Room service arrived earlier than any of the the girls wanted to be awake, but once the tea and muffins hit their bellies, they couldn't help but sigh with delight. They ate together in the sitting room, Ginny sprawled across an arm chair; Hermione and Luna next to each other on the couch. The girls had agreed no more talk about the previous evening's unexpected event, choosing to focus again on Ginny's surprise revelation.
"When do you plan to tell your parents?" Luna asked between bites of her cinnamon scone.
"Harry & I decided to wait until Christmas. The Chosen One as a son-in-law - It will be the best gift I've ever given them!" Ginny laughed.
"Don't let him hear you calling him that!" Hermione playfully scolded. "It will go straight to his head, and there will be no living with him."
"I think you've got my boyfriend confused with my brother again, Hermione." Ginny couldn't resist the chance to poke fun at her closest brother, who just happened to love the spotlight more than anyone she'd ever met.
Hermione and Luna laughed along, mostly because they knew what she'd said was 100% accurate. Harry wasn't the type to seek out adulation. It was unavoidable, being that he was The Boy Who Lived and the one who defeated Voldemort, but if it were up to him, he'd never again be the center of attention. Ron, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of his new found fame. Being part of the Golden Trio played right into Ron's desire for the spotlight. He relished all the interviews and fan mail. Much to Hermione's dismay, he'd even received several marriage proposals! He didn't much care for being the last one the reporters looked to, usually after Harry and Hermione had declined to comment, but he'd take what he could get until he was able to make a name for himself apart from his more famous friends.
"We should go dress shopping," Hermione exclaimed suddenly, jumping up off the couch. "We have over three hours until we are supposed to meet Molly at the Leaky Cauldron. There's a great little bridal shoppe between here and there."
Hermione could see the trepidation in Ginny's eyes. "It'll be great, Ginny. You'll see. Just one or two dresses, and we'll be on our way." She turned to Luna for backup, but the blonde shook her head and held her hands up indicating it was solely up to Ginny. "Pleeeeease?" Hermione begged, turned back the bride-to-be.
"Oh, fine!" Ginny threw her hands up in defeat.
"Two dresses, Granger, and that's it!" Ginny scoffed as she gazed through the window at the much too-ornate gowns. "Its not like I could afford any of these, anyway," she added mostly to herself.
"So when is the wedding?" Clara, the bridal clerk began giving her usual spiel.
"We haven't decided yet," Ginny admitted, giving Hermione a sideways glance she hoped conveyed her displeasure.
"They just got engaged six days ago, haven't even told their family yet." She blurted as if that would explain the lack of wedding date. She rambled when she was uncomfortable, and right then, she was as uncomfortable as a hippogriff in a bathing suit. "This girls' weekend was planned before, so this is a spur-of-the-moment shopping trip. We - I forced her to come. Thought it would be fun -" Hermione snapped her mouth shut when she saw the three women gaping at her. "Sorry." She politely smiled, but could feel the red rising into her cheeks.
"Well then, let's have a look around, shall we." Clara remained professional, though her eyes revealed her displeasure at knowing Ginny had no intention of purchasing a gown today.
The three friends had browsed the racks for over an hour, and only had two Ginny-approved dresses to show for it.
"Get in there, then," Hermione instructed, pointing to the changing room Clara had prepared.
"You two can have a seat on the couch. I'll have her runway ready in no time." Clara chimed. Ginny gave them a desperate look before disappearing behind the white door.
The first dress was a strapless, satin, fit and flare, ball gown with a ruched bodess and a sweetheart neckline. As Ginny stepped on the pedestal, she smoothed her hands down over her hips. "I've never worn something so... confining." Ginny muttered as she squirmed around trying to get comfortable. Her reflection stopped her, however, and she dropped her arms to her sides and gasped as she felt a wave of joy rush over her.
"Finally," thought Hermione, "she is letting herself enjoy this."
"I'm getting married!" Ginny proclaimed, turning to face her two friends, tears spilling from her eyes. "After everything we've been through. Harry and I are going to be married!"
Luna and Hermione joined her on the pedestal, wrapping her into a group hug. All three of them were crying now, and for a long moment, they simply held each other. Conveying with their embrace what they could not speak out loud. Voldemort was gone. The war was over. They could live and love as they wanted. They were free.
