Chapter Ten:

Crowded Burrow

A/N: Thanks for reading! I'm sorry it took so long to update. I have decided to keep the children young but because I decided that, I needed to stop and think the rest of the plot through and figure out where I was taking it. Originally I was going to age them but because that idea is changed, I had to re-write the rest of the outline. Anyway, it's all figured out and that means you will be getting more updates.

Thanks,

Savoren.

Molly was right, it didn't even take three days for her to get approved for homeschooling the children and on Monday she quickly found her house filled with excited children all under the age of eleven. She could already feel a headache coming on.

"Ginny get that out of your mouth!" Molly screeched as she tried to carry all the cups of apple juice to the table.

Seeing Mrs. Weasley struggle, Severus jumped to his feet and hurried to her side, taking two cups from her.

Molly smiled, "Thank you dear. That was very kind of you."

Severus stayed silent, still not feeling comfortable enough to speak to this woman.

Molly huffed, "Ginny!" Thrusting her hand underneath the five-year old's mouth, Molly gave her a dangerous look, "Spit it out!" Immediately a slimy eraser landed in her hand. She disposed of the eraser and then knealed in front of her daughter. "Why were you chewing on the eraser?"

Ginny cringed and stuck her finger into her mouth, "Felt good."

Molly barely understood a word she said, "Get your finger out of your mouth, Ginerva."

Whining, Ginny pulled her finger out and gave her mother a sad look. "It hurts!"

Harry, knowing exactly what was wrong with Ginny, stood from the table and went to the freezer, pulling out a piece of ice. He handed it to her, "Suck on that. It will make it numb."

Ginny quickly did as Harry instructed her.

Molly sighed, Ginny is only five but all the boys got their six-year old molars early too. "Back to the table, Ginny. You need to finish your coloring assignment." She looked at Harry's and gave a small shake of her head, "Harry, you're not even close to being done."

Harry blushed and hurried to his seat, "I'm trying. . ."

Molly nodded, "I know, sweetie. Is there anything you need help with?"

Harry quickly shook his head and dropped his eyes to the coloring assignment. He is taking so long because it's hard to stay in the lines. Currently they are coloring a picture for each letter of the alphabet. Molly had decided to start them all off with something simple so she knew where they all were developmentally.

Molly took her seat at the head of the table. Fred and George weren't taking the assignment seriously and were coloring everything wrong (for instance, they gave the picture of the cat pink and green zebra stripes). Severus was flying through the assignment and was already on letter S. She kind of gave up on Fred and George taking this assignment seriously, she knew it was too easy for them anyway but it's a good way for them to relax before the real work for them starts. Percy refused to color and instead started reading Hogwarts, a History. Ron enjoyed every second of his coloring.

George snorted as he looked at Severus' picture of the sun. "You colored the sun wrong. . . Have you never gone outside during the day-light? Is that why you are so pale?"

Severus glared daggers at the red-headed twin and clenched the crayon tight. "I did not color the sun wrong, jerk."

Molly sighed and said in a warning tone, "Boys."

George ignored her. "The sun is yellow not red!"

The crayon snapped in Severus' angry grip. He seethed, "No! The sun is red not yellow! The sun is a big ball of fire and fire is red!"

Molly clapped her hands, trying to get their attention. "Boys, use your inside voices. You may disagree with each other but I do not approve of name calling or degrading. Am I clear?"

Severus slouched in the seat and crossed his arms. "He started it. . ."

Molly sighed. "I don't care who started it, I am ending it." She leveled them with a firm look, "You are both right. The sun is on fire and, up close, technically, the sun will be red. However, George is also right because at a far-away glance, the sun is yellow."

Ron frowned deeply, "I thought we weren't supposed to look at the sun?"

George ignored his brother and smirked proudly at Severus, "Told ya."

Severus snarled at him, "Bite me."

Growing impatient, Molly stood and took both the twins' coloring assignments and Severus', "I believe you are done now. This assignment is far too easy for the three of you anyway." Filing their assignments in the folders with their names on it, Molly found them a different assignment to do. She placed the math work sheets in front of them. "I want you to complete these in silence and," she narrowed her eyes at the twins, "by yourself."

Harry could feel his anger growing inside him as he, once again, accidentally colored outside the lines. Why am I so stupid? I can't even color right! Angry, Harry pushed the assignment away, "I don't want to color anymore!"

