The Reception
~o~
Arthur surveyed the room before him, still in a state of shock. It truly amazed him that in one short week Ginny’s childhood room had been turned into this elegant suite.
Arthur laughed at the memory. Molly had gone from being furious with Harry and Ginny to being fiercely protective of them. He had never seen her as busy as she had been this week. Somehow during the past seven days she had been able to arrange a wedding reception for the two, along with putting the finishing touches on this room.
After the boys had got over the practical joke Molly had played on them, they had really ploughed through the tasks ahead of them. All of them had seemed very happy for Ginny and Harry, well all but Ron. But in the end that had worked its way out, at least that’s how it seemed, but with Ron it was sometimes difficult to tell.
Arthur thought back to just a few hours ago.
It was three in the afternoon and Arthur was outside preparing for the guests who were coming for a wedding reception for Ginny and Harry. Molly had invited both sides of the family, but as usual her brothers could not come for one reason or another. Arthur was awaiting his sisters and brother and their families, most of whom had never met Harry, although they’d certainly heard of him. Molly had also invited several of Harry’s friends from school, as well as a few a Ginny’s friends. Professor McGonagall had approved the attendance of those who were still at Hogwarts, since she herself would be there and could keep what Arthur assumed would be an eagle eye on them. He had asked Sirius and Remus if there was anyone else from Harry’s side that should be invited, but both said they were all that was left of his family. All in all there would be about fifty people at the party.
It was an hour before the first guests were to arrive, and Ginny and Harry weren’t expected until at least six o’clock. Arthur was leisurely hanging his light collection in the garden. Molly had told him they’d need some sort of light out there at night, and Arthur was more than happy to bring out his collection of Muggle outdoor lighting. He had coconut-shaped lights, ones with different coloured cylinders, fish-shaped ones, and also an assortment of what Harry had once told him were Christmas lights. He circled the garden and hoped there would be enough; then he thought of the bigger light he still had in his shed. Yes, that would be perfect. He brought out the large pentagon-shaped cage with the long soothing purplish light. He had just set it up when he heard an argument coming from the open living room window. Normally he wasn’t one to eavesdrop, but when one of his sons announced, "I’m not going to kill him, I’ll just hurt him a bit", he felt it would be wise to listen in.
"Will you calm down? I thought you were okay with this," Arthur heard Bill say.
"I am okay with them being married, really I am," Ron replied. "I’m just not happy with how they did it, that’s all."
"I can understand that Ron," Percy said in a soothing tone, "but I don’t think Ginny will appreciate you hurting him."
"Yeah, she needs him to be in full working condition," Fred laughed.
"Urgh, that is not the picture I wanted in my head, Fred!" Ron shouted.
"Ron, Mum will kill you if you spoil this day for Ginny," Bill stated. "Can’t you just be pleasant to Harry for today? You can kill him another day, when Mum isn’t around."
"Listen, you don’t understand, just… just leave me alone." Arthur saw the curtain to the window flutter a bit, and he imagined Ron had just taken a seat on the settee under the window.
"Ron…" Now Hermione’s voice floated through the window. "I heard you and your brothers arguing."
Just at that moment, a loud ruckus could be heard in the living room. Harry and Ginny had come home early. Arthur’s first thoughts were to rush inside, but then he thought the boys would like some time with their sister.
"Well look who’s here." Pauline was speaking now. "Scarlet O’Hara and Dirty Harry."
Ron must have given Hermione a look, for she proceeded to explain that they were characters from Muggle cinema.
"Actually I should have said O’Potter," Pauline added.
"I’m sure Ginny’s been saying OH POTTER plenty this week."
"FRED WEASLEY!"
"Mum! Look, Ginny and Harry are home."
Arthur heard more greetings being issued, but it seemed the curtain by the settee was very still: Ron must not have moved yet.
"Ron, don’t you think…"
"Hermione I know I should, but I can’t. Go ahead, you go over to them."
Arthur didn’t think Hermione had enough time to let what Ron had just said sink in when he heard Harry and Ginny greet her and Ron.
