Familial Love

Mothers' Intuition

Molly Weasley muttered to herself as she enchanted her kitchen knife to start dicing vegetables. Honestly Arthur could be so clueless; enchanting a car to fly was one thing, but letting your notoriously mischievous sons know about it was another. 

Molly's motherly intuition had woken her in the early hours of this morning with the sudden realisation that the Burrow was quiet. Too quiet. Creeping out of an Arthur-less bed - night-raid keeping him away - she had discovered a lack of snores coming from Fred, George and Ron's rooms. Jaded after years of raising the twins, and concerned about their influence on their younger brother, Molly had marched downstairs expecting to catch them stealing from the pantry. When she hadn't found them there or anywhere in the house her heart had begun to race. It doesn't matter how many misguided excursions her sons went on, she would always worry about them. They were her babies after all. With a creeping sense of panic, Molly strode into the dark, across her unkempt lawn, to the tattered shed she had asked Arthur to rebuild two years previous. She grabbed the handles of the paint peeling doors and threw them open. She didn't need to cast lumos to clearly see that that bloody car was missing -  along with three of her boys. 

A few hours later, Arthur had received a very tart description of what she thought of that car just after she had sent the returned boys out to de-gnome the garden. Reckless. Stupid. A waste of money. Thankfully her boys had returned safely and no letter had yet appeared from The Daily Prophet saying they had managed to expose the magical world. Molly sighed as she tipped the diced vegetables into a large pot and added stock. What was she going to do with them all? Vaguely she could hear the boys' raised voices in the garden as they lobbed the pesky gnomes into the neighboring field. The one plus is that Molly could now keep an eye on Harry Potter - who had arrived with her boys looking skinny and wide-eyed. He was very sweet, she thought. Always polite and quite meek in comparison from her own sons. He had thanked her profusely for his sausages at breakfast as if they were the tastiest meal he'd ever eaten. Even insisting on washing up the plates until she's given him a task to do with Ron. It troubled her a little, she wasn't sure why. He didn't look very taken care-of, she thought. His worn-out clothes hung off him in an odd way, and his skin looked a bit sallow. And there was what the boys had told her - "They were starving him, mum". Normally she would have put this up as the exaggeration of a twelve-year old but something told her there was some truth to it.  With that thought she started buttering some bread-rolls over zealously. 

Molly called up the stairs for everyone to come down for lunch. It had been some hours since Harry had arrived and him and Ron had disappeared into his bedroom. The thundering of feet told her that her children were approaching, so she placed the large steaming pot of soup on the table and began ladling it into bowls. Percy, Arthur and and very red Ginny grabbed their bowls first and settled themselves at the table. Fred and George leaped their way down the stairs, nearly causing Molly to drop the basket of bread rolls all over the kitchen floor. 

"Sorry mum!" They chorused as Fred stole a buttered role, flashing Molly a cheeky grin. 

Ron stumped down the stairs with a curious Harry just behind him. 

"I'm bloody starving. Oi save one for me!" Ron grunted at his brothers who were divvying out the bread-rolls. 

Molly was just taking her seat when Harry's delighted voice sounded behind her. 

"Oh wow, Mrs Weasley. It smells amazing". Quite taken aback by the young boy's earnesty, she blushed. 

"Thank you dear. Now you sit here, and let me get you a big bowl." Molly patted the seat between her and Ron and began serving him. To her surprise, he still didn't sit straight away. 

"You...you don't mind if I have some too?" He muttered. 

"What?..Of course not. I've made plenty for everyone and you must be hungry after the de-gnoming. Sit Harry, darling." Harry sat cautiously at the table and when a large steaming bowl was set in front of him, busied himself with consuming as much as possible. Molly smiled as he ate ravenously. His spiky black hair was quite endearing, she thought, that with his large green eyes and his small frame she was reminded on a raggedy puppy. A little stray. Molly sighed again but smiled. She had always been maternal, and she knew her and Arthur had more than enough on their plates, but she also knew that Harry was one of them now. 

The soup was hearty and filling. Arthur leaned back, rubbing his belly and burying his face in a copy of the days newspaper. Fred and George had disappeared after one bowl to sleep off the evening's antics. And Percy had excused himself, aloof as always about the reason. Ginny, however, had hardly eaten a bite. She kept glancing up at Harry, and when he felt her gaze and looked up, she would reach for another bread roll or a glass of pumpkin juice, avoiding his gaze. On one of these occasions she reached for the salt and clumsily knocked it over. Unfortunately it knocked Harry's bowl just enough for a large splash to stain the front of his t-shirt. 

"Ouch" he yelped, pulling the now boiling fabric away from his body. Ginny, mortified, turned a firetruck read and buried her face in her hands. Standing up from the table she scurried out of the room towards her bedroom. 

"No Ginny, it's not..." Harry tried to console her, but too late. "I'm sorry. Let me wash it. It'll be okay."

"Don't be silly my dear." Molly bustled around the table. "Just slip it off and I can throw it in with the other washing. Ron, go grab one of yours for Harry to wear for now." Ron nodded and clambered back up the stairs to his room. Harry stood awkwardly looking down at the stain. He seemed reluctant. "Come on dear. Just slip it off and Ron will be back soon." Harry paused for a second and then slipped of the old t-shirt. 

"Thank you Mrs Weasley. I really don't mind washing it myself, I don't want to be a bother." But Molly couldn't answer straight away, she was so shocked at what she saw. Although Harry was a skinny, athletic 12 year old boy, his shirtless appearance was shocking. The fine bones of his ribs pushed against his tight pale skin. His collar bones looked hollow, and she could see the outline of his hip bones either side of a concave stomach. Her eyes welled instantly and she had to fight to keep tears at bay. "Mrs Weasley?" Harry's questioning gaze brought her back to their conversation. Molly pointed to a wicker basket by the sink where other clothes lay discarded and cleared her throat.

"Just...pop it over there dear with the other washing. I'll get to it this afternoon." Harry smiled at her and then made his way to the basket. The soon as his back was to her she shot Arthur knowing stare. His face was still buried in an article - 'Regulation Dispute over Mix-Muggle Neighbourhoods'. Molly coughed dryly, trying to get his attention. He had to see this. Arthur looked slowly over to Molly, dragging his eyes away from the paper. 

"What is it, dar...Great Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed the moment he took in the scene. Molly turned around to see what had shocked him. Harry's back was toward them as he diligently began to fold the laundry laying discarded in the basket. His new position exposed the white skin of his back, the points of his spine through his skin and most alarmingly, a smattering of fat pinkish welts and yellow bruises. Their varying shades of red suggested some were more recent than others. And the most recent one sat raw and raised across his shoulder-blade - clearly the outline of a belt.  Molly gasped, clapping a hand to her mouth.  Harry, alarmed by their voices, looked round suddenly. 

"Oh, I'm sorry do you want them folded differently" He asked, a slight tone of panic in his voice as he held Arthur's jumper in his hands. 

"Oh Harry...." Molly managed. "What have they done to you?"