"Mum?"
Molly's eyes flutter open, and she blinks in confusion. She doesn't even remember dozing off. She had been waiting, waiting, waiting. Arthur had noted that she had looked tired, and she remembers insisting that she's fine.
Quickly, she sits up straight. "Is she-?"
Bill smiles so fully that Molly can feel her heart melt. She remembers that look so well. Arthur had worn it so many times. It is a smile that only fatherhood can bring. "She's beautiful," he says, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Absolutely perfect."
"Arthur?"
"Dad went to get Fleur's parents. They should be here soon."
Molly feels tears in her eyes as she climbs to her feet. Her heart races so fast in her chest that she can barely even feel it. "Can I see her?"
Her eldest son nods and takes her gently by the hand, leading her through the door. Fleur is on the bed, her face beaded with sweat and streaked with tears. In her arms rests a tiny bundle, swaddled in a soft yellow blanket.
"She is perfect, no?" Fleur says with a soft laugh as she adjusts her position. "Look, Victoire. Your grandmother is here."
Molly almost can't take it all in. She is a mother. She has been a mother for so long. And now one of her babies has a baby, and there is a new little soul to love.
She moves closer to the bed, and she could swear that for a moment time stops.
She is perfect. So tiny but strong, still pink and scrunchy and just so perfect. Gossamer strands of blonde hair are barely visible, but Molly can tell that sweet Victoire will look so much like Fleur already.
"She has her fathers lips," Fleur coos. "Would you like to hold her."
"Yes," Molly says without hesitation.
Bill helps her into a chair before retrieving the baby from Fleur and placing her into Molly's arms.
She worries that her heart might explode with the love that she feels in that moment. She has held her seven children. She is so familiar with a mother's love. But though this may feel similar, it is something so new. This is the love of a grandmother, an entirely new journey in love.
"Hello, sweet baby," she soothes, rocking Victoire gently. "You're going to be such a wonderful little blessing. Gran Weasley just knows it, little one."
"How's it feel?" Bill asks, resting a hand on his mother's shoulder.
Molly keeps her attention on the baby in her arms, smiling broadly as Victoire squirms. "Amazing," she answers quietly, freeing a hand to stroke her granddaughter's cheek.
She doesn't want to let her go. Just like with her children, she wants to hold sweet Victoire forever and keep her safe and sound in her arms until the end of time.
But she is a grandmother now. She knows that she can't be too selfish.
Molly places a small kiss on the baby's tiny nose before returning her to Bill. "I love you, sweet girl."
In Bill's arms, Victoire begins to fuss. Bill's face lights up with panic. "I- I- What do I do?" he asks, seeming to forget his days of helping Molly with the younger children.
"Rock her," Molly coaches. "Yeah, that's it. There you go. It's coming back to you, isn't it?"
Victoire settles down, and though she still cries, the sound is much softer now.
"Let me see if she is hungry," Fleur says.
Molly watches the way Fleur holds her, watches the way Bill's eyes sparkle as his wife brings his daughter to her chest.
Molly is a mother. She wishes she could take Victoire and care for her the way she has cared for her own children. But she is a grandmother now, too, and she knows without any doubt in her mind that Victoire will be loved and safe.
She steps back, a smile on her lips.
This is a new sort of love, and she is ready to embrace it.