Hope you're all ready for some cuddly Weasley babies!

13 May 1981 – Chocolate

"Ronnie, darling, come on," Molly pleaded, bouncing the baby in her arms; he was wailing despondently, for he had a terrible cold that was stubbornly resisting all of Molly's usual remedies. "Aren't you tired, darling? Don't you want to sleep—ouch!" She pressed a hand to the side of her large belly and moved to sit down in the armchair beside Ron's crib, wincing. She had not felt at all well during the course of this pregnancy; hardly a day seemed to go by where she did not feel ill, have such bad back pain and headaches that she simply had to stay in bed, or been horribly sick for the better part of the day.

And she felt dreadful for it—not only would the new baby be the majority of her focus after its arrival, it was taking all of her time for enjoying her boys before it was even born. She pushed away that rather nasty thought, though, and sent a quick apology down to her belly before returning her attention to Ron.

"Poor baby," Molly murmured, kissing his feverish neck, "My poor little one…come on, can't you sleep, darling?" She moved Ron to cradle him in her arms. He sniffled, his large blue eyes full of tears and his cheeks red and blotchy from crying. She dabbed at his nose with a handkerchief; he was getting a little too big for the blue pajamas he wore, she noticed.

Ronnie grunted unhappily and squirmed, trying to put his arms around her neck again. Molly brought him up to her shoulder and hugged him close. "Oh, sweetheart…what am I going to do with you?"

"Buh duh buh," Ron murmured. "Buh, buh, buh…Mumma…"

Molly smiled. "Mumma loves you too, darling." She looked over at the clock on Arthur's bedside table; it was already after three o'clock, surely the Chudley Cannons match was over by now. That meant that soon, the house would be teeming with hungry boys again—and Molly was less than inclined to do the cooking when she felt so ill.

Ron gave a sudden wail, just as the baby kicked hard against her ribs, and Molly let out a strained breath. "Are you two always going to be my troublemakers? I thought I had Fred and George for that," she muttered, bouncing Ron.

Taptaptaptaptap.

Molly looked over at the bedroom door. "Hello?" Slowly, the door creaked open, and a small, bespectacled face appeared in the narrow crack. Molly smiled, confused. "Come in, Percy, darling—have you all just got home?"

Percy pressed his lips together and nodded once. Keeping his hands behind his back, he stepped into the room, followed by Bill and Charlie. They formed a straight line, still hiding their hands behind them. Molly blinked.

"Boys…?"

Beaming suddenly, Percy whipped a sheet of parchment out from behind his back. In his untidy scrawl, Molly read:

MUMMY'S NIGHT OFF!

"Percy—"

Charlie produced a second piece of parchment that said:

DAD'S MAKING DINNER

And finally, Bill held up his note:

AND WE'RE PLAYING THE QUIET GAME!

Molly laughed. "Boys, what on earth—"

"Go on," whispered a voice outside the bedroom door, which opened a little further to admit Fred and George, who each had one hand on the massive Honeydukes chocolate bar they were carrying. They both had their other hands clamped firmly over their mouths. Molly stifled a giggle as they laid the candy in her lap and scampered to stand beside Percy. All five boys were fidgeting happily as Arthur stepped into the room.

"This is their thank-you," he said, bending and picking up Ron from her arms, "And mine, for letting all of us go to the Quidditch match."

Molly looked over at the boys. Fred and George nodded fervently, their hands still clamped over their mouths. "They're so quiet," she whispered to Arthur, laughing softly. "Arthur Weasley, you've done the impossible." She winked at Bill, who grinned.

Molly leaned back in her chair, rubbing her belly before peeling back the wrapper on her chocolate bar. "Anybody who's playing the quiet game, come here," she said, starting to break off little pieces. There were five excited gasps as the boys all scrambled forward. "Just one little piece, or you'll spoil your dinner," she told them, presenting a bit to Percy. He sniffed it, savoring the scent; his brothers had already crammed their pieces in their mouths and were chewing happily. Once they had finished, they all ran from the room—taking extra care to slow down and be quiet on the spiral stairs.

Arthur shook his head, just as Ron gave a wail of unhappiness. "Oh, poor fellow," Arthur said, bouncing him and sitting down on the end of the bed, facing Molly's chair. "Come on, son, it's all right…"

Molly broke off a slightly larger piece of chocolate and handed it to Arthur. "Ron and I have been having a little chat, today," she explained.

"What about?" Arthur asked, taking a bite of the chocolate before offering the rest to Ron, who cooed delightedly and stuffed it in his mouth. At once, his expression became dreamy and his eyes unfocused.

"That's my boy," she chuckled. "We were just talking about how he's going to give Freddie and George a run for their money when he's older," she explained, drumming her fingers lightly on her belly. "And so is this one, I think." She stopped short of finishing her thought, but Arthur seemed to know it anyway.

"Still think it's a girl?" he asked, grinning.

Molly arched an eyebrow mysteriously and popped another square of chocolate in her mouth; the baby didn't seem to mind candy at all. "I'd want to supervise that quiet game out there if I were you, Mr. Weasley. They could have Charlie tied up again."

Arthur snorted and shook his head, lifting a now very happy and bubbly Ron against his shoulder and getting up to leave.

"Arthur," Molly said softly, already settling back in her chair for a nap. He turned at the door and smiled. "Thanks for the chocolate."

He winked.