Arthur and Molly: What Comes Before All Else
Arthur is a Muggle loving wizard with patched robes. Molly is a fiery redhead. Beginning in their seventh year, meet the group of friends that brought them together. Meet the previous generation of Hogwarts' friends and the original members of the Order. Follow Arthur and Molly as they build their life together.
Chapter 1- 7th Years of Hogwarts, Class of 1965
It was the beginning of another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Great Hall was filled with students of all years chatting happily. A redheaded girl was sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table talking animatedly to the people around her. Close to her, a 7th year boy was fidgeting with an old clock, completely absorbed in his work and saying things like, "Fascinating!" and "Incredible!" every few minutes. His friend beside him shook his head.
Every few moments, the boy would look over to the redheaded girl, and when she looked over at him, his ears got red and he hastily went back to his work. Beside him piled a stack of book on Muggles.
"Last year here at Hogwarts!" Alice sighed to Molly. "I'm going to miss this place."
Molly nodded, agreeing, but soon she groaned as she spotted an unwelcome boy walking over to the Gryffindor table.
"Well, if it isn't the Muggle loving Weasley!" the blonde Head boy said as he strutted over with a crowd of Slytherins. Almost immediately, several people around him got quiet.
Arthur's ears became red again and he hunched over in his work, trying to ignore what he just heard.
"Didn't you just hear me, Arthur, you weasel?" Lucius said loudly.
"Shut up." Arthur turned to face the blonde and then went back to his work again, trying to be absorbed in concentration.
"Why don't you say that more loudly to the Head boy?" Lucius Malfoy challenged.
"Malfoy, why don't you and your Slytherin filth go hang somewhere else?" Kingsley Shacklebolt looked up from beside Arthur.
"You're going to have to get a detention for that, Kingsley." Malfoy said smugly.
"As will you just for being a git." Kingsley replied.
Arthur accidentally dropped his screwdriver and bent down to pick it up. Lucius stepped on it and it broke.
"Oops, sorry Muggle-lover." Lucius said smiling and then walked away with his crowd of Slytherin friends.
Arthur happened to catch the redheaded girl's eyes at that moment and she quickly turned away, blushing at what she saw. He bent over the clock and tried to concentrate but he couldn't.
"Why do I always have to embarrass myself in front of Molly?" he muttered to Kingsley quietly so Molly wouldn't hear.
"Ah," Kingsley shrugged. "Why don't you just ask her out? Everyone knows she likes you."
Arthur looked over at Molly again and saw her looking his way. He smiled hopefully and then dropped his clock with a bang; Molly averted her eyes again, embarrassed.
Just then, the young Transfiguration teacher stepped into the Great Hall, leading a crowd of first years.
"Look at them! They're so small!" Moody said pointing.
The young, stern looking woman then carried a stool to the front of the crowd. On top of it laid the old, patched sorting hat.
Immediately, the Great Hall ceased talking and waited for the song to commence.
The first years looked anxious as they watched the brim of the hat open and began a song:
Another year of Hogwarts has come to be with us
And plenty of new magic learners have joined the Hogwarts bus
("What bus?" whispered Moody. Molly hushed him)
They will be sorted in four houses
Each with a noble history of their own
And in those houses every student
Will learn spells they can't forlorn!
So put me on the top of your head
And let me have a look
At which house will suit you best
Of the Hogwarts' houses four?
You might be in Ravenclaw
Those most prudent and most wise
Rowena were so proud to state
Her students held the sharpest minds
Or perhaps you'll be in Gryffindor
Where the brave and noble stride
Godric taught his students well
To sacrifice their pride
Maybe you'll be in Slytherin
Filled with ambition and cunning thoughts
The ones who entered this house were
All from a family of pure blood
And let's not forget about Hufflepuff
Those hard workers not afraid of toil
Those kind and sweet Hufflepuffs
With friendships truly loyal
So place me upon your head
And let me have a see
The house with which will help you most
Will be declared by me!
The Great Hall burst into applause at the end of this song. Professor McGonagall stepped beside the stool with a long list of names. Students of all houses were looking at the stool with anticipation.
"Abbott, Gretchen!" She called out.
A timid first year walked up to the stool and put on the hat.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat broke out.
Applause rang out as the girl, smiling in relief, went to join the Hufflepuff table.
The next boy joined Hufflepuff too.
"Black, Sirius!" called Professor McGonagall.
A very handsome first year walked over to the stool and placed the hat upon its head.
It took a fair amount of time to decide, but the brim opened and the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"
The Gryffindor table applauded loudly as the first year came to join the table.
