It Must Be Love

Some people were just made to be mothers. They would spend their entire life looking a little bit lost, a little bit confused, but as soon as they walked around clasping their husband’s hand with a protruding belly, they looked completely at home.

Molly Weasley was one of those people. Her husband and children were more or less her entire life. Nothing made her happier than to hear little footsteps running up and down the hallways of the Burrow while she rested in bed in the early morning with Arthur’s arms wrapped around her, caressing the belly where her seventh child was growing. It was so peaceful.

At least until the shouting started.

‘BILL! GIVE IT BACK!’

‘It’s mine!’

Molly and Arthur sighed in unison before reluctantly crawling out from under the warm bedcovers. It wasn’t even seven in the morning – on a Sunday, too – but you didn’t have ordinary nine to five hours as a parent. A cry started up from the end room, and the pair looked at each other. ‘Ron’s up,’ Arthur said wearily.

‘I’ll go get him,’ Molly said, pulling on her dressing gown and slippers. There was a loud crash from the floor below, and she winced, hoping that Bill and Charlie could restrain themselves at least until their father found them. She fervently hoped that the other three were still fast asleep.

Ron shared a room with Percy, who wasn’t in his bed. Hoping Arthur had managed to round up the rest of the boys by now, she reached down and picked up her youngest, cooing at him and stopping the cries almost instantly. His bright blue eyes looked at her inquisitively and he gurgled, making her smile and just want to hold him all the closer.

This was definitely worth the six-thirty mornings.

Heading downstairs with her son in her arms, Molly was greeted by the usual sight – six red-haired boys running amok in her kitchen, only to stop the instant they saw her. Arthur, who was on the ground surrounded by cooking utensils, gave her a sheepish smile.

‘We were going to make breakfast,’ he said, as Fred laughed and banged down hard on the saucepan that was currently residing on his father’s head. Arthur winced, before grabbing a spatula and pretending to chase the boys around the room with it. They ran outside roaring and laughing, and Molly moved to the window to watch them play around in the dewy grass, still in their pyjamas.

Rubbing his head, Arthur blew a raspberry at Ron, who was still in Molly’s arms. He laughed, throwing his arms out to his father who gladly picked him up. Molly smiled. Sometimes her husband acted more like a child than the rest of them did.

Still watching the boys run rampant in the backyard, Molly moved a hand to her stomach. She felt Arthur’s free arm wrap around her, entwining his fingers through hers as they rested on where the unborn baby currently resided. There was a tiny jolt beneath their hands, so tiny that Molly didn’t think Arthur even felt it.

‘This one’s going to be a girl,’ she said suddenly. Outside, Bill had found a stray gnome and the boys were now chasing it all around the yard.

‘How do you know?’ Arthur asked softly, kissing the top of her head as she leant into him. There wasn’t really a proper answer for this – they hadn’t done any tests, not at St Mungos nor at home. But it was going to be a girl. Of course it was.

So Molly simply smiled. ‘I just know.’

* * *
James Potter had a great imagination, but he had never thought that he would actually get to experience this moment. He had dreamt it, sure, but there was a difference between dreaming and wishing and then actually living it out.

One thing was certain – he was the luckiest person alive.

‘What do you think?’ Lily asked, leaning back against him as they stood in the kitchen, watched by the beaming Muggle real estate agent. ‘Do you like it?’

They were in Godric’s Hollow, being shown a charming little house on the outskirts of town, just down the road from Bathilda Bagshot’s place and right around the corner from the shops. There was a huge backyard, two upstairs bedrooms and even a quaint little library that James knew his parents would love to donate to. It was perfect.

‘Perfect,’ he said, smiling at the agent over the top of Lily’s head. ‘When can we move in?’

He didn’t even wait to hear Lily’s opinion; he had known she would love it from the moment they stepped onto the property. Everything about it was just so very Lily, and he knew that they would have no problem making this their home.

After they had signed a few forms, the real estate agent gave them the keys with a broad grin. ‘Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Potter,’ she said. ‘I hope you enjoy your new home.’

