A Family Duty by potterfan2008
Summary: *** Winner of Best Overall in the Burrow Secret Challenge ***
For five hundred years, the House of Prewett has kept watch over a secret artifact and protected a powerful secret. Molly Weasley, as the last member of the House, is called upon to protect the wizarding world. Bill, Ginny, and Harry assist her in completing the Prewett Family Duty.
Rating: PG-13
Categories: The Burrow Secret Challenge (2016-3), The Burrow Secret Challenge (2016-3)
Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Published: 2016.10.28
Updated: 2016.11.05
A Family Duty by potterfan2008
Chapter 1: Chapter 1 A Family Duty
Author's Notes: September 1981
Molly Weasley walked uneasily towards the rather posh law firm to which she’d been directed. She couldn’t imagine why her brothers had sent her here, especially when they asked her not to mention it to Arthur.
It had been a nerve-wracking trip on the Knight Bus. Ginny hadn’t liked the sudden starting and stopping motion of the bus and had been rather fussy during the whole ride. Glancing down into the pram, she was happy to see that Ginny had finally fallen asleep. Reaching down, she adjusted a pink blanket over her youngest. As she approached the office, she caught a glimpse of herself in the glass. Was she dressed appropriately? She thought so, but it was hard to tell.
In preparation for this trip she’d visited the charity shop in Ottery St Catchpole and purchased a simple Muggle outfit. The girl at the shop assured her that it looked good on her. It was a simple green, A-line dress that Molly thought helped hide the fact that she’d just given birth a month ago. In addition to the dress, Molly wore a pale green shawl that she’d made and a pair of sandals.
She didn’t often wear Muggle clothing, but she’d seen enough people both in the village and on Diagon Alley that she thought she would blend in. She’d also purchased some cute outfits for Ginny. It was a bit of a splurge, but she’d waited so long for a girl she couldn’t resist the sweet sleeper covered in ladybirds or the pink onesie with little white, fluffy lambs.
Taking a deep breath, she entered the office. The girl at the front desk was slightly intimidating with her professional attire, big hair, and makeup. It made Molly wonder again if she was dressed appropriately. She honestly hoped so.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes, ma’am, how may I help you?” The receptionist asked. To Molly’s relief she was much friendlier than her appearance would indicate.
“I have an appointment with Mr Slater,” Molly replied.
Consulting something on the desk, the girl asked, “Molly Weasley?”
“Yes, that is me.”
“Certainly, have a seat. Mr Slater will be right with you.”
Molly sat down in the row of chairs indicated by the receptionist. The office seemed rather busy. Arthur would be thrilled to be here. She thought the device the receptionist was talking into was a tellyphone, but she wasn’t entirely sure. Luckily, Mr Slater was a Squib so he was comfortable setting up an appointment by owl.
“Molly.”
Molly turned to see a solicitor standing in front of her. “Yes, sir.”
“I am Nigel Slater. Please allow me to extend my sympathies on the deaths of your brothers.”
Standing, Molly shook his hand. “Thank you.”
“Please follow me.”
Molly pushed the pram and followed the man back into a conference room. Her brothers had died a little over two weeks earlier — they had both been killed in a Death Eater attack. Auror Moody told her they were heroes and fought until the end. That didn’t really bring her much comfort. They had both been so much larger than life, it was difficult to realize they would never again visit and play with their nephews. They had never even met their long-awaited niece.
The small estate they had earned had been left to her for her children, but included in the will was a note telling her to contact Nigel Slater as soon as possible. It had taken longer than she would have liked to arrange for Aunt Muriel to watch Charlie and Percy while Doris Diggory was watching the twins and Selene Lovegood was watching little Ron. Ginny was so little, just a month old, and Molly hadn’t wanted to leave her with anyone.
“Molly, this is the box your brothers left for you. It has been sealed since they brought it in eight years ago. I was instructed to have you open it here and allow you to examine the contents in peace. You may decide to continue having us store this box or you may elect to remove it to a more secure location. I will give you privacy, you may use magic in here if needed, but I ask you to keep it to a minimum.”
Molly nodded, a bit overwhelmed by the seriousness of it all. When Mr Slater left, she withdrew her wand and cast a privacy spell over the room. She didn’t feel entirely comfortable using magic in such a Muggle environment, but she thought it needed to be done.
