Love, William

Chapter 4 - Bill's Night

"You call her Theodora?" Charlie chuckled, mocking Bill.

"That's her name, isn't it?" Bill said through his teeth.

He went without teasing him for a full hour and a half. Before Charlie could say anything back, the cards exploded in his face again, not getting the right pair. Bill laughed – that made him feel better.

"Mrs. Weasley, can I help you with anything?" Theodora sat down at the kitchen table and observed what Molly was doing.

"Oh, that's quite alright, dear, you've been of great help in the afternoon." She smiled at her.

"I want to make it up to you for this morning." Theodora bit her lip.

She still felt guilty hearing Mrs. Weasley shout so much and seeing her so angry. It might've been George's fault for letting the fireworks loose in their room but that wasn't an excuse. She was right there and was equally guilty.

"Oh," Molly's smile grew larger, "I told you I don't blame you. You don't have to be so harsh on yourself."

"But –" Theodora didn't know how to reply.

She wasn't used to someone being so nice to her. She knew her mother would blame her either way – being it her fault or not – and she would've punished her and bring it up for days.

"Listen, Theo," Mrs. Weasley turned away from the counter and sat next to Theodora, "I know your mother is strict and I know what she wrote in that letter. I understand that you got detention in school but I also know you wouldn't get in trouble if it wasn't for my boys." She sighed, looking at the ceiling as if she was trying to telepathically find out what they were doing in their room.

"I promised her to take care of you this summer and make you behave but you have been nothing but an angel so far so you have nothing to worry about." Molly pulled Theodora into a hug and she was more than happy to return it.

Mrs. Weasley might have frightened her this morning a little bit with how angry she was but she couldn't stop wishing for her mother to be more like her. Shouting when your children do something wrong is entirely different than not showing any affection to your child.

She knew Mrs. Weasley only did so because she loved her children and even if they behaved badly, she still showed them how much she loves them – something Theodora's mother never did. Not with her nor her brother.

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley." Theodora pulled away and smiled at her.

"Any time, dear. Now go and play Exploding Snap with the boys." She rubbed Theodora's shoulder with her hand and nodded her head to her three sons.

"I think I'll get some fresh air instead." Theodora stood up and walked past the boys.

She tried hard not to look at them but in the end, she couldn't stop her eyes from escaping to Bill who was looking back at her until a pair of cards exploded in his face. She giggled and walked outside.

Not only didn't she want to play the game with the boys because Bill was there and she tried to avoid him as much as possible but she honestly wanted some alone time. She has never been surrounded by so many people before – except at Hogwarts but that was different – as her mother didn't allow her to go anywhere.

While at school, she sometimes wanted a break from the twins as they could be too energetic for her taste at times, especially during that time of the month. She was grateful that they always understood when she wanted to be alone and never bothered her but waited for her to come to them instead.

"Bill, I thought you were better than Charlie." Ron bestowed his older brother with a confused look.

He wasn't doing as bad as Charlie did but the cards exploded in his face 4 times in the last 5 minutes.