Sunday December 19
"Ginny said that if her team beats Hufflepuff by over 300 points, and Slytherin loses to Hufflepuff by at least 200 points that Gryffindor still has a chance at the cup."
"Did all of our children have to be so obsessed with that sport?" Molly huffed from the kitchen. "Or could they at least be on the same team? I don't know who we're supposed to root for."
Arthur chuckled at their conundrum, ignoring the pang as he thought of their one child who wasn't a quidditch fan, the one who cut them off and pretended they weren't related, and read off a bit more of Ginny's letter to his wife. "She says Umbridge is 'a foul woman' but that she's studying defense with a group of other Gryffindors."
"I thought Ron said that his friends started a defense club?" Molly came out of the kitchen and eyed the dining room carefully. "Why wouldn't she just join them?"
"She didn't say," Arthur frowned at the letter from their daughter. "I guess we'll ask her when she comes home on Tuesday."
"Are you sure we shouldn't tell the boys to come home as well?" Molly asked, bringing up the same discussion they'd had a dozen times in the last two weeks. "Four teenaged boys is a lot for Severus to handle on his own."
Arthur was fairly certain it would be at least six teenage boys. From what the news said, Theo Nott had moved in with Harry when his father was killed and judging from what Ron's told them about his friend Draco, and what Arthur's heard around the office, it sounded like the Malfoy heir didn't have a home to go back to either.
But that wasn't helpful to bring up right now, so he wisely didn't mention it.
"Severus deals with the boys plus many more teenagers every day," he reminded Molly. "They'll be fine. And we'll see them on the 24th."
Molly let out a sigh of defeat, not that it fooled Arthur. He knew his wife well enough to know they'd talk about it at least twice more before Tuesday.
"Honey, would you be a dear and fetch the chairs from the pantry? I'm not sure who all's coming, and I'd hate to not have a seat for them."
Arthur counted the twenty chairs Molly had already fussed over and chuckled. "Sweetheart, we don't need this many chairs. It's just a quick check-in with the usual members."
Molly straightened up from where she'd been straightening the tablecloth spread across the dark wooden table and counted the chairs herself.
"Wishful thinking I guess," she sighed, twisting her hands in the white apron she donned. "I'm glad the boys are staying out of all this, but..."
"But we thought Bill would be here," Arthur supplied with a gentle smile. "It's not selfish to wish our son was here with us."
"It is when there's a war," Molly said with pursed lips. "I should be glad he didn't want to join, except it's— it's that girl," she said in a rush. "I feel like she's tearing him away from us."
"Molly." Arthur got to his feet heavily, feeling both his age and over twenty years of his wife's cooking hit him all at once. He went over to his fretting wife and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her to his chest for a reassuring hug. "Fleur is not taking Bill from us. He's a grown man sweetheart, it's time he settled down and got along with courting someone."
"Did she have to be French?" Molly wailed, driving a smile to Arthur's face.
"You lose a fight to one French witch and suddenly the whole lot of them are worthless," he teased her, bringing up the dueling match Molly participated in under Filius' tutelage back when they were students. Arthur had always known that Molly Prewett was pretty, gentle when she spoke with others, smart when she studied with him— but when he saw her duel against the French girl from Ravenclaw, he knew she was fierce too.
And he knew he was going to marry her or die trying.
"Fleur's a lovely girl," he reassured her. "Pretty and sharp as a whip, just the sort for our Bill."
"And tied to Harry to boot," Molly sighed, pulling gently out of Arthur's arms.
Arthur smiled gently again. Molly doted on Harry, had already planned out a wedding between their son and Harry, but she was frustrated by the complaints of Albus about him.
"Harry's a good lad," he said, sitting back down as Molly began floating dishes out to the table. Arthur would owe Harry Potter a debt for the rest of their lives for how he went and fought a basilisk to save his daughters life. He hoped that maybe him raising Fred to be a good man with a loyal and true heart would be a step towards repaying that debt. Weasley men didn't fall in love easily, but once they did— that was it.
