After a week of only looking after me, Hermione finally managed to get Ginny out of the apartment for me to go talk to Mr. Weasley.
To be perfectly frank, I was terrified of Mr. Weasley. Even though he was older, he had the command of 6 children and a wife who was known to be extremely protective. My leg had still been bothering me, so I had these crutches that Hermione gave me to use. They made my armpits raw, but they kept my leg from hurting so it was a trade-off.
While my wand was still trying to be found, I had a replacement that didn't work half as well as my original one did. I apparated to The Burrow and hobbled my way to the front step. Mrs. Weasley came out to greet me saying, "Come in Neville! It's about to snow!"
Mrs. Weasley offered me a cup of tea and we sat in the living room waiting for Mr. Weasley to come home. "Ginny tells me that you're going to go shopping for the baby soon. That's really exciting!"
"Yeah. We realized that the apartment isn't entirely safe for a baby and that we need a lot more things before June comes." Mrs. Weasley beamed, she had become excited at the prospect of a new grandchild, and to my surprise was the only older adult who was not asking us about marriage. "We've been looking for a house, but my injury kind of got in the way of looking."
"I still can't believe that it happened. Especially to you. Has the team found a lead yet?" She offered me another sandwich, but I politely refused.
"They haven't had too many leads, and when they do they have generally been wrong. It's been hard though with Harry on holiday to get anything through, but Ron has been trying his hardest."
"Harry is on holiday?" Mrs. Weasley asked incredulously, "after he knew that you had been attacked? I didn't know that the head Auror could take such a leave of absence."
"He left the day of my accident. He had no way of knowing and I was fine by the time word got to him. I haven't spoken to him directly yet, but he should be back soon." Mrs. Weasley was about to say something, but then caught herself. "Were you going to say something Mrs. Weasley?"
She pursed her lips together and looked up at her family clock. It was a few more seconds before she said, "First off, Neville, you can call me Molly." She took another moment to gather her thoughts and said, "Now, don't tell Ginny I told you this, but to me, Harry seemed to have changed for the worse after he broke up with Ginny. He hardly comes around anymore and when he does he is much more cross than he ever was. When Ron told me that Harry found Ginny I was shocked that she refused to talk to him. Ron said Harry hasn't been the same and it just makes me wonder…"
"Mrs. Weasley, are you insinuating…"
"It's Molly dear, and I'm not saying that Harry had anything to do with your accident, but I think it would be something to look into. Maybe he found out about you and Ginny and it blew a fuse in his heart. He was like a son to me, but now he seems like a stranger to my entire family." She paused for another second, putting her tea on the table and reaching her hand over to mine, "I'm glad that Ginny has you. You have been so good for her and I feel like I haven't seen her this happy in ages. I cannot thank you enough for bringing my family together again."
"That's actually what I came here to talk to Mr. Weas-"
Mr. Weasley came through the door and brushed off his coat, "It's damn chilly out there Molly. I can't believe that muggles build houses out of ice and snow!" He came into the living room and we made eye contact. He gave me a smile and a pat on the shoulder, "Neville!" He looked toward my crutches and was astonished, "How did you acquire those muggle crutches?"
"Hermione got them for me after my accident." I said, watching him pick up the crutches, trying to figure out exactly how they worked.
"I don't know if you can call that an accident." Mr. Weasley said, wobbling with one leg up in the air.
"It beats calling it an attack, I guess. Romanticizes it a bit more." I had not intended to sound so pitiful, but Mr. Weasley had turned around and had a look of guilt on his face.
"Have they found anything yet?" He asked, trying to divert from awkwardness.
"I was just telling Mrs. Weasley- I mean, Molly, that they haven't found many leads and when they find them they are always false." Mr. Weasley took a seat on the couch next to Mrs. Weasley. He rubbed his chin and said, "still haven't found your wand?"
"No sir. They tried to track it, but they have been unsuccessful thus far. With Harry on holiday-"
"I told him about the theory that we have with Harry." Mrs. Weasley said to her husband. Mr. Weasley scratched his head and opened his mouth to speak, but closed it after a few moments.
"Whatever it is sir, you can tell me. I promise I won't say anything."
