Author's Note: As noted in the first chapter, this is diverging from canon. Harry and Ron made it on the train without Dobby's interference because Molly made sure all the children passed the barrier before she did. Why? Because a responsible parent would, that is why. Arthur had to be at work early in this version, but that doesn't mean to say he didn't help with the packing and driving/dropping off beforehand. He just left for the Ministry after getting everyone there.

Chapter 2 - Arthur

Molly wasn't in the best of moods as she attempted to focus on the beef stew bubbling in the large cooking pot in front of her. She stirred the contents absentmindedly with a long, thick wooden spoon while reflecting on the horror she endured earlier during her impulsive visit to Harry's guardians' home.

To know that Petunia—a mother herself—could have a clear conscience while she and her family inflicted such neglect on a child related to them was appalling. Molly was not going to stand by and allow such mistreatment to continue. She scooped the wooden spoon out of the stew to give it a taste. Supper was the last thing on her mind right now, but there was still someone around during the school year that needed her attention.

Arthur walked through the kitchen door as Molly pulled the fresh batch of bread from the oven. His late nights at work took their toll on her as much as they did him, especially when he was in charge of orchestrating the routine investigations that sought out illegal uses of muggle items. Much to her disdain, the overtime offered very little revenue for the work it entailed.

She leaned into him when he approached to give her a kiss on the cheek. He looked very tired, it reflected how she felt mentally, but Molly wasn't going to allow tiredness to stop her from discussing her plans with him on getting Harry out of that dreadful place he was supposed to call a home.

"How was your day, dear?" the witch asked as she swished her wand at the cupboards to have the kitchenware set themselves neatly on the worn down table.

Arthur sat down heavily at the end of the table, letting out a long sigh as the bowl and utensils placed themselves in front of him. "As always, the process is exhausting. You'd think that people would use their heads when it comes to considering charming or hexing something that really shouldn't be tampered with."

Molly bit her tongue at the comment as she placed the bread at the center of the table. Taking her seat on his right, she summoned the large pot of stew to settle on the knitted hot plate mat in front of them.

Sometimes Arthur said the most contradicting things when it came to his job that would have himself arrested if his own personal hobbies were ever questioned. He tampered with several muggle things in his shed, but he wasn't stupid or reckless with it at all. Arthur safeguarded his own job that, if his tinkering with muggle objects was ever brought to question, he was protected under a law he wrote himself stating it all was conducive to his work. It allowed him to experiment and observe how certain muggle stuff behaved with magic so it could be identified should a future case arise.

Yet Molly wasn't stupid, she knew he tinkered with things that no one else would ever dream to modify with magic. She found the fascination a little odd, but she would be the last person to tell him that it was a complete waste of time. Arthur needed a hobby just as much as she did, especially now when their nest was empty for a large portion of the year.

She collected his bowl and took the wooden spoon to serve her husband before giving herself a helping. Molly always made large meals without a second thought, so even when it was just the two of them in the house, she didn't bother to consider the balance between quantity and headcount. Leftovers were a staple in the house, so it wasn't like it would go to waste, it was just going to be an adjustment period for her moving forward.

"How was your day?" Arthur inquired, slicing some bread for them. "First time with an empty house, I hope it wasn't as awful as you feared?"

Molly worried her lip at the questions. Being alone in the house was a concern of hers until Harry came along during the summer. He had been her priority ever since.

"You seem… distracted," Arthur continued.

"It could have gone better," she stated, accepting the offered bread and pouring a glass of fresh spring water for them. "I went to Harry's guardians' house today after dropping the children off at Kings Cross."

Arthur paused in buttering the warm bread to look at Molly. "What made you want to go and do that?"

The surprise in his tone put her on edge. Surely he wasn't completely oblivious to what she clearly saw from Harry's general wellbeing?

"I was worried about what the twins told me on how they found him. If his home life called for what they deemed a rescue mission, wouldn't you want to investigate?" Molly paused a moment to sip her water, throat drying from reciting the awful information. "Especially when it applies to a boy who saved us all from his devastating reign. I only wanted to make things better, and I found out that just talking to those people wasn't going to be enough."

Errol toppled onto the counter from the open window at that moment bearing the Evening Prophet. The owl gave a shake of his head before hopping onto the empty chair back and offering it to Arthur. After accepting the paper, he gave Errol a piece of bread before the clumsy owl flew back out the window to the coop for the night.

"I'd have chalked it up to over-exaggerated kid talk—" Arthur cut himself off after Molly got that frightening look on her face.

He cleared his throat and reapproached the topic. "You're right, dear. I honestly didn't think of it in that manner."

He unfolded the paper and placed it beside his bowl, dipping the bread in the broth as he scanned the front page. "So what came of your trip to the muggle world?"

Molly gave the stew a quick stir with the wooden spoon before abandoning it back in the pot. "I was absolutely mortified, Arthur!"

The wizard stopped his casual reading to give his wife the undivided attention he knew she was needing. Molly meant business on this topic, and he'd be a fool to half ignore her about it over dinner.

"Those awful people have his room fashioned like a prison cell. I felt ill just looking at it. Not to mention that that woman could call herself a mother and knowingly continue to treat that poor boy so terribly." Molly was on her feet now, pacing in the kitchen as she talked.

This was a normal routine when she was frustrated or upset. Her supper was quickly forgotten on the table as she went to clean. Arthur got up and placed a gentle hand on Molly's shoulder, pulling her from the premeditated cleaning she was suddenly intent on doing.

"I'm sure we can figure out something to help ease Harry's home life."

"I'd be putting every good mother to shame if I don't do something about it, Arthur," Molly said, leaning into her husband to accept the hug he offered. "Knowing that he's endured so much for so long already hurts me so much."

She tucked her head under Arthur's chin as they embraced. "I am not sure what it will take or what we could do—"

"The only way I know that will truly help is to take him away from such travesty," she said quietly. "And that means I will be speaking to Dumbledore about it as soon as I am able. He's the one Harry's aunt said placed him in her care in the first place, so I will go directly to the source."

Molly's tone shifted from distress to determination. Arthur knew that her mind was made up; trying to sway her from this decision to take Harry in would be impossible at this point. He pulled back and looked at her fondly.

"I know you would take on You-Know-Who himself for the sake of your kin, and I love you deeply for it. If talking to Dumbledore is what is needed to fix this troublesome situation, for you and for that wonderful boy you already call your own, then you know I'd do anything for you and I support you every step of the way."

Molly felt the tears well up in her eyes, taking the black towel she unknowingly had in hand to dab them away. Arthur gave her a loving kiss before guiding her back to her chair and pushing it in as she sat so the two could resume their supper together. It was quite rare for them to revel in the quiet of their home, they couldn't let it go to waste, even if they were discussing practically adopting the Boy-Who-Lived like it was a daily consideration between them.

"After supper, I will rearrange Ron's room and get the spare bed in there. He won't mind sharing a room, would he?"

Molly wanted to shed even more fresh tears of joy at the unquestioned support Arthur was declaring. She knew she chose the perfect companion for her to raise a family with based on how much love he had to offer rivaled her own. She grabbed the wooden spoon and gave a fresh scoop of the stew to each of them to warm it up.

"I doubt he would."

Originally written for:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)

Monthly Challenges For All 2018

The Houses Competition

Word Count: (Per Google Docs) 1,573

Proofread Update: November 2019