A missing scene from GoF. Molly, Bill and Charlie
talk.
Molly looked round the kitchen in despair. The detritus was
scattered
everywhere; some was Arthur’s, some was unrecognisable, but that
tidy
patch at the corner of the table must, surely, be Percy’s. The red
and
white gingham curtains fluttered brightly over the chaotic sink.
She
had never got used to the devastation although it had been going on
for
years. She supposed it would be over at some point and life would
return
to normal, if she could remember what normal was.
Bill came down the stairs and put his arms round her, resting his
chin
on the top of her head. ‘What happened, Mum?’
She sighed. ‘Just breakfast.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Breakfast never used to look like
this.’
‘Breakfast always used to look like this. It was no
different
when you lived here; you’ve just forgotten what teenagers are like.
Besides,
Fred and George had a hand in this. I’m sure they’ll find a place
of
their own when they leave school so I’m teaching them to cook. They
seem
to be getting the hang of it so I won’t need to worry about
that.’
‘I’m certain they won’t starve,’ he said. ‘If they can create
Ton-Tongue
Toffees they can manage a fry-up. Can I suggest you teach them to
clean
next?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘I’ve been trying for years. It’s easier
said
than done.’
‘Come and sit down. I’ll clear this up in a little while.’ He
pointed
his wand at the kettle. ‘Tea or coffee?’
She sat down gratefully and cleared a space on the table. ‘Tea
please,
dear. Is Charlie awake?’
‘Just gone vertical. He’ll be down in a minute.’
‘Make Percy a cup while you’re at it and I’ll take it up to him.
He’s
trying to finish that report before you go.’
Bill frowned. ‘Can’t he think about anything else?’
‘Percy is working very hard,’ said Molly reprovingly. ‘He and Mr
Crouch
have put a lot of effort into the World Cup and the Tournament and
he’s
trying to clear the backlog of routine work as quickly as
possible.’
‘I realise that, Mum,’ he said patiently, as he put her cup on the
table,
‘but he doesn’t talk about anything else. He never reads a book; he
never
goes out; he doesn’t seem to have any friends. I know he’s been
busy,
but he hasn’t said anything about looking for a flat when he has
time.
He doesn’t even talk about his girlfriend. He’s only eighteen; it’s
all
wrong.’
Molly had been worrying about it too. Percy was always alone as a
child
but she had hoped he would grow out of it. He was the oldest child
at
home for years and had all the responsibility with none of the
compensating
status. The twins had never played with him much, unless you
counted
playing tricks on him as play. When Bill and Charlie came home they
were
full of their lives at Hogwarts and not very interested in their
little
brother. Of course they were kind to him, Charlie had taught him
how
to ride a broom and Bill had shown him a few easy charms, but most
of
the time they were off together talking about people he didn’t know
and
making jokes he couldn’t share. It was hard to remember occasions
when
he wasn’t by himself with a book, the outsider looking in. Bill was
the
last person to understand what that felt like.
She looked at him lounging in his chair. He had always
expected
the world to love him and he had usually been right. He had
dominated
his siblings at home and his classmates at school. He had grown up
good-looking,
charming, witty, popular and arrogant and, while not selfish,
certainly
fond of his own way. It was so unfair that Percy tried so hard but
had
none of the attributes that would make success easy, while Bill, who
never
worked, had everything he wanted dropped in his lap. One day he
would
fail at something; she hoped it wouldn’t hit him too hard.
‘He’ll calm down soon,’ she said, with a confidence she didn’t
feel.
‘He’ll relax once he feels established and knows what the form is.
Penny’s
a nice girl but she knows what she wants and she’ll sort him out
when
she’s ready.’
Bill made a face. ‘She’s another one. I know she’s a Ravenclaw,
but
who needs research into the origin of variations of the level of
magic
across the universe? I mean, it’s there; we use it; some places are
more
magical than others; who cares why? I can see them in five years,
eating
scrambled eggs every night and talking about committee meetings and
whether
the magical hyperspace is curved or flat.’
‘When
you get married,’ said Molly firmly, ‘it had better be to someone
you’re
happy to eat scrambled eggs with every night because you’ll be doing
an
awful lot of that when you have children.’
She had obviously made a mistake. ‘Oh, Mum, that’s a long way away
and
it’s all different now. You can take children out in the evening in
a
way you and Dad couldn’t. I’m not going to let children change the
way
I live my life and I’m certain my wife won’t either.’