"Hi, we’re back," Ginny said, and Arthur could hear the apprehension in her voice.
"Hi, Congratulations," Hermione offered.
"Ron?" It was Harry
"Oh, um… congratulations, both of you," Ron said.
"You’re not mad are you?" Ginny asked.
"Pull up a chair; I think we need to talk."
"Ron, if you’re going to be mad, be mad at me too. Don’t take this out on Harry."
"I’m not mad, Gin, I’m upset."
"Be upset with me then. You know how much you mean to Harry."
Arthur then heard the scraping of chairs and assumed that Harry had brought them all seats.
"I’m not upset with you or Harry, I’m upset with me."
"Why?" Ginny asked.
There was a long silence; Arthur wondered if maybe they had moved their seats.
"Ron and I were a little upset after we found out that you two had eloped," came Hermione’s voice. "At first we were mad that you didn’t trust us enough to tell us. But then a wise person asked us what we would have done if you had told us."
"What was that?" Harry asked.
They was a short silence and Arthur thought he should move, but he would have been heard. He decided to wait the conversation out.
"Honestly," Hermione began. "I don’t think I would have been to receptive to your plans. I can only imagine I would have told you all about teen marriages that failed. And how you were too young and that you weren’t thinking clearly." Her voice took on a strained tone. "I think I would have badgered you until you finally stopped talking to me."
"You see," Ron now took over the conversation. "I couldn’t understand why you would do this. I mean you’re not ready for marriage, how on earth could you be? And Ginny, she’s my baby sister."
Arthur heard a huff and smiled; he knew how that term infuriated Ginny.
"Then I thought back to the Ball, and I got really mad. If you did this just so you could um…get together, I’d have to kill you, Harry. Ginny’s more than that and I didn’t want you disrespecting her.
"Is that what you thought, I was disrespecting her?"
"No, I know that wasn’t it. But my brain couldn’t get around the fact that you ran off and got married. I guess I knew that, like Hermione, I wouldn’t have been overjoyed by your announcement. But then I wonder. Maybe if you’d had a little more faith in me, I might have understood. And had I understood, I could have been there. Just like I know I want you there when I get married."
"I’m…" Harry seemed to choke on his words. "I’m sorry Ron, I really am. I…I should have said something. I wanted to. But… I didn’t think you’d respond well. I thought you’d try and stop us. I know we’re young, but we we’re ready for this. This…" He paused. " Ginny and I are right for each other. If I wasn’t positive about that before the ceremony, I surely am now."
"Ron," Ginny spoke softly. "You’re a hard-headed git, but we love you. We didn’t keep it a secret to hurt you or Hermione. It’s just that we really didn’t think anyone would understand. And I needed Harry alive, and telling you would have put that at risk," she laughed.
"Are we okay, mate?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, I guess. I’m still mad, I won’t lie. But I’m not sure if I’m mad at you or myself."
Arthur saw the curtains move and he then looked and saw the girls embracing and the boys shaking hands.
"So tell me. Was it everything you thought it would be?"
"Hermione! I don’t want to hear about that."
"Oh, shut up Ron, I was talking about the wedding. I remember Percy’s and it was so nice."
"It was perfect." Arthur could hear the joy in his daughter’s voice. "It was a little different than a regular wedding, because the official performed the Betrothal Ritual as well."
"Betrothal Ritual?" Hermione’s voice questioned.
"Oh dear, I forgot, you weren’t here when Percy and Penny got engaged," Ron offered.
"When a witch and wizard become engaged to each other they’re sort of joined by this ritual. Actually I think it’s to see if the couple is compatible. Basically they join hands, but they cross them, and then someone, usually an official, but it can be a family member, recites this old incantation. And as long as a light appears around the couple, they should be all right to get married."
"So you saw a light," Hermione asked excitedly.
"Yeah," Harry laughed, "you could call it a light, or a super nova."
"Huh?"
"Yes, we saw a light," Ginny chuckled. "It was quite bright; we had to close our eyes. Actually Mr. Gale said it was quite impressive."
"That’s great, Gin," Ron paused. "The brighter the light, the more compatible they are for each other."
