A./N.: Since it's still your birthday, this is the second present today. Enjoy it, Sarah!

The Seduction Begins

Arthur and Molly both spent a few very enjoyable moments on the couch, snuggling, cuddling and kissing passionately. Arthur wanted nothing more than to ravish his wife on the spot but he held back. It wouldn't be right to pressure her into anything she wasn't ready for ... besides his plan was to seduce her slowly and without her really realizing it.

Molly was in heaven ... or as close to heaven as she could come. Arthur's arms around her waist felt familiar and excited at the same time. No matter how many years they were married she could never get enough of him ... and his love making. She brimmed with the sexual energy between them but Arthur kept his caresses and kisses at a teasing level.

Gradually Molly relaxed in Arthur's arms and felt her eyes grow heavy. She had had a long night, guarding the outskirts of Hogwarts, and a packed day with the usual work for the order. Now in her husband's gentle arms she felt sleep wrap his arms around her, drawing her slowly into the land of dreams.

Arthur felt Molly's head bumping against his shoulder and her breathing slowing down and becoming more even. He had to smile but understood his wife's weariness. She had guarded all night long and then had run the household in Headquarters. Now she had every right to be tired and he was driven by the wish to make her relax. Arthur saw his first chance to court her. Deciding to surprise her pleasantly, he picked her up gently.

"Arthur, what are you doing?" she asked surprised, squirming a little in his arms in a vain attempt to get back down.

"Just relax and let me take care of you," Arthur whispered sensually into her ear.

His voice sent a warm shiver down her spine and she snuggled into his arms again.

----

Arthur let the water fill the tub and looked for Molly's favourite bath foam. Finding it in the counter near the sink, he grinned and then applied it generously in the current water, inhaling deeply the soft aroma of wildflowers and honey. He checked on the temperature and nodded, feeling the warm water against his fingers. It was just the right temperature.

He sat on the edge of the tub and thought for a moment. He wanted to surprise her, to make her enjoy her bath. Standing up quickly, he walked towards the little table near the sink and turned on the lamp on it, turning off the rest of the lights a moment later.

The atmosphere was warm and the faint light of the lamp illuminated only the tub's part of the bathroom, leaving the rest of the room in the darkness. But he still didn't feel completely satisfied.

Walking back into the bedroom, he took a couple of roses from the vase on Molly's vanity. Turning his head lightly towards his wife, napping peacefully on the bed, he couldn't help to smile proudly. She was sleeping on his side of the bed, a relaxed expression on her face. Her hair covered part of her cheek and her left hand lay gracefully on his pillow. Her silhouette was illuminated by the orange light coming from the curtains, her chest rising and falling regularly. He stared at her silently for a while before returning to the bathroom.

He took the petals off the stems and threw them in the tub, just over the white foam that was filling the edge of the water. He nodded satisfied at the result and then went back into the bedroom to wake up his wife.

Molly smiled weakly at the sight of her husband as he bent over her, kissing her neck softly in order to wake her up. She pressed her head deeper into the pillow to give him better access and moaned his name tenderly when he kissed a sensitive spot just below her ear.

"Good evening, my love," he whispered in her ear.

"Good evening, Arthur," she responded with a hoarse voice, the signs of her sleep still evident.

He kissed her one more time and then lifted her in his arms, ignoring her faint complaints about his move.

"Close your eyes," he pleaded softly.

She looked at him confused but then obeyed. Arthur opened the door of their bathroom with his foot and then walked directly towards the tub, sitting down on the edge.

"You can open your eyes again," he whispered and she obeyed again.

She almost gasped at the sight of the room. The sweet smell of wildflowers and honey filled the air, while the faint light from the lamp wrapped the room in a romantic atmosphere. Looking back at him she smiled in delight.

"You're really an extraordinary man, Mr. Weasley," she whispered, bending down for a quick kiss.

"And you're the most beautiful woman I ever met, Mrs. Weasley," he responded against her lips.

They shared a long loving gaze and then Arthur helped her out of her robe and dress. Molly was about to take off her underwear when he asked her to stop and turn around. He kissed her shoulders softly, his tongue flicking over her spine slowly, making her shiver lightly in his arms. Then he unhooked her lacy cream bra and let it fall to the floor. Kneeling behind her, he grasped the hem of her panties in his hands and slipped them down slowly, caressing her silky skin sensually. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the attentions her husband was lavishing over her body, her mind focused on the light patterns he was tracing on her back with his fingertips.

"You're ready for your hot bath now," he stated in a low and sensual voice right next to her ear.

Molly simply nodded and turned around to face Arthur. Her body was simply perfect, he thought to himself. Despite the fact that she was no longer a young woman her breasts were still soft and firm, her stomach flat. Her legs were still perfectly toned, the muscles under her skin tensing visibly. He couldn't help to feel attracted to that gorgeous body of hers, but he knew he had to wait. She was too special to toy with her heart.

