papa won't preach | charlie

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

june 2027

SHE HAD TIMED HER ARRIVAL HOME IMPECCABLY. Weaselled in between great mountains of Ministry paperwork, picking up her weekly supply of medicinal potions, and forcing her husband to spend time with her. Ondina was a very busy woman, after all. Since moving from her childhood home and into Renard's lavish flat, Ondina had gathered the majority of her belongings. Her collection of outfits and shoes, an array of mild, custom hygiene products. However, she had purposefully avoided clearing her bedroom entirely. It felt final, like she would be erased from the space if she had.  Alas, she could only be separate from her possessions for so long before the absence irked her.

"Dad...?" Ondina called upon opening the front door, her heels clacking on the same worn wooden entryway. Though she hadn't been home in some time, it still smelled the same. Like old boot polish and the pine cleaner her mum preferred. Arranging the visit around her packed schedule, Ondina had also made room to ensure she would not be alone when she arrived. She'd sent an owl to her mother and father, her ego disallowing a trip home unless she was accompanied by someone important. Unfortunately, after multiple back and forth, Ondina had to choose between the Saturday her father had free, and the Wednesday for her mother. In the end, she'd chosen the Saturday. As much as Ondina enjoyed her mum's keen, medical stare, she craved her father's contagious warmth.

Finding no reply to her greeting, Ondina sighed at the inconvenience. As if she expected to be greeted at the door. "Are you deaf, old man?" She called, turning into the kitchen to find the backdoor open and the buttery summer sun spilling across the tiled floor. There was dust in the air, she could feel the second-hand tickle at the back of her nose as she sniffed haughtily. A vase of pollen-draped flowers perched on the kitchen windowsill, giving Ondina immediate pause. These were two things that never existed in the Weasley household when she had been living there, both prone to reacting with her array of allergies. "Wow," She huffed, the sound of her father's heavy boots coming closer from outside in the garden. "It's like I never existed." 

charles septimus weasley

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[charles septimus weasley]

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In the very brief period of time that he had been a professor at Hogwarts, Charlie had learned quite a bit about what it was like to instruct children instead of adults that were willing to risk life and limb studying dragons. That wasn’t to say that some of his students unknowingly did the same thing around a few of the creatures he had introduced during class. Like with the salamanders. For some reason all of the third year boys thought it would be a fun competition to see who could hold them the longest without burning themselves. Charlie was so used to wearing fire-proof everything that his brain short-circuited in that moment, immediately wondering what he had gotten himself into with teaching creatures that weren’t inherently dangerous and could kill you in a thousand different ways. Essentially, the curriculum needed to be changed slightly in the way that he taught and allowed students to handle creatures. Not to mention that he was slated to only be giving lessons to higher level students now. On top of an additional one about dragons. The latter one he didn’t even need a syllabus for, and the textbook for the class had been decided on already: his book. How easy was that?

Of course, in his planning for both classes he had forgotten something really important that was supposed to be happening today: Ondina was visiting. Charlie had nested himself away in his tiny square of an office, which was mostly filled with anatomical sketches of various dragon breeds he had encountered over the years, as well as every piece of printed material on the creatures. Newt had helped him acquire a large portion of it years ago when they first met, and now it sat here collecting dust because he barely had the time to read through them yearly anymore. He felt awful for not immersing himself in further studies but he had made his impact by putting out the book. At least that was what his friend had pointed out. There was no way that his book could, or should, ever be compared to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but Newt said otherwise. He was a funny old man.

Charlie hadn’t heard the front door open despite having his office one ajar. It wasn’t until he heard ‘old man’ called out when he remembered that Ondina was stopping by. Carefully standing up so as to not collapse a tower of books next to his desk stool, he backed out of the room and craned his neck to see where his youngest was. “I’m not deaf!” he called back, but didn’t budge from the office entry. He was old though. Or getting older. He definitely felt it sometimes.

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[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

june 2027

AS SHE PEERED SUSPICIOUSLY OUT OF THE open back door, Ondina hoped her father wasn't tending to anything living outdoors. Though she had grown to ignore her father's filthy career, her absence had allowed them to become complacent in their freedoms. It did not seem entirely unlikely that some beast would be lurking just beyond her eye line as she wondered if she should risk stepping outside. Her throat tickling, nose itching and skin rejecting the idea entirely. And then she heard it.

Over her shoulder, her dad's rough voice called out from a room just beyond the dining room. She leaned back with a sigh of relief. "Dad!" She yelled, her voice rough from the pollen and sheer relief a she backed away from the threshold. Very deliberately, she unsheathed her wand and levitated the vase from the windowsill and flicked her wrist, sending it sailing through the back door and into the garden somewhere. She closed the door behind her, just as the vase crash landed, and turned to follow the comforting sound of her dad's voice.

