A/N – Too much is going on in the Weasley family to complete this year in one chapter. I try to make my chapters have about the same word count (2500) but this chapter just kept going and going. Therefore, this chapter and the next are set during Harry's sixth year. This chapter will go through Christmas and the next through the end of the school year.
I guess I need a bit of an extra disclaimer here. Dialogue may be taken from my story, The Forgiveness Within. Yes, I'm using words I've already written. Not too many though. Thanks for reading!
Chapter Sixteen – The Order, Year Two (Part One)
Molly stopped in her tracks. She hadn't seen or spoken to her son for almost ten months. And now he was there in front of them.
"Percy?" she said, almost inaudible.
She had dreamed of this reunion many, many times. Each time, Percy would come back and everyone in the family would be happy. She looked at the faces of her other children. They were all wearing an expression of anger mixed with surprise.
"Please. Please forgive him," Molly silently asked her children.
Apparently, her silent plea did not work, because Fred and George walked right past him, through the barrier, without even looking at him. Ron and Ginny quickly followed suit.
Arthur reached for her hand. Together, they walked up to their third eldest son.
Percy looked at the barrier sadly. Molly noticed that his eyes were very bright. Then he changed his focus and looked Molly and Arthur.
"Mum...Dad," Percy said hoarsely.
Molly couldn't speak. She needed to hear what Percy had to say.
"I'm..." Percy looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry," he said very softly.
Molly started to reach out her hand to stroke her son's cheek, when Arthur said sharply, "Why now?"
Both Molly and Percy looked at Arthur in shock. "Arthur," Molly started.
Arthur started to speak when Percy cut him off. "Because I didn't want to show up at the Burrow as if I were a welcomed guest. I've made some very bad choices this year. I just wanted...I just wanted to tell you that I know this now," Percy said looking straight at Arthur.
Arthur nodded and held out his hand. Percy reached out and shook it. Then Arthur brought him in for an embrace. Then Percy hugged Molly. Molly held on to Percy like she never wanted to let him go.
"Mum...Mum, I can't breathe," Percy said, breathless.
Molly let do quickly, and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Please come for dinner?" she asked.
Percy nodded. "Thank you, Mum," she said.
The three of them walked through the barrier together. Fred and George were not there. Ron and Ginny looked at Percy with mistrust.
"Percy's coming over for dinner," Molly announced. Ron and Ginny looked mutinous. The family walked in silence to the line of muggle taxis. They had planned on taking muggle taxis to Headquarters and then flooing to the Burrow. Even though she wanted to trust her son, she wasn't sure if it was the best idea to let him know where the Order was yet.
Arthur walked a few feet away and motioned Molly to follow. "What should we do?" he asked quietly. She knew Arthur had been thinking the exact same thing. Molly quickly opened her purse and counted the muggle money in it.
"If we take one taxi, we should have enough to get to the Burrow," she said quietly.
That's what they decided to do.
An hour and a half later, the family arrived at the Burrow. She saw Bill, Fred and George waiting in the living room. Molly entered and started to make dinner right away. Percy asked quietly if he could help. Molly said yes, realizing he didn't want to sit in the living room with his brothers and sister.
Twenty minutes later dinner was on the table. They all ate in silence for the first five minutes. Percy cleared his throat. "Bill, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny, I want to apologize for they way I've treated you all during the past year. I've been awful. That's the only way to put it. I want to make things right."
Bill spoke first. "Percy, if you're willing to put our family in front of your career, I can forgive you."
"I'm no longer Fudge's assistant," Percy said quietly.
"What?" Fred and George asked at the same time.
"I resigned. I'm back working in the Department of International Cooperation," he said simply.
"Why?" Ginny asked.
"I couldn't look Fudge in the face anymore. When I think that he knew you-know-who was back and didn't do anything...There's talk that he might be resigning himself."
"I know things won't be the same for a while. But I want to try," Percy said finally.
"You're still a git, you know," Fred said.
George looked at Fred, "But we can forgive you."
At this, Molly burst into tears.
