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And in the end, I’d do it all again
“I imagine it’s come as quite the shock,” Madam Pomfrey said, handing Molly a steaming mug of hot chocolate.
Molly nodded, accepting the mug in her petite hands and letting it warm her fingers. To say it was a shock was quite an understatement. Her whole life had just flipped upside down.
“I promise I’ll help you however I can,” the matron promised, her expression sympathetic as she looked at the fourth year girl lying on the bed in front of her. “But Miss Prewett, I have to ask… there are charms and potions to prevent this. Did you use them?”
Molly nodded, shame turning her cheeks a bright pink.
“We must have done them wrong or… I don’t think we forgot, but I can’t… I can’t remember,” she stammered, burying her face in her hands.
“It’s going to be alright,” Madam Pomfrey soothed, her voice as much a balm as any of her medications. Just as she patted the younger girl’s hand, the door to the infirmary burst open and Arthur charged through, looking frazzled and worried. She excused herself so the couple could have some privacy.
“Molly? Molly, are you okay?” he asked, skidding to a stop at her bedside. “What’s wrong? I got a message that you were in the infirmary. What happened?”
Molly looked up at his face, filled with concern, and tears welled up in her eyes. They slid down her cheeks as she blinked, overwhelmed by guilt and shame. How could she have messed up so badly? And not just her life, but Arthur’s too. All their plans, all his dreams, it was all out the window now.
“I...we…” she sniffed, her fingers toying with the blanket that covered her legs as she tried to find the courage to tell him. “I’m pregnant.”
Arthur’s jaw dropped. That was not at all what he had expected to hear.
“Oh…” he finally said lamely. He didn’t really have any words to describe how he felt or what he was thinking. He wasn’t even sure his thoughts were coherent, just a mess of panicked feelings. “What… what do you need me to do right now?”
“Please just hug me and don’t let go,” Molly answered, tears continuing to flow.
Arthur climbed into the little bed with Molly, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. She twisted in his arms, burying her face in his chest and fisting her hands in his sweater.
“I’m not ready,” Molly whispered, once her breathing had evened out.
“Me neither,” Arthur replied honestly, with a deep sigh. “But it’s okay. We’ll figure it out anyway. We can do this. We’ll make the best of it.”
Molly snuggled closer to him, letting the familiar scent of him waft over her and calm her racing mind.
o . o . o
Molly snuggled deeper under the blanket as snow fell outside the windows. The fire was roaring in the fireplace, heating the large common room, but she still felt a chill gripping her. It was more likely that the frigid feeling she got emanated from the icy looks piercing her from around the common room. Her belly was large enough now that it was quite evident in her school uniform, and they were past the point of speculating about merely eating a bit too much dessert. And it seemed that Hogwarts students didn’t think much of teenagers who got themselves knocked up.
Arthur appeared in the common room, little flecks of snow nestled amongst the strands of red hair. Molly moved her feet for him, and he flopped down onto the little crimson sofa, looking as exhausted as she felt. He’d been tutoring after classes as part of a deal with Headmaster Dippet so that they could have a private apartment together in Gryffindor Tower. (Margot Kaplan had the audacity to make several snide remarks about not being able to get enough sleep soon that made Molly quite sure she wouldn’t be welcome in the girls’ dormitory with her baby.) But the extra tutoring kept him up late trying to finish his own work, and Molly worried that he was hardly sleeping at all lately.
“How did tutoring go today?” she asked quietly, flicking the end of the blanket over Arthur’s lap as well.
“People keep asking me questions that I don’t know the answers to,” Arthur sighed, brushing the snow out of his hair with long fingers. “I think I’m going to have to give up Herbology, or at least only take younger students. I just don’t know enough about it to help at the O.W.L. level.”
Molly hummed, not sure what else to say about it.
“You seem pensive tonight,” he said, nudging her feet with his thigh and peering at her with discerning eyes. “Everything alright?”
“I don’t think anyone thinks much of me anymore,” she whispered, shame twisting inside of her. How could she blame anyone else for losing respect for her, when she’d lost most of her own respect for herself?
“Everyone knows?” he asked, looking around the common room and noting the quiet but cold stares of the other Gryffindors.
Molly nodded, swallowing thickly and curling her knees up to her chest as much as she could. Arthur scooted closer, reaching out to wrap one arm around her and hold her close.
“Hey, who cares about anyone else, I still think you’re the best person in the world,” he assured her, whispering the words into the auburn curls by her temple. “People will come around eventually, don’t stress about it too much.”
Molly hummed again, always strengthened by Arthur’s presence.
“Madam Pomfrey said she could tell us what the baby is now,” she whispered conspiratorially, changing the topic. “Do you want to know?”
“Hmm, I don’t know, do you?” he replied thoughtfully.
“It might make things easier,” Molly shrugged, her eyes fixed on where the blanket covered the little bump of her belly. “You know, to plan.”
“Okay,” Arthur agreed, leaning forward to kiss her gently on the cheek. “We can go over the weekend.”
o . o . o
Molly lay on her bed in the hospital wing, privacy screen drawn around her. Arthur was on the edge of the bed, curled around her with his eyes fixed on the softly snoozing bundle in her arms. She fiddled with the soft blue blanket, tucking it more securely around her son. Her son. Her sweet little baby boy.
Little Bill was absolutely perfect in her eyes. In anybody’s eyes, surely he must be, she was convinced. He had a dusting of little freckles sprinkled his nose and reddish fuzz on the top of his head. Arthur reached out to gently run the tip of his finger over the baby’s cheek, entranced by the silky soft skin.
Madam Pomfrey poked her head in to check on the young couple, and Arthur took advantage of her presence to slip out and send word to their families. The healer came and sat by Molly’s bedside, her eyes drifting to the baby she had delivered only an hour before. Poppy felt an affection for the little boy, as well as for the girl with whom she had struck up an odd sort of friendship during the last eight months.
“How are you feeling?” Poppy asked, smiling at the younger girl.
“A bit tired, mostly happy, a little bit scared,” Molly admitted.
“The tired and happy are normal, but perhaps I can help with the scared,” Poppy offered, willing to help ease the other girl’s mind. She couldn’t even begin to imagine the whirlwind of emotions that came with having a baby at fifteen. “You can talk to me. This is a judgement-free zone.”
“What if this is all a big mistake?” Molly whispered, staring at the blanket covering her legs with unseeing eyes. “What if we don’t make it? And then it’s just me on my own, and -”
“Molly, hush,” Poppy replied commandingly. “That’s not going to happen, and I’m not just saying that to make you feel better. You and Arthur have something completely special, like true love, and I think this will only make that stronger.”
Molly was quiet, pondering the healer’s words. Poppy let her think, content to sit in a comforting silence. Arthur returned a few minutes later, and Poppy immediately excused herself, surrendering the chair to the new father once more.
“I need you to do something for me,” Molly blurted out suddenly, looking at Arthur with wide eyes.
“Of course, anything,” he replied immediately, his expression quickly turning to one of concern.
“Promise me that this is forever,” she said, her voice low as she looked at him with a serious expression.
“Of course it is, Molly,” Arthur answered, reaching out to tuck an auburn curl back behind her ear. “I adore you. And I wouldn’t give up our family for anything in the world.”
She smiled sweetly and leaned into his touch, the palm of his hand against her cheek a steadying presence.
“I love you,” she whispered into his skin, echoing his shy smile.
Things might not be perfect or exactly how she pictures them, but Molly knew in that moment that everything was precisely how it was supposed to be, and truth be told, she wouldn’t have it any other way.