For four days, rain hadn't stopped and they weren't able to leave the house. Magic was being affected; Apparition was no longer a means of transport, and nothing could clear the flooding caused by the torrential downpour. Most magic wasn't working, and that which was functioning, was either accidental or basic.
The kids were cooped up and sick of it.
"Can't catch me!! Nyanya-nya-nyanya!" Hermione sprinted after George, almost tripping down the stairs as she leaped on his back.
"I CAUGHT YOU!"
"Get out, pest! You're like three," Bill yelled.
"I'm 5!" protested Fred. "You are a sticky poo meanie butt face."
"Get the hell out!"
"BAD WORD!"
"SHUT UP FRED!"
"Charlie can you help me?"
"What now, Ron?"
"I want to bake a puzzle."
"Do a puzzle, you want to do a puzzle. You don't bake puzzles."
"I WANT TO BAKE PUZZLE!"
"You can't bake puzzles, retard."
"Daddy!"
"Charlie, don't call your brother a retard."
"He WANTS TO BAKE A DAMN PUZZLE DAD!"
"Mum bake puzzles!"
"Do you mean pizza?"
"Yeah puzzle," Ron said, grinning. "Bake a puzzle?"
"Harry, where's Ginny?"
"We hiding."
"Yeah but where is she?"
"Mummy that's cheating."
"Where. Is. My. Baby."
"Hiding!"
"Harry this isn't funny. Where's Ginny?"
"SHE HIDING!"
"MUM!"
"Percy?"
"Ginny is in my room!"
"Oh thank God."
Mrs Weasley scooped the baby in the hand that wasn't holding Harry, and went downstairs.
"Hermione, get off of George - George, let her go!"
She deposited her cargo into the playpen downstairs and rubbed her temples.
"Arthur!" she yelled.
"Yes?"
Her husband appeared in the kitchen with Ron.
"I'm going crazy," Molly said through gritted teeth. She was managing to hold herself together, but could snap at any moment.
"I'll save you a spot, I got here yesterday," Arthur replied, half-grinning.
"Don't even try to make a joke of this," Molly warned. She glared at him, massaging her head.
"Want me to take them outside?" Arthur asked.
"No, they'll get wet and cold and grumpy."
"Want me to play with them inside?"
"No, they'll be noisy and messy and crazy."
"Want me to make the rain stop?"
Molly looked at him. "Can you?" she asked desperately.
"Unfortunately no... however I can talk to Professor Dumbledore and see what he would recommend," Arthur replied. "I love you."
"Yeah, that's what got us into this mess in the first place," Molly grumbled, flashing a smile. "Screw it, take them outside, let them play in the mud so I can sleep."
Since the night of no sleep, nightmares had continued, in particular Harry's repeated Egg-Head dream. It had evolved and now included a few words, some of which Molly could occasionally make out, others which sounded more like a snake having sex than human words.
As Molly went upstairs with a steaming cup of tea (A/N: So cliché, I know), Arthur helped his children into wet weather gear. After three mix-ups that consisted of arguments over who had the blue shoes, whether Hermione had stolen Ron's book yesterday, and Harry blatantly not wanting to wear a raincoat, finally Arthur told the door, "Alohomora," allowing everyone to run into the rain. It was only drizzling, but the ground was full of mud and water.
"No pushing, no fighting, if you use bad words you're going inside," he called over the orange heads that were tussling to be the first out the door.
Once they crossed the threshold, the twins yelled a war cry, sprinting towards an especially muddy patch of ground. Hermione, caught in their way, tripped and fell into the mud. Arthur, expecting screams, headed to her, but she raised her head, grinning and laughing. Picking up a handful of mud, she threw it at the twins and it hit George directly in the back of the head. Another followed it, Hermione's magic accidentally coming out as the second handful flew past Fred and turned to hit him in the face.
"Hey!"
Running to their younger sister, the twins hooked their hands under her armpits and lifted her out of the mud.
"'Mione, you're getting messy," George said. "Mum will get cranky."
"Mummy won't get cranky with Hermione," the girl replied self-assuredly. "Throw mud at Dad-dad?"
"No throwing mud at Dad-dad," Arthur replied as he hurried past.
Ron was up a tree, with Bill standing worriedly below him and Charlie hiding.
"What happened here?"
"It wasn't his fault, Dad, Ron just kicked water on Charlie so Charlie accidentally put him in the tree and now we can't get him down," Bill replied.
Ron, oblivious to the danger he was in with his father's magic incapacitated, stood on the branch he had been sitting on and started to walk to where a bird had perched, trying to get away from the rain.
"Ron!"
Arthur, without a second thought, scaled the tree and climbed to where his son was gently holding the cold bird.
"Birdie Daddy!"
"Yes, that's a bird all right. Now how about we see about getting down from here?"
Giving Ron a piggyback, Arthur gracefully descended the tree, depositing Ron into Bill's arms, with the bird, before looking at a guilty Charlie.
"Care to explain?"
"Um... nah?" Charlie responded.
While Arthur lectured Charlie on appropriate use of magic, Harry was breaking rules of his own. Not realising that the play area was limited to the yard, he had slipped out the gate, broken from the strength of the rain, and was toddling toward something shiny. His little feet splashing away from the safety of the Burrow went unnoticed by Arthur or any of the other kids, including Percy uncharacteristically screaming with laughter as he and Hermione engaged in a mud pie throwing competition. His rubber boots did a good job of keeping water and gunk away from his feet as he ran on his little legs. The shiny thing grew closer until Harry could see that it was a crown of some sort, sparkling in the bleak sunlight. Placing it on his head, Harry set off to find another adventure.
Before he could, the rain stopped drizzling and began pounding down heavily enough to hurt the little boy's sensitive skin.
"Inside," Arthur was calling. He pushed Charlie and Bill toward the door, and ran to Hermione. Putting her on his hip he ushered George in front of him, grabbing Fred's arm. The rain was loud enough that he couldn't be heard and it was getting hard to see through the onslaught. He saw Percy grab George and take off toward the house and followed them, as Hermione tried to shield herself from the rain. She pressed her face into her dad's neck, clinging to him tightly until they got inside. Charlie slammed the door behind them, as the lights flickered.
"Right, hot showers, right now," Arthur said, shivering slightly. "You two, into the main bath; Fred, George and Percy, into the shower; Bill and Charlie, you can go into mine and Mum's bathroom. Two, three, two – that's only seven."
Quickly doing a headcount, his face turned to dread as he realised what had happened.
"Harry!"
Tipping Hermione into Charlie's arms, Arthur dashed back out into the rain.
"HARRY!"