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Later that summer, Molly was in Diagon Alley. She wanted to see if she could find any bargains before she took Ron and Ginny here for school supplies.
She first went into Fred and George's joke shop. She still couldn't believe that they owned this place. The twins had brought Molly and Arthur here the night before they opened, a few weeks ago.
Molly entered the store and looked around. The place was packed with witches and wizards. She watched as two children were laughing over something called Headless Hats. The cash wrap line had five people waiting patiently. She watched the register and the amount of Galleons people were spending made her feel light-headed. Molly felt a strange sensation. It took her a moment to realize what it was. The feeling was pride.
Her sons had created all of this out of nothing. Molly had to fight back tears, she suddenly felt so proud of her sons that she needed to tell them right away. She frantically looked around the sales floor and saw that neither of them was there. She walked over to a young witch and asked, "Are Fred or George here?"
The witch shrugged, "In back."
"May I see them? I'm their mother," Molly asked.
"Sure," the witch shrugged again and turned around. Molly followed the witch into a back room. "Stay here," the witch said. She walked over to a door marked "Private." She knocked three times very slowly.
A small window on the door slid open. "Yes?" one of the twins asked. Molly thought it was George.
"Your mum's here," the witch said, and then went back onto the sales floor.
The window slid shut very quickly. Then the door opened. Fred and George came out, looking very disheveled.
"Mum!" Fred cried.
"What are you doing here?" George asked.
Molly walked up to them purposely and brought them in for a hug. After a second of stunned silence, Fred and George hugged her back.
She let them go then. "Well, thanks, Mum..." Fred said.
"Lovely to see you, as always," George added, "Of course, we did just see you...oh, three hours ago during breakfast."
"I just wanted to tell you both that I am very proud of you. You're doing a wonderful job here," Molly said.
Fred and George stared at her with their mouths open. "You're proud of us?" Fred asked.
"We're not wasting our lives?" George asked.
Molly shook her head. "No, you're doing what you were meant to do," she said simply, 'I just didn't realize it before."
"Thanks, Mum," George said.
"You don't know how much that means to us," Fred said, "I'll be right back."
Fred went into the back room and George started explaining what they were working on next. Fred then came out and handed Molly a small leather pouch.
Molly opened it. There had to be fifty Galleons in the bag. Her eyes filled with tears and she handed it back to Fred. "No, Fred. You've worked to hard for your money. I can't accept this."
George took her hand. "Please, Mum. We've wanted to give you this since we've opened."
"We like to think of this as your payment. We'd be selling fairly shoddy products if you hadn't destroyed so many over the years," Fred said.
"Each time you destroyed something, we remade it better," George added.
Fred held out the pouch again. "Please take this," he held softly.
Molly wiped a tear from her cheek. "Thank you. Thank you very much," she said softly.
She allowed Fred and George to take her to lunch, and then started her shopping. The first thing she did was go to Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions, to buy Ginny a brand new dress robe. Ron had one, so Ginny would get one as well.
Molly sighed happily, looking around the store, trying to find something perfect for Ginny. Molly was amazed at what a beautiful young woman Ginny was becoming. Ginny wore her thick hair long. Ginny's hair was darker than the rest of the family's. It seemed to suit her very well.
Molly stopped in front of a light pink robe. Ginny was the one red head in the world that looked good in pink. It looked to be made of a silk like material. She looked at the price tag. Nine Galleons. She didn't think she had paid that much for an article of clothing in her entire life. Molly reminded herself that she only had one daughter and confidently walked up to the cash wrap with the robe.
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Molly and Arthur were at Headquarters a week later. It wasn't an official meeting, but the study was full with people wanting to socialize. Bill suddenly stood up on a chair and said he had an announcement to make.
"Everyone! I think this is a good time to tell everyone. I am happy to announce that I asked Fleur to marry me today and she's accepted," Bill said happily.
A general cry went up around the room. Molly brought her hands to her mouth in shock. She had no idea that things had progressed so quickly with Fleur.
"Oh Bill!" Molly cried as she ran up to her son, hugging him tightly. "Oh Fleur!" she sobbed, bringing the girl into the embrace. Molly only let them go when she heard a loud 'pop!' Remus had opened a bottle of wine.