"I'll wait for you in the bedroom," he said, looking at her while she immersed herself in the warm foamy water.

"Please stay," she pleaded with big eyes.

He couldn't help to smile down at her and sit on the edge of the tub. They talked for a while and then he washed her carefully, caressing her delicate skin with his hands. She thanked him with a long passionate kiss and then she got ready for bed. She was just about to slip under the covers when a knock on the door penetrated the quite of the room.

"Come in," she called and was surprised to see Charlie standing in the door.

Her son shuffled embarrassed from one foot to the other and refused to look up to her.

"Hi, Mum," he whispered. "I'm here to get Dad. He said he would sleep in my room for the foreseeable future."

"Yes, Charlie," responded Arthur before Molly had the chance to open her mouth, "I'll be with you in a moment."

Charlie drew his head back and closed the door gently behind him. Arthur came closer to Molly but she drew back from him and stared at him, confused beyond words.

"Why are you not sleeping here?" she asked accusingly, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

"I don't want to rush you into anything," Arthur said softly, looking down on his hands. "I want you to be ready to take me home. I guess I'm afraid that if we make love now when things are not yet resolved you might regret later."

Molly nodded silently and reached out to him. Hesitantly Arthur moved closer and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Molly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled him gently.

"I love you, Arthur, always have and always will", she reassured him. "But you are right, I might regret making love to you later. I just thought you wanted to be close and sleep in the same bed."

Arthur chuckled ruefully.

"I can't be in the same room with you ..." he began and Molly's heart sank.

She wanted to move farther away from him but he tightened his arms around her.

"... and keep my hands off you," he ended, smiling at her softly before bending down and kissing her with all the tenderness in his heart.

Soon the kiss became more passionate, leaving them both breathless. Arthur traced a line of kisses down her jaw and neck, suckling gently on the exposed skin.

----

"You're look different" Minerva greeted her the next morning, smiling at her.

"What?" Molly asked annoyed.

She hadn't slept well without Arthur lying next to her. Often she had woken up at night, graving his touch and reaching out to his side of the bed only to find it empty.

"Yeah, you look more relaxed than usual. And … oh my God!" Ginny almost cried out, coming over and observing her mother closely.

"Ginny! ... What?" Molly asked, giving her daughter a disapproving look.

"Professor McGonagall, look at it. Oh my God!" Ginny said, turning towards her professor and pointing out a spot on her mother's neck.

"Oh my God," Minerva gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

The two of them shared a disgusted look and then gazed back at Molly. Both of them knew that Arthur had slept in Charlie's room. A terrible thought crossed Ginny's mind and her jaw dropped a few inches.

"Now stop! Would you tell me what's going on here?" Molly said, getting really angry about being left out when it obviously concerned her.

"You have a … oh my God!" Ginny repeated and then touched a spot on Molly's neck.

Molly looked confused at her daughter and suddenly realized. Arthur had kissed her passionately when they had said goodnight on the bed, maybe he had sucked on her and then … Oh God, he had left a sign on her neck! She tried to act nonchalantly, but she had a hard time to hide her embarrassment.

"Do you have a lover?" Ginny asked directly, voicing her suspicion bluntly.

"What?" Molly responded astonished, too shocked to really comprehend her daughter.

"Where is Dad? Does he know about it? Does he know about him?" Ginny said quickly.

"Ginny, please calm down. There is no man to talk about. And by the way it's not your business," Molly responded aloud, cutting across her ramblings.

"Then so who gave you this? It sure as hell wasn't me or Professor McGonagall," Ginny argued.

"It's none of your business." Molly repeated just as stubbornly as her daughter.

In that moment the door opened and Molly jumped when Arthur walked in. Ginny, though, didn't notice and went on attacking her mother.

"So if my mother, the perfect wife, stalks around Headquarters with a hickey on her neck it is none of my business?" she insisted.

"A hickey? What hickey?" Arthur asked, looking at Molly with a puzzled expression.

"Nothing, Arthur," Molly responded, trying to hide the evidence with her hair.

"Nothing?!? You have a hickey on your neck! That means you have a man, doesn't it?" Ginny all but screamed.

Arthur looked at his daughter and then back at Molly. He took a step towards his wife and moved a lock of hair from her neck, in order to have a better look at the spot where the now infamous hickey was. He had a hard time to hide the grin that was forming on his lips. Suddenly he remembered perfectly how he had made it, how she had moaned softly while his lips had grazed the soft skin of her neck, how her breath had caught in her throat when he had bit her and how she had gasped, her head rolling to the side, when he had sucked on her. Taking in a deep breath he moved his gaze from her neck to her eyes and mouthed to his wife.

"Sorry."

Ginny was speechless and eyed both her parents with wide eyes. Suddenly she groaned and hid her beet-red face in her hands. Why hadn't she thought of that first? It was so obvious.

"Oh my God," she moaned again, "my parents are having an affair."