Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the associated milieu belongs to J. K. Rowling and various publishers. I'm just borrowing the characters and the world for my own fun.
AN: An old idea that I finally decided to write down. I should probably warn about a couple of things in this fic, but I don't know how to do that without giving away something, so I'm just going to say that you shouldn't read this if you're queasy, although this is meant to be just a bit of harmless fun, and not meant to offend anyone.
Molly Weasley had raised seven kids of her own, and she had also had a close perspective to Harry's and Hermione's lives too, so it wasn't a surprise that she instinctively knew something was going on with the kids. She was also certain that she knew what it was about, and she really couldn't have been more happier for them – at least until rings were exchanged, announcements were made, and she got to start planning the weddings, and then she'd probably reach a whole new level of happiness.
She had actually noticed the changes in the two of her youngest at the end of the year already, but she hadn't immediately known just what was different about them. But during the weeks that Harry and Hermione had spent with their own families, there had been a lot of correspondence from them to Ron and Ginny, and when the two had finally joined them for the rest of the summer, she had immediately known just what was happening, and that had also prompted her to refresh her skills on certain wards. She was happy for the kids, but she also wanted to make sure that nothing untoward happened between them.
Her pondering was cut short when one of the objects of her thoughts entered the kitchen. Hermione was usually the first one to wake up, and this morning wasn't an exception, but there was something different about her; she was looking very happy and content, and she practically radiated with it. That happiness cast a shadow of doubt on Molly, and she wondered whether her wards had somehow failed, or if the kids had found a way around them, but she pushed that thought aside for now.
"Good morning, dear," Molly said to Hermione cheerfully.
"Oh, good morning, Mrs. Weasley," the girl replied a bit uncertainly.
"My, you seem happy about something, dear. I wonder just what that is?" Molly asked with a knowing smile, as she prepared a plate for the girl and put a healthy amount of breakfast on it.
Hermione blushed deeply, as she sat down at the table, and seemed to be at a loss of words for the moment.
"Don't worry, Hermione. I've raised enough children to know what it is about, and I've certainly been young myself too," Molly said with a friendly smile, wanting to let the girl of the hook, and she too sat down at the table, opposite from Hermione.
Hermione seemed a bit surprised about that. "Really? So, you know about us and you're okay with it?" she asked a bit anxiously.
"Well, of course I am! And more than okay – I'm happy for you," Molly reassured the girl.
"Oh, that's such a relief. We were so afraid you would be mad about it," Hermione sighed with relief.
"Why be mad about something as wonderful as young love?" Molly replied happily, but then her expression turned suspicious. "Hmm, unless someone has been sneaking around at the night?" she continued, getting another blush from the teenage girl, and it confirmed her suspicion that her wards hadn't been enough, but she was too happy at the moment to really scold anyone.
"So, I guess it has been going on for quite some time already and you're serious about it? Perhaps one day I might see a ring on your finger," Molly suggested, now smiling again. To her surprise Hermione sighed sadly at that.
"Well, we haven't really talked about it yet, but we've kind of shirked around the issue a bit, and I think we're both about ready for it. I know I am," Hermione told a bit uncertainly, but smiled at the last bit, before turning serious again. "But you know that there are a couple of issues with it. Like which one of us is going to do it, since I'm quite sure that we'd both like to do it. And then we can't get married in the magical world, of course, because of the laws, so we'll just have to have a muggle ceremony, and that is probably a problem for all the witches and wizards that want to come," she finished.
At first Molly was a bit surprised about their relationship being so serious, but then she was even more surprised when Hermione continued and she didn't quite understand her. Had the times really changed so radically that it wasn't the man's duty to propose anymore? And what was that about them not being able to get married in the magical world? The only obstacle she knew for that was their ages, but they were both seventeen already, and old enough to get married.
Just as she was about ask what Hermione meant, she was interrupted when her youngest son entered the kitchen. He was looking quite sleepy, which wasn't a surprise since he usually didn't get up that early, but all that disappeared when he noticed Hermione and he blushed.
"Slept well?" the young witch asked with a smirk, and Ron turned to look at Molly in panic.
"Hermione!" he said desperately.
"Don't worry, she knows about us, and she is okay with it," Hermione said appeasingly, turning to look from Ron to Molly.
For a moment Molly narrowed her eyes, thinking about Hermione's first comment to Ron, as it seemed to confirm that the two had perhaps gone even further than she had at first suspected, and Ron's early waking could be very well explained by the two somehow managing to actually sleep together for the night, despite her wards. But then she let it go and smiled, when she remembered that Hermione seemed to be ready for marriage, and she couldn't really fault them.
"Yes, I do, and I'm happy for you," Molly said to her youngest son with a warm smile, and she stood up to ready some breakfast for him too. "Some" being a rather relative term here, since she, of course, knew about Ron's eating habits.
"Oh," Ron said a bit surprised, but he was relieved too. "So, we can finally stop sneaking around?" he said with a smile, and he surprised Molly by taking the plate and sitting a couple of seats away from Hermione – she had thought that he would want to sit by his girlfriend.
