Lily's first thought, the thought repeatedly pounding through her head was in essence a simple one. "Molly".

Whoever the three people appearing out of thin air were, and she'd think about that later, they were not allowed to see Molly. Even if their claim was as genuine as Dumbledore had stated it was, these people needed to be kept apart as much as water and electricity – or if you prefer a dragon and a primary school.

It had been almost a decade ago since Ron had died, but does anyone really get over the death of a child? Ok, they rarely if ever spoke of him but you could tell that Molly was only just coping with it – Ron was not eliminated from her memory but life went on regardless. You could see in the way her eyes misted over when she talked about what the kids did when they were younger, especially if the youngest son was involved. Occasionally the chin would quiver and the bottom lip would go but in public she always held it together.

Seeing someone claiming to be her dead son would no doubt push her over the edge. It would be bad enough just to see him without him going "Hey mum! What you staring at me like that for? It's Ron" or whatever the greeting would be.

Lily didn't even register what the males in the room were saying to her as she listed up the same pot James had moments before and threw some green stuff into the flames. Usually she wouldn't touch floo powder, it made her feel queezy but in her emotional state she didn't trust herself to apparate and Molly was the main concern.

It only took a few seconds, Lily shouted her destination and felt the trademark warmth of the flames, the tickle of ash in her through and the spinning before she stepped out into The Burrow.

This house oozed chaos, and yet amazingly this was a vast improvement on what it was like when all the children where at home. Now the twins, Percy, Charlie and Bill had their own houses or flats. Charlie even had his own family who despite being regular visitors to their Grandparent's couldn't quite live up to the mess the twins could produce in a few minutes – even in their supposedly mature late teenage years.

Ginny was the only one left, and even she was at Hogwarts for most of the time. You could tell Molly missed them, maybe that's why the house was never sterilised and made into a neat little residence for a couple.

The books still filled the higgledy piggledy bookcases, there was always some knitting on the big saggy chair by the fire and the smell of some form of cooking lingered in the air as if it had ingrained itself on every available surface.

"Hey! Molly!" Lily yelled in a voice she hoped gave no indication of the slight emergency going on, just a friendly greeting.

It took at few moments for the sound of footsteps to be heard rushing down the seemingly structurally unsafe staircase which dominated the centre of what was essentially an open plan room; front room on the left, kitchen on the right.

Eventually Molly appeared, wearing her usual colourful and yet slightly shabby robes, wand in the pocket and her wavy greying yet still unmistakably red hair shoved unceremoniously into a clip on the back of her head.

"Lily" she said, out of puff, "Hello there, would you like a cuppa? I've just been trying to shut the ghoul up again." She said, still gasping for breaths.

Lily couldn't help but stifle a laugh, this affair had been going on for seemingly years now, "I'll get James' round to sort it if you want. He'll sort it out within 30 seconds. It's no hassle."

Lily didn't know why she bothered mentioning this every time the ghoul was mentioned; the answer was always a polite declination. Initially Lily was certain this was because the Weasley's hated charity and wouldn't recognise a favour when they saw one. However, recently she had had a change of heart on this issue. For Molly, this was one of those frustrating tasks, ones which you need to finish– her own personal soap opera. It wasn't about the ghoul anymore. It was a battle of wills. Chess with what some people consider a household pet. Sure enough Molly acted just as expected before moving further down the stairs and moving into the kitchen.

"Molly, what do you think you're playing at. It's my turn. Come on" she said, grabbing her friend by the arm and bundling her to the fireplace before she had any time to argue. "I've got some chocolate cake in, and James is out" She hastily said, adding a note that she needed to remember about conjuring up a cake pronto when she got back.

Luckily for Lily Molly was in no rush to protest and willingly Flooed over to Mixu Place. Molly was a fellow red head, and it is a well-documented fact that one does not irritate a red head. They are the most stubborn creatures in the universe – and that includes 3 year old refusing to go to bed on Christmas Eve.

Lily breathed a sigh of relief, before congratulating herself on a job well done before following her friend. With her remaining energy she sincerely hoped that James and Dumbledore had had the common sense to apparate outside the Burrow and waiting for the 3 unknown quantities.

Wahey!

Hope you like this chapter. Sorry it's been such a long time coming; I've just had a lot on with uni and a few emotional issues (I blame my family).

Anyways, thank you for sticking with me - I'll keep updating over the summer (when I am going to be working as an English teacher in a boarding school. I pity the kids.)

Please read and review.