"Oh, well, we didn’t need a light to tell us that," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "What else, did they do that charm with your rings too?"
There was a moment of silence again, and Arthur remembered when Ginny and Harry had told him and Molly about the Ring Vow. Both of them had been so pleased, but strangely they hadn’t been surprised.
"Oh, what happened?" Ron asked. "You two are completely red. Oh wait, let me guess, this is Harry we’re talking about. Okay, what would The Boy Who Lived get during his ring vow? I know, you got a perfect circle."
"I remember Percy and Penny’s started out as an oval and well it was almost a circle," Hermione said.
"Well that’s what most people get. The closer to a true circle the better the marriage will be. A circle means the couple is should be able to get through all the problems they come across together. It’s not a guarantee that the marriage will be without hardship, but it does mean that they’ll always love each other and will always be there for each other." He paused. "The only other thing is the figure eight and that’s even rarer…I should have known," he laughed.
"What? I don’t understand."
"When Mr Gale said the incantation over Harry’s and my rings, it formed a figure eight; that’s the infinity symbol."
"And?"
"It means that the two of them are more than compatible, it means that they were meant for each other and nothing will ever truly separate them. In their hearts they will always be together, from now until eternity."
"Oh, Ginny, that’s wonderful, I’m so happy for you. What did your mum say?"
"Mum and Dad were both thrilled. Ron? Did you know they got a full circle at their wedding?"
"No, I didn’t. I never thought of asking."
"Yeah, and well, Harry asked Sirius about his mum and dad. And, well..." She had a catch in her voice. "They had a full circle too."
There was more silence, and Arthur hoped that Ron’s mind has been eased. The four of them were too close to let anything come between them.
"Hey, where’s your dad? I haven’t seen him yet."
"Mum sent him outside to put lights up for later."
"Why, are we eating outside tonight?" Ginny asked.
"Um…"
Sudden ear-splitting laughter from the garden below brought Arthur back to Ginny and Harry’s new room. The best he could make out was that it was Harry and Ron, with his son shouting, "Archie! Bloody hell, no way."
He then looked around again and thought back to a week ago. He remembered how the boys had cleared this room. Bill had removed the old single bed frame and hauled it out to the shed, returning with an old brass frame. Arthur had inherited it years before, but the much larger frame had sat wasting away in the shed. At first it was thought it would be useless to try and salvage it, but Penny had come to the rescue. She and Percy had acquired quite a few antiques from her family and were well versed in refinishing charms; they had turned the old metal frame into a work of art. Arthur slowly moved his hand over the cool metal and marvelled at the craftsmanship. Gone was the old pitted brass and in its place was a brushed nickel finish. What were once simple lines were now twisted into intricate, flowing curves. The four posts at each corner rising towards the ceiling to support the canopy made a graceful statement.
As beautiful as the bed was, it was really the linens that made it fit for royalty. Arthur chuckled, remembering Sirius’ blushing face when he had turned up later that week with the ensemble. Everyone had gathered at The Burrow again on Thursday to finish the room. It seemed that Sirius had wanted to talk to Molly about the items in the bag before she actually opened the bag. To his sheer embarrassment, she had not waited for his explanation before she pulled out one the most exquisite bed sets Arthur had ever seen. The coverlet was quilted with an intricate pattern that almost matched the bed frame. The bed skirt was hand-crocheted lace with the same pattern as the coverlet. Even the sheets were trimmed with the delicate lace. What made it different was the soft butter colour that had a soothing effect on anyone who looked at it.
The twins had seemed quite pleased with Sirius’ discomfiture, as it had provided them with another victim for their off-colour remarks. Sirius had not been immune to the twins, especially when he and Percy had got into a debate on the best way to wash down the walls. It was too much for the twins not to comment when words such as muted, hushed, or phrases like "a touch of this" or "just a hint" were uttered from the mouth of Sirius Black. Needless to say, the twins had been merciless. "Oh Mr Black, is the placement of the sham to your liking?" Or the ever favourite. "Simply smashing, Mr Black, I say, simply smashing." Sirius had seemed to take all this in stride, but Arthur had wondered if something was bothering him. Later that night, privately, Remus mentioned that Sirius had said the bed set reminded him of one his mum had for special occasions. As soon as he’d seen it, he’d known he wanted Harry and Ginny to have it.
