disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
dedicated to: Lexen, because she's had problems recently IRL. I am so glad that your mom has been doing better lately, and I hope you enjoy this! :)
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Molly Prewett comes into Hogwarts with her head held high and her eyes bright and innocent. She is sorted into Gryffindor as soon as the Sorting Hat is placed upon her head. After skipping down the steps of the stage, she sits on the first empty seat she spots at the Gryffindor table: beside a tall, wiry boy with hair nearly as red as hers.
"Hello," she says cheerfully, giving him a glance as she scoops a pile of mashed potatoes onto her plate. "What's your name?"
"Arthur," the boy answers, not looking at her.
Molly takes a sip of her recently acquired pumpkin juice. "How are you, Arthur? I'd tell you my name, but I suppose you just heard it." She giggles, the sound light and bouncy.
"Uh, actually, I didn't hear your name," Arthur finally tearing his eyes away from the Muggle toy another boy had been showing him from across the table. "I'm sorry, I wasn't exactly listening."
He turns to look at her for the first time. Arthur takes in her long, shiny, pin-straight red hair, her deep, soulful brown eyes, the creamy ivory of her skin, and the light dusting of freckles on her face.
He hopes his eyes aren't really as wide as he thinks they are.
"Molly," she says, not noticing the way he is looking at her, and years later, he will tell people that is the moment he falls in love with her.
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"I don't know about this," Julie Geralds, Arthur's friend, says nervously. "McGonagall would kill us if she found out."
Arthur laughs. "She's not going to find out. All we're going to do is sneak in and sneak out, anyway. It'll take ten minutes, tops."
"Arthur - "
"Calm down, Jules." He shakes his head at her. "Now, are you ready to go, or are you going to stay here?"
"Fine," she sighs. "I'll come with you.. but we should take one more person, for protection." Her eyes light up. "How about Trevor? He's really strong.."
But a face has already appeared in Arthur's mind. "I'll get Molly," he tells Julie before dashing up the stairs to the girls' dormitories, only to slide back down, bewildered.
"What was that?" he asks, his eyebrows scrunched up, looking at the now-smooth concrete with newfound curiosity.
Julie laughs. "It's to keep sneaky boys like you away from the girls," she answers lightly, and then scampers up the slide-changed-steps to get Molly, leaving Arthur to turn crimson red at the bottom.
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As expected, Molly is absolutely fine with sneaking into the Forbidden Forest after curfew. "An adventure," she marvels, that first-year naivety clear in her wide eyes. "Let's go!"
Arthur grins at Julie, like, See? Nothing to worry about, and then they set off, ducking behind armor frequently at tiny noises and tip-toeing as well as they can with huge feet, in Julie's case, that is.
When they finally get out the doors, it's a relief; Filch and his dreaded cat are nothing to worry about now. "Come on," Arthur whispers, tugging the two girls as quickly as he can without running full-out.
They practically dive into the forest once they reach it. Julie immediately huddles behind Arthur, while Molly grins exuberantly. "This is living," she grins, spinning and dancing around and around under the white shining stars, surrounded by thick evergreen trunks. And Arthur is so transfixed by the eerie beauty of this site, he really isn't focused on protecting Julie, so when a large, dark shape bounds up to them, he's not particularly bothered. Until a shrill shriek frightens them all.
Inside his hut, Hagrid jolts awake with a start. "Fang?" he says to the darkness, then sighs when he receives no response. "Tha' damn dog," he mutters as he grabs a lantern and makes his way outside, after pulling on a coat.
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"I'm sorry," Julie whispers, sipping slowly on her hot chocolate. "I saw a big, dark shape, and then he howled and - I thought it was a werewolf." She seems embarrassed, even though none of them blame her.
"It's fine. No one can blame ya - Fang can be right scary when he puts 'is mind to it, but I'm sure he jus' wanted to play with yer." Hagrid takes a bite of his rock cake, and suddenly his expression turns stern. "Now, you kids best git back to the castle before someone else catches ya."
Arthur nods, nudging the two girls. "Thanks, Hagrid.. if anyone else found us - " He shivers at the thought.
"Don't mention it," Hagrid grins, shuffling them out the door. As they near the castle, though, Molly begins to droop against Arthur's shoulder.
"What's she doing?" Julie hisses.
"She's asleep," Arthur answers in wonder, just as Molly's eyes finally flit closed and she drops to the ground, pulling him with her. They settle against a tree, Julie huffing in frustration. "Now what are we going to do?"
"Sleep." Arthur doesn't sleep, though; he watches Molly's face in wonderment. It's silent, until:
"What do you think she's dreaming about?"
Julie snorts. "Knowing Molly, probably unicorns and butterflies happy, happy elves." Arthur stares at her for a moment, before he begins to laugh, and Molly sleeps through it all.
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That year goes by without any further escapades; as do the second, and the third year. Everything is peaceful.
Until the winter of 1963, when they're fourteen years old.
William Prewett - Molly's father - dies.