Dearest Molly,
If you are reading this, then both Gideon and I have died. We were hoping it would not come to this, but we know you are up to holding up our side of the bargain.
Almost five hundred years ago, one of our ancestors, Josiah Prewett, became privy to some information that could change the course of history. He swore to follow the actions demanded by his liege lord, Richard, the Duke of Gloucester. Josiah followed his instructions and for the past five hundred years one or more Prewetts have been assigned certain duties.
These duties will now pass on to you. You are the last Prewett from Josiah’s direct line. Please carefully read all of the documents enclosed in this box. They will explain Josiah’s actions and what we are obligated to do.
We know you understand how to determine which of your children has the most Prewett blood. It is critical that you do this as soon as possible. In these uncertain times we cannot leave this duty unprotected.
It is foretold that this duty will come to an end at the end of the millennium. If the circumstances are right, you will be able to fulfil our ancestor’s vow. We know that you will be able to complete our destiny and uphold our family honour.
We love you, Molly. Please take care of all of those beautiful babies. We will meet again one day.
Love,
Gideon and Fabian
Molly read the letter with tears in her eyes. She’d never heard of Josiah Prewett. She was a simply housewitch who loved to take care of her family. How could she help fulfil such an important family obligation?
With a trembling hand, she reached into the box and pulled out a sheaf of parchment wrapped with a velvet ribbon. Running her hand over the parchment, she realized it was old-fashioned vellum. It was very expensive and used only by the very wealthy. It also appeared to be quite old.
She started reading. It took her the better part of three hours to read and understand the story revealed by the documents. Although the story was elegantly written, it was difficult to read. During that time she’d fed Ginny and rocked her back to sleep. Mr Slater had returned to check on her and feeling a bit more comfortable Molly requested some tea which was brought to her.
Molly used the odd parchment and pencils the solicitor left and wrote out some notes so she could fix everything in her mind. Once she understood the people involved and their relationships, she cast several charms on her notes so no one other than her would be able to read them. It was a complicated story and she didn’t want to misremember anything.
Writing on a fresh sheet of what Mr Slater called a legal pad, she wrote out instructions for her yearly task. It was due to be done on August the seventeenth of each year and her brothers had done it this year, but she wanted to visit this year so she wouldn’t feel so nervous next year.
After resealing the box, she thanked Mr Slater. “I would like you to keep holding onto this for me.”
“Of course,” he replied. “I will be happy to do so.”
Glancing down at the notes she’d taken, she asked, “Mr Slater, where is the British Museum?”
The receptionist summoned a taxi and paid the fee for her. Molly was surprised that she was feeling more comfortable in the Muggle world as her day wore on. The museum was a fascinating building.
She decided that she wasn’t going to be shy, so gathering up her courage she approached the information desk. Several minutes later, she had directions for the gallery she needed to visit as well as a map of the galleries.
Heading up to the third floor, she visited the gallery featuring Sutton Hoo and Europe 300 to 1100 as well as the gallery on Europe 1400 to 1800. She wondered if maybe she should bring her children here when they were a bit older. It was a fascinating history; if rather different from the wizarding history she was used to. She imagined that Percy would find it interesting, but she didn’t think she would trust the twins in such a place.
After exploring the other two galleries, Molly headed to the one she was destined to visit — the Roman Britain gallery. She walked among the glass encased displays admiring the workmanship on various pieces. Some of the work was on a level with the goblin work with which she was more familiar.
In the middle of the gallery, she found the object for which she was searching. It was a golden circlet and Molly knew from the documents that it was improperly identified as a roman headpiece. There was a faint charm on the object that ensured it was always on display.
Feeling confident that she would be able to do this, she left the museum. After a stop at her brothers’ grave, she headed home.
Several hours later, she was sitting in the kitchen rereading her notes. She wasn’t overly surprised to discover a history book among her brothers’ belongings. She was glad; it would make it much easier to familiarize herself with the story. Arthur had accepted that she had a task to complete for her family. She hated not being able to discuss it with him, but at least she was able to tell him about her trip into Muggle London. He enjoyed that.
Once the children were asleep, Molly pulled out her cauldron and prepared the potion to detect family magic. One thing that many people did not understand about magic was how it was inherited.