Molly frowned, Harry and Ginny were the reasons she assigned this assignment. Harry seemed a little delayed in some things. "Why, dear?"

Harry shoved the parchment toward her, "Because I suck!"

Molly's frown deepened, Harry was probably told that phrase by his relatives. "You're fine, Harry."

Harry shook his head, "NO! I can't even color inside the lines! I tried and I failed!"

Molly looked at his assignment, he barely colored outside the lines. "Your picture doesn't have to be perfect, dear." Does he have OCD?

Again, Harry roughly shook his head. "Yes it does! I messed up! Can't you just give me a different assignment?"

Molly returned the assignment in front of the boy. "No. You need to finish this. You can do it! You just need to stop being so hard on yourself, dearie."

Glaring at the parchment, Harry angrily picked up a different crayon and moved on to the next letter, K. I'm too stupid for school - Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were right! He glared at the picture, he didn't even know how to pronounce that word and (like most of the others he couldn't pronounce, he didn't even know what this picture was of!).

Harry bit his lip and played with the crayon, hoping she wouldn't notice if he just stopped coloring altogether.

Severus flew through the addition and subtraction worksheets, growing bored.

Molly smiled, Severus is definitely intelligent. She took the worksheets from him and handed him multiplication and a dividing worksheet. She watched in awe as he flew through that worksheet as well. Molly couldn't help but feel impressed - Severus is only six-years old and yet he just dominated all of her math worksheets. I'm going to have to find harder ones.

She looked over at Harry and sighed, he was still staring at letter K. "Do you need help, Harry?"

Harry shook his head and stayed silent, not willing to admit it.

Molly sighed and stood to go stand beside him, "Do you know what animal that is?"

After a moment, Harry finally shook his head. "No ma'am. . ." He whispered, embarrassed.

She smiled at him gently, trying to ease his mind. "That's okay, dear. This is a kangaroo. Kangaroos are brown and see that," She pointed to the pouch on the animal, "That is where the baby kangaroo (which is called a joey) sleeps and is protected." Her smile grew when she noticed Harry's interest, "Kangaroos live in Australia."

Harry nodded, staying silent. He picked the brown crayon up and tried his best to stay in the lines. Harry's anger immediately grew when Ginny (the five-year old) finished the coloring assignment before him.

Harry clenched the crayon hard in his grip. I should just give up on school - I'm too stupid! Looking over at Ron he noticed that the red-head wasn't taking the assignments seriously.

Ron rolled his eyes and gestured to his mother who was helping Ginny with the math worksheet.

Harry chuckled softly under his breath and looked back down at the coloring sheet, he only had two more letters to go.

Molly felt as if her head was going to explode and her patience has already been wearing down to practically nothing. Fred and George won't stop picking on Percy. Harry and Ron won't stop playing with their food (currently they are making a castle out of their carrot sticks and peanut butter) and laughing about everything. Ginny is refusing to eat and constantly keeps whining. Severus is the only one behaving and that's mainly because he's reading a book while eating his snack.

When Molly's back was turned, Ron reached over and grabbed a lump of Ginny's hair, pulling down viciously. Hearing her cry out, Ron smirked, "I told you to stop whining! Now, you actually have something to whine about!" He gave the lump of hair another tug.

Molly spun around, eyes flashing dangerously. "Ronald Bilius Weasley! Let your sister's hair go, now!"

Ron immediately dropped the hair, glanced at Harry and gave him a smirk causing Harry to laugh.

Molly's patience snapped. She snapped her fingers and pointed dangerously in front of her, "Ronald Bilius you come here this instant!"

Harry's smile immediately faded away as he watched his friend pale and grow nervous.

Slowly, Ron stood from the table. He dragged his feet until he stood in front of his mother. Keeping his head down, Ron fidgeted as he waited for her to yell at him.

"Give me your hands," Her tone caused shivers to run down Ron's spine.

Biting his lip, he glanced at the rest of the kids behind him, a tint of a blush appearing on his cheeks.

Molly felt herself growing impatient, "Ronald Bilius, now!"

Nervously, Ron slowly put his hands out, already cringing for he knew what was to come.

As soon as his hands were in front of her, Molly slapped the one hand while saying, "You do not pull your sister's hair!" She gave him a stern look as Ron immediately hid his other hand behind his back. "Give me your other hand, Ronald!"

Whimpering, Ron looked up at his mom, "I'm sorry, mommy. I won't pull her hair again, I promise."

