Takes place between the fourth and fifth books.
"Hermione?" Molly asked with a small hint of a smile, turning around and seeing the young girl in the doorway.
"Oh. Hello Mrs. Weasley." Hermione said, still standing in place. Looking nervous.
"Is there a reason you're awkwardly standing in my doorway or are you doing it just for a bit of fun?" Molly smiled, watching the girl pull at her nightclothes. Hermione returned the smile a bit, and Molly was almost positive she watched her shoulders relax just a tad.
"Um. I was wondering if you and I could talk about something." Hermione said somewhat quietly. Molly's brow twitched in surprise. A mothering look of concern crossing her features. "I mean... it's not important so if you're busy I can just... I-I mean I can always just go to bed. It's really not too big of a deal, I just-" Hermione realized that Molly was going to let her keep rambling so she took a deep breath at once and steadied herself. "I was wondering if we could talk about something." Hermione finished confidently. Molly chuckled and waved Hermione over to sit next to her.
"Come sit down, dear. You can talk to me about anything." She said kindly, moving over a bit on the seat and patting the one next to her. Hermione smiled a nervous smile and took a seat, still very stiff and nervous.
"Well, it's just... it's about something that I wouldn't normally talk to my best friend's mother about, it's... personal. It is very personal, and I don't want you to think I'm trying to overstep any bounds." Hermione said, perhaps a little quickly, but with a nervous confidence. The poor girl was terrified Molly noticed, and Molly felt herself getting somewhat nervous too. What on Earth could have Hermione Granger so worked up about?
"Well, out with it girl, what's this all about?" Molly asked. Hermione got nervous again, and Molly watched her take a deep breath before confidently saying the word that seemed as if it was almost as bad as saying You-Know-Who's name out loud.
"Sex." Hermione said, cringing slightly when she said the word. It felt weird saying it out loud, especially to Ron's mother. She felt her cheeks get hot, and she made a mental note to remember this moment as one of the most horrifying moments of her life.
Hermione felt pleasantly surprised when, instead of gasping or fainting or dying, her best friend's mum seemed to look relieved. Molly chuckled a little, and a smile spread over her freakled cheeks.
"Merlin, girl. You were so nervous you had me on the edge of the seat." Molly shook her head. Hermione felt her cheeks heat up even more, but also felt the weight lift a bit off her shoulders. This was not how her mother would've reacted to this topic. Molly took notice of the girls relief, and patted her comfortingly.
"You're about the age where I started worrying about it all, it's perfectly natural." Hermione felt herself ease a little more. "What about it did you want to talk about, dear?" Molly asked casually, then as if an afterthought spoke, "Didn't your mum ever give you that talk?"
Hermione felt herself chuckle. "I know how it works. Even if mum didn't give me the talk, it's in books and such. I know how it goes." Hermione said, her cheeks no doubt sustaining their color. "It's the... the emotional aspect of it, I guess." She finished.
Molly paused for a moment, and then encouraged her to continue. Hermione took a deep breath. "I... I'm scared of it." She said it as if she were being silly, and Molly felt for the girl. "I don't know why I would be scared. It's not something I'd ever considered before. I was always too preoccupied with my books and studies to be thinking about boys." Molly nodded, briefly remembering the Rita Skeeter article in which she had stupidly believed Hermione to be playing with Harry's emotions. She shook her head and how she could be so quick to believe silly things in articles.
Molly waited for Hermione to continue, "Then Viktor came along last year, and now it's as if there's a whole new world and I'm terrified." Hermione said, almost sadly. She was not used to be confused about anything.
"It's okay to be scared. Even though it's natural, it's a big step to take... especially considering who you're taking it with." Molly said knowingly, leaning back a bit it her seat. Hermione nodded, taking her words in.
"I liked Viktor... a lot. I know I did, but every time we were together in any way, I would get really nervous and just... leave. I didn't know what to do when he told me he loved me, and I really didn't know what to do when he kissed me for the first time." Hermione said remembering the way her cheeks felt hot and her heart sped. "Then he wanted me to visit him over the summer! I just... I know he was thinking of... that... at least a little bit." Molly cracked a smile.
