The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Season 6 / Round 6

Position: Captain

Team: Kenmare Kestrels

Prompt — Molly Weasley

A special big thanks to desertredwolf — Dessie, for always saving me with her wonderful beta'ing. :))

Molly Prewett pursed her lips and lifted the train of her dress, turning left and right to catch as many glimpses as she could in the mirror. With a slow inhale, she ran her hand down the front, for the hundredth time, as if brushing away dust and curses from the fabric. The anxiety making her hands shake a little.

Her bridesmaid grabbed her arm. "If you keep messing with that dress one more time, I'll transfigure that light blue dress into pasty pink that clashes with that pretty little ginger head of yours," Amelia Bones threatened her. "And don't think I'm not capable of it. I got top marks in our class."

Molly exhaled with a short laugh. "I'd like to see you get married and not freak out like this."

"I'm not planning on getting married any time soon," Amelia scoffed. "Now turn around so I can fix your hair."

Molly complied and sat down, curling her legs under her dress to get more comfortable. Amelia shook her head at the sight. "Can't you sit like a lady?"

She gave a wicked grin at the mirror.

"My wedding day. I do what I want. I've been a lady for eighteen years—it's about time I took a day off."

"If you ask me, she took several years off as a little girl." There was an amused drawl from the doorway. "Molly-kins doesn't know the meaning of the word lady."

Amelia snickered under her breath, and Molly scowled at Gideon. "I do know the meaning."

There was a twinkle in his eyes as he came closer and he poked her nose. "Even with that smudge of dirt on your cheek?"

Her hand flew to her face and warily checked the mirror, but there was nothing there. "Gideon!"

He laughed and squeezed in between Amelia and her chair, taking the hairbrush swiftly from her hand and motioned her bridesmaid away with a shoo-ing motion.

"I'll be taking over hair duty, ma'am."

Amelia looked skeptical. "You know how to French braid?"

Gideon didn't waver in the slightest. "I know how to Mer braid, and that's a rare skill. Go mess with Arthur's hair or something. Merlin knows he's been messing with it for hours."

Molly watched Amelia get helplessly pushed out the doorway, mouthing 'mer braid?' before the door closed in her face. With a soft smile, she turned to her older brother.

"You have no idea what a French braid is, do you?"

He gave her a handsome grin. "Not a bleedin' clue, Molly." Gideon flipped the brush in his hand with the familiar swagger of a proud Gryffindor. "But you and I both know who used to do your hair all the time."

She hummed in agreement. It had always been the duty of Gideon and Fabian to amuse her during the day. Fabian excelled in chasing her outside and getting her dress all muddy while Gideon preferred fixing the mess they always made. Gideon took a calmer approach when spending time with her. Such as helping her with her hair as a child.

So it was a familiar feeling to sit in front of the mirror while Gideon focused on fixing her hair, running the brush through the long red strands—tugging all the knots out. Molly's mind started wandering to all the possibilities of the next few hours.

"How's Arthur? Is he nervous?"

"That boy should've been a badger in school. Arthur is terrified," Gideon snickered. "I left Fabian to calm his fluttering heart with threats upon his life should he ever decide to break your heart."

"Gideon!"

"I'm joking! I'm not going to give him a heart attack just before the ceremony."

Molly relaxed.

"...I'm saving it for after the honeymoon."

"Gid—" She yelped as he yanked down on her hair.

"Sorry. Don't wear my name out." He sounded amused, and Molly decided to just drown herself in her nerves and she slumped further down in the chair. Another thought came over her.

"Do you like the dress?" she asked casually.

"Mhmm. I'm glad you went with a non-traditional wedding dress. The blue looks beautiful on you," Gideon commented but continued slyly. "And we both know you were trying to subtly ask if I thought Arthur would like it."

Molly could feel her face flush red all the way up to her ears.

He continued. "If that boy likes you when you are chasing after rabbits barefoot and with mud on your nose then he'll love you in this dress. You, Molly-kins, are the very definition of a worrywart and you are even worse than Mum was."

Their mother passing away several years ago had been a subject that she hadn't really avoided speaking about with her brothers—it just wasn't something that she had ever thought about bringing up. She was young when their mother had died. So young that she barely remembered the feeling of holding her mother's hand.

But today was a different day from all of the days she had spent with her family. This was the day that she taking that final step to change her life. It was both exhilarating and nerve-wracking that this image reflected on the mirror was actually her.

So a question fell from her lips before she could stop it.

"Do I look like Mum?"

"Yes," Gideon answered promptly. Molly found herself at a loss for words and focused fidgeting with the hem of her dress while listening to her brother continue answering.

"To be honest, it was Fabian who pointed it out to me. When you tried on this dress for the first time, he was quite stunned, and it didn't take me long to see it as well."

Gideon placed the brush down and started to tug her hair back, his fingers worked nimbly to braid it back. "You could say a bit of Mum is here today to watch you get married."

For some reason, a strong feeling of longing tugged at her heart, she bit her lip and set her gaze on her hands. Her fingers were flickering and blurring slightly as she tried to blink the tears back.

Finally finished, Gideon placed his hands on her shoulders and reached to tilt her chin up.

There she was. But Molly wasn't the only one looking back at herself, and she found herself smiling a little at the nostalgic look on her brother's face.

Gideon pointed out wistfully. "Look...it's Mum."

Molly sniffed and looked at the mirror intently; beyond the girl sitting on the chair starting to cry. Beyond the side braid and blue dress. She focused on the young man standing behind her and the reflections of all of the times she chased her brothers—stumbling on the ground and Fabian helping her up, Gideon trying and failing to fix her hair over and over again.

She had been raised by more than one mother.

Molly gave a teary smile to the mirror. Her gaze firmly fixed on her brother.

"Yes...she's definitely here."