Courage
Murphy used the back of her hand to wipe away tears she wasn't aware had even escaped the brim of her eyes, as she sniffled.
Staring at the door for a moment longer, letting his words truly sink in. Slowly- hesitantly she stood, silently moving closer to the door.
Just as Molly sighed hopelessly with a frown, a small click was heard from the knob and the plumb woman's head snapped back to the door with baited breaths.
The door cracked open only slightly, allowing a bright light to shed into the dimly lit room.
Bill shifted so that he was standing directly in front of the crack of the door, and sure enough there Murphy stood peeking through.
Smiling in a way only Bill did when he was about to tell her something she could hardly believe or show her something even more magical than the next.
The older boy pulled out his wand as the younger girl cracked the door open wider, Bill moved the wand in a small circle as Murphy's eyes watched as if she was in a trance.
"Orchideous," Bill mumbled, Murphy watched in amazement as a pretty pink light shot from the end of his wand before a whole bouquet of flowers of all different shapes and colors burst out.
The small girl gasped in amazement and in slight surprise at the sudden movement of it all.
"Flowers?" She whispered in astonishment.
Bill shook his head, "not just any flowers. Magic flowers."
Murphy tilted her head in a confused curiosity, "Magic?"
Bill nodded his head as he gently plucked the flowers from the end of his wand, "these flowers are only able to be conjured when someone is in great need of them.. they offer comfort to those who are anxious and scared."
The blonde-haired girl wrapped her small hand around the stems of the bouquet, holding them delicately to her chest.
"As long as you hold them," Bill whispered. "You won't be scared."
Sure it wasn't the most creative, but at the moment, it was all Bill could offer for the small girl whose body still shook with uncertainty, even on her best days.
Molly watched the pair with wide eyes, gleaming. The way the couple had fallen into such a trusting relationship so fast, Molly couldn't help but feel slightly jealous at the way the small girls filled to the brim with nothing but trusting curiosity.
The girl had learned to lean onto her eldest son so fast, in a matter of days. She could see it now, the two would grow to be inseparable.
It didn't take much further convincing to have Murphy placing her small timid hand in Bill's much larger, reassuring one.
Ginny was the first to bound down the stairs at the sound of her family flooring in. Murphy who had only used the method once before was still finding the experience to be stomach-wrenching.
The girl shuffled to the side and waited almost frantically for Bill, who'd promised to be right behind her. Before she even had the chance to ponder it further, small arms wrapped around quickly around her.
Murphy jumped back and would have tumbled to the ground if it wasn't for the tight grip that kept her upright on her feet.
The blonde's knees shook so hard they clanked together, but before Murphy was sent into a full-blown panic, the arms that restricted her unwrapped themselves and she stood face to face with the warm smile of a familiar redhead.
"I'm so happy you're home!" Ginny squealed excitedly as Murphy willed her racing heart to calm, even if only in the slightest. "Are you here to stay?"
"Ginny," Molly scolded the small girl lightly. Noticing the panic that had overtaken every cell, "Let her in the door before you crowd her."
It was safe to say that not one Weasley was unhappy about Murphy's return.
Weeks went by before the Weasleys heard anything from Dumbledore. Unfortunately, the Ministry had been made aware of the girl's existence, and although that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it slowed the processes considerably as they had to go by the book and file an official report of that day- Murphy even had to be interviewed.
Which again, wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but when the girl still clamped up around the family, it took a lot of convincing to have her talk to yet another stranger.
The flowers Bill had gifted the girl with talks of protection sat in a vase beside Murphy's bed, each day the flowers wilted even more than the previous one, and each day the girl's anxiety grew. What would happen to her without the protection it had offered? Now they were nothing but rotted stems but still, she refused to throw them away.
It was during the late summer a week before the elder kids would head to Hogwarts, Bill for his last year, when finally, Dumbledore showed up with a file in hand and news about where the small girl was from.
It had been increasingly harder to separate Murphy from her eldest son, the small blonde clinging to him every waking moment of the day, refusing to leave his side.
Not that Molly had minded, she found how fond the girl was of her son to be endearing.
Though, lately, Murphy had found it within herself to take an hour or two out of her day to play dolls with Ginny, giggles could be heard all the way through the house, a sound that warmed the mother's heart to the core.
Or she'd spend in the garden, not far from the house chasing the twins who'd learned that it was better to let the girl do the chasing rather than be chased. Laughing as they made fools of themselves, falling to the ground dramatically, (the first time they'd done this the timid girl had been genuinely concerned for their well-being) the scolding about their dirt-stained clothes was worth the smile and laughter that erupted from Murphy.