They had been together for nearly five years now, and married for six months, but James’ stomach still did that happy little flip whenever anyone called them the Potters. It wasn’t a dream anymore. Lily was his wife, his wonderful, loving wife who was never going to leave him. They had been through so much together, fighting the war against Voldemort, but James couldn’t help but consider buying their first home was perhaps the most monumental occasion of the past five years.

Lily and the Muggle agent were discussing the technicalities now, so James wandered over to the window to gaze out at the backyard. There was a small garden that contained several lone vegetable plants – he bet that in six months it would teeming with every type of plant he could think of, and several that he couldn’t.

The porch had a comfortable-looking loveseat on it, and James imagined him and Lily sitting out there, holding hands as they watched their children play. Would they have red hair? Or dark like his? He hoped at least one inherited Lily’s eyes. And beauty. And intelligence. And perhaps his Quidditch skill as well. The Potter children in his head were now running around with toy broomsticks, asking their daddy to play Quidditch with them.

James was so absorbed in his daydream that he hardly noticed as Lily came and stood by his side. Her breath fogged up the glass on the window, and then she wiped it away to peer into the backyard.

‘I’ll have to plant a proper vegetable garden in there,’ she said, pointing at the patch James had noticed not five minutes ago. He nodded, putting an arm around her shoulders.

‘I think we’re going to like it here,’ he said quietly, and she nodded.

‘Yes. Me too.’

* * *

It was a lovely warm spring afternoon, and the grounds of Hogwarts were unusually empty. The majority of the students were inside studying for their upcoming exams, and even though they may have looked out of the window in longing, they knew if they ventured outside they would regret it come exam time.

One young couple, however, had no such worries. They exited through the Entrance Hall, looking around nervously as if they expected to be sprung by a teacher for not concentrating on their studies. The boy took his girlfriend’s hand, and she smiled up at him. Days like this were few and far between for Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley.

They started walking across the grass towards the lake, playfully pushing and shoving each other until Ginny broke out into a run, laughing gleefully as Harry sprinted to catch up to her. He finally did, just before they reached the lake, and then grabbed her around the waist, tickling her mercilessly.

‘Harry! Harry! Stop it!’ Ginny cried out between laughs, eventually escaping from her boyfriend’s clutches and plonking herself down on the grass. He joined her, putting an arm around her shoulders, and their mood immediately turned from playful to sombre.

She knew he wouldn’t be around much longer. Everyone knew it. He was the great Harry Potter, destined for much greater things than kissing a young Weasley girl in a secluded corner of Hogwarts. The day would come when he would leave to fight Voldemort, and Ginny was going to have to let him go.

It wouldn’t be easy. She knew that. Nothing was easy nowadays, what with Voldemort running rampage and most of the people she loved off trying to stop him. People were going to die. Good and bad. She could feel it. Eventually this whole thing would come to a head, and Harry was going to be right in the centre alongside Voldemort.

‘Ginny? You okay?’ Harry asked softly, jerking her out of her reverie and back to the present, where the sun was shining and her boyfriend was stroking her hair and Voldemort seemed impossibly far away. She briefly considered mentioning her thoughts to him, but couldn’t bring herself to wipe away the smile she so rarely saw on his face these days.

‘Fine,’ she said, smiling and giving him a quick kiss. He grinned back, before moving in for another, much deeper kiss. Ginny allowed herself to forget her worries, instead revelling in the taste of his lips and the feel of his hand on hers, so she could bottle it up and keep it next to her heart when he finally left.

After a while they lay back on the grass, looking up at the sky. A peaceful silence surrounded them, broken only by the occasional chirping of the birds and soft noises of the wind in the trees. Harry reached out and grabbed her hand. She turned to look at him.

‘You make my life perfect,’ he said. ‘Absolutely and completely perfect.’

Ginny smiled. Although their time together may have been limited, it comforted her to know that Harry felt the exact same way as she did. And that was enough. For now.

* * *
‘Remus.’

‘No.’

‘Remus!’

‘No!’

‘Remus!’

‘No!’

