Good morning, readers, and welcome to the first installment of "The Seven Deadly Sins": Wrath. The classical definition of wrath is "inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger." It has been presented through the centuries as a sort of temporary madness, which can cause otherwise rational people to do impulsive, stupid things. In the next three chapters, we will be exploring three characters consumed by the fire of their own anger.

A few quick reminders before we begin:

1. No character is perfect. Even our favorite characters are susceptible to their own vices (yes, we all have vices). Some of theses vices stem from noble intentions, others from misguided intentions, still others from pure malice, but the feelings themselves are what I aim to explore.

2. I own nothing. There, I said it.

3. The chapters in this story, and indeed in this entire series, are very internal in nature. They delve into what's going on inside he characters' minds at the time they commit whatever Deadly Sin they're being tagged for. The author absolves herself from what's going on inside the characters' heads-we all act and feel 'out of character' at times, and while in the throes of powerful sensations like anger, lust or jealousy, people have been known to act rashly, stupidly or short-sightedly.

4. As introspective accounts of mostly-canon moments, these pieces do borrow dialogue from the books on occasion. I wnated them to stay true to the source material. The characters' musings, however are my own interpretations.

5. Finally, sorry I couldn't include all the characters who might fit a certain sin. I limited myself to three chapters per entry and tried with all my might not to repeat characters where possible, though this proved difficult at times. In the end, I settled for the characters that made the best stories.

With that boring piece of protocol out of the way, I hope you enjoy the story! And to any of my regular readers out there: welcome back!

Love and War

Curses flashed around Molly Weasley as pandemonium broke out inside the Great Hall. There was nothing for it; Fred was dead, Harry was dead, their last great hope for victory was gone. And yet the defenders were fighting as if they still stood a chance, determined to go down fighting.

George and his old friend Lee Jordan were overpowering the Death Eater Yaxley, while Ron charged after the werewolf Fenrir Greyback, who had not long ago savaged Molly's youngest son's old sweetheart. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw Arthur and Percy join forces to attack Thicknesse, the puppet Minister.

A mad cackle drew Molly's eyes from her husband and son. Bellatrix Lestrange capered back and foth, dueling Hermione, Ginny and Luna all at once. The schoolgirls' faces were set in concentration as they fought their very hardest, but Bellatrix smiled evilly as she dueled them almost lazily. She smirked as she fired off a Killing Cruse that missed Ginny by a mere centimeter.

Ginny—no—my baby, my only daughter—

The Hall seemed to fall silent around Molly, or else she went temporarily deaf. She saw the lethal jet of green light streaking toward her beloved daughter in exaggerated slow motion and was instantly transported to a bedroom, long ago, where she lay in bed, propped up on the pillows, and held her long-awaited newborn daughter in her arms. She recalled the honeysuckle smell of Ginny's long red hair, the way her cheeks would glow pink whenever her big brothers would tease her about Harry Potter. She remembered seeing her, looking small and lost as the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the platform, the only child to be left behind while her big brothers headed off for a year of adventure at school. She was never one to be left behind, and despite Molly's vehement refusal to let her fight tonight, here she was. Her Ginny. Her headstrong, fiery daughter. As the Killing Curse just barely singed Ginny's sleeve, Molly saw Fred's face, pale and lifeless; she heard Ginny's anguished cry echoing in her ears:

"I'm in Dumbledore's Army—I can't go home! My whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and—"

She hadn't even said a proper good-bye. This couldn't be the way it ended.

White-hot rage coursed through Molly's veins as she realized how close she'd been to losing another of her children tonight, her only daughter. She charged at Bellatrix with the force and ferocity of a tigress.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

She didn't recall throwing off her cloak, but she must have done, as her arms were free when she stepped forward to challenge her daughter's would-be murderess, the rage born of a thousand nights' fear building up to a boiling point inside her.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" Molly screeched, waving the three girls out of her way, so as to protect them from the force of her wrath.

She aimed curse after curse at Bellatrix, rage moving her forward blindly and increasing with her opponent's every mad grin. This was the woman who'd tortured the Longbottoms into insanity, who'd killed her own cousin Sirius Black and her niece Dora Lupin and countless others. Molly didn't just want to stop Bellatrix from killing again. She wanted to destroy her.

"Get back!" she hissed as several students rushed to her aid. There was no need to permit other mothers to share in her grief. "Get back! She is mine!"

"What will happen to your children once I"ve killed you?" taunted Bellatrix, overwhelming Molly with pure hatred for this repulsive woman, sickly obsessed with Voldemort and callously indifferent to human life.

"You-will-never-touch-our-children-again!" Molly screamed in reply. Bellatrix laughed, the same deranged laugh she'd let out as she'd nearly killed Ginny. The laugh of a woman who hunted people for sport, who discounted all lives, even her own, as utterly worthless except as sacrifices for her sick master. A final wave of pure wrath possessed Molly as she cast one final curse.

And then…the end. Blackness.

I hope you enjoyed my take on Molly's thoughts as she showed just how badass moms can be when you go after their babies. Please let me know what you think in your review-sending a new fic out there into the world is a bit like sending your child off to school for the first time, and it always leaves me wondering.

The next installment of "Wrath" is titled 'Denied' and explores a rage born of painful rejection and disappointment. Any guesses as to who it could be?

Until next time, then!

Delilah