Chapter 3: Breathtaking
August 31st 2019
Molly's POV
The main disadvantage to living so far away from London is having to stay overnight at Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron's house in Berkshire. Not that I don't like staying with my aunt and uncle, it isn't that at all, but it's so much hassle to have to lug all our stuff into the car and travel down to Reading a day before everyone else has to leave home. Then we have to sleep on the floor in Rose's room, which means getting up with a stiff back and feeling horrible for the whole journey to school. This year, to add to the mayhem, is going to be Hugo's first year and I have never seen a child so excited to go to school in my life. As soon as we arrived, pulling into their drive, the extremely tall eleven-year-old flung himself out of the front door and into my mother's arms.
"I'm starting Hogwarts tomorrow, Auntie Audrey!" he yelled, as she kissed the top of his head. My father cringed slightly at the racket that emitted from my cousin's mouth and ruffled his hair affectionately as he passed him.
"I know, darling," Mum said, holding his hand and walking towards the front door, where Aunt Hermione was stood looking slightly ashamed of her son. Hugo grinned and ran past his mother gleefully as she stepped forwards to hug her sister-in-law.
Aunt Hermione is an odd one. I can never work out whether or not I like her. She's really nice, and she never shouts at us, but she's so bossy and sometimes I feel like I have to be careful not to say anything silly in case she goes into her patronising mode that I grew out of when I was six. She released my mother, the complete opposite to her in almost every way, and hugged my father.
Dad loves Aunt Hermione: I always wondered whether they'd ever have got together if Uncle Ron hadn't got there first. They're both so clever and they always have some intellectual discussion that Mum and Uncle Ron roll their eyes at.
I suppose you could split the kids up like that too, though. Rose is just like her mother, intellectually. When she was little, she was always the one who organised the games and told everyone who played which role. She looks like Uncle Ron, though: like Hugo, she's tall for her age, almost as tall as me and I'm two years older than her. She has bushy red hair and freckles and a fairly big nose for a girl. She and Lucy always have something to talk about: a new spell-book, animal rights, teachers, the list goes on.
Hugo, on the other hand, whilst the image of his mother, cannot hold a conversation about anything vaguely intellectual for longer than ten minutes. Like me, he gets bored by having to think too much. He's brighter than me, but not like Rose or Aunt Hermione. He's better than average and if he tried, I'm sure he'd probably exceed Rose. However, he's perfectly happy for her to have the spotlight and to instead hide behind pranks and jokes. Hugo and I always end up together on these days. There are the two lots of intellectual discussion, Mum and Uncle Ron moaning about their spouses and intelligent children, whilst we wander around the house playing games, dressing up and Merlin knows what else.
It took Aunt Hermione a few seconds to notice my make-over. She hugged Lucy tightly and told her she'd be staying on Rose's floor, as we already knew. I stepped forwards and my aunt did a double take. Then, she hugged me tightly and kissed my cheek. "You look wonderful, Molly," she told me, ruffling my hair. I must have cringed automatically because she laughed. "It looks fine, dear. Come on, come in," she ushered me inside quickly, and helped my dad to levitate the trunks inside.
I walked to the back of the house and started. Expecting to see no-one but my immediate family sat around the room, instead my eyes fell onto Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny and their three children who were sat in the living room, alongside my family and Uncle Ron and his kids. I remembered with a jolt that Mum had mentioned that the Potters were also staying that night and going to London split between us and our hosts, after their car had broken down two days ago.
"Hey, Mol!" Uncle Ron said, spraying cake crumbs all over Lily who scrunched up her face and wiped her top. "Nice dress." At that comment, every eye in the room turned to me. James fell off the table he was perched on, Lily's eyes widened, Al choked on his cake and a dazed Uncle Harry hit him on the back, whilst still gazing at me. Rose was scrutinising my new dress and Hugo was looking up at me with his big blue eyes.
"Stop it, you're scaring the poor girl!" Aunt Ginny exclaimed, standing up from the sofa she was sharing with her brother and husband to hug me. "You look wonderful, Molly. Your mother's doing?" she looked accusingly at Mum, who shook her head defensively. Aunt Ginny's eyes widened.
