A/N: Final chapter! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!
Chapter 10: The Beginning
“Arthur! Arthur, please wait!”
Arthur stopped, reluctantly. He did not turn around, but his head hung low, and Molly could see his ears were red. She ran up to him and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Please don’t do this Arthur…” she said, still breathless from running after him.
“Do what?” he asked, looking back at her.
“Don’t run away…” Molly pleaded.
Arthur was silent for a moment, he searched her eyes with his own.
“Is there something you want to tell me, Molly?” he asked her.
Molly bit her lip. She wanted nothing more than to say ‘yes, I have something to tell you,’, to tell him that she felt the same, that she was falling in love with him, and that she briefly considered the sound of ‘Molly Weasley’ at least once a day. She wanted to throw her arms around him and confess it all. She looked back at him a few moments, hesitantly.
“No… I don’t have anything to tell you,” she said sadly.
“That’s what I thought…” Arthur said, and he walked away from her, leaving her standing alone in the corridor.
“Well, that was a bit thick of you, don’t you think?” one of the portraits said in disbelief.
Molly didn’t respond, she just watched as Arthur walked away from her and then turned slowly and walked in the other direction, towards Gryffindor tower.
---
“Molly Prewett!”
Maeve entered the dormitory, slamming the door behind her.
“What in the name of Merlin is the matter with you?” she snapped, throwing her hands above her head and waving them around wildly. “Shane told me what happened between you and Arthur?”
“And how does Shane know?” Molly asked in a dead tone.
“Arthur told him, of course “ and normally such information would be classified as Grade A Non-Tradeable goods, but these circumstances certainly call for intervention. These circumstances call for a right slap across the head! What were you thinking?”
“Would you just lower your voice a bit, Maeve?”
“Depends, do you plan on telling me your side of the story?”
“I don’t have a side “ I’m sure what you heard from Shane was the complete truth…”
“Alright then, would you like me to check you into St. Mungo’s now or do you need some time?”
“I’m not mental, alright?”
“Oh really? Does this sound ‘mental’ to you, Molly? The guy of your dreams, who you know is head over heels for you, practically asks you if you feel the same and you practically say no. On top of that, you did it in spite of the fact that he’s practically dying with embarrassment and hurt over the entire matter, so you decided to finish him off by reaching into his chest and ripping out his heart!”
Maeve stood staring manically at Molly, her arms crossed after finishing her rant. Molly looked back at her for just a few moments before bursting into tears.
“I don’t know why…” she cried. “I just, I don’t know, I was scared Maeve…”
Maeve immediately softened, rushing to Molly’s bed and sitting next to her with her arm around her.
“Scared of what, Molly?” Maeve said soothingly, summoning tissues from across the room.
“I don’t know… he was just standing there, looking at me,” she sobbed. “And I was scared, I was scared that maybe he didn’t really feel the same as I do. Maybe he just has some superficial infatuation and that it would scare him off to know how I felt. Or maybe that he loved the idea of me, and that once he got to know me better he’d realize that he’s better off not being with me… or…”
“Shhh…” Maeve said, handing Molly the tissues. “You know that’s not true, Mol… you know that’s not true. Calm down… now, look at me, Molly.”
Molly lifted her splotchy face up to Maeve’s.
“Do you really believe that?” she asked quietly.
“I don’t know…” Molly said. “I don’t know. No, no “ I don’t. I’m just scared “ I panicked…”
“How do you really feel?” Maeve asked.
“I love him,” Molly said honestly.
“Then tell him that…” Maeve told her.
“I don’t know…”
“Well, what’s the big problem?” Maeve asked impatiently.
“I just have this big romantic image of him coming to me and telling me how he feels…” Molly said. “And then I tell him I feel the same, and then we ride off into the sunset…”
“Well, sorry love, but you’re going to have to get over it because you’ve broken the poor boy’s heart and you’re just going to have to finish this yourself…”
Molly nodded and wiped her tears.
“Is he alright?” she sniffled.
“Well, he certainly looks better than you…” Maeve said. “But he is a right mess…”
“Is he downstairs now?” Molly asked, standing up.