"Hermione, dear, most boys of his age are always thinking of that at least a little bit." Molly smiled. "It wasn't right with. It happens. Even if you like someone, it doesn't mean you're all ready to throw yourself at them." Hermione had a look of deep contemplation, Molly took it as a sign to continue. "Trust me, I was once your age. There's a lot of pressure there. Don't do anything until you're ready, dear." Molly finished. Hermione turned to her with a question behind her eyes. Molly waited patiently for Hermione to muster the confidence to ask.
"How did... how did you know? How did you know you were ready?" Hermione asked biting at her lip. "You don't have to answer or give details or anything. I just... don't really have any one to ask." She said holding her hand up as Molly sat up a bit straighter, surprised but not upset by this line of questioning.
"Well," Molly started hesitantly. "I just... saw him differently one day. There's a lot of madness that happened before that kept getting between us, but then after a particularly heroic moment of his... everything just clicked."
Hermione bit her lip again before asking. "Was it with... Mr. Weasley?" She asked cautiously.
Molly smiled. "It was. We had been together for a year or so, and then we broke up. I hate admitting this, but we actually weren't officially together when it happened. We had been broken up for quite some time." Hermione's eye brows had hit her hairline in surprise.
"You two were broken up? What happened?" Molly chuckled at the girl's shocked expression, but didn't shy away.
"It was my mum and dad. They thought I was settling too early. Didn't want me to just throw my life away for some boy." Molly said casually.
"You reconnected though... so they didn't keep you away from each other long, did they?"
"Oh I was devastated when they told me." Molly laughed. "I was so sorry for myself. I cried every bleeding minute of every day that summer." She rolled her eyes at herself. "It took us a whole year and a half before we came to our senses."
Hermione chuckled a bit, but looked almost shocked. Molly chuckled, and knew that little Hermione had never considered that Molly and Arthur hadn't just always been happily married.
"We made a promise to remain friends, but that proved to be difficult during my fifth year. We would stare at each other longingly in the halls or during meal time. We tried to study together for a while, but it usually ended up with snogging in the common room." Molly laughed, knowing that the promise they made not to do it again made absolutely no difference. "Oh goodness. I had completely forgotten about all of this, honestly." She smiled.
"What made you two decide you wanted to be together?" Hermione asked. Molly thought it might be better to get back to the initial topic, but couldn't help her want to travel back down memory lane.
"It took a long while. Eventually we stopped being friend's because a girl in my year, who absolutely hated me decided she was gonna go on a date with him." Molly said with a roll of her eyes. Hermione's eyes widened at the mention of Molly's apparent enemy, and Molly couldn't help but feel amused. "I completely lost it in the middle Hogsmede when I saw that she had planted one on him right there in the middle of the bleeding villiage." Molly continued. "I wouldn't listen to him at all. He kept apologizing and running after me. I wouldn't hear any of it. God, I was a stubborn girl."
"You guys weren't even friends anymore?" Hermione asked. Molly nodded, the amused expression still lingering on her face. She then felt herself give a full laugh at her ridiculousness about it all.
"Oh, I swore that if I saw him I was gonna hex him. I held on to my anger for rest of the year after that. So much time wasted cause I was being a silly girl." Molly said remembering how her skin got as red as her hair when she got mad enough, storming around the castle, refusing to even look at Arthur. Crying at all hours.
"What happened next?" Hermione asked eagerly. "How did you two come back together?" Molly was brought out of her memories when Hermione spoke. She looked at the girl in a bit of surprise. She wasn't used to this, not really. The boys could care less, and Ginny was always a little too into her own world to let Molly in. Molly found that she hadn't told this particular story in many many years. She looked at Hermione's wide and interested eyes, and knew she had to continue.
"It didn't change till the next summer. My dad died and I lost it. I was such a crazy girl." She said with a small sad smile. "Dad was an Auror, so it while his death was a shock to us all, we knew his job was dangerous, especially with a war brewing. He was killed on duty, he was. Mum liked to say a piece of me went with him for a while..." Molly paused for a moment. "I don't handle death well." She said thinking of her greatest fears and the nightmares that had been plaguing her for the last several months.