Although Bill was just as eager to know where the new girl he'd grown to care so deeply for when Molly asked him to take Murphy to the garden so they could talk privately he did.
It was then that Molly would learn of the family she had already suspected. The life the girl had, but broke her heart to finally have confirmed. It was then that the Weasleys would learn of how the ministry had sent out a social worker for young witches and wizards to the Mullins household where they were greeted by a drunken man in an old run-down house.
A man who'd gone on a long tangent, he didn't want a witch for a daughter- and he promised if he ever saw the small girl again, he'd see to it that she was six feet under.
They knew she couldn't have come from a loving home- that the flinching was the product of a one-time incident but from years of trauma. Although these were all things they had come to the conclusions of by themselves it didn't make it any less painful to hear.
They'd learn that their little Murphy was a year older than their youngest, as opposed to the year younger they'd suspected.
Murphy watched through the window as Arthur wrapped an arm around his wife as Dumbledore continued to speak, watched as her shoulders shook before the old man gestured to file, Arthur picking it up with shaky hands.
"You know, I think you're the bravest person I know."
Murphy frowned shaking her head, "I'm scared all the time, from the moment I wake up to the moment I close my eyes. I have no courage at all."
"Courage isn't having no fear, it's being brave despite the fear."
"I wish I could be brave like you," Murphy mumbled sadly.
"Murphy," Bill nudged the girl gently, which finally drug her attention away from the adults inside. "I got you something."
This had Murphy turning to him with eyes wide full of surprise, "For me?"
Bill nodded, crouching to the ground, before reaching into his jacket pocket. "Flowers wilt and die so instead of conjuring new ones, I thought I would give you something a little more permanent."
Murphy gasped as she saw the small item held in the palm of his hand, "From the pond?"
Nodding once again, he handed the rock to the small girl, "I found it just for you, it's a gem, but not just any gem-"
Before he had the chance to finish, Murphy spoke up knowingly, "A magic gem."
"Yes," Bill chuckled. "A magic gem. This one gives you courage when you grip it tight, the courage to be brave despite being scared."
That night, Molly tucked the girl into bed extra tight. The mother's eyes raced with a million things she wished she could put into the words, feeling as if now that she has confirmation on the life the girl in front of her had lived, she needed to say something, anything to offer up some sort of comfort.
"I will never let you down, Murphy."
I will never let you down as your father had.
"I will always be here for you."
I will never neglect you as your father had.
"I will always take care of you."
I will always take care of you like your father failed to do.
"You will always have a home here."
One like you've never had before.
It was sometime well into the night as Murphy turned for the third time, Ginny had already fallen into a deep slumber when Murphy heard it.
Harsh whispers that only got louder with every passing second.
Silently, the girl slipped out of her covers and tip-toed to the door. The door creaked open, sounding like the loudest possible sound in the world in the otherwise quiet home, but no one seemed to notice as the voices suddenly flowed more clearly into Murphy's ears.
"I refuse, I refuse to send her away. I refuse, I will not do it." Molly spoke harshly.
Arthur sounded as if he was just as frustrated, "You promised, Molly. You said just for a short while, it's been weeks."
"Her family doesn't want her-"
"We can't keep her! It's not what I want either but-"
"It sure doesn't sound like that!"
"We don't even have the money to feed our own kids! I work so much, I am barely home to see my family as it is! We're stretched so thin, we couldn't possibly take in another."
"We've done it before, we'll figure it out."
"How? How will we figure it out? I'm sorry, but we just can't keep her."
"She isn't an owl, Arthur. I can't send her back to the orphanage- I refuse. The way she looked at me, she needs us!" Molly all but yelled causing Arthur to hush her loudly.
Murphy clutched the gem to her as she strained her ears to hear the hushed whispers above her. Slowly as the now soft whispers spoke above her, she moved to the stairs, climbing higher and higher up multiple staircases before she stood in front of a familiar one she recognized as Bills.
Slowly she pushed the door open, only to see Bill raise his head from where he was laying on the bed. Murphy stood silently, not really truly knowing what she was doing there.
Bill, ever-so-understanding, raised the blanket in a way that gestured Murphy in.
The small girl hurriedly flung herself into the bed wrapping herself in the boys arms as tears stung her eyes and her shoulders shook silently.
Bill rubbed her back slowly as the girl shook with the uncertainty of what tomorrow would bring for her.
And as the girls breathing finally slowed as she fell asleep, Bill squeezed the small girl gently and made a silent promise that he'd never let her experience the fear, the lack of love she experienced for so long ever again. He would caress every scar, close every wound and make sure nothing could ever hurt the girl again.
He would make sure of.