"Not deaf then," She appeased him, a happy smile on her face as she resheathed her wand. Around the corner, she saw him leaning by his office door. Scruffy as always, with his unkempt beard and scarred arms. She did not hesitate to cross the space and hug him like a child. Her arms wrapping tight around his middle and her face finding his shoulder briefly. He smelled like dirt, which was unpleasant, but oddly comforting. "I worry you've gone senile," She told him as she let go. Lifting her brows and pinching her mouth. "You left the backdoor open, old man." She did not mention the flowers, not yet. 

charles septimus weasley

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[charles septimus weasley]

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He wasn’t sure why it always felt like he kept his office space guarded. Maybe because of the value of most of the objects within it, or because it was one inquisitive niffler away from turning into a warzone of loose papers and dragon bones. The kids had always known not to enter without permission, and somehow that had never left even as they’d gotten older. With Ondina appearing from within the vicinity of the back door and crossing over to hug him, he used his free hand to gently close the door behind him. That stack of books was nearing its apex, and a wrong breeze would leave it looking like the end of a game of Jenga. His wife disliked the controlled clutter, but it was his space. The rest of the house had always required being spotless due to his daughter’s illness. He needed one place that wasn’t going to be like that. If they’d had the room for a shed of some sort in the backyard, he definitely would have set up shop out there. But then he’d just become his dad, who still toiled over the garage full of muggle car parts and odds and ends.

“Senile?” he half-laughed as she stepped back from the hug. That was certainly an interesting descriptor. He wasn’t that old yet. “Well, I wanted to let fresh air in. Can’t quite do that with everything closed up, can I?” Though he knew what she meant. The house had always been a contained ecosystem to accommodate Ondina. She’d handled everything so poorly when she was younger, that it was the only way to actually prevent the coughing fits. Which was horrible because he would have loved having animals as they all grew up. Living in a completely sterile environment whilst being a dragonologist was maybe one of the strangest things ever. His colleagues had never understood it, at least.

Flicking his wand in the direction of the back door, it slammed shut. Now that she was here, it was going to have to be maintained. Gone was the warm, summer wind. It had felt so nice on his ‘senile, deaf’ skin. “How’ve you been? Work going well? And Renard?”

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[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

june 2027

THE SNICK OF THE OFFICE DOOR SHUTTING behind her father was not jarring for Ondina. Her head buried in his worn shirt, it went without saying that the room behind him had nothing to offer her. Ondina had already been through her 'curiosity killed the cat' stage, and it had only found useless leafs of parchment and an overwhelming stench of old bones and specimens. She appreciated the door sealing closed whatever great 'adventure' lay closed within.

Stepping back, Ondina smoothed out her hair carefully. Maintaining her serious expression with a stern little pinch to the corner of her mouth. "Well, I do see a substantial increase in the grey." She wagged a finger at her father's fine, salt and pepper hairline. She worried often about the health of her parents, especially her father. In the very weakest moments of her internal monologue, she wondered about what might happen if they were to die. Logically, she would surely be fine without them, but the thought alone opened a bit of sickness in her gut and tightness in her chest. She eyed her father more shrewdly. His smile serene and only a little exasperated.

"There are spells for that, you know." She reminded him, half turning to walk back into the kitchen with the expectation he would follow. "The air, not the grey." She corrected herself, but smirked over her shoulder as she added, "Though I'm certain there are spells for those, too." Ondina raised her brows, as if her father should be so concerned with vanity. She thought it a great pity that he didn't.

"Fine. Work is work." Ondina drawled with a shrug. She had already opened the fridge to peer inside. Reaching for one of her mothers special green juice bottles without a second thought. Green was a far more tolerable colour when it was squeezed to a quiet oblivion. She turned, leaning against the counter to crack the lid carefully. "I'm very good at it, but that means it's... boring sometimes." Ondina confessed, wrinkling her nose. She was a fantastic paper pusher, but she wasn't exactly making big decisions at the Ministry. Which was a crying shame, really. She took a sip without considering her husband much. She hadn't come to talk about him, if he wanted to be included he could come along to her little excursions home. "What were you doing?" She asked with mild curiosity. "If you were dissecting something, feel free to abstain." 

charles septimus weasley

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[charles septimus weasley]

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A hearty chuckle erupted out of him at his daughter’s observation about his hair. It had been steadily losing its color along the temples for a number of years now, no thanks to the stress that having three children back to back in his middle thirties added on to it. He certainly hadn’t followed the Weasley tradition of having as many as soon as humanely possible. Somehow, by some unknown, higher magical power, they all were born around the same time as the rest of the kids in the family. Only Merlin knew it was meant to be, apparently. ”All in due time. The red never lasts,” he warned Ondina, wagging his own finger back at her. Now that he wasn’t dealing with dragons on a daily basis, a lot of that stress had whisked itself away. Teaching and writing was far easier. Which was what all of his loved ones had been telling him since he jumped headfirst into dragonology. And which he had chosen to ignore until he had started to physically slow down a bit.

