AN: Just something I've been fiddling about for a while and the scale for writing it tipped when I was flipping through GoF the other day and collapsed in laughter at a certain comment.
"And the fat lady?" said Bill.
"She was here in my days," said Mrs. Weasley. "She gave me such a telling-off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning -"
"What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?" said Bill surveying Mrs. Weasley with amazement.
Mrs. Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling.
"Your father and I had been out for a night-time stroll," she said. "He got caught by Apollyon Pringle – he was the caretaker in those days – your father still got the marks."
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, p 669 UK paperback
--
"Arthur, we're going to get caught," seventeen year old Molly Prewett told her boyfriend in a whisper.
"Relax, Molly-wobbles," he said and kissed her full on the mouth where they were hiding behind a suit of armour in the dark corridor.
"Haven't you had enough of that already?" she asked a bit cross.
"I can never get enough of you," he retorted and placed his lips to her forehead. She sighed, she couldn't get enough either, not of what they had done earlier either.
Arthur had set it all up in an empty classroom, drinks, fruit and a big divan. She had no idea what to expect when he met up with her in the common room and led her through half the school before taking her to the room. She had gasped when seeing the simple, but romantic set-up. Neither of them had expected them to be so late. She smiled now and truly understood why it was called making love. It hadn't been the first time, but definitively the best.
"Okay, go now and I'll meet up with you in the common room," he said fast and ran his fingers through her tangled hair one last time before she hurried away. She walked as quietly as she managed, but didn't dare linger on a corner more than a couple of seconds to make sure the caretaker was nowhere around. After several panicky minutes she stood in front of the painting of the Fat Lady.
"Mustela erminea," Molly told the painting, still looking around for anyone who could bust her.
"Miss Prewett, what are you doing now? Do you even know what hour it is?" the lady in pink scolded her.
"Almost four," she answered after checking the watch she got from her grandmother last birthday.
"Do you think it's appropriate for a girl of your age to be out this late? You are old enough to know better," the painting continued.
"Yes, I know, we got held up. Now would you please let me in?" Every second Molly stood there was another second Pringle could catch her. Her palms got sweaty and she tried calming herself, unsuccessfully.
"'We'?" the painting asked. "Am I to understand Weasley was with you?" The Fat Lady always had a good count on who passed through and even more with whom.
"Yes, he was. Now, please," Molly begged.
"Molly, I may be old and I may just be a painting, but you are from a good family!" the Fat Lady said, raising her already shrill voice a notch. "You have been raised better than to be out with boys all night!"
"Yes, I know," Molly almost wailed, she had to get through now!
"And I am tempted to tell the Headmaster of this," the painting rolled on. "It is in no way appropriate for a young lady of your -"
"Fine, I get it!" Molly exploded. "Had I been a first year you'd tell me I'm too young, I am a seventh year and thereby too old, since I'm from a pure-blood family I'm raised too good, had I been muggle-born you'd tell me my parents would know all about stuff and should have told me! Merlin, woman, no matter what I'm in deep trouble and you could at least let me in!" Small tears were forming in the brown eyes and the painting slowly swung forward.
"You still need to think about your actions," the painting added as a last comment.
"Good night," Molly said flatly and headed for a chair near the fire to wait for Arthur. He didn't turn up and after an hour she went to take a shower, worry etched deep in her mind, her boyfriend didn't need detentions now just before Easter.
--
"Arthur," she sighed and threw her arms around her boyfriend when she saw him at lunch. "Where did you go?"
"Pringle caught me," he told her and straightened his glasses, which she had almost knocked off. "He took me straight down to the dungeon and..." He rolled his shoulders and she covered her mouth with her hand.
"Not the whip?" she said in disbelief.
"Afraid so, he saw it as a law-break so severe I should really be expelled," Arthur said.
"Poor you," she said and kissed him tenderly, but short, stares was the last she wanted.
"I'd take more than a few hits for you, my love," he murmured and placed his arm around her as she sat down.
"But I didn't see you at breakfast or anything," Molly said, her eyes begging him to explain.
"He took me to McGonagall's office after that and she rolled on until class began. Do you know of any way to earn fifty points around here, really fast?" he joked, still feeling he had let his house down. She took hold of his hand, at least they had the classes after lunch together.
--
"Molls, you look terrible," Fabian commented to her a couple of months later.
"I know, I feel terrible," she answered her two year younger brother. "Maybe just exam-stress." It didn't really add up to her, she had been feeling sick in the mornings for a long time and this was no different. Still she stabbed her eggs and ate.
"You've been looking off for quite a while, actually," Fabian continued.
"I know," Molly said sharper, her brother could be the single most annoying person on the planet sometimes.
"I just thought maybe you should go to the hospital wing later," he advised her and she nodded, he wasn't as thick as he pretended all the time.
