The following day passed fairly uneventfully for Harry and Ron. The small, wedding countdown on the kitchen wall read two whole days left until the wedding. The wedding fell on the third day, Saturday. Today was Thursday. Harry didn’t know if he could take two more days like the one he had had yesterday. Thankfully, however, the girls were gone most of the day in the village, and that left Harry and Ron able to play quidditch in the orchard until Mrs. Weasley shooed them inside saying,
“We need the orchard clear, boys. This is where the wedding’s going to be set up tomorrow and you lot need to stay out, lest you cause any problems.”
“Mum, what trouble could we possibly cause flying our brooms?” Ron asked, dumbstruck.
Mrs. Weasley glowered at hem, her hands on her hips, and even Harry felt that the repercussions of arguing with Mrs. Weasley could be fatal. So he and Ron slouched inside, at a loss for what do now. They spotted Bill sitting at the kitchen table his head bent over thick stack of parchment with a quill in his hand.
Harry looked from Bill to Ron, asking silently if they should bother him. Ron shrugged and walked over to Bill, dropping into the seat next to him and peering over Bill’s shoulder.
“What’s that?” Ron inquired intrusively.
“Not that it’s any of your business, Ron, but it’s stuff for the wedding.”
“I didn’t know there was so much involved in a wedding,” said Harry.
Bill smiled wryly,
“I didn’t either, but now I know.”
“What is it you have to do?” Harry was very curious about what went on in a wizarding wedding. He knew about Muggle weddings, but how did magic ceremonies take place?
“Well, it’s not nearly as expensive to have a magic wedding as a Muggle wedding. It’s the little things like, we can conjure chairs and an awning to stand under. We only have to pay for the clothes and the ministry official from the Department of Marriages and Separations. Though with Fleur, these clothes are going to cost a fortune. I love Hermione, but did she have to put the idea in Fleur’s head to have Muggle clothes? Now I have to pay a fee to Madame Dubois because she’d already started on the dress robes.’
Bill turned back to the papers, and Ron gave Harry a questioning look,
“But then, what are all of these papers for?”
“Oh, these are the invitations that were supposed to be sent out yesterday. Apparently Fleur couldn’t be bothered making a final list, so I didn’t know who to send invitations to on her side. I really love Fleur, and I knew when we started this whole thing that she was not going to want to join in on the practical side of things.”
“So,” Ron began in a tone of over-casualness, “those are the invitations from the list? So, Viktor Krum’s invitation is in there, is it?”
Harry saw exactly what Ron was thinking, and vowed to keep an eye out to make sure no invitations mysteriously disappeared. He was saved the trouble though when Bill replied,
“All I can say is that Hermione made up for mentioning Muggle clothes. She’s been helping me handle the invitation lists, and she even sent some out herself before they left this morning. She sent Krum’s invitation with that load, I believe,” Bill sighed, and turned his rough, scarred face to Ron,
“She’s an angel, Ron. Hold onto her. And don’t give me that look,” he said as Ron scowled and began to protest, “I don’t care what kind of denial you’ve talked yourself into. Just know that you’re lucky to have her.”
Harry laughed as Ron continued to frown. Ron became even angrier and he nearly shouted,
“She doesn’t want me. She wants-”
But Harry had suddenly become serious and he cut Ron off.
“If the name Viktor Krum finds its way out of your very loud mouth one more time, Ron, I swear I will curse your lips together.”
Ron closed his mouth, sitting in his chair looking sullen. Bill laughed wholeheartedly.
“Thanks, Harry; I needed that bit of entertainment. Now, could you two please leave me alone? I have to send out these invitations, or they’re never going to make it to these people by tonight.”
The two boys got up to leave when a sudden question popped up in Harry’s head,
“Bill, there’s no way Errol’s going to be able to deliver all of those by tonight.”
“Oh, no we’ve taken out an order for twenty “five speed owls. We’re renting them from the mail office. They’re light and speedy; they can get a letter anywhere faster than any of our owls. They’re up in Percy’s room, probably making a mess of things.”
Having answered Harry’s question, Bill turned back to the invitations, and Ron and Harry decided to play a game of wizard chess. Ron didn’t mention Harry’s threat to curse him, so Harry didn’t point out that he thought Bill was completely right about Ron and Hermione. They acted as though it hadn’t happened, and the day proceeded pleasantly. Harry and Ron were playing a nice game of Exploding Snap in Ron’s room when they heard George enter the house. It was odd that he was here without Fred, and Ron’s confused expression was mirrored on Harry’s face. George did not come up the stairs; they heard him shouting for Mrs. Weasley, who shouted back that she was in the yard. Harry and Ron went back to their game, assuming that they would find out what this was about later.
