I'M BACK :)
Actually, this is a bit late. But I can kind of blame all of you, because you gave me some pretty out-there words. The words are: Abacus, Love, Lava lamp, Explosion, Rambunctious, Thanks, Compromise, Squishy, Nutella, Penguin, Melody and Spontaneity.
So, these words were so random that I could not fit it into 100 words... so it's 500 words instead. Yeah, yeah, I broke my own rules. But there was so much to this story...
Okay, background: This takes place during the Third Wizarding War in about 2020. As would be expected, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny are all off fighting.
Molly Weasley swayed slightly to the sound of Celestina Warbeck's melody. She spread a clump of squishy Nutella (which Hugo had introduced her to) across her slice of bread.
In a burst of spontaneity, Rose banged through the door. "Gram!" she screamed.
Ron and Ginny's children were staying in the house while their parents were off fighting. Having the rambunctious children in the house was a lot of work, but Molly loved it.
"James stole my abacus and Hugo's penguin," Rose reported.
There was an explosion in the doorway as James walked in. "Yeah, well, Rose stole my lava lamp!"
"Only because you did first!" Rose screamed.
"Alright, everybody sit!" Molly said, and the children reluctantly sat. "Now, James, why did you take your cousins' things?"
James mumbled something unintelligibly.
Rose gave her grandmother a look like, "That's what I thought."
"Okay, Rose, why did you take James' things?" Molly asked.
"Well, I thought we could compromise and exchange them."
Such a Rose response, but Molly doubted it would work.
What she couldn't figure out was why James, who was fourteen, was stealing from his cousins. She'd thought he was more mature than that.
"I want both of you to go and get what you stole from each other, right now. Then you can take turns degnoming the garden for the rest of the week," Molly announced.
Both of them made faces, but they brought the objects down and exchanged them. "Thanks!" Rose said before running back upstairs.
"James, help me chop these vegetables," Molly requested.
James gave her a strange look because she was perfectly capable of using magic, but he grabbed a knife and started chopping roughly.
"They're going to come back, you know," Molly said softly as she looked up at her clock. Half of the hands pointed at home, while the other half pointed at mortal peril.
"How do you know that?" James demanded, chopping even more fiercely. "Just because they did last time, doesn't mean that they will this time."
Molly took several deep breaths because, though she tried not to let her grandchildren see it, she often struggled with the same worries. "You're right. I don't know. But I have to believe in them."
"But they could be dead already!" James said, throwing the knife across the counter.
"They're not," Rose said softly from the doorway.
Both her cousin and her grandmother turned to look at her.
Rose's started to cry. "I got a letter from Dad yesterday. But, I… I didn't tell anyone be-because I wanted to have it all to myself."
James' eyes were as wide as Quaffles. "What did it say?"
"It said that they were fine and they think the war is almost over. They're hoping to come home soon."
Molly sank into a chair, tears in her eyes, as James ran forward and embraced his cousin.
Family is fighting. Family is forgiving. Family is making up. Family is being there not only after the battle, but during it, too.
In other exciting news... This story now has over 300 reviews! Speaking of reviewing, if you left a review on the A/N, you probably won't be able to review this chapter, so I'm putting up another regular chapter immediately after this.
Thanks to everyone who voted for chapters, but there still is no clear winner. So, I have a request. The top chapters are 3, 11, 45, 47, and 48. So if you could all just got pick your favorite of those 5, it would really be appreciated.
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS READ OR REVIEWED MY STORY. ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO VOTED/GAVE ME A WORD FOR THE FIFTIETH CHAPTER. IT REALLY MEANS SO MUCH.
~writergal24