This is written for the Speed Drabble on the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry forum, with the following prompts: "Would anyone like a cup of tea?" (dialogue), "gasp" (word), and "snap" (word).
"The first recipe for happiness is: avoid too lengthy meditation on the past."
-André Maurois
16 October 1999
Bill had never experienced the Burrow in so much... quiet. For as long as he could remember, there was always someone awake and moving. There was always noise, whether it would be as soft as the creak of the floorboards under someone's feet or as boisterous as Fred and George making jokes at Percy's expense.
Now, however, it was silent. Ginny was at Hogwarts finishing up her seventh year. George was at the joke shop playing pranks on unsuspecting children. Ron was at the Ministry for Auror training with Harry and Hermione. Percy was Merlin knows where with Audrey. And Charlie, the brother that he was closest to in age, was all the way in Romania. In that moment, it was just Bill, Fleur, Molly, and Arthur, and all four were sitting still and silent.
It was a foreign feeling, and only made Bill even more anxious. He wished that he could at least hear a twig snap, or something, to put his nerves at ease.
"Would anyone like a cup of tea?" Molly asked, finally breaking through the unsettling silence. She knew that Bill and Fleur had something urgent to say. Why else would they Floo all the way from Tinsworth when no one else was around? Molly hardly thought that Fleur wanted to spend quality time with her in-laws.
"Oui, s'il vous plaît," Fleur replied quietly as she stood up from her seat. "I will 'elp."
"Oh, nonsense, you two are visiting. I'll get - "
"We're pregnant!" Bill exclaimed suddenly. Molly let out a gasp as she turned her shocked expression towards Bill, who nervously added, "I mean - Fleur - she's pregnant. But it's our child."
Silence filled the room again, but only for a brief moment. Arthur was the one to break it this time, when he quietly asked, "We're going to be grandparents?"
Fleur was beaming as she nodded emphatically. She had hoped that the big reveal would have been a little more sophisticated, but now that it was out there, she was far too excited to care. "Oui, eet eez very exciting!"
"Grandparents?" Molly exclaimed. The smile on her face was large enough to rival Fleur's. She turned to the blonde witch and placed her hands on her shoulders, ushering her to sit back down. "Sit, sit! I'll get the tea, along with some cake - we need to add some weight to your small frame if you want that baby healthy. Arthur, we're going to be grandparents!"
As Molly continued rambling excitedly as she went into the kitchen and Arthur congratulated them profusely, Fleur's hand reached under the table to grasp Bill's. He turned to look at her with a grin so wide that his face was starting to hurt.
They were going to be parents. After a messy and dark couple of years, there was finally something in the future that would make everyone smile. Finally, the Burrow was filled with creaks and shouts and chatter.
NOTE: I write Ginny as redoing her sixth year starting September 1998, since Rowling never specified if she automatically graduated like the seventh years that went into Auror training. Okay, that's all! Thanks for reading, and I hope you get the chance to review :)