Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed the first few chapters of After All This Time. Here is chapter 4. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading this story. If you did, please leave a review/feedback.
Sincerely Yours,
NeverEndingPretending
Molly Weasley was the first to rise the next morning. It was a force of habit to rise early, seeing as she had a large family that depended on her. She came down the stairs careful not to wake anyone, seeing as no one had gotten a good night's rest since the Battle at Hogwarts. When Molly entered the family room she was a bit shocked by what she saw.
Lily Snape was asleep on the couch, her head resting against the back of the couch. George was finally asleep with his head resting upon her lap, her still fingers were buried in his hair. Molly couldn't help but smile, after all they'd been through they deserved a little bit of happiness.
Sighing Molly continued on to the kitchen and set about making breakfast for her family and their guests. It only took a few more minutes before her youngest child, Ginny joined her in the kitchen.
"Morning mum" she greeted softly.
"Hello" she responded as she passed Ginny the plates to set on the table.
"Did you see Lily and George?" she asked with a small smile touching her lips.
Molly smiled and nodded, "I did"
Ginny giggled lightly and helped set the table before they heard a noise in the kitchen. They discovered George still remained sleeping on the couch with a pillow under his head instead of Lily's lap. Ginny and Molly watched as Lily walked silently out the door and off into the marsh.
Just then Hermione came down the stairs and looked at the two Weasley women in confusion. "What happened?"
"Lily and George were asleep on the couch and Lily just took off out the back door" Ginny explained, keeping her voice quiet so as not to wake George.
Hermione nodded and pulled her coat on before stepping out of the house. She headed into the marsh in search of Lily. Ironically enough she discovered her sitting in a small clearing fingering the petals of a wild lily.
"Lily?" Hermione asked softly, "What are you doing out here?"
Lily turned back to face Hermione, her eyes had been red rimmed from crying. "I shouldn't be here" she said softly.
"What do you mean? We all want you here"
"No" she explained, "I feel like I'm using him..." her voice trailed off as tears slid down her face.
"Lily, do you mean George?" Hermione asked.
She nodded and furiously wiped her tears away. "He just lost his brother and I'm going to hurt him" she whispered.
"No" said Hermione fervently, "You won't. Do you want to know how I know?"
Lily looked up at her through her tears, "Because you have both suffered a loss of somebody close to you. You both need a shoulder to lean on and I think what you are doing has George tremendously. Mrs. Weasley told me this was the first time George has slept for three days, you did that"
She nodded and let Hermione help her up to her feet, "Thank you" Hermione nodded and hugged her.
They then set off back to the Weasley home.
Hermione and Lily returned to the home to find most of the house awake. Mr. Weasley sat at the head of the large dining room table drinking a cup of coffee. The rest of the Weasley children including; Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ron and Ginny sat at the table with their respective partners.
George was no where to be found so Lily merely took a seat at the opposite end of the table from Mr. Weasley. Plates of food surrounded them and Molly was kind enough to serve her some food and pour her a glass of orange juice.
"Thank you" she said.
Molly beamed, "You're welcome"
Moments later her grandmother and sister entered the kitchen, dressed as if to go to work.
"Good morning Lily" they greeted.
"Morning" she replied back. "Off to Hogwarts?"
Her grandmother, Genesee nodded, "There is work to be done" she explained, "And it has been decided that Minerva McGonagall will be appointed as Headmaster"
The kitchen seemed to brighten at the news, "We'll pick you up later tonight, get some rest" she said before she and Rolina apparated away.
Lily ate a bit of her breakfast before pushing her plate away. She still had no appetite but was grateful that Molly cooked her, so she did her best to finish the plate. After setting her plate in the sink she returned to her trunk which sat in the corner by the back door and removed an old, tattered black book. She flipped open to the place where she set her bookmark and began reading. Moments later a well rested looking George stepped into the kitchen.
No one said a word, Molly merely handed him a plate which she had warmed and he took a seat near Lily. She placed her bookmark back in her book and smiled softly at George. He took her hand beneath the table and she gently ran her thumb over the back of his hand. He finished eating his breakfast and thanked his mother before setting his plate in the sink and rising to his feet.
He led Lily out of the room and out again onto the stoop. He gently cupped Lily's cheek and placed a soft, chaste kiss against her lips. Though she enjoyed the kiss she didn't want things to go much farther than that...yet anyways.
Pulling away she looked back at George, her eyes sparkling with happiness for the first time in days. She gently ran her thumb across his cheek, "I don't want to take things too far" she explained softly, "I don't want to do anything rash, especially with everything that's gone on..." her voice trailed off.
George said nothing but responded instead with a light peck on the cheek before pulling her close to him. She sighed softly and melted into him, their bodies fitting together like two pieces of a puzzle.
