Lucy May Weasley (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} lucymaybefierce) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} 20somethings,@ 2022-03-09 15:57:00 |
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Who: Molly & Lucy
What: Exploring the newly inherited property
When: 9 March 2028
Where: Lakefield Manor
Warnings: None
Completion Status: Complete
Even though Molly had fussed over her, Lucy had been firm that she was perfectly capable of traveling magically still, that there wasn't anything high risk about her pregnancy thus far, and that she needed the independence. Thankfully, her sister seemed to be respecting that boundary, though Lucy fully expected the fussing to increase in proportion to her expanding belly.
After taking the floo to a nearby wizarding pub, they hired a car to take them to the estate they'd inherited. As they pulled up, Lucy's eyebrows shot up, the estate larger and more sprawling than she'd imagined. The main building itself seemed massive, though it certainly looked a bit run down.
"Wow," she breathed as she stepped out of the car. She hooked her arm around her sister's as they walked toward the building. "You have the key, right?" Not that they wouldn't be able to get it without it, but best to minimize their use of magic until they could set up the proper spells to minimize the odds of the muggles noticing.
Molly knew precisely zero about pregnancy besides what she’d learned about how to prevent it, but even less about pregnancy with twins, even if she was a Weasley. She had worried about her sister but backed off about renting a muggle auto for the whole day when Lucy had insisted. Sometimes it was still hard for her to remember that her little sister was all grown up - and hell, in a lot of ways, thanks to the babies’ impending arrival, she was a lot more grown up than Molly Sue.
It had turned out fine, though. They’d arrived safely and Molly had rolled her eyes at herself - of course it was fine. She should really do some reading about all this to calm her uneducated anxieties, right?
Molly nodded to Lucy and exhaled. “It’s beautiful.” She wasn’t quite talking about the building - the grounds were breathtaking, even if a bit overtaken with nature. She wondered aloud what their Uncle had been doing with this place. She pulled her sister’s arm lightly to tug at her bag and pull out the muggle key their Mum, Audrey, had given her the night before when she’d stopped by to have dinner with her parents after work.
"The way mum talked about it, he hadn't done anything with it for nearly a decade!" Lucy reminded her sister. It was a bit nerve-wracking, wondering what level of damage there might be to the building. What would they need to do, and more importantly spend, to get it operational?
Even though she'd never thought she had as much as her sister, Lucy's imagination was lighting up as they walked up to the building. As they entered what appeared to be a reception hall, her brows furrowed, thinking it was smaller than she'd imagined. "We'll have to find out where the blueprints are for this place, consult with architects or contractors or whatnot to get estimates on it all. We should be able to save costs with magic."
The floor seemed sturdy enough, but there were signs of rot in some of the corners and water spots on the ceiling. She pointed it out to Molly, blowing out a breath. "Hopefully the whole roof won't need replacing." Realization hit her just as a tiny foot or fist nudged up toward her rib cage, and she sighed, rubbing a hand over the spot. "And here I am, just babbling on about fixing the place up when we haven't even talked about whether we'd keep it. What do you think, Molls? Do you think we could do something amazing with this place?"
Molly nodded. “It looks like it...” A decade sounded about right based on the state of the buildings, at the very least. She wondered silently how old the estate was, and how her uncle had come to own it.
Looking up at the point her sister noted, she asked out loud, “Do we know any magic contractors?” She couldn’t think of any off the top of her head. But their dad knew a lot of people - he’d been in the Ministry forever, after all, and his name still held weight from the war. Maybe he knew someone. Magical would be faster, and hopefully cheaper because of the time, Lucy had a good point.
Molly thought for a long moment, letting her gaze move over the space, she could see potential. And then, as if struck by a spell, it hit her. “Someone could throw an absolutely smashing wedding here,” she nearly whispered it, mostly thinking it to herself, but it escaped her lips anyway.
Lucy's nose scrunched up a bit as she thought. "I don't think so?" she said. "But, I don't know if you know, Albie and Scorpius have started up this whole home renovation flipping thing. We could pull them in. Either way, we'll sort it out!" she said confidently. They were both ambitious to the bone, after all, and prone to achieving those things they set out to achieve.