Her classes went fairly well that day, except she kept brooding over what could be wrong with her. Probably just the flu, she concluded at last. After using most of the History of Magic class on a written conversation with Arthur and continuing it aloud during dinner, Molly went to the hospital wing, her friend Mary following her for moral support. The girls came out again half an hour later, one in shock, one with a juicy piece of gossip to spread.
"I-I have to find Arthur," Molly stuttered. Mary just shrugged and hurried off to the common room to talk with the rest of her friends. Molly started down the hall in a trance, it couldn't be! Still the matron had told her and it had to be.
"Molly," Arthur exclaimed delighted when seeing his girlfriend walk towards him. Her head snapped up and her face held a mixture of surprise and fear.
"Arthur, I have to talk with you," she said when they were closer. "I was at the hospital wing and..."
"You aren't ill, I hope?" Arthur said, a bit concerned.
"No, but..." There was no one else around and she could tell him, if she just found the courage.
"What is it, Molly-wobbles?" he asked and lifted her chin to meet his blue eyes.
"Your studies are going fine, right?" she said, sounding absentminded.
"Yes, you know they are. I got a letter from my uncle, saying he could put in a good word for me at the Ministry," he told her, not seeing how that was important right now.
"Good, you'll need a job," she said slowly.
"Well, of course I do. Can you tell me what's bothering you now?" He smiled to her, but she couldn't return it.
"Arthur, I'm pregnant." There, it was out.
"What?" he said dumbly.
"I'm pregnant. We're going to be parents." She was close to tears, they were too young for this to happen. He stared open-mouthed at her for a minute, then lifted her off her feet and swung her around.
"That's wonderful!" he said before kissing her. She was dumbstruck.
"No!" she argued. "It's not, we're too young and not married or anything and all of Gryffindor is sure to know by now, Mary headed straight to tell them!" She regretted bringing her friend, even though Mary was great at supporting she could never hold a secret. Not that Molly knew there would be something to keep quiet before she went in.
"So? I'm so happy for us, I want people to know!" Arthur told her and embraced her. "Molly Prewett, I love you, would you consider becoming my wife?"
"I don't have much choice," she said at first, then regretted it. "Yes, Arthur Weasley, I love you too and would think it an honour to be your wife." She took the initiative to another kiss, trying to come to terms with the new road their lives was taking. They broke apart, he grinning, she smiling uncertain as they heard footsteps approaching.
"There you are!" Fabian yelled, his face flushed close to crimson. The couple didn't say anything as he strode over to them and Arthur didn't even have a warning before Fabian delivered a punch, breaking the horn-rimmed glasses.
"What the hell?" Arthur shouted and clutched his bleeding nose.
"That's for knocking up my sister!" Fabian stood panting, looking from one to the other. Arthur flared his teeth in fury and returned the punch, that imp was not about to ruin his joy. They thrashed together.
"Fabian!" Molly called. "Arthur! Stop. No!" It wasn't long before the fight was over, Fabian's muscles simply took out Arthur with the help of an suit of armour. "No," Molly said again and hurried to Arthur's side and knelt down. She laid the unconscious body in a better position.
"Serves him right," Fabian muttered and dragged the back of his hand under his nose.
"No, it doesn't!" Molly told her brother and shot him a nasty look "What was that good for?"
"He made you pregnant! He... He made you a fallen woman!" Fabian said.
"Please, we don't live in the eighteen-hundreds," Molly said, at the same time feeling her brother had a valid point. "Anyway, he's asked me to marry and I accepted." She dabbed the cut over Arthur's eyebrow with her sleeve.
"What will the family say? Do you think they're gonna let you?" Fabian crossed his arms.
"Then we just have to elope," Molly told him, rather fancying the idea. Arthur's eyelids flickered. "And you are going to keep quiet and help him to the hospital wing!"
"And what if I don't?" Fabian was a bit intimidated by his sister, but not more than that he felt he had the upper hand now.
"Then I'll get you kicked off the quidditch team and tell Gideon why his robes turned bright pink during his graduation speech," Molly said.
"Fine," Fabian grumbled as Arthur opened his eyes. Together they soon headed back to the hospital wing, the tallest with his arms around the others' shoulders for support.
--
What if:
"And the fat lady?" said Bill.
"She was here in my days," said Mrs. Weasley. "She gave me such a telling-off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning -"
"What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?" said Bill surveying Mrs. Weasley with amazement.
Mrs. Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling.
"Conceiving you," she said and Bill's jaw dropped to somewhere around his belt.
AN: The direct quotes are of course 100% Rowling's, as well as the characters. When it comes to the idea of Molly being pregnant before her graduation, that I'll take the blame for, but I've picked up some tiny hints along the books to support the theory. And the 'what if', can't you just see it? *big grin*
PS: the password is a private joke for myself. Kudos to anyone cracking it.