oncewept:
𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧. post azzy breakout. ／ 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. the burrow.
IT TOOK A VILLAGE TO RAISE A FAMILY. She and Arthur’s vision for theirs never looked quite like this: one parent gone and the other left alone. It had never been a consideration. And when the worst happened, she was terrified. She was angry. She was all of these things out of view of the children because for them she had to be strong. But she had never been alone. Gideon and Fabian made sure of that. Still, that didn’t mean that either of her brothers were well equipped to managing a houseful of children. For that reason, she’s half expecting the roof to be blown off the place. Molly knits her brows at the smell of something (something that isn’t the billowing smoke of a fire) wafting out of the window as she makes her way up the walk, and the witch could nearly collapse when she sees the laundry basket is already hard at work folding itself into neat little piles.
She calls out her arrival to the house, which is unsettlingly silent, before making her way towards the kitchen in search of some form of life. An incredulous laugh erupts at the sight before her: Gideon with her apron on, cookbook open, stirring a pot on the stove. “ The boys are awfully quiet this evening, ” there’s an airiness to the statement that makes it come off slightly disbelieving. She makes her way to the cupboard to gather dishes, looking at him all the while. “ And you’re cooking? ” Suspicion is less of a suggestion now, laced in her question as she motions for the plates to arrange themselves on the table. Molly comes up from behind, peering over his shoulder at the food. “ You know Percy will sing the moment I ask him. ”
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“ IN THE KITCHEN, MOLLS, ” Gideon calls out a reply as his sister arrives, sure to direct her to where he is instead of upstairs where he’s sure the boys are going mental. He only hopes the twins haven’t created more issues - though with his track record with Fabian, he doubts that’s true. At least they’ve also got Charlie with them. Still, he likes to think he’s created enough of a distraction in the kitchen to at least delay the reveal of Ron’s ear hands. By the laughter that greets him, he hopes that at least means she’s in a good mood. “ No need to sound so shocked, y’know. They are just children - I can handle ‘em. ” He thinks about how he shooed them out of the kitchen, forcing them to hide as he balanced Ginny on his hip. Maybe he was a little out of his depths. Thankfully he had somehow gotten the young girl to nap since then, even through the thuds and bangs upstairs. If one thing will tire a baby, it’s six older brothers. “ Are you saying he’s got no loyalty to his favorite uncle? ” He places a hand on his chest, looking over his shoulder at her. There’s a large grin pulling at his lips, unable to even fake that he’d be betrayed if the boy tattled on him. “ It’s a Shepards Pie, by the way, ” Gideon answers the unspoken question, leaning to the side as she tries to sneak a peak at dinner. “ I even think it’s edible. ” He eyes the kitchen table, smirking at the way she’s got plates arranging themselves on the table the moment she walks in the door. The burrow has always felt more like home than his cramped flat in London. He reckons he knows why, of course - Molly always has a knack of making somewhere feel like home. Always has, since they were young. He hopes that her kids feel it, too, even without Arthur. “ On a completely unrelated note, how are you with transfiguration spells these days? ”