“No, he’s in his dormitory. But I’m sure the boys won’t mind if you intrude…”
On that note, Molly left the dormitory, went down the staircase and that proceeded directly up the boys’ staircase. She got to the door marked ‘Fifth Years’ and, taking a deep breath, knocked lightly on the door. There were some muffled voices and the sound of shuffling feet and a moment later Shane opened the door.
“Oh, it’s you…” he said grimly.
“Shane, I need to speak with Arthur…”
“I’ll let you in on one condition, Prewett…” he told her.
“Anything,” she said.
He leant over to her.
“You tell him the truth this time…” he whispered.
“I promise,” Molly said.
Shane eyed her for a moment.
“Alright Alastor, Arthur has a visitor, I think we should skedaddle…”
“I’m leavin’,” Molly heard Alastor growl.
She stepped aside for the two of them to leave, before entering cautiously.
“Oh, hi…” Arthur said, surprised to see her.
“Hi,” she said timidly.
“You’re face is all red,” he said. “Have you been “”
“Crying?” Molly finished. “Yes.”
Arthur nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but the words apparently got lost and he remained quiet.
“I’m here to apologize about earlier…” Molly said quietly, moving closer to him.
“What’s there to apologize for?” Arthur said, his cheeks turning pink as he stuffed his hand in his robes pocket. “All you did was tell the truth, after all…”
“Actually, I didn’t tell the truth,” she said. She moved closer again.
“Excuse me?” Arthur spluttered.
“I lied.”
“About what?” Arthur asked, swallowing hard.
“I do have something to tell you, Arthur…” she told him. There was now only a foot between them.
“And what’s that?” he asked throatily, his face bright red now.
“I’ve fallen in love with you.”
Time seemed to stand still for a moment. She had said it so simply, and the silence that followed was deafening. Arthur was afraid to look at her.
“Molly that’s not funny…” he said painfully.
“Of course it’s not funny “ it’s the truth. Arthur, I love you,” she felt her own face burning red, now. “Please believe me… it’s true.”
Arthur looked at her, but couldn’t seem to find words.
“Do you still not believe me?” Molly asked anxiously.
“I can’t…” he breathed. “It’s been so long… I-I don’t know how to even begin “”
He didn’t finish, because Molly threw her arms around him and kissed him. She almost expected him to pull away, but he didn’t. After a few stunned moments, she felt him relax, and his hands removed themselves from his pockets and his arms wrapped around her, too.
It was warm and perfect and more than either ever imagined it could have been.
After another few moments, she slowly drew back, taking in a deep breath as she did so. Their faces were still only an inch apart; a single tear escaped Molly’s eye, and Arthur, smiling down at her, lifted his hand and wiped it way.
“Well, I - I certainly believe you now,” he stammer with a small laugh, blushing furiously. “And, Molly - I love you too.”
He kissed her again. When their lips parted for the second time, Molly rested her head on his shoulder.
“I’m so sorry about earlier..." Molly said. "I should have said something, I panicked “ I’m just an idiot, I suppose…”
“You’re not an idiot,” Arthur told her, laughing slightly. “I’m the one who took five years to come around…”
“Yes, but you assumed that I didn’t feel the same “ I knew how you felt, and I still didn’t say anything…”
“Let’s just call it even,” Arthur suggested.
“Alright, then…” Molly agreed.
They stood in each other’s arms, looking fondly at one another for a moment.
“Can we come in now?” Maeve’s muffled voice came from behind the door.
Molly couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yes…” she called.
The door burst open and Maeve and Shane came in, faces aglow.
“I suppose you don’t need to be filled in on what happened?” Arthur muttered shyly.
“Well, we got the audio, mate,” Shane said, winking. “But we wouldn’t mind catching a glimpse of any visuals we missed.”
“What do you think?” Molly asked Arthur.
“Couldn’t hurt,” he said.
They kissed again, and this time it lasted even longer than the first two. Maeve coughed loudly and they stopped, and looked back at Shane and Maeve, who looked almost insane with delight.
“Well, it’s about bloody time!” Maeve cheered.
“Watch your language, Maeve!” Molly said, though she was smiling broadly.
Shane looked back and forth between Molly and Arthur.
“So, you’ll be naming your firstborn William, then?”