Letting Go

He had always been blessed with having one of his children in the house. At least, he had until now.

He was happy, yes, but he couldn't help being a bit sad. His oldest boys, who were married and had successful careers that they enjoyed, had moved out almost right after they had left school. His next oldest was one of the most ambitious men he had ever known, even if he refused to listen to reason sometimes.

Then he had the twins. They had probably lived at home the longest after they left school. They were successful in the joke business, with a shop in the most prominent market for their kind. They had been making money off their business since before that shop had opened, while they were still at school.

His youngest boy, for he had one daughter who was the youngest in the family, had married one of the local girls. His son had met the girl on the train to school when he was fifteen, and she fourteen. His son didn't understand her at first, but after getting over a crush that he had, realized that she was very nice, for all of her oddities.

Thinking about his youngest boy made him think of the two whom he and his wife had thought of as their own kids. The two, who had met their youngest son on the train to school at the age of eleven, were now happily married to each other, and were living in a cottage in the town near the school they had gone to. He was happy for them because they were happy.

Now he had to say goodbye to his daughter. She would never again live in the house with him and his wife, but she would always be their little girl. She was marrying someone whom she had always been friends with. She had gone to the ball with him when she was thirteen and he was fourteen. The boy's memory, although not as bad as it had been when she first met him, was slightly lacking.

He thought of his children, some of whom had children of their own, and he knew that when they came to visit, the house would be full of noises again. He longed for the sound of little feet pattering on the floor, and for the sound of bangs emitting from the twins' room.

But like all fathers, Arthur Weasley knew that his children would grow up, and leave him and Molly to the Burrow. He knew, because he had been letting go all of his life.