Molly kept her face stern, "Hand. Now!"

Dropping his head, Ron brought his other hand up and closed his eyes. As soon as she slapped the second hand he quickly dropped it and tried to wipe the sting away. "I'm sorry, mommy. . ."

Taking hold of his chin, she leveled him with a firm look. "Apologize to your sister, not me."

Sighing, Ron turned to his teary-eyed sister and mumbled, "Sorry."

Ginny whimpered, "Mummy he doesn't mean it!"

Ron growled at her, "Shove it where the sun doesn't shine, brat!"

Harry tried to hide his laugh but wasn't very successful since Molly shot him an angry look. He dropped his eyes to the plate and stared at the carrot castle.

Molly smacked the table with both hands causing all the children to jump and immediately shut their mouths. She closed her eyes and took in a deep, calming breath. Finally some peace and quiet! When she opened her eyes she had to hold in her growl when she saw Fred and George poking Percy, Ron and Ginny were glaring daggers at each other. "That's it!" She yelled suddenly.

All children froze.

Molly continued, "Snack time is over, none of you seem to want to eat anyway! Ginny, Harry and Ron, go take a nap!" She then leveled her stern look on the twins, "Fred and George, separate! I want one of you to sit at the coffee table in the living room and one of you at the table. I expect you to work hard on your assignments and keep your traps shut!" She turned to look at Severus and Percy, sighing softly. "You two, just behave and be quiet."

No one moved a muscle.

Ron frowned deeply, "How come we have to nap but Severus doesn't? He's the same age as us!"

Severus rolled his eyes, "Because I'm not being a brat, that's why!"

Ron clenched his fist, "I want to hit you! You're such a mean person!"

Fred and George exchanged nervous looks before playing a quick game of rock, paper and scissors. Fred lost and watched sadly as George escaped the kitchen, going to the living room to do his homework.

"I'm a mean person? I'm logical! I don't have to nap because I haven't misbehaved!" Severus yelled at the red-head.

Molly felt as if she were going to explode. "ENOUGH! I have had it! Ronald, put your nose in the corner. Severus, you too!" She then spun to look at the other two, "Go nap. Now."

Harry and Ginny jumped to their feet and hurried off. Ginny went to her bedroom and Harry got comfortable on the couch, cuddling with a crocheted blanket.

Severus glared at the corner, feeling as if everything was unfair. Crossing his arms over his chest, he contemplated his vengeance on the red-head.

After six minutes (one minute for each year of their life), Molly called the two boys to her side. Seeing them both glaring at the kitchen floor, she sighed softly. "What did you do wrong?"

Severus kept his mouth clamped shut, believing he didn't do anything wrong.

Ron nibbled on his bottom lip and mumbled, "Yelled and was rude to Severus."

Molly nodded, "What else?"

Ron forced himself not to groan. He wracked his brain, trying to figure out what else he did wrong.

When Ron remained contemplative, Molly took pity on him and said, "You did not follow the instructions. When I tell you to do something, you do it. Do you understand?"

Ron gave a quick nod of his head, making his hair fly everywhere. "I'm sorry, mum."

Pulling her youngest son into a hug, she kissed the top of his head, "Go nap. You are forgiven and I still love you." She smiled softly as she watched Ron run up the stairs to his bedroom.

Hiding a mischievous smirk, Fred perked up in his seat and looked at his mother. "Mum, I need to go to my room real quick."

Molly frowned, "Why?"

Fred pretended to seem annoyed, "I just do. It's private. Please, may I go?"

Sighing, Molly waved him off. She turned back to the still angry child, "What did you do wrong, Severus?"

Severus let out a heated huff. "Nothing," he snapped, attitude dripped from his tongue like poison.

Molly frowned. Disapproval etched on her face, "Are you sure?"

Severus nodded. "I'm positive. I stood up for myself, that's not bad."

Tired, Molly sighed. "Standing up for yourself is good. However, you need to learn how to stand up for yourself in a better way. Do not let anyone taunt you into calling names or yelling back. Remember to always try to not go down on peoples' levels. Do you understand?"

Severus' glare relaxed, what Mrs. Weasley said is smart and makes sense. "Yeah, I understand." He relaxed his shoulders, dropping the attitude stance. Finally, he looked up at her, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley."

