Year 2: Open Your Mind

Chapter 14: December 2015

Dear Molly,

Though I'm sure you won't believe me, your father and I have given this issue much consideration. However, we think it unnecessary for you to remain at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays. You claim that you need the time to study, to do well on your exams, but you came home last year and still achieved top marks. If you were doing poorly in school, this would be another matter entirely, but your father and I are confident that you can spare the time.

Furthermore, your family wants to see you. Your sister has been missing you terribly, and your Uncle Thomas and Aunt Abigail haven't seen you since last Christmas. Not to mention your Grandmother would be devastated if you weren't in this year's Weasley family portrait.

We will see you at King's Cross on Saturday,

Mom

"Ugh!" Molly cried, angrily ripping the letter in two. "Why can't my parents be cool?" she demanded.

"If it makes you feel any better, mine are making me go home too," Debbie offered.

"But Julie and Sarah get to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays," Molly whined. "They're going to get so much more done than I ever will surrounded by cousins day and night."

"It won't be day and night," Julie assured her. "Didn't you say yourself that you just have to see the Weasleys on Christmas Eve and the Browns on Christmas Day? Once that's over, you can lock yourself in your room and pretend you're here."

"You're right," Molly agreed. "I just have to get through those two days. It can't be that hard."

MmMmMmMmMmM

The Weasley family Christmas Eve dinner passed much the same as they always did. Victoire and Teddy elected not to play hide-and-seek, but Molly was hardly surprised. They hadn't been very willing participants the past few years anyway, and were getting a little old for it besides.

Now that Louis was old enough, he was able to participate in the family game of Quidditch. To even things out, Teddy convinced Victoire to play too, but she was even worse than Louis, who wobbled as he attempted to fly around the pitch.

In Secret Santa, Molly had drawn her little cousin Roxanne's name and at her mother's suggestion had gotten her some candy. Supposedly children enjoyed receiving candy, though Molly was more inclined to buy her cousin a book. Molly's name had been drawn by her Aunt Hermione, who had mercifully understood the proper etiquette of gift-giving and had bought Molly a book about the history of wizardry in South America – a topic Molly was eager to learn about.

Molly's sweater this year was green with a large white 'M' on the front. Once the family picture had been taken, everyone started heading home. Since Audrey had helped with the dishes last year, Grandmother Weasley insisted that she give someone else a turn this year, and to Molly's relief, she and her family flooed home relatively early.

Unfortunately, the next morning, Molly was met with disturbing news.

"Your Aunt Abigail has just found out that her mother is very sick," Audrey informed Molly and Lucy over breakfast.

"That's too bad," Molly said.

"It is," Audrey agreed. "She and your Uncle Thomas are going to go and stay with her for a few days."

"Does that mean they aren't coming over tonight?" Lucy asked, disappointed.

"I'm sorry honey, but it does," Audrey nodded.

Molly started to smile at the prospect of a whole day free for studying, when her mother spoke again.

"Since they don't want their children stuck in a house full of sickness, your cousins are going to be coming and staying with us," Audrey said.

"Wait, what?" Molly said, food spurting out of her mouth as she did so.

"Vanessa and Tommy are going to be staying here a few days," her mother repeated.

"As in living here?" Molly asked.

"That's what I said," Audrey nodded, giving Molly a look. "And you are going to be a gracious hostess."

"Where are they going to sleep?" Lucy asked. "On the couch?"

"Actually," Audrey said, "your father and I thought it would be nicer if they didn't have to sleep in the living room. We thought it would be nice if they could sleep in your room, Lucy."

"Both of them?" Molly questioned. "It's going to get pretty crowded in there."

"Yes," Audrey nodded. "Which is why we thought it might be nice if Lucy could sleep in your room for a few days Molly."

"Yay!" Lucy cried in excitement. "It'll be like a sleepover!"

"No," Molly balked. "Mom, you can't do this to me."

"I'm not doing anything to you," Audrey said. "Your cousins need a place to stay and we have limited space. Lucy's giving up far more than you. She's giving up her whole room."

"You're taking away my privacy!" Molly cried. "My peace, my quiet. How am I going to study if Lucy's in my room all the time?"

"Well you won't be studying anyway," Audrey said. "With your cousins coming, I'll expect you to entertain them."

"Why me?" Molly demanded. "Why not you or Lucy?"

"Young lady," Audrey cried. "Do not make me order you to spend time with your cousins. It's bad enough that you're reluctant at all. You only see them once a year. Surely you can make some time for them?"

Molly sighed. She knew there was nothing for it. "When are they getting here?" she asked.

"Any minute now," Audrey said.

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It was only about twenty minutes before Molly heard the sounds of the fireplace and knew that her cousins had arrived. Carefully, she finished packing her notes and things away where her sister wouldn't be able to reach them and mess them up before going downstairs to greet her cousins.

