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Home was quiet, well not quiet in the way most would think, more so how a heard of elephants is quiet if two leave the pack. But it was quiet to one, Charlie Weasley. The Burrow was missing two of it's occupants, Molly and Arthur Weasley. They had left early in the morning for St Mungo's hospital leaving crabby, Aunt Muriel, to look after Charlie, and his five brothers.
But Charlie, couldn't care less about this because he knew why Mum, and Dad, had left; the baby in Mum's tummy was ready to come out. Charlie, had already been through this with his younger brothers and a baby meant more noise. So in truth, Charlie, was enjoying the bit of quiet before the house became even louder. But it was late afternoon now and he couldn't deny being a tad bit worried. Having a baby shouldn't take this long right? Mum should be quicker, the lounge room was getting noisier by the second.
All of the Weasley brothers were in the lounge room waiting for a floo call from their Dad. The oldest, Bill was reading some preparation spell books for when he went to Hogwarts next year. Boring. Percy, Charlie's immediate younger brother, was sat reading with Bill. Double boring. The twins, Fred and George (who were the second youngest) were occupying themselves while giggling to each other. Probably not a good sign considering their love of mischief but Charlie, wasn't in charge, therefore it's not his problem. Ron (Ronald), the youngest brother (but not for long) was sitting in Charlie's lap while Charlie, read him a book on dragons. A gift from his family for his 8th birthday and he hadn't been able to put it down. And now he could read it to his youngest brother, who seemed more interested in the pictures but that didn't bother Charlie.
The tugging on his shirt was a bother though.
"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, Charl-!"
"What? What do you two want?"
"When's Mum and Dad coming home?"
"They've been gone for ages."
"And we wanna know when they're coming back."
"I told you boys already!" Aunt Muriel's shrill voice cut through whatever Charlie, was going to say.
"Your parents will be back whenever they get back. Having a baby is no small feet, now just be quiet!"
"But why would"
"We do that?"
"It's boring."
"And babies are suppose to have small feet."
"Aren't they?"
"Come on you two, maybe we can think of names for the new baby! Mum and Dad might not have a name ready." Bill, always the diplomat.
"Please Bill, Mum was crying when she found out it was a girl- no Ron, don't drool on that- she's probably got a list a kilometer long."
"Shut it, Charlie! And who knows, maybe we could come up with the middle name."
"Yea!"
"Shut it, shut it, shut it, shut it!"
"Both of you be quiet! I will not be dealing with yelling brats today!"
"Shut it!"
Rolling his eyes, Charlie, busied himself with wiping Ron's face from the slobber that was about to ruin his book. The twins lived to rile up anybody they could and Aunt Muriel, was becoming their favourite target today. So Charlie, just focused back on cuddling Ron, and reading to him. Percy, eventually got curious and joined them, trying to sound out the words to Ron.
"You say it like this, Ronnie, dragon."
"Dwagon"
"No, not like that. With an R. Dragon."
"Pewcy, dwagon!"
"No!"
It was pretty cute. And Bill busied himself by keeping the twins busy and out of Aunt Muriel's crusty, old hair. Keeping them occupied with a game of tag that spanned both inside and outside the house. Much to the chagrin of Aunt Muriel who, it seemed, couldn't stand children of any age making any noise. Maybe she just didn't like children. But she was Mum's aunt, so she couldn't dislike them too much, could she? Glancing over at Aunt Muriel, Charlie spied the sagging skin on her face, seeming to make her already frowning face twist into a horrible scowl. On second thought, maybe she just hated children.
Fwoooosh!
"Muriel? You there old girl?"
All 'calm' was broken at once by the floo flaring up and Dad's voice ringing through the house. Fred and George's pounding feet echoed through the Burrow as they skidded into the living room.
"Dad, Dad, Dad!"
"Move out of the way you two! Oh- Bill!"
"Coming Aunt Muriel! Come on you two, we'll see Dad soon."
"But we wanna see Dad now!"
"Charlie, shift yourself out of the way."
"We were already doing that."
"Don't give me lip young man!"
"Wouldn't dream of it Aunt Muriel. Come on Percy, can you lift Ron?"
"Today you three!"
"We're getting there!"
"I've got him, Charlie."
"Thanks, Perc."
Finally all the brothers were in the kitchen and Aunt Muriel, could talk with Dad, privately but of course their "private conversation" was the complete opposite. With a home as small and compact as the Burrow, quiet conversations could only be had when the whole house was empty. So the brothers, for once, hushed themselves just enough to listen in to Dad, and crabby Aunt Muriel's conversation.
"You know I detest the word old, Arthur Weasley."
"Yes, yes. I apologise but my mind is elsewhere Muriel, dear."
"I imagine so if you have another brat to be looking after."
"Y-Yes, well-"
"I mean honestly Arthur! Were the six boys not enough for you two?"
"Muriel, please-"
"Just had to go for the seventh."
"Muriel, dear, if you would-"
"At least this one will be a girl! Might have some use yet-"
"Muriel! I will not listen to you berate my children anymore! As I've been trying to say, I need you to gather the boys and come through! There's been a problem and Molly only wants to tell this once."
That stunned everyone. Dad never shouted so something had to be majorly wrong. Charlie picked up Ron, holding him securely on his hip while Bill held George's hand and Percy held Fred's. They didn't even try to hide that they'd been listening in, just lined up in the living room, ready to step through the floo.
"Right, Bill and Fred, you two go first, then Percy and George, then Charlie and Ron. Do not let go of each other, understand?"
Another strange occurrence, all the boys (minus Ron) nodded their heads, yes, to Aunt Muriel's question. And the twins didn't even correct her on their names. When finally, Charlie, with Ron, stepped through, Dad was there gathering all the siblings like a mother duck gathers her ducklings.
