The Road

A Deal for Redemption

Harry woke up before all of them and decided to help himself to some breakfast. Just as he pulled the bowl out of the cupboard, Molly walked in rubbing her eyes sleepily before gawking at Harry, utterly star struck. "Good morning, Molly," he greeted.

"Good morning, Harry Potter," she spoke in a dazed voice.

"Want some breakfast?" She nodded her head and watched him make two bowls of cereal.

As the two of them sat and ate their breakfast, Harry's curiosity over the little girl finally caught up to him. "Molly? Is there something you want to say to me?"

She shook her head rapidly. Harry then asked, "Do your parents know you spend the night here from time to time?"

"I just have my dad. I don't think he knows I'm here."

"What? Won't he be worried?"

"No....he never really is."

"Oh," Harry put aside his cereal and spoke, "Why not?"

"Sometimes he likes to be with his friends and they drink a lot of juice together. So he doesn't really remember I'm around a lot."

"Oh."

"It's okay! He loves me though! And Drake and Hermione always take good care of me."

"But he's your father. Don't you think he should be taking care of you instead of Drake and Hermione?"

"I...I guess so. Maybe....he doesn't want to spend time with me. Maybe....I'm not a good daughter." Molly suddenly felt like crying, as her eyes started to become watery.

"Molly, don't cry. I....I didn't mean to do that."

"It's okay," she sniffled.

"I just....I want you to know that.... When I was younger, my parents died and I had to live with my Aunt and Uncle. It wasn't easy growing up because, well, they were mean to me. They made me do their house chores, told me mean things, and sometimes didn't feed me. But you know what, just because they may treat you badly doesn't make you a bad person. Sometimes the best people get treated the worst, but that doesn't mean we have to stop being who we are."

Molly wiped her tears away and suddenly launched herself at Harry. She squeezed him tightly and Harry found himself chuckling and hugging her back. "We're kind of the same, huh Harry Potter?"

"I guess we are," he laughed.

Then Molly did a peculiar thing and poked at his scar. He stopped feeling pain after Voldemort died but the scar was still there and she could see it. She traced her finger over the lighting shaped mark and then took his glasses off of his face.

"Hey!"

"Wow, you're just like the legend!"

Harry froze. "The legend?"

"Can you keep a secret, Harry Potter?"

"Of course," he told her. Molly cupped her hand around his ear and began to whisper a tale of legend, adventure, and above all the magic behind the Boy Who Lived.

Harry had never laughed harder in his life.

______

Draco and Hermione woke up quite later than usual. When Hermione first laid her eyes on the clock, she jumped and said, "I'm late!" She jumped out of bed and ran to her room to change, running past a laughing Harry on the floor and a giggling Molly next to him. She didn't have time to ask questions as she had to get to work. Draco groggily got out of bed and looked appalled at the giggling mess of Harry and Molly on the floor. "What's so funny?" Draco asked.