"I still can't believe you threatened to give Dumbledore kidney stones," Arthur laughed as he drank his coffee; it had been a week since the fateful encounter and Arthur still was finding the whole matter laughable, much to Molly's chagrin.
"Well, he shouldn't have been such a prat, and I wouldn't have had to threaten him, would I?" Molly replied as she began to wash the dishes; breakfast had been over for a while. Finally, the children were all out doing their chores, leaving the two adults some time alone, which was a rare occurrence in a house with so many people.
"So, Mollywobbles," Arthur began, "I've been thinking about what we discussed, and I think it's time we told the children our decision,"
Molly slowly put down the pot she had been scrubbing and turned to her husband; after chasing Dumbledore away, Molly had waited nervously for Arthur to return from work so she could talk to him about her decision on raising the boy who she was quickly looking at like another son, to her everlasting delight he was thrilled at the idea and agreed that while it would be difficult financially to take Harry in, there was absolutely no chance of him allowing Dumbledore to send the boy back to his aunt and uncle.
"How do you think they'll take the news?" She asked nervously,
"I imagine they'll take it very well, honestly," Arthur responded with a smile, "Ginny adores the boy, and Ron and Harry haven't been separated since the boy got here; even Percy has taken a shine to Harry, which is surprising in and of itself,"
Molly nodded in agreement, "I think he enjoys having someone in the house with a thirst for reading that matches his own, to be honest."
And it was true, Harry had jumped into his studies with a surprising amount of diligence and, even more surprisingly, an extraordinary level of intelligence that seemed limitless as he wanted Percy, Bill, or Charlie to teach him more every day.
"Speaking of which," Arthur said seriously, placing his cup down, "We'll need to go to Diagon Alley soon to pick up Percy's school supplies, as well as get Bill and Charlie's supplies for the new year; when do you think would be good?"
"We can go this weekend if you can manage to get the day off," Molly said as she turned back to the pot in the sink,
"That shouldn't be too difficult; my workload has been surprisingly light recently,"
"Sounds like a plan, then," Molly beamed, "So do you want to tell the children now or later?"
"Let's do it tonight when I get home, as it is I'm already late," Arthur said as he prepared to leave,
"Then you'd best get going, dear, and I'll see you tonight," Molly said warmly, kissing her husband on the cheek; as he leaned in to return the kiss, their fireplace lit up in a wall of green fire as Dumbledore stepped through, looking surprisingly nervous.
"Good morning Weasley's. Might I have a word with the two of you?" He asked softly,
"That depends on what exactly you wish to discuss," Molly growled softly as Arthur quickly drank his coffee to hide his grin,
"I come in peace, my dear woman, I assure you," Dumbledore said, lifting his wand and producing a white cloth which he waved back and forth; seeing this, Arthur began to choke on his coffee as he laughed out loud and inhaled a good portion of the drink, which made Dumbledore chuckle and even brought a grin to Molly's face.
"You'll have to make it quick, Professor Dumbledore," Arthur said a moment later, "I'm relatively late for work, you see,
"Then I shall endeavor to be as quick as I can," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling, "I take it that you both have not changed your mind regarding raising Harry?"
"We have not; our mind is made up on the matter," Molly huffed,
"Very well, then," Dumbledore nodded as though he never expected any other answer, "Then we should go over the details of Harry's being placed here,"
"Details? What Details?" Molly asked,
"Well, you see, my dear," Dumbledore said as he pulled a roll of parchment from his robe, "Harry's aunt and uncle were receiving substantial monetary compensation for allowing Harry to live with them since he will no longer be doing so, it seems only fitting that the money comes to you as it were,
"That's not necessary, Albus," Arthur began before Dumbledore cut him off,
"I understand your unwillingness to accept what some might refer to as charity, Arthur. But I can assure you it is the furthest thing from charity, this is simply to help you with whatever emergencies might occur regarding young Mr. Potter's living arrangements here, and I dearly hope you accept it, if for no other reason than for me to try and make amends to the poor boy."
Molly and Arthur exchanged a look before looking back at Dumbledore and nodding in agreement, making Dumbledore smile warmly,
"Excellent, now as to the amount," Dumbledore said as he unrolled the parchment and began to read, "Ah, here it is, you will receive three hundred galleons on the first of the month, every month until Harry has reached the age of seventeen,"
Molly and Arthur visibly paled at the amount and, for a moment, were left stunned into silence before Molly finally found her voice,
"Albus, that is far too much; we can't accept that!"
"You most certainly can, my dear," Dumbledore replied quickly, "Not only will it aid you in caring for Harry, but I imagine it will aid in the care of your other children as well; in this, my dear, I will not budge."
