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“Percy dear, do you mind helping me with my sunscreen?” asked Audrey, and Percy turned his head smiling at the sight of his wife applying sunscreen to her smooth creamy skin, he walked over to her, taking the bottle from her and putting a generous amount into his hands before he started rubbing it into her skin. He started with her neck, as she held her hair up and out of the way and then he moved to her shoulders, hearing her sigh softly as he moved his hands down her back, making sure to do a very thorough job. Then leaning over his wife’s shoulder and with an amply view of her cleavage in her bikini top, he rubbed the remaining lotion into her chest.
If he managed to put his hands down her bikini top and give her nipples a quick tweak…well she didn’t betray him.
“Anywhere else?” he asked, walking around her and smiling at the sight of her stomach, she was still eight weeks or so away from her due date.
“No, I think you were thorough enough,” said Audrey, and Percy smiled and leaned forward, pressing his mouth softly to hers. Then he went and walked out onto the beach, walking over to his brothers with their children.
He swooped down and picked up his nephew and godson Freddie, blowing a raspberry into his cheek as he laughed and tried to push Percy away. Percy put him on his hip, walking over to his brother George who was trying to get his daughter Roxanne into the water; his brother Ron who had his daughter Rose up on his shoulders; and his brother-in-law Harry who was watching his older son James splash in the shallow surf while his younger son Al watched from his arms.
“Found this one,” said Percy, putting Freddie down and smiling as he reached for his twin sister’s hand and pulled her along with him to sit down with James. It was sweet to him how Freddie, James, and Roxanne always were together if they could be, the three of them their own cute little troublesome trio.
But Percy didn’t expect anything less with George and Ginny’s children.
He hoped that his daughters would be close, even if the idea of being a father did scare him.
“Next year you’ll be chasing after your own twins,” said George as Ron put Rose down and gently pushed her towards the gentle waves lapping up against the shore. “I hope you and Audrey are ready for it.”
“We are,” said Percy, kneeling down and smiling at Rose, who wasn’t interested in the water at all and ran right into Percy’s arm, giggling as he picked her up and stood up with her. “Hello Miss Wosie Posie, can I have a kiss from my pretty niece?”
Rose smiled and Percy kissed her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, and then blew a raspberry into her neck, making her laugh again.
“Oi! You’ll have your own girls soon enough,” said Ron, taking Rose from Percy’s arms, and Percy rolled his eyes at his youngest brother.
They were still working on their relationship, though Percy knew that Audrey was steadily breaking Ron’s mistrust of Percy. They were surprisingly close, Ron and Audrey that was, and Percy liked that his wife felt at home, perfectly comfortable around his siblings, he just wished that it was extended to himself at times.
Charlie, George, and Ginny all knew his story, Harry had forgiven him, his parents understood what he did now, and Percy wasn’t concerned with the oldest Weasley brother Bill, he knew that they would never get along. It was just Ron, who in many ways Percy had been closer to when they were younger, the two that had Fred and George between them, but then came the war and Percy had played his part well.
Too well apparently.
His baby brother just didn’t trust him anymore, and in many ways it broke Percy’s heart, especially as Ron was now the brother he envied most.
Percy had always thrown himself into his work, had been happy to do so and be dedicated to his job, but then one thing after another had changed. The war had thrown his family into perspective, into the limelight, and it had scared him.
He did all that he could to protect them, starting with the obvious promotion that was a ploy to spy on his family. Dumbledore had warned him, come to him personally and explained what he needed to do.
Leaving home, the Burrow, it had ruined him, taken something from him that he would never be able to save himself from. And it hadn’t surprised his siblings one bit, to see him turn his back on them because they thought he was too proud and ambitious, he didn’t know what would’ve hurt more, the knowledge that they thought he would chose a job over the siblings he loved to ruins, or a stinging hex to the face.
