Weasley Family Fallout

Chapter 43: Squibs, Snakes, and Slips

With his sexual appetite satiated, Arthur had been able to enjoy the party much more than before. After mingling a bit, he found himself in a riveting conversation about Muggle motor vehicles with some cousins and nephews. He enjoyed the conversation immensely, but this particular topic caused him to miss his older brother more than usual because it made Bilius's absence more profound.

While Muggle objects always fascinated Arthur, Bilius increased his interest and understanding of motor vehicles in particular. The two brothers shared a love and fascination of Muggle artifacts more so than any of their other brothers, but Bilius managed to focus his obsession on motor vehicles, unlike Arthur who had a widespread obsession with anything remotely Muggle-related (which wasn't too unusual with the "Blood Traitor Weasleys;" they all publicly deplored their inclusion in the Pure-Blood Directory and were proud to say they didn't look down on Muggles and even claimed to have Muggle ancestors, but some family members went a step further and took an interest in Muggle history, culture, or artifacts, some more keen than others). Bilius maintained an interest in other Muggle artifacts throughout his life of course, but acquiring a job working at the garage in the predominately Muggle town of Rugeley, where the family lived, when he was young and impressionable played a major role in focusing his interest; and despite being perfectly capable of finding a job in the Wizarding World, Bilius ended up buying a small house in Rugeley and kept that job until the day he died.

Like most of his brothers, Arthur rarely came home from Hogwarts for Christmas and Easter, but during the summer, he wandered down to the garage fairly often to observe Bilius and the other mechanics repair a variety of automobiles. His older brother always took the time to answer his questions and explain how things worked. By the time Arthur left home, he knew almost as much about cars as Bilius did.

Arthur longed to own a Muggle motor vehicle to tinker with, but could never afford one and Molly always showed some resistance to the idea whenever he mentioned it. So, one could imagine Arthur's elation and Molly's dismay when Bilius surprised him on his fortieth birthday with a beat-up old Ford Anglia, which the brothers spent hours upon hours fixing up and was the current topic of conversation until it abruptly shifted to motorbikes.

With the change of topic came a change in location as well. Arthur and his cousins and nephews headed to his shed. While Arthur unlocked the door, Marie ran up to her eldest brother, Andrew, who would have been finishing his seventh year at Hogwarts if he hadn't decided to become an Auror after participating in the Battle of Hogwarts, having come of age the day before and gone undetected by his aunt and uncle.

Arthur sent an orb of light to hover near the ceiling, illuminating the shed. It briefly crossed his mind that he hadn't been in his shed since the night of Percy's wedding, which ignited a flash of other memoires to flit through his mind. A faint unsettled feeling came upon him. He quickly pushed down that feeling and all unwelcome thoughts and tried to ignore them completely.

Once everyone entered, they all crowded around a lumpy, old tarp. Arthur yanked it off to reveal Sirius's old motorbike. Various parts lay on the floor around it, both mirrors were missing while one handlebar dangled loosely behind the busted headlight, the front wheel was bent at on odd angle, and dents and scratches covered the sidecar.

"Arthur..." Cousin Rupert began, frowning at the bike, "I thought you said you had a motorbike, not a –"

"– heap of scrap metal," another cousin chimed in, earning laughter from Rupert and a couple others.

Arthur shared a look with the ones who weren't laughing and rolled his eyes. While they all showed an interest in Muggle artifacts, a select few appreciated tinkering with, disassembling, and repairing them. Rupert was one of the ones who would much rather take something apart and figure out how it worked than repair it.