It was difficult to imagine a wedding in the run-down building, wallpaper peeling away, old and broken furniture stacked awkwardly against some of the walls, and yet she trusted her sister fully. "You think? Come on, then, let's have a deeper look!" she suggested, tugging Molly along. She wanted to get a full feel for the property, and she was starting to give herself permission to get excited about it, now that it seemed Molly was fully on board.
Molly stood up straighter, her curiosity getting the best of her for a moment and she asked, “They have?” And she made a mental note to interrogate her cousin for more info soon. Especially if they decided to keep this property. And then it occurred to her that... Well, she kind of wanted to. Keep it.
She nodded. “Look at those windows - the light in the afternoon would be beautiful during the ceremony, and the lodge is certainly large enough to house a brilliant party for the reception, and to hold all the party members while they were in town for the event...” She’d looked through the information on the property and there were 7 regular rooms and a larger suite - perfect for the Bride and Groom.
“And we could offer just about every service right out of the property, everything down to the wedding gowns...” Her mind was going a mind a minute as she daydreamed of dressing brides for the foreseeable future, when Lucy tugged her and pulled her from her thoughts and the room.
"Yep," she confirmed with a small nod, though she was distracted when Molly pointed out the windows. "Ooh, right, if they wanted to do a ceremony indoors. Though the grounds seemed gorgeous enough for outdoor ceremonies as well." It made her wonder if she would ever get married. As serious as things were with Jaimeson and as much as her plan had been fast-tracked, she still couldn't imagine getting married this young.
Lucy smiled widely at her sister, not bothering to hide her excitement. "It sounds like you're on board and maybe even a little bit in love with the idea. Do you think we can do it? I feel like I'd be fantastic with handling the business side of it, the books and marketing and behind the scenes stuff, and you… oh my god, Molls, you'd be aces at the event planning and visuals and all of that!"
Lucy’s excitement was contagious but Molly took a steadying breath so as not to get too caught up. “You would be brilliant at it, but... Well,” she worried her bottom lip, “do you think we could make a profit? If I were to be doing the events and all of that, I don’t think I could stay at Malkins’...” Granted, Molly didn’t have to pay rent thanks to the Vanes/Carmichaels, but she still had bills to pay.
Crossing to her sister, Lucy reached out, taking Molly's hands in her own. "I think that there's no way we could fail. We are Percy and Audrey's daughters. Failure is not an option! But I know this is a huge risk, a massive shift in paths, and if you want to stay at Malkins' and focus on building your own design firm, I totally understand that."
Lucy sucked in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then released it. "The inheritance should cover the reno and at least a significant portion of early operations. And if you want, I can do the marketing research and create a proposal with all the projections before you make your decision." She couldn't seem to keep the smile at bay, though. "But I believe in us. Completely."
Lucy’s suggestion strengthened Molly, in a way. “We are their daughters...” she said with a smile mirroring her little sister’s. “You wouldn’t mind doing that extra work? Especially before I even know if I want to do this?” Molly planned to leave Malkins’ eventually, to start her line and design full-time, but this was... moving up the timeline quite a bit. She just needed to be sure she was making the right decision. Some of her father’s anxiety and need for stability coming out in her.
Quite inelegantly, Lucy snorted a short laugh at that question, her head shaking slowly. "Come on, Molls, you know me better than that! I would be doing it anyway, even if you were fully ready to jump in! I'll need the projections as a baseline to judge our progress if we do move forward," she explained. "And the projections will be useful should we decide we want to sell. It can shape the valuation." They really would make a fantastic team, with Molly's creativity and Lucy's pragmatism.
Lucy should be a real estate agent, Molly thought momentarily. Or run an empire... Then again. Could this be an empire? With Molly’s creative pursuits lending themselves perfectly to this sort of thing, and Lucy’s business sense... Maybe it could be. There was so much potential. And their Uncle had wanted this property for... Some reason. Surely he wouldn’t want them to sell it, without even trying, right? He left it to them for a reason. She wished he’d said why.
Molly nodded, having thought for a moment. “I think that sounds like a good idea then. Do you know how long it will take? Once I’ve decided, I’ll also need at least a couple of weeks to give Madam Malkin notice if we decide to go forward, and I’ll have to figure out a budget for being unemployed while we upgrade and renovate and before we get any clients...” She was mostly thinking out loud at this point, but they were thoughts that needed to be thought, anyway.
