'Pull yourself together, Potter! You're a Gryffindor! Where is all that daring, nerve and chivalry? You've faced dragons, dementors, even Voldemort. You can do this,' Harry mentally chided himself. But Harry privately thought he would much rather have another go with the dragon than do this. He breathed in the cool night air and tried to steady himself. He had to do it tonight. It was so difficult finding a timeslot in which he wouldn't get caught by Ginny.
He put his shaking hands into his pockets, cleared his throat, and marched up to the timeworn wooden door. For the fifth time. He reached the door, felt the panic rise in him and was just about to turn back again, when the door opened.
"Harry?"
Harry choked a little on his own spit and looked up into the concerned eyes of Mr Weasley, who was wearing his work robes and clutching his briefcase, apparently having just got home.
"Mr Weasley," he muttered, suddenly at a loss of what to say.
"Come on in, are you looking for Ginny?" Mr Weasley asked kindly.
Harry shook his head and stepped over the threshold anyway. His tongue seemed stuck to the roof of his mouth.
"You look pale, Harry… Is something the matter?" Mr Weasley definitely looked worried now. "Molly? MOLLY!"
Mrs Weasley came hurrying into the tiny kitchen, her hair already rolled into hair curlers, apparently halfway through her nighttime routine. "What's wrong, Arthur?"
"Harry doesn't look…" Mr Weasley began but Harry quickly shook himself mentally and cleared his throat.
"Actually, Mr and Mrs Weasley, I came to ask you both something."
Mr and Mrs Weasley looked at each other, and there seemed to be some sort of silent communication between them. Harry took a deep breath and tried not to worry about what that look meant. This proved extremely difficult, and he tugged a little at his collar, as he felt the heat rise to his face.
"Of course, Harry. Go into the sitting room, I'll make us some tea," Mrs Weasley said, bustling around the little kitchen, setting the kettle on to boil.
Harry walked carefully around the kitchen table, trying not to knock over the stack of laundry perched precariously on that one chair, and followed Mr Weasley into the sitting room.
"Make yourself comfortable, Harry. I'm just going to put down my things," Mr Weasley gestured to the couches as he walked up the stairs to his bedroom.
Harry nodded his appreciation and sat nervously into his favourite saggy old armchair. He patted the pocket of his robes for the 600th time that day. Okay, still got it, he assured himself. He went over what he wanted to say in his head again and took several more deep breaths.
As he heard two sets of footsteps approaching the sitting room, he stood up slowly. Mrs Weasley appeared, bearing the tray of teacups and the teapot. He walked forward to carry the tray for her instead, and settled it carefully on to the table. Mrs Weasley exclaimed her thanks and Mr Weasley followed after her into the sitting room. They both sat down and faced Harry expectantly.
Harry cleared his throat.
He cleared it again.
Still, they looked at him, not saying anything, waiting for him to break the silence. Harry thought he saw something in Mrs Weasley's face, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
'Come on, Potter!', a voice inside Harry's head yelled.
"Mr and Mrs Weasley, I hope you know that I have always been grateful for you taking care of me as though I were one of your own sons. I… I learnt what it was to have a family, through all the summers I spent with your wonderful family. I'd always envied Ron, and I… I used to wish I could have been a part of your family. And more than that, life with Ginny has been more than I'd ever dared to dream of. I never knew I could be this happy, and I know I want to spend my whole life making her as happy as she has made me. I love her more than I have ever loved anyone else." Harry said all this in a rush. He was almost scared to look them in the eyes.
"So today, I've come to ask you if you'd allow me to become truly a part of the family. Today, I've come to ask for your permission to marry Ginny."
He finished his speech, and stopped to draw breath. He forced himself to raise his gaze from Mr Weasley's shoulders to his eyes, then Mrs Weasley's. And what he saw there floored him. There were tears, in both their eyes.
"Of course, Harry!" Mr Weasley was saying, getting up to clap him on the back, while Mrs Weasley sobbed into her hankerchief. She too, got up and hugged Harry tightly.
"We've always considered you part of the family, Harry! And oh! I'm SO HAPPY Ginny is marrying you!" Mrs Weasley cried, jumping up and down, her face breaking into a huge smile, her eyes crinkling happily. And Harry recognized the look in Mrs Weasley's face that he hadn't before. It was the same look Ginny had when she knew he had a surprise planned for her (he was bad at keeping things secret from her) – suppressed joy.
Harry rather thought his eyes had become wet too. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Thank you so much, Mr and Mrs Weasley," he said slightly hoarsely, hoping his voice wasn't shaking, and hugged Mrs Weasley back.
"Oh! I can't wait to start planning the wedding! Where shall we have it? My only daughter! Marrying Harry Potter, bless my heart," Mrs Weasley was talking very fast and wringing her hands excitedly now.
"Molly… come now, Harry hasn't even asked Ginny yet! Don't get ahead of yourself," Mr Weasley said smiling, patting her on the arm.
"Yes… I really hope you can help me keep this a secret from everyone, until I propose to Ginny. I plan to do it tomorrow night," Harry said, and he realized he didn't seem to be able to stop smiling.
Mrs Weasley squealed excitedly and began asking more questions, "Where are you going to do it, Harry? How are you going to ask her? Can we watch? I promise I'll just hide quietly out of sight!"
"Now now, Molly, we'll let Harry and Ginny have some privacy. We can hear about the story afterwards. I'm sure whatever Harry has in mind, Ginny will love it," Mr Weasley said, winking at Harry.
Harry grinned, hoping he was right.