For fear of the magic in one's core/needing explore
"Come on, try it," George urged.
I bit my lip, doing the spell casually. The drapes changed from a puke yellow to a pale gold. Thank god.
"It worked!" I gasped.
George laughed, "Yeah, I know a way around all of Mum's tricks."
"Well we have to visit your mother anyway," I told him. "Tell her, the uh, good news."
George rolled his eyes, "Let's go."
I picked up Lyra and George took Fred, and we apparated just outside of the wards.
Fire and water battle together...
Molly was cooking dinner, looking paler than normal.
"Mum, you okay?" George asked as he set Fred on the counter.
Molly jumped at our approached and looked at us wearily, "Yes, just fine. Why don't you four go play in the garden while I finish up dinner. George, I think Ginny and Harry are playing quidittch with Cho and Viktor, if you want to join. Hermione, dear, Fleur's down there and waiting for you."
I looked at her, worried, "Are you sure you don't want any help?"
"No, dear, I'm fine, now go. Dinner should be ready soon," Molly assured us, getting a cake in the oven. She was clutching a letter in her hands like it was going to run away. It had a famliar seal, a large black M on the top of the letter.
"Love you, Mum!" George kissed her cheek and picked up Fred. Something didn't feel right. "We'll see you then, Molly, if you insist."
I gave her a smile and followed George outside. He handed me Fred and sprinted to the pitch, where the others were zooming around. I walked over by Fleur, sitting down and seeing Teddy and Victoire playing with each other.
"Did Molly seem frazzled to you?" I asked Fleur.
She nodded, "She vas bustleeng around more zan usual, and ordered us avay from ze 'ouse."
"Same," I told her, sighing. I never really got along well with Fleur, but after the incident at Shell Cottage, she and I were closer than just aquaintences.
"She ees worrying moi," Fleur admitted, playing with Victoire's hair. "I-"
My eyes, which were watching George fly around, diverted to the Burrow just as a large crash sounded from it. I jumped up, my wand out. The boys, Ginny, and Cho landed and were beside Fleur and I in an instant. "What was that?" Ron asked.
Since when was he here?
"I don't know," I admitted.
"Come on," George urged, and took off for the house. But we were only a few feet away when the Burrow burst into flames. "Mum!" George cried.
"Fleur, stay here with the kids," Bill ordered. Harry had mounted his broom to take off towards the Burrow, but he fell to the ground a moment later.
"Wha-?" I asked, confused.
Ginny also tried to mount her broom but was only a few feet off the air before she, too, fell to the ground. It was like no one was allowed to fly through the air.
"Aquamenti Maximus!" I shouted, aiming my wand at the Burrow. The fire roared and grew stronger where the fire hit. I was running beside George, getting closer. I had to ... I had to save her.
Earth and air fuse as one to make a troubling storm.
"George," I gasped as the heat was insanely hot from the fire. We were ten feet away. There was no way Molly could survive this.
"Death Eaters," George insisted. "It has to be."
Against the will of a Veela's mate a sacrifice must be chosen
"Bill!" George cried. "What do we do?"
"We can't go in there," Bill insisted. "It's about ready to collapse and the heat..."
"But Mum-" George whispered, his face crumpling.
I stepped to his side, wrapping an arm around my husband's waist. George wrapped one around my shoulders, pulling me closer.
Death of a loved one
We sat in the field where the boys played Quidittch, the fire of the Burrow in our sight. We were all in shock.
"Did anyone send any letters?" Harry asked. "Threatening letters?"
"No," Ron insisted. "I lived with her for bloody years. She was only different today."
"Did the post come before we arrived?" George asked.
"A letter," I whispered. "Molly had a letter in her hands while she was making dinner. I thought it was from Andromeda or something. But she had it in her hands, not letting it go, not even to put something in the oven."
"Did you recognize anything?" Bill asked.
"An M," I murmured. My eyes rose from the ground and I met their eyes, "The Ministry. You don't think-"
"They tried to set her up with someone, do you?" George finished my thought.
"Bloody hell," Ron gasped. "But Mum wouldn't be suicidal!"
"It depends on who it was," Cho decided. "I mean, if it was someone she knew..."
"No, she'd never remarry. She loved Dad too much," Ginny insisted, nursing her bruised arm. Viktor was holding their child on his lap, Sebastien.
"But would she commit suicide over it?" Bill whispered. "I don't know. I mean, Mum was pretty freaked out when you all got your letters."
"But they never said they'd pair her with anyone!" I insisted.
"We've decided not to pair you with anyone to marry at this time," Ginny repeated. "They were planning on it in the future."
A years race
"But they would have given her a warning," I debated.
"A year ago, Mum burnt a letter she got," Ron said quietly. "Three months after your twins were born."
Already three months in pace
"But she didn't say anything," George argued. "She would have told us."
"George, she hated it when people helped her," Ginny reasoned. "She hated it when people told her what to do."
Beware the Power to force one's choice
This all sounded so familiar... What in the world? Where had I heard stuff like this before?
"The Ministry gave her a new choice," Bill decided. "I think we can be safe to assume that."
"But why would they do that?" Ginny asked. "She can't have kids. She's too old."
"Maybe they were going-"
"The Ministry, you remember the potion they made a few months ago?" I interrupted. "It was front page of the Prophet."
"That Fertility potion?" Cho asked.
I nodded, "It gave women that already hit menopause a few years more of fertility, no side-effects."
For the Power will defy nature.
"But there has to be side-effects! That's just not natural!" Ginny protested.
"The Ministry wants kids," I sighed. "They won't stop at anything."
"They've overstepped the line," George growled.
Revenge is futile
"We can't do anything though," Bill sighed. "Mum made her own choice on this. Although it was the wrong choice, we can't blame the Ministry for that because they never anticipated soemone's reaction to be like this."
We all grew silent, hearing the Burrow begin to collapse in on itself.
George took my hand and silently rubbed circles into my palm. I followed his gaze and saw the tattoo.
"George," I whispered, horrified."
"What?" He asked, concerned.
I held up my tattooed hand and met Bill's eyes. "Death of a loved one."
For the family isn't mightier than the sword
"I'm going to kill Dolohov," George growled.
We lost Molly because of him. Dolohov would have to be heard by me first. This wasn't the end of the Weasley family, but it was a setback.
I made a mistake and I'm so glad a few readers pointed it out to me. "What about the whole thing with the hand? The tattoos?" Well thank you! I actually completely forgot about that... but I fixed it! I hope this helped! I was going to make it like this before I rushed the ending and it completely slipped my mind to tie in the hand thing... so here we go! I know, it was sad... but it was necessary.
-Nastya