Molly watched as Hermione's eyes filled with pity or sadness, Molly couldn't quite tell. She did know, however, that Hermione seemed to understand. "It was a truly terrible summer. When I went back to school I had secluded myself so much. Not even Arthur could pull me out of the funk I was in. I was getting called into Mcgonagall's office just so she could check up on me. It was a mess, honestly. I got into it with a bad crowd... became someone I'm not. I found myself in an empty classroom with a Slytherin boy and didn't know what to do when he decided he was gonna... do what he felt like doing." Molly said shaking her head. Hermione thought she saw a hint of a smile coming though, and gleam in Molly's eye. "Arthur showed up though... I could've taken care of myself, of course, daughter of an Auror... there was something about him though. The fact he'd been searching for me all night, his constant concern. I'm sure if I hadn't been so insistent on my yelling of the word 'no' he probably would've saw the seen and just walked away. Not very confrontational, Arthur. That day though, he saw I was in danger and I watched him storm at the boy like I'd never seen him." Molly said, letting the smile shine through. "He was brilliant." Molly felt herself get lost in the memory.
Hermione had leaned in, eagerly waiting for the next part of the story. "I thought he was going to be expelled for the way he beat the daylights out of that boy. His knuckles were all bloodied and bruised. Arthur pulled back and I hexed the boy like I'd never hexed before." She laughed. "Looking back, it was all so foolish. We were lucky Pringle didn't show up. Arthur would've been beaten till dawn." Molly said a bit sadly, but still swelling with pride at the memory. "The boy booked it out of the room. He never told anyone what actually happened. It's a bloody miracle we didn't get in trouble for that one." Molly's smile had reached her ears it seemed. "I was perfectly and am perfectly capable of saving myself, but I'll never forget that moment when Arthur walked in. I had been pushing at the boy, trying to get him away from me, and then all of a sudden Arthur was there yelling something about understanding the word no... he was beautiful, and strong..." Molly said beaming.
"That's... really romantic." Hermione said with an equal smile gracing her features. Molly laughed at the girls awe.
"It was. It was so very romantic." She confirmed. "It was like a light lit up in me again. I was mending his wounds. I thanked him for saving me, he reassured that I probably wouldn't have needed it." Molly said with a chuckle, she then felt herself become quite red her mind wandered to what happened next. "Next thing, we were kissing and I was on my back on some table." Molly gave a hearty laugh. "I looked at him and I just knew that I wanted him to be mine forever. I told him I was ready, and the rest is history." Molly said the memory burning in her mind.
Hermione was in awe. "That's beautiful." She said. "Like something out of a romance novel." Molly laughed again, she had never really thought of it that way.
"It's been years since I've thought of all that." Molly said, the night's smile lingering. "I hope the answer you needed to hear was hidden in there somewhere." She watched Hermione nod, and smile.
"It was." Hermione said finally. "Did you know it was going to be okay? You know... when... when it happened." Hermione asked. Molly thought for a moment.
"I did. The minute my hand touched his bloodied knuckles I knew it was going to be okay. Not just that night, but for the rest of our lives." Molly took a deep breath, realizing the amazing life her and Arthur managed to live while the world was falling apart. "When you're with the right person, it's always going to be okay. That's what love is, dear." Molly watched as the girl took it all in.
"I guess I'll be off to bed. Thank you Mrs. Weasley." She said looking at Molly.
Molly smiled a warm smile, and brought her in for a hug. "Any time, dear. Any time."
Molly took a deep breath as watched the girl run up the stairs. She leaned back against the cushions of the couch and relaxed her eyes. It really had been so many years, a lifetime, really, since all of that had happened.
"You left out the part where Mcgonagall gave us never ending detention when she almost caught us with our knickers down." Molly heard his voice from behind her and then felt two hands place themselves on her shoulders. She smiled and shook her head at the memory.
"She didn't need to know the details. We still have to set a good example." Molly rolled her eyes then look up at her husband. "Those kids do not need to know all of what we got up to in our school years." Arthur let out a hardy laugh and went to sit next to his wife, wrapping his arms around her.
"We had a good time though." He said kissing her head. "That was a very sweet thing you did there. You're not her mother, you didn't have to answer all those questions." Arthur said smiling at his wife, Molly felt her heart swell. "I didn't hear everything, but it seemed like the subject wasn't one you brought up judging by the end of the conversation." He said. Molly smiled and rested her head on her husband's chest.
"That's alright. I'm glad she came to me. I'm glad she trusts me." Molly said. She took a deep breath, and let her eyes close as she felt warm in her husband's arms. Moments passed before Arthur spoke again.
"Molly... how is admitting that your first time was in an empty classroom at Hogwarts setting a good example?" He asked smiling. She hit his arm as she laughed.
"Oh, be quiet you barmy old man." She said, making herself more comfortable in her husband's arms.