Smiling, Molly pulled him into a hug. She felt the child stiffen at first but after a few seconds he relaxed. Molly placed a small kiss to the top of his head, "I forgive you, child." Patting his back, she pulled out of the hug. "Now, how about you finish that book you were reading during snack time?"

Severus nodded and quickly returned to his seat at the table.

After a few moments, Fred returned to his seat. He seemed to be struggling with an excited smile.

Everything went silent and Molly sunk in the chair, trying to calm down. This whole homeschooling situation is a lot harder than she anticipated (no wonder the Head Lady was such a bitch).

Unfortunately the silence did not last long. After about ten minutes, the silence was destroyed by a sickening scream coming from upstairs.

Heart racing, Molly jumped to her feet and ran up the stairs. Knowing her children, she knew the scream came from Ron. Throwing the bedroom door open, she hurried to her crying son's side and immediately checked him up and down, panicking. "What's wrong, Ron? What happened?"

Tears streamed down his face, the pain in his hand thumped and stung. He raised his hand and showed his mother the red bump, "Something bit me!" He barely noticed the rest of the kids standing in the doorway because his tears made his vision blurry.

Fred felt his heart drop. He didn't mean for the spider to bite his brother, just scare the crap out of him (maybe even make him wet the bed!). Fred remained silent, scared of getting himself in trouble if he admitted to putting the spider in Ron's bed. Ron always seemed fascinated with spiders, Fred just wanted to show him that spiders are actually really creepy - especially if you're sleeping with it!

Percy pushed his way into the bedroom and knelt down beside his brother. He grabbed his brother's free hand as their mother inspected the bite mark. Keeping his voice gentle, Percy asked, "Did you see what it was? Does it burn?"

Sobbing, Ron sniffled, trying to stop the snot from rolling down over his lips. "I-it was small and black. It burns so bad!"

Percy immediately started rubbing his brother's free hand, trying to console him in his time of pain. "It'll be okay, Ronnie. Mum will make you feel all better, okay?"

Harry watched on with fear-filled eyes, whatever it was that bit Ron, could it bite him too?! He nervously looked around the small room.

Molly immediately started waving her wand over the bite mark and watched as the swelling went down and the redness faded. Once the mark was barely pink, she asked in a gentle voice, "How does it feel, baby?"

Sniffling, Ron hid his face in his mother's chest and shuddered, "Better. W-what was it?"

Molly gently rubbed her son's back in a soothing, circular pattern. "A spider, sweetie. It's okay though." She continued comforting her son and looked to the rest of the children still crowded in the doorway, "He is fine now. You may return to what you were doing." She frowned when her eyes landed on her guilt-stricken son, Fred. With a frown, she eyed him closer, "Fred, do you have something to say?"

Fred shifted his weight from each foot and waited until all the other kids returned downstairs. A shameful expression graced his face as he looked at his little brother. His heart clenched as he thought about how he caused his brother pain. "I'm. . . It was only meant to spook him." Seeing her face immediately harden, Fred dropped his eyes to the floor and nibbled on his lip.

Ron sat up and turned to glare at his older brother, "You put the spider in my bed?!"

Cheeks red, Fred gulped and gave a tiny nod of his head. "I'm so very sorry though, Ron! I didn't mean for it to hurt you!"

Patting her youngest son's back, Molly gently moved him off her lap. Placing a gentle kiss to his forehead, Molly tucked him back into bed and patted his hair, "Go back to sleep, dearie. I will wake you shortly." When Ron nodded and closed his eyes, Molly turned to give her other son a sharp, disappointed look. "Follow me to your bedroom, young man."

With his head hung low, Fred did as he was told.

When Minerva entered the Burrow a little before lunch-time, she found herself surprised to see every child quietly working at the kitchen table. Looking at the Mother Goose, Minerva noticed Molly looked exhausted.

Molly looked up from her knitting when she heard Minerva enter. A look of relief flashed over her face and she jumped to her feet, quietly ushering Minerva into the living room.

Once in the living room, Minerva looked Molly up and down, concerned. "How bad was it?"

Molly waved it off, "Oh, it wasn't that bad."

Eyeing her closely, Minerva thinned her lips at the younger woman. "Don't lie to me, Molly."

Feeling rebuked, Molly sighed and forced herself to not blush. "They were hooligans - complete nutters at some points in the day."

Minerva sighed deeply and looked through the open door-way to look at her hard-working boys. "I'm sorry to hear that, Molly. What did they do?"

