Nests and Invitations
A/N: I wrote this the HP Book Title Challenge. My Prompt was "The Invitation". I'm not quite sure how it ended up being about Arthur Weasley. Anyway, please read and review, and I don't own Harry Potter.
When Arthur Weasley returned home from a long day at the Ministry, he was met with silence. Oh, sure, clocks were ticking, and birds were chirping outside, and he could hear water running in the kitchens, but the noise they made was a sort of empty noise.
Just a few years ago, it was impossible to enter the Burrow without immeadiately knowing that it was the home of a very large, happy, and loud family. Now, all of his children had grown up and moved away. And Fred... He shook his head. Fred's death had changed all of them; the family would never be complete without him, and it hurt.
Still, with he, his wife, and all seven of their children involved in the war, they had been lucky not to lose any other family members, and Fred wouldn't want to see them sad on his account.
Arthur smiled sadly. Fred had dedicated his life to brightening everyone else's day. And, anyway, Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, Ron, and Ginny were only a Floo call away. He could get over this sense of loneliness. What was it people called it? Mother Bird... Bird's Nest... Ah! Empty Nest. That was it.
He knew Molly felt it as keenly as he did. They would face it together. Having firmly reminded himself of that fact, Arthur joined his wife in the kitchen.
She smiled at him when he entered and handed him a piece of parchment. Looking closer, he could see little James's colorful scrawl that invited "Granpa Artur" and "Grandma Moly" to "come eat and wer a funny hatt". Albus had signed his name, something he had recently learned to do and was very proud of. Baby Lily had scribbled all over the back.
A proud grandfather looked up at his wife with tears in his eyes and hugged her close to him. They had a wonderful family, and he could get used to a quiet house if it meant spending time with his precious grandchildren.