"Black? In Gryffindor?" Moody asked, eyeing the first year suspiciously. "Isn't his cousin…"
"In Slytherin, yes." said Molly. "Not all families go to the same house, you know," she clapped as a brown haired boy joined Hufflepuff.
"But isn't the Black family rumored to be very Dark Wizards?" Arthur asked, frowning.
"Not all that come from a family will be like the rest of the family," said Molly. She clapped again as "Chang, Robert" went to Ravenclaw.
"Wish they'll hurry up," said Kingsley, almost moaning. "I'm starving!"
Another girl went to Slytherin.
"Not too many to Gryffindor this year, huh?" said Frank Longbottom, who was sitting beside his girlfriend, Alice.
"Evans, Lily!" Professor McGonagall called. A shy, pretty looking redhead went to the stool.
A couple of boys were whistling at her.
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat said. Lily Evans smiled and hopped to join the Gryffindor table. Kingsley wasted no time in shaking her hand.
"She's quite a looker," said Kingsley. Emmeline gave an annoyed tut.
The line thinned after awhile. More students went to Ravenclaw and Slytherin.
"Pettigrew, Peter!"
A fat, shy-faced boy walked up to the hat and miserably put it on his head. The hat was on his head for practically two whole minutes before it declared,
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Well, that wasn't difficult! If he's a Hufflepuff, why did the hat take so long?" Kingsley wondered.
"Maybe it was deciding between Hufflepuff and Slytherin," Arthur shrugged as he looked longingly at the empty plates.
"Potter, James!" McGonagall called. It was one of the boys that whistled at Lily. He had very untidy hair and happily walked up to the hat.
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat declared, and the boy walked over to join the Gryffindor table to applause.
Finally, after "Snape, Severus" went to Slytherin, the feast had begun. Professor Dumbledore stood in front of the Great Hall and said, "Tuck in."
Immediately the tables filled with food ranging from roast ham to baked potatoes to savory soups and rich gravy.
Arthur Weasley sat hunched in his work as Kingsley ate loudly beside him.
"What about these potatoes, eh?" Kingsley asked.
"Kingsley, look at this! Muggle clocks are simply strange!" Arthur said, pointing. He poked his wand at the clock and it began to smoke.
"Can't do magic enchantments with Muggle stuff here at Hogwarts," Kingsley said patiently as Arthur was about to blow up his latest Muggle device for the thousandth time.
Sure enough, soon, a huge BANG was heard and Arthur was covered with smoke.
The Slytherins laughed loudly and Arthur's cheeks got pink. He pretended not to hear.
"Oh, shut up Crabbe!" Bertie called.
"You too, Lestrange!" another voice from the Gryffindor table called.
Molly looked at Arthur again and gave him a sympathetic smile.
'I like you Arthur Weasley!' she thought as she looked at him. 'When are you going to ask me out?'
* *
The next afternoon, Arthur went to the library. He quickly grabbed about five books on Muggles off the shelves and looking happy, turned to check them out when something made his heart freeze.
There she was, soft, brilliant red curls…
Molly was browsing to find a book on Charms in the library when she heard a big thump behind her.
She turned and saw that Arthur Weasley had dropped an armful of Muggle books. He looked up at Molly and then got red in the face, trying to pick up all his books.
Molly bent over and helped him.
"Sorry," Arthur mumbled.
"It's alright," Molly said quietly as she helped Arthur stack his books. "I'm sorry for what Lucius said to you, Arthur."
"Well, he'll meet karma in the end." Arthur shrugged, trying to hide the fact that he was humiliated.
"Arthur," said Molly gently. "Why are you so interested in Muggles?"
Arthur's face lit up instantly. "Oh, they are absolutely appealing! How do they get along without magic? How do they get along with their everyday tasks? I mean, if they learned about our world, they would simply be fascinated too, don't you think?"
Molly nodded politely.
Arthur's robes were too short for him because he outgrew them last year. Molly saw that he was wearing mismatched socks.
'Poor boy,' she sighed. 'And such a nice person, too!'
Molly hang around, waiting for Arthur to say something…something that she hoped he would ask. They stood around awkwardly.
"So…" said Arthur.
"Hmm?"
"Molly, do you want to…."
Molly looked at Arthur eagerly.
"Go to Hogsmeade with me on the next visit?" Arthur asked shyly looking away.
"Oh yes, Arthur! Absolutely!" Molly answered smiling.
"Great!" Arthur replied grinning. They stood around for another few minutes and then Arthur said, "Well, er, I'll see you later then!"
"Okay." Molly answered, still smiling.
She watched Arthur walk away humming. She forgot all about her Charms book and rushed over to Alice who was watching them.
"So? Did he?" Alice asked breathlessly.
