete and utter bollocks, he would let her.

Except there was the fact that he had been wearing the same clothes since they had arrived in Padua. Even more than that, Percy realised that he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. That he wanted to make her feel good. If that meant saying that the moon was the sun, he could just about deal with swallowing his pride. Something about the way that she had dealt with him upon their arrival in Padua had endeared her to him.

“That’s the sun,” he said quietly.

“Well, you’re mistaken. That’s the moon.”

Percy laughed. “Then it’s the moon. it’s a Quaffle or ball of cheese. It’s whatever you say it is.”

For a moment, Hermione bit her lip. Then, she giggled. “A ball of cheese?” she repeated, nearly shaking with suppressed laughter.

Percy shrugged. “I don’t know why I said that,” he admitted, trying not to laugh. He smiled, a little surprised at how much nicer Hermione looked when she laughed.

“Um,” he started a little hesitantly. “Is there any chance I could get my clothes back now?” Percy blushed. “I mean, I’m just assuming that you took my trunk. If you didn’t, then I’m sorry for accusing you, but…”

Hermione shook her head. “I hid it,” she admitted quietly. She looked ashamed of herself. “Not really very nice of me, but…” Hermione shrugged. “It’s in the cupboard under the stairs.”

Percy had to laugh at that. “You know I didn’t think of looking there. Thank you.” he leant forward and kissed her, pulling her back just as quickly. “Er, I didn’t mean to do that. Sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

Hermione put her hand on Percy’s arm, pressing her lips together and looking a little stunned. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

“You don’t?” Percy felt as confused as Hermione looked. Why had he just done that? Did this mean that he had feelings for her? Try as he might, Percy couldn’t find it in himself to hate her. By all rights, he should have despised her for what she had done at their wedding and the way she had treated him. He should have been planning their divorce already or wondering if they would be able to annul the marriage.

But he wasn’t.

“I… don’t.” Hermione looked sheepish, turning away from Percy. After a moment, she said, “We’ve still got a couple of weeks left here.”

Percy nodded, hoping that this could possibly be something of a new start for them. “We could try and get along without the…”

“Hostility?” Hermione suggested. “We could definitely try. Couldn’t really do much more harm, could it?” She looked at him a little apprehensively. “Do you perhaps want to go into the town tomorrow night? We could try and find a restaurant or something?”

Despite being a little taken aback by Hermione’s suggestion, Percy nodded. “Yes. We could maybe explore a bit during the day, too?”

She smiled. “I think I’d like that.” Hermione leant forward, kissing him on the cheek. “I think I’m going to go to bed now,” she told him softly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Percy watched her retreat into the villa and then lay down on the lounger. Resting his head, he looked up at the moon and smiled.

*****

“Let’s do something crazy today.”

Lavender gave a slight groan as she stretched out, wiggling her feet and giving a contented sigh as her feet found a cool part of the bed. She turned her head to look at Charlie and smiled languidly. “Does your idea of crazy involve spending the rest of the day in bed shagging? Because that’s the sort of crazy I can agree with.”

Charlie gave a slight growl and moved forward, kissing her. “Insatiable wench.” Lavender giggled as his fingers drummed against her side, a spot that Charlie had discovered was exceptionally ticklish. “Actually, I was thinking that we might actually leave the bed. Leave the flat, too.”

She wrinkled her nose. “That would involve putting clothes on. Don’t like that idea.”

He chuckled, ducking his head to kiss her throat. “Let’s run away together.” His tongue flicked at her pulse point, making her groan.

“What about work tomorrow?” she asked, squirming away from him.

“I can take a holiday. Bet you’re owed some time off, too.”

“Mmm. Loads.” Lavender tried to work out how much holiday she had, but it was hard to concentrate properly when Charlie’s fingers were moving higher and higher up her thigh.

Charlie’s lips brushed her ear. “Let’s run away together and get married.”

Lavender’s eyes widened and she sat up, too surprised to even think about covering her bare chest. “And get married?” she squeaked, looking at Charlie with wide eyes.

“That’s what I said.” He propped himself up on an elbow, his lips curving into a slight pout. “What d’you think?”

“I think that really is crazy. Charlie, we’ve been together for two weeks. We can’t get married.”

“Why not?” Charlie was nonplussed by this, his brow creasing as he frown. It seemed like a good plan in his head.

“Because you don’t go out with someone for two weeks and then get married!” Lavender was surprised that Charlie even had to ask this.

“We’ve known each other for months,” Charlie pointed out, running his finger along her arm. “And I feel I know you better than I’ve ever known anyone.” Lavender licked her lips hesitantly and Charlie prodded her in the side. “You feel it too, right?”