The wine started pouring freely. It looked like everyone was glad for a reason to celebrate. Forty-five minutes later, the wine bottles were almost empty. Molly offered to retrieve more from the kitchen. She was glad for a moment to herself.
She ran into Tonks, who was coming down the stairs. "Tonks," Molly whispered, not wanting to wake the picture up, "We're in the study. I'm just going to get some more wine."
Molly sighed a breath of relief when the young witch didn't offer to help her get the wine. Tonks was as sweet as they come, but she was so clumsy!
Molly quickly grabbed the wine, wanting to get back into the study as soon as possible. The evening was wonderful. All the children came from the Burrow. Molly wished Percy was there too, to have the whole family around her, since Charlie was in for a while. Percy still lived in his apartment in London. It was the easiest thing for everyone. Relations were still strained between him and his siblings. But Percy came for dinner three times a week like clockwork.
The party lasted until four in the morning. Molly had ordered her younger children to go home to bed around three in the morning. Then there was only Molly, Arthur, Bill and Fleur in the study. Both couples were holding hands.
"We're going to France this weekend," Bill said, stroking Fleur's cheek.
"It is time 'e meets my parents," Fleur giggled.
"So have you thought of when you want to get married?" Arthur asked.
"Probably next July, right when the school year is over," Bill said.
"Mrs. Weasley," Fleur started.
"Molly, dear," Molly said, smiling.
"Molly. We'd like to get married in Britain. I would love if you and Ginny would help plan the wedding," Fleur said happily.
Suddenly Molly couldn't think of anything else.
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Molly wasn't sure why it hit her at this particular Christmas. Her children were growing up. Soon, they would be out in the world with families of their own. Christmas dinner at the Burrow was quite an event this year.
Charlie had wanted to come home from Christmas, so Molly made sure all of her children were there. She even asked Dumbledore if they could have Harry over for Christmas. She was thrilled when he said yes.
They ate outside, but had a bubble charm surrounding the table, so everyone was warm. Fred and George had brought six different bottles of wine. She decided to hold her tongue when Fred poured a glass for Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. It was Christmas after all.
Molly sat quietly and looked around. Every Weasley at the table was wearing their Weasley sweater. She had asked her sons with partners if they'd like to invite them over for Christmas. She was surprised when they all said yes.
Bill and Fleur were talking to each other happily in French. Bill made it his goal to be able to speak to her parents easily by the wedding. Charlie didn't bring his girlfriend. He said they had only been together for a month, and didn't want to put too much pressure on her. Charlie proudly showed them a picture. Danya was an assistant Charms professor at Durmstrang. She had green eyes and long curly black hair that fell to her waist.
Percy sat next to Penelope Clearwater. Percy just recently told Molly that he was thinking about prosing soon. They had been together now for almost five years. Fred brought Angelina Johnson for dinner. Molly loved the tall, black girl, knowing she was a good balance for him. Angelina was talking enthusiastically about her Healer training. Molly got a shock when she found out that Angelina was training under Aelecia Thorn, her good friend from Hogwarts.
Molly sneaked a glance over at Ron and Hermione. She still pinched herself that those two had gotten together. She remembered her surprise when they exited the Hogwarts Express holding hands just a couple of days ago. For some reason, Molly always assumed that Harry and Hermione would become a couple. Ron and Hermione too were a new couple, and Molly thought they were very cute together. Looking back, she could see that Ron had had a crush on her for years.
In one corner of the table, sat George, Ginny and Harry. They jokingly called themselves the "singles." Molly saw Ginny and Harry laughing together and told herself not to get her hopes up. If Harry was a son to her, they probably saw each other as brother and sister.
Arthur stood up quietly, holding his glass. The table went silent. Molly looked up at her husband from across the table and beamed.
"I just wanted to tell you how happy Molly and I are that we're all together as a family for Christmas. It's been six years since this has happened. And now, over the coming years, we'll be welcoming new members into the family," he smiled at Fleur, and raised his glass. "To Family!"
