The Red Haired Boy

It was time.

Arthur cleared his belongings off the small table in the corner and left a sickle for young Tom, to cover the use of the Floo as well as the pot of tea with which he'd played while preparing himself for the trip through Muggle London. The pub was nearly empty at the minute, lunch was well past, but the tea (and evening pint) crowd would soon start trickling in and today was not the day for idle chatter. (Or worse an encounter with one of the many Weasley relatives, cousin Ethelred had moved to London recently and everyone was stopping in with house-warming gifts in order to snoop around the new flat.)

With a deep breath he squared his shoulders and headed out the door, into the bright afternoon sun of Charing Cross Road. Of course he saw muggles frequently, in the village, but somehow they were different, and much stranger, here in London. He'd heard the description "more hair than wit", but apparently the current fashion was for more hair than clothing. It would not do to be caught staring…but there were so many of them, each dressed more strangely than the last.

The appointment was far enough that Amos had recommended taking a muggle hackney cab. And truthfully Arthur had always been fascinated by the distinctive black vehicles. (Someday he would figure out how the muggles had bred horses small enough to fit inside…) However, the driver would expect to be paid and Arthur was very much afraid that he'd gotten the wrong currency at Gringotts. Strangely colored bits of paper and odd shaped coins with tiny numbers on them, this was most definitely not the money he'd so diligently memorized in class back at Hogwarts. That at least had made sense. This was all very odd, and by the time he figured out how to pay for a ride he might as well have walked.

Crowds of people hopped on and off the fleet of red omnibuses, but the Weasleys had learned their lesson about those years ago. Arthur and Molly had been trapped on one for hours before they realized that it only moved between fixed points, often quite slowly. That episode had dimmed Molly's enthusiasm for exploring any part of London outside Diagon Alley.

Fortunately, the parchment containing the details of the meeting contained a moderately strong homing charm, as well as written directions. A slight tug pulled him back on course whenever he was distracted by the shop windows with their strange static displays or a particularly outlandish costume. Unfortunately, the charm did not contain any provision to assist in crossing the very busy roads. After receiving a number of worrisome curses (intent, after all, is the key, regardless of magical ability) and encountering several vehicles a bit more closely than he had intended, Arthur decided that perhaps he should follow his fellow pedestrians who apparently had some type of coded system which signaled when it was safe to venture into the street.

As he moved toward his goal, the streets became increasingly maze-like with fewer automobiles and even fewer people. Just as he was beginning to worry that the charm had expired, it pulled him into the foyer of a modest, but relatively prosperous looking office building.

The parchment included instructions for using the small two-man lift which rose up through the center of the winding stairwell, but one look at the complicated gears and wires convinced Arthur that he'd rather climb the stairs to the third floor. There was only one office on the third floor. Discreet lettering on the door, Diggory and Dogget, matched the seal on Arthur's missive and a slight tingle told him that he had arrived.

A young woman sat at the reception desk amid an interesting mixture of muggle and magical artifacts. Arthur recognized the fellytone and typewriting machine, but a deceptively ornate owl perch stood behind the desk and a wand sat out in plain sight in a jar filled with colored sticks, some with rather nasty looking points.

She looked up, and, before Arthur could say word, she pushed a button on one of the more mysterious artifacts and said, "Madame Diggory, Mr. Weasley has arrived."

Before Arthur could even ask, she smiled and said, "You took the stairs. You're staring at my desk like you've never seen a phone. And sorry, but no muggle would be caught dead in those shoes… Besides, who do you think posted that note you're carrying?"

She came out from behind the desk, and Arthur found himself caught in a whirlwind of efficiency. He was shown to the coat closet, the washroom and the access stairs to the rooftop apparition point (and owlery), and settled in a meeting room with a pot of tea and his favorite biscuits…without ever speaking a word.

His head had just about stopped spinning when Camellia Diggory entered.

"So Arthur, what brings you out into the world today?"

"I need to arrange an adoption."

A/N: Thanks to Vera Rozalsky whose fics Paterfamilias and In Which the Princess Rescues the Dragon inspired me to post my first fanfic in many years. If you have not done so already, please read the stories in her amazing Amends,or Truth and Reconciliation universe. This story will only be a few chapters covering one issue from Arthur and Molly's POV, but her stories cover a vast, multi-faceted look at the post war wizarding world.