Molly and Arthur looked at one another in astonishment; the money would help a great deal, it was true, and to be perfectly honest, they had been worried about how they would care for another child with their budget already so tightly stretched.
After a moment of silent deliberation, Molly turned back to Dumbledore and nodded happily, smiling as her eyes began to tear up,
"Splendid, now onto the other matters," Dumbledore said happily, "I will, of course, need to place certain wards around your property to ensure Harry's safety, but I don't imagine they will become too much of a burden on his daily life here, in fact, I doubt any of you will even know they are there."
"What kind of wards?" Arthur asked,
"Nothing dangerous, Arthur, just some security wards to ensure that no one may enter with hostile intentions, as well as alarm wards to alert you when someone enters your property unannounced; I have the complete list here if you would like to go over it,"
"That won't be necessary, Professor Dumbledore," Molly said quickly, "Is there anything else?"
"As a matter of fact, there is," Dumbledore said softly, and he began to fidget, making Molly raise an eyebrow at him in curiosity,
"A few days after Lily and James' untimely death, I found myself confronted with someone who knew them both quite well and wished to know their location; suffice it to say, this person took their death very hard, perhaps harder than anyone."
"Who?" Molly asked,
"You can come out now, my dear," Dumbledore said softly, and as Molly and Arthur looked to see who he was speaking to, a small house-elf appeared from behind Dumbledore, "This is Jaya, she belonged to James Potter, and her mother belonged to James' parents before him,"
Molly and Arthur looked at the house-elf in surprise at the revelation; she was taller than most of her kind, standing above waist level with dark purple eyes and short black hair that danced around her long batlike ears. Like most of her kind, she wore a tea cozy rather than actual clothes.
"Hello, missus and sir," Jaya said in a soft voice,
"Hello there, Jaya," Molly said warmly before turning to Dumbledore with a raised eyebrow in expectation,
"You see, dear Weasley's," Dumbledore said sadly, "When a house-elf's master dies, they can feel it; it is a part of the magic of their service; when Jaya here felt James' passing, she immediately came to Hogwarts to try and discover what had happened to her master, and unfortunately she was left with no place to go since Harry had been sent to live with his aunt and uncle and I imagine they would have frowned on her presence. So, I offered her employment in the Hogwarts kitchens until such time as Harry was old enough for her to return to his service, as she is legally his."
Molly and Arthur's eye's widened in astonishment, and their eyebrows seemed to disappear at the revelation,
"Where is young master Harry?" Jaya asked as she looked around, "Can Jaya see him?"
"In a moment, Jaya," Dumbledore said softly before turning back to the Weasley's, "Though Harry is still too young to claim legal ownership of Jaya, she has decided that she would like to be closer to him rather than stay in the Hogwarts kitchens,"
Jaya nodded fiercely at this before saying in a high voice,
"I belongs to master Harry; it's only right that Jaya is being close to him!"
"Quite right, Jaya," Dumbledore replied with a smile, "Now, if you two would find her presence here acceptable, she would stay here, and of course, I imagine she would be a great help to Molly around the house,"
Molly, for her part, was rendered speechless at the request and stared at Jaya, who was looking at her with pleading eyes,
"I mean," Molly began, searching for the right words, "With Harry here, we're already tight on space; where would poor Jaya sleep?"
"Jaya doesn't need much space, missus," Jaya said quickly, "And Jaya would help with the cooking and cleaning!"
"Molly turned to Arthur questionably, and he shrugged at her,
"I'm sure we could find room for one more, and Dumbledore is right; she would be a great help around the house, and if she really does belong to Harry, what right have we to turn her away?"
Molly turned back to Jaya and smiled warmly at her as she replied,
"Very well, then, welcome to the burrow Jaya,"
Jaya jumped into the air in joy, making the three adults smile at her in pleasure,
"Well, that's everything that I have," Dumbledore said as he stowed the parchment back in his robe, "I'll be back tomorrow to set up the wards and to give you the first month's payment; good day all,"
without a backward glance, Dumbledore turned and quickly strode to the fireplace, disappearing a moment later,
"I should be off as well; I am fantastically late," Arthur said quickly, with a quick peck on Molly's cheek; he too turned to the fireplace and a moment later was gone.
"Well then, Jaya," Molly said as she was left alone with the house-elf, "Would you care to help me with the dishes? Harry should be done helping with the chores soon, and you can meet him then,"
Jaya nodded happily as she followed Molly into the kitchen. A moment later, both were humming happily at how much brighter the day seemed to become.
