Cherry Blossom Winter

by Feather

I wrote this as something for Valentine's Day, with a very unique pairing - Molly and Arthur Weasly! - and a bit of fluff, too! R/R, please! ~ Feather =^-^= [Updated]

Title-Cherry Blossom Winter

Rating-PG

Category-Harry Potter

Genre-Fluff/Romance

Pairings-None really…yet…

Author's notes-Well here I am again, writing more Harry Potter fanfiction. I feel a minor obligation to at least write something that is fluffy in a way, with Valentine's Day coming up. This is more a sweet fluff than romance, but since I should be writing that is appropriate to the holiday, I suppose this fluff will have to suffice. I cannot say that this is a wonderful piece, as I rushed to get it out before Valentine's Day, but hopefully you'll enjoy the unique pairing :). Have a wonderful day, love you all! ~ Feather =^-^=

*

Molly Weasly sighed as she heard more bangs issue from the twins' room. "FRED, GEORGE, I TOLD YOU NOT TO WORK ON THOSE TRICKS OF YOURS! Go on, go De-Gnome the garden like I asked you!"

"Get Ronniekins to do it, Mum, we're busy!"

"Honestly," she muttered to herself, as she reached on the mantle for a cookbook. "They haven't the slightest ambition at…all…" she paused for a moment, as on the mantle she saw a small diary amidst the various spell-books and cooking recipes. She smiled in recognition when she saw the red leather cover, with 'Molly Brankenbur' printed into the binding. And as she opened it up, two flattened paper cranes, one precise, the other sloppy, and a dried cherry blossom, brown with age, fell out…

*

Molly Brankenbur sighed, pushed her unruly thick mane of red hair out of her eyes, and leaned back into her chair. She had a History of Magic essay due to Professor Binns the following morning, and the topic of Goblin Revolutions was almost as boring as the teacher. He had to be going on ninety, but he still found a way to always be right next to you when you were cheating, daydreaming, or sighing idly.

It's not like I can get any work done at all, anyway, she thought, sighing. The Gryffindor common room was full of several other rowdy first-years, and Molly could not possibly get any work done at all in such a crowded place. Then again, the excitement was doubly what it was normally, tomorrow being Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day was a holiday that Molly couldn't enjoy at all in the slightest. Not only was the traditional meaning of Valentine's day lost in the world of romance these days, but it was just completely boring. She could almost see herself screaming in boredom when she had to attend the mandatory Valentine's Day ball. The second-years would be too giggly about the whole thing, the third and fourth-years much too serious, and well, the six and seventh year students were enough of a mystery the rest of the time to even begin to fathom what they were like on Valentine's Day.

Molly scanned the common room as she trudged up the stairs to her dormitory for her older twin sisters, Mallory and Monica. They were third-years, but acted much, much younger. Her other older sister, Michelle, was a prefect, so couldn't be counted on to be around most of the time. Michelle was a wonderful sister most of the time, but she was in such a haze of Quidditch practices and prefect duties that she could hardly talk to Molly anymore.

I just need someone to tell my problems to, Molly thought, sighing again. I hate Valentine's Day. What's the purpose of it, to make ugly girls like me feel horrible when all the cards go to… her nose wrinkled in disgust as her eyes landed on a familiar yet hated face, to girls like Rose Patterson. Honestly, she's not all that pretty…Molly tried to convince herself, knowing it wasn't true. Rose had a lithe, petite body and an extremely pretty face, and with added long brown hair and green eyes, she was the coveted of all the first-year boys.

Maybe the roots of her hatred weren't stemmed in her own lack of beauty, for she was, in a sense; her flaming red hair and warm brown eyes were fairly attractive, but she wasn't pretty in the sense that Rose was.

