A/N: Since yesterday was Father's Day in America, and I grew up myself being one of seven (I was definitely the Charlie by age but Ron by personality) I had to think back to what I did when I was younger with there being so many of us children. This chapter was inspired by those thoughts.
Arthur could sense the tension building around Molly as the first of September grew closer and closer and could easily tell that the children saw it as well as causing everyone to tread carefully around the woman as if she were an active volcano, able to explode at any moment. He couldn't help but feel like it was his duty, as the man of the house, to give Molly her space, planning a special trip on August 31st as he woke the boys before the sun had even rose into the sky, going into Ron's room last.
"Ron..." He whispered softly, shaking the eight year old awake. "Ron, wake up."
"Mmmmm but mum...I did it last time..." The child groaned out, rolling his back away from Arthur who laughed at the words.
"Ron, wake up. We're going somewhere." He said, shaking his son again as Ron's eyes fluttered open.
"Where?" He asked with a yawn, rubbing his eyes.
"Come on," Arthur said, walking out of the door. "Get dressed, hurry." He said.
Ron realized where they were going as he walked out of the Burrow into the front yard, seeing Charlie, Bill, and the twins standing outside with fishing poles and smiles, Charlie's smile being the widest.
"Where's Percy?" Ron asks in confusion.
"In his room." Fred answered, rolling his eyes.
"Studying." George adds in.
"He's not coming." Fred completes as Ron nods his head in understanding. He imagined Percy upstairs explaining the founding of Hogwarts to the pet rat that he always kept close, Scabbers.
"Okay, come along boys. Let's go. The fish won't jump up on the shore themselves." He said, walking out towards the wooded area where they knew a small creek sat behind.
The five boys followed, nothing but the early morning birds chirping as they were surrounded by the misty morning air. They didn't get but maybe fifty meters from the Burrow before a soft voice followed behind.
"Wait up." The voice called out, as the boys turning around to see seven-year-old Ginny running towards them still wearing her flowered nightgown with a fishing pole in hand. "I want to come!"
The twins sighed, rolling their eyes as Ron snarled his nose. "No Ginny," Ron said with a groan, "You're a girl. Girls don't go fishing."
"They do too!" Ginny whines back. "I want to go! Please daddy?" She begged, looking up at Arthur with pleading eyes, her red hair still tangled from the night of sleep before. "I want to catch a big fish."
"Let's take her dad." Bill says, placing his hand on Ginny's shoulder as she nodded her head, looking up at Arthur with hope.
"Okay," Arthur answered with a smile. "But we need to get going. If we don't, we will miss out on the first casts of the morning. Come on kids." He said, guiding the way as the twins groaned behind him, Ron following beside them as Charlie led the group walking beside Arthur.
"Thank you Bill," Ginny said softly with a smile from the rear of the group, only getting what she could have mistaken as a wink in return, sending giggles through her. She knew she was going to miss Bill once he was finished with school and went off to work with the Bank. Sure, there was an age gap between the two of them but Bill was nothing like the rest of her brothers. He stood up for her when none of the others would. He listened. Bill made her feel more special than Ron, Charlie, Percy, or the twins. He listened to her.
As the family walked through the tree path, the sun rising to turn the sky into a burnt orange. Ginny hugged herself, protecting her bare arms from the dew filled morning air as they made their way down to the lake, showing the most beautiful sight the young girl had ever seen as the mist rolled in over the darkened water, the only light being the sunlight shining through the dense fog. She stared in awe, amazed that anything in nature could hold a look that she had only seen in books as the boys all cast their reels in.
Staring down at her own fishing pole, Ginny looked at it in confusion. "Here, like this." Charlie explained to her, reaching around on either side of his sister's arms as he showed her how to hold the pole. "Then, you throw it like this." He said, whipping her wand over from the girl's right side and she watched in amazement as the little red and white "bobber" as her father called it fell into the water gracefully, Charlie reeling it in slightly until the line was tense. "Now you wait," He told her. "When the bobber goes under, reel it in as fast as you can." He explained before moving back over to his own pole.
