"Molly Minerva Malfoy! Get down here now!" Her mum's voice seemed near desperate at this point. "I mean it!"
Yet again, Molly rolled her eyes. She hated her full name. Molly Minerva Malfoy. MMM. It was just a bit too poetic for her liking.
"Coming mum!" She yelled back. Just as she was about to leave the room (again), she turned back and picked up the contents of her letter. Her mum was going to absolutely love this. Maybe it would even get her out of her funk. After all, who could disapprove of a woman who was the mother of not only a head boy, but a head girl as well? Even if that woman did do such outrageous things as keep her maiden name, have a career, and once dated your husband.
Molly ran down the stairs, grinning. She slowed down about twenty paces from the living room, as so to appear like a proper young lady in front of the Finnegans. But she absolutely could not contain her excitement.
"Mum! Dad!" she screamed, "Guess what! Guess who's Head Girl this Year! Me! I'm Head Girl! Me!"
Molly was not quite sure why absolutely no one looked happy following her amazing revelation. In fact, far from being euphoric, Mrs. Finnegan huffed and glared at Ginny. Her mum smiled back uneasily, before turning and grabbing Molly's arm, and stalking out of the room.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
"Molly," Ginny said in her overly patient voice, "Do you know what my aim in having this dinner was?"
"To impress the Finnegans," Molly returned promptly. "And I thought having not one, not two, but three impressive children might help with that."
Ginny Weasley gave her daughter a glare that clearly said that this was not the time to be impetuous. "Do you know what Sally Finnegan and I were just talking about?"
Molly shook her head, wondering what her mother was talking about.
Ginny tried again. "Well, do you know who Virginia Finnegan is?"
"Well, I'm guessing she's Mrs. Finnegan's daughter…" Molly began, stopping abruptly when she saw her mum's glare. "She's the Gryffindor Prefect in my year."
"Yes, she is," Ginny said. "And, get this: she was desperately hoping to be Head Girl. In fact, just two minutes ago, when you walked into the living room with your announcement, Sally was telling me about just how badly her daughter wanted to be Head Girl. And how badly she, Sally, wanted her daughter to be Head Girl. And just what she would want to do to any girl who managed to wrestle Virginia's rightful prize away from her."
Molly attempted to lighten the mood. "I thought you were just saying how Mrs. Finnegan is anti-feminist. If she just wants her daughter to grow up to be a quidditch mum, why does she care about her being Head Girl."
Ginny's earlier glare, which had never quite vanished, became even more pronounced. "That is not the POINT!"
"And what, pray tell, is?"
"The POINT," Ginny said, "is that tonight was about making the Finnegans like us. Tonight was about making a good impression on Cissy's future in-laws! Not pissing them off!"
"Well, excuse me," Molly huffed, "for being excited about getting something that I too, like Virginia Finnegan, very much wanted. And excuse me for thinking that maybe my family would be excited for me. Like how they were excited when Artie got to be Head Boy, or when Cissy was declared valedictorian. Or when each of them became captain of their respective quidditch team. Excuse me for thinking that you all would care when I accomplished something. Do you know how hard it is to be me? I am always in someone else's shadow. You and dad are both war heroes, Cissy is a super smart, super star auror, and Artie is an INTERNATIONAL QUIDDITCH STAR! And finally, finally, I get to be the one who accomplishes something, and all anyone cares about is that Cissy's fiancé's mum might not be overly thrilled!" By now tears were streaming down Molly's face, and she attempted to flee the room, hoping to take refuge in her chamber.
Ginny looked positively stricken. "Molly! Wait!" she yelled. "Please." she added in a whisper when her daughter didn't seem to be listening. "Please, wait."
Molly turned around. "What?" she said pointedly. "What is it? Do you need me to go back into the living room and apologize to Sally Finnegan? To suck up to her and her family? What do you want?"
Ginny stared down at her shoes. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so terrible. And she couldn't believe that her daughter thought so little of her that she would ask that question. Except, after the last few minutes, she could.
"Molly," she said, barely speaking above a whisper, all the wind knocked out of her. "Molly, I am so sorry. I didn't mean it like that. At all. Of course I'm proud of you, we all are. It was just bad timing, and well, I was surprised."
"Okay. So. You were surprised. Well I'm glad to know you have that much faith in me, MUM." Molly returned sarcastically.
"Not by your selection," Ginny corrected quickly. "I was just caught off guard, is all. It's not that I wasn't expecting it, I was, just not at that moment, when the woman I was desperately trying to impress was saying how much she would hate whoever got the position, and her family too. And, well, I was under a lot of stress tonight, I… well… Well, I have thousands of explanations for what I said, but none of that really matters. Because none of that excuses my behavior. Molly, I am infinitely proud of you. And right now I want nothing more than the opportunity to do that all over. And kid, never feel like you are in anyone's shadow. Your dad and me, we only became war heroes out of necessity, and the only reason your sister and brother have fame and fortune you don't is because they're older than you. By the time you're their age, you'll have all that, I promise. And I feel safe making that promise because I know you, and I know what you are capable of.
"Molly, sweetheart, I love you more than life itself, and far more than I love the thought of impressing the Finnegans. And I am so very sorry for how I reacted to your simply amazing news. Please, Molly, forgive me."
Molly almost smiled. She'd asked her mum to forgive her many times before, and often for more heinous offences, but never had her mum asked her forgiveness. It felt somewhat good to be the one holding the moral high ground for once. After standing there relishing the moment for a few seconds, she gave into her mother's pleading look, and gave her mum a hug.
"Well then." Molly said grinning. "Looks like it's time to do some damage control. Shall we go explain ourselves to the Finnegans?"