The entire family is taking a much-needed vacation. The Prewett's are down by the sea, running around the rocky shore and enjoying the salty taste of the air. William is only up to his chest in the water when a wave goes up, and just like that, he's gone and Molly is getting her very first taste at loss.
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She can barely manage to give her friend an account of what had happened before it all becomes too much.
"Molly," Arthur says as gently as he can. "It's okay."
She shakes her head, still resisting tears, even though the urge to break down is so strong that she must bite down on her lower lip to hold in the sobs. "He's dead," she splutters. "It's not okay, and it never will be."
"Yes, it will, one day," he answers, bending down to her level. She is crouched against the wall, curled into a ball. Just a half hour earlier, she had been called to Professor Dumbledore's office, and told the awful news. Molly shakes her head.
"I keep thinking of how they'll react," she sniffs. "My family - my mom will cry, I know, but what about the twins? They act so strong, but they're only ten! Arthur, they're only ten and they don't have a father - " She breaks off as her voice catches in her throat, and then she lifts up those brown eyes to look at him. Her eyes are broken.
"You're only fourteen and you don't have a father," he points out reasonably. Arthur takes a deep breath. "Molly, it will be alright. Me and Julie - we're here for you. Especially me. If you ever need anything, I'll be there, I promise - "
"Oh, Arthur," Molly wails, and then she flings her arms around his neck; the first thing he notices is the intoxicating scent of her hair: like flowers.
He wraps his arms around her, and it takes a few seconds before he notices the tears slipping onto his shirt.
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The next year, though, Molly Prewett comes to Hogwarts with a completely new attitude. She's quick to snap and she's vicious, with both her words and her actions, and this is not the same girl that cried on his shoulder just a year ago.
"Arthur, you need to get over her," Julie tells him, eyeing Molly, who is sitting in an armchair across the Common Room, disdainfully. "She's a lost cause."
"It's her father," he answers, looking at Molly, too, but with a completely different look in his eyes. "She'll get over it." Beside him, Julie gives him a doubtful look as she brushes her long, dark hair slowly. "She'll get over it," he repeats.
She doesn't.
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By their sixth year, everything has gotten so, so, much worse. Molly is a hurricane of rage and heartbreak, ready to lash out on anyone that dares cross her.
There's another thing bothering Arthur, though, this year: the say Julie looks at him. "Arthur, please, this isn't healthy," she says one day. "Molly will be Molly, and there is nothing you can do."
He closes his eyes. Maybe it would be easier, to kiss Julie, to forget about her, to act like he hasn't been in love with Molly Prewett for nearly six years - but he's a Gryffindor. Gryffindors don't give up, no matter how lost the cause.
And besides, sometimes when he looks at her, he'll see something other than blackness; sometimes her eyes are brown again, and he lives on those times.
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No one can say that he didn't try.
It's a cold January day, sitting in the Common Room by the fire, and he's thinking maybe the ice guard around her will thaw by the embers, but then she glares at him, and, no. She's fire, anyway, not ice.
"Molly," he says, happily moving closer to her. "How are you?l
"Wonderful," she spits dryly.
He tries not to let her bother him; this is Molly, the same Molly - it has to be. "That's great."
"What do you want?" She seems bored with the conversation already.
"To talk to you," he answers honestly.
"I don't feel much like talking."
"Please? For me?"
She levels another glare at him. "Arthur Weasley, I'll have you know that I hate you, with every fiber of my being, so, no, thank you. I don't feel much like talking." She stands and stomps up the girls' dormitory steps, and she is definitely fire; he can feel the sparks.
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He cooperates for a bit longer - leaving her alone, ignoring the part of him that is still hopelessly in love with Molly Prewett.
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The next year, he is tired of waiting, because he's been waiting for her for seven years, and besides, he's an adult.
They're celebrating the recent win, the Gryffindors, when she comes down the steps of the girls' dormitory wearing a dress - and oh, he is done with this.
He walks up to her and he takes her arm and he guides her away, to the corner of the room. "What is wrong with you?" His voice is hard.
"Nothing," she says, confused. For a moment, he can do nothing but stare; this is the first time in two years he's heard her voice without that edge in it. She takes a long breath. "Arthur, I'm really sorry, I - I think I'm a little better now - I talked to my mom, and I've decided that I'll try to be nicer, and maybe one day, I can be like I was - "
He stops her by taking her shoulders. "Molly," he says. "I love you."
Her eyes widen, but she doesn't look very surprised. "Arthur - " She doesn't finish the sentence, though, because at that moment, he kisses her like he's never kissed anyone before (and he hasn't; he's been waiting for her). They come up for air after a moment, and she looks at him.
"I love you, too," she says. "Or at least, I think that this is love."
"It's love," he answers firmly, leaning down to kiss her again, and just before their lips meet, Molly thinks that this - this exact moment - is the start of an era.
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Written For:
- Weasley Family Bootcamp
- Pairing Diversity Bootcamp
- Popular Songs Competition, Girl on Fire
- If You Dare
- Eggheads Competition, Round 1
- Monopoly Challenge, Hogshead