A/N – Same disclaimer as last chapter, some dialogue may be from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I just won't mess with perfection, I guess.

Chapter Fifteen – The Burrow, Change is in the Air

"Owl post is here, Arthur," Molly said, walking over to the kitchen table where two owls where sitting.

Molly took the letters and looked at them. One was from her mother. The other was for Arthur from the Daily Prophet. She handed Arthur the letter and went back knitting.

"Oh my goodness," Arthur said, turning very white.

Molly became concerned. "What is it dear?" she asked quietly.

He handed her the letter.

Dear Arthur Weasley,

Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that you have won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw. The amount this year comes to seven hundred Galleons. Please come to the Daily Prophet office to collect your winnings.

Sincerely, the Daily Prophet Team

Molly tried to open her mouth, but no words came out. She and Arthur just looked at each other for a minute in silence. Then Molly burst into tears.

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"Have I placed a sun blocking charm on everyone?" Molly asked. It was two weeks later and the entire family was visiting Egypt. Molly and Arthur discussed for hours how to spend the prize money. Finally, it was decided that the whole family would take their first holiday ever.

Bill had been talking up Egypt so much that it seemed the natural place to go. Charlie even had arranged to take some time off and would be joining them too. Molly was thrilled beyond words. This was the first time she had all seven children around her in over two years.

"Yes, Mum," came seven dutiful voices.

"Then let's go," Molly cried. Molly slipped her hand in Arthur's, and along with Bill, led the way. Today they were going to go on a wizard's tour of the pyramids at Giza.

Molly took another look at her children. Molly reminded herself to suggest a haircut to Bill. Percy looked a tad silly wearing his Head Boy badge on his fez, but he earned it. When Percy received his letter last week, that seemed to be the icing on the cake.

Arthur went to the ticket counter and bought eight adult and one child ticket to look around the pyramid.

"Why do I have a child's ticket?" Ginny whined.

"Because you're a baby still," Fred said.

"Grow up a bit and then we'll talk," George continued.

"Stop it, you two," Molly warned. "Ginny, look. The children tickets are for twelve and under. You don't turn twelve until October."

"Allright," Ginny pouted.

"Shall we go on the tour?" Molly suggested brightly.

"I can give a better tour, Mum," Bill said under his breath.

Molly patted his arm, "Then lead the way, my eldest son," she said proudly. "I want them to learn something."

"This pyramid was built for the great pharaoh Khufu," Bill started. "What was great about ancient times was that magic and muggle lived together in harmony. Wizards and Witches were basically worshipped. Of course, there was a much smaller number back then than there are now."

Bill continued, but Molly stopped listening for a moment. Percy, Fred and George were nowhere to be seen. Molly walked back towards one of the temples. Percy was standing in a darkened room, studying the hieroglyphics. Suddenly, Fred and George appeared and started pushing a heavy door, trying to close it on the temple.

"FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY YOU STOP RIGHT NOW!!!" Molly yelled as loud as she could.

Fred and George looked at each other and shrugged. Molly could have sworn she heard Fred whisper, "Next time."

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It was the night before the children would leave for Hogwarts. This year, because of Black having escaped, the Ministry offered to put up the family at the Leaky Cauldron, to keep an eye on Harry.

Molly and Arthur were having a fight. And for the first time in a long time, the fight wasn't about money. It was about Harry. Molly was beginning to realize that she loved Harry as if he was her own child. She wanted to keep him safe, just like she wanted with all of her children.

Which is why she was adamant not to tell Harry that Sirius Black was after him. However, Arthur had a different viewpoint. He believed that Harry had the right to know.

"I don't think Harry would go out and do something stupid, Arthur," Molly said.

"I disagree," Arthur retorted.

"He's a little impulsive, sure, but why scare him and tell him everything?" Molly asked.

"It makes no sense not to tell him," Arthur replied hotly, "Harry's got a right to know. I've tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry like a child. He's thirteen years old and-"

"Arthur, the truth would terrify him!" Molly interrupted. "Do you really want to send Harry back to school with that hanging over him? For heaven's sake, he's happy not knowing!"

