Chapter 2
Enjoy!
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Crack!
"BLOODY HELL, MATE!" Ron yelled, clutching his heart. "You almost killed me there!"
Harry and Ginny pulled themselves up from behind the table, Harry straightening his glasses and Ginny shooting a cheeky grin at her older brother.
"Sorry, Ron, Ginny pulled on my arm at the last minute,"
"Did not."
"Ginny, you look odd," Ron examined his redheaded sister, who was dressed in her finest Muggle dress to meet Hermione's parents. She shot a furtive look at her husband, avoiding Ron's declaration.
"You haven't been drinking, have you? You look a bit tipsy…"
"No, you idiot, I haven't been DRINKING," Ginny snapped. "Am I not allowed to be happy to see my wonderful family and meet my brother's girlfriend's parents, or what?" She stomped off to the kitchen to join the other women, looking at the clock as she went.
"FIFTEEN MINUTES!" Hermione's wail echoed through the lower half of the house, setting Ron back into motion.
"Here, Harry, take these, mate, put these next to the plates," Ron threw the napkins at Harry, who barely caught them as they whizzed towards his face.
"So how's it going here? Hermione about to have a cow?"
"How could you guess, mate," Ron said sourly, though there was a hint of a smile on his face. "Hasn't let me rest for more than five minutes, everything must be perfect,"
"Well, yeah, if her parents are meeting your entire family, I suppose she's a bit worried,"
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
"…well…"
"Spit it out, Harry,"
"Your family's a bit hard to handle all at once, what with all ten thousand of them in one room, you know? I love 'em, but you know what I mean,"
"Speaking of, mate, you know you're part of the family now, so you're putting yourself in that barking mad category," Ron grinned at Harry, who pushed up his glasses with a smile.
"You know it,"
"How's life as newlyweds? Wait no, on the other hand, I don't want to know what you and my sister have been up to lately…"
Fleur bustled in from the kitchen, giving Harry a quick smile and murmuring to herself in French. She took out her wand and waved it in a figure eight, clearing the remaining smoky smell from the house and wiping the windows clean of their smoke grime.
At that moment, an owl appeared outside the window, tapping insistently with its pointed beak. Fleur waved her wand once more, opening the window and letting the brown bird in. It dropped its message on theble and flew out the window once more, soaring free into the clear fresh air.
Ron picked it up. "Oh, Charlie says he can't make it today, some emergency with a dragon in Hungary,"
"I'll go tell your mum, I still haven't seen her, she upstairs?" Harry asked, walking towards the flight of stairs, followed by Fleur.
"Yeah, dunno what she's doing, probably primping to impress," Ron chuckled to himself, at the same time that a chorus of giggles arose in the kitchen. He entered to find Ginny and Hermione with their heads together in a secret discussion. Ginny spotted Ron at the door, and glared at him.
"Women ONLY, Ronald!"
"Dunno what you're talking about, I only see one woman," he winked at Hermione, who erupted in another fit of giggles, turning pink. She turned back to Ginny and whispered furiously, causing Ginny to giggle herself.
Bemused, Ron turned back to the set table as his mother hurried downstairs in pretty red dress robes, followed once again by Harry. She entered the kitchen and exchanged a quick hug and kiss with her only daughter ("Ginny dear, you look quite peaky, are you ill?" "I'm FINE, Mum, everyone should stop asking me why I look STRANGE,"), and huffed to Ron.
"Where on earth are Percy and George? They ARE still coming, yes?"
"Kingsley needed Percy to stay a little later, but he'll be here soon, and George should be here too, yeah," Ron backed away from his flustered looking mother, tripping over a chair in the process.
"Mrs. Weasley, I'm sure they'll be here soon," Harry soothed. "George is probably closing up the shop right now, that's all,"
"I certainly hope so! We cannot have anyone late to this occasion!"
Mr. Weasley's voice boomed from the upstairs. "How much longer til they're here, Molly? I say, this is an exciting time, isn't it? First time we have Muggles in the Burrow! I wonder if they know what a TOASTER is…"
Hermione's keening wail echoed through the entire house. "FIVE MINUTES!"
She ran in from the kitchen, forgetting to put away her apron, her hands darker than usual from the smoke and burnt items. "Ron, I have to go fetch them so soon, can you make sure everything stays put here? I hope the children don't get into the food, and oh, make sure Pig stays in his cage, also, Ginny's putting the finishing touches on the pudding, and Fleur went upstairs to see if your mother had any extra serving spoons in the attic, and oh hello Harry, I haven't seen you for a week, we must catch up, and—" She was cut off from her ramblings with a soft, secretive kiss from Ron on the side of her mouth. Sighing, he reassured her. "'Mione, you and Mum always do this, calm down a bit, eh? It'll be fine, they'll love it. You've worked hard enough, right?" He grinned at her, as she patted his head distractedly.
"Thank you, Ron, dear, alright, everyone ready?"
Mrs. Weasley nodded. "I'll gather the family, we're still waiting on George and Percy,"
"Alright, then," Hermione was about ready to Disapparate when Ron pulled her over and whispered in her ear. Blushing, she took off her apron and wiped her hands on it, fixing her hair as she went.
"How do I look? I haven't seen my parents in weeks, I hope they think I look alright,"
"Hermione, you look gorgeous," Ron said sincerely, squeezing her hand. "Now hurry up, we're all starving,"
Hermione rolled her eyes and Disapparated with a crack, at the same time which George Apparated in and Harry pulled Ron aside.
"You asked her yet, mate?" Harry asked, nudging him.
"No, but I asked her parents for permission last week. I think tonight's going to be the night," Ron fingered the velvet box in his pants pocket.
Tonight's the perfect night.
At that moment, a bang and a scream came from upstairs, and Fleur began yelling in French, with Bill interjecting.
"VICTOIRE! No borrowing of Daddy's wand without permission!"
Ron sighed.
Bollocks.