The wheels were spinning in her sister's head, and Lucy had to work hard to conceal the squeal of joy at the thought that Molly just might be all in for this. "I should be able to have the proposal ready for you in a week," she answered confidently. "And I can help you with your budget, if you'd like. I'll be doing a strict one for myself, as well." Her nose wrinkled as she nodded down at her protruding belly.
The pregnancy was inconvenient on a lot of levels, but she was determined that it wouldn't interfere with this venture. "If we're prudent and don't have any significant setbacks, we could even feasibly be up and running for the summer wedding season." There had to be plenty of brides who needed a last-minute venue, right? "This is going to be amazing!" And maybe she could make dad proud of her again, not that he'd expressed disappointment in her the past few months. But it continued to linger in the back of her mind.
“A week?” Molly nearly squeaked - that was fast, then again, knowing Lucy that was just sort of how she worked. Molly was the creative mind of the two of them, but Lucy was the adventurous one. The spontaneous one. She was more like their mother in that.
“Oh my gods, Lucy, how are you going to do all of this and have twins?” For a moment, it hadn’t even occurred to Molly and she felt ashamed.
Lucy pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at Molly's squeak. She couldn't be that surprised, could she? Lucy had never been one to do things by halves, and they would need to get moving quickly on this if they wanted to start turning a profit by summer. When she had an idea, she dug in and brought it to fruition quickly; she'd always been that way.
When her sister asked that, though, she couldn't hold the laugh back any longer. "Sheer force of will? Honestly though, I'll have help with the babies, and I'll be able to do a significant chunk of work from home once we're operational. I can do it," she promised Molly. She felt far more confident about her ability to handle the business than she did about becoming a mum, but she would do it because, as she'd told her earlier, failure wasn't an option.
Molly was silent for a moment, deep in thought, and then she nodded, “This could be major,” she nearly whispered, seeing the potential and the possibilities laid out before her. She could see brilliant wedding gowns, yards of tulle, her name on the lips of beautiful brides as they gushed with pride over their perfect wedding day, that they’d never forget thanks to Molly and Lucy. It was as if the Universe had decided this was the way things were to go, and other than definitely wanting to see the business work-up from Lucy, she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to say no to the Universe.
After taking the floo to a nearby wizarding pub, they hired a car to take them to the estate they'd inherited. As they pulled up, Lucy's eyebrows shot up, the estate larger and more sprawling than she'd imagined. The main building itself seemed massive, though it certainly looked a bit run down.
"Wow," she breathed as she stepped out of the car. She hooked her arm around her sister's as they walked toward the building. "You have the key, right?" Not that they wouldn't be able to get it without it, but best to minimize their use of magic until they could set up the proper spells to minimize the odds of the muggles noticing.
Molly knew precisely zero about pregnancy besides what she’d learned about how to prevent it, but even less about pregnancy with twins, even if she was a Weasley. She had worried about her sister but backed off about renting a muggle auto for the whole day when Lucy had insisted. Sometimes it was still hard for her to remember that her little sister was all grown up - and hell, in a lot of ways, thanks to the babies’ impending arrival, she was a lot more grown up than Molly Sue.
It had turned out fine, though. They’d arrived safely and Molly had rolled her eyes at herself - of course it was fine. She should really do some reading about all this to calm her uneducated anxieties, right?
Molly nodded to Lucy and exhaled. “It’s beautiful.” She wasn’t quite talking about the building - the grounds were breathtaking, even if a bit overtaken with nature. She wondered aloud what their Uncle had been doing with this place. She pulled her sister’s arm lightly to tug at her bag and pull out the muggle key their Mum, Audrey, had given her the night before when she’d stopped by to have dinner with her parents after work.
"The way mum talked about it, he hadn't done anything with it for nearly a decade!" Lucy reminded her sister. It was a bit nerve-wracking, wondering what level of damage there might be to the building. What would they need to do, and more importantly spend, to get it operational?