"I want to see the other one." Luna chirped through a knot of Hermione's hair, bringing them back to reality, and causing her friends to chuckle.
"You got it," Ginny smiled.
While they all agreed Ginny was stunning in the strapless ball gown, they couldn't deny that the second was more her style. It was an empire waist chiffon gown with a beaded belt under the bust and spaghetti straps. Ginny liked this one better because it was not at all form-fitting. Although she had an enviable body, she didn't care to show it off.
"As fun as this has been," Ginny threw Hermoine an appreciative look, "We need to get going if we're going to meet mum by 1. You know she'll tear down all of London looking for us if we're late."
Compared to the pristine bridal shoppe they'd just left (which had been added to the list of things from this weekend that they were not allowed to tell anyone), the Leaky Cauldron may as well have been an old garbage can. It was dark and damp and it smelled like moldy cheese or Ron's feet. Ginny never could quite distinguish between the two. But it was familiar. They were back in the wizarding world.
"Ginny!" Molly's voice was unmistakable, even amidst the dull roar of the Leaky Cauldron regulars. Business had picked up since Voldemort was defeated, much to Tom, the barkeep's dismay. Although the extra galleons felt good in his pocket, more business meant more hours which in turn meant he never got the chance to spend them. He'd much preferred when he could take an afternoon or two off every week. Now he was lucky if he managed to sneak away once a month.
"Mum. Right on time!" Ginny stood to hug her overly jovial mother.
"Hermione. Luna. Good to see you as well, dears." They each hugged the Weasley mother in turn. "Will you girls be joining us for school shopping?" Molly asked, expectantly.
Hermione looked to Luna, as the blonde answered, "Dad and I finished my shopping last week. But I wouldn't mind dropping in to see George. I have something for him.
"Good, good." Molly then turned to Hermione. "And you love?"
"I was planning on it. Saved all my shopping for the last minute this year."
"Well, that settles it, then." Molly crooned. "Diagon Alley, here we come."
Molly tapped the stones in the courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron with her wand and the wall opened up to reveal the wizarding world's equivalent of a mega-mall.
"I have the boys' lists as well," Molly huffed. "Merlin forbid they do their own shopping!"
"You know you love it, mum." Ginny teased. "Getting to take care of them like they are still your wittle darlings, rather than full grown men."
Everyone got a good laugh at that as they headed into Madam Malkin's. Everyone, girls and boys alike needed new robes. Their old ones were either too small, or had been destroyed in the battle. One of the benefits of their children becoming adults was Molly and Arthur now only needed to purchase two sets of supplies, and could afford new rather than secondhand. Not that that had ever mattered to Ginny, but Ron was sure to voice his displeasure on many an occasion. "At least in this, his last year, he'd receive all new," Molly thought to herself happily, as she paid.
Flourish & Blotts was Hermione's favorite shop in Diagon Alley. She could spend hours perusing the unique titles, but this day was for textbooks only. She handed her list to the middle-aged witch behind the counter, and waited as each book was accio'd into her tote making it rather heavy. She thought of using a weightless charm on it, but opted to muggle-it-out. The others did use the charm, and soon they were making their way to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
Jenna, a Hufflepuff from the twins' year, and George's only employee hurriedly greeted them as they walked through the door. "Ladies, what a pleasure to see you all today." The smile never left her face as she continued, "George has been having some 'issues' this morning, but I'm sure a visit from his family and friends will snap him right out of it."
Concern flashed in Molly's eyes as gazed upward to the flat above the joke shop. "Thank you, Jenna."
The four women stood outside George's door for nearly five minutes listening to a stream of obscenities so foul even Merlin himself would have blushed. They'd tried knocking, but George either didn't hear or he was choosing to ignore it. "Enough with this - ALOHAMORA!" Ginny spat.
No amount of magical training or experience could have prepared them for what they saw when the door swung open. George lay, bound and gagged, in the middle of his sitting room while miniature heads, with wings where the ears should be, flew circles around him, spewing vulgar insults. Hermione snatched a head out of the air, and found herself face-to-face with an uncanny likeness of Fred, who was now calling her the unrepeatable names.
Hermione could barely stifle her laugh long enough to point her wand at the tiny Fred heads and yell, "IMOBULUS!" The commotion immediately ceased as the heads began silently floating aimlessly.
"That was bloody magnificent!" Ginny roared, holding her sides and smirking at her still-bound brother.
