Thanks to mmebookworm on tumblr who prompted: Molly and Arthur when they were young. I see Molly as much like Ginny, and she interests me. Especially as I see Arthur as much like he was when he was older. Thank you so much, I hope you enjoy :)
"Dear oh dear oh dear."
"Oh dear oh dear oh dear oh dear."
"Oh dear oh d—"
"I am trying," Molly said, laying down her quill pointedly and glaring at her brothers, "to write an essay. I have NEWTs next month!"
"NEWTs next month! Did you hear that, Fab?" asked Gideon.
"I did indeed!" replied Fabian. "The lady has NEWTs next month. And you know what I heard she's been spending her nights doing?"
"Or should that be who?"
Molly's face flushed deep red, but she ignored her brothers, picking up her quill again and writing neat notes on the parchment before her.
"Or is it whom?" Fabian asked. "I never can remember which way round it goes. But fear not! I have a solution. We should refer to him by name."
"An excellent plan," Gideon agreed. "But you must remind me: what, exactly, is the name of the bloke who has been taking our sister out at all hours, besmirching her otherwise unsmirchable reputation?"
"Do you think we should have words with the chap?" Fabian asked. Molly underlined a sentence in her textbook with such force that her quill split, and she cursed, reaching for another whilst trying to contain the ink spillage on the page.
"I'm not sure," Gideon replied seriously. "Perhaps if you could be so kind as to inform me of his name, we could decide if he is worth speaking to. I should hate to think of our Mol being taken advantage of..."
"I believe his name is A—"
"Will you two be quiet?" Molly bellowed with such volume that several onlookers in the Common Room turned around and stared, and a fellow seventh year, battling the same tough essay, glared pointedly. "Sorry, sorry," Molly said, flustered, and Fabian and Gideon began to laugh. "For Goodness' sake, what do you want?!" she asked. "Can't you see I'm trying to work? My first exam is in nineteen days, and if I don't sort this Transfiguration mess out tonight I'm going to—"
"Not that we are perhaps the best people to be giving this sort of advice, but—don't you think that, if your exams are bothering you that much, you should perhaps do some revision instead of...ooh...I don't know—"
"Spending your all night in the grounds with your paramour?" finished Fabian, as his brother tsked.
"I have done nothing of the sort," Molly replied, in a last gasp of dignity.
"Please," said Gideon. "We've heard all about how Pringle nearly caught you both last night, and why Arthur got all those lashes this morning from him."
"We do want to give him credit for being chivalrous—Weasley, that is, not Pringle—and taking the punishment for you. Very Gryffindor," Fabian said.
Molly sagged slightly. "I feel so bad," she said, knowing there was no point in arguing further. "I wanted to stay too—it way my fault he got so...er...distracted." For once, her brothers let this pass without comment, a mark of how upset she sounded. "But he insisted, and now he's got detention from here until NEWTs begin and a lashing..."
"He's in detention? Bloody hell, I didn't know Weasley had it in him," Gideon said, sounding admiring. "Has he even had one of those before? We should give him tips!"
His question had clearly been rhetorical, but Molly sighed again. "I think he's had about two over his entire school career, and they've been because he forgot to do his homework, usually because he was so distracted by some Muggle nonsense..." She had tried to sound disapproving, but a smile was playing around her lips. "He's so good-natured, he'll get on with anyone. Not like me, I've got a terrible temper. I'm always shouting at people..."
"You? Shout? Never!" said Fabian. The twins were the target of one of her outbursts about three times a week. "Look, seriously," he added. "It's just one thing. It's not a big deal."
"I should've taken the punishment with him!" Molly insisted. "I was at least half at fault. And with all his detentions, and revision and my Prefect duties, we're hardly going to see each other until school is over! I feel so bad..."
"Well, when it is all over, think of how much fun you can have!" Gideon said encouragingly. Molly sighed.
"Don't feel guilty," Fabian added. "Or—if you do, do something nice for him. Get him a present or...something," he finished with a shrug.
"But what could I get him?" Molly asked.