Even though she'd never thought she had as much as her sister, Lucy's imagination was lighting up as they walked up to the building. As they entered what appeared to be a reception hall, her brows furrowed, thinking it was smaller than she'd imagined. "We'll have to find out where the blueprints are for this place, consult with architects or contractors or whatnot to get estimates on it all. We should be able to save costs with magic."
The floor seemed sturdy enough, but there were signs of rot in some of the corners and water spots on the ceiling. She pointed it out to Molly, blowing out a breath. "Hopefully the whole roof won't need replacing." Realization hit her just as a tiny foot or fist nudged up toward her rib cage, and she sighed, rubbing a hand over the spot. "And here I am, just babbling on about fixing the place up when we haven't even talked about whether we'd keep it. What do you think, Molls? Do you think we could do something amazing with this place?"
Molly nodded. “It looks like it...” A decade sounded about right based on the state of the buildings, at the very least. She wondered silently how old the estate was, and how her uncle had come to own it.
Looking up at the point her sister noted, she asked out loud, “Do we know any magic contractors?” She couldn’t think of any off the top of her head. But their dad knew a lot of people - he’d been in the Ministry forever, after all, and his name still held weight from the war. Maybe he knew someone. Magical would be faster, and hopefully cheaper because of the time, Lucy had a good point.
Molly thought for a long moment, letting her gaze move over the space, she could see potential. And then, as if struck by a spell, it hit her. “Someone could throw an absolutely smashing wedding here,” she nearly whispered it, mostly thinking it to herself, but it escaped her lips anyway.
Lucy's nose scrunched up a bit as she thought. "I don't think so?" she said. "But, I don't know if you know, Albie and Scorpius have started up this whole home renovation flipping thing. We could pull them in. Either way, we'll sort it out!" she said confidently. They were both ambitious to the bone, after all, and prone to achieving those things they set out to achieve.
It was difficult to imagine a wedding in the run-down building, wallpaper peeling away, old and broken furniture stacked awkwardly against some of the walls, and yet she trusted her sister fully. "You think? Come on, then, let's have a deeper look!" she suggested, tugging Molly along. She wanted to get a full feel for the property, and she was starting to give herself permission to get excited about it, now that it seemed Molly was fully on board.
Molly stood up straighter, her curiosity getting the best of her for a moment and she asked, “They have?” And she made a mental note to interrogate her cousin for more info soon. Especially if they decided to keep this property. And then it occurred to her that... Well, she kind of wanted to. Keep it.
She nodded. “Look at those windows - the light in the afternoon would be beautiful during the ceremony, and the lodge is certainly large enough to house a brilliant party for the reception, and to hold all the party members while they were in town for the event...” She’d looked through the information on the property and there were 7 regular rooms and a larger suite - perfect for the Bride and Groom.
“And we could offer just about every service right out of the property, everything down to the wedding gowns...” Her mind was going a mind a minute as she daydreamed of dressing brides for the foreseeable future, when Lucy tugged her and pulled her from her thoughts and the room.
"Yep," she confirmed with a small nod, though she was distracted when Molly pointed out the windows. "Ooh, right, if they wanted to do a ceremony indoors. Though the grounds seemed gorgeous enough for outdoor ceremonies as well." It made her wonder if she would ever get married. As serious as things were with Jaimeson and as much as her plan had been fast-tracked, she still couldn't imagine getting married this young.
Lucy smiled widely at her sister, not bothering to hide her excitement. "It sounds like you're on board and maybe even a little bit in love with the idea. Do you think we can do it? I feel like I'd be fantastic with handling the business side of it, the books and marketing and behind the scenes stuff, and you… oh my god, Molls, you'd be aces at the event planning and visuals and all of that!"
Lucy’s excitement was contagious but Molly took a steadying breath so as not to get too caught up. “You would be brilliant at it, but... Well,” she worried her bottom lip, “do you think we could make a profit? If I were to be doing the events and all of that, I don’t think I could stay at Malkins’...” Granted, Molly didn’t have to pay rent thanks to the Vanes/Carmichaels, but she still had bills to pay.
Crossing to her sister, Lucy reached out, taking Molly's hands in her own. "I think that there's no way we could fail. We are Percy and Audrey's daughters. Failure is not an option! But I know this is a huge risk, a massive shift in paths, and if you want to stay at Malkins' and focus on building your own design firm, I totally understand that."