Tonks looked at him, her brow creasing. Remus bit back a smile; she was so adorable when she was mad. He knew if he laughed now he’d never hear the end of it, and he wanted this to end well. If it didn’t, well, he didn’t know if he would have the courage to attempt it a second time.

‘What’s your problem? Is it for noble reasons again? You know I don’t care, Remus. I thought we were past that!’

Her words stung a little now, mostly because they were partly true. That had been stopping him in the beginning, back when he still thought he might be able to retain a vestige of chivalry and not ruin her future completely. But he’d done enough damage as it was, so he may as well go all the way now.

‘You know it’s not that, Tonks.’

Her frown turned into a pout. ‘Then why won’t you marry me?’ she asked quietly. He could see a tear starting to well up in the corner of her eye. Merlin. Nymphadora Tonks was not the kind of girl who cried often, and he felt a stab of regret as he realised that both times he had seen her cry now had been his fault.

It was time to set the record straight. Getting up from his place at the table and walking around to where she was sitting, he kneeled on the ground next to her and grabbed her hands. ‘Of course I want to marry you, you silly girl,’ he said, kissing her fingertips and then reaching up to wipe the lone tear that was trailing down her cheek. ‘I just wanted to be the one to ask you.’

There was a moment of silence as she processed this. ‘You – you were going to ask me?’ Tonks said slowly, looking down at him. He nodded as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the box. This was the moment he had been deliberating over for weeks.

‘Yes. Tonight, in fact. But you ruined it by bringing it up first.’

She was wordless as he opened the box to reveal the sparkling ring he’d bought just last week. It had used up most of the money that Sirius had left him, but Remus knew that his friend wouldn’t have minded. In fact, Sirius probably would have preferred it go to this than anything else.

‘So let’s get this right, shall we?’ he asked as she raised a hand to her mouth. ‘Nymphadora Tonks, I love you more than I could ever love anyone. Will you marry me?’

Tears were flowing freely down her face now, and Remus didn’t bother to wipe them away. Instead, he pulled the ring out the box and slid it onto her finger, before standing up and pulling her to her feet. Kissing her hand again, he put his arms around her waist, holding her close.

‘You still haven’t given me an answer,’ he whispered softly in her ear.

‘It was only ever going to be yes.’

He nodded, kissing her softly. Yes. One word. So simple. But it was all he would need to get him through the war.

* * *
It was nearing midnight by the time Ron finally stumbled into his old common room. They had spent all day clearing up in the aftermath of the battle. The castle was in ruins, and its magical properties meant it was not something that could be repaired easily. The worst part, however, had been uncovering bodies lost in the dark the night before, Hogwartians and Death Eaters alike. It didn’t matter which. Both had been living once.

Harry was still down there, talking with Kingsley about what needed to be done to rebuild the Wizarding World. After a while they had noticed that Ron was barely awake, so they persuaded him to get some sleep. Ron gladly conceded, but there was someone he wanted to see before he finally went to bed.

Unfortunately, the common room was completely empty – the few people living in Gryffindor Tower at the moment were either already sleeping or still downstairs. Curfews had gone out of the window in the wake of Voldemort’s defeat. Ron glanced towards the stairs to the girl’s dormitory with a pang of longing – as destroyed as Hogwarts was, he had a feeling it would still be reluctant to let him up there.

Sighing, Ron headed for his dormitory instead. Hermione must have already gone to bed, and it would do no good standing around and hoping she would wake and come down to see him. He could talk to her in the morning. It was only a few hours away.

However, when he entered his old dormitory, someone was in his bed. He stood there for a moment blinking stupidly, before he realised that only one person would be using his bed when there was almost fifty others unoccupied around her. He smiled, quickly discarding his shoes and socks and outer clothing as he headed over to sit on the bed beside her. It creaked loudly, and Hermione opened her eyes.

‘Sorry,’ she murmured sleepily. ‘I was going to wait up for you, but I got so tired … I came here so I could still see you.’

‘It’s okay,’ he said, reaching out tentatively and brushing her hair back from her face. His fingers lingered around her cheek, and Hermione smiled and pulled back the blankets so he could climb in next to her.