Molly had been the only one for Arthur. Arthur knew that Fleur was it for Bill. And Harry was definitely it for Fred, especially considering how much time the two boys spent together... Molly might have believed Fred's story of spending most of his summer nights at Lee Jordan's house, but Arthur wasn't quite so naive when it came to his sons. Fred had never stayed at Lee's house so often, or without George, until he started seeing Harry. He'd let it slide though, Severus would send his son back cursed nine ways to Sunday if anything untoward happened between the boys.
"Fred loves him, and you know Fred's got good instincts," Arthur said firmly. "If Fleur and Harry are friends, then I think that says quite a lot for Fleur's instincts as well."
Molly's head snapped up at that, and she gave him such a look of disbelief that Arthur began chuckling.
"Fred has the worst instincts in the family..." Molly said slowly, watching as Arthur was bent over at the waist, tears pooling in his eyes from the laughing fit. "Arthur... Fred tried to bring home a dragon egg when we went to visit Charlie."
"No self-preservation in him," Arthur laughed again. "But he's got good instincts when it comes to people at least."
Molly still looked completely, adorably, disbelieving, but the floo began flaring to life, calling the meeting to order and their disagreement to be moved to the back burner.
It wound up being a small enough gathering, only nine of them in total. Remus, poor chap, was recovering from the full moon last night, and Kingsley was still on guard duty at the Ministry until Arthur got there after the meeting to swap him out.
Arthur took his place at the table after helping Molly bring out the dinner she'd made for everyone and held back a chuckle at Mundungus' lump filled trench coat. That man was a perfect example of why you should never judge an ally by their looks, Dung had done just as much for the Order as anyone with the information he was able to report back to them.
Not that the Order was able to do much... Arthur thought with a small amount of frustration. He knew that Dark Lords weren't defeated in a day, but they'd struggled in every area they'd worked in. Recruiting was non-existent, none of them could convince any of their ministry co-workers to join, Remus had been unable to convince any of the werewolves to agree not to join Voldemort. The most they'd really accomplished was keeping the prophecy safe. Tonight though they were all waiting for Albus to arrive to fill them in on Harry and what was next for their group.
Albus had been adamant that Harry wouldn't be allowed to join the Order, saying he was too young, too impulsive, too prone to lying. Then at the end of summer, he switched his stance and was determined to convince Harry to join them. Arthur would have been concerned for the boy, but he was sure just from the couple of times he met the boys' friend that Harry didn't do a single thing he didn't want to do.
"Arthur! How's it going?" Sirius came through the floo and was the last of the order members to join them, aside from Albus. "Is my mother driving you mad yet?"
"It's been fine," Arthur said with good natured politeness. "She's been rather quiet since Kreacher left."
She hadn't. In fact, Walburga Black seemed more determined to drive Arthur and Molly out than ever before, but Sirius was being good letting them stay here ever since Albus began worrying for their safety, and insulting his mother wasn't a good way to repay that kindness.
"Well good." Sirius took his seat beside Amelia, giving the witch one of his charming smiles before turning back to Arthur. "If she starts up again let me know and I'll see if Harry can't take a look over break."
"You think the boy can do something we couldn't?" Alastor grunted, squinting suspiciously at Sirius.
"If anyone can find a way to destroy an indestructible painting, it would be Harry," Minerva said primly, a proud gleam in her eyes.
"Kid like that raised by Snape? Not surprising," Alastor muttered. Minerva, Sirius, and Molly all gave him disproving looks, but before anyone could start an argument (and Arthur thought Sirius' hand twitched towards his wand), the floo flashed green once more and Albus stepped out.
"I'm sorry for my delay," he said as he took his place at the head of the table. "I was in a meeting with one of the professors."
"Dolores no doubt," Minerva scoffed. "What is her complaint today?"
"The same as it has been." Albus sighed and rubbed his eyes beneath his spectacles. "She would like to speak with Hagrid, who should be back within a month, and Dolores has placed Sybill on probation. I'm afraid she'll be moving to fire her soon."
"No loss there," Tonks laughed. "Everyone knows the old bats a fraud."
"She's made at least one true prediction," Albus said, sobering Tonks quickly.
"Guess so," Tonks mumbled, ruffling her pink locks nervously.
"I certainly have no objection with our students obtaining a worthwhile education on divination, but surely Sybill can't be allowed to leave the grounds?" Minerva said.
