It was a beautiful summer night. It was a full moon, which Teddy swore if you went close enough to the Burrow around the house you could hear the sound of werewolves. Molly wasn't sure if she believed him. How much can you believe of a twelve-year old anyway?
Teddy had just finished his first year of Hogwarts and was back for the summer. Everyone had been so glad to see him, but none had been happier than her cousin Victoire. When Teddy had come home, both of them had looked so happy to see each other that Molly found herself smiling, something she rarely did.
Molly wished she had a friend like that. A friend that would miss her if she was gone for even a day and write her letters all the time. A friend that would laugh and play with her and go into the woods behind her house and play in the creek. A friend that would make her smile.
Molly was a shy little girl. She had never had any friends really. She didn't talk to people. Sure, she talked to her cousins and the people that came over a little but in reality, Molly was terribly shy.
In fact, she had once overheard her Uncle Bill talking and saying that Molly was karma for the way he had acted during the war. Then she heard Fleur yelling at him for that. And from that moment on, Molly knew that karma wasn't a good thing. It was a bad thing in fact. A terrible, horrible thing. It must be, if it made her turn out the way she did.
Now here she was, on a beautiful summer night, sitting in Grandma's garden, which she wasn't allowed in technically, but Grandma would never know, watching all the other children play hide and go seek. Almost, she wanted to ask if she could join them, but she was afraid that they would say no.
"You must be crazy," she whispered to herself, "If you think that they would want to play with you."
Because the truth is, one of Molly's dreams was to be accepted by her cousins and family friends and play games with them.
"You're not crazy," she heard from behind her, "Just a little delusional."
"De-lo-shi-al?" Molly asked, "What does that mean?" Teddy thought about it.
"It means you believe something that isn't true," he said. Molly blushed and hung her head.
"But it is true," she whispered. Teddy shook his head.
"I'm pretty sure if you went up to Vic or someone and asked if you could play with them, they'd say yes," he said.
"Why aren't you playing with them?" Molly asked.
"Oh, I am," he said, "This is my hiding spot. Of course, I didn't expect a bonus of seeing you here." A bonus? Why would anyone want to see her? Then she realized that meant he had never come looking for her at all.
"Oh," she said softly, "Sorry I was in your way."
"You're not in my way," Teddy scoffed, "In case you haven't noticed; this garden is the size of a bloody Quidditch field."
"Oh," she said again because that's all she could think of to say.
"Why are you here anyway? You could get in lots of trouble, you know," he said the last part with a smirk.
"I figured here I was out of everyone's way," she blushed, "And you could get in trouble too."
"Yeah, only if we get caught," Teddy scoffed again, "And Molly, you're never in anyone's way. Everyone wants you to play with them. They don't understand why you never ask."
"Because I think they'll say no!" she blurted out before she could stop herself.
"Why in Merlin's name would they say no?" Teddy asked.
"Because I'm shy and I don't talk and they all hate me and…" Molly just kept blathering on.
"Molly," he said bewildered, "We're family. We certainly don't hate you."
"Really?" she asked.
"Really," he said.
"Um, I hate to break up this little love fest," Victoire said sarcastically, "But Teddy, I found you. You're it."
"But I was helping Molly!" he exclaimed.
"Sure," Victoire said, "But you were still playing the game, weren't you?"
"Aw, c'mon Vic," Teddy pleaded.
"Um," Molly spoke up, "I don't exactly know the rules, seeing as how I've never played, but don't you have to actually tag the person before they're it?" Victoire looked at Molly.
"True," she said and in the blink of an eye she tagged Teddy.
"Hey!" he yelled.
"What's all this racket?" Grandma's voice came from far away, "Are their people in my garden?" All three of them looked at each other at the same time.
"Run," Teddy whispered to Victoire. She ran. He turned to Molly, "C'mon," he said, "Let's go play hide and seek."
A/N: For Long Jump Round 2 at the Hogwarts Games on the HPFC, and also for Unicorn at the Creatures of Hogwarts Competition.