Her eyes swept around the common room again, just to take in the delightful chaos. There was Lily Evans and James Potter, feuding their hearts out while playfully egged on by Sirius Black, and accompanied by a nervous Remus Lupin. The Weasly twins, fifth-years Derrick and Aiden, were creating chaos by themselves, in the center of a mass of first-years who wanted to by sweets that they had stolen from Hogsmeade. Though they were as different as night and day, Derrick and Aiden could still create uproar with balanced talents of mischief and strategy. Derrick could rile any crowd, and Aiden had enough sense to stop his twin before he got out of control. Their younger brother, Arthur Weasly, sat in a large armchair nearby. He was a first year, like Molly herself, and was reading Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1. She almost found herself sighing with slight desire when her gaze fell upon him, but stopped abruptly. Not like he'd ever go out with you Molly. He's with Rose.

She halted her thoughts, and continued to survey the room, but a flush was rising to her cheeks while she kept seeing Arthur out of the corner of her eye. It's a passing phase, she told herself, furiously trying to stop the blush, remember how you liked Malfoy a while back? She felt a wave of nausea climb to her lips. Lucius Malfoy was perhaps the most disgusting boy in their whole year, though mildly attractive in a vague way.

She turned back and continued to climb the stairs, but something, a small apprehension of being watched sensed in the edges of her conscious. It wasn't a bad feeling, no, more like one of nervousness, like someone knew that she had watched them. She looked out of the corner of her eye, hoping it was anyone but Rose. Please, not her, her… she silently prayed.

Fortunately it wasn't. But it was someone perhaps worse. Arthur Weasly.

She could tell she was blushing furiously again, and hurried up to her dormitory. Sinking back onto her bed, she felt sleep begin to claim her. It was nearing ten o'clock, now, and the steady beat of feet climbing stairs to dormitories was comforting. Just as she was sinking deeper into a wonderful listlessness, she remembered she had left her History of Magic essay downstairs. She tried to pull herself out of the mess of blankets she had created, struggling with the tangled covers.

She finally succeeded, only to be met by the cold gaze of two beautifully green eyes. She quickly realized that it was Rose, and stood up quickly to try to evade the coming assault.

"What's the matter, Molly? Where are you going?" she asked coolly.

"It's no matter to you," Molly snapped in return, turning to leave again.

"Maybe this isn't, but I saw you staring at Arthur earlier this evening. Just remember, he's my boyfriend, not yours."

Molly slapped herself mentally. Did I make it that obvious? She could recall now the cold stare that Rose had given her before when she had been surveying the common room. Best just lie. Deny! Deny! "Why would I want Arthur, Rose. Honestly, I have no idea what you were thinking when you asked him out. He's really…well…I don't want to say anything bad about him, I most certainly wasn't looking at him."

Rose looked taken back a moment, but quickly regained some composure. "Just make sure it stays that way, then," she said, a bit nervously. "I really do like Arthur," she giggled. "I hope he gets me something nice for tomorrow!"

Molly smiled in return, though still slightly aloof. This was the way it always was: Rose accused her of trying to take Arthur, and then giggled about him. "Look, I have to get an essay I forgot down in the common room. Best get to sleep, Rose. I wouldn't care to be caught up after hours!"

Rose sighed in agreement. "You're probably right, as usual, Molly."

Molly nodded curtly, and headed down the stairs quietly, hoping not to send of any alarm of her presence. As all the lights were off in the common room, she had to hunt a bit to find it. She grabbed vaguely into the dark, snatching what she hoped was the right paper.

Exhaustion seeped deeply through her veins, and she fell onto the bed as soon as she was in her dorm without checking if it was the right paper. "I don't really care," she muttered to herself dreamily as she sank deeper into sleep.

The morning dawned crisp and cool, a slight frost on the windows. Molly was rudely awakened by Rose, who was giggling madly. "Wake up, Molly! You were snoring, and it's half past seven already!"

In a frenzied haze, Molly pulled on some school robes, ran a brush through her hair, and totally forgot to check her essay. When she reached the Great Hall, breakfast was almost over, and she took a bit of toast and marmalade before again scampering up to her dorm again to prepare for classes. The halls were decorated with lurid pink hearts and singing spells.

