EPILOGUE

…NINETEEN YEARS LATER… KING'S CROSS STATION, LONDON…

"Mum, remind me why we had to come, again?" Dora Weasley groaned, blowing a deep red lock out of her face, exasperated. At nineteen, Dora had grown into a great beauty, a carbon copy of both her mother and older sister at that age, fair skin, lightly dusted with freckles across the bridge of her nose, hair the color of autumn leaves at sunset, the only difference the twinkling blue eyes she inherited from her father. "Dad didn't have to come!"

"Your father is running an entire Ministry Department!" Molly argued. "With so many wizards congregating in a Muggle train station, he's got a lot on his plate this time of year."

Gideon said nothing, as was his custom, as he was parked on a nearby bench, his nose buried in a book. Like all the other Weasleys, he, too, bore curls of red, though his were lighter, more ginger than Dora and Ginny's darker shades, and of all his brothers, he alone had inherited his mother's eyes, that perfect shade of warm brown that seemed to take in everything around him.

Between them, Molly sighed.

"Because I'm your mother and I said so," she replied simply. "Your little cousins are starting Hogwarts for the first time. We're family. We've got to come out and support them."

"I know all that," Dora rolled her eyes, "So it makes sense for you to be here, but, I mean, I've got work to do. Gid's got to study for his Healer's examinations. Couldn't you have just called us later or something to tell us about it?"

"Called you? On a felly-tone?" Molly asked, laughing. "You're as bad as your father, you know that? You know I don't like all those muggle contraptions. What ever happened to the old-fashioned Floo chat?"

Dora sighed again. "Oh, Merlin, Mum, honestly. Half the kids at Hogwarts had them, even when I was there. And not just the muggle-borns, either. It's a great idea. So much less dusty and sooty than sticking your head halfway up a chimney."

"I don't know what gets into you sometimes, honestly," sighed Molly, throwing up her hands in mock defeat. She turned to her son, who was still immersed in his book. "What about you? Are you going to start complaining now, too?"

Closing the book, he smiled at her genuinely. "Don't listen to her, Mum. She's just upset because she might be late for her date with Teddy."

At the mention of her fiancé, Teddy Lupin, her childhood sweetheart, whom she had been dating since their third year of school, and who had proposed marriage just a few months before, Dora blushed.

"Shut up, Gid."

Molly turned back to her son. "Are you sure I'm not being silly? If I am, just tell me. I'll let you go."

Dora began to open her mouth, but Gideon silenced her with a look, the only one besides her mother who had ever been able to do that.

"We wouldn't have missed it for the world," he grinned. "Family first. I can't wait until I get to send my own kids off to Hogwarts."

Molly grinned. Of all her children, Gideon had somehow become most like her. Ginny and Dora had inherited her temper, to be sure, and her commanding nature, but that, she supposed, was because they had grown up trying to assert themselves in a household full of brothers. Gideon, though, reminded her most of herself at that age.

Growing up, he had seemed almost a perfect mix of all his elder siblings. He played Quidditch as well as any Weasley, becoming Gryffindor's captain in his fifth year and leading the team to several Quidditch Cups. Like Bill and Percy before him, he was studious and a leader, becoming a Prefect and Head Boy, and had earned outstanding marks in his OWLs and NEWTs, particularly in his Care of Magical Creature courses, something passed on to him, it seemed, by his brother Charlie. Despite his hard work in the classroom and on the Quidditch pitch, he knew his way around a prank and had pulled quite a few over the years, egged on by George and, occasionally, Fred, whose portrait had found its way into the Gryffindor Common Room. It seemed, though, that being the youngest of such a large family, he had inherited Ron's insecurity, but, thanks to Dora's naturally outgoing nature, had gotten over it early in life.

As an adult, though, the "Molly" in him seemed to take hold. Though she knew all of her children loved family, Gid seemed to cling to it the most, draw the most strength from them, craved the times they were all able to get together. With his nephews and nieces, some of them only a few years younger than himself, he connected with them closely, and with the way he acted with the youngest ones, Molly knew he was born to be a father someday, the same way she had sensed so many years ago that she was meant to be a mother. Even his aspirations seemed to mirror her own at that age, as he was pursuing a career as a Healer with St Mungo's, to be finished his training before the year was out.