They hadn’t had a chance to speak about the consequences of the kiss on the night of the battle, and Ron was painfully aware of this as he snuggled down next to Hermione. The bed was hardly big enough for the two of them. His hand brushed lightly against the bare skin of her hip, and he froze. ‘Sorry,’ he whispered, and then realised how stupid it sounded.

Hermione laughed, and then solved the problem by taking his hand and putting it around her waist. A shiver went down Ron’s spine as he hugged her tight. He could get used to this.

‘Hermione,’ he started. ‘Last night …’

So many terrible and wonderful things had happened the previous night, but at that moment, wrapped up in their own little world so far away from their problems, they were both thinking of only one thing.

‘Yes?’ she prompted him.

His hand found hers under the covers and clasped it tightly. He had no idea what to say. This was so entirely new to him. It wasn’t asking Fleur to the Yule Ball or snogging Lavender in empty classrooms – it was Hermione, the girl who had been his best friend since first year and the girl he loved more than he had ever realised you could love another person.

‘I – I don’t ever want us to be apart.’

Hermione nodded. ‘We won’t have to be. Not anymore.’ She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling in the light from the moon outside. Moving his hand to her face, Ron traced his fingers down the side of her cheek. Giving her a gentle kiss, he wrapped his arms around her warm body and let her fall asleep in his arms.

* * *

She looked up at the huge clock face anxiously. There was only fifteen minutes until she had to board the train and head off to Hogwarts, and she still hadn’t seen him. Teddy wasn’t the kind of person to be late, but she couldn’t help but worry as her mother fussed around with her two younger siblings, about to send them onto the train.

Sighing, Victoire glanced up at the clock again. Her father noticed, chuckling. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘He’ll be here.’

‘I know,’ she said, biting her lip and glancing around again. He had to be here. After spending almost the entire summer together, he could hardly forget about her now.

‘Victoire!’

Relief washed over her as she turned to see a lanky boy with turquoise hair rushing towards her, dodging families and trunks and pets as he did so. Accidentally knocking over someone’s owl, Teddy stopped only long enough to pick up the cage and apologise profusely before running over to her.

‘Sorry I’m late,’ he said, kissing her eagerly as she pulled him a few metres away from her family until they disappeared into the fog, allowing them a little privacy. As much privacy as was possible at a train station, anyway.

‘It’s okay,’ she said, grinning. ‘You’re here now.’ Flinging her arms around his neck, she kissed him again, not caring who was around to see them together.

‘How on earth am I going to go without you until Christmas?’ he asked, groaning as he hugged her tightly. The train whistle blew, signalling ten minutes until they had to get onto the train.

‘It’s only three months,’ she told him. ‘I’m sure we’ll manage.’

‘At least give me something to tide me over until then.’ Teddy grinned, before kissing her eagerly, his hands running through her long blonde hair as she pressed her body against hers and willed for the moment to never end.

‘Teddy? What are you doing?’ a shocked voice asked, one that Victoire recognised as belonging to her cousin, James. She felt Teddy smile against her lips, and then pull away just long enough to tell James to go away.

They had barely resumed kissing when a voice shouted out her name – it was her mother’s, telling her to hurry up and get on the train. Groaning, Victoire reluctantly tore herself away from her boyfriend, giving her parents quick hugs and hurrying onto the train. She dashed into the nearest empty compartment, and stuck her head out the window.

‘I knew you’d be back,’ Teddy teased, reaching up to give her one final kiss. Victoire grabbed his hand, wishing more than anything that she was a year older so that she could stay there on the platform with him.

‘Don’t forget to write,’ she said. ‘Don’t forget me.’

Teddy grinned. ‘Victoire Weasley, the day I forget about you will be the day I die.’ He was walking alongside the train, knocking into disgruntled parents waving goodbye to their children. Soon the train started to speed up, and he had to let go of her hand. She waved manically, tears streaming down her cheeks.

‘I love you!’ Teddy called above the noise of the train, making her heart do a backflip. He could have chosen a better moment to announce that, but she yelled it back all the same. Grinning, she flopped down into a seat as the train rounded the corner and took her off to Hogwarts, where she would spend three months thinking of her boyfriend and waiting for the moment when she could see him again.