Molly sipped her tea. She doubted babies had changed that much in
the
last twenty years but knew better than to say so. He’d find out
when
the time came and the last thing she wanted to do was put him off
the
whole idea.
‘Did I hear right, Bill?’ said Charlie, as he walked in yawning.
‘Are
you thinking of hanging up your dancing shoes and producing
children?’
‘You shouldn’t listen to Fwoopers, little brother. All I said was
that
when I get married, if I get married, it won’t be to a
walking
research library like Penny. Give me a bouncy, cuddly little armful
any
day. Get me another cup of coffee while you’re there, will
you?’
Molly reviewed Arthur’s family. No Weasley in history had married
a
cuddly little armful: it simply wasn’t in their genes. ‘But you do
want
to get married some day, don’t you, dear?’
‘Oh, Mum. Yes, of course, some day but not now.
I’ve
got too much to do and I’m having too much fun. The last thing I
want
is to get tied down. There’s lots of time before I need to think
about
that.’
Molly began to clear away the breakfast. The porridge seemed
welded
to the saucepan and none of the usual charms worked. Was that why
George
had asked if oatmeal contained iron? She left it soaking on the
draining
board and dealt with the plates and bowls instead.
‘I don’t mean to nag, dear, but I do worry. I’d
feel
so much happier if you had a nice girl to look after you.’ She went
to
the hall and turned out the cupboard, trying to find another bottle
of
Mrs. Skower’s All-Purpose Magical Mess-Remover.
‘You’ll
have to meet a nice girl first,’ said Charlie sotto
voce.
‘Bog off, Charlie. I know lots of nice girls,’
muttered
Bill.
‘Not
under
the meaning of the Act.’
‘Rubbish. They’re good-looking.’
‘Granted.’
‘Sophisticated.’
‘Excessively
fashionable.’
‘Sociable.’
‘Snobbish.’
‘Fun.’
‘Fun-loving, vacuous and never stop talking.’ Charlie tipped his
chair
back. ‘It’s no skin off my nose if you want to run around with
upmarket
blondes who only think about clothes and social success, but don’t
pretend
you’ve ever thought about bringing one of them home for
inspection.’
‘I work damn hard. Why shouldn’t I spend my free time with
undemanding,
pretty girls who enjoy parties?’
‘No
reason
at all, as long as you don’t inflict them on the rest of
us.’
‘Well
at least I know some presentable girls,’ snapped
Bill.
Charlie looked at his hands. ‘You have a point there.’
Molly stuck her head round the door. She had never enquired too
closely
into Bill’s social life, although it seemed her suspicions were
correct,
but she hadn’t realized Charlie was lonely.
‘But Charlie, there are girls who work on the reservation. I’m
sure
we met some when we were there.’
Bill snorted. ‘Not the dragon-ladies, Mum, they’ve got fiery
breath,
scaly legs and muscles like pythons. Charlie can do better than
that.’
Molly glared at her son. ‘You set too much store by appearances,
Bill.
I’m sure they’re very nice girls. Now, please take this cup of tea
up
to Percy. Remind him you have to leave soon.’ He disappeared up
the
stairs and she sat in her rocking chair and considered Charlie. ‘I
don’t
want to pry, dear, but is something wrong?’
‘There’s nothing to say really, Mum.’ He was drawing patterns in
the
spilt tea and wouldn’t meet her eyes. ‘I love what I do and I don’t
want
to stop, but sometimes I wonder if I’ll meet a girl who’ll be happy
to
give up whatever she’s doing and come and live in a hut in Romania
and
be a housewife. There’s nothing on the reservation except dragons
and
dragon-keepers, you know.’
‘Of course you will, darling,’ she said confidently. ‘One day
you’ll
find someone who’ll be happy to live in a hut or anywhere else.’
He clearly wasn’t convinced. ‘That’s what you’d have done, Mum,
what
you did, but that was a long time ago. Things are different now,
and
most girls expect to work even after they have children, or at least
to
have the choice.’
‘Things
aren’t that different, Charlie,’ she said gently.
‘Oh come on, Mum, you gave up work almost as soon as you were
married.
You wouldn’t have done that unless you wanted to, would you?’ He
looked
up and his gaze sharpened. ‘Would you?’
She was taken aback but, as she hesitated, Bill bounced back into
the
kitchen. ‘Why the serious faces? Cheer up, Charlie. There’s a
girl
out there somewhere who is longing to know all about dragons and
Quidditch.’
‘Mum
was
just explaining why she gave up work after she got married,’ said
Charlie
evenly.
‘That’s
obvious, it was to look after us.’