"Twasvictwa," Hugo said through a mouthful of cake. At that moment, Aunt Hermione walked in, scolded him and Uncle Ron nodded in support of his wife. Hugo swallowed exaggeratedly and looked at his mother for approval. She rolled her eyes and gave him the nod to continue. "It was Victoire," he repeated, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his jumper.
"Hugo!" his mother moaned, shaking her head. James snorted and received a glare from his own mother. "Was it really?" she asked, with a frown. "What on Earth came over her? Doing something for someone else? Well I never!" Everyone chuckled lightly, even Mum forced a smile. It was true. Victoire's act of selflessness had shocked me too, when I had initially asked her to take me to town. Aunt Hermione's fairly strong dislike of Aunt Fleur had also manifested itself when referring to her eldest niece, minutely less intelligent than her own daughter and a million times prettier.
"Yeah, she took me to London and we did some shopping and she took me to have my hair done," I explained. Aunt Hermione looked mildly impressed and after a few minutes more of trivial talk, the adults moved us 'children' upstairs to Rose's room.
We settled quietly into Rose's massive bedroom. You could fit all 12 of us grandchildren in there easily. Rose, Lily and I curled up on the bed, whilst the boys lay on the floor. Lucy sat on Rose's desk, her feet resting on the chair.
"So, do you think it looks okay?" Despite the many compliments I had received from my parents and others, I was still worried that I looked worse. Knowing that James and Hugo would be brutally honest with me, unlike their parents, who were all for making you feel better, I looked at them first.
"Tierney won't know what's hit him. Maybe the shock will kill him, solve our problem," James said with a wink. I glared at him and gave him the finger. My boyfriend is also Seeker on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, and he won the Quidditch Cup for his house last term in the final match against Gryffindor. James had spent the first three weeks of the summer trying to convince me to dump him, saying that family should come before boyfriends – a fair point that I do agree with, but when I'm not even in said house, I did not see any reason why I should have to dump my boyfriend. However, I have never told James that I went to the party in the Ravenclaw Common Room the night that they won to celebrate with Harrison. I think the news would actually kill him. I sigh, and thank him anyway, knowing that it was a compliment. I look to Hugo.
"You could be Dom's sister," he said with a shrug. I grin and jump off the bed to kiss his forehead. He pulled a face and wiped it with his other sleeve. Dominique, despite having hair colour identical to mine, still held the Veela beauty that her sister did. She looked more of a Weasley, yes, but still something seemed to attract men to her like a moth to a flame. Rose laughed lightly at her brother's expression of disgust, and for some reason, all of us began to giggle uncontrollably.
--
As per usual, the night was dreadful. On top of the uncomfortable floor and draught from the half-open window, Rose also snores. Loudly. So loudly that you can hear her from downstairs. I tossed and turned, and kicked Lucy one hell of a lot until she kicked me back so hard that I actually groaned. Lily was awake at six, bouncing off the walls as quietly as she could. I heard her skip out of the room, and listened to two sets of footsteps running down the stairs. When I said I'd never seen anyone as excited as Hugo, I lied. Lily has been counting down the days since Vic started school eight years ago, when she was a mere three years old. I cannot comprehend how excited they are. When I went, I couldn't wait to come home, to Nanna's cooking and my mum's hugs, as much as I loved my friends. Anyway, after ten minutes, I got up and sneaked past my sister, who was still flat out on the floor beside me. I grabbed my clothes and nipped into the bathroom.
Looking at myself in the mirror closely, I groaned. My hair was curling on one side, and the other was poker straight. My eyes were puffy and red from lack of sleep and the bright light was making my eyes water like crazy. I pulled a brush through my hair impatiently, praying that it would straighten by itself. No such luck. Instead, it just kinked out. I sighed and stepped into the shower. I had washed my hair the morning before, but clearly it needed more. I borrowed Rose's shampoo, reminding myself to let her borrow mine some time, and scrubbed at my hair. I hopped out, quickly dried and dressed, and nipped downstairs.
