An Unexpected Turn of Events
Chapter Twenty-one
It was getting close to lunch time and Charlie kept looking at his watch. Bill thought it was quite funny as Charlie pulled out his pocket watch and checked it once again. "Go," he laughed.
"What?" said Charlie.
"Just go and get her already," Bill said humorously.
"You think I should?" replied Charlie worriedly.
"Yes, just go, you're not being any help right now with you checking your watch every 30 seconds. Just go and pick her up already. If she is anything like you she's been ready for the last ten minutes," kidded Bill.
Charlie stood and dusted himself off. "OK, I'll be back soon with Sarah and lunch," he said.
Fred and George had made great progress in making the final preparations upstairs so that they could start the reconstruction of the roof beams.
Ron had spent the morning helping Fleur downstairs, first moving the things in the parlour that would have gotten in the way of the planned expansion and then with helping her clean up the kitchen so they would be able to upgrade the appliances and cabinets.
Ron had been very quiet only answering Fleur's questions or acknowledging her commands, Fleur knew something was bugging him but figured it was best not to pressure him but his surly attitude was starting to get to her. Finally she couldn't take it any longer. "What is the matter Ron?" she asked, exasperated, hands on hips in an age old stance of a woman demanding an answer.
"Nothing," murmured Ron in response.
"Don't give me that "Nothing" Ron, something obviously is and since you are being rather rude to me I think I deserve an answer," Fleur said forcefully.
Ron sighed and let his shoulders slump. "It's Hermione and the Twins," Ron lamented.
"What about them?" Fleur asked.
"Well they're getting awful chummy," Ron said.
"And what's wrong with that?"
Ron looked annoyed at Fleur.
"Don't look at me like that Ron, I'm only asking a question," Said Fleur. "Why does the Twins becoming friends with her change your relationship?"
Ron stared off for a moment, "I don't know," he answered. "It just seems that the more time she spends with them the less time she's spending with me."
Fleur looked at Ron intently. "Is that really what's happening or is it more like you've been pushing her or holding her away and she is finding companionship with the Twins?"
Ron sighed but didn't say anything.
"Look Ron, the Twins are older, more mature and right now a heck of a lot more fun than you've been."
Ron shot a withering glare at Fleur.
"Look Ron, don't look at me like that. I'm trying to help you here," She said defensively. "If you want to keep a relationship with Hermione you're going to have to do a lot more than mope around and act surly. Hermione wants and deserves more than that. She's a vivacious young woman who is starting to expand her horizons, noticing that she is attracting the attention of young men and they are noticing her. If you wish to remain her Beau you'll need to show her you are worthy of her attention."
Ron sighed again, losing his surliness. "What have I got to offer someone like her?"
"If you act that way, nothing. But you are a nice young man when you control your temper, you are an excellent chess player, that shows you have a quick and active mind, you are also a very good Quidditch player and you also know the stats of all the teams and most of the players. Again that takes a lot Ron, it shows you're not a stupid person. You have good qualities Ron, you have to emphasize them and work on correcting the poor ones, mainly your temper and jealousy."
Ron nodded, "You're right Fleur. Thanks for taking time with me."
Fleur stepped close and took Ron into a hug. "We're family Ron, believe me, I only want what's best for you."
Ron returned the hug with glistening eyes. "Thanks Fleur," he whispered.
They broke apart and Fleur said, "Let's go see if Charlie is back with lunch yet."
XX
Charlie Apparated to near the Pub in Tinworth. Whistling, he made his way to the Pub and entered. Since it was close to ten minutes before noon the place was almost empty. Just a few old Pensioners sitting at the bar downing a few pints and trading lies about their service days.
"Hi Charlie," said Bob. "Sarah and her Mum are still getting the lunch basket together. She'll be out in a few. Here have'a pint while you wait," he added as he slid a freshly pulled pint at Charlie.