"So, how long is this going to take, anyway?" groaned Dora, pulling Molly out of her musings. "I've got to get back to work. I'm developing a line of chocolate birds that lay candy eggs. George wants a prototype for them by next week."

During her time at Hogwarts, Dora, like her brothers and previous twins before her, had become infamous for her many pranks, some of them even more outrageous than her predecessors, if possible. She made up for it, though, by a natural cleverness and, despite her lack of interest in academics, had maintained good grades all through school, no doubt prodded on by Auntie Min's frequent lectures and summons to her Headmistress Quarters. Up upon her graduation, had been recruited by George and business partner, Ron, to develop new products for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and eventually run the third shop they planned to open in Godric's Hollow.

Some of her more recent creations had included Rainbow Creams, inspired by Teddy's metamorphmagus status, allowed whoever ingested it to temporarily change their hair color and style at will. Other tricks included a line of products specifically for "of age" witches and wizards only, with cryptic and suggestive names like "Bosom Bonbons" and "Endow-mints", which improved (temporarily) exactly what their titles suggested. They had become bestsellers at the stores and frequently sold out, much to George's delight, Ron's embarrassment, and Molly's horror.

Molly chuckled as Dora chattered on about her newest ideas. She was so like Fred that sometimes, when the Burrow was crowded with family, and laughter at one or another of her pranks or jokes filled the crooked old walls of the house, it seemed as though Fred was still there, and for that Molly was thankful.

Catching her mother staring at her, Dora smirked. "Am I looking like him again, Mum?"

Molly laughed out loud, patting her daughter's cheek affectionately. "Every time you give me that cheeky grin, I feel like I'm staring right at him."

"Oi! You!" a voice called from across the crowded platform.

Molly and Dora turned to look. Recognizing his brother's voice, Gideon grinned, turning his attention back to his book.

"Yeah, you! The redhead!" George called, striding ahead of two children, who, while their hair did not bear the trademark Weasley ginger, shared the same dimples and mischievous twinkle in their clear blue eyes.

Dora laughed first as he reached them, putting her hands on her hips. "To which of us were you referring to, brother dear?"

"The pretty one," he replied, leaning down and stealing a quick peck of his mother's cheek, making Molly blush and giggle.

"Thank you, Dear", Molly replied, then immediately turned her attention to her grandchildren. "Hello, Darlings."

"Gran!" they replied in unison, parking their luggage carts and rushing for a crushing hug.

After a quick embrace, Molly stepped back. "Alright then, let me get a good look at you. I want to get a good picture in my mind before they ship you off back to school. My, Freddie, you look more like your father every day. And, Roxanne, dear, I swear you're more lovely each time I see you. You've got your mother's figure, thank goodness. Not like mine."

She chuckled.

"Oh, Mum," George and Dora rolled their eyes in unison, and for a moment, Molly was transported back decades to her first-born set of twins.

Gideon shook his head, exasperated. "You're being ridiculous, Mum. You're—"

"Beautiful," a voice behind her replied quietly. "You look beautiful."

"Harry."

Molly smiled, turning and finding herself face to face with Harry, his emerald eyes sparkling with love for the woman who had, over the past 26 years, become his mother. Even now, after all this time, she felt a tug at her heart whenever she saw him, and a surge of affection she reserved only for him. It was not that she loved Harry more than her blood children, but she couldn't help but feel that she still had to make up for his first eleven years of life without anyone to care for him, though the haunted paleness and timidity he had once held had long since dissolved as his mission had completed and he learned to truly be a part of a family.

They hugged each other tightly.

"Where's Ginny and the kids?" she asked, looking around for her daughter.

"Off at the station shop getting a few last minute sweets before they get on the train," Harry chuckled. "Al and Lily can't get enough Muggle candy and I promised James a can of pop since they don't have it at Hogwarts. Ron, Hermione, and the kids are probably with them. Gin and I saw them arguing in the parking garage over something or other. He probably tried to Charm another stop light to beat traffic."

Everyone laughed.

At that, Gideon closed his book and stood up. "I'll go meet them. I have some Chocolate Frog cards I've been saving for the kids and I don't want to forget to give them out. Roxy, Fred, wanna come with? I've been wanting to talk to you about your Quidditch schedule."

"Sure," they replied, following their Uncle Gideon, all three talking animatedly about the newest racing broom model and Ravenclaw's new captain.