Lily and Hugo were sat together on the sofa watching television, still in their pyjamas. Lily is obsessed with the telly, and since her parents won't have one in the house (I think it's mainly Uncle Harry's objection, since Auntie Ginny is always secretly glued to Eastenders whenever it's on in my house), she loves sitting and watching the piece of Muggle technology. At my footsteps, both of them started, the nerves already showing in their bright faces. I sat down next to Lily, who rested back against me and smiled up.
"Which house do you think I'll be in, Mols?" she asked me sweetly. I sighed and put my arm around her. It's one of those questions that I always get asked by my cousins and I hate it. Saying that, I remember asking Vic and Teddy the same question before I went up to Hogwarts too, so I shouldn't complain too much. This time, I have no idea. With James and Al, them being in Gryffindor was a given. Both of them are too lovely to be in Slytherin, not nice enough for Hufflepuff and nowhere near as intelligent as you need to be to be put in Ravenclaw, like Vic, Rose and Lucy. I sigh and think. Lily is adorable. To me, she's still the five-year-old that I used to babysit, not a school student. I picture her in two years time and wonder whether she'll be the same. Despite her cuteness and seemingly innocent nature, I will never deny that she's mischievous and extremely manipulative: she has every male in our family wrapped around her little finger. It's not even as if she's the youngest girl. I hate to say it, but whilst I think she belongs in Gryffindor, she could make a pretty decent Slytherin.
"I don't know, Lils," I replied, honestly. She pouted and I knew that lying would have been the better option in this scenario. "I'm going to say Gryffindor, though," I added swiftly, saving myself just in time. Hugo looked up at me sceptically. I frowned back down at him and he opened his mouth to say something. I glared at him, but he spoke anyway.
"What about me?" he asked, arms crossed. He, like me, has not yet lost all his baby weight. He has chubby cheeks that look odd alongside his tall and otherwise thin frame, and a mop of brown hair that managed to escape the curse of Aunt Hermione's curls. I didn't need to think about my response for him for very long.
"Gryffindor," I replied simply. I could hear footsteps upstairs again. It sounded like Lucy and Rose had emerged, because there was quiet chatter and if it had been the boys, they would certainly not have been being so subtle. I was right, of course, and the two crept inside minutes later, both dressed in conservative Muggle clothing.
"I like your jeans, Molly," Rose said politely, sitting on the floor in front of Lily's legs and pulling her blue skirt into place. I glanced down to check which pair I was actually wearing, my mind blanking for a second. A pair of tight-fitting boot cut jeans. My stripy pink slippers stuck out of the end of them: family houses being the only place I can wear pink without making other people cringe from the horrific clash with my hair.
"Thanks, Rosie," I replied just as politely as she had addressed me. She smiled, showing a row of perfectly straight white teeth, and Hugo pulled a tongue at the back of her head. His sister, like the majority of the family, had Weasley teeth. Poor Hugo, like his mother in so many ways, had inherited the dreadful screw-up that Aunt Hermione had suffered from. They crossed over this way and that, and were overly long at the front. His mother had promised to fix them at the end of his first year, providing he didn't tell his maternal grandparents, who wanted him to have them fixed the 'old fashioned way' that they claimed worked on their only daughter. I gave him a shove over Lily's head and he laughed, turning his attention back to the television.
--
Getting thirteen people ready in two hours was never going to be easy. My early shower proved extremely advantageous, as it meant my mother just had to whiz her wand over my hair to dry and straighten it, and I was done. I put my make-up on in the living room mirror, jabbing myself in the eye with the mascara brush only once. I borrowed some of Aunt Ginny's green eye-shadow to match my top and was done by quarter to eight, which meant I was roped in to helping my two aunts make breakfast.
It was madness. James was refusing to shower, saying that he'd had one the day before, whilst Al was arguing against that, saying that no such thing had happened. I think that Aunt Ginny, who was trying her hardest to cook bacon and scold her two sons, was on the brink of a nervous breakdown until Rose obediently fetched Uncle Harry to separate his children and physically put James in the shower if he had to. Hugo couldn't find a pair of matching socks, and ended up wearing one blue sock with an owl on and one orange one embroidered with the Chudley Cannons logo. Lily had spilt pumpkin juice on Lucy's top, so Mum had been searching through her trunk trying to find a new one that would still match her shoes whilst trying to help Dad find the glasses that he had misplaced. Aunt Hermione went ballistic when she shouted for Uncle Ron's help in finding Rose's wand and found him asleep in a chair in the dining room, and to top it off, my tabby cat, Daisy, had gone walkabouts and was eventually discovered curled up at the bottom of James' owl cage.
