Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter, just an over-active imagination.
Chapter Four: New Rules
There were a few butterflies fluttering feebly around Harry's stomach when he stepped out of the fireplace at The Burrow.
Mrs Weasley greeted him cheerily. "Hello, Harry dear. Just shift those wedding gifts to the sitting room and then there will be room for us all to sit down at the table."
Harry carried to two decorously wrapped presents into the sitting room and set them down next to the enormous pile already in the corner.
When he came back into the kitchen, Ginny was walking past with a stack of plates. Harry grabbed the large bowl of salad sitting on the counter top.
"When?" he whispered, leaning over next to her to place the bowl in the centre of the table.
"After lunch," Ginny muttered back. Harry nodded in agreement and they returned to the kitchen to grab the cutlery.
A sudden whoosh of green in the fireplace announced George's arrival.
"Hi, Mum," he said, kissing Mrs Weasley's cheek.
"Hello, George dear. Angelina isn't coming?" she replied, a line of concern appearing between her eyes.
"No – she says she's feeling a little bit funny, so her sister Callie has gone 'round to our place to spend the day with her. However, she instructed that I ought to bring her back leftovers." George peeked into the sitting room as he made his way to the table. "Wow, Ron and Hermione did well!"
Mr Weasley came in from upstairs and sat down beside George. "Yes, and now we get to watch it cluttering up our sitting room while they're in Martinique for the next ten days."
Harry chuckled and took a seat beside Ginny. Mrs Weasley placed the large dish of lasagne on the table and began doling out large portions to them all.
"I see Percy hasn't made the effort today," George remarked as he added a large pile of salad to his plate.
"No," Mrs Weasley said. "He mentioned last night that he had a prior engagement today."
"Probably spending his Sunday cataloguing his in-tray," George said under his breath.
They ate in silence for a few minutes before Mrs Weasley began talking about the wedding in great detail.
"My cousin, Trisha was so impressed with Hermione's dress. She couldn't believe it was Muggle-made. I must say I was worried when Hermione told us she wanted to keep things as Muggle as possible, but they do seem to know what they're doing."
Harry listened for a few moments, but found his attention wandering when he started anticipating Mr and Mrs Weasley's reactions to the news that Ginny wanted to move into Grimmauld Place.
Harry's organs felt as though they were twisting inside of him. He internally berated himself, thinking over the multitude of frightening and dangerous things he had experienced. How could one conversation cause the memory of flying around the head of a ferocious Hungarian Horntail to pale in comparison? Surely Lord Voldemort was more terrifying than Mrs Weasley, although on the other hand ... Harry dragged his mind back to the conversation the others were having.
Ginny shot him a questioning look, arching an eyebrow. Harry mustered a half smile for her and tried to concentrate on what was being said.
"...owls were coming in from almost everyone this morning," George was saying. "Everyone wanted to know how they could get their hands on the sparklers. I even got a few from people who weren't at the wedding."
"I'm not at all surprised," Mrs Weasley said. "They were lovely – really brightened up the evening."
"Anyway, we're going to have to boost up production of them from the early signs of demand. I'll probably have them in the store at the start of next week."
"What are you going to call them?" Harry asked, finally finding a way into the conversation.
"I thought I might memorialise Ron and Hermione's wedding and call them Mrs Weasley's Felicitation Firecrackers."
"That should appease Hermione a bit," Ginny said.
"I thought so," George grinned.
In Harry's opinion lunch was over far too quickly and George was already on his feet, overseeing the packing of Angelina's leftovers.
George picked up the container. "Thanks, Mum," he said, kissing her cheek. "See you next week." He waved to the others before disappearing into the fireplace.
Ginny eyed Harry as Mrs Weasley set about making a pot of tea. Harry gave her a resigned sort of smile.
"We'll have to drink it in here I'm afraid," said Mrs Weasley placing down the tray on the kitchen table. "It's simply too crowded in the sitting room."
She handed Mr Weasley his cup and Harry watched him stir in milk and sugar. A large lump was forming in Harry's throat. He was sure that if he tried to talk he would choke on it – or Mr Weasley would choke him after he'd heard what he and Ginny had to say. Harry put his hands in his lap and tightened his fists to redirect his nervousness.
Ginny stirred her own tea and laid the spoon down on the saucer gently.
"Mum, Dad, Harry and I have something we want to discuss with you."
Mrs Weasley's eyes flashed excitedly. "Of course, dear. What is it?"
