Encore
"Sit here." Rose pulled her mother over to a chair and pushed her down--as much as a six-year-old could push an adult down into a chair, anyway. "And Dad, you sit here, right next to her."
Ron looked at Hermione and rolled his eyes. She in turn gave him a disapproving look, to which he grinned, knowing he'd got her once again. It was always the same: the eyes, the look, the grin. When would she learn he was just playing with her? Or was her response part of the game as well?
"All right dear, let's see your show," Hermione said. Rose giggled and scampered off into the hallway.
"Dad, you have to announce us," she whispered.
Ron cleared his throat; he was used to his daughter's impromptu performances by now and knew exactly what to do. "Ladies and Gentleman, Wizards and Witches, I present to you the Lady Rose Weasley."
"And her assistant Master Hugo," came a second whisper, followed by, "Hush, Hugo! It was supposed to be a surprise!"
Hermione hid a smile as Ron just shook his head. Sometimes being a father was really quite amusing. Sometimes it was the hardest thing he'd ever done, yet he wouldn't have it any other way.
Today was Hermione's birthday, and the kids were finally old enough to help him plan something for her. He had actually taken them shopping on his own and given her the morning to herself, only to come home and find her curled up with a book as thick as any he'd seen--the very one he'd almost bought for her until Hugo had pulled a face and picked out a new lurid pink quill instead. The three of them had then spent the afternoon baking a cake, which unfortunately had required Hermione to rescue them from clouds of flour and several sticky eggs. At least they had all had a good laugh together. Now they were sitting back for the surprise Rose had been planning on her own for days, with only the slightest bit of help from him; he was excited to see what she had come up with, since she had refused to give him any details.
Given how much she liked to perform, he shouldn't have been surprised that Rose had put together some sort of show for Hermione. She was always singing, dancing, or even doing puppet shows for one or all of them. She loved family gatherings and could entertain her grandparents and cousins for hours. Usually Hugo was her bored audience, however, so seeing him reluctantly dressed up for the stage would be interesting indeed.
Rose stepped into the doorway, a very serious look on her face. She was wearing a long purple dress and had a flower in her hair…but her dress was dirty and torn, her hair a tangled mass of knots, and there were actually smudges of dirt on her face. Hermione's eyebrows shot up to the top of her head; Rose was never dirty, she hated it with a passion. Ron kept a straight face, because he'd helped Rose with her costume (she'd complained the entire time and still looked a bit twitchy, to be honest) and had some idea of what to expect from it. He'd been assigned a very small but very specific role to play.
"I am Maggie the Messy Muggle!" Rose declared in a ringing voice. "I love dirt! I love mud! I love being messy all the time, and no one can change my mind!"
Hugo stepped out then, looking extremely uncomfortable. Now Ron had to hold back a laugh, because his son was dressed immaculately in the dress robes he had worn to the last Weasley wedding two years earlier, and they were quite a bit too short. His hair was combed and he looked exceptionally serious. It was a rare enough sight for Hermione's mouth to fall open in surprise: Hugo was usually the messy one, completely unconcerned about his appearance and almost delighting in upsetting Hermione's sense of neatness and order. This was interesting indeed: a true role reversal for the stage.
"And I am William the Well-Dressed Wizard!" Hugo yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Not so loud, Hugo, they're right there," Rose whispered. Hugo seemed surprised to see his parents, swallowed nervously, and tried again.
"I am William the Well-Dressed Wizard," he said. "I am neat and clean. I like everything fresh and organized."
Ron stared at his children, wondering how in the world they had come up with these characters…and hoping they hadn't pulled them from real life. Was he actually Maggie? Was Hermione supposed to be William? Were they trying to tell them something? Or was this just an innocent play born of what they lived every day? Hermione took his hand, her eyes smiling at him as they watched the show continue.
"Good Godric, woman," exclaimed Hugo, pretending exaggerated surprise when he saw his sister. Again Ron stifled a snort; his son had almost certainly learned that line from him. "Why are you so dirty?"
"Why are you so clean?" she returned smartly, twirling around with gleeful abandon and almost tripping on her long skirt. She was experienced enough by now to recover quickly.