Molly freed her son with a flick of her wand. "Thanks, mum. Nice to see at least one of the Weasley women has their priorities straight." George gaffed as he picked himself off the floor. "As for you, little sis, how long were you going to let me lie there?"
"Just a while longer." Ginny teased, pulling her brother into a hug.
"Hermione, Luna..." George tipped his head to them in a way that would have been considering flirtatious had they not been practically family, as he swirled his wand around his head, corralling the floating heads into a waste bin.
"How long had that been going on?" Molly asked, her lips twitching as she tried to hold back a laugh.
"What time is now," George glanced at his watch. "2:30, hmm, yeah... so just over three hours."
The room was then filled with four distinct peels of feminine laughter. Hermione's genuine belly laugh that filled her from the tips of her toes to the bushy mane atop her head, Ginny's roar, Luna's reserved chortle and Molly's hiccuping attempt to not laugh at her son's misery.
"What... What happen...ed?" Hermione barely choked out.
"Oddly enough...Fred happened." George chuckled. "Come, have some tea, and I'll regale you with the tales of my woe."
The girls settled into the couch, leaving Mrs. Weasley and George the two arm chairs.
"So, there was this box. And it sat on the bottom tier of that bookshelf since the day we moved into this place." he indicated the bookshelf next to the window overlooking Diagon Alley. "Written on the box, in Fred's perfect handwriting, cause let's face it, that boy knew how to use a quill, am I right?" He was met with four pairs of rolling eyes. "I digress. Written on the box was: Never Open Or You Will Face My Endless Wrath. Naturally, I opened the box. Nothing. Not gonna lie. I was disappointed. I'd thought for sure he would have at least popped a boggart in there, but nope. A few months later, Fred added: I Really Mean It This Time. DO NOT OPEN! Again, I sated my curiosity, only to find the box was yet again...empty. A couple years passed, and I would occasionally open that bloody box just for the hell of it. I knew Fred would turn his non-prank into a prank eventually. I even placed my own booby-traps in it so Fred would get hit when he messed with it. Nothing. Nearly two years of NOTHING! Then on the day we left to come fight with y'all at Hogwarts, I noticed he'd added: I'll Never Let You Hear The End Of It If You Open This Box One More Time, George!" Molly began to cry quietly, and he paused to place a hand on her shaking shoulder. "Well, obviously," he continued, "I didn't have the chance to open before we left, and honestly, I couldn't bring myself to open it for fear it would just be empty again, like everything else in this apartment since he's been gone. But this morning I was cleaning... Yes, I do that sometimes, mother... and I accidentally kicked it onto the floor. The lid slid off, and before I knew what was happening, I was, well... I was just like you found me. Those things," he pointed to heads still flapping their wings in the waste bin, "held true to Fred's promise of never letting me hear the end of it, because they'd been going strong ever since."
"Leave it to Fred to get the last laugh," Molly sniffled.
"Well, you're glad we just happened to stop by, Georgie," Ginny chided. "Because Jenna thought you were the one up here making all this ruckus. Yeah, she said you were... what's the word? - 'having issues.' If it weren't for us, you'd still be bound and gagged on the floor, and not in the fun way."
"Ginevra Molly Potter..." Her mother gasped, clutching her heart, while George spit his tea across the room.
"What, we're all adults here, right?!" Ginny chimed, innocently, drawing snickers from her two friends.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Luna and I have to be going," Hermione changed the subject, raising herself from the couch. "We are meeting my parents at the hotel at 5, and we still need to freshen up. Thank you, George, for the tea and for the laughs."
"Always a pleasure, Granger," He said as he gave her a goodbye hug.
"I made something for you." Luna stated, placing a silver medallion in his hand. One side was polished silver, while the other looked rather like the swirling water of a pensieve. "Its a memory pocket watch," she explained, soft enough so only he could hear. "Instead of giving you the time of day, it will show you memories that happened on this day in the past. I've charmed it to play your memories from farthest back to most recent on a loop each day."
"Thanks, Luna. I really don't know what to say." He whispered as he pulled her into a warm embrace. "I will treasure this, always."
"You're welcome George." Luna replied whimsically, before joining Hermione outside the door.
"I'm looking forward to meeting your parents, Hermione." Luna beamed, as they walked arm-in-arm out of the store.
