Entry tags:

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

Taming the Weasleys - 1/11 - Adult - Percy/Hermione
Title: Taming the Weasleys (1/11)
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: 2017.

Chapter One: In Which the Girls Go Loopy Over Charlie

Lavender’s skirt flared out as she twirled. “What do you think? Does it suit me?” She peered at her reflection in the mirror, smoothing down the material.

From her seat, Parvati surveyed her for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. Very nineteen forties.”

Lavender frowned. “Is that good?”

“It is according to Witch Weekly,” Parvati supplied with a shrug. She turned her attention from her friend to her nails, noticing with a little inward dismay that the dark blue polish was a little chipped on her index finger.

Turning around again, Lavender nodded at her reflection, deciding to buy the skirt. “I don’t really read Witch Weekly much anymore.” She pushed her hair over her shoulder, wondering if a bit of a forties-style curl to her hair would look good. “Not since that article on Engorgement Charms that went wrong.”

She disappeared back into the changing room, pulling the curtain to with a swish. “Gone a bit downhill, really.” Parvati looked up sharply and Lavender poked her head around the curtain. “Not your column, obviously.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s all that ‘true life’ stuff. Really gets on my tits after a while.”

Lavender pulled the curtain back, slipping out of the skirt as Parvati snorted. “It gets on your tits? That’s a bit rich, isn’t it? Coming from the girl who got her boobs out for Playwizard?” Parvati frowned slightly. “What was that feature called?”

With a scowl on her face, Lavender poked her head out again, cheeks reddening. “Mischievous Mediwitches. It was very tasteful,” she said shortly with a slight sniff.

Parvati snorted again. “You had your bits covered with a bottle of Pepper-Up Potion.”

Once again, Lavender disappeared from view and Parvati started to examine her split ends. “Anyway,” she continued pointedly, slipping a dress over her head, “I’m trying to put that behind me.” She stepped out from the cubicle, striking a pose. “What do you think of this? Good enough for my promotion interview?”

Indicating for her to turn, Parvati tilted her head. “Hmmm. I think it’s more of a ‘fuck me’ dress than a ‘promote me’ dress.” She raised her eyebrows. “Unless they’re the same thing at your work?”

Lavender rolled her eyes. “No, they’re not.” She looked at her reflection, frowning. “I didn’t think it was a ‘fuck me’ dress. I was aiming for sophisticated and demure.”

Parvati tutted. “There’s your problem, then. It’s too demure. It’ll have all the men wondering if you’re really that sweet and innocent and then they’ll be trying to seduce you to see what’s underneath.”

Pursing her lips, Lavender said, “So you’re saying that I need to show more flesh at what it probably the most important interview in my career.” Parvati sighed, standing up.

“No,” she said patiently. “I’m saying that you should be confident with your wardrobe choice.” She wrinkled her nose. “Why are you trying to find an outfit now? I thought your interview wasn’t for a couple of months.”

“It isn’t,” Lavender agreed, taking Parvati’s seat. “But I need to start panicking about it now.” She ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head. “Anyway, it’s probably pointless. I need to get more experience teaching if I want this promotion. If we had some new staff, it would be great because I could help them, but we never get anyone new.”

“You’ll be fine.”

Lavender shrugged. “Hope so.” She paused. “Might be able to get it just based on knowledge. I mean, I know my stuff and if I just study up some more, refresh basically everything I know…”

Parvati grabbed her hands, pulling her to her feet. “Lavender, Lavender, Lavender. Careful. You’re going to end up sounding like Hermione Granger if you keep talking like that.” She squeezed Lavender’s hands reassuringly. “Remember. All work and no play, etc., etc.”

Giggling a little, Lavender nodded. “Okay. I won’t keep my head buried in my books.”

“Speaking of playing,” Parvati said with a grin, releasing Lavender’s hands and tapping her on the chin with a finger. “When was the last time you were a ‘mischievous Mediwitch’?”

Lavender stepped back into the cubicle, pulling off the dress and starting to get change back into her own clothes. “I’ve become very well acquainted with my magically-operated boyfriend over the last couple of months.”

“Exactly,” Parvati announced. “We need to get you well and truly shagged. It’ll boost your confidence and have you feeling great.” She paused, brow crinkling as she thought. “I think it might be good for your skin, too.”

Behind the curtain, Lavender laughed. “Are you saying there’s something wrong with my skin? Okay. But before we go out and find me a man, can we go and get some lunch first? I’m bloody starving.”

“Yeah. You’ll need to keep your strength up, after all,” Parvati teased. “Where do you fancy going.”

Lavender emerged, fully dressed and smoothing down her hair. “You know, the Leaky Cauldron smelled pretty good when we went through it earlier. That sound alright?”

Parvati nodded. “Mmm. Yeah. Think I could go for a bit of pub grub.” She looked at the clothes that Lavender was holding. “You going to pay for those?”

“Yes. Won’t take a minute. Then… chips. Yeah,” she said with a bright smile. “I think I fancy something with chips.”

---

“…and so we get to the end of the road and she’s like, ‘yeah, it’s at the other end of the road’.” Charlie gave a guffaw of laughter at his own anecdote, Katie and Angelina breaking into giggles; even Percy was having trouble keeping a straight face.

Angelina traced her finger around the rim of her glass. “So how long were you with her for, then?”

Charlie shrugged. “Only a couple of weeks. That’s all you need, really.” He looked thoughtful. “She was very flexible.”

