A/N: Welcome to Chapter Four, my friends, when the wedding action really begins. Mwahaha. Read and enjoy.
The next morning dawned bright and cheery. Harry got out of bed and dressed quickly. He had slept well, and he was eager to enjoy one of Mrs. Weasley’s delicious meals. He glanced at Ron who was dressing silently, looking thoughtful.
“You all right?” Harry asked him
Ron only nodded. Harry shrugged. If Ron wasn’t going to tell him what was wrong, Harry wasn’t going to try and wrench it out of him.
“Well, then, I’m going to go down to breakfast. Are you coming?”
“Yeah…Harry, what you said last night? What did you mean?”
Harry grinned, Ron’s thoughtful look now making complete sense.
“Figured it out, have you? Took you long enough.”
“So, it’s what I think it is then? About Hermione?”
Harry shook his head, laughing, and started downstairs. Ron had caught up, the question was, would he do anything about it? That was the true test.
Harry entered the kitchen, Ron now right behind him. He knew Mr. Weasley had already left for work, he had heard him leave. Fleur and Mrs. Weasley sat at the end of the table closest to the door. Bill sat next to Hermione and Ginny discussing his career at Gringott’s. Hermione looked fascinated. Ginny, however, looked very bored, and was poking at the food on her plate. She had eaten quite a bit, but what food she had left was moved all around the plate, as though she had been playing with it for a while now. Mrs. Weasley and Fleur were obviously talking about the wedding because Mrs. Weasley had pasted a smile on her face that looked very fake. Harry knew that Fleur and Mrs. Weasley had come to some uneasy truce, but Harry could imagine that it was still very difficult for Mrs. Weasley to get along with the part veela. Mrs. Weasley stood up quickly when she spotted Harry and Ron.
“Are you hungry, dears? Oh, but of course you are. Sit, sit! Have some toast and sausages.”
Harry plopped down in a seat across from Ginny and Hermione, next to Bill. Bill definitely looked the worse for wear from his run-in with the werewolf, Fenrir Greyback. He was heavily scarred, but still retained the “cool” personality that Bill had always embodied. Ginny took one look at Harry, then stood up quickly.
“I’m going to go upstairs and feed Arnold,” Ginny said smoothly, referring to her pet Pygmy Puff.
Mrs. Weasley looked suspicious, but said,
“Alright, dear, but make sure you only feed him a little bit, we don’t need another incident like last night.”
“What happened?” Harry asked, trying to inject a bit of normality back into his relationship with Ginny.
“I fed him too much and he threw up all over his cage,” Ginny said, not unkindly, but a bit standoffishly.
Ron, Hermione, and Bill laughed. Fleur looked disgusted and said,
“Eet was an ‘orrible smell. I zought I wuz going to be seeck.”
Harry grinned weakly, still staring at Ginny. She did not return the smile, and walked out of the kitchen. Hermione scowled at Harry again, and mouthed the words, “We’ll talk later.”
Harry felt a thread of trepidation weave its way through his nervous system. That was not a conversation he was looking forward to. Mrs. Weasley looked at Harry, too, but her attention was averted by Bill.
“Right, Mum, I’ve got to get into work to wrap things up. Since I’m taking the week off, I have to make sure everything’s in order for my replacement. My temporary replacement,” Bill added quickly, seeing his mother’s astonished look.
“I shall go wiz you,” Fleur said, helping her fiancée to his feet.
They bid farewell to the group in the kitchen, then headed towards the fireplace.
“Ron, Hermione, could you please go and help Ginny. I don’t want to have to deal with a puking Pygmy Puff.”
Ron laughed.
“You know, Mum, Fred and George could probably make some money off of Puking Pygmy Puffs. Fake Pygmy Puffs you give your enemies and they puke all over. I think I’ll run it by them.”
Hermione shook her head, a small grin on her face.
“Right, then, let’s go help Ginny.” She looked at Harry as he got up to follow them.
“Oh, no Harry, I need your help with something. If you’d stay here, please,” Mrs. Weasley said.
Did she know that Harry and Ginny had been going out? Did she know he had broken up with her? Was he about to be reprimanded? Ron gave Harry a curious look, but followed Hermione out of the kitchen. When they left, Mrs. Weasley sat down with Harry. This was it. He was really in for it now. What would she say? Would she kick him out for hurting her daughter?
“Harry, as I’m sure you know, I love my family very much.”
“Here it comes,” Harry thought, “She’s going to tell me off for breaking things off with her beloved daughter.”
“But having them under one roof is going to be stressful. However, once the wedding is over, and things get back to normal, I wanted to know what you wanted to do for your seventeenth birthday.”
“Huh?” Harry said out loud. He was shocked. She wanted to know what he wanted to do for his birthday?
“Well, it’s not every day a wizard comes of age. It should be special.”
Harry bounced back from his shock and said the first thing that came to his mind,
“Well, just dinner with you lot. That’s all I really want. Dinner with my family.”
As he said it, he realized it was true. The Weasleys and Hermione were his family. He loved them in a way that a person reserves only for family. Mrs. Weasley smiled at Harry.
“I couldn’t agree more,” she said. “You know, Harry, some wizards that come from Muggle families don’t understand why we come of age at seventeen instead of eighteen. You see, they don’t understand that at seventeen in our world, you’ve been exposed to so much more than Muggles have. At seventeen, witches and wizards are ready, emotionally, to get jobs, even to marry if it’s the right person. Arthur and I married at eighteen only because we didn’t have the money right out of school. My point is, Harry, that, we are able to live and love in a way Muggles can’t. And we know when to hold on to something and when to let go,” she looked pointedly at Harry, “We know at a younger age that we would take many risks for the people we love, and we know to accept that the ones we love will take great risks to continue loving us. So, your seventeenth birthday will be big and special, Harry. You have many people who love you, and you couldn’t shake us if you tried.”