Somehow, everyone managed to eat something (although Hugo nearly ended up with just two slices of stale bread due to a mix-up with the plates, and it was only when Rose made a comment that we realised what had happened) and everyone got showered and dressed with relative ease. Dad, Aunt Ginny and Aunt Hermione went outside to modify the size of the cars on the inside, to allow the extra number of people, and start to pack them up, whilst the other parents did a check-list of things that we should have.
It was lucky they did too, since Hugo didn't have any of his Potions ingredients packed, Rose's tie had been lost under her bed and Al's broom had been hidden by an unknown suspect (most probably James, after the shower incident). Uncle Harry was about to let Lily leave without brushing her hair, which Mum quickly sorted out with a couple of flicks of her wand, and Uncle Ron nearly fell asleep again, before Uncle Harry kicked him and started him awake. Once all the cars were packed, we split up into the two vehicles: Aunt Ginny, James and Lily in our car, and Uncle Harry and Al in the other. A wise move by the Potters, since every year since Teddy started school, I had heard stories about what the boys had done to each other in the back of the car, often very surprising and ever so slightly disturbing.
--
It took forever to get to London this year. There was crash after crash on the motorway, the traffic was backed up in the city itself, and we thought we may have to run for it at one point. Lily started crying because she thought she'd be late, and James was telling her horror stories about what they do to latecomers to the Sorting ceremony. He soon shut up after Aunt Ginny threatened him with the exact same actions he was coming up with (and she very cleverly added castration to the list, which made him gulp loudly). Nevertheless, we got to the platform with ten minutes to spare. The six adults hauled our stuff onto the train and we said our goodbyes quickly. I clambered on board with the goal of hunting down my boyfriend and then my best friends. I watched Lily and Hugo, evidently terrified now that they were actually on the train, tag along behind James, who had located Dominique and Evie, who were hunting down a carriage at the opposite side of the train. Rose and Al had found their friends relatively easily, and Lucy was waiting patiently at the doorway to wave goodbye to our parents. I continued to walk, checking in and out of compartments until I saw the flash of blue that gave away the location of one of my best friends, Max Monroe, and thus the other two as well.
I opened the door and was bombarded by hugs and kisses from my three best friends. Max, whose streak of blue down the left side of his honey blond fringe had been his give away, grabbed my hand and pulled me down next to him. As gay as the day is long, Max is by far the only person I would tell everything to, and that is including Harrison and my cousins.
"What have you done to yourself, Mol?" he asked in his soft Irish tone, taking my hand and examining the French manicure that my mother had attempted last night. I looked down at myself, from my Mary-Jane's to my low-cut top, I would admit that everything about me was different, but not enough to sound as confused and freaked out as he did.
"I let Victoire take me shopping," I said, removing my hand from his and crossing my arms across my chest protectively. I gently touched my hair, perfectly straightened and held back from my face with a thick white head band. "Why, do you not like it?" I looked to my other two best friends, Anna Durand and Nina Watkiss. They looked at each other, blue eyes meeting chocolate brown and glanced back to me.
"You look amazing, Mol," Anna assured me, reaching over and squeezing my denim-clad knee. I looked to Nina, who nodded too, then to Max who grinned and pulled me across so I was under his arm. I tucked my feet up onto the seat beside me and smiled back. "Harrison won't know what's hit him," she added with a wink. Considering she's never really spoken to James, only nearly killed him with a Bludger a couple of times, they are scarily similar. I would never tell her that, or him, or I'd have to go into hiding. They actually detest each other – I can't remember exactly why, but I'm fairly sure it's something to do with Anna's younger sister, Claire, and my selfish cousin ignoring her after a snogging session in the Charms classroom a couple of years ago.