"She cannot," Albus agreed lightly. "Dolores may be unaware that only the Headmaster of the school is able to evict a guest residing within the walls." Everyone seemed to breath a little easier at that, until Albus went on. "Not that I anticipate remaining the Headmaster for much longer."
"You believe you'll be ousted soon?" Amelia asked curtly.
Albus steepled his hands together beneath his chin and gave Amelia a steady look. "Do you not?"
"I do." Arthur shared a sly look with Sirius at Amelia's unflappable tone as she challenged Albus once again. Arthur and Remus had a bit of a wager going on how much longer until Amelia said 'bugger it' to the Order.
"What's her excuse?" Alastor asked.
"I can't be sure, but I do know that when Dolores makes a move, she'll make it with the full backing of the minister," Albus said calmly. "In which case, Minerva? I can trust you once more to protect the students?"
Minerva drew herself up straight and nodded. "I will do as much as I can if it comes."
"Excellent." Albus gave the rest of them a cheerful twinkling eyed look that Arthur thought was a bit odd considering the current topic, but Albus was an odd man. "What else did we need to discuss tonight?"
"I can't get anyone else to join from my department," Tonks shrugged carelessly, her youthful face unrepentant. "Nobody believes it's You-Know-Who and nobody's interested in joining a group against him."
"I haven't had much luck either," Arthur admitted. Not that he had pushed too hard around his office, his ability to provide for his family had to come before recruiting witches and wizards to the Order.
"Has Potter decided to fess up about Voldemort?" Alastor asked Albus.
"He has not," Albus sighed.
"Don't start that again," Sirius warned the two of them. "I'm not sitting here and listening to you lot call my godson a bloody liar."
"How do you explain the discrepancy between Harry's story and Albus'?" Amelia asked Sirius curiously, having missed the last meeting and the last fight between the two of them.
Arthur was fairly sure that if Amelia wasn't the first one to leave their group, it would be Sirius.
"Harry was a traumatized fourteen year old, he is saying what he believes to be true," Sirius said firmly. "You get kidnapped and tortured by the man who got your parents killed and tell me how your memory is."
"Hey." Amelia placed a reassuring hand on Sirius' arm. "I'm not questioning Harry, I was curious what you thought on the matter, that's all."
Sirius gave Amelia an appreciative nod before turning a much colder look to Albus. Not that Albus noticed, as he was staring up at the ceiling indifferently.
"What else are we doing tonight? I've got places to be," Alastor prompted the others now that the tense moment had passed.
"Albus, you were going to try and convince a child to join the Order?" Molly's lips flattened in an unhappy frown that had Arthur reaching for her leg beneath the table.
One of the many things that Arthur loved about his wife, was her maternal instincts to all children. They may not have all the fine things in the world, but Arthur knew that the one thing his children never lacked was a mother who loved and supported each of them fiercely.
Fiercely enough to love and support their friends and partners... Once she accepted they wouldn't be a wedge between her and her children, as she worried was the case with Fleur.
Everyone turned to inspect Albus closely at Molly's reminder. The Order had been torn when Albus decided he would attempt to get Harry to join them. Molly, Amelia, Minerva, and Remus had argued that the boy was too young to be included in a wartime group. Arthur, Sirius, Tonks, and Mundungus (who Arthur was sure just voted along with Sirius when he woke up long enough to be involved) believed that while Harry was man enough to join them, Albus would never win him over due to his actions against Harry when he was just a child being placed in an abusive muggle home then unfairly expelled from his school. Kingsley and Alastor caused an uproar as they both argued that Harry was 'too dark' and 'too careless of laws' to be inducted in a light-oriented group.
Arthur's lips curled up to a soft grin as he recalled the way that Sirius' left-hook had surprised Kingsley once the auror accused Harry of being 'destined for Azkaban.'
"I believe that Voldemort can be defeated without the boys help."
That wiped the reminiscent smile right off Arthur's face.
"What?" Arthur leaned forward to narrow his eyes at Albus. "But the prophecy?"
"Not every prophecy comes true," Albus said. "I believe that this is another case where we should operate without its influence on our decisions."
"Are you bloody serious?" Sirius jumped to his feet and slammed an angry hand on the table. "My best mates were killed for that damn thing Albus! And now you're saying it doesn't have to influence anything?!"