"Thanks, Bob," replied Charlie as he took a sip of the golden brew. "Ah that's good after a morning of dusty work."
"What'cha up to then?" Bob asked.
"We're working on restoring my sister's fiancé's parents cottage for them, kind of like an early wedding gift."
"That sounds wonderful. They must be excited about it."
Charlie laughed, "They don't know we're doing it, it's going to be a surprise."
"Even better," Bob said.
Just as Charlie finished his pint a smiling Sarah came out of the kitchen carrying a huge basket. She came over to Charlie and set the basket on the bar. "Two growlers Dad," she said.
Bob pulled the growlers from under the bar and filled them with ale. "Here ya go my lovely lass," he said as he put them in the basket."
"How much do I owe you?" Charlie asked.
"That's eight Galleons for the lunch and growlers," Bob said. "The pint is on the house for taking this one out of my hair for the afternoon."
"About that sir, we've been invited to my families for dinner this evening, if that's all right with you and her Mum?" asked Charlie. "And if Sarah doesn't mind meeting my crazy family."
Sarah smiled at Charlie, "I don't mind at all."
"How late will you be keeping her out then?" asked Wendy who had followed Sarah out from the kitchen.
"It shouldn't be too late, I would think about nine at the latest," Charlie answered.
Wendy smiled at her daughter, "Well then I see no reason for you not to go if you want to."
"Thank you Mum," Sarah said,giving her a kiss as Charlie grabbed the basket from the bar.
"We should be going, there are five hungry workers waiting for lunch," Charlie said with a smile.
Sarah grabbed his arm and they exited the Pub. Sarah pulled Charlie down a small side alley, "I usually Apparate from here," she said. Before they left, Sarah gave Charlie a deep kiss and a quick hug.
Charlie kissed her back but broke it rather quickly, "If we start that we may never get there." Sarah gripped on tight and Charlie Apparated them to Godric's Hollow and the grounds of Potter Cottage.
They walked around the side of the house and found everyone sitting under a large tree. They all greeted Sarah with welcoming looks.
Charlie set the basket down and stepped forward with Sarah. "Everyone this is Sarah. Sarah the tall one with the ponytail and the lovely blonde is my brother Bill and his wife Fleur. The two trouble makers there are my twin brothers Fred and George." In a stage whisper he added, "I'd stay far away from them. And the last of our motley crew is my youngest brother, Ron."
"Don't worry Charlie," said Fleur. "I have made the Twins promise to behave at least for today, after that they are your problem."
Everyone chuckled at Fleur's pronouncement. "Thank you Fleur," said Charlie. "If they don't behave I have a few tricks up my sleeve to help keep them in line."
They all sat down and Sarah opened up the basket and started to pull out all the food that she and her mother had packed. The Weasley's were all awed by the amount of food and drink that came out of the basket. There were sandwiches, and crisps, fruit and vegetables with dips, cheeses and cured meats with mustards and fresh bread and butter. For drinks there were the two growlers of beer along with jugs of juices and bottles of Butterbeer.
"My goodness Sarah," said Fleur. "How many did you expect to feed?"
Sarah giggled, "Charlie said you were all big eaters so I packed plenty."
The Twins moved in, their eyes alight. "Sarah, if you keep this up," indicating all the food spread out before them, "You have nothing to worry about from us."
Ron was already piling a plate high with food. "This all looks marvellous," he got out before starting to eat.
They all got plates of food and sat down under the tree and began to eat. The Weasleys all doing their best to make Sarah feel at ease. She enjoyed the quick banter of the Twins who's habit of continuing and finishing each others sentences made her laugh. Bill and Charlie regaled her with outlandish stories of their childhoods, even Ron joining in trading funny stories with the Twins of their growing up in the wild Weasley household.
Sarah's sides hurt with laughing so hard, the stories from the brothers made her a little sorry she had grown up as an only child. She contributed with stories of growing up in a small village pub and all the crazy characters she had seen and dealt with.