Arthur looked towards the corner of the room, which now held a small round table, and two side chairs. Last Sunday Hermione had mentioned her parents had an old table in their attic and she thought it would fit perfectly in the room. Pauline had then offered a tiffany style lamp that she had had since childhood. Penny too had mentioned chairs she felt would look good in the room. Now the corner was set up as a study area for Ginny, with plenty of room for Harry work on his broom designs. Once again Penny had put her refinishing skills to good use, and she and the two other girls had turned the old furniture into a beautiful country French sitting area.
His eyes now roamed to the windows, and he couldn’t help but laugh once more. The heated but friendly discussion that Sirius and Percy had had concerning the placement of the material was one that would be discussed at family dinners for years to come. Sirius, to great delight of the twins, had also bought square remnants of lace. He had wanted it gathered onto rods to hang over the windows. Percy felt a nicer statement would be made if the pieces were draped over the rods and left to hang in simple triangles. The twins’ comments questioning Percy’s masculinity had been cut short by Penny’s guarantee that her husband was all man. The twins had been willing to keep most of their comments to themselves after that.
The wardrobe was another laughable moment. Hermione had emptied the contents into boxes and had stopped to comment on Ginny’s set of dolls. Most of them had been in excellent condition, save three. One had half a head; another had her hair burnt to a crisp, while the last was completely headless.
"Oh, my," Hermione began as she held up the disfigured dolls. "I’m surprised at Ginny. She kept most of her dolls in wonderful condition, but oh, look at these three."
"Ginny didn’t do that, did she, Fred, George?" Ron said, irritated.
"Oh, please, Mum fixed your hair, didn’t she? And well, so three of the dolls didn’t make it. She still had plenty," Fred said in an attempt to excuse his and his twin’s behaviour.
"Was that the day she cut your hair?" Arthur asked smiling at the memory.
"Yeah," Ron said, then deciding to tell the story since the girls seemed confused. "These two idiots decided to cut my hair. They’d practised on Ginny’s dolls. These three were the first recipients, and unfortunately for them, they didn’t make it. Mum fixed up all the rest for her, as well as giving me my hair back."
"Gave your hair back! What happened?" Pauline asked.
"They got the spell wrong and made me bald."
"How old were you?"
"I think I was about seven," he offered.
"So how did Ginny cut your hair if they made you bald?" Penny asked.
"Well Mum gave me my hair back, but it was really long and Ginny offered to cut it for me." He laughed at the shocked looks of the girls. "I know she was only six, but she showed me how she cut her dolls’ hair first. Well the ones that still had heads, that is." He looked pointedly at the twins. "She did a good job, didn’t she, Dad?"
"She did at that," Arthur said, smiling.
"Well, she didn’t do to well with this one." George laughed as he pulled a messy-haired boy doll from the box.
"Oh," Ron laughed, "I forgot about him. I mentioned it to her, and she told me to leave him be. He was supposed to look like that."
"Um…" Fred began. "Does he remind you of anyone?"
Penny laughed too. "Well, he does sort of look like Harry, but how could she have known what he looked like?"
"I don’t know," Arthur offered. "There were no pictures of him, so she couldn’t have seen any."
"I think in her heart she knew it was him."
"Hermione! That’s very profound coming from you." Ron fell just short of looking shocked.
"Well, I do. I think she’s always known they were supposed to be together. And I think it’s sweet."
Everyone smiled at her and then went back to doing whatever task he had been working on before. Everyone but the twins who were huddled in a corner, and Arthur knew they were up to no good. He turned back to his task of putting storage under the newly finished bed and decided to leave the twins to their own devices. He’d let them dig their own graves. They were talking loudly enough to do it, too.
"Would you look at this? Looks like this Harry’s been through the mill too."