XXXXX
An hour later, Harry was hiding behind Molly's skirt as she introduced the boy to Jaya, his eyes wide with awe at the creature,
"Hello, Master Harry, I am named Jaya," Jaya said softly,
Harry looked up at Molly, who nodded at him that it was okay before he replied,
"Hello, Jaya; it's nice to meet you,"
Jaya smiled at the boy as she took him in, determined to capture every inch of him,
"You look like master James, except for your eyes; they are being your mothers,"
"You knew my mummy and daddy?" Harry asked in surprise as he slowly came from behind Molly,
"Yes, Jaya was belonging to master James before he passed away," Jaya said sadly, a teardrop falling from her eye,
"My aunt and uncle said he was a drunk who died in a car crash; I don't remember him," Harry said sadly; instantly, Jaya turned red with anger, and she growled out in response,
"That is being a lie! Master James never would have done such an awful thing!"
Harry quickly jumped back behind Molly at Jaya's fury, and Molly placed quickly bent down and put a calming hand on Jaya's shoulder,
"Harry was placed with some rather vile muggles, Jaya," Molly said sadly, "You must forgive his ignorance; perhaps you could tell him about James sometime? I'm sure he would appreciate hearing about his father from someone who knew him so well."
Jaya nodded eagerly at Molly's words and smiled at Harry, who clung to Molly fretfully,
"Yes, Jaya can be doing that! Master Harry should be knowing about master James and not dirty lies from muggles who tarnish the master's name!"
"Would you like that, Harry?" Molly asked as she gently coaxed him out again,
"Yes, I would," Harry mumbled, "If you don't mind, that is,"
"Jaya is not minding at all, master Harry; it would be Jaya's pleasure!" The house-elf said with a broad, infectious smile, for Harry was smiling too, quickly followed by Molly,
"No way!" A voice cried out, making them all jump; as Molly turned to see who had called out, she saw Bill entering the room, followed by Charlie and Percy,
"Mum, what's a house-elf doing here?" Charlie asked with a smile,
"Her name is Jaya, and she will be staying with us for the foreseeable future," Molly replied as Jaya nodded happily at the children,
"But why?" Percy asked.
Before Molly could reply, however, Jaya jumped in and happily squeaked,
"Jaya was belonging to master Harry's father; now that he is being gone, Jaya belongs to master Harry!"
The Weasley boys all looked at Molly in surprise before she nodded quickly, making them all smile,
"That's brilliant!" Bill cried out,
"Totally brilliant!" Charlie agreed,
"Indeed, she will be an asset to the house, I'm sure," Percy added pompously,
Molly was about to respond when the rest of the children entered, and the whole process started all over again.
XXXX
Later that evening, Molly and Arthur called the children together as Jaya worked on dinner; once everyone was assembled in the living room, Arthur took a deep breath and began,
"Kids, your mother and I have something to tell you all,"
"What's up, dad?" Bill asked, "Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine; in fact, everything is more than okay," Arthur said happily, "Your mother and I have been talking, and we've come to a decision, but we would like to hear your thoughts on the matter,"
at this, Arthur saw that he had everyone's rapt attention and nodded gratefully before continuing,
"After discussing it with Professor Dumbledore, your mother and I have decided to have Harry live with us permanently, if you want to, that is, Harry."
Everyone turned to Harry in astonishment, and the little boy seemed too surprised to speak for a moment as he clutched his bear fretfully. Finally, after a few moments, he said softly,
"You mean I won't have to go back to my aunt and uncle? I'll get to live here with all of you?"
"If you want to," Arthur said happily, "What do you say, Harry? Want to be a Weasley?"
Tears sprang to Harry's eyes, and he quickly wiped at them as the rest of the children looked at him expectantly; Ron and Ginny were practically bouncing with glee; after a moment of tense silence, Harry finally nodded happily and was immediately hidden from view as the rest of the kids tackled him in a great hug, each cheering happily at the news that he would be staying,
"Now we can play every day!" Ron cried happily,
"And we can teach you to be a proper Weasley prankster!" Fred or George added,
"You'll do no such thing!" Percy said, "Harry will be a scholar like his big brother, won't you, Harry?"
"Nah, have you seen how good he is on a broom?" Bill said happily, "Harry will be playing for England one day!"
As each Weasley congratulated Harry and welcomed him to the family, Molly and Arthur watched, misty-eyed with smiles stretched across their faces, both knowing they had made the right decision; a moment later, Jaya appeared, crying that dinner was ready and the family moved into the dining room, Bill carrying a smiling Harry on his shoulders like a king.