Leaving out a tired sigh, Molly ushered Minerva to a seat and then sat down herself. "Have no worries, it wasn't only your boys that were driving me bonkers. Fred and George wouldn't stop poking fun and they weren't taking their work seriously. Ginny wouldn't stop whining all day. Ron pulled Ginny's hair. Fred put a spider in Ron's bed (the spider bit him!). Severus talked back and gave me attitude after getting into an argument with Ron about nap-time. Harry," She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Harry seemed to have given up half-way through the day. Have you noticed how little he thinks of his intelligence? He thinks of himself as being daft, did you know that? I mean, yeah, the muggles put a damper in his education but it's not like he cannot catch up."

Minerva bit her lip, worried. "How much harm did they cause him, education wise?"

Molly sighed softly and glanced at the, now, hard-working little boy. "He cannot read very well and still have problems with a quill and writing in general. I couldn't get him to complete a single math problem on the worksheet - the worksheet was adding and subtracting. Also, I'm pretty positive he has OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). He would become extremely irate when he accidentally colored outside the lines and he showed other symptoms throughout the day."

Minerva bit her lip and juggled this information. "Will he be able to catch up to other children his age?"

Molly nodded, "Of course! I will just have to keep making him practice and teach him ways to cope with his OCD. You need to get him officially checked out though - this is just my guess."

Minerva nodded in understanding, "Thank you." Looking in the kitchen again, her eyes landed on her older son. "And Severus? How is he?"

Molly's eyes sparkled with excitement at the thought of Severus' intelligence. "I think a lot of his education remained with him even though he de-aged! He zoomed past all the math worksheets that I have. He did fantastic in everything that I put in front of him. Did you know he even knows that the sun is actually a star and it's on fire?"

Minerva smiled, relieved that Severus is doing so well. "That's great news! Thank you, Molly." Changing the subject, Minerva let out a tiny sigh. "So, after this rowdy day, are you sure you want to keep homeschooling them?"

Molly chuckled, "Do you think I'm going to let a bunch of kids scare me?" She shook her head, a small laugh begging to escape. "I expect to see the boys here again on Wednesday." They had agreed that school would be on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays.

After giving the red-head a hug, Minerva re-entered the kitchen and eyed her two boys. "Are you ready to head home? The Great Hall will be filling up for lunch soon."

Harry glanced at Ron, today they had grown pretty close (even though it was only during free-time, snack-time and when they didn't want to take the work seriously). Looking back at his mother, Harry shook his head. "I want to stay here."

Minerva forced herself to not frown but she couldn't help but feel a little confused. Why doesn't he want to come home with me? She couldn't help but feel a little hurt. At a closer look, Minerva's frown grew, Where is Max?! "Harry, dear, where is Max?"

Harry's eyes grew wide and panic immediately took over. He dropped the quill that was in his hand and sprinted into the living room, his heart pounding in his chest. When he saw his bear laying on the couch, Harry let out a loud sigh of relief.

Picking Max up, Harry held him tight against his chest, "I'm sorry I left you here, Max. . . I don't know why I forgot you. It's just. . . Ron woke me up from the nap because he was screaming and I just ran to see if he was okay. I'm so sorry, Max. Will you ever be able to forgive me?" He eyed his one-eyed bear closely and once he felt satisfied, he hugged Max tighter, "Thank you! I love you, Max!"

Molly offered Minerva a smile and whispered, "That's a good sign. Maybe he won't need Max for much longer?"

Minerva felt her heart flutter. She smiled at Harry, "Come, bring Max. It's time to go home. Daddy will be waiting for us and you know it's rude to be late to lunch."

Harry sighed and looked at his friend, "But if we leave I can't see Ron for a long time." He dropped his eyes, knowing full-well he was whining like Ginny.

Severus rolled his eyes from his seat, "Oh for Merlin's sake don't be a baby!" He felt his mother's disapproving glare on his head and immediately changed his tone, "We will come back in two days - that's not a long time."

Harry glared at him and crossed his arms, crushing Max against himself.

Before the two could argue further, Minerva gave Harry's bottom a light pat and pointed towards his Fall robe, "Gather up your stuff; it's time to leave."

Sighing, Harry did as he was told.

Once both boys were ready, Minerva, once again, thanked Molly and then they returned to Hogwarts just in time for lunch.

A/N: Again, I'm sorry for the long wait!

Savoren.