Chapter Fifty

Back to the Abnormal Normal

All week they whisper.

"Guess who's pregnant. Go on, you'll never guess. Go on!"

"The Perfect One? Never!"

"Molly? Molly Weasley? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I heard she, like, doesn't even know who the father is."

"I heard it's Michael Macklebone's! You know, the Quidditch Player for the Falcons?"

... A lot of it's nonsense, of course, the usual Hogwarts gossip, about how she had 10 boyfriends on the go, and how 3 of them are famous, and she got pregnant deliberately to trick one into "spending forever with her".

It's the true story of what happened that morning that confused me. Rose told me she was in the Great Hall when it happened. She saw Hailey Frockler storm in, red faced and furious (her perfect imitation of this had me doubled over in stitches) and she struted over to Molly. They both looked angry, Rose told me, they looked like they were arguing.

"And suddenly Mol stands up on the bench and shouts 'Oi everyone! I would just like to announce that I - Molly Weasley - am pregnant. Enjoy your lunch." It was bloody brilliant, Lils." Rose explained.

But then things got bad. Apparently, after Frockler flounced off -in a near catatonic state of rage- the boy with the sandy hair, Nick, who was sitting next to Molly, started to argue with her. Their conversation got heated, meanwhile the shock wore off the other students and they started to crowd around Molly, full of questions. The boy ran off and Molly chased after him. That's when I found her.

And on Sunday night, the whole clan piled into McGonagal's office to say goodbye to Molly. Tearfully she flooed home. McGonagal promised her that she would set a date for Molly to take the exams at home, under supervision of course, so that means that -unless she decides to come back for 7th year- it was the last time Molly would ever be at Hogwarts as a student.

Then McGonagal held the rest of us behind for a "little chat".

*Flashback*

"Now, it has come to my attention that what happened this afternoon may have something to do with this silly newspaper, and Ms Frockler. Anyone care to explain?"

An uncomfortable silence fills the room. I take a second to scan my family.

Rose and Dom are sitting at opposite ends of the room, looking anywhere but at each other and I doubt they have spoken since yesterday. Hugo is sitting at his hands, and I wonder if he feels guilty about potentially getting his girlfriend's sister into trouble. Roxie's left hand is shaking violently, and her right one is gripped tightly in her twin's hand. Well, at least they seem to have made up. Louis is sitting beside his sister too, but again there is a sense of tension between them. I am sitting next to James, I can feel his questioning eyes on me, as if he expects me to be the first to crack. But I'm not - Al (who is only allowed out of the Hospital Wing for precisely one hour or Pomphrey will neuter him -and has to remain in a wheelchair) is the one who raises his eyes to hers first.

"Okay, so basically Professor, Hailey Frockler's 'paper' is just a gossip rag specifically based around our family because Jimmy-Jam here can't keep it in his trousers. And someone in our group is a snitch, so Frockler has all this stuff to blackmail us with, and our lives have become her little made some of us choose what her stupid little articles were about and some of it was truth and some of it was lies. So we've made it so she's run out of ammo - Molly's pregnancy was her big guns- so unless someone reports to her again she should quit it." He mumbles in a rush.

We all look around at him in an amused confusion. How could McGonagal possibly understand any of that jibberish.

"Hm. I thought so." She mutters, suprising us all. Rose pipes up.

"All due respect Professor, but then why didn't you do something? You could have saved us a whole lot of pain." McGonagal seems to ponder this question before leaning back in her chair and clasping her hands. She smiles at us almost sympathetically. I note the wrinkles around her eyes and for a second she looks older. Less intimidating. Merlin, she must be at least 80.

"Miss Weasley, I could ask you the same question. I'll admit I may not have paid as much attention to that school paper as I should have, but I saw the articles, I had my suspicions. But at the end of the day, the offending articles were about you and you never came to me in complaint. I had no evidence to prove that what she was printing was not all fact, and thus she was not breaking any rules. It may not be what I deem newsworthy but I simply don't know what passes for news these days. Now, if this is you complaining ... I could stop this paper right now." The last part is a statement, but she says it like a question. Like a hint.

Are we complaining? Are we asking her to shut down the school paper for us? It's no secret that my family prefer to handle things alone - with pranks and revenge - but this is a chance to just ... end it.

But nobody is saying anything. I open my mouth to tell her yes, but I am beaten to it by Roxie.

" is us complaining ... or me anyway. Please just ..." She whispers, trailing off. I see Fred grip her hand tighter, which doesn't go unnoticed by McGonagal.

"There will no longer be a school paper. Though, Miss Weasley, if there is something wrong, something I should know ...?" To this we all shake our heads. We may not agree with how Roxie is handling her issues, but they are still hers. "In that case, you are free to go. I'll inform Ms Frockler tomorrow, and tomorrow's issue will not be running. Good night." She dismisses us.

*End Flashback*

That was last week. And Merlin, you should have seen Frockler's face the next day. It was a picture.

Now though it's almost as if things are ... normal. More normal that is has been in a while ... which means it's not very normal I suppose. Weird.

"It's not weird to be happy Brown-eyes." Caleb whispers to me at lunch on the Monday, "You deserve it. We do." He winks and leans into kiss me. My heart flutters in my chest just like evry other time and I kiss him back for a few seconds. It's very chaste but even the smallest kisses never cease to amaze me. Why would this gorgeous boy with the gorgeous violet eyes want me?

When we pull apart he looks at me as if to ask "Better?" and I shake my head.

"Why, Brown-eyes. There's nothing to worry about anymore. Frockler, the paper ... it's over."

"I don't know why Caleb, I just feel like ... like something bad's gonna happen. It all just ended too suddenly. Too ... simple." I insist, but he shakes his head at me.

"Oh Lily, you're being paranoid now. Nothing is going to go wrong. Everything is f-"

He jinxed it. I jinxed it. Someone jinxed it.

Because next thing I know James comes rushing through the Hall doors, swiftly enough that it worries me. But with a certain amount of controlled emotion on his face that nobody else but family would know there was a problem.

He is red in the face and gasping heavily, as if he ran here. He spots me and his eyes open wider as a signal. He gestures for me to come and I do, dragging a protesting Caleb with me. James doesn't even look surprised.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I gasp, when we are out of earshot. James turns to me and he looks ... scared. An emotion I have never seen before in his eyes makes an appearance. He looks so yound, vulnerable. "James? Jamie, you're scaring me!"

He grabs me wrist and pulls, forcing me to walk faster. I ask him again what has happened.

"It's Freddie." He whispers. The tone of his voice ... dread fills the pit of my stomach. And suddenly I realise where we are going.