By the end of lunch she felt like she'd know them all for a long time and was completely at ease.
Charlie sudden;y looked thoughtful. "Think I should let Mum know I'm bringing Sarah to dinner tonight," he asked.
The universal consensus was NO! They all wanted to be there when Molly found out that Charlie had a girlfriend. Sarah was a little apprehensive but was put at ease by Fleur who let her know that Molly would welcome her with open arms.
Sarah gave Charlie a mischievous grin, "Girlfriend am I? When were you going to inform me of this piece of information?"
Charlie laughed at Sarah's mock ire. "Well since this is the first I've been informed of the state of our relationship, I guess we found out together."
Sarah giggled at Charlie and then asked seriously, "Are we Charlie, are we going together?"
"I certainly hope so," whispered Charlie as he leaned in and gave her a soft kiss.
The Twins hooted at them as they kissed but Charlie and Sarah ignored them as they shared a tender moment.
Fleur added in "Looks like they'll give Ginny and Harry a run for their Galleons as the most romantic couple at the Burrow tonight,"
Ron began to choke on his Butterbeer and Fred had to pound him on his back. "All right there Ron?" he asked.
"Yeah," Ron managed to sputter out.
They all got back to work with Fleur snagging Sarah to help her in the kitchen and allowing Bill and Charlie to take Ron to help them with the addition. The Twins finished up on framing the roof of the original cottage section and began to sheath the roof, using their magic to blend the thatch to match the original. Bill took a break from the addition to place fireproof and preservation spells on the thatch.
With the repaired walls the cottage looked complete from the front, now all they had to do was finish the construction on the addition and furnish the cottage to make it a home for Harry and Ginny.
XX
Molly watched out the window in the parlour at Harry, Ginny and Hermione practising magic in the garden out back. She knew that they were up to something but didn't know what it was. Arthur had been very closed mouth about it and had refused to tell her anything after their last talk.
In her head she understood but she was a mother at heart and her heart wanted to do all she could to protect her children and the two she had adopted in her heart.
She vowed to herself to do all she could to help them in any way she could. Now all she had to do was find a way to do it.
She went into the kitchen to start preparing for dinner still contemplating what she could do to help. She decided that she would try to get Harry alone and appeal to him to allow her to help in some way.
While she was working the three teens came in to get something to drink, even in the shade of the garden the August heat and humidity was getting to them.
They sat down at the table and Ginny grabbed some snacks from the cupboard. They had a good time teasing each other and having fun as kids will do.
Hermione finally got up and offered to help Molly which she gladly accepted, eventually pressing Ginny and Harry into helping too. So they passed the afternoon in pleasant company. Harry enjoying a normal afternoon with his adopted family, feeling a contentment he had missed in his life.
XX
The work crew quit a little early to allow them time to return to Shell Cottage and clean up.
Sarah was glad she had worked with Fleur and not gotten as dirty as the boys who had been doing the heavy construction. Bill and Charlie took quick showers while the three others cleaned up as best they could expecting to clean up totally when they got back to the Burrow. They didn't want to leave too early or Molly would force them to go get cleaned up and they'd miss Charlie arriving with Sarah.
Finally they were ready and Apparated to the Burrow, Ron and the Twins went first followed by Bill and Fleur with Charlie and Sarah coming last.
The younger three entered the Burrow first and grabbed drinks, begging off Molly's efforts to get them upstairs saying they needed a cool drink first. They were followed quickly by Bill and Fleur who made their way to the fae side of the table where they had a good look at the door and Molly.
Ginny got a questioning look on her face and turned to Harry and whispered "Something is up. Just look at their faces, see the anticipation?"
Harry looked around at the Weasleys who had just came in and saw exactly what Ginny was describing. If she hadn't said anything he probably would have missed it.
Molly was just starting to complain that they were having to wait on Charlie when the door opened and Charlie stepped through. Of course he wasn't alone and the room suddenly was deathly quiet except Molly who had her back to the door. Everyone was staring at Molly to see her reaction.