And so the argument continued. Both Molly and Arthur could be very stubborn when they thought they were right. Wearily, they went upstairs, needing some sleep for the day ahead.

Molly was brushing her teeth in her dressing gown, when Arthur came up behind her and put his hands around her waist.

"Are we still both upset with each other?" he asked quietly.

Molly nodded, continuing to brush.

"We've never gone to bed angry before," Arthur said sadly. Which was true. When Molly and Arthur had a fight, they would stay up until the argument was done. The longest lasted until nine thirty the next morning.

She washed out her mouth. Then turned around and looked at her husband. "What if it was Ron?" he asked her quietly.

"Ron?" she asked.

"Knowing what you know about Ron, if Sirius Black was after him, would you want to let him know?" Arthur asked simply.

"Knowing that Ron seems to find trouble?" Molly asked.

"Knowing exactly that," Arthur replied.

Molly thought it over. "I guess I would want Ron to know so that he could take care," she said finally.

"Now replace Harry with Ron," Arthur said.

Molly felt like she was holding back tears. "You're right," she said. "Harry needs to know."

Arthur put his arms around her and gave her a long kiss. Then the pair was able to go to bed, not being angry anymore.

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Before Molly knew it, another school year was over. Percy graduated, and decided to live at home for a while. Molly told anyone who would listen how proud she was that Percy had decided to work at the Ministry like his father.

Percy kept talking about his future, which always made Molly smile. Just the other day he brought home a very nice young lady, named Penelope Clearwater for dinner. Molly had made a huge fuss. It was the first time one of her sons had brought a girl home to meet the parents. She was just what she envisioned for Percy's wife. Very smart and elegant. She still had one year to go at Hogwarts though.

She had half hoped to be a grandmother by now. But Bill and Charlie were showing no signs of settling down. From tidbits she heard from her other sons when they thought she wasn't listening, she had gathered that Bill was quite the ladies man. Molly wasn't sure what to think about that. Bill was so handsome, though. She wasn't surprised that there were women chasing after him.

From what she could tell, Charlie had not ever had a serious girlfriend. Molly wasn't worried though. Charlie was shy; he'd find his match sooner or later.

For a brief moment she tried to envision what kind of women the twins would end up with. She shook her head. None came to mind. Ron was too young to think of those kinds of things yet. And Molly knew Ginny would end up with someone special. Molly chuckled, thinking of how obvious Ginny's crush on Harry was.

"The workers of the world are leaving, Mother," Percy said primly.

Fred and George snickered at the kitchen table. "Boys, stop it," Molly threw them "the look."

"Have a good day at work Percy," Molly said kissing him on the cheek. "You too, Arthur," giving him a kiss as well. With two loud cracks, the men were gone.

"Now don't you lot have homework to do?" Molly asked.

Fred and George looked at each other. "Yeah, Mum," Fred said, winking at George, "We should really get on with our homework. See you later, Mum!" and with that the boys ran upstairs to their room. Molly groaned, she knew in twenty minutes time, the twins would be producing thunderous sounds. For the umpteenth time this summer, she wondered what kind of homework they had been given.

The day went by pleasantly enough. Molly noticed that Ginny still was sneaking around and having a fly whenever she could. She would be starting her third year soon; Molly hoped a position on the team opened up one of these days.

Molly had just started dinner when Arthur came home. "I got the tickets!" he beamed.

"For the world cup? Oh Arthur, it'll be so much fun," Molly said, smiling.

"I was able to get ten. They were practically gone before anyone could get any," Arthur said.

Ron came running in from outside just then. "Did you get the tickets?" he cried.

Arthur held them up. "In my hands," he smiled.

"Wicked. I can't wait to tell Harry and Hermione!" Ron said excitedly.

Molly did the math in her head very quickly. They had invited both Harry and Hermione over for the summer. With the family, that made eleven people. Arthur only had ten tickets. Molly looked at Arthur and knew he was realizing the same thing. Arthur opened his mouth, but Molly beat him to it.

"I know you're all going to have a wonderful time," she smiled.

"You're not going to come, Mum?" Ron asked, "But you love quidditch."