"Yes! We're going to meet at the next Hogsmeade weekend!" Molly said enthusiastically.
"About time!" Four voices behind them chorused.
Molly and Alice turned to find Bertie, Moody, Frank and Emmeline quickly turning around, pretending they haven't heard Molly and Arthur's conversation at all.
"Oh hush," Molly said, but she smiled.
* *
Arthur himself was very cheery for the rest of the day.
'I might have hand-me-downs and an old passed down wand,' he thought. 'but I have a date with Molly Hattingfield!' he grinned, trying to keep his stack of Muggle books from slipping.
He arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady and said, "Mimbus Wormack!"
She swung forward and he climbed into the Gryffindor common room.
"Kingsley! Kingsley!" Arthur said. "You won't believe what happened, I---"
"Unless you finally asked Molly out, I suspect this is something about Muggles." Kingsley replied over his game of chess. Kingsley had a very concentrated look upon his face, saying "hmm" and "hmmmmm" every few minutes.
"I did ask Molly out. In fact, we are going on the next Hogsmeade trip together." Arthur said triumphantly.
Kingsley's reaction was so fast that he knocked over the chessboard.
"Hey!" the untidy haired first year said.
"Sorry 'bout that John." Kingsley said hastily.
"James." The boy grumbled, then turned to his friend beside him. "C'mon Sirius, let's go finish our plan."
"Ah, well, sorry about ruining your game of chess, but you know that no matter how much practice you get, I'll still beat you." Arthur said smiling.
Kingsley raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure of that Arthur." He said dubiously.
"So, can I borrow some Sickles?" Arthur asked Kingsley.
"For what? I just lent you some money on the train!" Kingsley said, but was already going to his trunk.
"To buy Molly something at Hogsmeade! I'll pay you back as soon as I sell my latest Muggle/Wizard invention.""
Kingsley handed Arthur some Sickles and pointed out, "Every time you try to put wizard magic on a Muggle device, it blows up."
"Well, someday I'll get one of those Muggle cars and maybe make it fly." Arthur said.
Kingsley rolled his eyes when he turned his back.
"Thanks mate." Arthur took the money. "So, still going for an Auror job after graduation this year?"
Kingsley nodded. "There are some bad wizards turning up. I hear there's this Voldymore that's starting to collect a lot of followers."
"You'll make a good Auror, Kingsley, I know you will." Arthur said, getting his books for his next class.
"You should become one, too, Arthur. You have the potential." Kingsley said.
"C'mon Kingsley, you know I can't become an Auror."
"Why not?"
"You know…er…."
"Arthur are you still thinking about working in the Muggles department at the Ministry?"
"Well, what's wrong with that?" Arthur asked.
"Arthur, that is the most boring department---"
"Boring?" Arthur said, completely bewildered. "You don't understand, Kingsley! It's absolutely fascinating! This is the chance for me to study Muggles…." He lowered his voice. "With contact." He added impressively.
"So you might have to go to Muggle homes to do memory charms, big deal."
"Kingsley! This is my chance to see how Muggles live! See their surroundings!"
"Well, can we go back to talking about how you asked Molly out instead of hearing about you fantasize about non-magical folks?" Kingsley joked.
"She's so pretty," Arthur said, giving a little sigh. "I can't believe she actually said yes, I mean…"
"You guys go together. Both redheads."
Arthur smiled happily.
"So how did you ask her out? When did this happen?" Kingsley asked.
Arthur was still thinking about Molly and her beautiful hair…
Kingsley allowed Arthur to reminisce about his afternoon for another two seconds before he coughed. "Well, in about ten years or so, when you've finished daydreaming, will you tell me what just happened?"
"We were in the library, and I saw her," Arthur said.
Kingsley nodded.
"And I dropped my books."
"Blimey…" Kingsley said, looking absolutely shocked.
"Well, anyway, she helped me pick them out and then I just kind of told myself to ask her out and I did and she said yes." Arthur had this happy little balloon swelling inside his heart.
"Just like that? You just said, 'Hey Molly, let me take you out'?"
"Well, no. I actually asked her to go to Hogsmeade with me."
"Aha!" Kingsley said. "Women love chocolate and shopping. I bet when she heard the word Hogsmeade she thought chocolate and shopping!"
"Thanks," said Arthur.
"And she probably thought about you too." Kingsley added as an after thought.
"I'm taking out Molly Hattingfield!" Arthur said loudly. "Molly Hattingfield! I am taking out Molly Hattingfield!"
Arthur thought for a second. "Me, Arthur Weasley is going to take out Molly Hat---"
"Oh will you give it a rest?" interrupted a girl irritably. "Some of us are trying to study!"
Arthur sheepishly grinned.