"Thank you so much for doing this," her Uncle Thomas was saying to her mother. "It means the world to Abigail to have this time with her mother."

"I'm happy to take the kids anytime," Audrey replied. "You should go. Write me if there's anything else."

Uncle Thomas had already returned to the fireplace when Molly appeared, and before she could say hello, he was gone.

"Hi Molly!" her nine-year-old cousin Vanessa said excitedly upon seeing her.

"Hey," Molly said with a wave. "Hey Tommy."

"Where's Lucy?" Vanessa wondered.

"I think she's in her room," Audrey said. "I asked her to clean things up before you got here, since you'll be sleeping there."

Without a word, Vanessa had darted upstairs to find her cousin, leaving Molly alone with her mother and her five-year-old cousin.

"Molly," Audrey said, motioning to Tommy with her eyes.

"Right," Molly said, remembering that she was supposed to be entertaining him. "Um… so Tommy, what do you want to do?"

"Can I play with your wand?" Tommy asked.

"No," Molly shook her head, immediately glad that she'd hidden it away high up with her notes. Tommy would never reach it there.

"Can we play hairdresser?" Tommy asked.

"How do you play that?" Molly asked.

"It's where I'm the hairdresser and I cut your hair," Tommy explained.

"Then definitely not," Molly said. She wasn't about to let a five-year-old near her with a pair of scissors.

"Can we play – "

"Have you ever played hide and seek?" Molly asked, interrupting him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mother nodding in approval.

"I like hide and seek," Tommy nodded.

"Let's see if Lucy and Vanessa want to play too," Molly suggested, taking Tommy by the hand and leading him upstairs.

Thinking of hide and seek was a stroke of genius for Molly. She volunteered to count, and then revised her herbology notes for ten minutes before seeking. If she kept things up like this, she could still manage to stay on top of her studies despite the sudden change of events.

Hiding was a bit more difficult. Molly tried hiding where she would be easily found, so that she could be the counter again and revise some more, but Tommy was a terrible hider and despite Molly's efforts much too easy to find. Then there was the Lucy problem.

"Molly," Lucy asked. "Why are you so bad at this all of a sudden. Normally you find really good hiding spots."

"I guess the Burrow just has better opportunities," Molly shrugged.

Lucy narrowed her eyes, but didn't press any further.

Soon, it was time for lunch and Audrey called them all down to the kitchen.

"And what have you all been up to today?" she asked.

"Playing hide and seek," Tommy volunteered.

"Do you have any plans for after lunch?" Audrey asked.

"Well," Vanessa said. "Tommy's meant to take a nap after he eats lunch."

"Yes," Audrey nodded. "Your father did tell me that."

"I don't need a nap," Tommy shook his head. "I'm a big boy. I'm five years old."

"You're taking a nap," Audrey said. "Molly, will you see to it that he goes down?"

"Goes down?" Molly frowned. "He's not a baby, he's five. He doesn't need a nap."

"Uncle Thomas says he gets a nap, so he'll get a nap," Audrey declared. "Girls, maybe you'll want to play outside for a while, so that Tommy can have some silence while he sleeps?"

"We can build a snowman!" Lucy suggested.

"I want to build a snowman," Tommy whined.

"You can build two snowmen," Audrey suggested. "One while Tommy sleeps, and then another when he wakes up."

MmMmMmMmMmM

Just as Audrey had said, when lunch was over Molly took Tommy up to Lucy's room and tried to get him to take a nap.

"I don't want to nap," Tommy rebelled, refusing to get under the covers. "I want to play outside."

"You can play outside after you've napped," Molly instructed.

"But I'm not sleepy," Tommy complained.

"Well then make yourself sleepy," Molly told him.

"How?" Tommy asked.

"I don't know," Molly said. "Have you ever counted sheep?"

"No," Tommy shook his head.

"Okay, imagine a bunch of sheep in a line, jumping over a fence," Molly said.

"Why?" Tommy asked.

"Just do it," Molly ordered.

Tommy closed his eyes and laid down, picturing the sheep.

"Why are they in a line?" he asked.

"I don't know," Molly said, exasperatedly. "Because they're waiting their turn to jump the fence."

"Well why do they want to jump the fence?" Tommy asked. "What's so special about it?"

"It's a magical fence," Molly invented. "When the sheep jump over it, they get special powers."

"What kind of special powers?" Tommy asked.

"I don't care," Molly said. "Whatever you want. Just count the sheep."

"Why?" Tommy asked.

"Because I said so!" Molly cried, reaching the end of her patience.

Tommy was quiet for a moment and then he opened his eyes. "There are fourteen sheep," he declared.

"No," Molly frowned. "That's not how you do it, you have to keep counting."

"But there's no more sheep," Tommy said.

"Then make more sheep," Molly instructed. "It's your imagination."