Mr. Weasley laughed and asked his wife, "When was the last time you heard someone call me sir?" She laughed too and then he turned his attention back to me. "Neville, I think you need to keep an eye on who you keep around you. If anything suspicious is ever going on or if you don't feel right about something, you need to call one of the Aurors or myself. We need you to stay healthy because God knows we need someone who can keep up with Ginny."
We all laughed and my hands started to fidget. "Now, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about today."
Mr. Weasley sat up straighter on the couch and Mrs. Weasley's face had brightened up considerably. I knew that if I didn't say it now that it wouldn't ever come out, so I blurted, "I wanted to ask you both what you thought about me asking Ginny to marry me, when we're both ready of course."
Molly's face beamed as she looked at me and when she looked at her husband, she elbowed him in the side since he did not equal her enthusiasm.
His next question threw me off guard, "Do you love Ginny?"
It was an obvious question with an obvious answer, but for some reason my mouth had turned to putty and I wasn't able to properly answer for a few seconds. "Of course I do sir. She treats me like the family that I never really got. We make each other laugh and we even laugh at ourselves from time to time. I didn't really understand what love meant until I met her."
Molly looked like she was going to cry from happiness, but Mr. Weasley was not convinced quite yet, "Would you feel the same had she not been pregnant?" Mrs. Weasley elbowed him in the shoulder, but I said, "It's a fair question. In my personal opinion, I believe that we didn't plan to fall in love this way, but I think even without the baby I would still love her as much as I do now."
"When were you thinking of asking?" Mrs. Weasley chimed in with her smile going from ear to ear.
"After I got your permission of course, but after that I was kind of waiting for Ginny to give me a sign that she was ready too. I don't want to make her rush into a decision that she doesn't want to make or will regret later." My hands were having a nervous breakdown as I waited for their answer. Mrs. Weasley looked to her husband and he let out a sigh.
"If you and Ginny decide that it is the right thing to do, then you have our blessing."
They both got up and we had a clumsy group hug since my crutches were proving to be difficult. Mrs. Weasley had me take another sandwich and made a special one for me to take home to Ginny. We said our goodbyes and I apparated home just fine. The stairs were bearable, but unpleasant. I went in and saw Ginny on the sofa watching some television show.
Ginny bounced off the couch and ran straight into me, knocking the crutches out from underneath me. "Hi" she said.
"Hi" I said, trying not to laugh.
"Where have you been? Hermione said that she couldn't tell me and I wanted to make sure that you weren't going shopping without me." Her hair was pushed up into a pony tail, but a few strands were left to shape her face. It made her freckles stand out more and that was something I loved about her.
"I just had to go to the office without you bothering me and calling me to come home" I laughed, but Ginny didn't find it as funny as I did.
"You weren't looking at your own file were you? I told you that you need to let Ron and everyone else figure that out. You need to get better and not hang yourself up over it-"
"Ginny, I promise I wasn't looking at my own file. I know better than to do that. Besides, I just needed to get out of the apartment and see all of my friends back at the office. I promise Ginny." She looked more satisfied with my answer and went in for another hug.
"Good. Then we can go shopping tomorrow?" Ginny had been itching to buy baby clothes ever since she got pregnant, but we were told to wait until the likelihood of miscarriage was lower. So Ginny waited, rather impatiently, I might add. We both really needed this shopping trip to feel more like this whole parenting thing was real. I nodded my head and Ginny picked me up off the ground.
I was surprised by her strength and taken aback that she actually picked my weight up. She had me over her shoulder and when I asked her where we were going she said, "Wouldn't you like to know?"
She then shut the bedroom door and placed me on the bed.
"Ginny, what are you?-"
She put her finger on my lips and shushed me. The next thing she did surprised me, she took off her clothes and put on an old shirt of mine. She then curled up next to me and whispered, "I missed you a lot today."
I could tell that Ginny had been worried about me, but I didn't realize how much she had worried. "I missed you too, but I'm okay you know? I should be off the crutches soon and then I can take care of you again." I wrapped my arms around her and I could feel her smile on my face.
"You need me Longbottom. You're a lost puppy without me."
She knew me better than she even knew and I loved her for that.
(A/N: 5/24/14- Another update in the same day, let's hope this becomes more consistent! Please review)