Katie and Angelina exchanged a look. “Is that what you like in a girl?” Katie asked, leaning forward so that Charlie could get a better look at her cleavage. Her tongue ran along her lower lip. “A bit of flexibility?”

Charlie smirked. “It doesn’t hurt.” He leant back in his seat, taking a long drink.

“Mmm. Do you remember all that stuff we used to be able to do back when we were playing Quidditch at school, Kate?”

Katie nodded. “Oh, yes. At one point I could put my foot behind my head.”

Angelina rolled her eyes, leaning in to Katie. “There is such a thing as being too obvious,” she hissed. Katie prodded her in the thigh.

“Shut up, he looks interested,” she murmured, before smiling brightly at Charlie.

Percy cleared his throat. “So what have you been up to lately, ladies?”

Angelina grinned. “My boss has been making my life miserable at the dragon reserve. Making me work my little cotton socks off.” She glanced at Charlie. “He’s such a tyrant.”

Charlie sighed. “I’m just doing my job.” Angelina patted his arm reassuringly, her hand lingering on his skin for a moment.

“It’s alright. I know. And you’re much better than the old guy. Thank god he finally retired.” She sipped her drink, looking hopefully at him. “Are you going to apply for the permanent position?”

After a moment’s consideration, Charlie shrugged. His position as head of the National Dragon Reserve of Wales - he still couldn’t say it in Welsh, even after being there for six weeks - was only temporary following the departure of Angelina’s old boss. The permanent position was currently being advertised, but there was a slight problem. “If I were going to apply, I’d need a first aid qualification. Which, you know, I don’t exactly have at the moment.”

Katie frowned. “That shouldn’t be too difficult to get, should it? You’ve probably been doing that sort of thing for years.”

Charlie wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, but laws are different in Romania. There’s all sorts of stuff that I’d have to do to get qualified. I’d need someone to teach me and get me through it.” He sipped his drink. “Not really sure if it’s worth it.”

“You wouldn’t go back to Romania, would you?” Angelina definitely sounded dismayed at that thought.

“I don’t know. It’s great to be living back in England. It’ll be better when I get my own place after Christmas. I’m feeling a little suffocated at the moment.”

Angelina patted his arm again. “Your mother smothering you?”

Charlie gave a guffaw of laughter. “Nagging, more like. She can’t quite understand why I haven’t found myself a nice girl and settled down.” He smirked. “I’d much rather have a naughty girl.”

“I know what you mean,” Percy agreed with a nod.

“About the naughty girls?”

“No,” Percy said patiently, taking off his glasses so that he could polish them on the edge of his robes. “About the nagging. I’m still not entirely sure how she convinced me to stay at The Burrow for Christmas.”

“Because you’re still repenting for your years as an outcast during the war?” Charlie suggested. Teasing his brother about that was always fun.

Percy slipped his glasses back on. “I think it could have more to do with the doxy infestation at my house.” He finished his drink. “Anyway, I can live with the nagging for a little while. She’s hardly going to convince me to get married.”

“And why’s that?” Katie leant across the table, chin resting on her hand. “You don’t play for the other team, do you?”

He chose to ignore her second question. “Because marriage is an outdated institution,” Percy said with a wave of his hand. “Surely the divorce rates in this country prove that?”

Charlie shrugged. “I dunno. Marriage doesn’t seem that bad. If you’re with the right person, I suppose.” Angelina and Katie exchanged a look. “Then again, I love the single life. I probably won’t get into a committed relationship until you do.” He grinned. “Which is probably never.”

---

After fighting their way through the mad Christmas-shopping crush that was Diagon Alley, Lavender and Parvati managed to get into the Leaky Cauldron, which was surprisingly quiet. “Everyone’s probably at those fashionably trendy coffee places,” Parvati said darkly. It was no secret that the Leaky Cauldron was suffering a little from the opening of two eerily identical coffee shops.

As they settled down at a table, Lavender gave a slight squeak and nudged Parvati. Parvati gave her a bemused look, asking, “What?”

Glancing at the occupants of the next table, Lavender said, “Remember how I said I fancied something with chips? Well,” she nodded at the stocky redhead. “I’ll have one of those with chips and a side of rawr.” Lavender bit her lip, feeling her face flush slightly.

Parvati shifted in her chair to get a better look. “Which one?” she asked. “Glasses or tattoos?”

Lavender gave a soft moan of approval. “Tattoos. God, have you seen his arms? Where the fuck do you get arms like that?”

Wrinkling her nose, Parvati said, “By the looks of it, they don’t run in the family.”

“You think they’re brothers?” Lavender realised that this was a stupid question as soon as she asked it. There was definitely more than a passing family resemblance between the two redheads.

Parvati looked at her curiously. “You don’t recognise the one with glasses? That’s Percy Weasley.” She sipped her drink. “Still think that other one’s a sex god now?”

Lavender chewed on her lip, studying the redhead. Parvati didn’t know his name and neither did she, but did he really need a name with a body like that? She frowned, seeing how one of the women he was with touched his arm flirtatiously. She nodded meekly. “Yeah.”

“Even after the disaster that was Ron?”

“Yeah.” Lavender ran her finger around the rim of her glass. “The boy who broke my heart,” she remarked with a sigh.

“Exactly. Would you really want to get involved with another Weasley?”

Lavender’s eyes darted down as the redhead looked up in her direction. After a moment, she looked at Parvati with an impish smile. “Ron was just a boy. And that, Parvati, is most definitely a man.”