Title: A Soft Epilogue

Fandom: Harry Potter books.

Timeframe: After the final battle against Voldemort in book seven.

Characters: Molly Weasley; Arthur Weasley

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Family, Mild Romance, General

Summary: After the war, Molly and Arthur make a soft epilogue for themselves.

A Soft Epilogue

“We deserve a soft epilogue, my dear.” Arthur pressed a kiss into Molly’s thinning red hair as they stood, Molly pressed gently against Arthur’s warm chest, in the Burrow’s eternally messy garden, staring up at the summer stars sparkling silver in the night sky. The constellations, Molly thought, continued to move across the heavens in the same pattern as they had before Voldemort was defeated–before Fred was dead and buried before his time.

No mother should ever have to bury her child, Molly believed that in her bones, and she still was sure that she had heard the very earth cry out a protest as Fred was laid to rest in it. She had always scolded her scamp of a son, warning him that his pranks and endless capacity for causing trouble would be the death of him, but she had never really believed in her heart that any of her children would die before her. She had imagined him settling down with a girl who could tame or at least tolerate his wild spirit, having children with that girl, and ultimately outliving her along with the bevy of grandchildren he had given her...That was the perfect family picture Molly had taken in her head, a picture that was now torn apart before it could be taken...

“It doesn’t matter what we deserve.” Tears welled in her eyes, obscuring the light of the stars overhead. “Fred didn’t deserve to die. He was a troublemaker, but he didn’t deserve to die. Neither did Tonks or Remus or Mad-Eye...”

Her lips went numb before they could complete the litany of loss, a litany that included her brothers, Fabian and Gideon, as well as Harry’s parents.

“Molly,” Arthur murmured her name and stroked at her hair, but there was nothing he could say or do that could fill the emptiness inside her since he couldn’t restore the dead to life or Fred wouldn’t be in a grave.

“Good people never get the soft epilogues they deserve.” Molly’s hands clenched into fists that she swiped at her eyes, furious at the tears that made her appear weak when she had to be strong for her family after Fred’s death. “If they did, Harry would never have been an orphan because Lily and James Potter never would have died. If they did, Teddy wouldn’t be an orphan now because Tonks and Remus are dead.”

There would be no soft epilogues for any of them, Molly knew. Those who had survived the war would forever be haunted by the memories of those who hadn’t. Any joy they experienced would be muted with guilt by the reminder of those who hadn’t lived to see such happiness. The loss and the trauma of the war would dog them until the day they died, a drumbeat of death marching them to their inevitable graves.

“We’ll have to make a soft epilogue for ourselves if we aren’t given it then.” Arthur continued to stroke her hair.

“Because we’re here and they aren’t?” Molly felt some of the anger but not the grief fade from her as she sank deeper into Arthur’s chest.

“Because they would want us to make a soft epilogue for ourselves.” Arthur wrapped his arms about her waist, not so much ensuring that she didn’t fall as that she fell against him so he could support her when she did. “Because it is the only way to honor their legacy. They would want us to go on living, not die with them.”

 

They would, they would! Molly will see it in time, a little removed from the immediate storm of grief.

 

@pronker Thanks so much for commenting! I definitely think that Fred, Remus, Tonks, and all those who died fighting Voldemort would want those who survived to go on living and be happy (that's what they were all fighting for) but Molly's going to need some time to process her grief before she can accept that, as you say. I really wanted to give Molly and Arthur hugs as a I wrote this. It can't be easy to lose a child.