Molly rested against the kitchen counter, listening to the sound of forks clinking against plates and cups being picked up and put back down, no one was talking or laughing, they are just eating before they can return to their rooms to deal with their grief on their own. It had been about a month and a half since the war ended, since she had lost her son, and the initial jubilation had subsided until they were only left with overwhelming sadness.
Each of her children had retreated into themselves and even though her house was bursting at the seams it felt like it was completely empty. Normally she would love all her children being in the country, but she hates that it didn't feel like the family was actually together. Charlie was staying at Bill's house, not wanting to leave his family just yet but also understanding that there wasn't exactly room for him at the Burrow. Percy had moved back in the house to stay in his old room, he blamed himself for Fred's death. Molly knew that there was some part of him that thought if he had come back sooner, Fred would have seen the spell coming and would have jumped out of the way. It was ridiculously unfair for him to feel that way, but what could anyone really say to change his mind? Harry was staying in Bill's old room now that he didn't really have a place to stay, but Molly had assured him that he was always welcome at their home. Merlin knows that he was just as much a part of this family as any of her kids and he needed his family right now more than anyone. Plus, it filled her heart to think that he considered this home. Even Hermione was spending all her time at the house while she tracked down her parents who she had sent to Australia. There wasn't a spare bed or empty seat at the kitchen table, but the owls were the loudest creatures living in the house.
She missed the explosions coming from the Twin's room, and Ginny slamming her door because Ron said something dumb. No one went out to play a quick game of quidditch anymore, the deck of exploding snaps hadn't been touched since Bill's wedding. She wanted jokes and laughter at the dinner table and groaning that they had gotten up too early to do chores. She missed Ron's complaints about degnoming the garden, now he did it automatically. Finishing the process as quickly as possible before going back to his room where Hermione, Harry and he would sit in relative silence. George, who was also staying at the house unable to return to the apartment he had shared with his twin, was no longer inventing and owls were constantly coming to the house about the shop but they went unopened and unanswered. Now that the war was over they all had a chance to return to their lives but in all honesty, they didn't know what their lives looked out without the threat of war and death looming over them.
Her attention was pulled back to the present when she heard chairs scrape against the hard wood floors as somebody got up and came into the kitchen. Harry smiled politely at the matriarch as he put his plate in the sink and reached for a sponge to begin working on the dishes. The poor boy couldn't even meet her eyes some days, she knew the guilt was eating him alive. After the war had ended, everyone looked to Harry for comfort. Everyone wanted to share with him their gratitude and grief. It made sense why everyone would turn to him again, he had saved the world over and over again and now they expected him to set the world right again. It was unfair for them to expect so much of him, but he did it anyway. He was at every funeral possible, head held high and strong. He was silent but he gave everyone comfort to the grieving families, a steady reminder that the death of a loved one had helped to end the war. It wasn't until Remus and Tonk's Funeral, the last one that they had to attend, that he broke down. Andromeda had handed Harry his godson so that she could go to the front and speak to the crowd and when Harry looked at the little orphan, so like him and yet which such a better future ahead of him, Harry finally broke down. It had been a small ceremony, allowing him to be protected from the eye of the public. He finally cried. Cried for Remus and Tonks, for Fred and Dobby and Colin Creevey, for everyone who had died and lost someone. He cried for Teddy who would have to grow up without his parents and he cried because at least Teddy didn't have to grow up without someone who loved him. Finally. Harry Potter cried for himself, for all he had been through and all he had left to do. Up until that point, her family had tried to remain strong. It's not that they hadn't been mourning Fred's death, but they had tried to not let themselves get sucked into true grief, but as they left that final funeral, they all got a little bit quieter and they each entered a state of depression that they had yet to recover from. But as the rest of her kids filed in, having only eaten half of their lunch, she decided she had had enough.
Molly wanted to fix things, but as she passed a mirror she saw how run down and tired she looked. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were wrinkled and unkempt. If she wanted to help her family, she would have to help herself first. So that afternoon, Molly took a shower, fixed her hair, ironed her clothes and began to put her life back together. Then she got cooking.
By the time dinner had rolled around, Molly had expanded the coffee table to fit and array of appetizers and drinks, surrounding the table were chairs and pillows with a fire crackling. Slowly as the time got closer and closer to the seven o'clock dinner time, her kids all filed down and they stared at the empty kitchen table, then to their mother sitting in her armchair, she wordlessly gestured for them to take a seat and they silently waited to for everyone else to show up. She had made sure to invite (mandate) that Fleur and her two eldest showed up as well. Finally, all her kids were seated and Arthur walked in. He took a few seconds to process everything before turning to his wife, "What's going on?"