Noticing everyone falling silent, she looked around at everyone, "What?" she said, not having noticed Charlie and Sarah yet. Finally she saw everyone staring at the door and she turned to look.
Charlie smiled at his mother. "Hi Mum. Everyone I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Sarah Pendelton. Sarah the cute red-head is my sister Ginny and her fiancé Harry is sitting next to her. The one next to Harry is a family friend, Hermione. The distinguished gentleman at the head of the table is my father, Arthur and this is my Mum, Molly."
"Hi everyone," said Sarah somewhat shyly.
Molly unfroze and sped over to Sarah and took her into one of her patented bone crushing hugs.
"Mum, don't injure her first thing," laughed George.
Molly released her and said "Welcome, it's really nice to meet you." Shooting a disapproving glance at Charlie, "Why haven't we heard of her before this Charles?"
Sarah giggled, "Oooh, your in trouble now," she teased.
Molly joined in the giggle on hearing Sarah. "All right is someone going to explain how Charlie has shown up here with this delightful young lady?"
"Well I met her at the Pub in Tinworth and the other night we got to talking and ended up going for a walk. The rest they say is history," said Charlie.
Since the group had grown and the kitchen was getting crowded she sent Charlie and Bill to set up tables in the garden. The girls grabbed tablecloths, plates, utensils and glasses to set the tables. Ron and the Twins headed up to get cleaned up real quick while Harry helped get things out back.
Arthur took the quiet moment when he and Molly were alone in the kitchen to say, "Well Charlie certainly is full of surprises isn't he?"
"He could have warned us," Molly said a little testily.
"I think he's still a little shell shocked from the look of it," Arthur said humorously.
"From what I could tell she seems like a nice girl and I think she'll be good for him," Molly said.
She certainly pitched right in to help, and she is a red head," said Arthur.
The Twins made it back down first and grabbed trays of stuff to take out back with them. Ron followed quickly and did the same. Soon everyone was seated out around the tables and dinner began.
Hermione found herself sitting next to Sarah and thought that she might be suitable for pumping for information about what everyone had been up to. "So Sarah," she said "What have you been up to today?"
Sarah had been warned that she may be questioned especially by Hermione who seemed determined to find out what the brothers were up to. "Well I helped my parents at the Pub this morning and then made lunch for Charlie and me. Then I ended up helping Fleur clean some, that's about it."
Hermione looked a bit disappointed at Sarah's answer and missed her turning and giving Charlie a sly wink. Ginny and Harry just took it all in, loving all the dynamics going on around them. "I'm not sure what they're up to but watching Hermione is a lot of fun. She really doesn't have the necessary sneakiness to get anywhere in this family," whispered Ginny. "Being an only child left her with out the guile needed."
"Poor Hermione, she's trying hard and maybe someday she'll get there,"added Harry.
Sarah blended well with the Weasley clan. She held her own in talking with the Twins, she got along well with the rest. She could hold an intelligent conversation which she did with Bill and Fleur on some topic of literature that Fleur brought up. She was able to talk politics with Arthur, her time spent in the Pub of a small village gave her insights that Arthur normally didn't hear. She even had an interesting conversation with Ron on chess. All in all she made a great impression, even helping Molly clear the table when she was told to just sit and relax.
In between times she sat and gave Charlie loving looks and the occasional kiss was shared between them. Sarah couldn't remember the last time she had such an enjoyable and stimulating evening. By the time pudding was done and Arthur had brought out a couple of bottles of a fine elvish wine Sarah had become an unofficial Weasley. Even if a few times she did feel a bit overwhelmed by the raucous atmosphere of the exuberant Weasley brothers.
The Twins had pranked Hermione by spiking her drink but nothing serious, she just chirped like a bird for a couple of minutes and though she tried to be angry she really wasn't and laughed along with everyone else. By the evenings end they had managed to get everyone but true to their word they left Sarah alone.
