Chapter 14: Iconography

The dream took on parts of the one that had been so vivid; once again Gin felt herself flying above a wooded area, without a broom, the familiar feel of the swan in flight. The air felt crisp against her feathers as she moved through the air, playing with the currents, lifting herself higher and higher as the trees fell away revealing a small lake in the distance. She moved closer to the lake, knifing through the sparse clouds until she was almost upon the lake. Instead of landing immediately she circled the lake in a slow, lazy spiral, and the small speck upon the surface of the water revealed itself to be another swan, a black swan. Though she had no frame of reference she knew immediately that it was a male swan, and she watched it angle its graceful neck up towards her, marking her twisting descent. As she came closer to water a flurry of birds detached from one of the trees on the shoreline and started towards her, crying out menacingly as the assumed what she instinctively knew was an attack formation.

At that moment everything changed. The male swan on the lake's surface took flight and began accosting the birds at the rear of the attack formation, she changed her flight and aimed directly towards the birds, intending to take them out, but the air took on an electric feel as a large owl appeared at her side, screeching in fury, eyes a blindingly bright red. All of the birds that had been organized scattered, some of them gathering next to the shore, others lighting on a tree branch that extended into the water of the lake. She landed on the water and soon the other swan joined her, and she watched the large swan swim right next to her. The owl continued to patrol the air, several of the birds on the branch were scattered by the appearance of an otter from underneath the water and the birds on shore were flushed away by a small yapping dog that's menace belied its small size. An overwhelming feeling of safety washed over Gin, and just as she stretched her next to the other swan a hunter rose from a bush next to the shore, a Muggle gun in his hands, and took aim directly at her. The sky almost instantaneously swirled from a grey day to something ominous and black as she felt the barrel of the gun point directly at her heart.

A multicolored dragon appeared from on high and spit fire towards the hunter, but the man seemed impervious to the wreath of flames. Gin's felt the anger radiate through her body and then she grew, first larger than a horse but eventually even larger than the dragon As she moved towards the hunter her massive size sent ripples through the water until she was almost on top of the hunter When the shot went out from the Muggle gun everything around her stopped; the small dog barking on the shore, the circling owl, the otter in the water, it was if they were suspended in amber She, however, could still move With two purposeful and graceful motions she was upon the hunter, reached down with her massive bill and snapped his gun into two pieces.

"Polly? Polly, it's a dream. Just a dream."

Gin looked up to see Hugo resting on an elbow next to her in bed with a concerned look upon his face. She let out a deep breath and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

After seeing Hugo off for work Gin picked some clothing out of a box near the bed and got dressed, happy that the furniture would arrive later that day. She and Hugo had come to an agreement in the furniture store, as he told her that while living in Satterbourne would make him happy he wanted her to be happy as well, so most of the interior decisions were hers but that he had a vote if it was something that he hated. As they had wandered through the store and she had decided upon the bedroom furniture Hugo had leaned over and told her that it was obvious why she was an artist, she had an eye for just the right thing.

"Gin, you up?" Mary Caroline's head appeared in the green flames of the Floo. "Can I come over?"

"Sure. Could you pick up some coffee…"

"Beat you to it. There in a minute."

Mary Caroline arrived shortly with, as promised, two large coffees. The two friends and business partners sat cross-legged on the unmade bed and after a few sips of coffee and small talk Mary Caroline got to the point of her visit.

"So when are you heading back to Richmond? Mom's been wanting me to go, but I don't feel right knowing you've still got all this crap going on."

"Soon." Gin looked at her and cocked her head. "Isn't this something that could have waited until later today at the Gallery?"

"Um…" Mary Caroline fidgeted and played with the top of her takeaway coffee. "There's something else."

"Spill."

"Ok, you know how I had too much to drink when we had the gallery opening, right? I didn't tell you…"

"Finn, right?" Gin took a sip of coffee. "Saw that one coming a mile away."

Mary Caroline's shoulders drooped. "I don't know what to do. I like him, I do, a lot, but…he drives me batty sometimes. And I got a letter from Brighton."

Gin's eyes narrowed. "Wait, you got a letter from Brighton Christopher. Your old boyfriend from Two Chopt? You two broke it off ages ago. Why is he writing you?" Gin took a sip of coffee but never took her eyes from her friend. Brighton Christopher was a friend of Chance's, one of the wild group of wizards in the small arts community that she'd met before. He'd dumped Mary Caroline to go out with some well-to-do daughter of a minor Wizarding official in the local government in Richmond. She'd taken it quite hard, as it was obvious that Brighton flaunted his new paramour in her presence whenever possible. "What did he say?"