"I just," Moly paused to look around at all of her children. "I just think that we needed something different." She responded. She didn't want to rush her children, yes she wanted to shake them out of their depressed states but she also didn't want to force them to fake the idea that they were okay.
"Well," Arthur looked around too before deciding to take a seat a reach for food, "As long as we can eat, fine by me." Then he paused to look at his wife. "Thank you dear, you've really outdone yourself tonight."
"It's no trouble dear but of course you are welcome, now eat, all of you." She directed this statement at the crowd.
Minutes passed in silence, again it looked like this meal was going pass without any words. Finally, Charlie - who had never like silence even though he talked the least in the family - spoke up. "Harry and Hermione, I've been meaning to tell you. Norberta just laid her first eggs. We were worried for awhile because it doesn't usually take 7 years for a dragon to lay their first set of eggs, but she finally did."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all looked at each other before laughing. It was the kind of laugh that released every thought and feeling at once. There was nothing really funny about a dragon laying eggs, but they couldn't stop laughing. Maybe it was just the fact that it brought the three back to their first year before they really knew what they were getting themselves into or perhaps it was the fact that after everything they had been through they had somehow forgotten the fact that they had smuggled a dragon out of Hogwarts and that wasn't even their most impressive dragon story in the last seven years. But, nonetheless, the three could help the laugh that echoed through the walls of the Burrow, and the longer they laughed, the funnier it became to everyone else in the room. No one knew who Norberta was or what it had to do with those three but after all these years it honestly didn't surprise them and their laughter was infectious. There had been so little to laugh about in the last year that they all kind of just took the opportunity while they had it to let it all out.
Finally after a few moments Hermione was able to choke out, "It's like she knew it was finally safe." This kind of sobered everyone up, the mention of the war and the hint of everyone they lost brought everyone back to reality. Hermione seemed to realize what she had done, the look on her face made it clear she had no idea how to fix her mistake.
Harry stepped in however, addressing Charlie, "I'm sure Hagrid will be really glad to hear that. I'll never forget when the thing hatched and he just kept referring to himself as 'Mummy'" Again Ron and Harry began chuckling but the rest of the group were now giving Harry a curious look, wanting to hear the rest of this story.
"Well, now you're going to have to tell us why you are invested in the life of a dragon in Romania" Ginny spoke up from where she was sitting to the left of Harry, just far enough away from him to look innocent, but their knees were knocking against each other with every slight movement.
"Umm," Harry looked up towards the matriarch of the family, unsure.
"Go ahead dear, I think we can all get a free pass for tonight, you guys won't get in trouble for any of your stories. Merlin knows they can't be any worse that the tales I do know about. Besides, I cannot deny I'm interested as well."
Just like that, Molly watched all of her kids come back to started with Harry telling them all about a dragon that they had to send away to save Hagrid. Then Charlie told a story about his first dragon that escaped from it's enclosure. Ron told of the best game of chess he ever played, which they all thought would be boring until they found out that it was played on a life sized chess board that almost killed him at the age of eleven. Hermione mentioned that him sacrificing himself to win the game was the riskiest move he had ever made, to which Ron replied that she had set Snape's robes on fire and therefore had no room to talk. The group roared in laughter as Harry tried to describe all his encounters with Dobby the House Elf and Bill talked about some of his more delicate mishaps with the goblins at work. After a little while, even George began to tell stories and it was the first time that he was able to mention Fred since the funeral. He was lucky too, because being able to reminisce about her son helped to keep Molly sane when she learned about the Marauder's Map. This led the family down a whole knew selection of stories in which they finally learned where the twins had gotten their start-up fund to open their store.
Molly learned more about her children's lives than she probably ever wanted to know. But she felt closer to her children than she had since Ron had come home after his first year and told stories about his new best friend. She hadn't stopped worry about them all since the day it was revealed that Ginny was going to be taken into that blasted chamber, but sitting here she was finally able to breathe easy. They hadn't all made it through and she would never truly be whole again but her family was finally healing. The laughed and talked for hours before it was finally time for bed. As they all got up, Molly went to clean up the food when she realized that there wasn't anything left. Smiling she simply waved the plates into the kitchen, determined not to worry about it tonight. She hugged each of her children before they headed up the stairs.
When she went to bed that night, Molly cried. But for the first time in a long time it wasn't out of fear or grief. This time, she cried because she knew that everything was going to be okay. Tomorrow she would wake up and feel overcome by the loss of Fred all over again, but she knew she could make it through and she knew her kids would make it through. So no, not everything was fixed, but all was well.
Let me know what you think, I hope you enjoyed it.
Love you all, stay strong, stay safe, stay alive,
Storywriter