Deja Vu
Molly just finished putting away the last of the clean dishes. Dinner was over an hour ago. Usually, the kitchen was cleaned up by now, but she had decided to sit and have a cup of tea with Arthur in the sitting room. He updated her on the progress the Ministry had been making on repairs. Even four months after the final battle, they were still in recovery mood. There were even some parts of Hogwarts that still had to be repaired, but none of it affected the start of the new school year.
They had seen Ginny and Hermione off to Hogwarts last week. Ron and Harry had begun working in the Auror Department the next day. It had been Kingsley who suggested they wait to start in September. Harry and Ron used this to their advantage. They helped George make repairs to the shop. Together, they worked hard to get it ready to reopen by the end of June. They spent time with Hermione and Ginny, even going on dates.
They celebrated Harry's eighteenth birthday and Ginny's seventeenth birthday. Harry had opted for a family dinner with Neville, Hannah, and Luna. Molly had made his favorites for dinner, and Ginny had made the cake. For Ginny's birthday, she, too, opted for the family dinner. She invited Neville, Hannah, and Luna as well. Molly had made Ginny's favorites while Harry had made the cake.
Molly looked at the family clock as she wiped her hands on her apron. Ginny and Hermione were at school. Arthur, Harry, and Ron were home. George was traveling, meaning he would be coming through the door any minute. He hadn't moved back into the flat above the shop he had shared with Fred. He hadn't decided what he wanted to do yet. But he had talked about not moving back to the flat above the shop. Bill and Charlie were at their own homes. Fleur was home, and Percy was at work.
Fleur, Harry, and Hermione were the new hands they had added to the clock. Harry's hand was one of his birthday presents from Molly and Arthur. Fleur and Hermoine's hand was given to them during a family dinner.
Molly had wanted to add Harry to the clock since the day the boys had brought him to the Burrow for the first time. He had come a long way from that skinny little boy she had first met to the young man she knew today.
She fixed Arthur's lunch for work the next day before leaving the kitchen. Arthur was sitting in his armchair in the corner of the sitting room, reading the paper. Molly picked up his teacup to take back to the kitchen.
A pop sounded outside. A second later, the back door opened, and George walked into the kitchen.
"Hi, Mum," He greeted.
"Hi Georgie, your dinner is on the table, dear," Molly said as she rinsed the cup, leaving it in the sink.
"Thanks, Mum."
Molly asked George about how the shop was doing. George and Fred had proven her wrong on the shop idea. They were more successful than she could have ever dreamed. The business had just started to pick back up. Some customers were still offering condolences regarding the loss of Fred. George had just gotten to where he could talk about him without tears.
George kissed Molly's cheek as he laid his plate in the sink.
"I got it, Mum."
"Alright, I'm going up and check on the boys. They've been quiet this evening."
Most evenings, Harry and Ron were in the sitting room playing games. Sometimes, it was a Muggle board Hermione had introduced the boys to. Other times, it was a card game. Exploding Snap was the favorite, with War coming in a close second. Hermione cursed the day Harry had taught Ron how to play War. They still played Wizard's Chess, even if Ron won every game, every single game.
Arthur had finished reading the Prophet and had turned on the wireless for the nightly news. As Molly made her way to the stairs, she heard the report of another captured Death Eater who was found guilty of the crimes they had committed. They had been sentenced to life in Azkaban.
"I'm going to go up and check on the boys," She told Arthur.
Arthur merely nodded. He knew better than to say anything. Molly would mother the world if she could.
As Molly climbed the stairs to Ron's room, she realized how tired Ron and Harry seemed at dinner. They had gotten home just as Molly had put dinner on the table. Judging from the second helpings of dinner Harry and Ron had, they must have skipped lunch.
They had taken their plates and cups to the sink, rinsing them and leaving them in the sink at Molly's direction. Ron kissed her cheek as he and Harry complimented her cooking and left the kitchen.
Reaching the stairs heading up to Ron's room and the attic, Molly realized she had done this very walk many times. She remembered coming up to check on the boys at night when Harry stayed with them. The amount of times she had found them awake was more than when they were asleep.
The silence that greeted her when she reached the door made her wonder if they knew she was out there. Or if they were already asleep. Not knowing what was on the other side of the door, she knocked.
"Boys, it's me," She called.
When she got no response, she opened the door. She peeked into the room, smiling at the scene she had seen many times before. Ron and Harry had fallen asleep. This time, there were no Quidditch books or magazines surrounding them.
The lamps on the nightstands were still on. It was evident Harry and Ron had taken the time to change into pajamas before getting into bed. Their clothes were lying on the floor, where they had left them.
Smiling softly, Molly reached down and picked them up. She tossed them into the overflowing basket in the corner. She made a mental note to grab it on her way out.
Approaching Ron's bed first, Molly pulled the blanket to his shoulders. She picked up his arm, laying his hand on his pillow from where it hung over the bedside.
She ran her fingers through his hair, watching him sleep for a second. Then she leaned down, kissed Ron's forehead, and blew out the lamp.
Turning around, she approached Harry's bed. She remembered Ginny talking about how rare it was for Harry to sleep on his back. He mostly slept on his side or his stomach. Ginny was right as she found Harry asleep on his stomach.
She picked up the blanket Harry had haphazardly pulled over him. She draped it over him, tucking it around his shoulders. Gently, she removed his glasses, sitting them on the nightstand.
It was then that she noticed what Ginny had told her. Harry looked younger in his sleep. He didn't look eighteen years old lying in that bed. Ginny had said she had noticed it when Harry had fallen asleep before. They were sitting under the tree by the lake when she first noticed it. They hadn't been dating long at that point. Over time, Ginny had noticed not only how much younger he was in his sleep. She noticed how peaceful Harry looked when he was asleep.
Now, Molly had noticed it, too.
"Poor dear," She murmured.
She couldn't begin to imagine the things he had seen or the life he had to live. But most of all, she was grateful Harry was still here.
She wasn't the only one.
Unlike Ron, Harry's snores were quieter. While his mouth was open, he didn't drool quite like Ron.
Molly paused when Harry scrunched his nose and snuggled closer to the pillow. She pushed away hair that had fallen in his eyes.
Then, like with Ron, she leaned down and kissed his forehead. It was still an adjustment to not seeing the vivid scar on his forehead.
She blew out the lamp on the nightstand, plunging the room into darkness. Using the light from the hallway to guide her to the door, she started to leave the room. Reaching the door, she realized how many times she had done this.
Flashes of her coming up to check on the boys over the years began to flow in her head. She had come up to tell them to go to bed when they were twelve, found them laying in the dark talking about the World Cup at fourteen, and found them asleep at sixteen. At seventeen, she found them having a whispered conversation that stopped when she knocked on the door. A few nights later, she found them asleep, surrounded by maps and Hermione's notes.
She felt a sense of Deja Vu standing there watching the boys sleep. She sighed as she heard their snores and even breathing, letting it soothe her. It would be a matter of time before they would move out. That was coming, hopefully later on, and not right now.
Sighing one more time, she whispered, "Good night, boys. I love you. I love you both."
Quietly, Molly pulled the door closed and headed back downstairs. She will be able to sleep well that night knowing her boys were safe in bed upstairs.
That was all that mattered.