"He wants to try again. Said that little tramp made him realize what a good thing we had together, that they've broken up and he wants to see me again. What do you think?"

"Never mind what I think, what do you think?"

"Sugar, I have no idea. That's why I'm here."

Gin pursed her lips and looked at Mary Caroline for a moment. She knew that, no matter how potentially painful, her friend truly wanted her honest thoughts. "I think, to use Dad's phrase, that it's complete horseshit. He's friends with Chance. They're trying to use you to get info on me. And think about it; what was it like when you two were together, and how did he treat you after you broke up? And what about Finn?"

Mary Caroline took a deep breath. Her voice was very quiet. "I know. It's just…oh bloody hell."

Gin laughed despite herself. "It sounds so funny when you say it."

"Oh shut up." Mary Caroline rolled her eyes. "I've been around you too long. It just hurts, you know. It still hurts. And Finn? He's so sweet, but I think he drinks too much. Makes me worried about what might happen."

"Then tell him. If he really cares about you he'll do something." A knock on the door broke the silence. Gin eased off the bed and nodded towards the door. "Come on, my furniture's here. You can help me sort it."

The two witches sat in the small office of The Grey Swan Gallery, working on correspondence to artists; they were hoping their positive review in The Daily Prophet would bring in a better quality of pieces for exhibition and sale. It also hadn't hurt that a recent article on James Potter in Quidditch Weekly had a picture of James sitting on his sofa and Mary Caroline's painting was hung directly behind him. When the interviewer had commented on the painting James said that 'Ugly Pig Baby' was a piece from one of the co-owners of their gallery. That had increased some foot traffic but unfortunately no sales.

The bell rang, indicating that someone had entered the gallery, so Mary Caroline and Gin did a quick paper-scissors-rock to determine who would go out front. Gin lost, so she sat down her quill, smoothed her robes and walked out into the main area of the gallery. Surprisingly, it wasn't another Puddlemere supporter or female teenage fan of James', it was Angelina Weasley.

"Hello, Gin. Mary Caroline available? She didn't forget, did she?"

"No, I don't think so. Come on, she's in the office."

The two witches entered the office and as soon as Mary Caroline saw Angelina she glanced over at her watch. "I'm not late, am I? I thought it was at two?"

Angelina smiled. "No, you're not wrong, I'm a bit early. Delivering one of George's reminders, actually." She glanced over at Gin and rolled her eyes. "You know how he gets about these things."

Gin searched her memory for a moment and then nodded. "The portrait. Right."

"I guess we'll close up for the day. Nice thing about being our own bosses." Mary Caroline stood up and took her bag from the back of her chair.

"Now you sound like George." Gin started gathering her things. "Of course we could miss a massive sale by being closed."

"If they're really interested they'll stop back." Mary Caroline smiled at her partner, which caused Angelina to laugh.

"And that is definitely not like George." She took out a small roll of parchment. "I think I have several places you might like, Mary Caroline. Shall we?"

After everyone left Gin put her bag over her shoulder and locked up. A few moments later she stood outside of the front entrance of the International Headquarters of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes. A man in purple robes stood in a little booth with a clipboard and greeted her warmly.

"Welcome to the International Headquarters of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes. Tours are available from ten to two Monday through Thursday. How may I help you?"

Gin smiled weakly. "I'm here to see George Weasley."

The man flipped through the clipboard. "I'm sorry; I don't see that Mr. Weasley is expecting anyone today."

"I don't have an appointment but he's expecting me. Virginia Boyd."

"Boyd, Boyd, Boyd…" The man ran his finger down the parchment and flipped it over to the second page. "I don't see any…oh wait a tic, here we are. You're on the approved list. Go right on in. Receptionist will take you from there. Have a Wheezy day, Miss."

After receiving her visitor's badge and signing documentation that released the company from any 'unexpected consequences' Gin followed the receptionist to a small sitting room. It felt odd to be in such a small, cozy and well-appointed room when the rest of the building was so modern and stark; the walls of the building shifted color, but the sitting room seemed like a very nice room had been plucked from a little cottage and installed on its own. Luckily she didn't have long to ponder the incongruity of the room as George walked in, beaming.