With this, she hugged Harry, who was still taking in all she had said. She whispered in his ear,
“She still loves you, dear. You can’t change her feelings, even for her own good.”
She smiled at him, and said,
“Right, then. Go on up with the rest, and think on what I said.”
Harry nodded, and started up the steps, thinking about what Mrs. Weasley had said. It was true, the people he loved were in danger regardless. That wouldn’t stop them loving him, and that wouldn’t stop him loving them. Was Ginny really any different? No! He was right. He wouldn’t be the reason she was made a target by Voldemort. He entered Ginny’s room tentatively. Ginny was putting on her shoes, while Ron and Hermione watched her.
“Where are you going?” Harry asked, he did need to talk to Ron and Hermione, but he didn’t want Ginny to feel like she had to leave.
“Into the village. George is seeing one of the Muggle girls at the paper shop, and so he and Fred are stopping there, then coming up here for lunch. The girl, her name’s Brooke, she’s getting a bit suspicious because she still hasn’t met any of our family, and she and George have been together since just after the New Year. He obviously can’t bring her here unless it gets really serious, but he’s asked me to come down so he can play big brother, and Brooke can see that he actually has some family. See you lot later, then.”
And she walked out of the room. To break the silence before Hermione could begin to question him about his motives for breaking up with Ginny, he said,
“So George is dating a Muggle? Do your parents know about her?”
“Yeah, they reckon George should wait until it gets a bit more serious before he admits to her that he’s a wizard. Dad says that he thinks it’s getting serious pretty fast. And Fred is going out with Angelina Johnson. Yeah, she’s working in the Department of Magical Games and Sports, and she stopped by the shop at the end of fifth year just as Fred and George were setting up. They’ve been together for a long time. Ginny reckons they’re gonna get married.”
“I can’t picture them married,” Harry said, “Either Fred or George.” Then a thought occurred to Harry, “Wait, Ron, how do you know all of this? You’ve been with me, and I didn’t know anything.”
“Ginny told us, just now. Apparently, Fred and George were round for dinner last night.”
“Speaking of Ginny,” Hermione said sharply.
Harry winced. Unlike Mrs. Weasley, Hermione was most definitely going to scold him now.
“What were you thinking, Harry?”
“What are you on about, Hermione? Leave Harry alone.” Ron said, looking shocked.
“Oh, Ron, honestly, don’t you see what’s right in front of your face?” Hermione said angrily.
“Apparently not, as this is the second thing in twelve hours that I should have seen and didn’t. What am I supposed to have noticed this time?” he asked angrily
“Harry split up with Ginny.”
“Hermione, it wasn’t like that, I had good-”
“What?” said Ron, his face now screwed into an expression of extreme confusion.
Harry and Hermione ignored him.
“Good reasons, hmm? Is that what you were going to say? Harry, it broke her heart, and I can tell looking at you, that it did the same to you. Why put yourself and Ginny through that? She wouldn’t tell me, and she wouldn’t tell me she was upset, but I have two eyes and a brain. What happened?”
“I had to, Hermione, don’t you understand! If Voldemort found out we were together, he would hurt her just to get to me. I don’t want her killed just because she’s with me.”
“Harry, either that is the most selfish thing I’ve ever heard or the stupidest!”
“What?” said Harry, “I want to protect her, and I’m selfish?!”
“Yes. Harry, she’s in danger in any case. We all are. Voldemort knows that she’s Ron’s sister and will target her regardless. In fact, he already has, in case you’ve forgotten. There’s nothing to be gained in breaking up with her except that if you broke up with her and she got hurt, you would be spared the guilt!”
Harry looked stunned. Ron was still watching his friends fight, dumbstruck.
“I- this- Hermione, how could you say that? This isn’t to make me feel better. I’ve never felt worse.”
“I know, Harry, I’m sorry,” said Hermione weakly, putting her head in her hands, “But don’t you see. By breaking up with her, you’re hurting, she’s hurting and Voldemort wins. You’ve done this because of him, and so your unhappiness is credited to him. He’s won if you let him rule your life this way.”
“She’s right,” Ron spoke for the first time, “Harry, I’ve never seen you happier, or my sister for that matter, than when you two were together.”
“Please,” Harry said through gritted teeth, “just drop this. What’s done is done. We’re not together anymore. We’ll just have to find a way to be friends again, that’s all.”
Hermione looked as though she wanted to say something more, but Ron said quietly,
“Hermione, leave it. His mind’s made up. I don’t agree with you, Harry, but if you’ve decided, then that’s the way it’s going to be.”
Just then they heard the front door open and the loud voices of Fred and George rang through the house.
“We’d better go down now,” said Ron, “I don’t want to fight about this, Harry, so I’m not going to. Let’s just not talk about the Ginny thing, alright?”
“Right,” said Harry, thankful that he hadn’t lost his best friend over this.
Hermione nodded and they all made a silent pact not to say anything about it again. They headed down to greet Fred and George, and Harry wondered how he was going to go four more days until the wedding under the same roof with Ginny.
A/N: Alright, my hands hurt from writing, so this ends chapter four. Please review and again, I invite you to e-mail me about anything. book_lover07@yahoo.com. Thanks, and I’ll get the next chapter up soon.