As she approached the Fat Lady, she found that even the painting had dressed up a bit for the holiday. She was wearing a string of heart bead around her neck, and had a small wreath of hearts on her head. "Password?"

"Dracando Irifius," she replied promptly, desperate not to waste any more time. After hunting for her things and shoving them into a book-bag, she took the essay out and checked to see if it was her own. It was not. It was none other than Arthur Weasly's. "Honestly, could my life get anymore unfair today?" she whined. Not only was Rose not around to give it to him, but he would be in the boy's dorm and she had no way of getting there. Besides, where was her essay? Did he have it?

She looked at her watch, and saw she had almost no time before the class actually started. She prayed that he had it, and scampered to the classroom, exactly on time. "Please pass your essays forward, if you will," Binns wheezed in his dry voice, "And when I call your name, tell me if you are present, please."

Molly passed Arthur's essay forwards, hoping that someone in her class had picked it up by mistake. Fortunately, he didn't ask to read them, and commenced the telling and retelling of Goblin Rebellions.

After class, Molly was a bit more relaxed. Maybe something good of this all would come out, she would know to pay better attention next time. Someone tapped her shoulder, and as she spun around on instinct, she saw it was him. Arthur.

"H-hello," she sputtered nervously. She saw him raise one thin red eyebrow at her obvious discomfort.

"Hello, yes," he said, smiling a bit. "Well, my History of Magic essay was missing this morning, and I found that I had taken yours by mistake. I assume you handed it in, as I did with yours, but I just wanted to clarify." His tone was slightly teasing, though his eyes danced with amusement.

Though she was still slightly embarrassed, she was determined not to be made a fool of, especially in front of Rose, of all people. "One could assume that," she stated firmly, her own anger subtly showing in her own eyes.

He instantly sobered his face and tone, making her appear foolish and young. "Thank you very much, then, you've saved me trouble." He walked off with several other year-mate boys.

Boys, she thought crossly, just when you think you understand them, they do something totally different. However, upon realizing that she needed to get to Herbology, double with Hufflepuffs, she quickly rushed outside into the fearful cold to Greenhouse 1.

She entered the class in a haze as Professor Tulip started the day's lesson. It was fairly interesting, all about how you could summon different kinds of plants, regardless of season, with a fairly complex spell they would be working on over the next few classes. Molly, however, could hardly concentrate on the spell, only the delicious shiver of surprise and desire that ran down her spine when Arthur had touched it. A voice snapped her back to reality.

"I said, Miss Brankenbur, please choose a plant, tree, or weed that you would wish me to summon to demonstrate to the class." Frantically, Molly racked her brains for a plant, though none seemed within reach.

"Cherry Blossom," she blurted out, thinking about the spring days several years ago when all her sisters would play Quidditch in the fresh spring air with the beautiful fragrance from the cherry trees just starting to peek into the wind.

Professor Tulip looked at her in mild astonishment. "You do realize I'll have to summon the whole tree, don't you?" Molly nodded, slightly listless. "Well, good thing you picked that, because it takes an extra bit of work to choose a particular season that a tree or plant is in. First one to do this correctly gets 20 points to their house!" The tiny witch bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet, and summoned a beautiful cherry tree onto the middle of the floor. "Get cracking!"

Molly saw the others quickly start to work on perfecting their technique, which she found hard to do, as she hadn't paid a bit of attention to the lecture. However, she found she needn't have; through the rest of the class, and all the following classes that day, valentines and cards were delivered to the students, courtesy of a little prank from Derrick and Aiden.

By the time dinner came, Molly was exhausted. The day had been sheer misery, and no valentines had been delivered to her at all. On the contrary, Rose had to keep taking them up to her dorm, because they all wouldn't fit in her pockets. She trudged up to the common room, and started to fill out an Astronomy chart. This took most of the evening.