A person’s magic was inherited from their parents, but a person didn’t inherit a set amount from each parent. Magic was a bit wild and unpredictable. One person might get abilities from each of their parents in an equal amount or inherit a majority of their abilities from one parent and not the other. In times past, it was important to determine who had more of one family’s magic so this potion was used to detect which family’s magic was stronger in a child for inheritance purposes.
Once the potion was complete, Molly poured it into seven vials and added one hair from each of her children. Setting the vials on a rack, she made some tea while she waited. Ten minutes later, the potion was ready. Molly carefully checked each vial.
The results weren’t all that surprising. Bill and Ginny were clearly more Prewett than Weasley. Ron and Charlie were significantly more Weasley than Prewett. Percy was fairly equally divided while the twins were slightly more Weasley. Bill and Ginny would be the two who could help her when the time came.
August 1991
Molly was relieved when Arthur had agreed to take Ron into work with him. It was ten years since her brothers’ deaths and she’d visited the British Museum faithfully every year. In the past years, Bill and then Charlie had been available to watch the younger children whilst she went into town, but this year both older boys were busy with their own lives — Bill in Egypt and Charlie in Romania. Percy was perfectly capable of staying home by himself. A friend of the twins, Lee, had invited both of them over. Ginny was going to London with her mother.
Molly carefully dressed in her Muggle outfit. She’d bought this at the charity shop as well. It was a simple pair of light brown trousers and a pretty blue patterned top. Ginny wore a simple purple shirt with a pair of jeans and trainers. Molly smiled as she watched her daughter pull her hair into a ponytail. If someone had told her ten years ago she would feel comfortable in the Muggle world, she wouldn’t have believed them, but she was. Ginny loved going into London with her and over the years Molly had taught Ginny a lot about the past.
Ginny loved the stories about medieval England. The decadence and treachery of the past was intriguing and Molly had carefully budgeted her money so she could supply her daughter with books that encouraged her interest. At first she wasn't sure if she was doing the right thing or not, but when none of the other children objected Molly felt much better about it. She’d been concerned that Ron or one of the other children would be upset that Ginny was being singled out, but they never seemed to notice - perhaps because they didn’t have any interest in Muggle London.
“Let’s go, Mum!” Ginny said with a smile.
As they travelled to London, they discussed one of the books Ginny had just finished reading. It was a fun and relaxing trip.
Arriving at King’s Cross, they decided to walk to the Museum. It was a little over a mile away and it was a beautiful summer day.
“Mum, why is this so important?”
Molly looked over at her daughter, not entirely surprised at the question. “I can’t answer that yet, but it is a family duty that I inherited from my brothers. I believe that you will be instrumental in helping fulfil it.”
Ginny brightened at the thought of being able to help rather than her brothers. “When will you tell me?”
“When you are older,” Molly replied. “I can explain this part. We are checking an artifact at the museum. If it is turned around, it will indicate that we need to act. Otherwise we will just continue to observe as a member of our family has done every year for the last five hundred years.”
Nodding, Ginny fell silent. As they walked through London, she wondered what this duty could be. She’d been accompanying her mother to the British Museum every August for as long as she could remember. They usually walked through several galleries, but they always finished in the Roman Britain gallery.
She supposed that was where the artifact was being kept. Thinking about what her mother told her, Ginny felt oddly honoured and grown up at the thought of helping to fulfil a family duty that had been in place for so long a period of time.
The trips to London with her mother were always very special. Bill was the only brother who had ever gone with them. Usually it was just Ginny and her mum. It always surprised her that her brothers didn’t put up more of a fuss at not being allowed to go with them. Ron usually spent the day with their father at the Ministry. Ginny rather thought he enjoyed the time alone with their father just as she did with their mother.
As they walked around the gallery, Molly stopped in front of one of the cases. Wrapping an arm around her daughter’s shoulders she leaned in and said quietly, “See the golden circlet?”
Scanning the case, Ginny nodded when she found it. Her mother explained, “This is the artifact we are to check every year.”
“How will we know if it is turned around?” Ginny whispered.
“The other side has three rampant lions engraved on it,” Molly replied.
“Three lions? That isn’t a Roman symbol,” Ginny replied after thinking it over. She’d seen something with the three lions — maybe a book cover. What was it? “The Plantagenet coat of arms!”
Molly nodded approvingly. “Very good. I can’t explain more at the moment, but this is what we need to check. If we see the lions, I will explain what it means and what needs to happen.”
