When the Healer had recommended that she should take Harry to a Children's Play Group, Lily wasn't quite sure if she wanted to take that step. Sure Harry hadn't interacted with a ton of kids his age but what if something went terribly wrong (nothing, undoubtedly, would go wrong but it was a mother's weakness to think the worst)? The thing that made her decision, though, was the fact that Harry did need to interact with other kids his age.
Walking into the room she was directed towards, the first thing Lily did was scan the room. She didn't recognize anyone but she did notice a woman with auburn hair, sitting not to far from were she was standing. She had a little boy sitting in her lap that couldn't have been much older then Harry and three other kids running around her. From the looks of it, she seemed like she had everything under control, giving Lily the opportunity to get acquainted with a mother who had a child the same age as hers.
"Would it be alright if I sat here?" she asked as she hoisted Harry a little bit higher on her hip, smiling warmly when the Weasley matriarch looked up at her.
"Of course not, dear," Molly replied, returning the young women's smile. Turning slightly in her seat, she made sure to get a better look at both mother and son, noticing that the boy had ink colored hair and emerald green eyes, identical to his mother's. Sitting down silently, Lily took one last glance at the three boys running around. They all had matching red hair, leading her to believe that they all belonged to Molly.
"Are these three yours?" Lily asked after a few minutes, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the two women.
"The three running around are, yes," Molly replied, contentment evident in her voice.
"They're absolutely adorable," Lily replied as she softly smiled, hoping to have more kids in the future. As hard as it was to take care of a baby, she wanted dearly to have another one.
"Thank you, dear," Molly uttered in response, the smile never leaving her face. After a few more minutes of silence, she looked down at the one-year-old sitting in her lap and said, "It's time for you to play with your brothers, Ronnie. You can't sit on mummy's lap the whole time." Setting her youngest son down onto the floor, she knew he wouldn't go off and play with his brothers. Not only because he was just a year old but because he was content with playing by himself, making him an easy baby to take care of.
"Here, he can play with Harry," Lily responded as she, like Molly had done, set Harry down. When both women sat up straight in their chairs, Molly gave Lily an appreciative smile.
"He doesn't get to play with anyone his age, you see," Molly explained. All of her kids, even at the age of three, had already taken a liking to something. The twins were always causing trouble, Percy was never without a book, Charlie could always be found outside and Bill, being the eldest, was off at Hogwarts.
"That's exactly how Harry is, he's an only child," Lily replied, giving Molly a sympathetic smile. When she noticed the redheaded woman sitting next to her lean back in her chair and rest her hands on her swollen stomach, she realized that there was another Weasley on the way. "Are you expecting?" Lily asked, turning her attention back to the expectant mother.
"I am," Molly replied hesitantly, desire evident in her voice, "I'm hoping for a little girl this time, though," she added as she started to softly rub her belly.
"I think she would fit in nicely with four brothers," Lily replied as she looked over at the three older boys, who were still running around, and the baby who was playing with her son.
"She would actually have six brothers," Molly corrected. She knew that by saying she was expecting her seventh child that she would get an odd look from the younger mother sitting next to her but she honestly didn't care. She was a proud, loving mother.
"You're expecting your seventh child?" Lily asked, obviously baffled. "Wait, you've only got four kids with you," she added once she actually realized that there were only four redheaded kids at the Children's Play Group.
"My first born is off at Hogwarts and Charlie, my second eldest, is at work with my husband," Molly explained as she giggled. She always loved watching people's reactions when she said that there were six Weasley boys and a soon-to-come Weasley girl.
"Wow, you're one hell of awomen," Lily breathed, still in shock from how many kids Molly had.
"What a lovely compliment," Molly beamed. "Thank you," she added, her smile widening. Before Lily had a chance to say anything back, little Harry grasped onto Molly's skirt and stood up. When he lifted his chubby arms up, Molly, being the mother that she was, picked him up and rested him on her lap. "Hello there, sweetheart," she said when Harry started to babble happily to himself. After a few seconds of silence, she felt a small hand rest against her abdomen and she couldn't help but to laugh because she knew that the little boy was realizing that she wasn't his mother. Looking at Lily and then back at the woman that was holding him, Harry started to cry, not quite sure what was going on.
"I'm sorry," Lily apologized as she scooped her one-year-old son into her arms.
"It's fine, dear, my twin boys do the same thing," Molly replied with a chuckle. "Luckily, Ron doesn't do it, though. He's my easy baby," she added as she glanced down at her baby boy, who was happily playing by himself.
"He's such a happy little thing," Lily laughed after a few seconds of rocking Harry back and forth.
"He's like my husband, always happy," Molly replied as she bent down and scoped Ron into her arms, kissing his head lightly once he was nestled safely into her body. Noticing Fred and George walk towards her, she added, "Merlin, Fred and George don't look too happy."
"Mumma, I wanna go home," Fred whined once he was standing in front of his pregnant mother, his eyes starting to droop. When George nodded his agreement, Molly knowingly smiled. Being the homebodies that they were, it wasn't surprising that they wanted to go home.
"Okay, go get your brothers. We'll leave in a few minutes," Molly replied, kissing both of her boy's foreheads. "I apologize for having to leave on such short notice. But you could only imagine how twin boys can get when they're tired," she explained, turning to Lily, when both twins walked towards their brothers.
"Don't worry about it! I actually wasn't planning to stay here for too long, to be honest," Lily confessed as she moved her hand to Molly's arm and gave it a knowing squeeze.
"Well, it was really nice to meet you, dear," Molly, replied with a smile as she stood up, Lily following close behind. "And I'm sure we'll meet again somewhere," she added as she gave Lily a hug.
"I'm sure we will," Lily said as she hugged the women back.
What Molly didn't know was that only a mere three days later; Lily Evans and James Potter were going to die, protecting the little boy with black hair and emerald green eyes.
Thank you to my beta darksaber34341!