* * *
A sixteenth birthday was not something that happened every day. In fact, they only happened once every lifetime, and Rose Weasley was determined to make the most of it. She had a firm belief that birthdays always turned out to be special days, whether you intended them to be or not.

She was showered in hugs and gifts from her friends the moment she woke up, and headed down to breakfast with a broad grin on her face. Sitting down at the Gryffindor table, she thanked the many people who gave her birthday wishes. It was all very lovely, but what – or who – Rose really wanted hadn’t appeared yet.

Walking out of the Great Hall on her way to her first class, a familiar voice stopped Rose in her tracks. ‘Well, well. I do believe it’s your birthday, isn’t it, Miss Weasley?’

Her friends kept walking as Rose turned around, ignoring the people who were giving her disgruntled looks about stopping in the middle of the passageway. Scorpius Malfoy was standing there, grinning broadly and holding a perfect pink rose.

‘Happy birthday, love,’ he said, kissing her briefly on the cheek and handing her the flower. ‘A beautiful rose for a beautiful Rose.’

She blushed with pleasure. ‘That is probably the worst line I’ve ever heard you come up with,’ Rose said. ‘And that is saying something, Malfoy.’

Scorpius merely grinned and took her bag from her as they continued to class, hand in hand. They had been dating for nearly four months now. In their first year they had despised each other, and over time that had faded into grudging respect and eventually friendship. Then somehow they had ended up never spending a moment apart, and that first kiss four months ago had surprised no one.

‘So what are your plans for today?’ Scorpius asked her as they lingered down the corridor from their first period Charms class.

‘Um, school?’ Rose asked as she watched the students file into the classroom. Scorpius grinned wickedly, shaking his head.

‘Guess again,’ he said, waiting until the corridor was nearly empty of people and then pulling her in the opposite direction from Charms. Rose protested, but only because she felt obliged to, not because she actually wanted to go to class. Flitwick would hardly notice them missing, and if he did, he wouldn’t mind terribly much.

Eventually Scorpius stopped in front of a door. Rose recognised where they were instantly, and she stared at the door quizzically. ‘Scorpius, it’s not that I doubt you, but a broom cupboard is hardly romantic.’

‘It can be,’ he said mysteriously, opening the door and ushering her in. They sat down on buckets in the dark, and Scorpius grabbed her hands. ‘Sorry. I just needed somewhere private to give you your present.’

They lit their wands, and then Scorpius told her to close her eyes.

‘Why?’ she asked, but she did anyway. There were a few noises as Scorpius rummaged through his schoolbag, and then a small box was placed into her hand.

‘Open your eyes,’ Scorpius instructed. She left them closed, turning the box between her fingers.

‘It’s jewellery, isn’t it?’ she asked. He sighed irritably.

‘Can we get this over with? I say yes, it’s jewellery, and yes, it was expensive. Then you start complaining about how you don’t need it and I shouldn’t have done it when there are starving children and oppressed house elves in the world, and then I’ll interrupt and say that I can spend my money on whatever the hell I want, and I wanted to spend it on you because I love you more than anyone else in the world. And then you’ll go all quiet and say thanks and kiss me, and then I’ll tell you that I donated the same amount of money that the damned thing cost to your mother’s house elf thing because I felt guilty knowing what you would say. The end.’

Rose’s eyes flew open. Scorpius was watching her with his eyebrows raised, waiting for her reaction. Forgetting about the box in her hand, Rose looked up at her boyfriend.

‘Wait. You bought me jewellery?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you donated to SPEW?’

‘Yes.’

‘And … you said you loved me?’

Scorpius didn’t answer this one straightaway, and instead his cheeks flushed pink as he looked down at his feet. ‘Well … yeah.’

Rose smiled. ‘I love you too.’

Now no matter what happened, nothing could change the fact that her sixteenth birthday was possibly the most special one of all. Broom cupboards can be rather romantic. And indeed, what happened in the broom cupboard that day was something that Rose would keep with her for the rest of her life.