Author's Note

Ready to hear a little more about the Weasleys time during the war? Me too! It's fairly detached but you'll soon know more about each person's story...hope you enjoy it and please do let me know in a review.

Love,

Wishin Girl x x

p.s. I apologise for my attempt to illustrate Fleur's accent but I think it would come out fairly strong when she's upset - you'll know when you see it :)

...

"I had a thought." Molly piped up that Sunday night after dinner when every one of her biological and non-biological children was gathered in the lounge, hiding from a summer rainstorm. "We all led such different lives over the past year and I think it would be good to share the activities of those years with each other. It would help us to understand what we each did and why."

It would help us all process what happened to us too, she thought to herself but Molly knew her family well enough to know they would do almost anything for each other but often very little for themselves.

Percy hadn't been particularly well incorporated back into the family yet and a few eyes flickered to him subconsciously. It wasn't that he wasn't welcome, it was just difficult for many of the younger generation to trust him after he had hurt their parents so intensely. However it had actually been Hermione and Ginny's run in with journalists late the night before that had sparked this idea for the matriarch, Molly was certain that tomorrow's prophet would contain incorrect information about the two young women and wanted them to have a chance to get the real facts out there with the family first.

"If anyone doesn't want to share then that's totally okay. I just wanted everyone to have the space to if they wanted to." Molly continued nervously but she needn't have been so worried as everyone immediately agreed. "Let's start with the oldest then, work our way down in age order?"

"Good plan Mum, but I think I should go before Ron, Harry and Hermione. They should be who we finish with as they're who we know the least about." Ginny suggested, she already knew quite a lot about their year on the run having spent most nights sneaking Harry into her room in exchange for Hermione but was aware that most of the family knew next to nothing about the golden trio's last year and mission.

"I'll start then…" Arthur detailed his previous year at the ministry including all his extra work to smuggle muggle borns out of the courts and through his own office floo and the order missions he went on to protect the various safehouses.

He spoke bitterly about colleagues in the ministry who tried to further the anti muggle agenda "...Gibbons of course was a complete terror, I dungbombed his office one morning when he was due to meet with Umbridge about the muggle registration committee. Magical maintenance completely destroyed all their paperwork when they came to clean the room so that delayed them by at least two weeks. Meant we could get the Tibble and Watkins families out of the country in time..."

And recalled morosely capturing imperioused death eaters on order missions "...we couldn't kill them of course but I found out that Jorgen Meyer was killed by Greyback only hours after we had lifted the curse as he attempted to flee with his boyfriend..."

Molly went next and described her own year flitting between the burrow and other safehouses looking after everyone and making sure they all had food to eat thanks to her working the land around the burrow to grow crops and raise livestock for eggs and milk "...I remembered what we had done in the first war and ramped that up but we also learnt about what muggles had done during the 1910s and 1940s wars in muggle studies. I remembered a few bits from those classes and we coped okay..."

Everyone was in tears when she spoke of giving Tonks the medical care she had needed while giving birth to baby Teddy, unable to attend St Mungo's safely as an order member and the wife of a werewolf, the whole clan raised a toast to the fallen hero and her husband. "...she was so strong, we didn't even have proper safe painkillers for her to use, you can't use the normal charms and potions during labour without risking the baby's health you see. Her smile when a wriggly, wailing blue haired baby Teddy was placed in her arms was mesmerising though. She loved him so deeply, they both did... to Tonks and Remus."

After a moment of respectful silence, Bill gave an account of his own missions for the order up to the point when the trio had landed at shell cottage. He spoke of establishing smuggling routes into Northern Africa and islands in the Mediterranean. "...turns out being taught to bake as a kid really helped cause everyone from my curse breaking missions remembered me, the team in Egypt call me 'the big guy who makes great cupcakes', but it sounds better in the original translation. They were more than willing to help though, even the ones who I'd only been with for a week or two..." and of being on guard duty "...the muggle queen is delightful by the way. You'd like her mum, she also doesn't approve of my long hair and earring but her husband did say he thought it made me look tough and hopefully that would help keep their family safe..." when he got to the time the trio had arrived at his home he finishied with "...but I'll let them give the full story."