"Yeah, yeah, I remember now, she used to sleep with it."
"Hey," one of them laughed. "I think he needs a friend, what do you think?"
"Yeah, this one looks good."
"No, that’s not good, it has short blonde hair, grey eyes and a pointy nose. Make it look like her."
"Yeah, that’s good, now put her like this."
"No, Fred, that looks obscene."
"And your point is?"
"Yeah, yeah, okay, no, move his hand."
"Hah, that’s good."
"Ginny I’ve always loved you and I always will, oh, the passion, I can feel it. Marry me."
"Ohhhhhh Harry, passions, I just can’t get enough of your passion. Kiss me, you fool.
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?"
"Mum!"
"Didn’t see you there."
"I SAID, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT ARE THOSE? ARE THOSE DOLLS?
"Just some of Ginny’s old dolls," Fred began.
"Um, yeah, we found them like that," added George.
"Oh for heaven’s sake," an irritated Molly said. "Can’t you two be left alone for a few minutes without getting in trouble?"
"We didn’t do it," George said innocently.
"Honest," Fred said, "they fell, and… this how they got… um…"
It seemed while the twins were in the corner they’d taken one of Ginny’s dolls and transfigured it to look amazingly like her. They’d then taken the Harry doll and placed it next to the Ginny doll on the new corner shelf. The dolls couldn’t have stayed upright for very long.
"We just wanted them to hold hands, and they fell like that." Fred tried to sound innocent.
"Yes, we swear," George replied.
"They just happened to fall over? With Harry doll’s hand on Ginny doll’s bum?" Ron asked, mystified.
"You see if you can get them to snog any other way. His hand needs to be there for balance. It’s not our fault if they want to be horizontal," Fred said in a very matter-of-fact voice, with a full demonstration to prove his point.
"Oh, you two," she huffed. "Go downstairs and go back to Remus’ house and get all of Harry’s things with Sirius, and woe betide the two of you if you put one hex or spell on anything of my son-in-law’s.
"Dad?" Ginny came into the room and brought Arthur out from his reminiscing. "Are you okay?"
Arthur looked at her, his eyes began to sting. When on earth had she grown up and when had she become so beautiful? He opened his arms and Ginny came into them and held him tightly. They stayed that way for quite some time, and Arthur relished the contact, knowing that these hugs between father and daughter would become few and far between.
"Dad, are you okay?" Ginny asked as she stepped back to look at him.
"I’m fine, I just wanted to come up here again, before…" he chuckled. "I’m banned from this room permanently."
"Oh, Dad, you’ll never be banned from here," she said as she squeezed his hand.
"Yes I will, and that’s how it should be." He kissed her gently on the top of her head. "So, do you like the room?"
"I love it, and so does Harry. We both can’t believe all the hard work that you’ve done this week. It’s too much, it really is," she said, blushing.
"Well, all of us had a hand in it. And it’s not too much. Nothing would be too much for the two of you." His eyes began to sting again.
Ginny walked further into the room and as she twirled around; she really did look like a princess. She climbed the three steps to sit on the unusually high four poster bed. The boys had raised the bed in order to put much-needed storage underneath. This bed took up much more room than Ginny’s old bed had, making it impossible to bring in a chest of drawers. As it was, Arthur had had to shrink her wardrobe on the outside, while magically enlarging it on the inside, so it could hold clothes for both Ginny and Harry.
Ginny moved her hands across the coverlet in fascination. "They’re beautiful, I’ve never seen anything like them in my life," she said softly.
"Yes, they are. Remus said Sirius got all choked up when he showed them to him. They remind him of a special time and special people in his life. It means a lot, that he bought these for the both of you."
"He loves Harry very much."
"He seems to be very fond of you too," Arthur commented.
Ginny smiled. "I’m glad, I like him and Remus too. It’s funny; they remind me of the twins a bit, but…"
"But what?"
"I don’t know, it’s strange, they seem to be more like brothers than the twins. And I didn’t think anyone could be as close as Fred and George. It’s nice though. And Harry loves them so much too. Oh," she said with a smile, "did you meet Aislin and Meirion?"
