Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

-)(-

A/N : Okay, here we go. Enjoy the chapter. Reviews as always are much appreciated, though if you are the rude little person who has a problem with how long it takes me to update, you might want to consider paying attention to what I say in my A/N before leaving anonymous reviews.

-)(-

The Year After

Chapter Twenty-Five

Gift's

-)(-

Luna sighed in bliss, peaceful in the haziness of the first moments of waking. Soon enough, Molly would be on the stairs, demanding that they get out of bed. After all, as long as she and George cohabitated under her roof, they had to live by her rules. Then she remembered…they weren't under Molly Weasley's roof…not anymore. Close on the heels of that came the most important realization of all… she was married now, her husband was sleeping behind her with his arm draped loosely over her, his bare chest warm against her back.

A happy smile curved her lips as she rolled onto her other side. George always looked so peaceful in sleep, without the stress from the wedding, without his worry for her. He seemed younger, more like the boy she had known at Hogwarts, the boy she never would have dreamed she would one day be married to. Yet here she was, Mrs. George Weasley, and euphorically happy to be so. There would be hell to pay. No way would his mother have taken the news of their elopement well, not even after they had passed along word that they would still go through with her wedding. It had to be annoying her that they planned to stay away until just before. She wouldn't be at all happy that they had given warnings that nothing else was to be changed, nor that Luna had threatened to not go through with it unless her dress had been put right.

Luna couldn't bring herself to be all that fussed about it. Mumzilla had brought it all down upon herself. As far as Luna was concerned, her wedding dress had been the last straw, after that, future mother-in-law or not…the gloves came off.

Luna giggled to herself, trying to imagine Mumzilla's expression when she had gotten the news. She couldn't help being a little jealous. It seemed a bit unfair really, she and George had been the ones tortured, yet Ginny and Percy had gotten to have all the fun.

George peeked an eye open, a grin coming as he looked into his giggling wife's face.

"What are you laughing about?"

"Three guesses."

"Ah yes," He sighed and pulled her closer. "The great escape."

"I know it's a bit mean, but I can't help laughing when I imagine your mothers face when she found out."

He thought again about how upset Luna had been the afternoon before. He didn't like remembering it, he hated seeing her so unhappy. "It's not as if she didn't have it coming."

"I know," Luna smirked "That's why I'm laughing."

"Hey, look." George pointed towards the foot of the bed. "Were in the bedroom and the doors shut."

Luna gave him a deeply scandalized look "We got ready for bed in the same room last night too!"

"And our clothes are in the same hamper!" He said in a tone of deep mocking shock, gasping then putting his hand over his mouth.

"Merlin's hairy butt George, you're in bed in only your boxers!" Luna smiled and touched his cheek "Have we no shame?"

"Apparently not."

"Do you suppose your mother's morality alarm is screeching like a banshee?" Luna asked, only half kidding.

He shrugged "I don't know, but It's about to get worse if it is."

"Really? How so?"

He smiled mischievously "Were in bed, and I'm about to kiss you."

"Shame on you!" Luna admonished, her lips curving up into the happiest smile he had seen on her in weeks. "That is just…wrong!"

George moved closer, his lips nearly touching hers. "Who give's a shit."

Their lips met, sweetly intense with just a hint of fire. He was careful as always, cautious not to scare her, yet wanting her to know how loved she was. It was a delicate balance, one he knew would become more difficult as time went on. Eventually he would struggle more, but not now, not on this most perfect of mornings. He pulled away, then kissed her once more, soft and chaste, before pulling her closer to rest her head against his shoulder.

"I love you." She touched his cheek, softly brushing her fingers down over his stubbly jaw.

"I love you too."

She was quiet for a moment, her mind deep in thought. Then she snuggled closer and wrapped her arm tightly around him.

"I wish we could have had a proper wedding night."

"Luna, please don't."

"No," She shook her head and rose up on her elbow to look down at him. "I don't mean it like that, not like I usually do. I wish it for me too."

As she spoke George realized that her tone was different, usually when she spoke of this, her voice was so full of pain it hurt him too. Now, she spoke of regret, sadness for what had been stolen from not just him, but her as well.

"I wish so too, but..." He said honestly "It's not your fault; we both know who's to blame."

"Yes," She nodded "I know it isn't my fault, but that doesn't make me wish it any less. I want to be able to be with you, to be a real wife to you…not just for you, but for me too."

