A Quiet Christmas
A/N: Hey guys, a very merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and yours. Perhaps this is bit cheesy but it's been in my head for a while so ENJOY R&R PLZ!
Mrs. Weasley tacked the final stocking over her fireplace and stood back to admire her work forlornly. In the intervening years, the amount of stockings grew until she complained good-naturedly that there wasn't enough mantle for all of them. There were hers and Arthur's, the kids, her son and daughters in law, and now grandchildren. Looking at them in times like this, when the house was so starkly quiet, it reminded her of the days when there was an abundance of chatter and noise all the time. It was bittersweet in a way, how large the family had grown but also how far they had gone. She knew the silence wouldn't last, they visited frequently and Christmas day they would all come with the old cacophony but then they always had to leave making the silence even louder. There had been a time when she eagerly awaited such a circumstance, thinking of what a relief it would be but now she missed it, craved it. Arthur came up from behind and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder,
"There really isn't enough mantle is there?"
"No," Molly shook her head and tried to laugh but couldn't make it. She'd had to lengthen the mantle itself then add an extra rope underneath to accommodate them all. "Arthur? Do you ever think about -"
"What it would be like to have them all back? Sometimes. But we knew the day would come when they'd leave home and we'd be by ourselves. Besides they're around so much it's almost like they never left."
Molly sighed, "It's not the same. Remember when Fred and George used to experiment in their rooms?"
"It sounded like they were waging an old-fashioned war in there," Arthur chuckled. "How about when Charlie used to bring home all those creatures he found outside?"
"I nearly had a heart attack when I found a frog in his pocket. I remember when the Weird Sisters first got together, Bill used to turn up the radio so loud the whole house shook. And the arguments, good lord our children could fight."
"Plus as they got older their tempers would lead to all kinds of accidental magic. I think Ginny was the most memorable, she blasted Percy straight into pond for getting her dolls wet."
Molly turned to hold Arthur around his waist, "The only time they were really quiet was when they were listening to the Quidditch commentary and even then they would fight about it afterwards. There was always something happening around here and now there's nothing."
"I wouldn't say nothing," Arthur disagreed. "Just last week Lily and Rose painted Ron while he was asleep on the couch. The week before, George decided to try his new speed talking sweet on Harry."
"Once a week Arthur?" Molly made a face. "I was saying every single day this house was bursting with life and activity. Look at right now, the place is just so awfully quiet."
"I don't know, I can still hear them," Arthur kissed his wife's hair. "In my mind their antics never stopped. I carry all those beautiful memories with me, I know you do too, and we still get to make more with not just them but with our son in-law and daughters in-law and our grandkids. What else could we ask for?"
Molly nodded although still a bit sad, "You're right. It's time to put out the gifts." She went upstairs into one of the bedrooms where the presents were piled high. She went to the bed to start gathering the gifts only to jump at a sharp pain in her foot. She bent down and picked up the offending object and it turned out to be one of Charlie's old miniature dragon figurines. Molly carefully set it on the bedside table and charmed the presents to fly single file straight under the tree with her following with the stocking stuffers. She filled the stockings with much more cheer, her mind still on the dragon. Maybe the life hadn't gone from the house after all. Even a quiet Christmas in the Weasley household still had its surprises.