For as long as the Burrow had been standing, the atmosphere within the house was always been one of welcome homeliness. There had always been a warm glow emanating from the fireplace, candles throughout the house, or pouring in through the windows. Some form of cooking aroma was always floating in the air, and there was always a commotion. Whether it was clothes knitting themselves, or music pouring out of the radio, or the Weasley children shouting at each other or being shouted at by Molly, the home was always full of activity. The mood within the house that 13th of December, however, did not reflect the days of old. In fact, one would feel much more warm and comfortable outside in the wintry, blistering weather than inside the Burrow. For six months, it had been abandoned. None of the Weasley family could bear to be inside the walls. The family had split, for they reminded each other of the happier times, when their family was whole.
Molly had moved to Shell Cottage to stay with Bill and Fleur, which was a bad idea, as Molly had a special distaste for her daughter-in-law. She kept mentioning how depressing the cottage was for being on the beach, and Fleur wanted to tell her that it was only depressing because Molly made it so, but was silenced by a stern shake of the head from her husband. Molly would walk around, cleaning up behind Fleur, and muttering to herself that she would one day teach "that French girl" how to clean properly. Fleur often found herself wondering what it might be like to go off and live with Arthur and Kreacher at Number 12 Grimmauld Place.
For the most part, Arthur hadn't changed. He overworked himself, and had set up Sirius' old room as a place to tinker with Muggle contraptions. He was cheery in the mornings as he took in his breakfast, whistled while he worked, and hummed as he ate dinner. His nights, however, were filled with the screams and explosions of battles long passed. He had slept very little in the previous six months, and had stressed himself to the point of losing all of his hair. He was also becoming nearly as paranoid as Alastor Moody and Horace Slughorn put together. He talked to himself, and worried Kreacher to no end. The house elf had taken to sneaking Pepper-Up Potion into Arthur's morning coffee, courtesy of Winky at Hogwarts.
George kept the joke shop running, though mainly out of respect for Fred. He never appeared in the shop itself, and kept himself locked up in his room above the back store-room. Percy couldn't associate himself with the Ministry, and so he helped George keep the books. He saw to the receiving of new products, and made sure the store didn't go out of business. He regularly kept in contact with the family, and surprisingly served as the glue keeping the clan together. Ginny had moved to Romania with Charlie, and had become rather adept at taming dragons. She was also very good at healing them, as well as the other trainers who would occasionally be mauled by a cranky dragon. A couple of months into her time in Romania, Ginny had written to Hagrid, who now served as the primary caretaker for newborn dragons, until they were ready to be released.
Of the regular meetings that took place in Neville and Luna's house, the Weasley clan had never made an appearance. It was Kreacher who talked them into having the meeting at the Burrow, so the family could re-unite again. He claimed that it was his bitterness that the Blacks never had the chance to reunite that caused him to suggest this meeting, though Arthur believed Kreacher had just become a big softy. Either way, the Weasley's all agreed that they should be more involved. The time for mourning had to come to an end, and their friends and family simply had to be avenged.
On the night this meeting was to take place, the Weasleys were all a right mess. The wrung their hands, paced about their various locations, and delayed as only expert procrastinators could do. Molly was the first to arrive, thanks to some not-so-subtle prodding by Fleur. She showed up around 6 hours early, and was very grateful that she had. The state of the Burrow! It was horrendous! She went straight to work dusting, straightening books, sweeping, and cleaning dishes. When Bill arrived, she sent him to remove the boards from the fireplace and light a nice warm fire. She put together a bit of something to bake while she worked, entirely pleased to be back in the swing of house-wife activity. When Bill came back from getting the firewood, he smiled at the aroma wafting from the kitchen, and cringed as his mother sang to the radio. It almost felt like normal, until he heard a cry from Molly.
Bill ran to her, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw what she was looking at. He felt weak and needed to sit down. Together, the two of them stared at the clock, where Ron and Fred were stuck forever on "lost." They must have been there for over an hour, since it was the smell of burning food that awoke them from their trance. Molly ran off to save dinner, as Bill grabbed a sheet that was hanging over the couch, and covered up the clock. He wasn't quite sure what to do, and was saved from a moment of awkward standing around when his father traipsed in the front door.
"Evening, Weasleys!" He shouted out of pure habit, coming across more cheerful than Bill deemed appropriate.
Bill rushed forward to hug his father just as George and Percy came tumbling out of the fireplace, shouting out in pain, imploring their mother to explain why she would do something so silly as to leave the fireplace lit when company was coming.
"Better put it out before Ginny and Charlie get here," Percy said.
"Better hope Fred doesn't haunt you for this," George said, as he crossed the room to hug Molly.
"Oh, George, it's been too long," Molly said, fighting back tears. "Sorry about the fire. It was just so un-Weasley in here."
"No harm done," Percy said softly, offering his mother a hug of his own.
There was a faint coughing as Ginny arrived, and she quickly asked, "what's burning?"
"Me and Perce," George said, jutting his thumb in Percy's general direction.
"Oh!" Molly exclaimed, "I've managed to keep burning the dinner!"
She scuttled off to save it again as Charlie arrived, and what was left of the Weasley clan all sat around the table, failing not to notice the two empty spots where Fred and Ron would have sat. Molly arrived with the dinner, which was surprisingly good for having been burnt twice.
"Very good, Molly," Arthur said ten minutes later, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"Yeah," George proclaimed, "maybe you should have started burning dinner years ago."
"George!" Molly said, playful hitting him over the head with her fork. "Well, best get cleaned up for company. They should be here soon enough."
Molly and Arthur cleared the table, and the children set to moving about the furniture so everyone would fit in the house.