Hindsight - Fred Weasley

Chapter 30

Theodore had stuck to his word. He'd visited Violet at The Burrow every day since he first turned up. It was awkward, at first, but as the hours passed, they managed to talk with more ease. Violet now knew that his favourite subject is Potions; he'd had a horrible childhood that he didn't like to discuss; his best friend is Draco Malfoy; he has no living family members except from her; he is a chain smoker; his favourite colour is green (obviously); he is the third smartest student in his year, with Draco being second and Hermione being first; he refuses to talk about his mother; and he adores Wizard's Chess, despite being utterly appalling at it.

Fred and George had come around to Theodore after his first two visits. The boys had bonded over their love for Quidditch, and their shared support of the Irish team. Ginny seemed to have a type in tall men with dark hair, as she wasn't even slightly subtle when she'd stare at the Slytherin boy. Ron was still stubborn, but did come around when he realised how easily he could beat him at chess.

It was the last day before the Weasley's and Violet would be moving to the safe house, and Theodore had spent the day at The Burrow with them. It had been one of the hottest days of the year, and Violet found the heat insufferable with a watermelon sized stomach, so they'd opted to spend the day at the lake before having a game of Quidditch in the evening once it had cooled down. On one team was Fred, George and Theodore and on the other was Ron, Ginny and Arthur who had been hoaxed into the match. Molly and Violet stayed on the ground, to judge the match.

Molly had been deeply emotional over the past couple of weeks and had grown even closer to Violet after confiding in her many a times. A few days after the Weasley children got back to The Burrow, when Violet was in the midst of trying to recover from her trauma, Percy Weasley had returned home to announce his promotion; which was a junior assistant position to the new minister of magic, Cornelius Fudge. There were many issues in this. Percy had only finished his education a year ago, and had recently gotten into trouble at work, which made the timing strange to be rewarding him with a sought after and senior position. Not only that, but Dumbledore had disobeyed the ministry in announcing Voldemort's return to the students of Hogwarts, and had been avoiding contact with them since. The only contact he'd made was with Wizengemot, to insist on clearing Fred's of any charges for using the killing curse. Fudge had been open about his disbelief in Voldemort's return, and his disapproval of what Fred had done. It had bruised his ego when the trial he tried to call for Fred was instantly rejected, thinking that he as Minister for Magic should have more power than a headmaster.

With Dumbledore off grid, he'd made it clear that he thought Arthur Weasley was still in contact with him. With all of those details in mind, Arthur had requested that Percy decline the position as he thought that it was Fudge's way of spying on the family. Percy, who had been hoping for praise, had hit the roof at Arthur's request. He'd been screaming at his father about how he's had to struggle to not be tied down with Arthur's 'lousy' reputation at the Ministry, and that he had 'no ambition'. If he'd have left it at that, it might have been recoverable, but Percy had gone on to say that if Molly and Arthur were going to become traitors to the Ministry, he'd make sure everyone knew he didn't belong to their family anymore. Molly had broken down at this point and was an inconsolable heap, along with Ginny who mainly sobbed with fury at her older brother. Fred and George were trying to keep their father and brother apart, to avoid any physical fighting, while Violet held Molly in one arm and Ginny in the other. Poor Ron had just watched in disbelief as it all unfolded. Violet had never heard Arthur shout so loud. After the argument, Percy had packed his bags and left the same night. Molly had sobbed for days, which made Arthur even more furious at Percy. She had managed to calm down eventually, venting many a time to an exhausted Violet who could still barely walk on her own. The past week had been better, but they all still heard Molly's hysterical cries breaking out when she thought nobody could hear. The thing was with Molly Weasley was, that if she cried the whole of Devon could probably hear her.