But since it's late and I'm swiftly running out of energy, in lieu of more musings here's a short story that I wrote for a Harry Potter fanfiction contest. I won 3rd place with it :-D
To read the first place story, click here.
Domestic Bliss
Molly Weasley fought the urge to run to the WC when she heard a tremendous crash and splash. Instead, she sighed and glanced up at the clock. “Not yet at ‘mortal peril’, thank goodness,” she muttered. “But Arthur’s drifting dangerously close to ‘hospital.’” Still and all, he did volunteer…
“Scourgify,” she commanded the dishes in the sink. Then she quickly levitated them to the cabinet so that she could peek in on her husband and son.
Arthur’s face was red and his clothes were soaked, but it looked like he hadn’t failed too miserably. The child he was furiously toweling off looked somewhat cleaner than he had before. Billy screamed in the cold air and was struggling to get away. Actually, Molly stifled a giggle when the redheaded toddler dove headfirst back into the water. She should have warned her husband that their son loved a bath. Her husband looked about ready to explode, but her heart filled with pride as she watched him take a deep breath, soundlessly count to five, and reach back into the basin to pull his son out. “Only cold for a moment, poppet,” he promised, wiping away what water he could with the now more-than-slightly damp towel. This time, he caught the little boy before he could get to the water again.
It amazed Molly how quickly Arthur had caught onto the diapering and clothing aspect of parenthood. He didn’t seem to mind the mess or the squirming, and the one time the child had piddled on him, the man had merely wiped his dripping spectacles on his shirt and continued. He truly was a patient man. At least, he was trying to be.
“Stop that,” Arthur chided the two-year old. Billy stuck his tongue out and pinched his father again. Molly smirked. Serves him right for teaching him that trick. Fortunately, the thin man knew how to distract his son from that piece of mischief. “Oh really? Raaaaaaaaaaaawr!” he growled, and, affecting a naughty smirk, he wiggled his fingers. “I’m the big, bad dragon! I’m going to get you!” he cried, tickling the little boy. Billy shrieked with laughter and immediately flung his arms out.
“Some children are making quite a lot of noise in here!” Molly pretended to chastise. “Especially when one of them should be asleep.”
Arthur hung his head. “You’re right, Molly. Almost done here.” He grabbed the dimpled toddler and held him out to his wife. “Get Mummy, Billy!”
The little boy laughed again and bounced in his father’s arms. “Mummy!” He tried to tickle his Mummy’s face, but succeeded only in minor scratches. Molly grabbed the child and held him close. “What am I to do with you naughty boys?” she asked hopelessly.
“Put us to bed without supper?” Arthur suggested.
Molly nuzzled her nose against Billy’s red curls. “Perhaps tomorrow night,” she said. “Too late now, I suppose.”
“Bed time I’m afraid, poppet.” Arthur took his son in his arms for one last hug before placing him in the cradle. Immediately, Billy’s big brown eyes grew even bigger.
“Nononono!” he cried. “No bed! Dragon!” He held out his hands to tickle his father.
Arthur looked pleadingly at Molly. “Just a few more minutes?” he begged.
“If we start making exceptions now – ”
“Please?” Now the grown man’s eyes mirrored the brown, angelic eyes of their son.
Molly groaned. “That’s not fair!” She laughed.
“Haha, poppet! We won!” The father picked up his child for one last cuddle. He winced when a little fist pulled at his already-thinning hair. “Night-night, Billy,” he said, putting the little boy back. “Sleep tight. I love you.”
“Wuv yoo,” the toddler echoed, still looking a little grumpy.
Molly kissed the baby, smoothed his hair, and gave him his favorite blanket. Arthur squeezed his wife’s hand as he blew out the candles in Billy’s room. The petite woman made her way down the stairs to finish cleaning up while her husband changed out of his wet clothes.
“Well, then, what do we do now?” Arthur asked when he met her in the parlor.
His wife shrugged. “I don’t know. What did we do before he came?”
“Must not have been important, whatever it was.” He stretched his long legs and reached for today’s Daily Prophet.
Molly took up a ball of yarn and made a face at all of the knots. She would have to remember to keep it out of Billy’s sight from then on – it would take forever to untangle. She pointed her wand and muttered a charm to start working on it. “Is there anything interesting in the paper, dear?”
Arthur made a face. “Looks like I missed Mordred’s Mates.”
“Was that tonight?! I’m sorry, Arthur. I know they’re your favorite.”
“Never mind. It’s just a band. I’ll see them another time.”
Molly smiled at that. When Arthur had proposed he had promised to give up his obsession with the musical group if she asked. She of course would never make such a useless demand, but it seemed that he had let it go anyway. There were much more important things to obsess over now.
********
Arthur Weasley woke up to find that he and Molly had fallen asleep on the sofa, and a certain little redhead had finally learned to sneak out of his crib. Billy was flung across his parents’ laps, sound asleep. The thin man reached out to rest his hand on his wife's slightly distended belly and wondered what their next little bundle would be like. He smiled sleepily and closed his eyes again.
Life pretty much didn’t get better than this.
1 comment:
Such a great story!! I have such smart friends! :)
Post a Comment