Molly: 13
Roxanne: 15
Lucy: 7
July 3rd, 2016
Her thirteenth birthday wasn't a celebration.
In fact, it felt much more like a funeral than a birthday party. It was the best they could all do right now - the cupcake, the half-hearted singing - and her parents were so weary, so tired, she didn't try and bother them about anything else.
The letter was still in her pocket. She didn't know what to do with it. Would she be accused of snooping around? Molly wasn't, honest. In all truth, she had just found it.
When her mum and her dad told her she was going to be staying with Aunt Ginny for a little while, Molly was unsurprised, but also a little hurt. She didn't say anything, though - there was no reason for her to cause unneeded and unwanted stress.
Aunt Ginny's house in Godric's Hollow was a little smaller, but the lack in size seemed to be made up for by the noise. Dear Merlin.
Lily was as wild as her brother James, and the two, despite the age difference, were as close as could be, and were often found in the garden, throwing around a Quaffle on their brooms. Albus was a bit quieter, but with a little persuading, he often joined his siblings in their escapades which usually resulted in Uncle Harry hiding his laughter behind his hand, and Aunt Ginny yelling herself hoarse before admitting it was a pretty good idea.
Molly felt a bit left out at their house. Her mum always had something for Molly to do, but since James, Albus and Lily were pretty good at entertaining themselves…
"Lemonade, Molly?" asked Aunt Ginny.
"Yeah, sure," replied Molly. She had been laying on the sofa, a book in her lap, but the words seemed blurred, and she couldn't concentrate, no matter how many times she glared at the words that seemed to float off of the page.
She was just so worried about Lucy. Why couldn't she stay at St. Mungo's with her mum and her dad? Not that she didn't like Aunt Ginny or Uncle Harry - she loved them both dearly - she just wanted to know how her baby sister was doing.
Lucy's stuffed bear was next to her, and Molly sighed before pulling the fuzzy thing closer to her, running her thumb over the silk bowtie the stuffed bear had. Lucy.
If something bad happened, she'd be the last to know! A part of her wondered if the reason she couldn't stay was because of the letter that seemed to be burning a hole in her pocket. Maybe that was the case - if it was, Molly wanted to find out what it was about. If it was a Muggle affliction, surely they could fix it! But she had heard something about it being magical…
Molly strained her mind. There was something Professor Jones had mentioned in Transfiguration a few weeks before exams…
Magic that alters the witch or wizard's magical signature in any way is very harmful.
Molly rubbed her temples like she saw her mother do and sighed. She wanted - no, needed - to know what was going on. This was ridiculous. Lucy had to be okay. The St. Mungo's Healers could do anything, right?
"Maybe. I don't know, Percy, I don't know if that has anything to do with Lucy's condition," Audrey whispered, running her fingers through her hair and looking very close to tears. "I don't know! Percy, I know just as much as you do. You know they're refusing to give us more!"
Percy's jaw was clenched, and his gaze flickered from his wife to his daughter. "I know, Audrey. The plausibility of that effecting her is high…"
Something in his words seemed to make her pale, and Audrey closed her eyes, breathing deeply. "I'm sorry, Perce, I'm sorry, this is really all my fault… Lucy…"
"No, no," her husband said. He'd never been good at comforting gestures, but damn it, for his wife, he'd try. He hadn't meant to sound like the blame was on her - because it wasn't, honest. Percy could have prevented it, too. Maybe there were signs, signs that he didn't notice. Percy laid a hand on her back and she swayed into him. "It is not your fault, Audrey. You didn't wish to inflict anything upon her, and…"
"I turned around for two seconds," she exclaimed, nearing hysteria. "Two bloody seconds, and then my - our - baby, something's wrong!"
Percy didn't know what to say. He wished there were some way he could convince his wife there was absolutely no way it was her fault, none at all. Genetics was something she had no input in - it wasn't as though she wished for this, none of them wished for this! They didn't want this, not one bit..
"And we sent Molly away and I feel so bloody bad, Percy, because that's her sister and they need each other, too, and what have I done? Molly's probably feeling abandoned, Merlin, I'm a horrible mother, and Molly, oh.. I sent them away, away from each other, and…" There was obviously more Audrey wanted and needed to say, but she settled with that, winded and breathing heavily. She was exhausted - hair everywhere, deep circles underneath her dim eyes. She was still beautiful, though, his Audrey, and her condition… wasn't her fault. He told himself that - it was the fault of the stars, of genetics, of science. He couldn't blame her for this. They were both running as thin as parchment, and what could they do? The Healers didn't know too much, and even if they did, they weren't telling… Percy clenched his fists.
"She will be okay, Audrey," said Percy, with that determined edge to his voice, his chin tilted upwards in an almost pompous manner. It was fake, he knew that much - fake confidence. But they needed it. "She is strong, brave, wonderful. Both of our girls are. And do you know who she got that from? Her mother."
a/n - Long time? Sorry. I can't wait to start writing this fic again, and thank you for all the lovely reviews! Hopefully, I'll be keeping a much more active updating schedule, because I love this fic too much to part with it. For As Strong As We Are United (go team three! Yay!). WC: 1,017.