"Because I like to be spotless and sparkling. I do not like the feel of dirt."
"And I cannot live without it," Rose declared, a dramatic hand laid across her forehead. "How ever shall we get along, Sir William?"
"I have an idea. Lady Maggic, may I show you something?" Hugo asked. He took out a toy wand and waved it at her. Ron coughed under his breath, his own wand behind his back, and slowly his daughter's dirty dress transformed into a beautiful, sparkling gown, like from the old Muggle storybooks Hermione liked to read with the children at night. Rose's hair flowed straight down her back, clean and untangled. She spun about in girlish glee, then bowed to her brother. Hermione was nodding her head in appreciation--whether it was for Ron's magic or his daughter's acting, Ron did not know.
"It's beautiful, Sir William. I can see why you enjoy your fine, clean clothes so much. May I show you something as well?"
Rose darted into the hallway and returned with a chocolate pie…which she promptly pushed into Hugo's face. Hermione twitched as the whip cream colored his hair white; the filling dripped down his immaculate robes. He looked slightly shocked, but fell quickly back into character (which probably wasn't very difficult for him, as he frequently had something on his face) as he raised his finger, licked a bit of frosting, and nodded in surprise.
"I've never been so dirty in my life!" he said through a mouthful of pie. "What fun! How delicious!"
"Perhaps sometimes we can be clean and fancy, and sometimes we can be dirty and messy," said Rose, pretending to look thoughtful. "That way we can both be happy."
"I agree," said Hugo, still eating chocolate pie from his fingers.
"Brilliant," replied Rose. She turned to Ron and Hermione. "And they lived happily ever after, both dirty and clean. The end."
She grabbed her brother's sticky hand and pulled him into a bow; Hugo kept eating whip cream from his other hand. Hermione gushed praise on them both, while Ron quickly cleaned up his son before he got any more pie on the living room floor and Hermione berated them all for making such a mess before company arrived.
"Aw, dad," said Hugo. "That was a good pie, why did you clean it all up?"
Hermione laughed as she pulled him into a hug. "You can do it all again for your grandparents tonight and eat as much as you want."
Rose grabbed her hand, practically jumping up and down. "When are they coming over? Can we really do it for them? Do you think they'll like it? Mum, did you like it? It was my very own idea! Dad helped with my costume since I can't do magic yet, but someday I'll be able to change from messy to clean myself. And then maybe I can make it even longer and even better…"
She prattled on as Hermione gave her another hug. She was certainly her mother's daughter at times, her enthusiasm completely infectious and overwhelming. Hermione smiled at Ron, her eyes bright. "Was this your idea?" she asked softly. "Opposites attract and all that?"
He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek. "Of course not. Do you really think I'm that good? Rose came up with that all on her own." Which was true, he had only helped with the costumes.
"It was wonderful. Thank you--for this morning, for the cake, for the show." She turned back to the kids. "I can't wait for your grandparents to see it! Now, go get and dressed for real, they'll be here soon." They ran from the room, laughing and squealing. Ron took the opportunity to put his arms around Hermione's waist from behind her. He kissed her neck and she leaned back into him with a sigh.
"That was adorable. They're such good kids, Ron. Thank you for helping them."
"You're welcome," he murmured. "But you'll have to wait for your parents to leave to get the rest of your gift."
"Oh, there's more?" She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I can't imagine anything better than such an beautiful performance from my children."
"Then how about one from your husband later?" Ron whispered. He nuzzled at her ear and she squealed, but they were interrupted by knock at the door, followed by an instant, "Grandma and Grandpa are here! Get back in costume!"
With a wink, Ron took her hand and walked toward the door. There would be time to celebrate her birthday in private later. And maybe there could be an encore performance as well.
* * *
Encore by Gmariam
Chapter Endnotes: This story was originally written for Lori/Weasleymom on the occasion of her birthday several months ago. She has graciously allowed me to tweak it a bit for the Character Clinic competition. And yes, I wrote this from some experience: my four-year-old loves to perform little shows, especially with her dolls. So go leave Lori a review even though her birthday was in April, and then let me know what you think as well in that little box below (*coughtodayismybirthdaycough*)