Chapter Summary – Harry must rehers!
Harry Potter and the Question of Doom!
Part two!
All the World is a stage!
"Ginny…" he looked serious, "would you…be my wife…?" he asked.
He glared at the mirror as he decided to change his approach. Maybe not being up front and personal would work.
"Ginny, would you spend the rest of your life with me?" he tried again. The face in the mirror gave back the same nervous look that Harry was shooting at it. Hermione had said that practicing would help me. However, he wasn't so sure. How could he be romantic but not stuffily so? It was a mystery that he wasn't exactly sure he could solve before Saturday night.
Two more days and he would have to ask Mr. Weasely for his only daughters hand in marriage. It was a Wizarding tradition, while the muggles chose to follow this tradition or not, Hermione had informed Harry that if he did not ask Mr. Weasely before hand, than Ginny would most probably reject him because of it. Apparently, tradition was very important.
"I hate tradition," Harry muttered (1). He sighed as he turned away from the mirror, he passed his bedroom without a glance, and continued on down the hallway and stares till he entered the living room. Hermione had made herself comfortable on the couch with all of her books.
"I've picked these up for you," she said as he sat down in a chair.
"What are they?"
"Books on tradition, Ginny's family are purebloods, so I suppose they might adhere to some of them," Hermione said.
"Like the asking of the hand in marriage?" Harry asked.
"Yes, and Mr. Weasely might ask you some important questions; like what you would like to do in the future, where the family would live and if there would be enough money for everyone, well, you and Ginny. Ron was surprised when my Dad didn't ask him that last part – I told him it was because my Dad just wanted to see me happy," Hermione said.
"Ah," Harry nodded his head.
"Anyway, read this one first, it doesn't have much detail to it, but it'll give you the basics," Hermione handed him a book, it was more of a pamphlet, but Harry didn't mind.
"Thank you Hermione," Harry said.
She grinned at him, "Not a problem."
She stood and grabbed her book bag, "I've got to go home now, Ron said he would have dinner ready, but I'm pretty sure he burnt the house down," she said. Harry handed her the pot of floo power. He waved at her as she disappeared into the fire place. Harry sighed as he put the pot back in its place. He picked the book back up to see what was so important about it.
Wizarding Tradition for Muggles by Emily Edwards
A Wizarding book that was probably written by a muggle for a muggle, what was the world coming too? However, Harry figured that he might as well sit down and read it since there was nothing better to do.
So, you want to know ALL ABOUT WIZARDING TRADITION! DO YOU? Well, that is what I am here to inform you about. The first thing you have to know is that this book is just the basics, if you want to know more you have to go looking for other books, savvy? All right then.
Asking for the Hand – Asking for the young woman's hand is the most IMPORTANT tradition EVER! If you don't do this, the family will reject you forever and you might even get cursed. So, ask the father first! Good grief!
The Ring – Now, if you are reading this and have all ready gotten a ring. I hope it's the right one! For instance, you must pick a ring that has good attributes. Nothing that means depressing things. It's bad luck for the bride!
Asking the Bride – The ring means two things to the bride. First, it means that you promise certain things to her. You promise to love and care for her. Second, you promise to help her with whatever she needs. In a Wizarding family, there are certain things that the Groom must pay for.
Her flowers.
her wedding band.
Her wedding jewelry.
A wedding present.
The wedding cake.
Must pay half the bill for a church, if applicable, and the reception.
Harry gave the book a look; he didn't know that the Groom had so many responsibilities! He shook his head as he put the book down. It only had about five pages, but he honestly did not feel like reading on at all. It was then that his phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hello? Harry?" it was Ginny.
"How are you dear?" Harry asked.
"Good, Harry – are you coming over on Saturday?" Ginny asked.
"Er – I must have forgotten to tell you…"
"That's just like you! But it's all right. I'll tell Mum! By!" Ginny replied and hung up. Harry shook his head as he put his receiver down. She must be very excited. He hoped that Ron hadn't said anything to her, that would ruin the surprise. However…There might be a hint or two for her.
Ginny could be a very excitable girl when she wanted to be. It was much to her surprise when there came a knocking at their back door. Non of the alarms around the Burrow had gone off and so Ginny assumed it was someone she knew. Since her mother was busy upstairs, Ginny answered the back door.
"Mistress Ginny, Ma'am! Is gots a present for you from Master Harry Potter!" it was Kreatcher. The house elf had made a drastic change and loved Harry like Dobby had till the day he had died. Ginny was glad, for Kreatcher wasn't so scary as he had been. She took the gift from him.
"Thank you, would you like a snack or anything?" she asked.
"Nos, Is gots to get back to the Master!" and with a bow, Kreatcher popped away. She laughed a bit as she brought the gift inside. It wasn't wrapped in anything much, the hand was wood and it was covered by a dark red velvet curtain. Ginny considered calling her mother down, but taken by this surprise she decided to see what was underneath this curtain.
When she pulled it away; a bird of such golden beauty took her breath away. The Snidget was a bird of such legend that it was very much respected amongst the Wizarding world. She had seen a few at the Animal Emporium in Diagon Alley, but only that store was allowed to sell them. There was a note attached to the handle of the cage.
Dear Ginny,
I hope you enjoy.
Yours forever, Harry
Short and to the point, that was Harry James Potter. She giggled as she watched the bird flit around. Then she became serious, the bird stopped and looked at her.
"Whatever am I to call you?" she asked the bird. It chirped at her. She shook her head as she went to call fro her Mother to see what Harry had sent her.
"What are you going to call it?" George asked.
"I'm not sure, I thought of Genji (2)" Ginny replied.
"Why would you name it that?" George looked surprised.
"Unlike you, I like reading muggle books," Ginny sniffed.
"Oh, fine, whatever!" George gave up.
"Don't be silly! I think it's a great name!"
"If you think so," George shrugged.
"Ginny, you do know what this means, right?" Arthur asked his only daughter.
"Yes, Harry means to marry me!" she giggled.
"Yes, but he hasn't asked me yet. I think he may on Saturday," he replied.
"I'm not worried," Ginny said. She grinned as she took up the cage to go and find a place for Genji in her room.
Ginny looked over her book on Haiku as the day turned to night and twilight was suddenly upon them; she looked out the window, the light green curtains waved in the heavy summer breeze wondered into the room. Genji was pruning his wings before yawning widely. Ginny smiled as she got up off her bed, she wished the bird a good nights sleep before she covered the cage.
Her usual night time ritual consisted of washing her hair, brushing said hair, changing into her pj's she crawled under her coverlets. The lamp went out as he head hit the pillow and now only moon light dazzled the room.
She sighed as she thought of Harry, she had sent of a thank you note that afternoon. He had responded with a love/poem letter with a golden rose attached to it. The rose had real gold as the petals as the stem was green glass. It was very nice and Molly had given Ginny a vase to keep it in. Within the confines of her room, the rose was a gem hidden within a trash heap (for it was lovely amongst the rather threadbare looks of her room).
Ginny giggled, Harry wasn't good at any sort of prose, though she could see where Hermione had probably helped him out a little bit. As she went to sleep, she thought of the next day, trying to make sure that the excitement did not build up to a point where she could not sleep at all.
A/N – Okay, here is the second part. I hope you all like it.
1) A Captain Jack Sparrow reference! yay for me!
2) Historical note – Genji is the main character in "The Tale of Genji". Go read it, it is a good book!