That following June, the weather had hit its worst. It was a hot, humid summer with little wind and even less rain, causing Molly's vegetable garden to go sour. She couldn't help but stress as she looked down at her dried up tomato plants, looking a bit more like sticks in the dirt than they did tomato plants, and wonder how on Earth she was going to pay for Bill's school books, baby Ginny's clothing, and vegetables that following year. The twins didn't have any children for her to get hand-me-down books from and the teachers were so busy with switching the books required for a class each year, constantly getting a new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher, which hadn't changed since Molly and Arthur were in school, that she didn't think it would do her much good to try getting hand-me-downs from anyone anyway.
She continued to keep in touch with Madam Lovegood down the street, each of them letting the other know how far along they were with their pregnancies as Madam Lovegood was only a few weeks behind Molly in her own pregnancy. They would sit there, talking about how their daughters would grow up, what they may or may not be like, whose looks they would get, and how they would get to play dress-up with them, both women equally excited.
Molly sighed as she leaned down, now seven months pregnant, and picked away at her dead tomato plants, hoping to salvage what little she could.
"Mum, it's hot." Charlie complained, walking up to her. His bright red hair even redder as the sweat collected in it, causing it to stick to his forehead. "Can't we do something?"
"Please?" Bill begged, putting his longer, shoulder-length hair up in a ponytail to get the heat off of the back of his own neck.
"Well," Molly answered, wiping her hands on her apron. "Maybe if you would cut your hair, it wouldn't be so hot." She said as she looked at Bill, who instantly covered his head with his hands as if to hide his hair from his mother.
"I'm not cutting it!" Bill argued back, a constant argument he had held with his mother as she shook her head in disgust. "I like it long."
"Well it looks horrid." His mother exclaimed, "Can't I just cut it for school? I would like for you to look nice whenever you attend Hogwarts on your first day."
"No," Bill answered, repeating himself. "I like it long."
"And you two are bored?" She asked, looking from one to the other as she watched the twins playing off in the distance, each of them laughing as they chased a chicken around the back yard, trying to catch it. She knew they had a hidden plan for the chicken but what it was, she couldn't yet figure out and if it kept them busy, she wasn't going to bother them. A little bit closer to her, Ickle Ronniekins waddled from one portion of dead grass over to another, slowly making his way closer to Molly where she knew he was going to want to be held, stopping her from working in the garden. Percy, on the other hand, quietly sat in the kitchen, working on his reading as he read Hogwarts: A History for the fifth time that week, trying to learn anything extra that he could. Sighing as she knew her yard work was done for the day, Molly walked over and picked up Ickle Ronniekins, giving in to his desire to be held once more.
"Come on then, come inside." She said as she saw the twins grab up the chicken, each one holding the chicken by a single wing as they carried it off. "I will show you two a new game."
The boys sat at the kitchen table, waiting impatiently as Molly dug around in the living room closet. They couldn't help but be excited. The last game she had taught them was Cribbage and although the counting to fifteen and mobbing each other's points was fun, and it was really fun to skunk each other, the game had grown old and they were ready to learn a new one.
"Ah yes," She said to herself as she reached up onto the top shelf, pulling down a brown and white checkered wooden board. "Here we are."
The boys both looked at the board as she sat it down on the table, returning back to the closet and grabbing a small bag filled with different shaped white and black pieces.
"What is it?" Bill asked, staring at the board as Charlie flipped it over to look and see if there was more on the back, which there wasn't.
"It's called Wizard's Chess." Molly answered, placing the pieces where they belonged. "See," she says, picking up a black piece with a man wearing a crown and holding a sword on it. "This is the king." She tells them, placing him in the center of the last row facing Charlie's side. "And this one," She says, holding up a black piece that entailed a man riding a horse that was bucking up. "This is the knight."
Sitting there she explained to the boys, Percy as well as he scoot his chair closer to listen in and try and learn the new game as much as possible, how to play Wizard's Chess. None of them had much interest in the game, as it seemed like too much to learn and memorize until she told Bill to move one of his pawns. Listening intently, he moved the pawn just as she had said.
"Now it's your turn Charlie, pick a pawn and move it."
Charlie did as he was told, moving his pawn forward two spaces so that it was directly diagonal from Bill's white one. The boys watched in awe as Charlie's black pawn reached over and smashed Bill's white one to pieces, causing a smile of amazement to sweep across all three boys faces.
"That was awesome!" Charlie exclaimed as Percy and Bill both stared at the board in awe, their mouths dropped open. "I want to do it again!"
The rest of the evening, Bill, Charlie, and Percy didn't feel an ounce of heat as they all three took turns playing Wizard's Chess against one another, watching their Knights take out a Bishop or their King's cry out in defeat as he got demolished with their favorite term, "Check mate."