"I do love quidditch," Molly said brightly, "But it'll be great to have the time to myself, while you're all gone. I'll be able to get a lot of work done around the house."

Arthur looked at her sadly, but Molly just gave him a wide smile.

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A few days later, Molly was upstairs, cleaning the twin's bedroom. She picked up a wand. "Odd," she thought, "The boys usually keep their wands on them." She gave the wand a quick wave and it turned into a rubber chicken. She grimaced. She hated those trick wands the boys loved so much.

She walked over to Fred's desk. She couldn't even see the surface so that she could dust. She picked up a stack of papers and looked at the top sheet.

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes – quality products to add a little fun to your life.

Ton Tongue Toffee – 4 sickles

Skiving Snack box – 5 sickles

Canary Crème – 3 sickles
Fake Wand – 3 Galleons

It hit Molly right then. The twins weren't working on homework at all. "FRED AND GEORGE!! GET UP HERE THIS INSTANT!!" she bellowed.

The boys were outside, but Molly knew her voice carried enough to be heard. Three minutes later she heard footsteps outside the hall. The twin cautiously entered their room. Both of their faces fell when they saw what Molly was holding.

"THREE O.W.L.S EACH!!!" Molly cried. "We're paying for a quality Hogwarts education for you two and you get three O.W.L.S each!!" She chucked the rubber chicken at them. "Maybe if you wear doing your school work you'd be getting somewhere!!"

"Mum, let us explain," Fred said, his face white.

"Please Mum, let's be reasonable," George added.

"THREE O.W.L.S EACH!!!" Molly screamed, slightly out of breath.

"Mum, this is our future," George said.

"Your future should be studying and hoping you can get a good job with the Ministry," Molly yelled.

"Mum, that works for Dad and Percy, but not us. We want to open a joke shop," Fred said.

"A joke shop?" Molly said, bewildered, "You want to open a joke shop?"

The twins nodded. "I don't believe this," Molly said. "You two are grounded. You can still go to the World Cup, but I want you up here, studying after your chores. I will be checking on you. Understand?"

"Yes Mum," the twins said in unison.

Molly took the stack of order forms and left the room, still visibly shaking.

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"Harry's going to be so surprised," Molly told Bill for close to the tenth time. Bill smiled each time she said it. The final task of the Triwizard Tournament was today. She had heard from Arthur that the champion's family's were allowed to visit Hogwarts to watch the final task.

Molly did the unthinkable and wrote a letter to the Dursleys, wanting to know if they were planning on going to support Harry. She never received a response. So Molly decided that Harry needed someone there. Bill had come in for a few weeks for vacation, so they were going to support Harry today.

Harry entered the chamber with a confused look on his face. Molly yelled, "Surprise!" Harry walked over to them, smiling. Molly gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then Bill shook his hand.

Together, the three of them walked around Hogwarts, reminiscing. Molly let it slip that when she was a student, she had gotten in at four in the morning once. She deliberately left off the part where she had been tipsy.

Harry then brought them to the Great Hall. This was the first time she had actually seen her children in Hogwarts. It seemed so strange to her that this was also their home. Molly had to remember that thirty years ago, this was her home as well.

"Mum-Bill!" Ron said, looking confused. "What're you doing here?"

"Come to watch Harry in the last task!" Molly said. She was very excited that she didn't have to cook a meal. The lunch hour was wonderful. Molly loved spending the time with her children in such a relaxed atmosphere. But then, everyone but Harry had to run to the afternoon exams.

Hours later, Harry was summoned along with the rest of the champions. Molly and Bill headed towards the quidditch field. Molly was amazed by the transformation. It was a beautiful maze.

Before Molly knew it, the last task started. Molly cheered for Harry as loud as she could. After an hour, it looked like it was down to Cedric and Harry.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light and Harry and Cedric disappeared. Molly was in shock. "Where'd they go?" she cried, along with the rest of the spectators.

Almost an hour passed when there was suddenly another flash of light. Harry was back, holding Cedric, who was passed out.

Molly didn't know it yet, but life at the Burrow would never be the same again.