So it's been a while since I updated this. Originally I was intending to do Roxy, but for some reason, Molly jumped out at me instead. I don't think this will be as viewed a chapter as the others, because Molly is Percy's daughter and people don't seem as interested in Percy as the others. But I think the reformed black-sheep of the family is kind of an intruiging concept.
Enjoy!
Molly Weasley had always been a mature child. Perhaps that's what caused her to, as her mother put it, act out.
Having parents like Percy and Audrey Weasley isn't easy. Even from a young age, there was a word associated with her father for Molly: Workaholic.
For a long time, she didn't even know what it meant, but it was what popped into her mind as she saw her father arrive home late again, or scribbling away on roll after roll of parchment. That wasn't to say he wasn't loving in his own stiff-upper lip way, but compared to her rambunctious and numerous cousins, Molly herself has never felt particularly childlike. It sometimes was harder for her to relate to her extended family because of this. She looked up to Victoire, who was so beautiful it sometimes made Molly ache to look at her, but Victoire was older, sophisticated and somewhat on the aloof side. She is on good terms with Fred, but again, Molly's precociousness holds her back. Dominque, Roxy, Rose, Hugo and Lily (or Lina, as she insists on being called these days) are a noisy bunch. Even her little sister has a certain amount of childish innocence that confuses Molly.
The fact she is also named after the legendary Molly Weasley, the sister of the Prewitt brothers and slayer of the Dark wizard Voldemort's right-hand woman rather puts her at a disadvantage. Her cousin Fred understands how this feels, at least, and James, Albus and Lily are in the same boat. Lucy is named after their maternal grandmother, but she isn't a legend and Lucy is a rather versatile name.
Molly, meanwhile, balks at being referred to as little Molly, or Molly 2, or Molly Junior. She admires her grandmother a lot, certainly, but she doesn't want to be a little clone. At least her cousins are named in memory of fallen wizards and witches, but Molly has long suspected that her own name as an offering, a gesture of goodwill to soothe past wounds inflicted by Percy's ambition and her grandparent's unconventional views. Molly does not particularly want to be a peace offering, even though really, Molly was once just an affectionate nickname. Molly thinks Mary is almost as bad- the plain, simplistic purity of a name like that doesn't suit her at all. She doesn't resent her parents so much as she objects at being a symbol for something, instead of a girl.
So when she gets on the train for Hogwarts for the first time and somebody asks for her name, she smiles as wide as she can.
"Maria."
At Hogwarts, she is free to rebel a little. People expect Weasleys to be a little rambunctious, just like their parents were before them, but Percy Weasley's daughter causes raised eyebrows with her penchance for mischief. Her eyes sparkle as she giggles and people shout, "Ria!" in howls of frustration or between fits of mirth. It makes her feel good.
"Are you sure she's not your child?" Percy asks his little brother with a sigh.
George smirks.
"Could be worse, Perce. She could take after you."
It would sound harsher if it came from anybody other then George, who says it with a little twist of his lips and a gleam in his eyes that is very familiar. When Molly hears the exchange, she throws back her head and laughs, auburn curls bouncing, her face lit up with mirth.
It feels good to laugh.