Half and hour later, they heard George slam the front door, and they knew that whatever he had come to see his mother about had not gone well. This was proven when Mrs. Weasley brought up the boys’ clean laundry. She was mumbling,
“Can’t expect so much…only been six months…how can he possibly know…couldn’t have agreed.”
Ron looked as concerned for his mother’s health as Harry felt.
“Mum,” Ron said tentatively, “Are you alright?”
Mrs. Weasley seemed to come out of the trance she had been in, and smiled half-heartedly at her son. She was still absentmindedly folding socks as she answered Ron,
“Oh, yes, dear, I’m fine.”
“‘Cause, I don’t know if you realize, but you were talking to yourself a minute ago, and I was wondering if it had something to with George-”
Mrs. Weasley darkened considerably and said,
“Ronald Bilius Weasley! Are you listening in one other people’s conversations? There are reasons that people want to have PRIVATE discussions! What your brother and I discussed is none of your business!”
Harry flinched, feeling sorry for Ron, he had to use some serious restraint not to laugh at the fact that Mrs. Weasley had just revealed Ron’s middle name. Bilius! Poor Ron. Harry thought to himself that this information could be useful later. Oh, and there would be mocking! Harry focused on Ron and Mrs. Weasley as these unkind thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind.
“Mum, I wasn’t listening. Harry and I were up here the whole time George was here, I swear!”
Mrs. Weasley looked suddenly very sad, as if she was about to cry. Harry was sick of women crying, but thought that Mrs. Weasley was probably legitimately upset about something right now.
“I’m sorry Ron, Harry. I didn’t mean to accuse you. I don’t ever want to stop you boys from doing something that’s very important to you. I just want what’s best for you, and when I don’t think you’re ready to take such huge steps, I would think you’d value my opinion.”
Ron and Harry both looked horrified. Had she found out about the plan to go to Godric’s Hollow? How could she have done? No one could have told her. But Mrs. Weasley did not elaborate on whatever she was talking about. Instead she put her hands on Harry’s and Ron’s shoulders and said,
“Just know that I love you, and I want what’s best for all my children.”
And she left the room.
“What was that about?” Harry wondered aloud.
“No idea. I think she’s off her rocker a bit,” said Ron, standing up from where they had been sitting on the floor, and walked over to where Mrs. Weasley had been folding socks.
“You don’t suppose she knows? About Godric’s Hollow, I mean.” Harry said.
“No, how can she? Oh, bloody hell!”
“What is it?” Harry asked anxiously.
“Mum didn’t finish folding our socks. Now we have to do it ourselves.”
Harry chuckled, reassured that Mrs. Weasley didn’t know anything she shouldn’t, and highly entertained by Ron’s obvious distress at the thought of having to fold his own socks.
The girls returned later that evening and they traipsed up to Ron’s room almost the moment they walked into the house. Hermione looked as though she had decided to just act as if Ron didn’t exist. This enabled her to be a part of the group, but meant that she did not have to forgive Ron.
The girls rushed into the room, and Hermione sat on Harry’s bed, Ginny on Ron’s as the boys were on the floor and had left their beds vacated.
“We have news! Fun news, big news, entertaining news!” Ginny blurted out, clearly relishing the telling of this tale.
“Does it have something to do with George?” Ron asked.
Ginny glared at him,
“How did you know?”
“He was by here today and by the sound of things, he and Mum had a row.”
“That’s all you know?” Ginny had perked up considerably; her story was still good!
“Yeah, that’s all we know,” Harry said, “Whatever it was, though, it had your mum up here talking about how she thought she knew what was right for her children, that she thought her opinion mattered to us if she believed we were making bad decisions, or something like that.”
“That would fit into this,” Hermione spoke for the first time, keeping eye contact only with Harry and Ginny, “Oh, but I bet you thought she had found out about Godric’s Hollow, didn’t you?”
“How did you know?” Harry was shocked at her perceptiveness.
“Well, that’s what I would have thought too, if I didn’t know what really happened.”
“Can I please tell this story now?” Ginny asked impatiently.
“Oh, sorry, go ahead,” Hermione said.
“Right, so, we had just finished fitting for our dresses. Fleur had to put a charm on the sewing machine at the store so that to the dresses would be finished today, but that’s beside the point. Who should we see out the window, storming down the street, but George! Hermione and I were done; we were just waiting on Fleur, so we walked outside to see what he was doing there.
“We had to call him three times before he heard us, and when he turned round, he looked so angry! I asked him what was wrong and he was so mad, he spilled the whole story. Apparently, he’s decided to ask Brooke to marry him!”
“What?” Harry said, shocked.
“George? Married? Like, being responsible for someone other than himself? Or being responsible period!” Ron was flabbergasted by the concept.
