Molly: 13

Roxanne: 15

Lucy: 7

July 8th, 2016

"And the funny thing is, I don't even think he notices how utterly daft she is. Really? Twisting her hair around her fingers and batting her eyelashes around him constantly. It's pathetic," stated Roxanne, shaking her head as she spoke with Victoire.

"Boys are funny, Roxy," laughed Vic, and there was something about them that both bothered her and made her want to be included at the same time. She was bothered, because shouldn't they care that Lucy, her little six-year-old sister could possibly be laying on her deathbed? Maybe they would care if that were actually the case...

No. No, she musn't think such silly and cruel thoughts. That was ridiculous. Lucy was going to be okay, because the Healers were brilliant and they could do anything. Magic could fix anything.

She also wanted to be included, just a little bit. Lily was a year younger than her, but Lily was rough and tomboyish and Molly hated, hated mud and Quidditch and getting dirty. (Something she had gotten from her father, so to speak). Roxanne was two years older, but at her age, two years older could be a million years. Roxanne was kissing boys and talking about boys, and honest to Merlin, would she talk about boys so much when she turned fifteen? She hoped not. They talked about boys way too much for her liking, thank you very much, and boys would never look as pretty and as graceful and elegant as ballerinas did.

Molly sagged into Aunt Ginny's sofa. Most of the cousins were over - Freddie wanted to see James, so Roxanne had came over and Victoire tagged along to see Teddy. Dominique was outside shrieking and playing Quidditch with the boys, and Louis was probably upstairs, reading. Maybe, if Louis and herself were closer, she would talk to him, but he was the same age as Roxanne and they'd never been all that close, really. Their parents weren't as close as, say, Aunt Hermione and Aunt Ginny, as well as Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron. One time, a long time ago, when she was little and the adults thought that she couldn't hear, there had been an arguement, a big one. Something about a black sheep, and her dad had stormed out of the Burrow, and Mum had worriedly trailed behind, picking up Molly and apologizing to her mother-in-law. They didn't speak to anyone - anyone! - for six months, until Aunt Ginny flew in to a rage and demanded that dad better "smarten up," or she'd unleash the Bat-Bogey Hex on him. Everyone in the Weasley-Potter-Lupin family knew that curse, and were rightfully terrified of it

"He doesn't see her for what she really is," continued Roxanne, brushing off her Muggle trousers. "Everyone in the whole entire school knows that she's a tramp, really, going around and snogging someone else's boyfriend. It's classless, really. I bet you even Molly knows who she is."

When Roxanne spoke her name, her head snapped up.

"What?"

"Oh, Molly, do you know Claudia? Y'know, fifth year Claudia, curly black hair?"

"Er... yeah." Vaguely. She though Claudia and Roxanne were friends. Clearly not, then.

"Isn't she horrible?"

"Um... yes. Absolutely horrible. Don't like her at all."

"Good girl," Roxanne grinned, and she said it in a way Molly didn't like. Almost condescendingly.

The Healer strode around the room, adjusting the potions on the shelves and moving everything around. Not once, in his life, had he ever encountered anything like this before. He had some notion as to what it was, but it was vague and he wasn't supposed to give out any information about what was happening until he had a full diagnosis, which could take weeks. Weeks. Usually, he was okay with sick people. He could handle the vomit, the paleness, all of the symptoms. But Lucy Weasley? That hit too close to home. He had a daughter about the same age, a little girl with blue eyes and blonde hair and her mother's looks. Sarah was her name, and he would do anything for his baby girl. Anything.

He would come home late tonight, just like he had for the past few days. You work too much for your own good, his wife said a few nights back, but this... this scared him.

This was a magical problem, no doubt about it. When her family had left the room, he had tried something - tried to cast a spell on her, a simple hair-changing colour charm. It hadn't worked - Lucy Weasley's hair was as vibrant red as ever, and when he had attempted to cast the spell on her, the purple was there again. The one that Lucy's mother had described.

In the magical medical industry, purple was a bad omen. In Muggle folklore, it was the colour of royals, of richness. In the magical world, purple was an omen, and if Healer Linley was right, it could only mean one thing - Lucy Weasley was losing her magic.

"Mum," breathed Molly. "Mum!" There was a strange feeling bubbling up in her throat – laughter. She'd been so anxious about Lucy that she had actually forgotten how to laugh, and when her mother showed up at the Potters' door...

"Molly, my darling," she murmured, hugging her daughter.

"Audrey," greeted Ginny warmly.

"Ginny," Audrey responded, hugging her teenage daughter.

"Mum," said Molly, backing away, "I thought you were at the hospital. Why are you here? Not that I don't mind, I miss you -"

"Your Dad thought it would be good for us to get out for a few hours. I thought you might be bored stiff here, seeing as there's nothing to do," teased Audrey.

"I'd like that, Mum," whispered Molly, nodding.

"I get it, I get it, that's fine," snapped Ginny teasingly, smiling at the mother-daughter duo. "I'll see you two later. Don't get in to too much trouble, Molly. We all know how much of a troublemaker you are."

All three of them laughed at that, and while they were walking down the pavement, Audrey leaned down to whisper in her daughters' ear. "How does the ballet sound?"

a/n - I'm focusing on two different Molly storylines here - Roxanne and Molly, and Lucy and Molly. How is it working out, those of you who've reviewed? Word count for this chapter is 1,028 words, and is being submitted for As Strong as We Are United, team three, yay!