Team
Falmouth Falcons
Position
Chaser 1
Main Prompt
Coven
Optional Prompts
[Word] Priority
[object] Clock
[Setting] Dusk
Word Count
1,255
Molly took one more look around the empty room before she turned the light off. It was the beginning of summer and for the first time since Bill was born, she didn't have anything to do. The house was eerily still and quiet as she walked downstairs.
Glancing out a window she noticed that the sun was already dipping below the horizon and headed to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. As the food cooked, she decided to tidy up, and began to scrub the old table, but slowed as her hand passed over a deep scratch, smiling slightly, as she traced it with a finger. They had had it practically forever and the old thing was so beaten up, but she couldn't bring herself to get rid of it as there were so many memories tied to this single piece of furniture.
Nearly 30 years' worth of events had happened here, both good and bad, and she remembered every single one.
They had celebrated the birth of all 7 children here and every birthday that followed, 7 acceptance letters and, eventually, 7 coming of age parties, though, with each of those there came a new set of challenges.
She had always known that 17 meant that she would soon have to let another one of her children find their place in the world and just hoped that she had raised them well enough to do so. With each child that left she felt as though a part of her was going with them and the difference in the house always took time to get used to.
This time, however, she didn't think she could ever get used to so much silence, never knowing how long it would last.
Sighing, she glanced at the clock that hung on the wall and saw that most of the hands were on work, with the exception of her husband, who was now on his way home.
She finished up before going to meet him at the door, smiling slightly as he kissed her on the cheek. "Dinner is just about ready," she said as she took his coat and hung it up.
Arthur seemed to pick up on her uneasiness so he smiled and took her by the hand. "How about we eat dinner in front of the fireplace?" he suggested as he walked with her to the kitchen.
Molly felt the heat of a blush in her cheeks and smiled a little more, there were times when she swore he could read her mind and it just made her love him more. "That sounds perfect."
Arthur helped her plate the food before carrying it to the couch, turning on the radio to try and drown out the silence a little. Molly lit the fireplace and sat down with him on the couch to eat.
During the meal, Arthur told her about his day but the conversation was short-lived as he wanted to go to bed shortly after finishing. "Are you coming? You must have had a long day as well."
Molly shook her head. "I just have a few more things to finish up, I won't be long."
Too tired to argue, Arthur kissed her before climbing the long staircase.
Molly watched him disappear and once he was out of sight, she started to clean up the dinner plates, in slightly better spirits than before.
As she tidied up, she knocked over a pile of books she had meant to deal with later and bent down to pick up a picture that had fallen out of one of them; it was her and her friends on their last day of school as they prepared to face the world.
"It feels like a lifetime ago." She smiled softly as ghosts from her past seemed to speak to her and she remembered her school days.
"Tell us everything!" one girl demanded as soon as Molly walked through the door. Had they really stayed up late just to pester her?
Molly blushed and was glad that the lights were off as she took off her cloak. "Nothing happened," she told them, "we just had drinks at the Three Broomsticks."
The girl who had asked the question laughed and sat on her bed. "C'mon Molls, do you really expect us to believe that drinks made you almost an hour late?" she asked with a teasing grin. "Give us a little more credit than that."
Molly smiled a little too and threw a pillow at her. "I'm going to bed so you might as well too," she said before laying down, though she didn't fall asleep right away as she replayed the night in her mind.
The next day in class it was more of the same, the girls enjoyed trying to get information out of her and Molly did find some entertainment in seeing how long she could keep them hooked.
This had been an almost weekly occurrence with something always happening to one or another of the girls.
Upon meeting as first years they had of course been nervous but after that first night they had become fast friends.
Even though their group did branch out a little, the girls were often inseparable and no matter what, their friendship took priority over everything else.
They spent countless hours helping each other study and practice. There was always someone to go to for advice, and although they might have teased or joked around, they never judged.
"I wonder where they are now." She picked up the books and stacked them once more before noticing that the top one was about the end of the original war. "Oh, that's right…" she said before glancing at the clock again.
None of the hands were on work anymore, but they weren't exactly on home either.
No one felt like they were truly home unless they were at the Burrow, nor did the Burrow feel much like home when it was so empty. t She wasn't sure if it would ever feel like home again.
It had been more than a year since that last battle, and she thought about it as she climbed the stairs.
They had finally defeated the man – no, she didn't feel like he deserved to be called a man, he had tormented people for decades and they had finally beat him. But at what cost…
There was now another child that would never know his parents, a family that had grieved for a young man who shouldn't have even been there, and they had lost one of their own.
He had been old enough to decide to fight, and did so heroically, but despite the size of their family there was still an emptiness that hung in the air whenever they were together. They all felt lost, and their clock hands reflected that.
Molly stopped with her hand on the door to her room and looked up the stairs, almost imagining she could still hear the laughter that once filled these halls.
'C'mon Georgie, I'll race you.'
'No fair! You got a head start!'
'You just have to be quicker, maybe next time.'
'Watch it! You're going to hurt someone!'
'Sorry, Perce, did we almost make you drop your super important love letter?'
'Stop being such a grouch all the time.'
'Yeah, your face just might freeze like that.'
As the thought faded, Molly pushed open her door and crawled into the bed, Arthur waking up just enough to drape an arm around her before they both drifted off.