"I dunno, he's your boyfriend," Fabian said. "I'm sure you'll think of something."
Two days later, Molly approached her brothers, who were sitting under the shade of a big oak tree in the grounds. It was another lovely May evening, and by all rights she should have been strolling around the grounds of the Castle with Arthur. Instead, he was in detention, again, and it was all because of her.
"Whatever it is, we didn't do it," said Gideon, the first to spot her.
"Don't be silly," Molly replied, rolling her eyes. "There haven't been any explosions this evening, so I know you're not up to anything."
"No explosions yet," said Fabian, hastily stuffing several sheets of parchment in his schoolbag as she sat down.
"Look, I need your help," his sister said. He began to make a quip about the change from normal circumstances, but Gideon had seen the serious look on his face, and kicked his brother to make him be quiet.
"What is it, Mols?" he asked.
"I was thinking about what you said about getting Arthur a present," she replied. "And I think it's a good idea. I still feel terrible about the whole punishment thing, and I want to make it up to him somehow. There's something I know he's always wanted, but I don't know how to get it. And I thought you might help."
"It's not something rude, is it?" asked Fabian.
She ignored this. "I duplicated a diagram from his Muggle Studies homework the other week," she said. "It's of something called a battery." She said the word carefully, like it was foreign. "I don't know what it does, but Arthur's obsessed. But he doesn't know where to get one from, and neither do I really. I was hoping you might be able to help. You're usually able to get your hands on all sorts of things you're not meant to..."
"Why, Molly, that's the nicest thing you've said to us all month," Gideon said, beaming.
Fabian looked equally pleased. "Because of that, we'll see what we can do," he said. "Give us a couple of weeks, and we'll get back to you."
"We can't make any promises," Gideon added, "but when we know more, we'll be in touch. We can't tell you when, or where, or even how, for we must retain an air of mystery to our—"
"I see you at breakfast, lunch and dinner every day," Molly interrupted. "You can tell me then. Just not in front of Arthur. I want to keep this one a secret."
"Alright, your highness..."
Three weeks later, and two days before her first NEWT, Molly was in the library, trying to stuff as much Charms information into her mind as she possibly could without her brain exploding. For the first time in an age, she was there with Arthur, but sadly she could not actually see him as he was hidden behind a pile of Ancient Runes books. She just assumed he hadn't actually disappeared into a pile of translations, and was still working away opposite.
She was noting down the difference between the charm to eradicate boils and one to merely reduce their appearance when a note fluttered onto her page. Frowning, she turned it over. The items you required have been obtained. Meet us by the statue of Belinda the Bothersome in ten minutes to acquire them. Bring twelve (12) forms of ID and two (2) Pepper Imps.
She gave a shriek—hastily muffled—and Arthur's head appeared around an extremely large tome entitled 4358 Runes for Flowers and Herbs, 8th Ed. "Are you alright, dear?" he asked.
"Fine, fine," she replied. "Would you watch this for me? I just have to pop out for a moment." Without waiting for a response, she rushed out of the library to the statue of Belinda the Bothersome several corridors away.
"Hello?" she said.
"Bring out your ID!"
"Don't be an idiot, Fabian," she said as he appeared.
"I'm Gideon!" he said indignantly.
"No, you're not," Molly snapped, as Gideon appeared. "Do you have my...item?"
"We do," said Gideon. "It was a long and arduous struggle for us to acquire it, but we have succeeded. We had to talk to a man—"
"Who knows a man—"
"Who knows a hippogriff—"
"Who knows a—"
"Alright, alright! Just hand it over," said Molly.
"Do you have our Pepper Imps?" asked Fabian.
"Not at the moment, but I'll buy you all the sweets in the world next Hogsmeade weekend," Molly said impatiently. "Do you have it?"
"We'll hold you to that," promised Fabian. "Hand it over, Gid."
His brother did as was asked, and Molly accepted the package with some trepidation. She hadn't expected it to be quite so...small. Inside, she found the item she had requested, but it was even smaller. "I...are you sure this is it?" she asked.