"How many more sheep should I make?" Tommy asked.

"Infinite sheep," Molly said.

"What's infinite?" Tommy wondered.

Molly took a deep breath to keep from screaming. "Okay, obviously this isn't working," she said.

"You could read to me," Tommy offered. "Sometimes Mommy reads to me and that helps."

"What does she read to you?" Molly wondered, thinking that this new method would undoubtedly work better than the last.

"Usually storybooks from my room," Tommy said. "But you can read whatever you want. I don't usually listen much."

Molly hummed. If all Tommy wanted was for Molly to read something – anything at all, really… could she get away with reading her notes?

"One second," Molly said, running across the hall to her room and grabbing her herbology notes again. She returned and sat down next to Lucy's bed, instructing Tommy to lie down. "Okay, I'm going to read to you now," she said.

"Okay," Tommy said.

Molly cleared her throat and began. "Bowtruckles are tree-dwelling creatures, often found in western England, southern Germany, and certain Scandinavian forests," she read. "They are tree-guardians and generally protect trees whose wood is of wand-making quality. They are very small and difficult to spot – they're no bigger than a hand and can easily blend in with the tree in which they dwell, having the appearance of a twig. They eat insects, particularly wood lice, which pose a threat to the trees where they live. Though bowtruckles form strong bonds with their home tree, they can be very useful to herbologists when working with a number of different plants. Bowtruckles will eat any sort of insect that they come across, and when placed with a particular plant, will guard and protect it from insect invaders as if it were it's home tree. Bowtruckles shouldn't be kept away from the home tree for extended periods of time though, or else the separation could kill it."

Molly looked up from her notes then to check on Tommy and found that he was fast asleep.

With a smile, Molly leaned back and silently continued to read her notes, content to do so next to her sleeping cousin.

MmMmMmMmMmM

When Tommy awoke from his nap, his energy level was exceptionally high. Having been promised a snowman, he dragged Molly away from her studying and downstairs to the yard, where Lucy and Vanessa were busy decorating their completed snowman with a carrot for a nose and Percy's scarf around it's neck.

"They finished without me," Tommy cried, disappointed.

"Don't worry," Molly assured him. "We'll make our own snowman and it'll be ten times better than theirs."

"And bigger too?" Tommy asked.

"And bigger too," Molly agreed.

Molly quickly came to regret that last promise as she pushed a growing snowball around the yard. Tommy was too small to push it any further, but still unsatisfied with it's size.

"Bigger!" Tommy cried. "Bigger!"

"We still need two more snowballs," Molly pointed out. "Once we add those, he'll be plenty big."

"But I want him to be extra big," Tommy cried.

"Hey Luce?" Molly called out to her sister. "A little help?"

Unfortunately, Lucy and Vanessa were now engaged in the activity of making snow angels and uninclined to build another snowman.

With a sigh, Molly continued to push the snowball around, making it grow larger and larger until finally Tommy was satisfied.

"Now put it next to their snowman," he directed.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Molly demanded. "It's bigger than you. I can't pick that up."

"Then roll it some more," Tommy ordered.

Molly sighed but did as instructed. In no time, the bottom snowball was in place, and two more snowballs were in progress.

"We can't make these snowballs as big," Molly warned him. "Because we actually have to pick these ones up to get them to stack nicely."

"That's why the bottom one is so big," Tommy explained.

"Aha!" Molly said. "Good forward thinking."

By the time Audrey called them in to wash up before dinner, Molly and Tommy's snowman towered high above Lucy and Vanessa's snowman.

"Ours is better," Tommy said, sticking his tongue out at his sister.

"Well ours is nicer," Vanessa replied. "Yours is all bumpy."

"Hey!" Molly cried. "I did my best out there."

"Alright, settle down," Audrey insisted. "Your snowmen are equally as good as each other."

"This really isn't the place for diplomacy," Molly said.

"It's not diplomacy," Audrey said. "I'm telling the truth."

Dinner was good. It was quieter than usual without Uncle Thomas and Aunt Abigail and Molly wondered if Tommy and Vanessa were sad that their parents weren't there. After dinner, they went into the living room to open presents, and then it was time for Tommy to go to sleep.

"Thank you for today," Audrey said to Molly once Tommy was taken care of. "I appreciate your help with your cousin."

"Your welcome," Molly said. If she'd had her way she would have ignored her cousins and studied all day, so she wasn't entirely sure why her mother was thanking her.

"Why don't you go and study for a while then," Audrey suggested. "I think Lucy and Vanessa can manage to entertain themselves."

"Thanks," Molly said.

"And listen," Audrey added before Molly disappeared. "I'll try and make sure you have some time to yourself tomorrow. Maybe I'll have the kids join me in the kitchen to bake cookies or something."

Molly smiled. "I'd appreciate that," she said.

"Well I think you've earned it," her mother replied. "I'm proud of you."