A/N: This chapter is quite short, and I'm not completely satisfied with it - but I tried to push my brother and sister in to telling me what was missing, an they said they liked it - so whatever, hehe. Thanks for reading, enjoy ;)
Chapter 5: Library Research
“Incidentally, centaurs refused to attend this meeting because of the exclusion of the merpeople…”
“…Nearly-Headless Nick distracted Pringle while Shane and I tried to get back up the staircase…”
“…it wasn’t until 1811 that a definition pleasing the majority of the magical community…”
“…we had just turned the corner for the common room, when that dratted cat Mr. Buttons came prancing around the corner…”
“…trolls were interviewed in the absence of the goblins…”
“…anyway, Buttons ran off to get Pringle and we snuck through the portrait hole just in time…”
The bell rang. Molly sighed as she dropped her parchment, quill, and ink bottle into her book bag. It was always a difficult task listening to Professor Binn’s plow his way through wizarding history, but Maeve whispering in her ear all class about her late night escapades had made it all the more impossible. They went walked outside the classroom and were immediately joined by Shane, Arthur, and Alastor.
“So ladies “ get your notes down alright?” Shane asked, as the other two boys lagged behind, going over their own notes from Binns’s lecture.
“If you mean am I going to let you copy “ then no…” Molly said warningly.
“Too bad “ ah well, we were just headed to the library to start that Dark Art’s essay on Aurors “ coming?”
“You’re starting you’re essay already? But it’s not due for four days…” Molly asked, shocked at Shane’s newfound academic drive.
“Arthur’s pushed us into it. Honestly, I think he’s taking this prefect business a bit too seriously “ he used to be good for a nice bit of troublemaking…” Shane replied sadly, wiping away an imaginary tear.
“Well, good for him…” Molly said.
Molly and Maeve decided to follow the boys to the library. The five of them put their things down at a table and split up to find books. Molly strolled through the Stealth and Secrecy section for a few minutes, trying to find something that she could fit into her essay. She picked out a book called Auror Training in Stealth, and was flipping through it when suddenly, she heard Shane’s voice coming from the other side of the bookshelf; she stopped to listen.
“I keep giving you opportunities and you keep running away.”
“I haven’t asked you to give me any opportunities!”
“You need to tell her how you feel, Arthur!”
“She doesn’t see me that way…”
“You don’t know that!”
“If I tell her, she might feel bad for me “ I don’t want that…”
“Arthur, for goodness sake. Give her a chance to look at you the way you look at her.”
Silence followed Shane’s statement, but after a moment, Molly heard Arthur sigh.
“I can’t Shane.”
“What if Molly does feel the same way?”
Molly dropped the book she was holding in the surprise of hearing her name. Shane and Arthur stopped talking and looked towards the bookshelf she had been hiding behind. Molly quickly returned to the table with all their things and sat down, trying to look as though she’d been there the entire time.
It’s true, she thought. Maeve was right.
Then, Shane and Arthur came walking from the Stealth and Secrecy section, both holding books under their arms.
“Been sitting here the entire time, Prewett?” Shane asked, sounding casual.
“Yes “ couldn’t find anything…”
“Well, Arthur found this, maybe you can look through it while we take a glance at these…”
He handed her Auror Training in Stealth and the two of them sat down. Molly gulped nervously, trying to look as though this wasn’t the book she had dropped, and that she hadn’t heard the two of them talking.
The three of them sat quietly for a minute before Shane closed his book and stood up.
“No good, I’ll have to get something else,” he said. “Leave you two alone then, shall I?” he added pointedly to Arthur. He walked off quickly. Molly and Arthur turned to face each other.
“Molly, I…” he began.
“Arthur “ ” she said at the same time.
They laughed.
“Find anything good?” Arthur said after a second.
“Oh…yeah. Not surprised though “ Auror Training in Stealth… can’t get much more specific to the essay topic than that.”
Arthur just nodded. Molly didn’t know what else to say. She had just been hit with the realization that Arthur Weasley felt exactly the way Maeve said he had. She hadn’t even had a chance to figure out what she felt for him. She watched as Arthur turned silently back to his book “ stopping every now and again to take notes. She felt an odd feeling swelling up in her chest, an unexplainable one. She was starting to think that maybe Maeve had been right about more than just Arthur’s feelings “ perhaps Molly was beginning to fall for him too. It was about an hour later, when Molly was starting to wonder where the other three had gotten to, that she realized that their bags had miraculously disappeared from the table.
“Arthur? What’s happened to the others?”
He looked up and took a quick glance around the table.
“That’s strange…did you notice them leave?” he asked.
“No. But I suppose we should go anyway “ it’s time for dinner.” she said looking at her watch. She was thinking furiously of Maeve and Shane, who had probably come up with the bright idea of stranding the two of them alone in the library. Arthur offered to check out the books while Molly put her things away “ then the two of them left for the Great Hall.
“I wonder why they left…” Molly said casually. She saw Arthur turn pink out of the corner of her eye.
“No idea,” he said.
“We seem to end up alone a lot, have you noticed?” she continued.
“Really?” Arthur said uncomfortably. "No, I haven't..."
“Arthur,” Molly said as she stopped right in front of the entrance to the Great Hall. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”
She had tried to sound as hopeful as possible, as a way to bully Arthur into actually coming forward. Arthur hesitated for a moment, clearly trying to measure up her question and decide if he should answer honestly. After a moment he looked down at the floor.
“No, Molly. I can’t think of anything I need to tell you,” he said. He went inside for dinner, leaving Molly standing outside disappointed, but slightly determined. If he had really loved her all these years, then she was going to see to it that he did something about it.