A/N: For the 'As Strong As We Are United Competition' (prompts: blue, star, gentle) and the 'Wand Wood Competition' (Blackthorn: write about a character going through a hardship).
Disclaimer: If I were JK Rowling, I wouldn't need to write fanfiction, would I? Alas, I have not written a best-seller series, I have not changed countless millions of lives for the better, and I am not one of the richest women in the world. I have a cat, though.
Muddling Through
Loss of a loved one is tragic indeed— loss of a child, even sadder still. And yet, Molly Weasley had come to expect it, fear it.
She hated this war, hated what it had taken from her, from them. Arthur had yet to move from his place near the fire, his blue eyes filled with sorrow, and George— she didn't know where he had gone. He was upstairs in his room, not far away at all, but he was so far away that he had gone to a place she could not bear to go.
Molly stayed busy, trying to keep the tears at bay, scouring the house until she was sure she could scrub away all the memories. It was as if every memory she had of her darling boy had been unearthed, freed of the corners of her mind. They were there, in her mind, playing like reels of film that she couldn't bring herself to look away from.
She scrubbed harder.
This war, it was over, yes, but there was still so much damage. Teddy, Andromeda, Harry… they had all lost so much. So had she.
The great Molly Weasley was not infallible. Long after the house grew quiet and still, she stayed up, content to watch the stars from the window in front of the kitchen sink— Freddie, my darling baby, are you up there?— and pray to whatever she believed in (she wasn't quite sure anymore) that she would wake up from her horrible nightmare.
And so she stood, her eyes squeezed shut as her husband gathered her in his arms and held her gently, wishing he could bear her pain for her.
"We'll get through this, darling." He murmured.
She knew he was right; they would muddle through this— they always managed.
Somehow.
A/N: Not sure how I feel about this one, but it was worth a shot, right?