His Muse: A Wizarding Tale about a Desperate Housewife by mrsmcclnt

Decisions and Indecisions

Everything was going smoothly at the Burrow that rainy afternoon. The rooms had been dusted to perfection, the beds were made, and the dishes were washed. Slowly turning the pages of the last edition of the Witch Weekly magazine, Molly watched from the corner of her eye as a pile of clothes folded themselves on the couch. After the exhausting weeks spent away from her home, it felt good to be back to her routine. She still had housework to do, but she didn’t mind; she was feeling much more comfortable working by her rules and for her family.

Gilderoy had given them both a week of relaxation from their cleaning sessions. He had finally chased the boggart away, to his utter satisfaction, and declared that they needed a few days to rest. So here she was, attending to her usual tasks and thinking about the astonishing progress they had made in terms of friendship. A few weeks ago, she wouldn’t have believed it was possible for them to even get along; now, she was calling him by his first name and didn’t mind so much to be his employee. He could be really charming when he wanted to.

As she turned another page of her magazine, a familiar face caught her attention. It was an article on Gilderoy Lockhart. His charming face looked up at her, flashing his trademark smile.

Gilderoy Lockhart

A man of many talents!


He looked so sure of himself on that picture, almost invincible...but Molly knew better. Seeing him so scared of that boggart had showed her he actually had flaws, that he could be real from time to time. And he seemed to care about her and her children. A part of her was really flattered by his interest. Yes, he was a natural show-off, but she liked to believe the little spectacle he was making was really to impress her.

She shook her head at that, closing the magazine and throwing it on the coffee table in front of her. There was dinner to make, anyway.

She moved to the kitchen and slowly started to prepare the food. She was soon interrupted by her husband, who was slowly coming towards the kitchen door. Putting her knife on the counter top, Molly narrowed her eyes so she could see him better. He was carrying something under his right arm that she couldn’t quite identify. He entered the room a few moments later, his brows furrowed, and he put his ‘package’ down on the table. It was in fact a white owl, which flapped his huge wings, sore from the journey. Molly turned around to look at her husband. He folded his arms and stared at her.

She smiled tentatively. “You’re home early, dear!”

Ignoring her, he pointed out the owl. “I found him perched on our backyard fence, looking a bit lost. You’ve got mail.”

The bird held out his leg to reveal a pale envelope with Molly’s name on it. She carefully reached for it and opened it. She instantly recognized the tidy writing on the parchment. Her heart seemed to beat faster as she frenetically started to read the letter.

My dear Molly,

I hope that everything is going well for you as we start our week off. I feel extremely awful to disturb you at home with my matters, but something rather unpleasant happened during your absence. All our efforts and good work might be compromised. I know this is completely egotistical of me to even think of asking you, but if you could come as soon as possible to my house, I would be eternally grateful. Know that, of course, you are free to refuse; we are, after all, supposed to be on vacation.

Truly yours,

Gilderoy Lockhart


“Is it from anyone I know?” Arthur asked after a moment.

“What?” She was so absorbed in her reading she hadn’t noticed that he was still staring at her. “Oh, no, I don’t think so...”

“It wouldn’t be from a certain Gilderoy Lockhart, by any chance?”

Molly looked up at him in disbelief, clutching the letter to her chest. How could he know about Gilderoy? She had been extra careful not to let anyone know about the time she was spending at his house. She didn’t want to hurt Arthur’s pride regarding their finances. She had simply thought that she could have come up with an explanation for the extra money later, when the research with her benefactor was over.

“I don’t understand-” she began.

“I took the elevator with Malfoy this morning, and he mentioned how sad he was to learn that my wife had to clean other peoples’ messes to help us pay the bills. And when I asked him what in Merlin’s name he was talking about, he told me his wife saw you leave Lockhart’s house several times last week! Is this true?”

She instinctively sat down. She could only imagine how insulted Arthur must have felt upon hearing Lucius Malfoy’s little remark. “Yes, it is,” she murmured.

“You’ve really been cleaning his house?”

“Yes, for a project of his - a new book he wants to write about household cleaning.” She crumpled the letter with her hands distractedly.

“And he’s paying you to do it?” The surprise in his voice seemed to grow bigger as the conversation went.

“Yes. It was a good opportunity to earn extra money.” Molly saw him shake his head in disapproval. “You know we need it,” she added.

At her words, he walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Listen to me, Molly.” His tone now sounded a bit sad, even though she knew, just from the redness of his ears, that he was trying not to lose his temper. “I may not have a job that gives us a lot of money, but you don’t have to do this. My own wife will not become a cleaning lady, especially not for that...that man! As long as I’ll be able to work, I swear I won’t let it happen.”

“But, Arthur, I’m only doing this for our family. For the kids! Don’t you want what’s best for them? Gilderoy said he’d pay for the school expenses! Fred and George could get new wands, and Percy needs a new set of robes, and–”

Arthur let go of her and backed away, and she knew she had just made a mistake. She closed her eyes, expecting the worst.

“I don’t care what he promised you or what he wrote you in that letter!” he burst out. “I can take care of my family just fine. I don’t need his charity. I don’t want you to have anything to do with that man ever again...or any other man, for that matter. Is it clear?”

“But Arthur–”

“Have I made myself clear?” he interrupted brusquely, clenching his fists on either side of his body.

Molly nodded, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. Without another word, Arthur turned around and stormed out of the kitchen. She waited until she was certain he was gone before standing up and walking up to the window. Wiping off her tears with the back of her hand, she looked down at the letter she still held.

What was she supposed to do now?

Back to Summary Page