What's a Mom to do?

Time seemed to stand still for Molly as she knelt between the two frightened young boys. Harry she knew something about, Severus on the other hand was an unknown. She remembered Ron telling her that Harry had been raised with the word magic being a forbidden word. His Muggle relatives had been enough to question in anyone if maybe the Dark Lord hadn’t had the right of it, starving the young child and locking him up. More than once Molly had wondered if that had been the limit of the mistreatment. Judging by the bruises, she felt she now had her answer.

Severus was an unknown. He rarely spoke when at Order Meetings, if he even attended. She didn’t have much interaction with him outside of the meetings and the past year his only contact was with Harry himself. This young boy as well showed bruising and other signs of abuse. Molly was at a loss. She seemed to recall Harry and Ron talking about Severus, being a half-blood and suspected that at least Severus would know of magic, so she focused on Harry.

“Harry, child,” the boy was looking at her fearfully. “I know you are confused and frightened. I am not going to hurt you. I do need you to come with me. Can you come here?”

The boy was shaking his head rapidly. “Why not?”

“Not supposed to talk to strange people. Aunt Petunia says. She would get very mad,” his little voice sounded so scared it made Molly’s chest ache.

“Your Aunt Petunia isn’t here child. If you come with me we will see what we can do about finding her and getting you something to eat. Okay?” she held out a hand to the boy.

Harry looked at her suspiciously for a long moment before finally creeping forward until he was beside her. Finally Molly shifted her focus to the other child.

“Severus?” she asked quietly. She fought the urge to recoil from the intensity of the dark gaze that was fixed on her. The small child stared at her for what felt like an eternity. Finally, he seemed to find what he was looking for in the depths of her eyes and he slowly moved towards her.

Even as he stood and walked towards Molly, his eyes never left hers. It was extremely disconcerting from such a young child. When he finally stood and walked towards her, Molly breathed a sigh of relief. Harry was still kneeling beside her. He stood as she did, his hand wrapped tightly in the long robes.

Severus hesitantly took the hand that she extended towards him and quietly the three made their way to the door, skirting the body of the former Dark Lord. It was a very relieved mother that finally closed the door on the very disturbing images behind her. She drew in another deep breath, preparing to descend on the chaos she was sure was awaited them below.

Quickly she knelt down and pulled the two boys in front of her. A mixture of emotions flooded her as she looked at the two boys that were looking at her with far too much knowledge for such young bodies. Their eyes held a mixture of fear and trust that weighed heavily on Molly.

“Boys,” she spoke softly, hoping to not startle them. “We are going to be going downstairs soon. There are a lot of people there, and other kids. There will be a lot of noise and it will be very confusing, but don’t worry. I will be right there, standing beside you. Okay?”

Two heads nodded silently. Shining green eyes gazed at her as Harry asked “Will Aunt Petunia be there?”

“No sweetie,” she answered. “Your Aunt Petunia won’t be there. We are going to see what we can do about finding her.”

“What about my Mummy?” asked Severus, the first words he had spoken.

“She won’t be there either dear,” answered Molly, for the first time considering what would happen to the children. Ron and Fred and George were hers and she would be…not happy exactly, but more than willing to raise them again if need be. What would become of the Muggleborn and three orphans? She refused to allow Harry to return to those horrid Muggle relatives again.

So it was with more than a little fear that she descended the stairs, a small hand clenched in each of her much larger ones. She was correct in her prediction that there would be chaos when they reached the ground level. Aurors were swarming around the bottom of the stairs demanding to be allowed up. They were being stalled by Tonks, Remus, Minerva and Arthur and a rather intimidating Moody, his eye spinning furiously. The yelling stopped suddenly at the sounds of the three on the stairs.

Molly looked around quickly for her own children. She spotted them playing in the corner with a deck of cards that they had gotten from somewhere. They appeared to be trying to teach Hermione how to play Exploding Snap.

Her focus was suddenly snapped back to the immediate situation when she felt two bodies suddenly pressing against her. She looked down to see the children trying to hide from the staring in her robes.

“Molly? Are they okay?” asked Remus quietly. His gaze was roaming, concerned over Harry. He looked like he was trying to refrain from rushing over to assure himself that the youngster was okay.

“They appear to be. They are really frightened though. I think we need to get them away from here so the Aurors can try and figure out what happened without scaring them,” her tone was quiet but the others could easily see the protective mother ready to defend her offspring. None wanted to challenge her, especially when they could see the wisdom of her words.

Minerva approached the Aurors. “If we may, a Portkey to the Hogwarts infirmary would be appreciated right now. Poppy should look them over to make sure there are no ill effects.”

“We can’t let them go,” protested one Auror. “We need to question them about what happened!”

“What do you think a group of five year olds can possibly tell you?” asked Molly, her frustration and worry was growing in leaps and bounds. The more she had time to think, the more things that could have gone wrong started to flash through her head.

Moody moved toward the group. “She is right. Don’t be a bunch of idiots. They will just be at Hogwarts so we will know where to find them. Allow Tonks or myself to accompany them. We will keep track of them.”