"Harry will not join us, and thus we have no options." Albus spread his hands out in a show of peace. "What would you have me do Sirius?"
"Maybe you should have tried harder to treat him fairly years ago," Amelia spat, her aquamarine eyes flashing at Albus as she too got to her feet in a show of support to Sirius. "You turned your back on him, is it any wonder that he's turned his on you now?"
"The boy has turned his back on not just me, but our people as a whole," Albus said coolly. "If we aren't careful, he'll be the next Dark Lord we meet to discuss."
Arthur personally wasn't surprised a bit when Sirius shot off a red curse towards Albus before storming to the front door, a slew of vulgar curses against Albus following him as he went.
He also wasn't surprised when Amelia gave Albus a withering look before following him. He did suppress a snicker when Mundungus woke up as Sirius slammed the door shut and blinked around wearily.
"All done then?" he slurred sleepily. "S'alright then, g'night lads."
"They'll be back," Albus said with a gentle confidence as the group watched Mundungus stumble to the floo and disappear to the Leaky Cauldron.
Alastor snorted and shared Arthur's exact thoughts, "You keep telling yourself that Albus."
The rest of the meeting was short, and argument free, as Albus discussed finding an outsider to infiltrate the Death Eater ranks and one to befriend Harry and his group. Albus' blue eyes flickered to Molly and Arthur a few times during that discussion. Arthur didn't need to consult with his wife to know that they were of a single mind on the matter, their children would not be pawns between their Headmaster and their friend.
Arthur imagined that Albus looked worn out and disappointed when he left, but there were times that Albus expected too much of people.
Especially from families, as most of the members of the Order were a part of. Albus didn't seem to understand that family came first in every situation. There was no greater good in the world than protecting the people you cared about.
"Evening Kingsley," Arthur murmured to the invisible corner of the corridor where the guard had been posted up at outside the Hall of Prophecies. "If you stop by headquarters Molly can serve you up some stew."
"Thanks Arthur." Kingsley's dark blue robes and tired face appeared beneath Alastor's invisibility cloak they'd been using for guard duty. "I might do that. Anything new happen tonight?"
"Albus has given up on Harry and thinks the prophecy can be ignored," Arthur said in a hushed whisper. "He wants to find a spy to join Harry and one to join Voldemort."
"Pft," Kingsley scoffed and ran a hand over the top of his bald head. "Prophecies are not road maps to success, they're predetermined outcomes."
"I know," Arthur agreed wearily. "But you know Albus..."
"Indeed," Kingsley murmured. "Here," he handed Arthur the cloak. "Hopefully you have better luck staying awake tonight than I did. Caught myself dozing off a few times."
"Cheers," Arthur said with a smile. "Have a good night Kingsley."
"You as well."
Once Kingsley had departed, and Arthur was hidden beneath Alastor's cloak, he found a comfortable position near the entrance of the Hall of Prophecies to spend his shift in.
It was dreadfully dull, worse than his office on a Thursday, but Albus swore there wasn't anything more important than guarding the prophecy. And considering there had been an attempt to seize it just a few days ago, Arthur could see his point.
After an hour though, Arthur was wishing he'd thought to bring along some parchment to wire Ginny back on. Or maybe write another letter to Percy, he hated the disconnect between them. Arthur didn't know how out of all of his kindhearted and open-minded children, Percy wound up so narrow minded. He didn't approve of Ron's placement in Slytherin, he didn't like Fred's choice in partners, and he despised Arthur's fondness for muggles.
Arthur just had to keep hoping that he would get a chance to reconcile with his son soon.
Arthur sat in the corridor, his back against the wall, and dozed off and on... He would close his eyes, only to snap them open minutes later as he kept trying to remind himself that he is supposed to be on guard.
Eventually, his exhaustion won out and he slipped in to sleep against his better judgement. The hum of the lights and occasional overhead footstep the only noises to interrupt his rest.
Arthur's head snapped up and he instinctively reached for his wand before he acknowledged what had woke him.
"Pl—"
Arthur's whispered plea was cut off as the giant snake looking in his eyes suddenly hissed and lunged.
"Aargh!"