"Come here Charlie, good lad. Here, give me Ron, and you take George's hand, bring up the rear alright?"
"Got it, Dad."
"Good boy, ah! Here's Muriel, now."
Dad looked strange, in the few seconds Charlie, could observe him. His eyes were red and puffy yet he looked like the ghoul in the attic had given him a great scare. His hands trembled and his voice wavered just slightly. Bill seemed to notice too because he was stricter with Percy and the twins then ever before. Trying to keep the arguing to a minimum. Then Arthur, was at the front of the gaggle of red heads with Aunt Muriel, bringing up the rear and the children holding each others hands as a conga line in the middle.
"Right, keep up boys. We're off to see Mummy, alright-"
"Mum!"
"Mummy!"
"Yes please!"
"We wanna see Mum!"
"Shh, shhhh. Can you stay quiet Fred and George, please? We're in a hospital, gotta stay quiet alright? Mummy wants some quiet as well ok?"
"Ok."
"Alright!"
"We'll be quiet as a mouse!"
"Psh, that's likely."
"Muriel, please, not now. Bill, Charlie try and keep everyone quiet alright?"
"Will do, Dad."
"All right."
"I'll stay quiet too, Dad!"
"Good lad, Percy. And we're off."
Arthur, lead everyone through the pale white halls of St Mungo's hospital towards a set of doors with "maternity ward" on them. No one spoke a breath and Arthur, seemed to be in a trance walking through the halls. Maybe he was hungry? Mum always said people were different when they're hungry. Dragons would certainly chomp on someone if they were hungry, it said so in Charlie's book! But any and all thoughts of dragons fled Charlie's brain as the gaggle of red heads approached a door marked "Weasley, Molly".
"Right, here we are and remember to be quiet please boys. Mum's a bit tired right now."
And that's what happened, as Arthur, opened the door all the red heads filed in and around the bed with Molly in it. She looked absolutely exhausted. Hair matted to her face and sweat still glistening on her too pale skin. Eyes red and puffy, same as Dad's but you could still see some tears falling off her chin. She gave a soft, sad smile as she saw her family enter the room.
"Here Molly, dear. Everyone's here now. Thought it would be better to say it once to everyone."
"What's all this about then, Molly."
"Muriel, please-"
"Not now Muriel. I can't right now. Arthur, pass me Ronnie, will you dear."
Ron gave a big coo and laughed as he was passed into Molly's lap, too young to sense the tension in the air.
"Mummy!"
"Yes Ronnie, dear. Mummy's here. Come over here boys, squeeze in where you can."
It was only when Ron was passed to Molly, did Charlie, realize something big.
Molly wasn't holding a new bundle of red hair.
Every other time he can remember this happening, Mum always had the new sibling in her arms. So why not now? Once he helped Bill get Percy, Fred and George up onto the bed and was standing next to the head of said bed, Charlie voiced his question about the missing bundle. He certainly wasn't expecting tears to drip down his mother's cheeks as she buried her face in Ron's hair.
"What did you do, Charlie!"
"You made Mummy cry!"
"Bad Charlie, bad!"
"I didn't mean to make Mum cry you gits! I'm sorry Mum, really!"
"Maybe you shouldn't talk, Charlie."
"Shut up, Percy! I didn't want to make Mum cry!"
Mum heaved in a gasping breath, voice shaky as she spoke.
"It's alright boys, leave Charlie alone. It's ok."
"I'm really sorry Mum, I don't know what I did wrong but I'm sorry-"
"There's no need to apologise dear boy, you meant nothing by it. It- it's actually what I need to tell you all about."
Molly let one of her hands comb through Charlie's hair as Arthur came and stood on the side of the bed where Bill was. Putting an arm around Molly's shoulders in a side hug and resting his other hand on Bill's shoulders. Molly, drew in a deep breath before addressing the room.
"You boys remember how there was a baby growing inside Mum's tummy?"
All nodded their heads, yes, and more tears trickled down Mum's face.
"Well, there was a, a problem when the baby was born. She, she didn't make it o, ok? We had, had to say bye bye t-to her before she, she even drew a breath."
And Molly, was done for. A simple sentence had reduced her to pouring tears again and desperately clinging to little Ron. Charlie, knew what this all meant, the little sister they were supposed to have wouldn't ever be coming home with them. Bill, caught on too but the twins and Percy, were a bit slower on the uptake.
"Bye bye?"
"Before we even met her?"
"That seems rather rude"
"We waited a long time to see her."
"What do you mean that we won't see her, Mum? I thought you said we would have a little sister?"
Molly, just continued to bawl her eyes into Ron's hair, who was trying valiantly to stop his Mum's crying somehow. Arthur, tried to do damage control as Aunt Muriel, came around to give Molly, a hug as well.
"Your sister isn't here boys. She, she had to leave us very quickly. Had to go up with your uncle's, remember them? She had to go with them."
And it was Percy, who actually spoke the words hanging in the air.
"So, our new sister, is dead?"
And Arthur, only hesitated for a second before answering and sending Molly, into a new wave of tears.
"Yes. She's dead."
And that's all there was to it. She was dead. The sister they never got to meet, who they later found out would have been Ginevra (Ginny) Molly Weasley, was dead. The family sat together for as long as they could before Aunt Muriel, had to heard the boys back home to the Burrow.
Molly and Arthur never tried for another girl. With Molly originally thinking Ron would be a girl thanks to an incorrect gender test and Ginny being a still born, Molly couldn't handle another heartache. On August 11th, 1981, Ron became the youngest of six brothers forever.