Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter, we merely observe its variants and report on our findings.
Chapter 6: How I Wonder What You're At?
"Mr. Weasley, I wanted…well, I mean…can I talk to you about something?"
Arthur Weasley looked up at Harry from across the beaten-up muggle toaster oven he was tinkering with. "You know you can talk to me about anything, Harry," he said. He stood up straight and wiped his arm across his face, leaving a long black streak along his cheek. "What is it?"
"Er…" Harry had planned out what he was going to say, had probably been planning it from the moment that he'd decided to marry Ginny, but every single word he'd had planned had mysteriously disappeared from his head. "Well…dad….sir…Mr. Weasley…"
"What's got you so flustered?" said Mr. Weasley with a chuckle. "You're acting like…" He turned and stared straight at Harry. "What's wrong? Has something happened?"
"No, no. Nothing like that." He pushed his hand through his hair, suddenly becoming interested in a plug sitting on the workbench so he wouldn't have to look up into his (hopefully) future father-in-law's eyes. "Well, you see, it's about Ginny. And me. The both of us."
There was a clank. Harry glanced up and saw that Mr. Weasley had dropped the part that he'd been holding on to. "Y-you? And my daughter? Should I go and get Molly?"
"What? No!" Harry said quickly. He wasn't sure what Mr. Weasley was thinking but it was obviously wrong. "It's not that. Nothing has changed between us. Not yet, anyway. I suppose what I'm getting at is I'd like things to change between us."
"You'd…like…"
"I'd like to ask Ginny to marry me. With your blessing. And Mrs. Weasley's too, I suppose. And…I guess I should have asked if there were any traditions in the wizarding world I didn't know about…is there anybody else I need to talk to? Rituals or…"
"Harry." A large hand clamped down on his shoulder and he looked up to see that Mr. Weasley was smiling broadly, with something that might have been tears at the corner of his eyes. "You've been a member of our family since that first summer you stayed with us. We'd all be glad to finally make it official."
"Oh." Harry breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly realizing that he hadn't taken a breath since he started talking. "Thank…you. Thank you!" He smiled then, a wave of happiness coming over him. Before he realized what he was doing he'd thrown his arms around Mr. Weasley, hugging the man for what was probably the first time in his entire life. "I'm glad I got that over with."
Arthur chuckled. "Not quite. Now you've got to ask Ginny."
"Yeah." He felt what might have been a wave of nausea in the pit of his stomach. "Right. Er…any advice on how I do that?"
"Oh, I don't," said Arthur, wiping his hands on his robes. "Don't do any fancy magic, you'll just screw it up…accidentally turn roses into toads, or set fire to her best robes…don't know what kind of answer you'll get if you do that."
Harry laughed weakly. "I wonder," he said, "what she'd do if I did that?"
Mr. Weasley shrugged. "You never know. In my case, she said yes." He walked away whistling, leaving Harry alone in the old shed listening to the rusty chatter of a cage full of enchanted corkscrews.
***
A full week later, Harry still hadn't been able to muster up the courage to bring up the subject with Ginny. A part of him kept saying that it shouldn't be that difficult—after all, he had faced the most evil dark lord in recent history surrounded by a hall full of his supporters, had even returned from the brink of death, and yet saying four little words was proving far more terrifying than either other task.
They were making their way down to the river that ran through the nearest muggle village, hidden beneath the old invisibility cloak. The townsfolk were busying themselves with getting ready for the end of the day, and never even noticed the two individuals that passed through.
"This is an awfully strange place to go for a walk," said Ginny with a giggle, snuggling closer to him.
"I just wanted to get out somewhere different…that we hadn't seen before. Away from the Burrow," he said, hoping she wouldn't detect the tension in his voice.
Apparently she didn't. She laughed again—when had she ever laughed like that before? So…girlishly? It made his heart flutter every time she did it. They bypassed the village and went right down to the edge of the lake, just out of sight of any passing muggles.
They pulled off the cloak and sat down on a small outcropping of rocks. The sun was hovering over the edges of the forest, and they were both quiet for a little while—Ginny savoring the romantic moment, and Harry because if he thought he said anything just yet he may faint.
He felt her hand wrap around his. When he looked over at her she smiled. "This is nice Harry."
"Yeah," he said, his mind a little scattered. "Pretty."
"No, I don't mean the scenery. I mean being here, with you. Just the two of us." She leaned in and kissed him, but the snogging did little to ease his nerves. He broke awake from her a moment later, and stood up.
"You're turning red," said Ginny, slowly getting to her feet after him.
"Er…yeah, sorry," he said, laughing nervously.
"What's wrong?" She frowned then. "You're acting like something's going on. And you've been acting a little strange for the past month. I want to know what's going on."
Harry hadn't realized that Ginny had picked up on his frayed nerves. Although the decision to marry her had been made months and months before, he had thought he had at least a year…probably a little longer…before he was really ready to ask her. But the events in the other world a month before had made him realize that he didn't want to wait any more.
"Nothing's going on. I mean…well, something is, but it's nothing bad. I hope."
"Well?" Ginny folded her arms in a very Molly-like gesture.
"I just…"
"It's this thing with Luna isn't it?"
Harry stopped in midsentence. His hand was in his pocket, curled up around the velvet box that contained the ring.
"What do you mean this thing with Luna?"
"After the engagement party. Something happened that day and you ran off with her. Then the next day you disappeared with her again, for a few hours. It's not that I don't want you helping your friends…she's my friend to. But I worry that you…" She broke off, glancing at the ground.
"That I what?"
"That you take on too much."
Harry blinked. "Well," he said, "if I don't, who will?"
Silence fell over the both of them for a long moment. Finally Harry shook his head. "That's got nothing to do with this anyway. Ginny, I just wanted to ask you…"
He was starting to sink down to one knee when he heard a voice from over the hill. "Harry! Harry, I knew I could find you here!" He could see Luna running towards them.
"Not again. Not now!" he moaned, standing back up. Luna ran right up to him, an eager look on her face.
"It feels pleasant in this one! And Ginny…why, Ginny should come to!" She reached out, grabbing Harry's and Ginny's hands at the same time. And before he had a chance to say no, to warn her that perhaps it wouldn't be best to take Ginny to worlds where she was dead, or male, or…whatever…they had already fallen into the void.
"Ow…" Harry rubbed his head. He opened his eyes and looked directly down onto a stone floor.
"Wha…Hogwarts? How did we get here?" said Ginny, sounding dazed.
"Hello!" Harry, Ginny, and Luna all looked up into the eyes of a very skinny young girl about thirteen years old, with long straggly blonde hair and big blue eyes. "My name is Luna. And you probably shouldn't be here, but you look interesting so I won't tell anyone."
Ginny looked over at Harry. "Please explain," she said in the deadly calm voice that Harry knew, from knowing Mrs. Weasley, meant business.
