The next evening Molly was at the sink while Arthur finished showering. All day Arthur had avoided her, which was fairly easy since he had "work". In order to avoid hitting a nerve, she let him have his way. After nearly nineteen hours of letting him cool off, she decided it had been long enough. Besides, she hated going to bed when either of them were upset.
"So, since you're off tomorrow I was thinking we could all go down to the village. It would be nice to get out of the house for a while," Molly stated casually.
Arthur didn't answer and continued drying.
"And Percy wants us to meet his girlfriend, so they're coming over for dinner," she went on. "He said he would cook and have everyone over, but his flat is too small to hold all of us."
Still ignoring his wife, Arthur began pulling on his pajamas.
Molly, annoyed, turned to face her husband.
"Arthur Weasley, you have ignored me all day. Look, I'm sorry about last night. Is that what you wanted to hear?" she said fiercely.
"I could care less if you apologized. In all honesty, you had every right to be speculative, but it's the way you immediately assumed I was doing something I shouldn't." These were the first words he had spoken to her since the night before, and they were sharp.
"Well, that doesn't mean you can give me the silent treatment all day."
"When you interrupt something that is very important to me, I can," Arthur replied, walking into the bedroom as Molly followed him.
"You always talk to George -"
"It's not who I was talking to, it's who we were talking about." At these words, Molly's ferocity dissipated.
"Who were you talking about?" She paused briefly. "Fred?"
"No. Look, it doesn't matter anymore, Arthur said whilst climbing into bed, his wife doing the same.
"Will you at least tell me why I can't know?"
Arthur turned toward her and sat up on one elbow. "Because you don't want to talk about it."
"You don't know that."
"Yes. I do."
"How?" she countered.
"You told me a very long time ago," he answered before rolling back over and flicking his wand to turn the light off.
Arthur huffed in aggravation as the room filled with light once more.
"I may have changed my mind, but neither of us will know for sure unless you tell me."
Arthur sensed this conversation was beginning to turn into an argument, so he got out of bed and grabbed his pillow and wand.
"Where are you going?" Molly inquired.
"To sleep," he snapped. "I advise you to not follow me...Don't bother me in the morning either."
The house was silent, so Ron, Harry, George, and Ginny heard the steps creak before Arthur came into view. They watched quietly as he conjured a thin blanket. George and Harry moved into chairs when Arthur gestured for them to get off the couch.
"Uh...Dad?" Ginny spoke up.
"She won't stop badgering me," he grumbled.
"What did you do to get kicked out of the room?" Ron blurted. "Is she upstairs crying? I swear if you hurt her again..."
"Ron, don't even start," George interrupted.
"I didn't do anything. And I left on my own accord," was Arthur's rebuttal. "Why don't you kids turn in early tonight. You're going into the village in the morning."
"Okay. But are you not going with us?" Ginny asked.
"No, I don't want to go."
"Yeah, that or Mum just wants to get away from you for a few hours." Ron sneered. "I wish she'd just go on and divorce your sorry ass. Half of us don't want you here, including Mum," he finished as he exited the room.
Subconsciously, Arthur clenched his jaw.
"That's not true, Dad. He's just angry still," Ginny reassured, seeing how much Ron's comment had hurt him. "Good night."
George hung back and waited for the others to be out of earshot before saying anything.
"Do you wanna talk?" he asked.
"No."
"In a few hours then?"
"No. I'd just like to be alone tonight," his father answered quietly.
"Alright. 'Night."
OoOoOoOoO
His parents' bedroom light was on when he was passing, so Ron tapped lightly on the door before entering.
Molly looked up from her lap as Ron came to sit next to her on the bed. She hadn't been crying, but she was clearly distraught.
"What did he do?" her son asked gently yet forcefully.
"Nothing. It was my fault. He didn't want to talk and I kept pestering him."
Ron hated it when she blamed herself. She had just recently begun to do that. No matter what she thought, Ron believed everything that had been happening was due to his father.
"None of this is your fault, Mum. You have to stop doing this to yourself. Dad's being an arse."
"Don't talk about your father that way," Molly scolded, a glimmer of her old self peeking through.
"At some point you have to come to realize that he's turned into a total jerk!"
"Go to bed, Ronniekins," George commanded as he entered the room.
With a glowering look, Ron stomped onto the landing and up to his room.
"Hey," George said softly. "You okay?"
His mum nodded.
"Look, he's not even talking to me right now, so give him some time and maybe he'll open up to you."
Molly sighed. "Alright. I just hate seeing him like this," she admitted.
"I know...Now, try and get some sleep." George gave a weak smile.
OoOoOoOoO
After a fitful night's sleep, Molly was the first awake as usual, with the exception of Charlie. Upon entering the sitting room, her heart dropped as a strong stench of alcohol pervaded her nostrils. Before heading to the kitchen to start breakfast, she cast a charm to hide the smell.
Charlie was sitting in the kitchen, sipping on a cup of coffee, and without even a "Good Morning" he said, "Dad's drinking again."
"It was one night," Molly defended her husband.
He set his cup down and leaned forward. "It won't be though. Before you know it he'll be back where he was a week ago."
"Not necessarily -"
"Mum," Charlie interrupted, "you don't need to turn a blind eye to this. As much as you want to deny it, it will keep happening."
"I know. But I wish it wouldn't...Please don't tell anyone about this."
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't," he challenged as he leaned back in his chair.
Immediately Molly replied, "Because I'm afraid of what will happen to the family if your brothers and sister find out."
Charlie thought for a while before sighing, and said, "Fine. But I'll be keeping a close eye out, and you have to promise that you'll tell me if he even comes close to hitting you."
"You have my word," his mum promised.
Molly set to cooking breakfast while Charlie kept her company, talking about the progress of repairing Hogwarts and how they should be done in a week or two thanks to the abundance of volunteers. When his mum told him she wasn't expecting him to still be home when she came down, Charlie said he wanted to take a day to spend with his family.
Before long, the aroma of pancakes and sausages filled the house, and everyone was at the table within minutes. They all took heed to Arthur's warning not to bother him, so he was the only one still asleep.