7Disclaimer: The characters and situations of Harry Potter depicted in this fanfic are the legal property of J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic and AOL Time Warner, and have been used without permission.
No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made off of this fanfic, and it is for entertainment purposes only.
A/N: This is my first oneshot I've written in ages so I actually had a great time writing it. It is also in response to a challenge that I entered over at a RPG site, and if you want the link it's in my profile ;).
The Gift By E.K. Kropp
Molly Weasley was glowing with happiness; it seemed to radiate off of her in waves, making all of the other Weasleys smile as they gazed down at their brand new arrival. She was a tiny thing, still red and scrunched up looking from the birth, but her mother and father thought that she was beautiful, while her many brothers thought she looked like a tomato. But still even those rowdy brothers of hers were happy at a new addition and a baby sister.
"Still haven't come up with a name yet mum?" Molly's oldest son, a strapping boy, (trying so hard to be a teenager but never making it) by the name of Bill, asked as he too looked down upon the baby in her crib.
"No not yet Bill, your father and I are still discussing it," Molly answered.
She looked across the crib at her husband who was holding their youngest son so that he could peer down at his sister. Her son was just a year old but already tall for his age and a healthy eater to boot. All in all she had six sons. Before Ron there was Fred and George the two rambunctious, three-year-old twins. Both of them together was like a tornado, always moving and getting into things that they shouldn't, none of her other sons had been quite so unruly. Before Fred and George there was Percy, the quite one. He was smart for his age at five years old, already reading well and a calm presence around Ron's toddling and the twin's general three-year-old-ness. And then there was Charlie, her second oldest son; he was some how a mixture of all of her children, intelligent, strong, brave, and funny all rolled into one just-about-to-turn-nine package.
After so many boys in the family Molly wondered if she would ever have a girl but now she did and she never really expected it; oh certainly she had hoped but she had not allowed herself or, Arthur either, to come up with names for a girl. None of the ordinary, dull names seemed to fit the extraordinary gift that had been bestowed upon them. Names ran through Molly's head: Samantha, Roberta, Abigail, Elizabeth, Kathleen-but none of them fit her daughter.
There was tugging on her sleeves and Molly looked down. Looking up at her intently was the twins.
"Mama," they said in unison, "we're hungry."
Molly looked up at the clock on the wall and realized that it was in fact passed their lunch time and that her whole family was probably ready for food.
"You should go lay down on the bed Molly and get some rest, I'll fix lunch and bring a sandwich up for you," Arthur said, kissing her lightly as he herded the rest of his hungry family down the stairs.
Molly lifted the baby and walked down a few flights of stairs to the master bedroom on the first floor. She carried the little baby girl carefully, making sure that her fragile neck was cradled the right way as she climbed up onto the bed; and she sat up against the headboard so that she could breast feed.
The baby finished and Molly burped her before dosing off. She was woken by her husband a little while later, and he had brought a ham and cheese sandwich with him. Molly had suddenly become hungry and she ate, savoring each bite. Arthur sat down beside her, with the baby between them; he gently played with her short, very soft red hair.
"Molly we should name her," he stated after a time of silence as he lifted her up and cradled her; Arthur kissed the baby's cheek.
Molly swallowed and answered. "I know but nothing seems special enough…"
"I agree, but it seems silly, she's three days old and she doesn't have a name yet, except for "the baby."
"Okay do you have any ideas for a name then?" Molly asked, leaning her head back against the headboard. It was then that the whereabouts of her sons was unknown. "The boys," Molly jerked and gasped.
"…Are fine, your sister came by and is staying with them out in the garden. Back to the name," he said and paused for a minute, "I was thinking about Amelia."
Molly made a face and so Arthur tried again. "Er, Anne?"
She didn't go for that one either. They traded names back and forth from Abigail to Zala; Molly had reacted particularly badly to Zala and had asked Arthur if he had just made up that name.
"No, it was my great, great, great grandmother's name."
"That poor woman…" Molly murmured and the two laughed and decided that they would name her tomorrow.
The next morning was a mess. Suddenly six boys seemed fairly easy but now with seven children Molly felt pulled from all directions and stretched out. Thankfully Arthur was still home from work and he could still help with the preparation of the daily meals and wrangling the boys. All that day they tried to come up with a name that was, at the same time original, but not from outer space. Finally it was Percy who named her that night as he read one of his short fairy tale books. It was titled simply King Arthur. It was Percy's favorite book at the time and it was not one of the hand-me-downs that the Weasley's used, instead it had come as a present from an uncle when Percy had been born.
The book was well worn and faded from all of the times Percy had left it out side in the bright sunshine. The front picture was of a tall, bearded man on top of a chestnut colored horse with a fair haired woman sitting behind the man as he apparently galloped away; the picture moved, as was normal in the Wizarding world, and when Percy had been a small baby he would laugh and laugh at the horse as it galloped around in the picture.
That night Percy had a fantastic idea; as a five year old it wasn't often that Percy had fantastic ideas but he was bright and intelligent for his age.
"Mama," he said with a serious look on his face as he approached Molly, "looky, name for baby sister," he said pointing with a pudgy finger at a picture of Guinevere, King Arthur's lady love and queen.
Molly looked at the picture in surprise. Yes, she had to admit, that there was a striking resemblance to the Guinevere in the picture, and her baby daughter.
"Molly?" Arthur said, questioningly, as he turned down the quidditch game on the wireless, that the him and the boys were listening to.
"Come and look at this Arthur," Molly said, gently taking the book from Percy's hands.
Arthur got up from his chair and joined Molly on the sofa. Percy climbed up onto his father's lap and again pointed at the picture.
"Ginevra…" Percy said uncertainly, unsure and completely off of how Guinevere was actually pronounced.
"Ginevra," Molly said in awe as she lifted the baby from her bassinette.
The boys gathered around and looked at the baby and their mother with interest.
"Yes, that is what her name should be. Hello Ginevra Weasley," Molly said, giving Ginevra a kiss on the cheek.
Arthur looked uncertain and looked back and forth between his wife and daughter, but then he brightened. "I like it and it fits perfectly, after all Guinevere means "fair one." Ginevra Molly Weasley, sounds just fine to me."
"Molly?" she asked, somehow surprised that Arthur would use her own name as Ginevra's middle name.
"Of course Molly, what else could it be?" Arthur gave his wife a kiss and in the background Molly could hear Bill and Charlie making gagging noises in disgust at their parents' show of affection.
That was the end of that and the baby became Ginevra, but it was quickly shortened to Ginny by one of the boys and the nickname stuck. It was clear just after a month that she was a stubborn thing and a lot like her brothers. Molly felt truly blessed that after six boys and several generations of no Weasley girls, that she had received such a precious gift.
A/N: Please everyone review and tell me what you think!