”Sure, but I like the real thing.” His answer could work for both, really. The hair and the air. So much of his time had been spent outside that it was stifling to have to lock the house up, especially when he was home alone. A little part of him had died inside when Ondina’s condition had become apparent as a child, because he had always hoped to share his travels with all three of his children. Assuming they wanted that, of course. But the outside wasn’t for everyone, and he knew that now.

Watching Ondina pluck one of his wife’s drinks from the fridge, he gave her a look of warning. Everyone knew not to take Natalie’s green juice. Charlie didn’t even know what it tasted like, having only ever gotten as far as touching a bottle once. He didn’t even dare think about them either, unless it was to pick up more from the store for her. Either there was an agreement between mother and daughter, or Ondina was about to get him in trouble. Those were the woes of being a parent though.

As for her job, well, not much could be said or done about that. It sounded like Ministry work in a nutshell. He had heard those same comments from his father growing up, and from his siblings as they rotated through careers there over the years. And they thought he was the strange one for running off to Romania to work with dragons. He shrugged at her comment though, unsure if she wanted a suggestion on what to do to make work more exciting. The only options he could provide were to quit and do something fun. She was young, she had time to do that still.

Back to his work it was, which was obviously more interesting. ”Merlin, no. I don’t dissect creatures, you know that.” Though it definitely seemed like it with the drawings he had pinned on every available surface. ”Coursework prep for my new class. Care of Magical Creatures has been moved from being an elective for the younger students, to an advanced course in the new LIFE school. I’ve had most of those students before, so I need to give them something a little more…invigorating to learn about.” What he really wanted to do was get a portkey set up to Romania, so that he could bring his class there on a fieldtrip. Stay a few nights, maybe a weekend, and watch the dragons there. It sounded like bliss to him.

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[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

june 2027

BENEVOLENT AS EVER, HER FATHER TOOK HER griping and criticism with good humour. She had never really been able to push her father the way she had her mother. She supposed that was why she had such a fond spot for him, how he weathered her condition with the kind of patience that simply did not exist outside of their pocket of familiarity. Used to her prodding, and her particular habits, he seemed immune to her snipping. However, if this were anyone else she would surely have blown her top, but it wasn't. He was her dad.

"I suspect I may be the exception to the rule," Ondina mused with a carefully concealed smile. She ran a very appreciative hand down her long, meticulously curled red hair, giving a preening little smile when she was done. When she was finished, she landed with a hand on her hip and a shrewd narrowing of her eyes. "I'm sure I could find a charm to fix that for you," She thought, tilting her head as she catalogued through the collection of charm work she kept in her extensive repertoire. She had always been an exceptional charm caster. "There's a charm to fix everything."

Rolling her eyes at her fathers insistence on 'fresh air', Ondina leaned back against the nearest counter and watched him wander around the kitchen comfortably, pausing to give her a stern little frown when she took one of her mother's green juices and cracked the lid to give it a cursory sniff. "What?" She drawled petulantly, "she won't care, they're good for me." Then she took a drink, so that she couldn't put it back where it belonged. It was mostly true, Ondina wasn't often refused the material things she desired. She had a way of getting what she wanted, more often than not.

"I don't know what you do, old man." Ondina feigned ignorance with a little tilt of her chin. As if this was entirely her own choice and she liked it that way. In reality, she knew in great detail how her father spent his time, but she enjoyed being contrary. He listed his classes with a meticulous interest, taking care to tell her about the finer details of his good teaching work. It was the kind of conversation that bored her, but Ondina made the effort to listen as she sipped her green juice quietly. Only because it was her dad that was talking, if it had been anyone else she might have faked a yawn. "Right, you're teaching the next generation of losers..." She smirked behind the rim of her bottle, recapping it and holding it under her chin as she quirked her brows teasingly, "any closeted geniuses on the roster...?" And then she waved him off, tittering as she did. "Never mind, I forget who I'm asking after." 

charles septimus weasley

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[charles septimus weasley]

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It had been quite interesting watching each member of his family slowly lose their signature ginger hair. His parents had lasted far longer than he had, though Percy had gone almost completely gray by his thirties. Charlie had always chalked that up to his younger brother’s inability to healthily process his stress. If he were to be completely honest, he was surprised there weren’t any silver streaks while Percy was still in school. Everything he heard about the later years made it seem like he’d been insufferable to deal with. Which was nothing new for the Weasleys. ”I am quite alright with the way it is,” Charlie smiled, running his hand through the side of his beard. That was where it really showed the most. If he ever wanted to make it seem less than it was, all he had to do was shave. He (and his wife) both liked it though. Without it, his face felt cold and naked. And some of the dragons he had raised didn’t trust him like that. ”Thank you for the offer though.”