Though they would have loved to stay later Charlie had promised to have Sarah home by nine and true to his word slightly before then he and Sarah took their leave.
They Apparated to the little alley that Sarah had shown him when they left and they walked arm in arm back to the Pub. Before they went in they kissed for several minutes, each kiss getting a little more heated. When a patron came out and interrupted them they decided to go into the Pub.
The only customers left were the same Pensioners that had been sitting there when they had left. Bob welcomed them with a smile and a pint for each of them.
"So how was your day, sweet pea?" Bob asked his daughter.
"Dad!" Sarah cried. "You haven't called me that in fifteen years at least. Are you just trying to embarrass me?"
"Your Mum made me promise to do it," he said with a wink at Charlie.
They sat at the opposite end of the bar than the Pensioners, near the door to the kitchen. When she heard Sarah's voice her Mum came out and joined them.
"So how was your day dear?" she asked.
"I just asked her that," said Bob jovially.
Sarah beamed at Charlie before looking at her parents, "I had a great time, Charlie's sister-in-law had me help with what she was doing in the kitchen of the house they're working on. We then went to Charlie's parents for dinner and it was really fun. He has a big family and everyone was having a good time, including me."
They sat and talked for quite some time, Charlie enjoying the quiet atmosphere of the Pub on the Sunday evening after chaotic time with his family. Not that he didn't enjoy that too, it was just that it was a nice change of pace to be here sitting with a delectable young lady who seemed to want to spend time with him, someone who was filling a void that he hadn't realized he had.
Sarah sat close and leaned on him and touched him every chance she got, and Charlie loved every second of it. Sarah was a delightful young woman who fit Charlie to a T.
XX
The dinner was breaking up, Bill and Fleur needed to get back to Shell Cottage as Bill had to go to work in the morning. Fleur would be joining Charlie, Ron and the Twins to continue working on Potter Cottage. Along with Ron and the Twins they were very tired from working hard all day and wanted to get to bed as soon as they could, their yawns threatening to split their faces in half.
Harry, Ginny and Hermione stayed out back after helping finishing cleaning up. Arthur began to ask them how where things going when Molly came back and joined them. Their sudden silence was obvious and fell like a wet blanket over the evening.
Molly looked at them all and said "I don't know what you're up to but I know you are up to something. As a mother I wish I could keep you all safe but I know that is an impossibility. I want to help in any way I can to make sure that you can accomplish what you need to do. I hope I've earned your confidence and you'll be willing to accept whatever I can do to help."
Everyone was silent but it was obvious they were all looking at Harry to hear his decision. He looked at Ginny and she could see the question in his eyes. She gave him a small nod that was imperceptible to anyone else. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand under the table.
"OK Mum, I'll tell you what I can but there are some things better left unsaid."
Harry proceeded to tell Molly everything that he had told Arthur, about his having to leave and hunt for something that would make it possible to finish Riddle for good.
Molly had questioned his use of Riddle and Harry had to fill her in on Voldemort's background. She was amazed and did agree that using his real name did a lot to take the terror out of his name.
They sat up late discussing what Molly thought she could contribute and she volunteered to brew up some potions they might find useful and teach Harry and Hermione what healing spells she knew.
Molly hugged them all as they went into the house to head to bed. She was glad in some respects with learning what they were up to but she was also very concerned as she knew that their task wouldn't be easy and would place them in great danger. Her one consolation was that Ginny was under age and wouldn't be going with them on the hunt and Molly was glad to with her supposition that they didn't know how to break the trace and she sure wasn't going to tell them.
XX
AN: The Cottage project is progressing quickly and Molly now knows that Harry, Hermione and the Twins would be leaving to hunt for something that would help Harry destroy Riddle for good.
Sarah and Charlie seem to be falling head over heels very quickly.
More to come, keep reviewing and I'll keep writing.