"Virginia, Virginia, here to immortalize me for posterity. Glad you could make it and didn't forget." He walked over to a little area and soon sat two cups of tea down for them. He saw Gin look around the room and nodded. "Family reception area, though I use it for some of the more delicate meetings. Puts people at ease, Angelina's idea. Rather good one, but don't tell her. Now, where do we start?"

Gin shook her head as she took out her things. "Couldn't forget with Aunt Angelina reminding me, you know. We'll start with ideas and then I'll do some reference sketches."

"Sketches?" George cocked an eyebrow. "I know my amazingly youthful appearance may distract you from reality, but it has been several years since…"

She held up her hand. "Body structure, not the face. I'll need pictures for that."

"Oh. Right. Yes, of course." George took a sip of tea. "So, I understand your furniture was delivered today. Good to have furniture, hard to live out of boxes. Easier in some ways, but I'm sure it's a female thing."

Gin sat her sketchbook down on the table. "How in Merlin's name did you know about that? It just happened this morning?"

He wagged a finger at her. "You're going to be a Weasley, my dear. Part and parcel. Hugo mentioned it to his good old dad at the office, Ron had lunch with Hermione, who owled Mum, and from there it goes out like the wind. The Weasley network; you'll have to get used to that one. If I was you I'd expect a small housewarming party in the next few days. Might want to pick up some of those chocolate biscuits that Dad likes but Mum won't let him have at home."

"Fucking hell." Gin sat back in her chair. "Is it always going to be like that?"

"Oh no." George shook his head, watched Virginia's face relax and then took a sip of tea. "It'll get worse. Especially when you're pregnant. Are you pregnant? That would send them into a frenzy."

"No! I'm not pregnant!" Gin scowled. "If they're like this maybe we should've moved to the UMS."

"That would just have made it worse. Don't worry; I'm just taking the piss. Hermione has already had a bit of a go with Mum about it, actually. You actually did a smart thing moving to Satterbourne, she'll help keep them at bay for you. Ask her about the morning when Mum showed up after Ron and Hermione got back from their honeymoon. That's a good one. Now about the UMS, when are you going back? Ready for a good old-fashioned 'duel by solicitor' dustup?"

"Keep it up you won't like the portrait." Gin took a sip of tea and looked over at George. "To answer one of your questions I'll be going over soon, and as for your other, yes, I am ready for a dustup. Can't wait, actually."

George saw the look in her eyes and recognized it, the same determined, imposing and downright scary look that her mum had on occasion. "Right. Well, enough of that. Time for sketching." He stood up, placed on foot on the seat of the chair, put his hand over his heart and pretended to look out over a great distance of land. "How's this for a start?"

Hugo brushed the Floo powder off as he arrived at his house. It still felt odd to him that it was his house, not to mention that it was in Satterbourne. He took off his robe and hung it on a coatrack that stood next to the fireplace, took couple of steps and then stopped. A coatrack? And why were there drape cloths all over the furniture? "Polly! I'm home!"

Gin came out of the other room wearing an old shirt and a pair of jeans, barefoot. The shirt and jeans, as well as parts of her skin and hair, were splattered with paint. "Sorry, painting the bedroom. How was your day?" When he tried to embrace her she held him off with a hand. "You'll get paint all over."

"Don't care." He moved her hand and pulled her in and gave her a quick kiss. "Looks better than this morning."

"Just wait, you'll see." She took his hand and led him to the bedroom. The walls were a deep blue color and half of the trim had been painted white. "If you don't like it we can…"

"Shush, it looks great."

Gin cocked her head at him. "So, how was your lunch with your father?"

"Wha…how did you know that?"

"Met with George today for his portrait. I'm trying to get everything done because, according to George and the Weasley news gathering agency, we should expect people soon for a housewarming visit."

"Mum." Hugo sighed. "I should have warned you. She can be a bit mental about things, but I figured you already knew. I mean, how many owls did your mum get…"

"I know. Never connected the dots." Gin took out her wand and stopped the paintbrushes from working on the trim. "I would ask but I already know the answer, so what do you want to eat? You are hungry, right?"

"Um…" Hugo rubbed his chin with the last three fingers of his right hand. "I was thinking…no, um…"

"Hugo…" Gin cocked an eyebrow at him. "Out with it. This isn't about the food, is it? Something big."

"Damn, Polly, how did you know? I've been thinking about our wedding. Where to have it, really. I've got an idea but I'm not sure you'll like it. I want you to like it, love it, actually, but with everything going on…" He shifted his weight and took a deep breath. "I'm not the most romantic man on the face of the earth, I know that, and I also know you don't go in for the big production. Can't imagine you getting married like Mione, all the barmy girl stuff and everything. I was talking to Dad about it at lunch and he asked me a few questions. Really got me to thinking. Plus it surprised the bloody hell out of me. Who knew Dad was a romantic?"