As for the green juice, he wasn’t going to stop Ondina from drinking it. Natalie knew that he disliked the taste, so he would be off the chopping block instantly. It wasn’t like she didn’t have an entire shelf in the fridge dedicated to the foul liquid. And his daughter wasn’t completely wrong about it being healthy for her. That was definitely one way to get both he and his wife on board with her drinking it. Holding his hands up to show he was backing off of it, he took a seat at the island counter.

”If you would prefer we all go back to the dark ages when it comes to understanding dragons and other dangerous creatures, we could do that,” he responded, his tone slightly sharp. Charlie disliked his field being criticized, because despite it ‘sounding easy’ and like he was playing with animals all day, he most certainly was not. Uncontrolled and unstudied magical creatures led to a black-market trade and a population that was scared of animals they shouldn’t be. Ondina really should have known all of this by now. Her husband’s entire job was dealing with the beasts that managed to evade magizoologists and the likes. ”Just because you dislike it, doesn’t mean everyone is like that. There are plenty of students that could be the next leading experts in the field.”

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[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

june 2027

WITH A CARELESS SHRUG, ONDINA ALLOWED her dad to live his greying dreams. It wasn't her youth at risk at the end of the day. The suggestion had been more a poking of fun than a serious offer, since she didn't much enjoy cosmetic charms that weren't for her own gain. Plus, she thought personally the bright red of his youth would probably be quite jarring with his aging features. This, she had the common decency to keep to herself. "You're welcome," She grinned, pushing it no further as she made herself comfortable in the kitchen.

With the green juice safely in her hands, Ondina sipped it as she leaned against the counter. She had never been particularly interested in her dad's job, only that it used to take him out of the house for weeks at a time when he travelled for complex cases. Conjuring memories of screaming herself blue with her tiny, skinny arms wrapped tight around a leg or an arm. It had always been the 'thing' that left him with less time at her side, which made Ondina resent it more than anything else.

"I would not," She retorted, quick as a whip. "Because then you'd be unemployed, and I would have nothing to inherit." Ondina flashed a grin that was all teeth, relishing the slight sharpness in her dad's tone as he defended the job he had always been viciously protective of. He was good at it, too, if all the nationally and critically acclaimed awards and recognition titles were anything to go by. Ondina didn't care much for it, but she enjoyed that it was her dad that had such an esteemed position. "I know everyone doesn't think that," Ondina drawled, rolling her eyes with a dipped chin so that he might not catch her. "I just think it's a bit of a barbaric practice, I always have." She said confidently and remorselessly. "Ever so pleased for you and your future leading experts, though."

charles septimus weasley

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[charles septimus weasley]

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There were really only two things that Charlie refused to budge on: the way his family was treated and his work (and by extension other similar fields to his own). When these two things contradicted, he was put in a sort of pickle. Charlie understood that Ondina didn’t enjoy creatures or his chosen profession. She couldn’t be around most animals for health reasons, which caused quite the issues for him and Natalie considering that was their entire lives right there. They would have loved to have pets for the kids while they were growing up, but that was quickly dashed. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed by this. Magic, thankfully, kept the house in tip-top shape, but it also always made going to The Burrow a hassle with the amount of clutter and dust, not to mention everything coming from the fields outside.

So to hear Ondina prod at his career and students, it really irked him. She wasn’t required to be around any of them at all, and they had made a ton of sacrifices to keep her health up. He saw how it affected the other two as well while growing up. ”All continuing royalties from the book would be split between the three of you once your mother and I pass. That’s already in the will,” he stated flatly. Charlie doubted someone else would come out with a more comprehensive text on dragons in the next few centuries anyways. It was his life’s work after all.

”Studying animals to better assist their future is barbaric?” he questioned. Either he had misheard or his daughter was looking for a fight today. Scratching at his ‘graying’ hair, Charlie let out a long, noticeable sigh. Sure, it didn’t pay a lot unless you were at the top of your field and it took a lot to be away from your family for it, but he refused to call it barbaric. Maybe a couple hundred years ago it was when researchers were still killing magical creatures to study them. That didn’t happen anymore. It was a little hurtful to hear that his child thought he was some fiend for wanting to better understand dragons and the likes.

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