Fleur told of her international work, how she had been using her outstanding language abilities to learn the native tongues of so many more who, with her persuasion, joined their cause. "Zere are so many wizarding schools and communities around our world. Zey were more zan 'appy to take in any muggle born and 'alf blood students we could get to zem. Some of zem also sent soldiers to buff up ze orders power but sadly not everyone could return 'ome safely." A single tear cascaded down her porcelain cheek as she remembered fallen heroes dying in foreign lands. "As Bill has already told, after Nöel we could not do much more for ze order since my 'eritage was discovered. So we moved to the safe house and Molly taught me 'ome remedies and some medical aid. We became a small 'ospital in our kitchen and soon were triaging and treating zose who were not able to visit ze proper 'ospital. Just like you three." She pointed at Harry, Hermione and Ron but left the details of the trio's needs in this regard for them to tell of later.

Charlie shared his stories from the reserve, preparing dragons for battle and working alongside Fleur to boost support from wizards and witches around the world. "...Fleur is revered in dragon circles anyway. Being able to put that Welsh green to sleep in the triwizard tournament was astounding. Everyone raves about her any time I speak of Hogwarts, Bill or even the word 'enchanting' is mentioned. I mean no offence Harry, your flying was great but some of us have been working with dragons for decades and can't do what Fleur did." The dragon reserve was staffed by keepers of all sorts of nationalities and was part of a worldwide network of reserves throughout which Charlie was a beloved and well known dragon expert. "Pretty much everyone was willing to help train the dragons, we knew they would want to help, they're peaceful creatures by nature, seriously misunderstood creatures dragons are. And plenty of people were willing to come fight themselves too, we just got anyone in Europe we could spare across as quickly as possible without leaving the reserve vulnerable when we heard and had several from further away portkey in in time to help with healing the dragons afterwards even if they didn't arrive in time to fight."

Percy came next and his retelling was the most eagerly anticipated only after the golden trio's themselves.

"I'm sorry." He began and went to kneel on the floor in front of his mother, her shaking hands held in his own and his eyes as serious as ever "I am so sorry that I could not tell you and that I caused so much heartache for you all. Dumbledore gave me a job, he first discussed it with me in my fifth year, the year Harry started at Hogwarts and I was made a prefect. He asked about my career ambitions and, knowing that I had my sights set on the ministry, he began to coach me so that I could make my way there quickly. I thought he was just being kind, giving me extra support and putting in a good word here and there to secure me a good job straight out of school.

"Slowly over the years though it became clear that I had a greater purpose, as rumours of the war started to stir I went to him explaining how I wanted to do something to help, something meaningful. He gave me a job, to infiltrate, spy and disrupt without anyone ever knowing. The order weren't to be told under any circumstances until the war was over and he who must not be named was definitely dead, Dumbledore was adamant I had to check for a dead body. If I wanted to help save our world, to keep you all alive and safe, then he said I had to act the part throughout my life and not tell anyone not even you. There was to be no room for doubt, he said 'where there's room for doubt there's room for death' and I wanted you all to live. I'm so, so sorry.

"So I left and I played my part well. I became trusted wholeheartedly by my colleagues and faded into the background for each higher up member of staff across the ministry to the point where, even as a part of such a famous family, people would get my name wrong. This invisibility gave me a way to spy and to disrupt without ever being suspected. I stayed in my role until the final battle when I knew I had done all I could there and decided to show my true colours again for the first time in years. I'll answer all your questions and go into detail some day, but for now please just know I'm sorry I was such an awful son and brother. I'm sorry to you all."

Molly collapsed into her middle son's arms and within seconds the floor was littered with kneeling Weasleys, gathered together in a huge group hug. Silent tears ran down the host of freckled cheeks and mingled together as the fat droplets splashed on the tangle of bent legs.