Molly decided that she needed to think about Hermione's earlier words, and she left the young couple to themselves, as she went to the living room and sat down on the couch to think what Hermione could have meant by them not being able to marry by the laws of the magical world.
Besides their age, the only thing that she could come up with was Hermione's muggle heritage, but whatever ridiculous laws there had been against pure-bloods marrying muggle-borns, had been repealed centuries ago; that much Molly still remembered from history of magic, and she couldn't imagine that Hermione didn't know about that, since she was easily the smartest witch she had ever known.
This time her thoughts were interrupted by whispering voices coming from the stairs.
"– and I hate having to sneak around," Harry's soft voice broke into her consciousness.
"I know, but we can't really tell mum, since she would probably freak out. Or more likely, faint dead on the spot," Ginny's urgent voice replied.
"And just what can't you tell me?" Molly said, feigning to be angry at them, as the two appeared at the top of the stairs.
Harry and Ginny were both looking like deer caught in the headlights (but of course Molly wasn't aware of the muggle expression), and they looked at each other anxiously, before both opened their mouths to say something, but Molly cut them off.
"It's all right, I know about you," she said and smiled.
"You do? And you're not mad?" Ginny asked, surprised.
"Of course not, dears. I'm happy for you. All four of you," Molly told them with a reassuring smile.
"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Weasley," Harry replied with a clear look of relief etched on his face, and the two teenagers walked down the stairs.
"Please, call me Molly, Harry," Molly replied softly and smiled widely. "It seems like you and Hermione are going to be part of the family soon, and that 'Mrs. Weasley' just won't do anymore, don't you think?" she questioned.
"You know it's not that simple, mum," Ginny interjected with a sigh. "Even if we know that's what we want, the laws of the magical world won't allow it, and I guess we'll just have to do it in the muggle world. And for that we need to be eighteen, since that's the age of majority in the muggle world," she said.
Molly was once again taken by surprise about them not being able to marry. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't the law allow you to marry?" she blurted, not even trying to hide her incomprehension and surprise.
Ginny looked surprised for a moment, before she replied. "Oh, mum, you know how old-fashioned the wizarding world is compared to the muggle world, and I'm a bit surprised you don't know about it. But then again, very few are open about it in the wizarding world, so I guess you just haven't heard about it. But the fact is that the laws don't allow us to marry and that's most likely not going to change for a long time," she explained and gave a small, sad shrug.
"But, but," Molly said as she tried to wrap her head around the matter, but then her mind caught on to something that she could comprehend. "You've no trouble talking with Harry about this?" she asked, surprised about her daughter discussing marriage openly in front of her boyfriend.
Ginny smiled and turned to Harry. "Of course not. He's my confidant and he can understand just what we're going through, so it's just natural for me to talk with him," she said fondly. "I guess I could talk with Ron too, but somehow I don't think he'd be comfortable about it," she continued and shrugged again.
"Oh, and talking about Ron, we need to get some breakfast before he eats everything," she added to Harry and she left towards the kitchen, pulling Harry by the hand with her.
Molly just stood there for a second, gawking at the teenagers, but then she quickly followed them to the kitchen. At the door she saw Harry and Ginny smiling happily when they saw Ron and Hermione (and Molly was surprised about Ron still sitting away from Hermione), but then Molly got another surprise when Harry sat down next to Ron and wrapped an arm around him, both of them blushing slightly, but they were also smiling.
Meanwhile Ginny walked to Hermione, and Molly's mouth dropped open in shock when Ginny unabashedly sat on Hermione's lap, straddling her on the chair, and she kissed Hermione full on the lips. Hermione pulled back shortly, but she only seemed to be pleased and somewhat embarrassed about Ginny's actions.
"Good morning, love," Ginny said with a smile, at the same time as Hermione blushed and said, "Ginny, we've got company!"
"But, but, what?" Molly was trying to get something out, looking between all four of them. "But Ginny and Harry! And Ron and Hermione!" she finally blurted out.
Harry and Ron looked at Ginny and Hermione with an uncomprehending look, but the girls seemed to figure it out, and it was Ginny that spoke first. "Oh, mum, did you think that I was with Harry and that Ron was with Hermione?" she asked and Molly just nodded silently, unable to speak.
"I'm with Hermione, mum," Ginny told emphatically and looked at Hermione with a loving smile, before turning to look at the boys, who were now looking embarrassed, but both of them had an arm around each other and they nodded.
"And Harry and Ron are together," Ginny added, before turning back to Molly.
Molly's mind seemed to be trying to wrap itself around the matter furiously, and eventually her brain managed to make the connection, and a couple of things fell in place at once; the kids hadn't tipped her wards, because neither the girls nor the boys had entered each other's bedrooms at night, and it also explained why they couldn't get married – gay marriage wasn't allowed in the Wizarding World.
"Oh," she said simply, and, as Ginny had predicted, fainted on the spot.
There. Sorry, I couldn't warn about the slashiness, because it would have probably given away the ending, but I hope you weren't too bothered about it. There wasn't anything too graphic.
Also, I'm not sure if gay marriage is legal in Britain, but let's just pretend it is, for the sake of the story...