At first, Ginny couldn't withhold her excitement, a wide smile covering her face as she stood happily, waiting for the tiny red and white ball to disappear beneath the water's surface. She waited for it to disappear, moving with the gentle waves of the lake as first Ron, then George, followed by Fred each reeled in their own fish. Sighing, Ginny sat down knowing her turn would be next as she sat down on the wet grass and watched intently.
Pulling his pole back, Arthur was next to pull a fish to shore. A few hours later, Bill doing the same thing as Ginny sighed heavily, laying her head in her hand out of boredom. Nearly falling asleep, she was jerked awake as she felt a firm tug on her pole causing her to stand up and reel the lure in just as Charlie had taught her.
"I have one! I have one!" Ginny yelled out, causing the boys to run over to try and help as her little hand moved quickly on the reel until it pulled tight. "Daddy, what do I do! What do I do!" She said as the line stopped, only moving side to side.
"Let me see it." Arthur answers, taking the pole from his young daughter as he reeled it in more. "This is a big fish Ginny. You couldn't reel it in on your own." He said, fighting with the fish.
"GET IT DADDY!" Ginny screamed, jumping up and down as the boys stared in awe. "CATCH MY FISH! CATCH HIM!"
Arthur fought with the fish, teasing it as he would stop reeling in, allowing the fish to swim out further before dragging it back, hook in mouth.
"What are you doing dad?" Bill asked with curiosity.
"Wearing it out." Arthur answered as sweat covered his brow. "It will put up less of a fight once we get it to shore this way." He said before finally reeling the fish in for good, it being the biggest one any of them had caught that morning as Ginny beamed with pride.
As the kids all walked back to the Burrow, each one having at least a half-dozen fish and Arthur being sure the kids had nearly wiped the lake clean of fish amongst the group of them, Arthur was the first one to walk into the Burrow.
Instead of their home being loud and full of Molly's random cleaning sprees, it was silent. Deathly silent. Concerned, Arthur quickly reached for his wand. "Kids, put the fish on the table and go to your rooms. Now." He said, uncomfortable with the silence as a shiver of fear ran down his spine. Silently, he walked into the laundry room, then the living room, and then the food pantry, not seeing Molly at all.
Opening the door slowly, he saw his wife laying on the bed, her face in the pillow as she sobbed heavily.
"Molly?" He asked with concern, walking over to the bed. "Molly-wobbles, what's wrong?"
"It...it was...so..so...quiet." She says, her voice broken up from the tears closing her throat. "One...one day they...they won't be here." She said, crying as she wrapped her arms around Arthur's neck, crying into his shoulder. "This...this year is Bill's last year at...at Hogwarts." She said, remembering back to when they had first moved into the Burrow, whenever Bill had been potty-trained and said his first word. She pictured the young boy of five with red, long hair jumping around the room as he talked about one day doing magic like daddy, one day marrying a woman like mummy. Crying harder, Molly pulled Arthur closer to herself as he softly stroked his wife's hair, feeling sympathy for her.
"Molly-wobbles, this is part of it. We knew this day would come when they would grow up." He said, forcing Molly to look up at him with her tear-filled eyes as he wiped away the damp tears from her cheeks. "We just have to let them go. Let them out on their own and hope we raised them right. Bill is a great kid, he will do well out there in the real world."
"But...but...he's my baby." Molly cried, looking down. "I can't just let him go, let Charlie go. And...and then...then..then Percy." She said, choked up as her chest heaved and she tried to breath.
"Shhhhh," Arthur hushed, pulling her close. "It'll be okay. This is part of being a parent Molly. We can't hold them close forever." He said, his own heart silently breaking at the thought. "All we have to do is know we did well and wait."
"What...what about it being so quiet?" Molly cried, the deep fear of no longer being needed deep in her mind.
"We wait," Arthur answers, "Once Ginny moves out, we wait for the laughter of the grandkids. I promise, the Burrow will never have a moment of silence."
"Love in it for...forever?" Molly asked, sniffing softly.
"Until the walls are bursting Molly-wobbles." Arthur answered, kissing his wife softly on the forehead.