"We are so proud of you son." Arthur voiced the first words after a long length of silence. "Thank you for looking out for us."

"It must have been so lonely, we missed you like crazy but we thought it was your choice, we thought that you were happy." Molly cried "I'll make it up to you my dear."

"No Mum, I'm the one that needs to make it up to you. To all of you." Percy tried to counter but was quickly hushed by his family.

"Don't be a git Perce, you're a war hero now!" George said quickly, giving his brother a tight squeeze.

"You even made a joke during the battle, there's nothing better you could ever do to make up for anything. Not that there's anything to make up for now we know anyway." Fred joined his twin in squeezing their next oldest brother and the prim and proper Percy was soon laughing at their attempts to 'give him all the hugs he had missed out on'. Percy knew the twins had always liked physical contact and had missed their hugs almost as much as he had missed his mother's.

Ron often took the longest to understand and forgive, but having lost so many and so much at the end of the war he didn't have the heart to hold a grudge against his brother for even a minute longer. As the group dispersed ready to continue their sharing of events, Ron launched himself at his returned brother and managed to elicit a short chuckle from the older redhead who was delighted to have his youngest, and most regularly endangered, brother safe in his embrace.

Fred and George went next, sharing the events of their last year alongside each other and flitting between their voices mid sentence. They told of their work at the shop providing laughter and protection, the attack that destroyed their shop and home, their work on the radio show Potter Watch, their life at Aunt Muriel's, order missions, the continuation of their protective and healing product creations and the way they resourced Madam Pomfrey with these to care for the students still at Hogwarts.

"Ginny was actually at Hogwarts though..." George began to conclude.

"So she can probably give a better account of their use and why they were needed." Fred finished and dared a first glance at his mother who had been sniffling through their retelling.

"We're so proud of you two too, I know we don't often say it but you've really done us proud. Well done." Arthur spoke gently from his place beside a nodding Molly.

"Why don't I go next?" Ginny asked when people started to look at Ron who was growing increasingly uncomfortable from the attention. "Then these three can go last and share their story together, it'll make most sense that way."

Ron threw a grateful look at his only sister, they may have bickered for most of their lives but out of their many siblings they were closest to each other and really did love each other.

Ginny stood up and took a deep breath to steel herself for the reliving of her own worst memories. She recounted the school year right from the start of term, her first encounter with the Carrows, the new school rules and the new school punishments. Molly was once again in tears as the youngest Weasley outlined their punishments, to act as targets for other students to practice to cruciatus curse on.

"Your charms worked brilliantly Fred," she said, turning to the twins who were looking shell shocked by Ginny's detached yet graphic retelling, despite having already known the bare facts "they sufficiently distracted the minds of those casting the charms so that it hurt but they couldn't really mean it so it was bearable and did very little damage. Neville, Luna, the rest of the remaining DA and I distributed the charmed trinkets to all students we could trust and the lower years. They worked for everyone and the fact that it still hurt a hell of a lot meant that there was no suspicion."

Fred nodded and gave a small salute to his sister before she continued.

"Your potions were life savers too George. The Carrows wouldn't allow muggle borns, blood traitors or anyone who went against them to seek medical care, but by having you as a secret supplier Madam Pomfrey was able to tend to us in the room of requirement without needing to purchase too many extra resources." Ginny soon completed her retelling and the rest of the Weasleys plus Harry, Hermione and Fleur were all gathered around telling her how brave she was. "I'm no more brave than anyone else here. We've just heard how Weasleys are brave in so many different ways." She gave an apologetic glance at Ron "Sorry Ron, it's time for you to share. Do it as a three though and it won't be so bad."

...

Author's Note part 2

I loved writing this chapter and glimpsing the war through the eyes of each Weasley. If you would be interested in a companion piece detailing the year in more depth for each of them please let me know in a comment and as soon as I'm ready I'll write it and let you know!

Love,

Wishin Girl x x