He sent Dumbledore weekly reports of the Minister’s agenda and all of stupid policy work passing along his desk, it hadn’t changed when Fudge left, hadn’t changed when Scrimgeour was murdered, he just sent his reports along with Kingsley or to Remus Lupin after Dumbledore’s death. Nothing changed until he heard of the fighting breaking out at Hogwarts, and then he had changed.
His youngest siblings had needed him and so he appeared, he fought beside Fred until his death, found George and kept him safe, hugged Ron when he showed up in the Great Hall again, and Ginny…he remembered searching for her and not wanting to let her go once he could hold her again.
But his younger siblings hadn’t wanted him, not at first, and then it started to settle.
He would always be their big brother even if they didn’t want him, he would always be three of seven.
“Unc Pewy!”
Percy smiled and picked up Rose again, tossing her up into the air and catching her when she fell back down into his arms. He then kissed her chubby little cheeks as he held her against his chest, he had always loved babies, especially baby girls. He didn’t know if it was because of Ginny, she had seemed to choose Percy, while Charlie and Ron had gravitated towards one another easily.
They were the August siblings after all, just a pair of bookends in their own way.
“You’re such a natural with girls,” said Ginny, coming to his side, her younger son Al sleeping in her arms. “Good thing you and Audrey are having twin girls this time.”
“We came out here after we lost Lucas,” said Percy, which his sister knew but sometimes he needed the reminder. “Missed James, Freddie, and Roxanne’s births, but-“
“You and Audrey needed the space, George and I have never held that against you Perce,” said Ginny, but even so Percy could feel a pair of hostile eyes on him, Ron again.
“Oi! I told you to leave my daughter alone!” said Ron, coming over and taking Rose out of Percy’s arms, “you’ll have your own to screw up soon enough.”
Percy could take a lot from his family, snide remarks and insults were more than normal, but this was…this was his children!
“Ron that-“
“I got this Ginny,” said Percy, holding his hand up to his baby sister and turning to glare at his youngest brother. “Give Rose to Ginny, Ron.”
“You can’t-“
“Give her the baby!” snapped Percy, and Ron nodded and handed Rose over to Ginny, Percy grabbed his brother’s arm and dragged him away, ignoring the protest from his youngest brother until they were a bit away from the family, in a quiet part of the beach.
He was disgusted with his brother, and he made it clear as he shoved him away from him, making him stumble backwards in the sand.
“What-“
“How dare you bring my daughters into this?” hissed Percy, and he knew that his brother should be thankful he left his wand back up at the house. “I don’t care if you want to be like Bill and hate me for existing, but don’t you dare bring any of my girls into this! They’re innocent Ron, they’re not even here yet!”
He reached up and grabbed at his curls, pulling hard and just trying to keep his breathing in check.
“I- I- Percy-“
“We lost our first baby! Do you not remember that? Because every fucking time I step out onto this beach I’m reminded of that Ron! Lucas should be the same age as Freddie and Roxanne and James, and instead we lost him, we lost him and I almost lost Audrey too and I- I-“ he couldn’t talk anymore, instead just breaking down and falling onto the hot sand, feeling the waves lap up against his toes as he cried, as he remembered Audrey swimming out into the water and screaming, of them curled up together in bed and crying as the news of their son’s cousins came to them.
His son had never had a chance.
“Percy I…I’m sorry I…what I said was uncalled for,” said Ron, but Percy didn’t care anymore, he didn’t care one bit about his youngest brother or his anger at him or any other stupid thing.
All he could think about was that day, coming home and finding Audrey in a pool of blood, knowing that they weren’t going to have a son and that he might have just lost his wife.
“Hermione’s pregnant again,” said Ron, and Percy looked up at him, he was sitting in the sand, just a few feet from him. “We haven’t told anyone, not even mum or dad or her parents, not even Rosie. She had a bit of spotting the other day and I…I lost it on her because she was so calm about it. Turns out it really was nothing, they did a scan thing and we got to see the baby for the first time, hear the heartbeat and all that. But I just thought of Audrey and Fleur and Angelina, how the three of them all lost a baby and I was scared that it would be us next.”
