Disclaimer: Anything that looks familiar belongs to JK Rowling. I am not she. Everything else is mine.
A/N: Written for LJ helmetfest2008 with the prompt: in public?
Timeline: Oh, let's say second year. *shrug*
Feedback: Always appreciated.
Public Displays of Affection
By Xedra
It startled Harry so much when he first saw it that he stopped right in the middle of Diagon Alley. Ron, still chattering on about the new brooms they'd just seen and drooled over, saw his friend had stopped, looked around but could see nothing out of the ordinary amongst the regular hustle and bustle, so he asked what the matter was.
Harry was staring at Molly and Arthur Weasley as they stood in front of some shop window, pointing and smiling over some of the wares displayed there. Arthur had one arm around his wife and was gesturing elaborately with the other. Molly laughed and slapped him playfully on the chest and shook her head at whatever comment her husband had made, then reached up and lovingly stroked and patted his cheek. Arthur then grinned and leaned down to kiss her soundly on the mouth, squeezing her tightly with one arm before letting her go. Molly was positively beaming as she looked into the display window again, leaning even closer into her husband's embrace.
Ron saw where Harry was looking and rolled his eyes, all too familiar with such displays from his parents. He shrugged, made some kind of embarrassed comment, but smiled as he did so and tugged Harry's sleeve to get him moving again.
Harry's mind was reeling. For a moment all he could think of was how rarely he'd seen Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia show any sort of genuine affection toward each other. There was the sickeningly polite and proper show they would put on for visitors or those they met out in public, their fake smiles and false sincerity always made Harry feel slightly ill. Aunt Petunia would usually tuck her arm around Uncle Vernon's as they walked, and sometimes Harry would see him pat her hand and she his arm. If they ever gave true smiles, they were nasty ones, especially when they traded gossip or passed judgment on those they met or passed by.
Haryy had never once seen such an outpouring of affection from his relatives as he had seen from the Weasleys, and he couldn't even imagine it. The thought of witnessing such a display actually made him a little queasy, so he tried to mentally scrub the image from his brain.
As he walked alongside Ron, one ear tuned into Ron going on about his hopes for the Cannons that year, he watched Molly tuck her arm around Arthur's as they continued down the Alley toward the bookshop. Saw her turn and beckon them with bemused exasperation and frantic hand waving for them to come along, come along. He felt a warmth spread in his chest, along with a small ache. He thought of his own parents. He only had pictures of them, but they were enough to make him believe with the whole of his heart that they must have loved each other just as deeply and unreservedly as Arthur and Molly.