"Well," Ginny began, taking a deep breath, "Harry and I were talking this morning and we decided we wanted to live together at Grimmauld Place."
As she was speaking, Harry stopped breathing, waiting for the bomb to go off. Ginny gave him a small smile and squeezed his tightly clenched fist under the table. Harry relaxed briefly – long enough to take Ginny's hand in his own.
"There's no way," Mrs Weasley spluttered. "You're much too young, Ginny."
"I'm of age," Ginny replied firmly.
"That may be so," said Mr Weasley, "but that doesn't mean that you know what is best for you."
"This is so typical!" Ginny said, the anger evident in her tone. "When Ron and Hermione moved in there no one had a problem."
"Don't be ridiculous, Ginny. Of course your father and I spoke to Ron about it. We had a very serious conversation and several conditions were drawn up."
"Conditions?" Ginny asked dubiously.
"Yes, conditions. Coming home for Sunday lunch for one. Another was he agreed to move back if his studies became effected." Mrs Weasley was counting the points off on her fingertips as she spoke.
"So why didn't he have to move back after he dropped out of Auror training?"
"Because he had lined up a good alternative by joining George at the joke shop," Mr Weasley said. "Your mother and I agreed he had made an excellent, mature decision so we removed the condition."
"He also agreed that he and Hermione would sleep in separate rooms," Mrs Weasley added.
Ginny snorted. "If you think those two weren't - "
"Enough," Mr Weasley interrupted. "None of this is helping your case, Ginevra." He took a sip of his tea and placed the cup back down steadily. "We know we can't deny permission to you because we know you and your temper well enough to know you would go anyway."
Ginny increased her grip on Harry's hand.
"However, there are some conditions we would like both," his gaze shifted to Harry for a moment, "of you to agree to before we give our blessing."
Harry's throat finally unstuck. "I'm sure we can make it work." Harry glanced at Ginny, who still looked up for a fight. "Right, Gin?"
Ginny gave a small nod of assent.
"First and foremost," Mrs Weasley began, "you will keep separate bedrooms."
"Fine," agreed Harry immediately.
Mr Weasley nodded at him. "Second, you will continue to attend Sunday lunch, unless there is a match on or you have another engagement you must attend. Third, Ginny's Quidditch must not be compromised by this arrangement – no missed training or team meetings."
Ginny must have sensed she was winning because her grip on Harry's hand relaxed and she began nodding fervently.
"I wouldn't let anything get in the way of Ginny's Quidditch," Harry said earnestly. "Her career's very important to me, too."
"I'm glad to hear that, Harry," said Mr Weasley. "Which brings me to condition four. Your career. We are very proud of your achievements in the Auror office, but you cannot deny that it is dangerous work and you seem to find yourself in the middle of that danger at every step."
Harry felt his face burn a little.
"We want to be sure that Ginny will be safe with you," Mr Weasley must have seen something in Harry's expression because he gave him a small smile before continuing. "Of course we trust you, Harry, but what we are asking of you is to concentrate on separating your work from your personal life."
Harry was sure he understood and he slowly nodded his head. "So what you mean is, leave the Dark Wizards in the Auror office and at home, I'm just Harry." Mr Weasley gave him a small nod. Harry smiled with relief. "I'm sure I can handle that, Mr Weasley."
"In that case, I believe we have an agreement." He stood and shook Harry's hand.
Ginny walked around the table to her parents. "Thank you so much," she breathed, hugging them both.
Mrs Weasley clucked as she held her daughter close. "We just want what's best for you, Ginny." She released Ginny and squeezed her shoulder. "We had best get upstairs and start packing your things." She turned to Harry. "You should get home, Harry dear. I'll come by tomorrow after you get home for work and we'll get Ginny settled in."
Harry grinned at Ginny and headed to the fireplace.
"See you tomorrow then," he said, before the Floo sucked him out of sight of The Burrow.
YAY! How quick was that - just don't get used to it too quickly ;) Thank you so much to the reviewers - it was lovely to get your comments and I hope you all write again and to hear from more of you - the button is right there! Next chapter is on track, so hopefully if I get enough incentive I'll have it ready soon lol. Oh, btw if you do review on something specific you noticed - an error or whatever, please be specific in your review so I can fix it, because obviously I haven't noticed or it wouldn't have made it past both my eagle-eyed beta and myself. Happy St Paddy's Day for tomorrow. Cheers.