Percy slowly sat up, calming down as he listened to his brother talk.
“We really didn’t talk about having another baby so soon either, but uh…Hermione came home a few months ago drunk, and I hadn’t been thinking about it, and one thing led to another. But…but she’s so happy, she keeps talking about having four girls, she’s reading the books again, and I…I…I feel like I just got into routine with Rosie. It feels like we’re moving so fast and I don’t want to worry her.”
“I nearly fainted when Audrey told me she was pregnant again, Merlin I fucking proposed the first time she told me,” said Percy, and somehow, he was smiling as he remembered his quick proposal and then the pair of them running through the Ministry to get married, to elope. “I have to admit though, I think…well you’re being very noble Ron in staying home with Rose, it’s obvious how much she adores you.”
“I like it, I really do, and we don’t want her in daycare, and Hermione has put so much work into all of her projects,” said Ron, and Percy nodded, he remembered the long, horrible days at the Ministry, and the extra midnight hours he spent forging documents to pass on. “It was hard enough to get her to take a reasonable maternity leave.”
“Audrey can’t wait, well…this is actually the start of hers,” said Percy, and he turned to look out at the water, “she told Kingsley that she’s not returning, she doesn’t want to leave the girls and…and working at the Ministry is never what she wanted.”
“I remember when it was all you wanted to do, be just like dad,” said Ron, and Percy sighed, he remembered the same thing. “Ginny…she told me what you did, how many people you were able to save Perce…I’m sorry I’ve been such an arse about it.”
“I wasn’t…not everything…” he paused, trying to find the right words but knew now that Ron would understand his weakness, his moment of anger. “That fight with dad, I knew I had to separate myself from all of you, but…but there were some things I said that I believed, at least, back then I did.”
“You weren’t…completely wrong,” said Ron, and Percy turned to look at his little brother again, for a moment he saw Ron as the sulking six-year-old that was upset Fred and George wouldn’t let him play with them. “Dad could’ve been a bit more ambitious, or just…he could’ve put up with a different job, just so we didn’t have to live in hand-me-downs and secondhand clothes and books and all the other things. It’s part of the reason Hermione and I waited, I don’t want my kids to live in someone else’s clothes their whole life.”
“They won’t,” said Percy, as that was the truth, Percy knew his little brother, he knew that he hated living in the shadow of five brothers before him. “But not all hand-me-downs are that horrible, are they?”
Ron shook his head and smiled, and Percy got to his feet, offering his hand to him. Percy had no idea when his little brother got so tall, they were nearly the same height now, their eyeline the same now.
“No, I still use Grandad Prewett’s chess set, and Grandpa Weasley’s is still safely tucked away, maybe I’ll give it to Rosie, or the new baby,” said Ron, and Percy nodded.
“Come on, let’s see if you can still square up to me,” said Percy, and Ron laughed and grabbed his shoulder, pain instantly jolting through his body. “Fuck Ron!”
“You didn’t forget the sunscreen, did you Perce?” asked Ron, and Percy sighed, after he had his fun helping Audrey he hadn’t thought to have her put some on him. “Don’t worry, Audrey said she packed you a potion, happens every trip apparently.”
“I always help her put it on and forget to do it myself,” said Percy, following his brother and finding his wife sitting on a large blanket with Angelina and Hermione.
“Perce forgot the sunscreen again Audrey,” said Ron, and Audrey shook her head as Percy laid down and put his head in her lap, feeling a small hand press to his forehead.
“I take it you got that talk you wanted to have,” whispered Audrey, and Percy nodded as she gently moved a hand along the back of his neck, her fingers cool on his skin.
He looked up, watching Ron as he sat down behind Hermione wrapped his arms around her, his hand pressed to her stomach as he kissed her cheek. Their eyes met, and Percy winked and Ron smiled.
The sunburn was worth it.