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His little girl.
His Lucy-Lou who practically wore two braids and a muggle-style fishing hat for her entire childhood and adolescence.
The same little girl who was terribly shy and used to hide behind his legs.
Who loved nothing more than to curl up against his side and read until she eventually fell asleep.
She was a young woman now.
Getting married of all things.
She’d been seeing a nice young lad named Dustin since she was barely thirteen. He hadn’t been sure what to think at first; namely because his baby was growing up right before his eyes. Oh, what he would do to have her tiny again.
His Mum and several of Lucy’s aunts, cousins and a couple of her female friends jumped at the opportunity to assist her in going dress shopping. Percy had watched as Lucy handled all the stress of wedding planning quite well. He offered his knowledge when needed or asked; Dustin had come barreling into the kitchen once, completely at a loss on where to go on a honeymoon that wouldn’t cost an overabundant amount. Percy had sat with him for a couple hours, going over ideas and figuring out an attainable budget.
And then Lucy came to him; she didn’t want anyone else to go dress shopping with her other than himself--if he would like to go, that is--and Molly. Of course, Percy said yes. He wouldn’t have missed this, even if shopping wasn’t something he’d consider very enjoyable. Than again, neither did his girls.
He thanked Merlin for that one. It allowed him to avoid having to shell out tons of galleons for the latest jumper or lippy.
“How does this look?” Lucy turned, her eyes on the mirror, frowning.
Instead of going to some boutique with prices so high, it would have taken a year or two to fully pay off, Lucy had the bright idea of going thrift shopping. There was a wedding section and a section filled with dresses for other occasions. She’d gathered a handful of the wedding dresses and a couple regular white dresses which now laid over an empty chair. She’d rolled her hair up into two knots on her head to keep it out of the way.
“Eh,” Molly shrugged as she flipped through a quidditch magazine. She sent her sister a smirk over it. “I won’t lie, Luce--that thing’s ugly.”
“Molly,” Percy gave her a look.
“What? Dad, come on! Look at it.”
It wasn’t as awful as she was making it out to be. It was a plain white, with lace surrounding the bottom and it tightened around the waist area. It was without any straps, forming at the top of her chest and for that reason Percy was surprised she’d tried it on.
“It’s tight,” Lucy decided, still frowning. She turned away to grab another one from the pile. “I don’t think I like that one.”
“You didn’t like the last six either,” Molly grumbled.
Percy nudged her. “Be nice. When you get married, your sister and I will go through the same thing.”
“When I get married, my future husband and I will go to the courthouse,” Molly declared. “That way it'll be all over and done with and we avoid all.... this .”
Percy ruffled her hair.
“How about this?” Lucy did a little twirl to give them a full view of it. This one had thin straps and, which he noted with his lips clamped down, was a tad too short on the bottom.
Molly immediately caught on and grinned slyly. “I like it. What about you, Dad?”
Lucy looked at her reflection and made a face. “It's too short.”
Thank Merlin
“It’s fine,” Molly said but her sister disagreed.
“I don’t like the straps. They’re digging in my shoulder. And I don’t want to have to keep pulling my dress down all night.”
“At some point, it won’t be on,” Molly muttered.
Percy grimaced. That was something he preferred not to think about.
“I’m changing,” Lucy shook her head and grabbed another one.
“ Again ?” Molly grumbled.
“I just can’t find it,” Lucy said, her voice floating out from the changing room.
“What’s ‘it’?” Molly said.
“You know,” Lucy was hesitating between words. Percy took that as her struggling to deal with a zipper. “ The dress. The one I really like. I haven’t found it yet. What if I can’t?”
“You’ll find one, honey,” Percy assured her.
“I guess,” Lucy sighed.
Was it wrong of him to say that he disliked this whole thing? Don’t get him wrong, he was genuinely happy for his daughter and pleased she’d found such a great man to be married to. But a part of him was sad as well. It left an ache in his chest.
The years had flown by. From the time she was born to her walking around on those tiny feet to using a broom for the first time to going off to Hogwarts and then graduating. He’d been told about this; Bill warned him that he ought to cherish the time he had because it would be over in a blink.
And it was.
“Daddy, come play!” Lucy hollered. She was jumping in puddles left by the rain they’d gotten recently. Dirty water was splashing onto her lower legs and she let out a stream of happy laughter.
Percy, as a child, had never been overly fond of getting dirty unlike his other siblings. They embraced it and he did not. There was one time where the twins had thrown handfuls of mud at him. He’d been so mad. He shouted at them and stomped off to his room where he remained the rest of the evening.
But, as he looked at his baby girl’s wide grin, he supposed this wouldn’t hurt.
He joined her and they both jumped into the puddles.
Her happiness that followed was well worth it.
He remembered those days well. Admittedly, he might have tried to hold onto them a bit longer than with Molly simply because Lucy was his baby. Merlin, he could recall when she went through a phase where she wanted to be grown up. Suddenly, she didn’t do things with him like she previously had nor did she want to show any affection in public.
That was when she was twelve and refused to allow him to hug her on the platform.
“Dad,” Lucy was giving him a look when he started to lean in. “Remember what we agreed? No hugging.”
“Oh,” Percy pretended this heart wasn’t ripping into pieces. He was being dramatic, as he’d told himself for the past week since Lucy came to him with this news of hers. This was normal. Every kid went through it. He went through it. And well, now he understood why it hurt his parents so much. “Right. Of course. Sorry.”
Lucy was at least sympathetic. “I’ll miss you,” She said, biting her lip before leaving to find her friends. “By Dad!” She called over her shoulder.
He’d never been more grateful when that period was over.
“I found it.”
“Huh?” Molly had obviously not been paying attention.
“I found the dress,” Lucy came out in what would be technically considered a summer dress. It was white and flowy with short sleeves, falling to her knees.
And just like that; all of Percy’s thoughts vanished. A smile crept up on his lips. Lucy looked so beautiful.
“It’s perfect,” Lucy looked in the mirror and then at them with a bright beam.
Molly got up, throwing her arm around her sister’s shoulders. “You look great, Luce,” She said genuinely.
“Daddy,” Lucy turned to him now. “How do I look?”
“Absolutely beautiful,” Percy kissed her forehead. “Dustin won’t know what hit him.”
Lucy smiled as she wrapped an arm around him, snuggling into his side.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“I’m getting married,” Lucy let out a deep breath. “I can’t believe it.”
“I know,” Percy rested his chin on the top of her head. “I can’t either.”