Feisty - Linny

Prologue - How The Weasley Family Was Built

Molly Weasley had always wanted a daughter, a little girl to hand down her jewelry and baby clothes, someone to gossip with, or help her cook holiday dinners. But each attempt for a rosy-cheeked girl left her more outnumbered in her home.

When they had Bill, Molly assured Arthur she was not disappointed, that all she prayed for was a healthy baby, but secretly she was readily anticipating their next opportunity for a baby girl. Charlie was next, another boy. Molly thought that at least her daughter would have older brothers to protect her once she finally arrived, which she prayed was soon. Her boys were constantly playing in the mud and messing up the house, it would be nice to have another girl to help around with the constant chores.

When Percy arrived, Molly was exhausted. Percy seemed to sense his presence was disturbing to his mother so he tried his best to help her whoever he could, as he grew up. Hoping that if he could help her clean and cook or be her confidant she would love him like the girl she had wished he had been. Then the twins, Fred and George were double-trouble and they constantly reminded Molly of all the reasons she prayed for a daughter. They'd start food fights at dinner and get into physical fights with other boys over the slightest insult. Molly needed the soothing presence of a sweet angelic baby girl, her own "mini-me" to keep these rambunctious boys in check.

Raising five kids is a full-time job and Molly knew it well, her days were spent cleaning up after her young'uns and kissing bruised knees, an unpaid and exhausting job. Bills piled up and Arthur's measly salary struggled to support their enormous household, but Molly begged and begged for the chance to have a daughter. Ron was an investment that went wrong, every diaper she bought or hour of work Arthur missed to help her filled her with burning guilt. Guilt that her own desire for a daughter was leeching their resources and that despite her persevering attempts for a girl, she was consistently unsuccessful. After a night of hard conversations and many tears, the struggling couple decided that they would give up on their dream to have a little girl. Molly cried all night while Arthur held her close, they would just need to learn to accept an incomplete family. But fate had other plans. If it had not been for a tipsy mistake: a mispronunciation of a contraception charm, Molly Weasley would have never gotten the daughter she prayed for.

When Ginny arrived, Molly felt everything shift. It was like everything had finally fallen into place. Her family was finally complete. Suddenly, every problem seemed to fall away, Molly forgot about the death toll of the war for a minute, she let go of her resentment at the ministry for not doing more, she didn't worry about bills or debt, because all she could do when she looked at her perfect, perfect girl was smile. She held her close and vowed to protect her miracle for the rest of her life. to let go of the baby girl she feared she would never have. She named her Ginevra Molly Weasley, her middle name a token of the mother who tried desperately to bring her into the world.

Molly believed that Ginny was an angel sent down from heaven, but Ginny had other ideas. Ginny wailed and wailed all night and day as a baby. Spitting out even the most heavily charmed pacifiers straight into her mother's face. Still, Molly doted upon her baby and praised her constantly, even if she wasn't quite what she had expected.

As Ginny grew up, Molly noted that there were plenty of things that were "unexpected" about Ginevra.

Ginny skinned her knees twice as frequently as any of her brothers, but she only cried if her brothers were the ones who pushed her. When Ginny fell from the highest tree branch, she barely winced, but when Ron tripped her she would wail, shriek, and sob until she got her revenge. Being the youngest girl has perks, Ron wasn't allowed desert for a week and Ginny gladly ate the extras.

Ginny had a fondness for eavesdropping, she knew that she was deemed too innocent or young for most information, so Ginny Weasley was sneaky. When Fred and George were scolded for their pranks she would tiptoe down from her bedroom and stand on the other side of the door to listen to her mother's colorful language, giggling guiltily as her mother berated her brothers.

When Molly cooked meals, Ginny rarely helped. Ginny was hardly a sous chef in their house, to her mother's dismay. Percy picked up her slack and gained quite a talent for sauces and seasoning. The rare acceptance was when Molly would bake, Ginny loved licking the spoon and would enthusiastically aid her mother with all of the mixing. When Ginny helped her the floor usually ended up covered in flour and the occasional cracked egg. Cleaning was even less of interest to Ginny, "I like my mess," Ginny would complain when her mother handed her plastic bags to clear out the piles of trash in her room. Ginny only mended this pro-mess ideology when she found a handful of baby mice nested among her socks.

Ginny got the sense sometimes that she wasn't quite the daughter her mother hoped for. When she returned home after a game of quidditch, covered head to toe in mud, she saw the way her mother winced. When Ginny cut her hair to her chin with a pair of rusty kitchen scissors, her mother didn't even ask her before magically regrowing it. Molly would subtly remind Ginny to quiet down or act more ladylike, but Ginny never wanted to. Ginny loved her mother, but sometimes she worried she would never be good enough for her. Molly did love her daughter, but she did not understand her.