Molly was in the kitchen, casting scouring charms all over the mess the family had managed to create for once more. It was rather late and everyone was long asleep by now, but she could never find peace unless she knew everything was in absolute order. At least she got that time to be all alone. Or so she thought.

Bill walked up behind her silently, his bare feet hardly making any noise against the wooden floor. "Mum?"

At his voice, she jumped and turned around immediately. "Merlin, Bill! How many times have I told you not to do that? You are going to give me a heart attack one day!" her tone was barely above a whisper.

"Sorry, mum." he brushed his lips on her cheek lovingly.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had gone to bed."

"Couldn't sleep." he filled a glass with water.

"Is it the noise?" she pointed out the window. They were in the middle of a horrible thunderstorm that almost shook the house itself. Surprisingly, no one else seemed to mind. The lights themselves had gone out but Molly had made sure to cast lumos spells in every place necessary.

"Perhaps." he laid off the subject quickly. It was something else really bothering him. "Mum, can I ask you something?" at her nod of acknowledgement, he continued "Why didn't you tell Mellie about Fleur?"

She feigned ignorance. "Oh, I didn't?" she seemed to avoid his gaze.

"Mum, please be honest."

"Well, I must have forgotten, darling. There was so much to mention, that's all."

"So you are telling me I should believe that you wrote to Melanie with every single detail about everything else that's happened, yet the part you conveniently left out was the part of my fiance, who by the way you happen to dislike?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, alright. Perhaps I skipped that part." she finally admitted, defeated.

"Thank you!" he let out a long sigh. "And why is that, may I ask?"

"I...I was simply hoping that perhaps now..." she stopped half-way with obvious hesitance. Instead of saying anything, his eyes burned into her, forcing her to continue. "I hoped now that she's here you two would finally see you are meant to be together." she finished in a breath.

He could not find the words to answer her. "Bloody hell, mum! What in Merlin's beard were you thinking?" perhaps this was not the best form of language to use in front of his mother but he felt at the end of his rope. "I know very well that you are not fond of Fleur but this...this is utterly ridiculous! I mean, inviting Mel up here just so you could...Gods, how could you do that? And especially at this time when you know how dangerous it is around here." he buried his face in his hands.

"Now wait a minute, William Arthur Weasley! I did none of that. All I did was offer her a place to stay when she said she was visiting. And I am very well aware of the situation, but she had already made her mind up. What was I supposed t o say?"

"I'm sure you could have found something. I don't want her to be exposed to this kind of danger! What if she learns about The Order as well and wishes to join? What if something happens to her?Oh dear." he sighed desperately.

"Oh pipe down, will you? She is a grown woman and perfectly capable of taking responsibility of her own life. But if you are so worried, you can always talk to her yourself. See if you can convince her."

Bewildered, he ran a hand through his hair and tiptoed away from the kitchen. "Wish me luck with that." he whispered silently and then made his way back up the stairs, heading towards his room.

On his way through the bedrooms' hallway, his eye caught a glimpse of light coming from behind the guest room's door, where Melanie was supposed to be sleeping. Curious to see why she was up, he decided to make his way up to her door.

He knocked softly on the door, but received no answer. No wonder why, the sound was far too faint for her to catch with her condition so he decided to take the brave step of stepping in instead. She was buried under the blankets, a soft candlelight lighting up the room. Gingerly, he walked up to her and sat on the bed's edge.

"Mellie?" he spoke louder this time, attempting to reach her sensitive hearing.

She shifted a little from her position, then quickly turned around to meet his intense gaze and he smiled. "Hi." he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"What are you doing here? I didn't even hear you coming in." she stood up quickly, helping herself to a sitting position.

"How surprising." he joked.

"Hey!" she crossed her arms adorably, pretending to be offended by his comment but she had never been particularly good at keeping a straight face around him.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?" the smile playing on his lips faded into a look of concern.

"A little." she admitted with defeat. The idea still pained her to this day. Wizards were not supposed to have weaknesses, impairments. Not that anyone had ever confronted her about it, most people did not pay attention and those who did were always sympathetic and helpful. Everybody loved her either way. Only once did someone dare to mock her during their first year - that annoying Slytherin, Anthony Murfitt - and Bill made sure he couldn't speak for the entire week. Hexing him was worth the detention.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" he quickly attempted to change subjects, not wanting her to feel any more vulnerable.

Before she got a chance to answer, a loud thunder shook the house again and she jumped, letting out a small scream and then immediately buried herself back into the mountain of blankets. After bursting into laughter, he boldly joined her under the covers.

"Still can't sleep without a light in the room?" his voice lowered as he rested his head on her pillow and enjoyed the feeling of her silken crimson locks that had spread across it.

She giggled sleepily and it melted him. So many years - he had missed being so comfortable around someone. It never felt awkward or even uncomfortable, it was only soothing to have her close.

"Sweet dreams, Little Red." he pressed a soft kiss on her forehead, breathing in her sweet scent of cherry blossoms before he too fell asleep.