The train began to pull out of the station, and we all jumped up to press our faces to the window. All of my family were squeezed together, a flame of red burning over a sea of waving handkerchiefs and pale faces that began to lose their features as we travelled further and further away. When the red disappeared, blurring into the background we sat back down.
"Where is Harrison, anyway?" I asked, noticing properly for the first time that he wasn't there. Nina and Max frowned at each other from where they were sat. My heart sank for a second. "What? Have I missed something?"
"Did you not get his letter?" Anna asked concernedly. I looked at her long dark hair, hiding her left eye from view. I remembered with a jolt about the letter that had gone up in flames a few nights before.
"I....It's a long story. I didn't read it," I muttered, cursing my idiocy. A million things raced through my mind: maybe he'd left? Maybe he'd left me. Maybe he'd died. At the last one, I snapped out of my daydream. If he was dead, I'd definitely have heard and he wouldn't have written the letter. If he'd left me, then why would Anna have said that I'd shock him? "What did it say?" I could hear the fear in my voice and Max squeezed my shoulders.
"It's nothing to worry about, Molly," Nina said comfortingly. "His gran passed away on the twenty-eighth and he's going to be off for a couple of days to spend it with his family." I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. My friends weren't at all unperturbed by my noise, and I shook my head at my own stupidity.
"I'm just going to see if I can find Mia," I said, ducking out of Max's embrace and brushing the creases out of my top. Mia Davenport is Harrison's best friend. They've known each other since the first train ride here, and I knew that she probably received a letter identical to mine, unlike the others, who weren't overly close to my boyfriend. The other three chorused mismatched responses and I stood up to slide the door open. I missed the handle as someone from the other side got there first. Expecting a couple of terrified first-years, or maybe some of our relatives, I was stunned to see a tall boy, with jet black hair and pale skin staring down at me. I felt my breath catch in my throat at his gaze, focused as brightly on me as mine must have been on him. I must have seen him before, in passing, but if I had, I'd never paid him attention, and would never be able to find a name to put to his face. He opened his mouth, his pale lips parting slowly. He spoke just as I imagined.
"Have you room for us?" he asked in a slow voice. It wasn't a deep tone and nor was it too feminine, but just right for a boy, a man, of school age. Words escaped me for a moment, and I realised he was addressing me. I stepped to the side, still unable to put my brain into gear. He sat down in the seat I had previously taken, and his friend, a stocky, tall girl with a brutish face but brilliant blue eyes that sparkled brightly, sat beside Anna, who moved a little closer to Nina. I ducked my head, not wanting to be caught staring at this guy like a moron and started to edge out of the door. "Are you leaving?" the boy asked, sounding intrigued. I looked up at him again and swallowed deeply. My mouth felt dry but I managed to stammer -
"I'll be back in a bit," in a horribly squeaky tone. He smiled and leant back, nodding in approval. I went to walk out of the compartment for the third time, but seemed to gain back a little of my usual confidence. I turned around to meet his gaze again. "I'm Molly, by the way. Molly Weasley." I saw Max raise his eyebrows a little bit from the corner of my eye but I ignored the gesture. I would bring it up with him later.
The new addition nodded slowly and held out his hand. It took me a second to understand what he was getting at and when it hit me, I extended mine for him to shake. As they came into contact, I felt my whole body shaking. My stomach turned upside down and as he released my hand, I yearned for him to take it back, the warmth that radiated from him a comfort, though for what purpose it was comforting, I didn't know.
"Enchanté, Molly," he drawled. I could have melted on the spot. I could feel the Weasley blush creeping under my cheeks and I stepped back again so it may not be so obvious. I smiled shyly and turned my back. "Molly?" I turned back once more, not at all as annoyed as I should have been. "I'm Seb. Seb Becker." I nodded and smiled meekly, before stepping out into the corridor and shutting the door behind me. I stepped to the left, out of view and gasped for breath. I steadied and calmed myself, waiting for my cheeks to cool, and began to walk down to the front of the train when it hit me that I could not remember for the life of me why I had wanted to leave. Instead, I walked for a little bit until I found a compartment full of my cousins and sat with them, trying to find the right moment to ask who on Earth this Seb Becker was and why I'd never paid him much attention in the past.