‘Yes,
you idiot, but why?’
She could see they had never questioned it before – it was just one
of
the things mothers did, like nagging and worrying too much. She
shrugged.
‘It’s very simple. We couldn’t afford it.’
Now she had really confused them. She grinned at their astonished
faces.
‘I designed broomsticks, remember? It’s not something you can do
part-time
and it’s interesting but not very lucrative. Childcare’s not
tax-deductible
and I didn’t earn enough to pay someone to look after you.’
‘But
there’s
no reason you couldn’t have worked here some of the time,’ said
Charlie
quickly, then looked offended when she laughed.
‘You wouldn’t say that if you’d ever looked after small children.
I
should have made you babysit Ron and Ginny more often. My only
quiet
time was during your nap and I needed a break myself by then. You
know
I helped out Mr Nollekens in term-time when you went to school, then
Percy
came along and put a stop to that. Of course I gave the idea up
completely
during the War.’
‘I
don’t
see why,’ said Bill.
Molly sighed. ‘You were too young to notice what was going on;
nearly
every mother gave up working by the end. I couldn’t have left you
with
a childminder all day. I used to wake up and imagine coming home to
find
the Dark Mark over the house and all of you dead or gone. I
sometimes
worried about leaving you here while I went shopping. I’d never
have
forgiven myself if I hadn’t been here when they came.’
She rocked the chair more quickly, feeling the familiar cold
prickles
running over her skin. ‘It was so awful. Your father was away more
often
than not and I never knew where he was or if he’d be coming back.
And
I was trying to be brave and not let you know how worried I was and
all
the time people were dying and no one knew who was going to be
next.
And it was people I knew, people I’d seen the day before, people I
loved,
like Aunt Bertha and her baby, and there was no rhyme or reason to
it,
except maybe to frighten people, and no one knew how to stop
it.’
The grandfather clock was pointing to ‘home’ or ‘travelling’, as it
should
have been. It had never struck but, if she looked away, the hands
could
go spinning round to ‘mortal peril’, and she would hear the bell
toll.
Bill put his hand on her arm and stopped the chair. ‘Mum, it was
over
a long time ago. He’s gone and the Deatheaters are lying low.
We’re
all OK and there’s nothing for you to worry about.’
Molly concentrated on him, so beautiful and assured, as the world
came
back into focus. ‘Of course you’re right, dear, but it’s hard to
forget.
We were so afraid for so long and that’s a terrible thing to grow up
with.
We’ve never dismantled the wards round the house, you know, just in
case.’
‘We should go,’ said Percy, rushing in. ‘Bagman’s bound to have
made
a mess of something and I promised Mr Crouch I would be there to
remedy
any slip-ups.’
Bill supported her as she levered herself up. ‘Are you sure you’re
OK,
Mum? I don’t have to go quite yet.’
‘No, no, I’ll be fine. Have you all got your bags? Off you go
then,
dears. Have fun but, remember, I’m counting on you to make sure the
twins
stay sober and behave themselves.’
He picked up his rucksack and swung it over his shoulder. ‘Bye,
Mum.
We’ll do our best but we can’t promise miracles.’
‘But
we’ll
post ourselves inside the beer tent and guard the butterbeer with
our
lives,’ said Charlie, kissing her.
‘Don’t worry, Mother, you can rely on me. I’ll remind them they
mustn’t
embarrass us in front of the Ministry.’
‘Well,
choose your words with care, dear,’ said Molly
cautiously.
Bill chuckled. ‘Percy always chooses his words with care.’
‘Some people say I’m pompous,’ said Percy solemnly,
‘but
I think I’m preternaturally prolix.’
‘That
was a joke, right, Perce?’
‘Don’t be silly, Charlie. You know I don’t have a sense of
humour.’
They Disapparated, laughing together, and Molly was alone. She
drifted
around the kitchen, tidying things away.
Charlie would be all right. He didn’t have Bill’s charisma but he
was
calm and kind and funny and would make a good husband. He was just
like
Arthur, she reflected; he’d be content as long as he had a job that
let
him indulge his obsession. They would all be OK. They’d made it
this
far, of course they would all be all right in the end. She must
forget
the bad times and start thinking about what to do with the future.
Why
shouldn’t she go back to work? She could tune a broomstick better
than
any of her sons and it was certainly something she could do from
here.
It would take time to persuade Arthur to clear some of his Muggle
toys
out of the shed but there was no rush to get going. She wouldn’t
make
much money but she’d be able to keep it all. This was something she
knew
she could do; this was going to be fun.