She had just finished, and by that time, most of the wild activities had settled down. Many of the students were on their way to their dorm rooms, and Molly found that she, too, was yawning. With sudden inspiration, she nonchalantly left the table she was at without looking at her chart, leaving it behind on the table with a scribbled piece of parchment on it. She walked slowly and deliberately up the stairs, so as not to gain any notice.

She changed into her pyjamas and dressing gown, and settled back into her covers, sleep not yet claiming her dreams. I just hope my idea works, she though idly, hoping, dreaming that maybe Arthur would notice her note, on top of the chart. As long as Derrick and Aiden don't find it, and make fun of me, then I'm all right…she thought, several times, as sleep finally settled into her veins.

She woke up on time that morning, for once, and tried not to appear to eager as she dressed and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. There was a certain air of lost excitement after the previous day's constant giggling, and most of the students were tired and subdued. Molly went back up to her dorm with Rose, and several other girls to gather her things. On the way to Potions, she suddenly exclaimed, "Shoot! I forgot my Astronomy chart in the common room. Don't wait, okay, tell Professor I might be late!"

The girls nodded, not seemingly concerned, and Molly sighed with relief. She ran to the common room, not stopping to wait for the portrait to fully swing open, earning a "Excuse me, young lady, watch where you're going!", from the Fat Lady.

Her essay was right where she had left it, and as she neared it, her heart fell. The note was still there…or was it? Her essay was folded in half, with the crease towards her, so something must be inside. She carefully unfolded it, and found a single cherry blossom and a small paper crane inside, made out of the note she had written. Smiling, she pressed the blossom inside the diary she carried everywhere with her, and tucked the crane in her pocket.

She ran down to Potions, just on time, and concentrated on her lessons, unlike the previous day, with great enthusiasm. At lunchtime, after a morning of Charms and Transfiguration, she pulled the crane and a piece of spare parchment out of her pocket, and tried to figure out how to make one.

This exploit vexed her to no end. No matter which way she twisted the paper, it simply would not become a crane. She closed her eyes and tilted her head towards the ceiling. Nothing ever goes my way, she thought. I can't even make a simple crane out of paper. She started to reach for her wand, scanning her memory for a suitable spell, but none came to mind. That's cheating, she thought, sighed, put her wand down, and resumed her hopeless attempts.

"You're doing it all wrong," a voice in her ear told her, and a pair of warm hands covered her own. "You have to start like this." She turned her head, and found that Arthur Weasly's head was right next to her own. She gulped, her senses tingling with a wonderfully delicious apprehension.

"I don't need help, Weasly," she said smoothly, her heart light and pounding and everything felt just oh-so perfectly right.

"Of course you do, you silly girl," he said, his tone teasing and gentle and his eyes aflame with amusement and laughter and nervousness and a indescribable feeling perfect comfort, "You're starting all wrong. Here, let me show you…"

And she did.

The End (Or the beginning, however you like to think of it…)

*

Closing notes- This certainly isn't my best work, but I think it's sweet enough. In case you couldn't tell, this is Arthur and Molly Weasly, a pairing that I have never seen before! I hope this is unique, original, and all work has been done conscious of other author's. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Sorry if this is a day early…~ Feather =^-^=

Disclaimers- I do not claim to own Harry Potter or any other related works. I do own Professor Tulip and Rose Patterson, just random characters that came from somewhere in my insane mind! ^^;

[NOTE: I just want to point out that this was updated for a few mistakes that unnerved me to no end. Also, A-chan gave me the correct spelling of "Gryffindor". I knew that! --(not really ^^;). Thanks for pointing that out. If you find any other errors, contact me @ UmbrellaKitty@hotmail.com. And! I might consider writing a full-length story with Molly and Arthur-e-mail me if you have any ideas, comments, or suggestions! Love you all! ~ Feather =^-^=]