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She paced anxiously by her hearth, wringing her hands and glancing anxiously between the clock and the open letter, confirming the appointment, on the mantlepiece. She couldn’t be early, that would not be at all appropriate, but she had spent all day terrified that she might accidentally be late, desperate to just go straight there.
Finally, the minute hand hit twelve, and faster than a doxy out of a drainpipe, she seized a pinch of Floo powder and threw it into the fire. ‘Dumbledore’s office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!’
The green flames leapt, she heard snatches of dozens of other grates and felt herself spinning, and within moments she was stepping smoothly into the circular office, with glinting silver instruments and a shock of gold and red from the fine phoenix on his perch.
‘Ah, Molly,’ said Professor Dumbledore, looking up from his desk. ‘Right on time.’
‘Good afternoon, Professor,’ she said, hoping she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt. At his gesture, she hurried over to the chair opposite his desk. ‘Thank you so much for your quick response.’
‘Not at all, Molly, I understand your concerns,’ he said gravely. ‘I can assure you that while Harry remains in some state of shock, understandably, he was discharged from the hospital wing yesterday, and I am reliably informed that your son is doing an admirable job of keeping a close eye on him. Professor McGonagall informs me that he appears to be doing well, all things considered.’
Molly nodded, and swallowed slightly. ‘I… I appreciate that the school is the best place for him at the moment. Some normality while term finishes.’
‘Indeed,’ said Professor Dumbledore.
‘But I requested this meeting to organise the arrangements for the end of term,’ she said firmly, the words she had rehearsed for several days coming with her intended authority. ‘Because I am quite sure you will agree that he needs support and care, particularly at the moment, and I don’t think I need to remind you of the concerns I have raised previously.’
‘Indeed you don’t,’ said Professor Dumbledore calmly, though there was a certain patience in his voice that concerned her.
‘Not to mention,’ she added fiercely, ‘the added danger that he will now surely be under. I would rather that he was in the care of a wizarding family, that can come to his protection when necessary.’
‘You are asking, I presume, for Harry to go straight from school to your family home?’ he said gently.
‘I am,’ she said, looking stubbornly into his lined, bearded face. ‘And not just this summer, Professor, but quite frankly I think the time has come for him to come to my home as a matter of course. You’re well aware that he seems desperate to avoid his relatives, and when my husband met them last summer he came away with the distinct impression that they would not be sorry to see the back of him either - I know,’ she added loudly, for Professor Dumbledore had opened his mouth slightly to interrupt, ‘I know, now, that he has a godfather - Ron has explained - but I’m sure he would agree that it’s not possible, at the moment, for him to care for him. Quite frankly, I-’
‘Molly,’ said Dumbledore soothingly, raising a hand. ‘I must assure you that I have no doubt in the slightest regarding your tremendous capability to care for Harry, and you have done so most admirably for these past few years. I wish, very much, that his own aunt had shown even a fraction of the love that you have offered him.’
‘So you agree - he would be better under our care. I am quite willing to speak to his relatives myself, if that is the-’
‘It is not,’ he said quietly. His expression had darkened slightly. ‘I assure you, if I thought it possible, I would ensure Harry had a happier home. Unfortunately, he must return to his aunt, even if just for a brief time, before I can allow him to return to your care. For this summer and every one after, until he is of age. It is not possible for me to-’
‘It is possible,’ Molly insisted. ‘Professor Dumbledore, I would adopt him legally if that’s what it takes - foster him - arrange something with the Ministry - I don’t know how these things work, legally, but we would be more than happy to do anything; Arthur and I are quite agreed-’
‘I am sure you are,’ said Dumbledore heavily. ‘Molly, what do you know of the night Harry lost his parents?’
She felt a little blindsided. She had not expected this at all - she had been ready to negotiate responsibility of care with this ‘godfather’ that had popped up out of nowhere. ‘Well,’ she said, still rather disconcerted, ‘nobody really knows much, do they? I haven’t asked Harry, of course, Ron says he doesn’t remember-’
‘He does not, of course,’ said Professor Dumbledore. ‘He was just fifteen months old at the time. You will forgive me, Molly - it is of course a most sensitive matter-’
‘Of course,’ she said faintly.