"Positive," Fabian nodded. "We got it from Jack Halloway in our year; his Dad's a muggle."
"We couldn't believe it either," said Gideon. "But we got someone else who's muggleborn to confirm it. That's definitely a battery."
Molly turned it over in her hands. "What does 'triple A' mean?" she asked.
"Dunno," Fabian replied. "Ask your boyfriend. Where is he, anyway?"
"In the library," Molly answered. "I should go back, before he comes looking for me. But thank you," she added, slipping the package into the pocket of her robes.
"All the sweets in Honeydukes, remember?" Gideon called, as she skipped down the corridor.
"Yeah, yeah!"
They didn't have as many exams at NEWT level as they had with their OWLs, but the ones they did have were both tougher and longer. All the seventh years were feeling the strain, barely clinging on, but both Molly and Arthur had something of a reprieve in their second week of exams. Both had to suffer through a four hour Transfiguration written paper on Monday, but then Arthur didn't have another exam until Thursday morning's Muggle Studies, and Molly had until Friday before she had to face her Charms practical.
They had long ago decided that Tuesday would be their day, doing nothing but strolling the grounds and finding shaded spots to snuggle up together, forgetting about exams for one day. The weather held out, remaining gloriously sunny as the roamed around enjoying nothing but each other's company for what felt like the first time in a very long time.
"I suppose we should be getting back to the castle for lunch," Arthur said with some reluctance as they heard a bell ring in the far distance. Molly shook her head, indicating her schoolbag. She'd used brought down some sandwiches and cakes, and a bottle of lemonade for them to share, using charms to keep the food fresh and whole.
"You are perfect, you know that?" Arthur said seriously, and she laughed. They enjoyed them in the shade of the willow trees—both being redheads, they had to stay out of the sun or be at risk of turning the same colour as Apollyon Pringle when he'd caught them together—and lazed around afterwards, enjoying one small day of freedom.
"I could fall asleep," yawned Arthur.
"Don't," replied Molly. "I've got something for you."
"More cake? I couldn't eat another thing," he replied. In response, she handed him a package, neatly wrapped and tied with a ribbon.
"It's not cake," she said, as Arthur frowned.
"Have I forgotten an anniversary?" he asked.
She laughed. "No, silly. I wanted to get you something, because you wouldn't let me be part of the punishment from Pringle. I know, I know, you were okay with it," she said hurriedly, as he looked about to protest. "I just...wanted to get you something because I like you. A lot." She turned pink as she said this, and he leaned forward and pecked her lips.
"I'm sure I'll love it, whatever it is," he said gallantly, and Molly, barely able to supress her excitement, demanded he open it at once.
He tore of the paper, and she watched his face change from generically pleased to totally ecstatic. "Molly!" he cried. "It's a battery!"
"It is!" she said, before her words were muffled by his passionate kiss.
"But where did you get it?" he asked in wonder, once they'd broken apart.
She looked smug. "I have my sources."
"My God," he said, staring at the battery. "I definitely picked the right girl."
Molly laughed aloud. "I'll say," she agreed. "But, there's one thing I have to know. I don't understand what it is, this battery thing. What does it do? What is it? What's it for?"
"Oh, the battery?" Arthur asked. "Well it's...it's a battery, right, which means it...I believe they have many uses—many varied uses—and muggles use them for all sorts of things. As for what they are, they're...well they're..."
Molly's eyes narrowed, and the tips of his ears turned pink. "You mean you don't know?" she asked, unable to believe how much effort she'd put in to procure something he didn't understand.
"I...well I...I mean...I have some understanding...but...no," he said ruefully. "No, I don't. But I am going to have so much fun taking it apart to fully understand it!"
"Honestly," she said, shaking her head. She tried to be angry, but he looked so sweet, she couldn't quite manage it. "I expect a three foot essay on the function of a battery when you're done," she said primly.
He laughed. "I can think of something else I'd rather be doing," he said.
"Like what?" she challenged.
"This," he said, and kissed her.