All fourteen people at the table raised their glasses, "To Family!"
It was the happiest Christmas Molly had had in a long time.
I guess I need a bit of an extra disclaimer here. Dialogue may be taken from my story, The Forgiveness Within. Yes, I'm using words I've already written. Not too many though. Thanks for reading!
Chapter Sixteen – The Order, Year Two (Part One)
Molly stopped in her tracks. She hadn't seen or spoken to her son for almost ten months. And now he was there in front of them.
"Percy?" she said, almost inaudible.
She had dreamed of this reunion many, many times. Each time, Percy would come back and everyone in the family would be happy. She looked at the faces of her other children. They were all wearing an expression of anger mixed with surprise.
"Please. Please forgive him," Molly silently asked her children.
Apparently, her silent plea did not work, because Fred and George walked right past him, through the barrier, without even looking at him. Ron and Ginny quickly followed suit.
Arthur reached for her hand. Together, they walked up to their third eldest son.
Percy looked at the barrier sadly. Molly noticed that his eyes were very bright. Then he changed his focus and looked Molly and Arthur.
"Mum...Dad," Percy said hoarsely.
Molly couldn't speak. She needed to hear what Percy had to say.
"I'm..." Percy looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry," he said very softly.
Molly started to reach out her hand to stroke her son's cheek, when Arthur said sharply, "Why now?"
Both Molly and Percy looked at Arthur in shock. "Arthur," Molly started.
Arthur started to speak when Percy cut him off. "Because I didn't want to show up at the Burrow as if I were a welcomed guest. I've made some very bad choices this year. I just wanted...I just wanted to tell you that I know this now," Percy said looking straight at Arthur.
Arthur nodded and held out his hand. Percy reached out and shook it. Then Arthur brought him in for an embrace. Then Percy hugged Molly. Molly held on to Percy like she never wanted to let him go.
"Mum...Mum, I can't breathe," Percy said, breathless.
Molly let do quickly, and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Please come for dinner?" she asked.
Percy nodded. "Thank you, Mum," she said.
The three of them walked through the barrier together. Fred and George were not there. Ron and Ginny looked at Percy with mistrust.
"Percy's coming over for dinner," Molly announced. Ron and Ginny looked mutinous. The family walked in silence to the line of muggle taxis. They had planned on taking muggle taxis to Headquarters and then flooing to the Burrow. Even though she wanted to trust her son, she wasn't sure if it was the best idea to let him know where the Order was yet.
Arthur walked a few feet away and motioned Molly to follow. "What should we do?" he asked quietly. She knew Arthur had been thinking the exact same thing. Molly quickly opened her purse and counted the muggle money in it.
"If we take one taxi, we should have enough to get to the Burrow," she said quietly.
That's what they decided to do.
An hour and a half later, the family arrived at the Burrow. She saw Bill, Fred and George waiting in the living room. Molly entered and started to make dinner right away. Percy asked quietly if he could help. Molly said yes, realizing he didn't want to sit in the living room with his brothers and sister.
Twenty minutes later dinner was on the table. They all ate in silence for the first five minutes. Percy cleared his throat. "Bill, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny, I want to apologize for they way I've treated you all during the past year. I've been awful. That's the only way to put it. I want to make things right."
Bill spoke first. "Percy, if you're willing to put our family in front of your career, I can forgive you."
"I'm no longer Fudge's assistant," Percy said quietly.
"What?" Fred and George asked at the same time.
"I resigned. I'm back working in the Department of International Cooperation," he said simply.
"Why?" Ginny asked.
"I couldn't look Fudge in the face anymore. When I think that he knew you-know-who was back and didn't do anything...There's talk that he might be resigning himself."
"I know things won't be the same for a while. But I want to try," Percy said finally.
"You're still a git, you know," Fred said.
George looked at Fred, "But we can forgive you."
At this, Molly burst into tears.
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Later that summer, Molly was in Diagon Alley. She wanted to see if she could find any bargains before she took Ron and Ginny here for school supplies.
