Chapter 21

Rasalas was placed gently on her bed, grumbling slightly at the sudden shift. Remus cooed at her softly and stroked her head while Sirius took her shoes off and transfigured the robes she wore into pyjamas before Tonks tucked her in. Remus and Tonks froze in their movements looking at the nightclothes the young girl was now wearing before looking incredulously at the dog at the foot of the bed who shrugged.

"She's been crying since she got home." He whispered. "She's going to want some levity for tomorrow." The werewolf shook his head while his girlfriend quickly changed the Dumbledore-esque ensemble to a simple grey cotton set of pyjamas. Both noticed and ignored the disappointed look on Sirius' face.

Once they had crept out the girl on the bed let her smile free and opened her eyes slowly and whispered "Oh Siri" fondly to the dark room. Her uncle could always be trusted to do such sill things. She appreciated it though, after the evening she had had she probably could have done with a good laugh. Telling the Weasley's had been harder than she had thought. Their looks of shock and anger as well as the occasional look of disbelief were quite hard to bear. She did feel slightly bad when Mrs Weasley, right at the end, had asked her when she was going to get Ginny from Harry to let her know and Rasalas had to tell her that she had no intention of Ginny ever knowing.

All of them respected her decision, eventually, as it was her secret. She told them that she believed she would never truly believe anyone- drawing loud protests from Ron, Hermione, Fred and George- but that all she really wanted to do was to get on and live her life rather than living on the praises of their government of mice. Some of the Weasley's understood what she meant but as none of them had a reply they could only sit in silence. The rest of the evening had become slightly strained after that and Rasalas could see that they wanted to have a family meeting to discuss her and so she left soon after.

In the quiet of her room Rasalas felt very upset at her quick departure and the Weasley's unenthusiastic or non-existent promises of future invitations. She had received strong hugs from the twins and heartfelt ones from her friends and one surprisingly tight one from Fleur who whispered an invitation in her ear in French to her baby shower. She had almost burst into tears from that alone, Bill had nodded solemnly- destroying it by winking- and Charlie had given her a sharp nod, his eyes narrowed and attempting to discern the truth. She wouldn't lie it had really hurt that these people felt they could not believe her.

They had all been respectful and polite and as the floo took her she heard her hot-tempered friend turning on his family and hits is what caused her tears. As she stepped from the floo and found Remus showing his appreciation for Tonks she quickly left the room to find Sirius, on finding him she threw herself into his arms and sobbed. Unsurprisingly he could only look blankly at his friends as they entered having followed the distressed girl, normally he would have made a comment about their flushed and dishevelled appearance but his niece was his first and main concern.

It took her a while to calm down enough to tell the adults what was wrong and they really couldn't do anything as it was Rasalas and the Weasley's to sort out whenever they could. They all offered her all the comfort they could and put forward their opinions and advice as well as promises of assistance whenever she felt she needed it before simply allowing her to cry herself out and to sleep, Sirius kept a tight hold on her and rocked her as best he could. Once she was asleep he allowed his friend to take her from him and led him to her room.

Rasalas didn't really like waiting, but this was something she would not have rushed. Blinking back the next lot of tears she could feel gathering she sniffed and closing her eyes and turning on her side she prepared to try to fall asleep. She smiled as she heard the door open and closed before a weight settled on the edge of the bed and a cold nose snuffled her cheek, just as she drifted off she curled her fingers into the thick fur of the dog which curled up by her side. Her uncle Siri was so good to her.

Lucius rustled his morning paper and shook it out as he watched his son run from the room. He would not berate him this time, but really Draco should really learn some decorum. He quickly made a mental note to thank Lupin as soon as he got the chance for letting them know that the Weasley's were in on the secret and that Rasalas had returned home in tears. It was information that he was grateful for, all three of them were, Draco had immediately owled his friends and cancelled his plans for the morning so he could catch Rasalas before she left for the Ministry where Lucius would see her and he and Potter could keep an eye on her and Narcissa had received a positive reply from her cousin to her dinner invitation. Today they would all gather around Rasalas and show her that she had other family who loved her, a family she had chosen and that she was the most important part of it. This of course didn't mean that at some point some of them would slip off and have a word with the nearest Weasley to put them straight.

Ron had gone to bed angry but had merely woken up disappointed in his family. He sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands; he didn't look up as his girlfriend slipped into his room and sat beside him. Hermione put her arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder, she knew she couldn't understand how Ron was feeling but she could sort of understand why the rest of the Weasley family was struggling with the news, Bill and Charlie especially didn't know the former Harry Potter and so she didn't expect them to blindly follow.

Ron did look up at the rap on the door as his twin brothers made their way in without waiting for an answer. They too looked slightly distressed and disappointed although they tried to hide it behind their grins. They sat on transfigured chairs before the young couple and sighed.

"Family meeting downstairs."

"Think they're probably trying to decide what to do."

"Rasalas is a nice girl to them."

"But is she truthful and trustworthy?"

"Of course she is!" Ron almost exploded in indignation, he had turned his back on his friend twice in the past; in their fourth year and on the horcrux hunt, and he had learnt his lesson, he would not do it again. Hermione was the only thing stopping him from attacking his siblings.

"We know she is Ronnikins."

"It's just the rest don't know her like we do-"

"Have to come to their own conclusion." Cut in Hermione. "We can't make their decisions for them and we shouldn't push them because I would rather they loved Rasalas on their own terms." The boys having been chastised nodded looking at their feet. They perked up quickly when they heard their mother call them for breakfast.

"Breakfast! Fred, George! Ron, Hermione! Ginny!" The three boys paused at the door as Hermione led them out.

"Did Ginny actually come back last night?"

Ginny Weasley woke up feeling deliciously sore. She had spent an enthusiastic and athletic evening with her boyfriend, and now she had him. She admitted to herself, as she burrowed further into his bare side, that she had expected more muscle on him from his training in Quidditch but at least he knew what he was doing. No other would have him now, he had taken her virginity- she was surprised she had lasted this long- and now she claimed him, she would be Mrs Potter. If he even thought he could get away he would find out just how possessive Ginerva Weasley could be.