Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(148) Bonds Not Broken

Penelope had written to her family about her indefinite decision of moving back to England and continuing her career at the Ministry of Magic, but they were surprised to find her turned up at their door so early on a Sunday. Nicolai had been fixing up her packed lunch at the kitchen when she heard someone banging on the door, her eyes turning as wide as galleons at the sight of her sister, trunks and trunks of her stuff standing behind her.

"Penny," she said after a few seconds of silence spent in disbelief, "What are you doing here?"

"I told you guys, didn't I?" She said, wiping her shoes against the Welcome Home rug, "Well I'm here now. Help me with my stuff, will you?" she said, not giving her sister any time to protest as she dragged one of the trunks past the threshold, Nicolai scrambling to pick up a few of her things and following her inside, "Penny—You said, and I quote, "Indefinitely". We got your letter two days ago!"

"Well, I changed my mind quickly. Plus, I sent out an application form to the Ministry for a position at their Foreign Affairs department and they hired me straight away. I would guess that they were marvelously impressed with my resume and the MACUSA officials that I put down as my reference probably put a good word in." Penny smiled brightly, just as their mother walked into the room.

"Penelope, dearest! Oh, my word! I didn't expect to see you so soon!" she made a beeline for her eldest daughter, enveloping her in a tight embrace, "Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm not glad to see you, but what are you doing here? Is everything alright in America?"

"I sent out an application for a Foreign Affairs position at the Ministry and I got hired straight away so I jumped on it. America was getting boring." Penelope said, Nicolai heading back to the kitchen to continue her lunch prep, seeing as she was no longer needed in the scene.

"Oh my, hired before you could even quit the job? Gracious, I am so proud of you, Penny. And at Foreign Affairs too. My, those seats are tough to fill, especially since the requirements are so specific. You'll get good pay there too." Mrs. Clearwater smiled, pride evident in her voice as she spoke.

"I'm really looking forward to it, Mum. How are things here though? It's been awhile since I was home."

"You know, same old. Work is going pretty well, your father and I are close to retirement," Mrs. Clearwater's voice dropped down a few notches in volume, "We're still waiting on Nicolai to move out though, so we could make plans to hopefully sell the house and get a smaller place. Oh, if only that sister of yours went down the same path as you, she wouldn't have to play healer and would have already gotten her own place by now."

"Playing healer?" Nicolai said, letting out a derisive laugh, overhearing their conversation from the kitchen despite Mrs. Clearwater's attempts at not letting her voice be heard,"Being a healer is anything but child's play, mum. It's tougher than filing bloody paperwork believe me. And you can't expect me to be able to afford a place to live after being out of school for only two months."

"Dear, your sister lived by herself a week after graduation."

"That's because that was part of the deal if she moved all the way to another continent across the pond. She didn't have to pay for anything! Working in my career has nothing to do with it."

"Well we're just saying, Nico, mum has a point. Working in your profession isn't exactly ideal, you know? You're working hard at what cost? Salary just a few sickles above minimum wage?" Penelope chimed in, before plopping down on the couch.

Nicolai stopped spreading jam on her sandwich, marching out of the kitchen with a frown on her face, "You literally just got here five minutes ago and you're already doing what you do best, shitting on my life decisions as if I haven't gotten enough of that for the past two months from my own parents."