She first went into Fred and George's joke shop. She still couldn't believe that they owned this place. The twins had brought Molly and Arthur here the night before they opened, a few weeks ago.
Molly entered the store and looked around. The place was packed with witches and wizards. She watched as two children were laughing over something called Headless Hats. The cash wrap line had five people waiting patiently. She watched the register and the amount of Galleons people were spending made her feel light-headed. Molly felt a strange sensation. It took her a moment to realize what it was. The feeling was pride.
Her sons had created all of this out of nothing. Molly had to fight back tears, she suddenly felt so proud of her sons that she needed to tell them right away. She frantically looked around the sales floor and saw that neither of them was there. She walked over to a young witch and asked, "Are Fred or George here?"
The witch shrugged, "In back."
"May I see them? I'm their mother," Molly asked.
"Sure," the witch shrugged again and turned around. Molly followed the witch into a back room. "Stay here," the witch said. She walked over to a door marked "Private." She knocked three times very slowly.
A small window on the door slid open. "Yes?" one of the twins asked. Molly thought it was George.
"Your mum's here," the witch said, and then went back onto the sales floor.
The window slid shut very quickly. Then the door opened. Fred and George came out, looking very disheveled.
"Mum!" Fred cried.
"What are you doing here?" George asked.
Molly walked up to them purposely and brought them in for a hug. After a second of stunned silence, Fred and George hugged her back.
She let them go then. "Well, thanks, Mum..." Fred said.
"Lovely to see you, as always," George added, "Of course, we did just see you...oh, three hours ago during breakfast."
"I just wanted to tell you both that I am very proud of you. You're doing a wonderful job here," Molly said.
Fred and George stared at her with their mouths open. "You're proud of us?" Fred asked.
"We're not wasting our lives?" George asked.
Molly shook her head. "No, you're doing what you were meant to do," she said simply, 'I just didn't realize it before."
"Thanks, Mum," George said.
"You don't know how much that means to us," Fred said, "I'll be right back."
Fred went into the back room and George started explaining what they were working on next. Fred then came out and handed Molly a small leather pouch.
Molly opened it. There had to be fifty Galleons in the bag. Her eyes filled with tears and she handed it back to Fred. "No, Fred. You've worked to hard for your money. I can't accept this."
George took her hand. "Please, Mum. We've wanted to give you this since we've opened."
"We like to think of this as your payment. We'd be selling fairly shoddy products if you hadn't destroyed so many over the years," Fred said.
"Each time you destroyed something, we remade it better," George added.
Fred held out the pouch again. "Please take this," he held softly.
Molly wiped a tear from her cheek. "Thank you. Thank you very much," she said softly.
She allowed Fred and George to take her to lunch, and then started her shopping. The first thing she did was go to Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions, to buy Ginny a brand new dress robe. Ron had one, so Ginny would get one as well.
Molly sighed happily, looking around the store, trying to find something perfect for Ginny. Molly was amazed at what a beautiful young woman Ginny was becoming. Ginny wore her thick hair long. Ginny's hair was darker than the rest of the family's. It seemed to suit her very well.
Molly stopped in front of a light pink robe. Ginny was the one red head in the world that looked good in pink. It looked to be made of a silk like material. She looked at the price tag. Nine Galleons. She didn't think she had paid that much for an article of clothing in her entire life. Molly reminded herself that she only had one daughter and confidently walked up to the cash wrap with the robe.
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Molly and Arthur were at Headquarters a week later. It wasn't an official meeting, but the study was full with people wanting to socialize. Bill suddenly stood up on a chair and said he had an announcement to make.
"Everyone! I think this is a good time to tell everyone. I am happy to announce that I asked Fleur to marry me today and she's accepted," Bill said happily.
A general cry went up around the room. Molly brought her hands to her mouth in shock. She had no idea that things had progressed so quickly with Fleur.
"Oh Bill!" Molly cried as she ran up to her son, hugging him tightly. "Oh Fleur!" she sobbed, bringing the girl into the embrace. Molly only let them go when she heard a loud 'pop!' Remus had opened a bottle of wine.