Lavender shrugged. “I suppose.”

He prodded her again. “Yes, you do,” he said teasingly.

She sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I think I do.”

Charlie twisted, resting his head in her lap and looking up at her. “How do I like my toast?”

Lavender smiled, rolling her eyes. “I’m not entirely sure that what you eat can be called ‘toast’. It’s more like warmed bread with jam.” He grinned.

“See - even my mum can’t get that right.” He paused, pulling a face. “That’s when you’re supposed to ask me a question in return.”

Playing with his hair, Lavender shook her head. “No,” she said softly. “Don’t really feel like I need to.” She bent down, kissing his forehead. “So when did you plan on doing this crazy thing? We’re meant to be going for lunch at your mother’s later.”

Charlie sat up suddenly. “We should do it today.”

“What about lunch?”

He shook his head. “Look, if we go to lunch, then you will officially be The Girlfriend. And, I promise you, we won’t even make it to pudding before there are questions about when The Girlfriend will become The Fiancée.” His fingers gently stroked her cheek. “Can we just bypass all that and do this today?”

Lavender pursed her lips before pushing back the covers and getting out of the bed. Charlie frowned. “Where are you going?” he asked as Lavender slipped her dress on over her head.

“Home,” she said simply and Charlie felt as though he‘d been punched in the stomach. Not only was she turning him down, but she was leaving him. Lavender turned and smiled at him, though. “If we’re going to get married, I want to wear something nice.”

Charlie grinned. “Really?”

“Really,” Lavender agreed, padding barefoot over to the bed. She bent down, kissing him gently. She pulled back, biting her lip. “You haven’t said it yet,” she said softly.

For a moment, Charlie hesitated. “I love you.” He’d never said that to anyone before, but was surprised at how easy it was. Or, rather, how right it felt.

“I love you, too,” Lavender told him in almost a whisper, kissing him again and straightening up. “I haven’t decided whether I’ll ‘obey’ you yet. I’ll think about it while I’m in the shower.”

Charlie stretched out on the bed, posing for her. “Wouldn’t you rather think of… something else in the shower?”

Lavender grinned, casting an appreciative eye over Charlie’s form. “I might think about that, too.” She frowned, thinking of something. “What’s your mum going to say when we don’t turn up for lunch?”

“I dunno. Probably get pissed off and send a Howler about breaking promises to family.” He wrinkled his nose.

“Hmmm. I might see if I can engineer some sort of distraction,” Lavender said, ducking down for a final kiss. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”

“Okay. Pack an overnight bag, too. Might as well have a bit of a honeymoon while we’re at it.”

She nodded and blew him a kiss. “See you later.”

*****

Parvati’s nerve failed the moment that Molly Weasley opened the door. When Lavender had owled her asking that she make some sort of distraction at The Burrow, Parvati had planned to come up with some sort of sob story about her parents forcing her into an arranged marriage. This was complete nonsense, of course - her parents had married for love and there was no way that they would push her into an arranged marriage.

The moment that Molly opened the door with a wide smile, though, this all went out the window. “Parvati, dear, I wasn’t expecting you today. Come in. Are you looking for Ron?”

“Um, well, um…” Parvati stepped inside, feeling horribly nervous.

“You know, I really should thank you for suggesting your friend to tutor Charlie,” Molly continued as she led Parvati through to the kitchen. “Those two have really hit it off. It’s funny that you should come round today, actually. I’m expecting them both for lunch.”

Parvati smiled, butterflies in her stomach. She could smell a casserole or something cooking, which meant that Molly had already started preparing lunch; this just made her feel even more guilty about what Charlie and Lavender had done. “Um, yes, that’s why I’m here, actually.”

In the kitchen, Ron was sitting at the table, looking through a pile of letters. Parvati was actually a little surprised to see him working at home, although she had bigger problems to worry about at the moment. He looked up, setting down his quill. “Oh, hello, Parvati.” Ron frowned. “Did you need something.”

Swallowing, Parvati looked from Molly to Ron and back again. “Charlie and Lavender aren’t coming to lunch,” she said in a rush.

“Pardon?”

Parvati bit her lip. “I got an owl from Lavender. She wanted me to come here and distract you.” She shook her head. “She said they’re running away together and I don’t know what they’re going to do or where they’re going!”

There was silence.

“Um, Parvati?” Ron started a little hesitantly. “If that’s a joke, you might need to work on your sense of humour a little.” Molly Weasley looked rather pale.

“It’s not a joke,” Parvati said, scrabbling for something in her handbag. Finding it, she held out Lavender’s letter. “They’ve gone… somewhere.”