Pretty Woman

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!

Just a oneshot about Molly and Arthur. I gave myself a challenge. Press shuffle. Find out the year the song was released. You can only choose a pairing/characters from that time period that makes sense with the song.

The song that came up was Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison which was released in 1964. According to the Harry Potter Lexicon Molly and Arthur were about nineteen-ish in 1964. I could have gone for Bellatrix who was apparently eighteen but I wanted to do something more Gryffindor-y :) So enjoy…

Arthur Weasley had been terrified of them his whole life. Fabien and Gideon Prewett had been Hogwart's biggest pranksters and jokers. It was a known fact that sometimes their jokes crossed the line and bordered on bullying. It was also a well known fact that their sister was off limits. Part of his brain was still desperately trying to reason that fear of her older brothers was a good excuse not to pursue his crush. Arthur gulped as he spotted his target. She was walking down the crooked path right now. He wasn't ready for this, but he wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing. He stared as she approached, his jaw dropping slightly.

Her expression was set on her round face, one dimple appeared as she frowned in concentration. Her shining bright red hair gleamed in the dull light of the morning. Today, she had it in her signature style otherwise known as 'I'm-too-busy-to-do-anything-about-this-mess.' He sighed. She was so different from those blonde girls he'd hated at Hogwarts. How could it have taken him so long to build up enough courage to talk to her?

'The answer to that one is simple,' he thought. The woman is like a dragon. Her fiery red hair and normally narrowed brown eyes told him as much daily. She was completely and utterly unaware of the stare she received as she slipped into Flourish and Blott's. Arthur snapped out of his daydream - so far, no good. His plan had been to intercept her in the street. No matter, he'd just follow her into the shop.

He found her easily. She was yelling at another woman – something about moving out of her way, she was in a tight schedule. Arthur would not admit it, but he knew exactly why she was rushed – she worked in a small café down the street and it was about to open. He would not admit that he stalked her. Never.

He scrambled through a crowd of younger witches and wizards – they were chatting excitedly about something to do with the new Defence teacher. They complained as he struggled past them which alerted Molly's attention.

"Would you lot just shut-" she spotted a ruffled looking familiar face emerging from the crowd. Her tone transformed from anger to the sweetest in less than a second, "Arthur!"

"Molly! Fancy seeing you here!" He grinned, a little out of breath. His heart thudded in his rib cage as he rocked on his heels and grasped his robes. He had been told by a friend that women love the powerful type so he maintained his official looking stance.

"You work in that muggle shop these days, don't you, dear?" And just like that, Arthur deflated - so much for the power thing. Why couldn't he be the Minister for Magic anyway? There was a tense silence and Molly's eyes became impatient. Arthur burst into animation and nodded wildly. She picked a recipe book off the shelf. "I didn't realise you were interested in cooking, Arthur."

"Oh yes! I love to um, watch the potatoes peel and-"

"Oh, me too! It makes me so happy when the family all sits down to eat one of my meals," she smiled brightly. Arthur grinned from ear to ear as though in agreement. In truth, the last time he'd cooked for anyone, the spell backfired and he almost sliced off his Uncle's ear. She turned back to her recipe book again and headed to the till. Arthur charged after her, after taking a moment to realise she was walking away.

In an impulse he snatched the book away from her. She turned angrily. He imagined storm clouds above them. She reached out for the book but he held it out of reach. Her smaller and rather curvaceous figure couldn't reach. Finally, a good thing to come out of being tall and gangly! She started lecturing and getting angry. He smiled serenely, forgetting to explain what the Hippogriff he was doing. He approached the till and placed it down.

"That'll be 2 galleons please," the bored looking teen droned. He searched in his pocket for his money. He found one galleon. His stomach turned as he realised he didn't have two galleons with him. The teen glared, impatiently.

"Arthur Weasley, what in the name of Merlin are you doing? I have to be in work in two minutes!" she cried. He turned to her with sad blue eyes, his eyes downcast.

"I was going to, um, buy the recipe book for you, but, um, I don't-"

"He doesn't have enough money, that's what," the teen growled. Molly rounded on her, a look of pure anger on her face.

"Now listen here, missy! You will stay out of this, or so help me I'll use one of these recipes to turn you into soup!" Satisfied by the look of horror on the teen's face, Molly rounded on Arthur, "And you! I do not accept charity, Weasley!"

Arthur couldn't believe it. He'd completely ruined it. Years of planning and it came down to nothing?

"However," he snapped back into attention. She was smiling now, dimples appearing on her cheeks. "I don't mind paying for half."

She took out her purse and found a galleon. She handed it to Arthur, letting her hand rest there for a moment longer than necessary and smiling. Arthur felt a rush travelling up his arm and into his cheeks. His eyes glazed over and he turned to the teen, handing the money over robotically. Molly took the recipe book from Arthur's hand which had lowered in shock and chuckled.

"You know, my family are busy this weekend – I have no one to cook for. Do you want to come over and we'll make something from this book?" She asked in a low voice. Arthur let out a noise like a strangled goat.

"Yes!" he finally spluttered out.

His plan had definitely gone far better than he hoped. He didn't even have to ask her out. He knew in that moment that he wouldn't have to worry about proposing. She'd probably do it for him. Needless to say, the date went off to a wrong start. Molly quickly learned that Arthur had no talent in the kitchen and sent him to sit down at the table, while she lectured and cooked. He was the first person Molly had ever met that actually sat and listened to her lectures with a smile on his face. When she finally set the plate down in front of him, her hair a mess, her cheeks pink from the temperature and a there was a frown still planted on her face, Arthur grinned further.

"You don't know how pretty you are, right now," he sighed. Her brown eyes widened making her look even cuter and he began to eat. She turned to get her own plate and allowed herself a slight smile as her cheeks flushed a brighter pink.