Disclaimer: I do not own: Harry Potter, those clouds on the cover, or the song Arms of the Angel, which in no way inspired this fic, but I stole the title.
Arms of the Angel
One
Little Molly Prewett, only four years old, scampered after her crawling baby brothers as fast as her little legs could carry her. Her parents watched fondly as the children hurried along the soft green grass, and they often looked up at the sky and noticed a cloud, or the sun, or would look back at their parents and they would simply stop and stare for a bit.
It was a beautiful summer day, the weather just right, and Mr. and Mrs. Prewett were taking their kids to the cliffs for the first time. Both parents had never been, and decided that if they would finally see what so many people loved, they would take their kids and make an outing of it.
The cliff edge was far still, and they had decided to let the children play in the meadowe, but Mrs. Prewett grew anxious quickly, and decided the crawling adventures were about to come to an end. Grabbing her husband's hand, she pulled him forward.
"I'll get the little ones, you handle Molly," she muttered, and Mr. Prewett laughed. Molly was trouble in her own right. His wife made a mad dash for the twins, scooping them up and hoisting them high as they broke into uncontrollable giggles, hands wet from drool yanking at their mother's long brown hair.
"Molly! Slow down, dear!"
"Daddy, daddy! Look!" She smiled wide, bouncing with uncontrollable excitement and pointing towards the edge. "No more land- just water! The other land is so far away!" she said in awe.
Finally, Mr. Prewett caught up, wrapping Molly up in his arms, and sighed, admiring the view. "Beautiful, isn't it? That's a whole other country over there, Molly."
"Boot-ful," little Molly echoed, the sun reflected in her eyes.
"Mum, let's go! I want to see!" little Arthur watched, wide-eyed, from his mother's other hand as Bill, at the tenacious age of seven, struggled to escape their mother's firm hold.
Cedrella Weasley let out a huff. "No, William." Another tug. "No!" her eyes flashed. "Those cliffs are dangerous, and the edge is close-"
"It's still so far!"
"and I'll not have my children falling to their deaths, today, thank you! Septimus, help!"
"Sorry, sweetheart, hands full," Septimus sent a sympathetic look at his wife, struggling to keep two-year-old Thomas from tumbling from his arms.
"Dad! Don't you think we should go closer? Please!" Bill sent his father a desperate glance.
"Darling, it is a bit far, and we're right here-"
"No, Septimus! Absolutely not!" They were about twenty meters away, but Septimus knew his wife wanted to go closer.
"Just a little, I promise. Come on, boys."
"Yay!" Taking advantage of Cedrella's shock, Bill and Arthur wormed away and ran to their father. "Take my hands, now." They did so immediately.
Septimus walked with his boys until they were only a few meters away, and he sat down on the grass and gestured for them to do the same. Bill plopped down just a little closer to the edge, just to prove he could.
It was beautiful, sunset on the White Cliffs of Dover. Septimus felt Cedrella sit beside him and curl into his shoulder, she grabbed Arthur's hand and gave it a little squeeze, and Septimus leaned over and kissed her temple.
Two
"Arthur, this is ridiculous. Can I open my eyes now?"
Arthur grinned. "No, Molly, now come along. We're almost there," he grabbed her hands and coaxed her more towards the edge, unexplainably excited.
Arthur Weasley had been dating Molly Prewett for six months now, and he couldn't believe his luck. That she, Molly Prewett, actually liked a guy like him. He had finally worked up the courage to ask her out after winter break their sixth year, and now that it was summer, he could do something really special.
"Not that I'm not excited, Arthur, really, I am. But can I open my eyes, now?"
If only it wasn't about to rain. Nevertheless, it was always beautiful. He wondered if she felt the way he felt whenever he came here, as if he could reach down and touch the water, or up to touch the sky. He felt so in tune here, connected to everything around him. It was strange, but his soul felt so at peace here, content and alive all at once. "Almost there." Only a meter away. "Come just a bit closer, sit down, here," still clutching her hand, he sat down nearly at the very edge, hanging his feet off the end. "Be careful!" he warned, and she tensed immediately,
"What?!" Arthur laughed. He pulled Molly closer to him and leaned in to whisper in her ear,
"Open."
Unfortunately for Arthur, Molly's eyes were pointed downward when she opened them, and she looked straight off the cliff. "Bloody hell!" She jumped up and backed away rapidly, breathing hard. Arthur was practically rolling with laughter. "Oh...my...god," she breathed.
"Isn't it great?" Arthur grinned at her.
"Yeah...fantastic..." Arthur chuckled.
"I love coming here to clear my head. Look, you're at the edge of the cliff, and you could reach up and touch the clouds, or down to the water."
Molly smiled. "I know, it's beautiful. I haven't been back since I was a little girl." But just then, a raindrop fell on her nose, and her face fell with it. "That's a shame."
"Aw, come on now," Arthur grinned madly at her. "Not up for a little rain?"
She laughed as the rain fell faster. Suddenly, it was as if her emotions went away, her head clear and her heart beating with nature. Feeling a burst of happiness, she picked her arms up and spun around, looking up at the sky and smiling brightly. Arthur stood and came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and then they were dancing as it poured, cliche as can be and not a care in the world.
They kissed in the rain, and then Molly leaned her head back and bellowed into the heavens, "OI! Here we are!"
Arthur laughed. "Molly, what are you talking about?"
She looked him in the eyes, "We're not going anywhere."
Three
Molly grasped her cane and walked slowly, treasuring the beautiful day and the feel of the breeze on her skin and the grass beneath her toes. Her tears were spent, now, and only her thoughts remained. She fingered her wedding band.
Arthur had passed away last night. It was peaceful and quiet, and she knew...she swallowed...she knew his time had come. Her's was fast approaching, only a fool would say otherwise. Arthur had died in his sleep, he had breathed his last breath with Molly held in his arms.
Molly rubbed her arms tiredly, remembering the feeling and sighing, because he would never be able to hold her like that again.
And of course, when she looked up into the sky on the White Cliffs of Dover, who else would she think of but Arthur? They were together, two hearts as one, and she needed to come here, to feel whole again. Here, she felt closer to heaven.
This had been their place. For one hundred and fifteen years, it had been Arthur and Molly. They had built this life together, one of love and wonder. Seven children, twelve grandchildren, thirty great-grandkids, and a few great great grandkids on the way.
She and Arthur would talk here for hours. They would take the kids, and as life went on, they would come back alone and sit and look at the sky and talk about how they would always be together. He would always wonder what happened after he passed away, and she would always wonder why he wanted to think about something like that.
And then she realized that she would be back in those arms soon enough. They would be together, for eternity and forever. They would always be Arthur and Molly. He would always be her angel.
Molly looked up into the parting clouds, the light shining through, into the heavens. She laced her hands together and brought them to her mouth, lightly kissing her ring, and then placed them atop each other over her heart.
"I love you."
A/N: I can't believe I just wrote that. That was like the saddest thing I've ever written.
Pick A List: ArthurMolly; White Cliffs of Dover; Angel
Cinema: The Lovely Bones- dealing with death
gemstone: ruby: write about a member of the weasley family
I really hope you liked it. Please leave a review, if you did.
Happy New Year!
Lara,