‘One which I am not at liberty to divulge easily. But you will not, I think, be surprised to learn that there was complex and ancient magic surrounding Harry’s survival.’ He seemed to hesitate, and for the first time, he looked away from her - apparently unable to meet her eyes. ‘It is… vital… to Harry’s survival, that he remains with a family member that shares the same blood.’
There was a few moments of silence. ‘She’s not a family member,’ said Molly quietly. ‘Relatives, that’s what he calls them, or the Dursley’s - never family.’
‘I am aware,’ said Dumbledore, quieter still. ‘Even so, the blood connection is crucial for his protection. Without it, he is at tremendous risk.’
At this, Molly found herself laughing - scathingly, despairingly, certainly not happily. ‘Risk? After what has just occured? Dumbledore, that boy will never be the same again-’
‘Molly-’
‘He needs love, Dumbledore, he needs someone to hug him, he needs attention and support - he needs to be somewhere that my boys don’t feel the need to rescue him from in the dead of night-’
‘Yes-’
‘-Or that he himself doesn’t try to run away from, or that my husband doesn’t come away from talking of their clear dislike and-’
Her voice was became high pitched and louder, she could feel herself losing control, something she had promised herself she wouldn’t do, not if she was to try and convince him of her ability to be a guardian for him… But Dumbledore rose his hand and silenced her once again.
‘Harry will return to you soon, Molly, that I promise you. In fact, I think I would insist on it, were he any other child. But you must know that Harry is not, and will never be, a child to which normal expectations and procedures can apply. He is in a unique and terrible position, one which demands, as much as I regret it, that he remains under the guardianship of his aunt until he is of age.’
She blinked rapidly, and dabbed impatiently at her eyes with the back of her hand. She hated how easily she cried now.
‘My priority is keeping him alive, and unfortunately a few weeks per year under her care is the cost of that. Arrangements will,’ he said, emphasising it strongly, ‘be made to ensure he does not stay there long. But stay there he must.’ He placed raised a wrinkled hand wearily to his face - he looked older than Molly had ever seen him. ‘I have my reasons, Molly,’ he said, graver than ever. ‘And I assure you it is not a decision I have been able to make lightly.’
She was crying freely now, for as much as she was sure her son, the sweetest and perhaps most caring out of all her boys, was taking good care of his friend, she had been unable in the days since that terrible night to stop thinking of how Harry had trembled in her arms, how his fingers had grasped at her robes, the way he had buried his face into her neck.
‘I can’t just leave with nothing changing, Professor,’ she said, her voice breaking. ‘I can’t just give up on him. Not now. Not after what’s happened.’
He surveyed her carefully, his blue eyes seeming to pierce right through her. ‘Molly,’ he said, after a few moments of silence that seemed more meaningful than most, ‘do you remember the bravery of your brothers, and the work they did for the Order of the Phoenix?’
It was a decision that would forever change the destiny of her family, and plunged them into the heart of something she had always wanted to avoid. But even several years later, as she wore black and wept, she never, not for a second, doubted or regretted it.
She returned home that evening, her mind spinning with the plans for the summer and what it might all mean, urgently putting into place the things that brought her as close to properly caring for Harry as she could, even if it would be in some strange house in London with a man she didn’t know or trust, even if it meant allowing her eldest sons to join the organisation that had led her brothers to their violent deaths, even if it meant knowing that poor Harry would be returning to people that locked him away and neglected and abused him.
She wrote to Ron.
I hope you’re still doing a wonderful job of looking out for Harry - do remember what I said in the hospital wing, and bear in mind that it might not have all sunk in yet. I did speak to Dumbledore about him coming straight to us this summer, but he insists he must go to his family in Surrey first, just for a little while. He has his reasons, but please make sure you reassure Harry that we will see him soon, that he’s not being abandoned.
Dad and I will be there to pick you up at Kings Cross. I will see you very soon. Don’t forget your trainers again - and let me know if Hermione will be staying with us too.
All my love,
Mum xxx