The Trunk in the Attic
Chapter 1- Spring Cleaning
Molly Weasley decided to start on spring cleaning. The Burrow was in perfect condition as Molly busied herself everyday to cover up the lonely moments without Arthur or her children. Her youngest children were off at Hogwarts. Fred and George were busy running Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Percy----Molly stopped for a moment to think of her third son. She hoped Percy was doing all right. Charlie was in Romania and Bill was as busy as ever in Egypt. Molly sighed. Fred and George came over for dinner often. Charlie and Bill apparated to the Burrow every weekend. Arthur came home every night from the ministry. However, Molly Weasley still had found herself missing everyone so dearly. She tried to keep her mind off of missing everyone by cleaning the Burrow from top to bottom. The Burrow hardly needed it now.
Suddenly, Molly thought of one place where she has not cleaned in quite a long time. The attic!
'Must be full of dust and disorder,' Molly thought cheerfully.
Mrs. Weasley hurried up the steps to the attic, pausing slightly at each of her children's rooms. Bill left just yesterday, but that seemed years ago. William Weasley was displayed on his door and Charles Weasley was posted right underneath. Molly had scrubbed the room clean. Charlie's old stuffed dragons were arranged in the order of size on his shelf. Bill's books were neatly displayed in alphabetical order on the bookshelf. Their toys were put away in a large toy chest. Molly remembered that it wasn't long ago when she couldn't even see the floor in this room, but everything was spotless now.
Mrs. Weasley climbed up another two floors and stopped at Percy's room. His room had always been proper and Molly did not have to spend too much time cleaning. A soft ache in her heart had her hope for Percy's return to the Burrow. His old Headboy and Prefect badges were displayed on his wall.
Molly sighed as she climbed up another floor to Fred and George's room. Their room had been the messiest. Molly had spent a good week cleaning and surprising herself with all the random explosions. Their room was much too quiet now. A few trick wands were neatly stored in a small chest along with trick parchments (everything you wrote erased itself twenty minutes later), numerous faulty quills and bottles of bright colors that Molly was afraid to open.
Ron's room was extremely orange. Mrs. Weasley smiled as she picked up his old broken wand. He had still kept it. The empty owl cage had several owl treats waiting for Pig. Molly noticed a parchment poking out from underneath Ron's bed. She quickly picked it up to put on Ron's desk and noticed it was addressed to Hermione. The letter was never mailed. At first, Molly thought to mail the letter for Ron, but then realized as she skimmed through it that it was a love letter and Ron must have been too embarrassed to send it. Molly smiled and placed the letter back underneath Ron's bed.
'Hermione and Ron should have been together years ago! What is taking them so long?' She wondered.
Finally, she arrived at Ginny's room. Ginny had kept her room fairly clean. Mrs. Weasley noticed a picture of Ginny and Harry on the table. They waved at her. Molly smiled as she gently picked up the frame for an unnecessary wipe. Then she gently put the frame back on the table.
Finally, Mrs. Weasley arrived up in the attic. She picked up her wand and began to sweep the dust away. She cheerfully opened the curtains and gave them a thorough cleaning.
"There," she said outloud as the sunshine came streaming through. "that's much better."
Mrs. Weasley turned to give the floors a good scrub when her foot hit something hard.
"Ouch!" she exclaimed and rubbed her foot. She saw an old, brown trunk below her. Molly curiously opened the lid and coughed at the amount of dust that was in it. She waved her wand to remove the dust. Hundreds of letters, each neatly folded in small stacks were in the trunk.
Molly Weasley remembered. This was the trunk that stored all of her children's letters! Eventually, it got too full and she started another one.
Molly eagerly picked up a letter and opened it. It was from Bill.
Dear Mum,
Camp is great. However, Dad and I have no food to eat. Please send us some.
-Billy
The letter brought faint tears to Molly's eyes. Bill had wanted to go to the Young Wizard's Camp of Magic and Surprises, but they could not afford to send him. Arthur had then decided to camp out with Bill and Charlie in the backyard.
The memory stirred from Molly's mind.
After Molly received the owl from Billy, she caught a glimpse of him and Arthur setting up a tent in the backyard. Charlie was toddling around with his stuffed dragon. She went into the kitchen to finish up the chicken and potatoes she was making. Little Percy came crawling into the room. Molly picked him up and tickled him, making Percy laugh. Then she set him down on his highchair and gave him some mashed carrots.
Molly carried the chicken and potatoes outside with a flask of pumpkin juice.
"Dinner, boys!" she called.
"Mum!" Billy came running over. "You're not supposed to be here! You're supposed to be miles away at the Burrow. This is the Weasley Camp, which is located in a top secret place!"
"Oh, I'm sorry." Molly apologized.
"Thanks, dear," Arthur said, taking the food and kissing her on the cheek. "We'll be back home in the morning."
Molly sniffed at this memory. She always appreciated Arthur's efforts to make his boys' dreams come true. Another letter fluttered on to her lap.
Dear Mum,
I have been teaching Charlie how to fly on his toy broomstick. He gets an O for effort and an E for skills. However, he gets a T for breaking my toy broomstick. I am refusing to come back inside the house.
-Billy
Charlie had handed her the letter while Bill watched from outside. Charlie was crying and Molly quickly picked him up.
"Oh, don't cry, Charlie." Molly said, wiping his tears away.
"Billy is mad at me!" Charlie sniffed. "I broke his broomstick!"
"That's alright. Now go and watch Percy while I talk to Bill, okay?"
Charlie ran off as Molly waved her wand to fix the broomstick. Then, she went outside.
Molly carefully folded the letter and placed it back into the trunk. She felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Molly?" Arthur said softly.
"Oh, Arthur! You're home early." Molly smiled at her husband.
"Yes, what are you doing up here?"
"Just cleaning. Do you remember camping out in the backyard with Bill and Charlie?"
Arthur smiled as he thought of his memory. "Of course."
"They're all grown up now." Molly sniffed. She caught herself and got up.
Then she dried her eyes and cleared her throat. "Well, I better go finish dinner!"
"There, now, Molly." Arthur said softly. "They come back to the Burrow at least once a week, don't they?"
"Yes, but the house just seems so empty without them." Molly replied as she walked downstairs with Arthur.
Arthur held her hand as they prepared dinner at the Burrow.