"Yes, I did." Arthur smiled and laughed as he thought back to a few hours before when Remus had introduced his friend to both him and Molly.
"It’s nice to meet you. Is your name spelled like Maid Marian from Robin Hood?" Arthur asked.
"No, it’s M-e-i-r-i-o-n," she replied sweetly.
"What a nice name. Arthur and I have always liked unique names," Molly offered.
"Yes," Remus added proudly, "It’s derived from the name Mars, the Roman God of War."
"What he means to say," interrupted Sirius, "is don’t piss her off. Her last name alone should give you the clue. It’s Slaneyder."
Sirius smiled wildly while Meirion took as playful swing at him. "It means healer in Gaelic you dolt."
"Of course it does, whatever you say, slayer. Arthur, Molly, I’d like to introduce you to Aislin MacPhearson."
"Oh!" Molly exclaimed. "You’re the reporter that did that lovely article on Ginny."
"Yes, Mrs Weasley, I am."
"Oh, please, call me Molly. It’s a pleasure to meet you," she said as she shook Aislin’s hand.
"So, how did you all meet?," Arthur asked.
Remus smiled as he looked towards the woman beside him. "Meirion works in the apothecary in my village. We met some time ago."
"Yeah, she had to strong-arm him into dating her." Sirius laughed and then ducked away from another swing from Meirion.
"All I said was that if he didn’t ask me out soon, I might not make that potion for him." Then she looked lovingly into Remus’ eyes. "But you know I’d never have done that."
Remus gave her a small peck on the lips and answered, "I know that, but I’m glad you threatened me anyway.
Molly smiled at both Remus and Meirion and then looked to Aislin, "How did you two meet, dear?"
"Actually, I was looking for Harry. I wanted to add his views into the article I was doing on Ginny. Sirius didn’t respond too well to my being there."
"He told her to take a hike," Remus interjected with a smile.
"I didn’t know she was on the level. I thought she was like Skeeter…" Sirius coughed, looked at Molly and blushed before asking Aislin to continue.
"I told him Hermione Granger had contacted me, but he didn’t seem to want to talk about Harry or Ginny. In the end I said I’d like to do an accurate account of his story, and I gave him my card." She smiled at Sirius.
"When Ginny’s article came out, I knew she was on the level so I owled her," Sirius explained.
"So are you doing an article on Sirius?" Molly asked.
"I haven’t got quite that far yet," Aislin said with another smile. "Hopefully one day though."
Arthur was a bit puzzled until Remus offered a bit more information. "Oh, I’m sure the article would be done by now if she didn’t come over so late at night."
"And the wine Sirius brings out doesn’t help much, does it Aislin?" Meirion offered smirking at Sirius.
Arthur gave another chuckle. "I’m glad they both found friends. It seems they all get along, which means a lot when you are as close as Sirius and Remus are."
"I’m glad too. I think Harry’s a bit put out though. It seems he knew nothing of either Aislin or Meirion. But then again, he can be a bit clueless, so unless they had been dancing on the kitchen table, I don’t think he would have realised they were around," Ginny said, smiling.
"We better get back downstairs before your mum sends out a search party."
"Dad…"
Arthur looked at her and then took her hand.
"Thank you,"
He opened his mouth to say something but Ginny held her other hand up.
"Thank you for taking us in. And thank you for understanding why I needed to help Harry. I’m sorry I worried you so much." She lowered her head. "I seem to do that a lot, worry you and Mum, that is. I just…" She wiped at her eyes. "This room is more than we expected and more than we deserve."
Arthur squeezed her hand tightly and made her look at him. "You’re my daughter and always will be. And now he’s my son. Your mum and I will always be here for you, in any way you need. You’ve never disappointed me and I don’t think you ever will. I couldn’t be more proud of you or Harry. Don’t you ever forget that."
They stayed in the room for a few more moments before heading back down to the party. He smiled at her, knowing for a fact that she and Harry were meant to be, and the knowledge warmed his heart. He just hoped he would live long enough to see the wonderful things the two of them would accomplish with their future.