The snake slithered away, unnoticed now, as Arthur clutched at his chest where the giant fangs had just cut in to him.
"Expecto— expecto patro— patronum," he whispered, his eyes tearing from the searing burn of the snakes poison coursing through his chest.
"Expecto patro—," he tried again, but was halted by a cough, a cough that caused the blood to spurt from his chest in a move that made his arms shake and his vision blur.
"Expect—" Arthur coughed again, this time spewing blood from his mouth, and dropped his wand as his arms shook and burnt too badly to continue trying to summon his silver weasel.
Arthur could sense his vision fading to black... a peaceful numbness overtaking his body, washing away the agony from the bite.
"Molly," he whispered, clenching his left hand until he could touch his wedding ring with his thumb. "Molly..."
As the corridor around him blackened out completely, he was greeted with a more joyous vision...
Arthur as a young man, too tall, too awkward, but standing confidently with the Prewett Lord.
"I don't have much sir. I'm not rich. I don't bring a fancy dowry. You have no reason to accept me. You should though. Because what I do have is a heart full of love, a mind full of ideas, a never ending sense of loyalty to your daughter, and a promise to keep our future family safe. You would make her and I the happiest people in the world if you would give me your blessing to ask for her hand in marriage."
Molly in her white dress, her freckles a dark brown and her eyes glowing with love and happiness as they kissed for the first time as husband and wife in front of their small group of family and friends.
"William Arthur Weasley." Arthur's eyes filled with tears as he looked down at his young wife and their new son.
"He's so little," he whispered to Molly. "I— Mollywobbles, I'm afraid I'll hurt him."
Molly reached out for him and her brown eyes were so filled with love as she stared up at her husband. "You will never hurt him," she swore sweetly. "You're his daddy, look—" she pulled the blanket down to show the shock of red hair on their sons head. "He looks just like you Arthur."
Arthur ran his finger down his sons soft cheek. "Us," he whispered, awestruck by this beautiful new life. "He looks like us."
"Look Billy." Arthur held up Charles, his little chunk of a newborn for his eldest sons approval. "This is your brother."
"Mine!" Billy cried gleefully, his little arms went wild grabbing out for the baby. "M'ere wif mine!"
"Can we afford another baby?" Arthur whispered in their bed, equal parts excited and terrified at the life growing within Molly beneath his large hand.
"They might never have brand new broomsticks, but they'll never go without love," Molly murmured, pressing her gentle and sweet lips to his own. "Isn't that what matters?"
"Twins? Twins!" Arthur laughed, nearly hysterical, in the healers office at St Mungo's. "Two... Molly, goodness."
"I hope they're boys," Molly said softly, cradling her stomach with teary eyes. "Can we name them after my brothers if so?"
Arthur caught her hands and knelt before her, staring up at Molly with an understanding smile.
"Of course," he told her, reaching up to swipe away a tear off her cheek with the back of his hand. "Frederick Fabian and George Gideon if they're boys. But surely one will be a girl."
Arthur held little Ron on his hip while Molly cradled their infant daughter, his tiny angel, and they both tried to corral the other boys while Bill ('I'm too big to be Billy anymore!') boarded the train.
"It seems like just yesterday he was Ginny's size," Molly sniffled, leaning her head on Arthur's shoulder.
Arthur wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. "They're growing up too fast."
"What... what do we do?" Molly looked around their empty kitchen with a forlorn expression. "They're all gone Arthur."
Arthur swept Molly off her feet and in to his arms in an instant. "They'll be home for the holidays," he reminded her. "And then we can hear all about Ginny's first year and the boys can drive us mad with their tales of mischief."
"But what will we do before then?" Molly sniffled a bit.
Arthur tilted her face up by the chin and gave her his own teasing smile. "I can think of a few things."
"I'm worried about the boys," Molly confessed from their bed within Sirius' home. "They're all so close to Harry and us to Albus, they're targets Arthur. I don't want to lose them— I couldn't bear it."
Arthur held his wife tightly, as devotedly in love with her as the day they wed, if not more, while they cried their fears out together.
"We'll keep them safe Molly, I swear."
And he had.
His children were all alive, his promise to Lord Prewett all those years ago was fulfilled.
A peaceful smile overtook Arthur's face as he let out his final breath.