Molly/James
Prompt: Innocence
Innocence
January 22, 2036
It was Violet Lupin's eleventh birthday, the eldest daughter of Teddy and Victoire, and James had decided to come home from Romania where he lived with his wife, Irina and their daughter Juliet, to celebrate such a momentous occasion in any young witch's life. All of James's cousins were there, along with his brother and sister and their spouses and children. So many children. James had once thought that the collection of Weasley-Potter cousins had been enormous, but it was nothing compared to this chaos. A large game of hide-and-seek was currently occurring around the oblivious adults, and James grinned when Juliet tugged on his robes and asked to join in.
James scanned the crowd of relatives, but his gaze focused in on his cousin Molly. Of all of his cousins, Molly was the most different. James didn't know exactly what had happened to her, but her naturally bright demeanour and cheerful presence had been masked by something entirely foreign. Her brown eyes were solemn and sad and she was as close to Lucy in disposition as James had ever seen her. She was hiding from something. It wasn't as though she wasn't pleasant; she smiled when she needed to and provided light conversation to the rest of her family. But it was a forced act – James had known her long enough to tell that much.
She remained glued to her husband's side for the entirety of the night, looking positively glum as Lily chatted to her animatedly, while bouncing a one year old Kai on her hip. David Jenks, Molly's kind-faced husband and five years her senior, was trying to engage his wife and Lily in conversation, but although Lily seemed interested, Molly's expression told James that she would rather be someplace else.
He turned to Irina and kissed her cheek softly, asking her to excuse him for a moment, before he went and approached his cousin. He flashed her an easy grin and thought he saw the smallest smile appear on her face.
"Fancy a drink, Mol?" he asked her casually. Without even excusing herself from the conversation, she nodded quickly and followed James out into the kitchen. James watched her with mild surprise as she rummaged through Victoire's cupboards until she found a bottle of nettle wine.
"Do you want to go outside?" she asked him, a little rushed. James shrugged and followed her out to the back porch. It was freezing, but Molly didn't seem to care. Instead, she popped the cork from the bottle and began guzzling it down as though she was parched. James eyed her with concern. He had never seen Molly this out of sorts before. Come to think of it, he had never seen Molly drink before – unless toasting at her various cousin's weddings. Molly had always been the naïve one of the family; the goodie-two-shoes, the one who did everything she was told and never overstepped the boundaries. Now, at aged 30, she was finally breaking free. It disturbed James immensely.
He didn't know what to do. All he could understand was that his cousin was deeply troubled. Her current behaviour was similar to his own, when poor Fred had been in his shoes, trying to console him. James tried to remember what Fred had done, so that perhaps he could be of some use. But Molly was very different to him. She never lost control of her emotions and went on drinking rampages like he did. She was all innocence and loveliness.
"Molly…" he began tentatively, attempting to pry the almost half-empty bottle of wine from her fingers. She looked up at him, eyes as wide as saucers, and although she still maintained her grip, it was half-hearted. "What's wrong?"
Tears swam in her eyes, threatening to spill down her freckled cheeks, but she sniffed them back. Turning away from him, she buried her head in her hands and began to sob; her entire body shuddering. Not knowing what else to do, James rubbed her back gently and let her rid herself of her sorrows. A few moments later, David appeared at the door and flew to his wife's side, holding her as she cried into his chest. Knowing that the couple needed a moment to themselves, James rose and slung the wine bottle under his arm. As he left to go back inside, David met his eyes; trying to express as much gratitude as he could without making a sound. James nodded solemnly, before shutting the door behind him.
There was something different about Molly. She was no longer that innocent little girl who always thought the best of people. She had seen hardship and experienced sorrow, and James didn't like how the world had changed her.
A/N: Just a little sad one. To fill you in on the details, Molly is finding it difficult to become pregnant. She's been trying to five years and has miscarried six times. Seeing all her nieces and nephews running about makes her extremely depressed, because she's the only one in the family who hasn't had children, apart from Hugo. She desperately wants to start a family, but can't. James doesn't know this, of course, because Molly doesn't confide in him about things of this kind. But he senses that something is wrong and tries to help as best he can.
Ages: Molly (30), James (32)