"I'd better go floo Angelina real quick," George said suddenly. "She likes it when I call her before a match. She says my voice gives the Pride of Portree good luck before a match."

"Yeah, right," laughed Harry, clapping him on the back. "George Weasley can Charm the Beaters right off the Bludgers, he can."

George smirked, slowly walking away. "Thanks, Harry. It's nice to know a speck-y git like you understands that."

"Hey, Harry?" Dora asked, turning their eyes away from George's retreating figure. "Is, um, Teddy here yet?"

Her mother smiled knowingly, reminded of her own courtship and engagement decades before.

Harry grinned, pointing in the direction of archway entrance to 9 ¾. "He's waiting by benches over there. Go on, then."

Without another word, Dora sprinted off in the direction of her fiancé, her red curls bouncing around behind her.

"Were we ever that young?" Harry asked, smiling.

"What do you mean 'we'?" chuckled Molly. "I still remember teaching a certain skinny, frightened-looking little boy how to walk through the Muggle platform to catch this very train."

Harry blushed, something Molly could never fail to make him do, even when it wasn't her intent.

"Why, I remember coming home and starting right to work on a Christmas jumper for my son's new friend," she continued, grinning at the memory. "I had a feeling I'd be seeing a lot of you as the years went on."

"You knew that all so soon?" he asked.

"When you've been a parent as long as I have, Harry, you pick up some things," Molly replied. "Besides, when I saw that scared, lonely little boy, I knew that he needed a little kindness."

"You gave me much more than that," Harry smiled. "You gave me a family. A real family. You let me in."

"That wasn't me," replied Molly. "That was fate. Our family wouldn't have been complete without you. Just as much as if we didn't have Hermione or Gideon or Percy, or any of them. You were meant to be a part of our family, Harry."

He hugged her again, even more fiercely, and the two shared a comfortable silence, each silently thanking one another for the years of love, of sacrifice, of joy they had given each other through the years, the innocent times, the horrors of war that had nearly town the family asunder, and the lasting peace that they had come to know more recently.

A growing cacophony of voices pulled them from their reverie.

"Looks like the troops are coming in," Harry chuckled, pointing behind her.

"And just in time, too," Molly smiled, turning to look. "I was about to start crying."

She turned to look.

All at once, everyone seemed to be converging. Hermione and Ginny were speaking quietly as they walked toward her, Ron still slightly sulking from his likely dressing-down courtesy of his wife. George, it seemed, had found Bill, Fleur, and their brood, and it looked like he was trying to surreptitiously slip some of his Weasley products into their pockets, whispering prank ideas into Louis' ear, as Dominique giggled and Victoire, already wearing her Head Girl badge, looked on disapprovingly. The little ones, Lily and Rose, Hugo, Al and James, were gathered in a cluster around their Uncle Gideon, as he relived another one of his exciting stories about his Hogwarts days, somehow more interesting to them than the old war stories Harry and Ron had told them over the years. Trailing along behind them were Percy and his wife, his two daughters Lucy and little Molly, walking toward them primly, both of them taking after their father and his long-held sense of order and sensibility. From the corner of her eye, Molly spotted Dora and Teddy, snogging against one of the archways, and, though public displays of affection were not something she generally approved of, she smiled at the young love.

Molly looked around, a sea of family in every direction. Family. Love. This is what gave her purpose, gave her life meaning. This is what she had fought so hard for, sacrificed so much for, all those years ago. And, despite it all, she'd do it all again in a heartbeat. A husband she was still madly in love with after all these years. Nine beautiful children she'd brought into the world, one of them but a memory now. Two more she considered her own, long since adopted into her wild clan. Daughters-and-Sons-in Law who made her children happy, complete, helped give her the twelve beautiful grandchildren (and counting!) of whom she was so proud. A godson, who, in a few months' time, would marry her youngest and officially become a part of the family.

Family.

Molly smiled, closing her eyes, content. All was right with the world.

So that's it. The end of Life in the Darkness. I want to thank everyone for all their kind reviews and support since I began this endeavor. I hope you've enjoyed it. I've got some ideas for some possible related stories, mostly about Dora, Gideon, and the intervening years, but it will be a while before I figure them out. In the meantime, I hope this all too brief epilogue sufficed, and I want to say, once more, thank you, Dear Readers!