When Arthur got home that night, Molly was all business. She had seen Arthur about to come home thanks to her clock, so she was already cutting bread and stirring piping hot tomato soup. Arthur could tell from the moment he came home that something was off. Of course, he thought, the boys left today for Hogwarts. Oh, poor Molly. Arthur snuck up behind Molly, and grabbed her in a big hug.

His hunch was correct, as he say Molly's eyes rimmed red with tears. "We have some extra food today," said Molly, "I, forgot that we're only four people, so-," but Arthur cut her off with a kiss.

"It's okay honey, I understand." Molly wiped the tears off her cheeks and gave a dry sob when she saw that her soup had overcooked. Arthur simply waved his wand, returned the soup to its original state, and sat a sobbing Molly near the table. He served himself some soup with bread, and sat himself across from Molly.

"Now," said Arthur, "do you want to talk about it?" Molly sadly shook her head, but stopped herself.

"It's just," Molly said battling tears, "There are only two left! What will we do when Ginny goes to Hogwarts? This is my whole life! Taking care of my children. What in the world will I spend my time on?"

"Hush, hush," Arthur said as Molly broke into tears again.

"I'm just being silly, I suppose. Getting all upset over nothing."

"No honey, it's not nothing. I understand how you feel! We'll cross that bridge when we get there though. For now, we still have two beautiful children at home, and I'm sure we could think of something to do for you." Molly simply nodded, and with an aimless wave of her wand, which was supposed to summon the drumsticks, but instead made Arthur's water turn pink. With an amused look, Arthur fixed his water and went to retrieve his dinner from the kitchen.

~~0~~

Two months later, not much had changed, save for the fact that Molly had received several letters from Hogwarts regarding Fred and George's behavior. Molly had taken up gardening without her wand to use up her time, and started supervising Ron as he practiced his flying. Molly had seen Ginny jealously watching Ron from her window, and resolved to keep a closer look on the broom shed.

The first snow of the season was coming down, as Molly knitted absentmindedly by the fireplace, waiting for Arthur to come home. She kept one eye on the clock as the minutes ticked by as to when Arthur should have come home. Finally the clock's hands went to traveling and then home. Molly jumped up a split second before Arthur walked in the door. They locked lips in a passionate kiss, as Arthur threw off his jacket. They made their way to the couch near the burning fireplace, and Arthur interrupted their kiss, and asked panting, "What was that for? Not to say I'm not happy about it, but…"

Molly shut him up with another kiss, and said "The first snow of the season dear," and walked away to the kitchen.

That woman will never cease to amaze me, thought Arthur as he admired his wife as she ladled piping hot mushroom soup out of the pot.

The next day was the day that Percy, Fred, and George were scheduled to arrive for the Christmas Holidays. Molly had outdone herself once again with decorations and food. The burrow was covered from top to bottom with paper snowflakes (which Molly made with a very reluctant Ginny), colorful paper chains (which Ron got tangled in), and Christmas lights that Molly put up with a wave of her wand. The dining table was creaking under the strain of all the food, as three rosy-cheeked boys came inside.

"Oh, there you are! We were expecting you ages ago!" Molly clucked as she gathered her boys around her in a great hug. Percy managed to wiggle out, and straightened his glasses, which the twins had knocked askew under the pretenses of hugging.

"Well mother," Percy began in his usual pompous tone, "We would have been here sooner, but those two were nowhere to be found, so I had to search the castle for them until thankfully Nearly Headless Nick directed me towards the -," but just then Fred interrupted with a panicked look from George.

"Yes, yes, indeed. Now erm is that dinner I see? Looks great! Let's start!" Molly gave him a look like she knew all his evasive maneuvers, but let them go with a stern look. Ron spared the twins from any more disciplining with his arrival, and he began to interrogate the twins on exactly what Hogwarts is like. The twins began cooking up extreme exaggerations of Hogwarts traditions, as Molly put the finishing touches on dinner.

It had only been two days since the twins' arrival, but they already had managed to ruin half the decorations and aggravate Ron by turning his teddy bear into a spider. Christmas was one day away, when everyone gathered around the table. Bill had come back two days prior from his Gringotts job, and Charlie had flown in the night before from Romania. He had a few new burns and scars, but otherwise seemed good.

Everyone was shoveling food as fast as their forks allowed them, as the table groaned under the weight of the chicken, stuffing, vegetables, freshly baked bread rolls, Yorkshire pudding, potatoes, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and ice cream. Arthur loosened his belt buckle and took a deep breath. Every year when Arthur thought that he couldn't possibly be fuller, but seemed to get a second wind about half way through.

Molly was back to watching the twins like a hawk as they tried to antagonized Ginny, and fed Ron completely untruthful stories about Hogwarts. After everyone had eaten as much as they possibly could without puking, and then a bit more, the family made their way to the living room, where a huge Christmas tree stood with mounds of presents underneath them, most obviously home-made or at least home-wrapped.

Ginny started by opening her present from Molly and Arthur. She had received a new dress robe for family occasions. She looked ecstatic as she ran up to her room to try it on immediately. Next, Ron opened his gift from his parents. He had received a yearlong subscription to Quidditch weekly.

Molly received a spatula from Bill, and a Romanian necklace with a small dragon on it from Charlie. After the last gift was opened (Ginny got a box of sweets from Honeydukes from the twins, which was suspiciously nice for them. Not in the least as the twins weren't supposed to have access to Hogsmade yet, but Molly would deal with that later.), the family dispersed to their respective rooms to store their new treasures.

Molly stayed content, watching the fire. This is how life should be, she thought. Cheerfully taking care of your peaceful children. Just then a crash was heard as Ginny came sobbing down the stairs. Apparently the sweets were from Zonkos, not Honeydukes, and made her face turn bright purple. Well, mostly peaceful at least, Molly thought to herself as she went to console her daughter.