Percy wasn't as good at playing as his other brothers, not having the attention to be able to focus on his next move three moves out like the other two boys could, but he still enjoyed playing. By the end of the night, Molly shooed them all away from the chess board before sending them up for their showers. While she bathed Ickle Ronniekins in the tub, Charlie snuck past, making his way into the kitchen and grabbing the chess board and pieces before returning to him and Bill's bedroom.
Bill and Charlie tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, Bill sitting on his bed looking out the window while Charlie sat there reading a magazine Arthur had brought back for him from Mister Moony at the Ministry.
"It has a great article on dragons that you should read." Arthur had told him that night at dinner, "And an even better one on Threstrals, Moony said. He asked about you, wanting to know when exactly you would be going to Hogwarts. Told him you had a few more years, but was looking forward to school either way."
Charlie had taken the article with pride, always wanting to learn anything more that he could on the unknown creatures.
"Did you know the Hungarian Horntail is the most dangerous dragon breed there is?" Charlie asks, kicking his feet back and forth as he lay on his stomach on his bed, reading the article. "It can shoot fire for up to fifty feet." He said with pride.
"So stand sixty feet away from a Hungarian Horntail, got it." Bill answered with a smile, not really caring about the Hungarian Horntail or any other kind of dragon for that matter but he knew it helped Charlie to have someone to listen.
"I don't think that will help Bill," Charlie answers, too concerned with his article to hear the sarcasm in Bill's voice. "They can fly and besides, they live in Hungary. I don't think you are going to Hungary any time soon."
"Nope," Bill answers, "Wasn't planning on it."
"And the Peruvian Vipertooth, his fangs are venomous. He likes to eat goats and cows but will occasionally crave a human, so stay away from Peru too." Charlie read, looking up at Bill for a response.
"No Peru and no Hungary, got it." Bill answers, looking out the window.
"So where are you going to go then?" Charlie asks with a laugh looking at Bill.
"I am going to go to Egypt maybe, or Rome." Bill says, staring at the stars and wondering what they looked like near the pyramids. "I don't quite know where I am going to go, but I want a job where I can travel, view the world."
"That would be nice," Charlie answers as he turns the page of his magazine before hearing Percy's voice scream out in fear on the floor below them. Looking at each other in shock, both of them jump out of bed immediately running out of their bedroom and down the stairs towards the scream, making it there only moments before Molly and Arthur do.
The chicken, the same one the twins had been chasing around earlier that day, was now squawking as it bounced around Percy's bedroom, feathers flying all over his bed and floor.
"They….they did it" Percy whined, pointing at the twins' bedroom door as tears streamed down his face. He had opened his closet door to change into his pajamas, only to have a chicken fly out at his face going ninety-to-nothing as it made all kinds of noises, trying to get out of the dark hiding place the twins had kept it in since before dinner.
Molly swept Percy up in her hands, holding him close to her bosom as she tried to comfort him and calm him down before looking at Arthur sternly. "Go talk to your boys." She said, her face showing that she meant business whenever she said it. This time the twins had gone too far in their pranks. She then turned to look over at Bill and Charlie. "I am not going to have time to tuck you two in tonight. Go upstairs and go STRAIGHT to bed, do you hear me?"
"Yes ma'am." Both Bill and Charlie said in unison, knowing Molly meant business when she had said it. They didn't have to get but out of Molly's sight before smiling at each other and running up the stairs as fast as they could to get into their bedroom. Closing the door, they smile as they blow out the candle in their room, relying on the light of the full moon to play their game of Wizard's Chess. Occasionally as they played, Charlie would catch Bill looking out the window at the full moon behind him.
"What are you looking at?" Charlie asked once, looking behind him at the moon.
"The moon," Bill answered, not taking his eyes off of it. "I don't know, just something about it. The way it lights up the night sky, you know?"
"Yea," Charlie answers, "but it's dangerous. I read in an article that Mister Moony gave dad-"
"About magical creatures?" Bill asks, interrupting him.
"Yup." Charlie answers, matter-of-factly. "In there, it said that werewolves come out in the full moon. That if you get bit or scratched by one and survive, you could turn into a werewolf yourself."
"Oh, that's comforting." Bill laughs, making a move to take Charlie's pawn with his knight. "Too bad I like my steaks well-done."
"Yea," Charlie snickers, "Well if you want to keep it that way, its best you enjoy the moon's view from our room. Check."
"I'll make sure to do that." Bill says, focusing now even harder on the game before making a move.
"Good," Charlie says with a smile, "because I don't know if I'd like you trying to eat me."
"Rawr." Bill growls, causing both boys to laugh before Charlie touched his bishop, making one swift move.
"Check mate."