"...if you do one good deed, your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one."
From The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
Chapter 10: Molly and Arthur
It had been about a month since Alastor brought Madeline to The Burrow. Molly finally got to hear the girl talk. She was beginning to think that the girl simply couldn't until one day she overheard her whispering to Charlie. She could only catch snatches: "Don't wowy Charwie...I potect you." Her pronunciation was more babyish than Bill's, who was a few months younger, and she still shied away like a feral cat whenever Molly tried to touch her, but she was growing more comfortable in her new surroundings and was quite attached to Molly and Arthur's two sons. In fact, Charlie and Madeline could usually be found trailing after Bill no matter where he was.
Though Molly grumbled to Arthur, when she thought the children were out of earshot, about how terrible it was for Alastor to drop the child in their living room and than disappear for a month, her heart sunk to her stomach when Arthur came home from the Ministry with the news that Alastor would be picking up Madeline to stay with him for a couple of days. Nobody asked her if it was all right! Nobody cared how much effort she put into caring for the girl, how many frustrating sleepless nights she spent unable to console the crying girl and all this on top of caring for her own two little ones!
"Then you should be glad to have a break," Arthur offered stupidly.
"You just don't understand a mother's heart!" sobbed Molly.
"Mollywobbles, you aren't her mother."
"Harumph!" She stormed out of the bedroom muttering something about needing to get to the laundry, all the while sniffing back tears.
Arthur took an altogether different attitude about their small charge, perhaps because he wasn't responsible for the daily care of the children or maybe because he had a much more lighthearted outlook of the world in general. His approach was not without results.
One day, Arthur had just arrived home from the Ministry and was kneeling on the floor in front of Madeline and Bill. They were watching intently as he silently placed a little silver washer under one of the three plastic egg shells sitting in front of him. This was a silly little trick he learned from a muggle street entertainer. He raised his eyebrows and smiled mischievously and whispered, "Watch." He slid the egg shells around, rearranging them. "Now where is it?" Immediately Madeline tapped one shell with her tiny finger. Arthur grinned and picked it up, revealing the washer. Madeline, quick as a wink, grabbed it and clutched it in both hands.
"Me too! I want one too!" shouted Bill.
"You've got to be quick," his dad told him as he placed a small screw under a shell and repeated the process. Bill quickly pointed to one shell. Arthur lifted it to reveal the little screw, but before Bill could pick it up, Madeline snatched it and scurried away to hide under a writing desk.
"No Fair!" shouted Bill.
His dad tried not to smile. "As I said, you've got to be quick. Here, I think I have something for you." He looked toward the kitchen and back to Bill. "Don't tell your mother," he whispered as he produced a toffee from his waistcoat pocket. Bill grinned and ran to the back porch to eat it.