August 1998
“Do you want to go to Diagon Alley? I can’t wait to go school shopping.” Hermione asked Ginny eagerly as she scanned her book list.
After the chaos of the past year, Hermione was eager to return to Hogwarts to finish her schooling. She knew Ginny wasn’t as excited as she was, but hopefully that would change. Hermione still hadn’t given up on talking the boys into returning with her.
Glancing over at her brother’s girlfriend, Ginny shook her head. “No, I’m going out with my mum.”
“Can’t you do that another day?”
“No,” Ginny retorted. “We need to go today.”
“Go where?”
“London.”
“Where in London?”
“Hermione, I can’t really talk about it,” Ginny said. “I’ve told you that before. It’s just a family obligation.”
Hermione frowned. For as long as she’d know the Weasleys, she knew Ginny and Molly spent one day in London together, but she’d always assumed it was just a mother daughter thing. Did they really go on the same day every year? What type of family obligation would require that?
She didn’t ask any further questions, but watched as Ginny headed upstairs to prepare to leave. She had to admit, Ginny and Molly did a good job dressing as Muggles. It was strange, she would have thought Mr Weasley would know more about the Muggle world, but she’d heard Molly talking about navigating London like she’d done it many times before. The two had even left the safety of Grimmauld Place the summer they’d stayed there to travel into Muggle London.
Ginny returned to the kitchen with Harry in tow. Ginny kissed Harry goodbye and waved to Hermione before leaving with her mother. Hermione waited a minute before approaching Harry. He was sitting down at the table with a bowl of cereal.
“What are you doing today, Hermione?”
“I wanted to go to Diagon Alley,” Hermione explained, “but Ginny is going out with her mother.”
Harry nodded. “They always go.”
“She says it’s a family obligation, but none of her brothers know about it. Doesn’t that make you curious?”
“A little,” Harry admitted.
“I don’t understand why she can’t tell anyone,” Hermione complained. “I know they go to the British Museum. I found a brochure the year we stayed at Grimmauld Place. They even went last year with everything going on.”
Harry turned to look at her. Hermione faltered a bit under his gaze. “Why does it bother you so much?”
Hermione shrugged. “I don’t like mysteries. It just seems strange. What if it is dangerous? What if they are being forced to do something against their will? What if someone is using them? They aren’t very worldly. They could easily be taken advantage of.”
“I think you’re reading way too much into this,” Harry said mildly.
“They even took a same day International Portkey to London for the day the year they were in Egypt.”
Harry raised his eyebrow.
She flushed. “I asked Ron and he didn’t remember so when I was arranging my Portkey to Australia I asked.”
“I don’t know if I’m more concerned that you are investigating or that the Portkey office gave you that information.”
Shrugging, Hermione said, “I told Megan, the clerk, that I was settling a bet between Ron and Ginny about what date they came back from Egypt.”
“That’s pretty good excuse,” Harry said in surprise.
“What’s pretty good?” Ron yawned as he stumbled into the kitchen.
Ignoring his question, Hermione announced, “Your mum and sister are going to London again.”
After pouring his tea, Ron loaded his plate with eggs and sausage from the plates warming on the counter. He shrugged. “They go every year.”
“I can’t believe no one is more worried about this,” Hermione complained. “Why do they specifically have to go today?”
Pushing his bowl away, Harry said, “I always thought it was an anniversary of some sort. I think it has something to do with Molly’s brothers.”
“I think you’re right,” Ron said.
“Is it their birthday? Or the day they died?”
Ron shrugged again. “I don’t know, Hermione. If you are this curious, ask.”
“I have,” Hermione complained. “Ginny won’t tell me anything.”
A thought occurred to her and she jumped up and hurried out of the room. The two left behind shared an exasperated look.
“If we were at Hogwarts, I’d say she was going to the library,” Harry joked.
Hermione returned with a large family Bible. It had been Molly’s mother’s and had been in the family forever. Ginny was actually the person who had originally showed her the Bible. Setting the large, gilt-edged leather bound book on the table, Hermione opened it to the family tree.
The tree wandered through almost three hundred years of Prewetts. Each of the Weasley siblings were listed on the bottom of the tree. Hermione followed Molly’s branch to her brothers. She frowned. “Her brothers’ birthday was May fifteenth and they died on September fifth.”