Lucy sucked in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then released it. "The inheritance should cover the reno and at least a significant portion of early operations. And if you want, I can do the marketing research and create a proposal with all the projections before you make your decision." She couldn't seem to keep the smile at bay, though. "But I believe in us. Completely."
Lucy’s suggestion strengthened Molly, in a way. “We are their daughters...” she said with a smile mirroring her little sister’s. “You wouldn’t mind doing that extra work? Especially before I even know if I want to do this?” Molly planned to leave Malkins’ eventually, to start her line and design full-time, but this was... moving up the timeline quite a bit. She just needed to be sure she was making the right decision. Some of her father’s anxiety and need for stability coming out in her.
Quite inelegantly, Lucy snorted a short laugh at that question, her head shaking slowly. "Come on, Molls, you know me better than that! I would be doing it anyway, even if you were fully ready to jump in! I'll need the projections as a baseline to judge our progress if we do move forward," she explained. "And the projections will be useful should we decide we want to sell. It can shape the valuation." They really would make a fantastic team, with Molly's creativity and Lucy's pragmatism.
Lucy should be a real estate agent, Molly thought momentarily. Or run an empire... Then again. Could this be an empire? With Molly’s creative pursuits lending themselves perfectly to this sort of thing, and Lucy’s business sense... Maybe it could be. There was so much potential. And their Uncle had wanted this property for... Some reason. Surely he wouldn’t want them to sell it, without even trying, right? He left it to them for a reason. She wished he’d said why.
Molly nodded, having thought for a moment. “I think that sounds like a good idea then. Do you know how long it will take? Once I’ve decided, I’ll also need at least a couple of weeks to give Madam Malkin notice if we decide to go forward, and I’ll have to figure out a budget for being unemployed while we upgrade and renovate and before we get any clients...” She was mostly thinking out loud at this point, but they were thoughts that needed to be thought, anyway.
The wheels were spinning in her sister's head, and Lucy had to work hard to conceal the squeal of joy at the thought that Molly just might be all in for this. "I should be able to have the proposal ready for you in a week," she answered confidently. "And I can help you with your budget, if you'd like. I'll be doing a strict one for myself, as well." Her nose wrinkled as she nodded down at her protruding belly.
The pregnancy was inconvenient on a lot of levels, but she was determined that it wouldn't interfere with this venture. "If we're prudent and don't have any significant setbacks, we could even feasibly be up and running for the summer wedding season." There had to be plenty of brides who needed a last-minute venue, right? "This is going to be amazing!" And maybe she could make dad proud of her again, not that he'd expressed disappointment in her the past few months. But it continued to linger in the back of her mind.
“A week?” Molly nearly squeaked - that was fast, then again, knowing Lucy that was just sort of how she worked. Molly was the creative mind of the two of them, but Lucy was the adventurous one. The spontaneous one. She was more like their mother in that.
“Oh my gods, Lucy, how are you going to do all of this and have twins?” For a moment, it hadn’t even occurred to Molly and she felt ashamed.
Lucy pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at Molly's squeak. She couldn't be that surprised, could she? Lucy had never been one to do things by halves, and they would need to get moving quickly on this if they wanted to start turning a profit by summer. When she had an idea, she dug in and brought it to fruition quickly; she'd always been that way.
When her sister asked that, though, she couldn't hold the laugh back any longer. "Sheer force of will? Honestly though, I'll have help with the babies, and I'll be able to do a significant chunk of work from home once we're operational. I can do it," she promised Molly. She felt far more confident about her ability to handle the business than she did about becoming a mum, but she would do it because, as she'd told her earlier, failure wasn't an option.
Molly was silent for a moment, deep in thought, and then she nodded, “This could be major,” she nearly whispered, seeing the potential and the possibilities laid out before her. She could see brilliant wedding gowns, yards of tulle, her name on the lips of beautiful brides as they gushed with pride over their perfect wedding day, that they’d never forget thanks to Molly and Lucy. It was as if the Universe had decided this was the way things were to go, and other than definitely wanting to see the business work-up from Lucy, she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to say no to the Universe.