The Aurors conferred briefly before allowing them to leave for Hogwarts, but only if Tonks and Moody accompanied them. So two Portkeys were made hastily, and the group to return to the school gathered together. She instructed the children to all grab on to the long scarf that had been donated by someone.

After a few moments of organization, and trying to pry the two dark haired boys from her robes, Molly finally came to a decision.

“Harry?” she knelt in front of the child. He looked at her nervously. “We are going for a quick trip. Can Remus hold you so you don’t get hurt?” she pointed to the worried werewolf who gave her a grateful look.

Harry looked at the man with nervousness before nodding. He slowly approached the other man who scooped him up, holding him gently. His hands moved across the boy’s body, checking for damage.

Molly then directed her attention to the other little boy clinging to her. “Severus, I am going to pick you up so you don’t get hurt. Okay?”

Once again she found herself subjected to the intense gaze of the child. He looked at her for only a few seconds before nodding. As she stood holding the young wizard, her body reminded her of how many years it had been since holding a child this age and size even if he was small for his age.

She looked at Arthur and tipped her head towards Hermione. Her own observant gaze had been following all of the events and she willingly went into the older man’s hold. Finally, all the children were secure, Draco, Fred, George and Ron used to wizard means of travel and so they did not need to be held. The group once again held tight to the scarf as it was activated.

When they arrived at the hospital wing, it was bustling with activity. Many of the wounded had returned to Hogwarts for treatment rather than to St. Mungo’s. Movement slowed at the sound of excited children’s chatter filling the air.

Fred and George were exclaiming over the fact that they were actually in Hogwarts. Ron was screeching about falling over when the Portkey stopped, Tonks bent over to check and make sure he hadn’t hurt himself. Draco was already demanding to see his parents, insisting that they would be furious at being kept from him. Severus was shaking in Molly’s arms and she looked over to see Harry doing the same with Remus. Harry’s head was buried in the man’s shoulder.

She shifted the young man in her arms to rub his back soothingly and noticed Remus watching her and copying her movements.

“What on earth are these children doing here?!” Poppy rushed over to where the group stood. “What has happened? Who are these kids?” questions flowed rapidly, even as her wand moved over Severus, checking for injuries.

“Poppy,” Molly’s tone halted the medi-witch. “This is Severus. Remus is holding Harry, Arthur has Hermione. And that is Ron, Fred, George and Draco.” She nodded towards each child as she named them off. For the first time she could remember, she saw Poppy drop her wand in shock. She stood frozen for a brief moment before returning to her inspection.

“What happened?” Poppy demanded to know.

“We don’t know. Neither do they,” answered Remus softly. “The…er… others, collapsed and it took us several hours to get to the house where they were.” Remus was choosing his words carefully, not wanting to alarm the children in their care.

Arthur took Hermione over to an empty cot. He set her down carefully, instructing her to stay put. Molly followed with Severus, Remus with Harry. The three children stayed put obediently. Next the adults were faced with a different challenge. Rounding up the three hyper red-haired children, and one blond with a serious attitude problem.

Moody stood, watching over the chaotic events with a stern eye. He made no move to assist, instead stood beside the children placed on the bed watching over the Boy-Who-Lived. He wasn’t sure about what the kids remembered, but he knew what he remembered, and he knew the young child was in for some rough times.

Poppy hovered over the kids, casting spells furiously. Before too long, two cots were filled with children. The medi-witch was asking questions quietly of the children. Harry and Severus answered with very soft tones. Hermione’s answers were straightforward and direct. Draco had to be threatened and the twins and Ron were rambunctious in their responses.

Molly could feel a headache coming on as the adults separated themselves as far as they could and still be able to watch the children. They discussed what was to become of the kids as Poppy continued her examinations.

“Does anyone know what happened to Severus’ family?” asked Molly.

“They died when he was young,” answered Minerva. “His mother was killed by his father. His father was later killed by Voldemort.”

Molly sucked in a deep breath. “And still he joined?” she asked, shocked.

“Actually,” Minerva averted her gaze. “It was why he joined. That was his…gift.”


“And Draco…who was supposed to be his guardian if anything happened to his parents when he was younger?” Arthur decided to break the awkward silence with a change of topic.

Again Minerva sighed. “That would be Severus.” The adults all registered this complication.

“Has anyone contacted Hermione’s family yet?” asked Remus, his attention never leaving the children on the bed.

“Yes,” answered the Headmistress. “Professor Sprout volunteered to do that when she saw what was going on. She should be bringing them back here if she can.”

The others nodded. “Ron and the twins will of course be returning with us.” Arthur stated this quietly but there was no argument from anyone.

“But what happens to the rest of them. You know the Ministry is going to do everything they can to get a hold of Harry. Obviously he can not return to those Muggle relatives. And Draco and Severus are in a lot of danger as well. Any unmarked Death Eaters or supporters are going to be a threat to them. And the Ministry is going to be stubborn about them standing for their crimes.”

Minerva’s statements were made quietly, but held no less impact on the concerned group. They stood contemplating this as Poppy finished her scans. The weight of the events heavy on their minds.