She scanned the family tree. “I don’t see August seventeenth anywhere.”
Ron glanced over her shoulder. “That only goes back three hundred years. If you’re really determined to do this, there is an old copy of Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy in the sitting room. It goes into detail on a lot of the old Pureblood families like the Prewetts.”
Following his suggestion, Hermione was soon leafing through the genealogy book. She was soon engrossed in the contents.
Looking over at Harry, Ron said, “You want to fly?”
“Absolutely!” Harry had just replaced his beloved Firebolt with the new Lightning Strike. It was an amazing broom. He still missed the broom his godfather had given him, but he loved the new broom.
Ginny smiled at her mother as they headed towards the British Museum. She had always enjoyed her special day with her mother. While she still didn’t know all of the details, it didn’t really bother her. Her mother would tell her when the time was right.
“It’s amazing how little has changed here,” Molly commented. “Diagon Alley is in shambles and everything is slowly recovering, but here London is still a bustling city.”
Ginny nodded. “Hopefully that means we will recover as well.”
“What do you mean?”
“London was bombed during the Second World War, that was the Muggle war that was fought at the same time as Grindelwald’s War. One of the books Hermione gave me ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’ was set during that time. The bombing was so bad that some parents sent their children to the country so they would be safe.”
Molly nodded slowly. “I vaguely remember hearing about that. That’s another way our two worlds are alike. We are both resilient in the face of so much destruction. The past few years have been awful, but I just need to look at you and your brothers to see how bright the future will be. Percy has been so good with George — the two of them are helping each other heal. You and Harry as well as Ron and Hermione have such a bright future — no matter what you decide to do.
“I think Ron is still a bit unsure of his place, but he will find it. Hermione is brimming with ideas, I think once she finishes school she will blossom. Harry is so modest, yet he is so powerful. You can feel his magic when he enters the room.”
“What about me?” Ginny asked curiously.
“I’m not sure,” Molly admitted. “You are so strong and so clever; there are so many things you could do. What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. I love Quidditch and I think it would be amazing to play professionally, but I also love hearing Bill’s stories about curse-breaking. I want to do something exciting. I don’t want to be stuck at the Ministry in a boring desk job.”
Molly laughed. “No, that wouldn’t do for you. I could see you doing either of those. What about Harry?”
Flushing slightly, Ginny smiled. “We are doing very well. He’s been amazing. He really listens to me and pays attention to me. He even stood up to Ron and Hermione for me.”
Molly raised an eyebrow. Ginny hurried to explain. “Ron and Hermione wanted him to go to Hogwarts with them to help with the rebuilding even after I said I wanted him to stay with me and help clean up the Burrow.”
“It’s been the three of them for a long time,” Molly said gently.
“I know, but they have no problem sneaking off alone. If Harry and I try for any time alone, Ron’s right there in our business. He thinks we’re sneaking off to…”
As Ginny trailed off embarrassed, her mother smiled. “Snog?”
Ginny nodded. “I mean, we do kiss, but we also talk a lot. He really listens to me and he’s been talking to me a lot. Stuff he doesn’t feel comfortable talking to them about.”
“I will speak to your brother,” Molly said after a moment. “He shouldn’t be giving you such a hard time. Mind you, I don’t want you taking advantage of that. You may be seventeen, but you still have a year of schooling left. I may be asking Bill about grandchildren, but I don’t want any from you.”
Ginny blushed. “We…we aren’t ready for that yet.”
Molly nodded. The pair climbed the steps to the portico that housed the main entrance to the museum. They decided to visit the Egyptian gallery before heading up to the Roman Britain gallery.
Walking around the well-lit cases, Ginny paused at the case that held silver platters that had been found in Suffolk in the 1940s. The engraving on the platters was beautiful. It rivalled any work she’d seen done by goblins.
She arrived in front of the case she was there to see and gasped out loud. The familiar circlet was turned around and the three lions were visible. She could feel her mother come up behind her. “Mum.”
“I see it,” Molly replied, her voice tight. Ginny started to turn, but her mother put a hand on her shoulder. “Stand in front of me, love. I need to cast a few spells.”
Nodding, Ginny stood still, blocking the sight of her mother drawing her wand. She could hear her mother muttering spells. She thought they were detection spells, but she wasn’t entirely certain.
“Ginny, we have work to do.”
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
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