Gin wanted to prod him to get to the details but kept her mouth shut.

"Right. Dad asked me which places are important to us, what places mattered. It just popped into my head immediately, didn't even have time to think about it, really. Richmond, Polly. That big park, you know the one. We could get married there. Wouldn't have to be a Wizarding ceremony, it could be a Muggle one or we could get some, I don't know, exemption from the local council or whatever, but we could have it in that park. Nothing big, nothing fancy. What do you think?"

Gin blinked several times. Richmond? It had been the place where she'd run away, but it was also the place that Hugo had found her, the place that they'd spent some of the best days of their lives. Doing it there would help them avoid the media, as well as limit the number of attendees as well as those who would feel slighted at not being invited. A small wedding, no Mione type princess frippery, and in Maymont? She took his hand. "And when would this Richmond wedding take place?"

"Summer. Need to make sure your Dad's not teaching."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up into his face. "Sounds like you've thought of everything. Who would have guessed that the Weasley men are such incorrigible romantics? No wonder your parents have stayed married for so long." She leaned up and gave him a kiss. "It sounds perfect. Makes perfect sense, too. After all, I'm named after the state."

"Good. That's settled, except for the actual date." Hugo's stomach growled. "Um, and I am hungry."

"Kitchen's not ready yet. Let me clean up and we'll go out."

As the warm water cascaded down her back Gin smoothed her hair off of her face, feeling the little rub of her engagement ring on her skin. Her dad would be thrilled with their choice of venue, but her mum? That might take a bit of doing. After stopping the shower and wrapping a towel around her she quickly got dressed, used her wand to dry her hair and was almost ready to put on a tiny bit of makeup when she heard voices that did not belong to Hugo. After going to the doorway and cracking it slightly she saw Arthur Weasley walk by.

She closed the door quietly. She had underestimated what George had meant by a visit from Hugo's family, as to her 'soon' meant 'in a few days.' Molly must have had other plans. Instead of putting on makeup Gin kicked off her low heels and put on her house slippers, because if Molly was there at this time of the night it was obvious that they weren't going out to eat.

As soon as she exited the bedroom it was plain as the nose on her face that they were not going out to eat, as on the kitchen table sat a staggering amount of food. It was also obvious that the food wasn't just for her and Hugo, as Ron and Hermione sat in the new chair along with her mum.

"The house looks lovely already, dear." Molly met her and gave her a small hug. "I can't wait to see it when you're finished. Now don't worry, I have everything ready for tonight and enough for leftovers. You can't be expected to cook when you're still putting things together."

Gin smiled, and after Molly went back into the kitchen Gin noticed the look on Hermione's face. It was obvious to her that Hermione and Molly had disagreed about the visit tonight, but she knew better than to bring that up. She went over and joined Hugo on the sofa. "It's not finished yet, I still have some painting to do, and the curtains…plus there's the kitchen hardware…"

Nobody seemed to listen to what she said. Instead they all looked to Hugo. She looked over to him but he was looking at his Gran. When she had rejoined them in the sitting room Hugo cleared his throat.

"I'm glad everyone is here, actually. I wish Professor Muggle could be, but I'm sure you'll fill him in, Melody. I'd like to, well, we'd like to make an announcement. We're getting married next summer."

"Oh Hugo, Virginia, that's wonderful." Hermione clasped her hands together in her lap. "I know of several places near Satterbourne…"

"No, Mum." Hugo shook his head. "We're not getting married in Satterbourne."

"Oh." Hermione sat a bit straighter in her chair and glanced over at Ron. "I'm sure there…"

"We're getting married in Richmond, Mum." Hugo reached over and took Gin's hand. "And not the one here, the one in the UMS. In Virginia."

Gin looked over to her mum, and instead of seeing disapproval or disappointment she saw relief. Her mum removed her glasses, her silver charm bracelet clinking slightly. "Mum?"

Melody's lip curled at the edges in a smile. "Your father will be ecstatic, but why there?"

"Because it's, well, it's…" Gin couldn't find the words. She wanted to say everything, but it was so private, as if she was reading a page out of her diary.

"It is where they want to get married, so that's good enough for anyone." Arthur tapped his fingers together and gave the couple a knowing look. "I've always wanted to go there. Can't wait."