“I know. Weird to think about isn’t it?” Ginny said, “But that’s not the best part. He came here to tell Mum that he wouldn’t be round for dinner. When she asked why, he told her it was because he was inviting Brooke to his place for dinner to propose and spill the news that he’s a wizard.”
“His place?” Harry asked, thinking hard, “but wouldn’t that mean she’d have to go through Diagon Alley?”
“That’s part of the problem. It wouldn’t exactly be breaking it to her gently, would it? You see, when a wizard tells a Muggle that he’s a wizard, he obviously runs the risk of that Muggle being completely horrified and wanting nothing more to do with them. If this is the case, then that wizard has to perform a Memory Charm, erasing himself completely from that person’s memory.”
“That’s legal?” Harry asked. Hermione answered him,
“Yes, it’s under the Statute Number 32 of the Muggle-Magical Marriages Law. If Brooke were to react badly, George would have to completely erase himself from her memory.”
“Naturally, Mum didn’t think he was ready to take such a huge step or risk. George wanted her to come to the wedding as well. Mum told him no, she couldn’t agree to let her come to wedding, and that she thought he should wait awhile to be completely sure of what he was doing.”
“But, I mean, your mum has nothing against Muggles, right?” Harry inquired.
“No, Harry, of course Mrs. Weasley doesn’t care who her son falls in love with!” Hermione snapped, “She’s just worried about how torn up he’d be if Brooke said no.”
“Right, but George says he’s going to do it anyway.”
There was silence as they all pondered what could happen. They wouldn’t know for sure until tomorrow.
“I hope she says yes,” Ginny said, “I liked her. And Dad would love to have a Muggle in the family.
“Anyway, Fleur’s family’s due in any minute, and in addition to regaling you with this highly entertaining bit of information, we’re also supposed to tell you to clean u p this room, get your stuff, and take it out to the tents. Dad got home at the same time we did, and he’s put them up in the yard.”
“Ok, we’ll meet you two outside, then,” Harry said.
Hermione got up slowly fro Harry’s bed and followed Ginny through the door, looking back at Harry and, for the first time since their fight, she made eye contact with Ron. She looked absolutely cheerless, and then she broke the contact and walked out of Ron’s room.
Ron watched Hermione walk from the room, and for a minute, Harry thought he was about to apologize, but then the door closed behind her, and the moment was lost. Harry wondered, for about the hundredth time how this was ever going to be resolved, and he gathered what he would need to spend three nights in the tent. Fleur’s parents were staying over the night of the wedding as well, seeing as the reception wouldn’t be over till late, so they would be spending that night in the tents as well.
Ron waved his wand at the mess in his room, and it sounded as though something exploded. Whatever spell Ron had cast, it seemed to have backfired. The room looked as though it had thrown up. Harry sighed. He couldn’t legally do magic yet, so he walked towards the door.
“Where’re you going?” Ron asked.
“To get Hermione. She’ll have this cleaned up in no time.”
“No! I can do it! I don’t need her.”
Harry spent the next ten minutes watching Ron slowly turn his room into a war-zone until finally, Ron admitted that he probably couldn’t clean it by magic, but that he wouldn’t ask for Hermione’s help. So he and Harry spent half and hour cleaning it without magic until Harry stood, sweating, in the doorway, his stuff in his arms.
“That would have taken thirty seconds with Hermione’s help.”
“We didn’t need her help!” Ron assured him.
“Well, next time, I’m asking for it, regardless of whether your pride will suffer or not. Your rowing is not going to equal manual labor for me, got it, Ronald Bilus?”
And he waked down the stairs leaving Ron gaping behind him like a goldfish out of water.
Fleur’s family had arrived, and he had to stop and make pleasant chit-chat with Mr. and Mrs. Delacour before he could escape out back to the tents. It was going to be a long night, and he did not fancy the idea of returning to the house in a little while for dinner.
A/N: I know I’m creeping so slowly towards the wedding. I’m starting to think I left myself too many days. I keep coming up with ideas. Now I’ve stretched my wonderfully flexible romance ring out to include George. I just thought he deserved a little love, seeing as he so seldomly gets any romance. So, please review, and I swear the next chapter will get us to the wedding day! I’m not saying we’ll actually have the wedding, but there will be Krum in the next chapter, and he will cause trouble. Just giving you something to look forward to. Please, please review! And yes, Ron’s real middle name is Bilius. Feel sorry for Ron.
The Wedding by DayDreamingMuggle
Chapter Notes: Ok...I am the worst author in the world to keep you guys waiting so incredibly long. I don't even know if people are still reading. But, my computer crashed, and everything was gone, so I literally had to recover information and rtype it all from different sources. Sorry, once more, and please enjoy!