Molly.

Disclaimer: Don't own; don't sue.

They sit at a booth in the pub, all adding a little to the awkward silence that surrounds them.

Harry fidgets with his drink for a while until he finds some relief in playing with his lip ring.

“Ew, Harry, why do you keep doing that?”

Harry lets the ring go with a final pull. “I dunno. Habit?”

“Why’d you get all of them anyway? Didn’t they hurt?” Ron takes a deep drink from his pint.

“Well, yeah, but not that much. I got them because, well… I like them.” Harry shrugs. “Why did you grow your hair out after the war? Why did Neville get so built?”

Why did Malfoy get so hot?

Harry, blinks, then motions for another drink.

“Yeah, Neville. You look… different.”

Neville gives Hermione a weak smile. “I became roomies with a footballer, learned the game. Turns out I’m pretty good at it.”

“You got on a team?”

“I played for the Birmingham reserves… got traded to Portsmouth…” Neville shrugs.

“That’s amazing, Nev!” Ron grins.

“I thought you didn’t care about football,” Neville says.

“Can’t watch Quidditch on the telly, can you?” Ron says sadly.

“I can’t believe I never recognized you when we saw the games,” Hermione says.

“We’ve all changed. I had trouble figuring out who Harry was, I’ll tell you that much.”

Harry laughs with all of them.

“How many piercings do you have anyway?” Ron says after catching a moment to breathe.

“Just count them, Ronald,” Hermione says, slurring the end of his name. “Two on his left ear, one on his right… one on his lip… two on his right eyebrow–”

“Three.”

“Three, Harry?”

“Well, it’s sort of closed now… so two.”

Hermione shakes her head as she tallies the figures on her fingers. “And one on his nose, bringing it to… seven.”

“Eight.”

“But if the other eyebrow one doesn’t count…” Hermione looks up.

“It’s not on my eyebrow.”

Silence visits the table again until Neville giggles and Ron groans aloud.

They burst out laughing once more.

~*~

“Today’s been pretty strange, yeah?” Ron says as he collapses into bed.

“Mmm,” Hermione agrees, wincing at the jostling of the mattress.

“I can’t believe how everyone has changed. Snape’s not so greasy-looking–”

No, he isn’t, Hermione thinks with a wry smile.

“Nev’s more fit than me, and Draco has found the balls to actually do something. Who knew?” Ron kisses Hermione goodnight a little more wetly than she would have liked, rolls over and falls asleep.

Yes, she thinks, everyone has changed except for them.

She keeps to the edge of the bed as she falls asleep.

~*~

Neville tugs on the collar of his shirt as he stands in front of the front door of the Burrow. The only set of robes he owns doesn’t fit him now; they are too tight around his shoulders.

One last look over his shirt – slightly wrinkled at the hem – and his jeans – frayed in various places, and he knocks on the door.

Instead of a cheery response from Mrs. Weasley, he hears a gruff voice from behind the faded wood.

“What is your name and business?”

Neville coughs before he answers quietly. “Neville Longbottom. I’m here for a meeting.”

“Lies. Neville Longbottom is dead.”

“Whoever told you that is mistaken,” he says. “Look, what can I do to convince you otherwise?”

Silence answers him. Neville curses Malfoy and his half-baked plan and turns away to Disapparate.

“How does Augusta like her tea?” An almost whisper through the wood.

Neville shakes his head. “Hates the stuff. She’d take a strong cup of coffee laced with whiskey any day, though.”

Neville hears a deep laugh from within, then the click of a lock turning. The door opens, revealing a grim-faced Molly Weasley.

“Well, come in, we don’t have all day.”

Befuddled and worried, Neville follows her into the house. He expects her to make the left turn that will lead them to the kitchen, but instead, she’s walking to a door Neville has never seen before.

“Um, Mrs. Weasley–”

She turns around slowly, and Neville has the sudden urge to flee.

“Call me Molly,” she says before she trudges down the stairs.

~*~

When they all have gathered, Malfoy begins the meeting.

“I’m sure there’s no need for introductions here, but just in case…” Malfoy points out everyone sitting at the table. “Mr. Neville Longbottom, Miss Hermione Granger, Professor Severus Snape–”

“Please refrain from using that title –”

“Mr. Arthur Weasley, Miss Ginevra Weasley, Mrs. Molly Weasley, Ron Weasley–”

“Hey!”

“Myself,” he says with an upward tilt of his eyelids, and…” Malfoy turns to face him. “Our illustrious hero, the great Harry Potter.”

Harry glares at Malfoy, but the effect is ruined by the quirk of Malfoy’s pink lips as he continues.

“We are all here to continue the job that should have been finished three years ago, as agreed upon through magical contract.”

“Are we the only ones?” Hermione asks.

“Do you think I’d put all my Ashwinder eggs in one cauldron?” Malfoy scoffs. “I have other operatives working elsewhere.”

“So why don’t you use them to finish the job?” Ron interjects.

“As much as I loathe to say it, you are the best. And Potter’s the only one who can kill him.”

Harry tugs on his lip ring. “What makes you think I can do it this time? It didn’t work before.”

“You know the magic of wands is a tricky business. During the battle at Hogwarts, when you came up with that theory–”

“It was not ridiculous!” Harry says, even though he can’t really remember the logic behind his Expelliarmus.

“Obviously it was, since Voldemort is prancing about in the Minister’s office as we speak!”

Molly, who was observing the meeting with a bored detachment, slaps her palm on the table.

“If you don’t get a move on, I may have to do something drastic.”

Harry mutters, “Sorry,” and Draco pales significantly.

“I am not faulting you for fighting,” he says with a shaky voice. “We just need to get it right this time.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Ron asks, wary of the woman sitting at his side.

“You’re about to find out,” Malfoy says with a dangerous grin.

Author's Notes: Hi everyone! I know it's been a long time since this has gotten an update, but I expect this fic to be finished in by the end of Spring. I am also planning to continue "Recovery" -- it's definitely not abandoned. :-)

Many thanks to Southern_Witch_69, who beta'd this.

Lyrics to "Molly" can be found here (though this song would be better appreciated when listened to):

http://www.mindless-self-indulgence.com/lyrics_molly/