The wine started pouring freely. It looked like everyone was glad for a reason to celebrate. Forty-five minutes later, the wine bottles were almost empty. Molly offered to retrieve more from the kitchen. She was glad for a moment to herself.
She ran into Tonks, who was coming down the stairs. "Tonks," Molly whispered, not wanting to wake the picture up, "We're in the study. I'm just going to get some more wine."
Molly sighed a breath of relief when the young witch didn't offer to help her get the wine. Tonks was as sweet as they come, but she was so clumsy!
Molly quickly grabbed the wine, wanting to get back into the study as soon as possible. The evening was wonderful. All the children came from the Burrow. Molly wished Percy was there too, to have the whole family around her, since Charlie was in for a while. Percy still lived in his apartment in London. It was the easiest thing for everyone. Relations were still strained between him and his siblings. But Percy came for dinner three times a week like clockwork.
The party lasted until four in the morning. Molly had ordered her younger children to go home to bed around three in the morning. Then there was only Molly, Arthur, Bill and Fleur in the study. Both couples were holding hands.
"We're going to France this weekend," Bill said, stroking Fleur's cheek.
"It is time 'e meets my parents," Fleur giggled.
"So have you thought of when you want to get married?" Arthur asked.
"Probably next July, right when the school year is over," Bill said.
"Mrs. Weasley," Fleur started.
"Molly, dear," Molly said, smiling.
"Molly. We'd like to get married in Britain. I would love if you and Ginny would help plan the wedding," Fleur said happily.
Suddenly Molly couldn't think of anything else.
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Molly wasn't sure why it hit her at this particular Christmas. Her children were growing up. Soon, they would be out in the world with families of their own. Christmas dinner at the Burrow was quite an event this year.
Charlie had wanted to come home from Christmas, so Molly made sure all of her children were there. She even asked Dumbledore if they could have Harry over for Christmas. She was thrilled when he said yes.
They ate outside, but had a bubble charm surrounding the table, so everyone was warm. Fred and George had brought six different bottles of wine. She decided to hold her tongue when Fred poured a glass for Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. It was Christmas after all.
Molly sat quietly and looked around. Every Weasley at the table was wearing their Weasley sweater. She had asked her sons with partners if they'd like to invite them over for Christmas. She was surprised when they all said yes.
Bill and Fleur were talking to each other happily in French. Bill made it his goal to be able to speak to her parents easily by the wedding. Charlie didn't bring his girlfriend. He said they had only been together for a month, and didn't want to put too much pressure on her. Charlie proudly showed them a picture. Danya was an assistant Charms professor at Durmstrang. She had green eyes and long curly black hair that fell to her waist.
Percy sat next to Penelope Clearwater. Percy just recently told Molly that he was thinking about prosing soon. They had been together now for almost five years. Fred brought Angelina Johnson for dinner. Molly loved the tall, black girl, knowing she was a good balance for him. Angelina was talking enthusiastically about her Healer training. Molly got a shock when she found out that Angelina was training under Aelecia Thorn, her good friend from Hogwarts.
Molly sneaked a glance over at Ron and Hermione. She still pinched herself that those two had gotten together. She remembered her surprise when they exited the Hogwarts Express holding hands just a couple of days ago. For some reason, Molly always assumed that Harry and Hermione would become a couple. Ron and Hermione too were a new couple, and Molly thought they were very cute together. Looking back, she could see that Ron had had a crush on her for years.
In one corner of the table, sat George, Ginny and Harry. They jokingly called themselves the "singles." Molly saw Ginny and Harry laughing together and told herself not to get her hopes up. If Harry was a son to her, they probably saw each other as brother and sister.
Arthur stood up quietly, holding his glass. The table went silent. Molly looked up at her husband from across the table and beamed.
"I just wanted to tell you how happy Molly and I are that we're all together as a family for Christmas. It's been six years since this has happened. And now, over the coming years, we'll be welcoming new members into the family," he smiled at Fleur, and raised his glass. "To Family!"
All fourteen people at the table raised their glasses, "To Family!"
It was the happiest Christmas Molly had had in a long time.