Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any affiliated plots, characters or terms.
Sparks and Cogs
A soft smile graced her face; something that had not occurred in recent times. "Percy!" she yelled. "Have you seen the socking wrench?"
Molly Weasley wiped sweat from her brow as she leaned over the strange contraption. She had found it in a "junk yard." It was a Muggle concept. Since they could not just vanish the old, broken and useless they created a kind of graveyard for the inanimate. Strangely enough, as Molly found, you could buy these castoffs for reasonable prices.
She had bought an automobile, fully intending on understanding its inner workings and experimenting with combinations of its mechanical nature and her magical one. Its turning belts; its cogs and pistons; hunks of metal and wires were all delicately laced together. It was a puzzle and a challenge. When she interwove threads of magic into the web it became beautiful.
Buying the automobile had been a big step. She had started with an old radio and from that point on she rarely left the shed that housed these strange Muggle contraptions. Her children, bless them, had become a bit worried about her, though they let her be. In fact, she insisted upon it.
Oddly enough, Percy had been the first to come around. He, while he had some trouble overlooking his mother's eccentricities, had given her a large amount of literature on the inner-workings of Muggle objects. She was happy that her middle son understood, even if the rest of them did not.
"Mother, I believe it would be called a 'socket wrench.' I have not seen it, but perhaps you should come inside. Everyone is here for the family dinner. The food is almost ready," said Percy.
"Not everyone," said Molly quietly.
"Mum…" started Percy.
"Let's go in. I dearly hope that Fleur didn't burn my potatoes again. They only needed to be heated." Molly brushed passed Percy, cleaning her hands of the oil and grease on her shop apron as she walked back to her house.
The kitchen was filled with warmth and family. Sweet smells of sugar and spices reached her nose. She still insisted family dinners at the Burrow. Some things she would not allow to change. She beamed at her family: her sons and their wives, her daughter and her husband, all the grandchildren. She was filled with such warmth. Yet, that warmth only exemplified the coldness that she felt.
Dinner was filled with good cheer and laughter. The family carried on like it should, like he would have wanted them to.
"Mum," said Bill suddenly. "I need to discuss something with you."
"What is that, dear?"
"I just—I don't think you should spend so much time out in the shed. It really isn't healthy for you. What are you even doing out there? Ever since—well recently all you seem to do is cook family dinners and work in the shed. Percy said that you didn't come in last night until three in the morning!"
Molly looked pointedly at her oldest son. "I shall spend my time as I choose. I happen to be verging on a break-though."
"Break-though? Mum, what are you talking about? I know you are still working through everything, but even since Dad died you have been, well, acting a bit…batty." The other Weasley children nodded slightly in concurrence. Molly's eyes narrowed at the act.
"Batty, you say?"
Bill seemed to back up, seeing the look on his mother's face. "What I mean to say…well, when you spend your time out there—Mum, you can't bring him back."
A tear formed in the corner of Molly's eye, but she refused to let it fall. Arthur would have understood. But, then again, he had died, leaving her alone with no way to find solace.
"I do not expect you to understand," said Molly harshly, excusing herself from the table. She made sure to slam the kitchen door as she returned to the shed. Only when she had confined herself in the drafty shack, filled with the skeletons of gadgets and devices, filled with the skeletons that haunted her, each and everyone reminding her of every sweet memory, of every fight, every tender moment, did she break down.
No one had come after her. She preferred it that way. After her last tear fell, she sat with her hands in her graying read hair and thought. And thought. Finally the sun went down in a beautiful array of pinks and oranges. Finally everything made sense. With a grin on her lips she grabbed her wand and some spark plugs and got to work.
The pure labor of it, the mental and physical exhaustion, was exhilarating. Fascinating, really, how Muggles came up with alternatives to magic. She laughed as she took parts off and screwed others on, as she cast spells and made potions. Glee filled her face when something would bang or light-up. Anyone who witnessed this scene would understand why her family thought she was batty. But a few, a few would smile at it and they would understand.
Dawn was just breaking when she finished. Her eyes were brighter than they had been in months. It was time.
Inside the Burrow, the Weasley children, and their children awoke to a roar. Bill fell out of bed, scrambling to untangle himself from his blankets, fear that something terrible was happening. Everyone ran downstairs, searching for the cause of such noises and commotion. Out the front door, Percy was already standing there in his bathrobe, his glasses crooked and a grin on his face. "She did it," he said.
Another roar came and the Weasley's had to duck, for a car shot out of the shed, flying over there heads. "Mum?" shouted Ron in confusion.
Molly waved at her family as she circled higher and higher, sheer adrenalin running through her veins. They watched her in awe as she disappeared into the sunrise, none able to quite understand what they just saw.
She passed over fields and cities. The beauty of it all was beyond belief. Rivers and lakes gleamed under her. Villages just showing signs of waking to the rosy glow of the sun. Life blossomed in every corner. The wind rushed at her through the window as she circled ruined castles and city skyscrapers. Below, the few people about looked up, pointing and gasping. They could not believe what they were seeing.
Molly just smiled. "This is for you Arthur. I finally understand."
Return to Top