"You are a real wife. Luna, having sex isn't what makes two people married. It's loving one another and being there for each other, no matter what. You've been here for me through the darkest time of my life. If not for you, I would still be locked away in my bedroom at the Burrow."

"I know…I also know that I'd be dead if not for you." Luna shuddered, remembering how close she had come to taking her life. Her voice became scared, weak and teary. "I came so close George, just a few more steps. If you had waited just a couple more minutes…"

"Shhh." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, pulling her closer against him. He didn't like thinking about that night, about how close he had come to never knowing her…never knowing this. On the rare occasions when he did let himself go there, he wondered how he would have reacted to her suicide. He had been so cruel to her, said so many terrible things. Would he have felt guilt? Would he have blamed himself and retreated even deeper into the darkness? He was pretty sure he would have, he was just that sort of person. Sometimes, he wondered if her death, his guilt, might have been enough to push him to the point of taking his own life. He had thought about it plenty over the summer, to this day he had no idea what had stopped him.

"I'm sorry." Luna brushed a finger over his lips. "This is supposed to be a happy day; I don't mean to bring it down."

"It is a happy day," He kissed her forehead, pulling her even tighter to him.

She was quiet for a long time, lost deep in her thoughts. He had just begun to wonder if she had fallen back to sleep when she spoke again.

"George?"

"Hmmm?" He mumbled from deep within her hair.

"What's it like..." She shifted so she could look up at him. "Making love?"

George blushed a little. They had spent so much time discussing the prospect of their sex life, that they had never once broached the subject of his.

"I don't know." He admitted, totally unashamed "I've never made love to anyone."

She pushed up on her elbow again, her face shocked and eyes huge. "Really? You've never had sex, ever?"

"It is really so surprising?"

"Well, yes." She admitted "You and Fred were so popular. There were so many girls around you."

"That doesn't mean that I was having sex with them," He shook his head and grinned at her surprise. "I'm not exactly innocent. I've messed around a little, but never went so far as coming close to the other."

"I'm sorry, I just…why haven't you?"

"Luna…" George grinned "You have actually met my parent's right?"

"You were away from home; surely your parents wouldn't have stopped you at school, or after you moved out."

"Of course not, but…" He thought about his childhood, about how he had been raised. The truth was, despite all of his youthful impure fantasies, there were some things that were sacred to him. Making love was one of those things, something that he had decided long ago to only share with one person. The person he would marry.

"You've been around long enough to know what kind of morals we were raised with. Is it really so hard to believe that some of it would have influenced our decisions?"

"No, I don't suppose it is."

Luna smiled; it was so sweet, to think that he had saved himself all these years. It made her feel sad though too, considering how unsure things were. Knowing that because of her, he might never know how it felt to make love. She forced the thought out of her mind, glad that she hadn't known it before they were married. If she had known, she might not have been able to go through with it.

Instead, she made another silent vow. She would try harder; do whatever it took, but not just for him…she would do it for herself too.

-)(-

Becca noticed first off that morning that Percy was looking far too happy about something. It was something that she would have to rectify immediately. Unfortunately, she never had been able to get Luna to spill on any of those deep, dark Percy secrets they had discussed early on during their lunch. Their conversation had drifted back to the wedding, how thankful Luna was going to be when it was over and they were off to their four day honeymoon in Formentera, one of the lesser known Spanish isles. Becca sighed with envy…imagine, four days in paradise with the man of your dreams. It was every girl's fantasy…even hers.

"What are you looking so dreamy about?" Percy looked up, noticing her staring off into space.

"What are you looking so happy about?" She countered "Manage to kill something cute and furry on your way in this morning?"

"No," He grinned "I leave that sort of thing for you. It is more your thing after all, killing the innocent."

"Kill my mother once and I will never hear the end of it." Becca rolled her eyes and slid into a chair at the conference table. "You could take into consideration that it was for a good cause you know."

"I know," He smiled sincerely "Luna did loved the snow globe, so I guess I owe you one."

"Well, you saved me from another boring Saturday night with a book, so let's just call it even." Becca smiled back "Besides, you…well, you were very sweet."

"A compliment?" Percy grabbed his chest over his heart, feigning a heart attack. "Merlin's arse…call St. Mungo's …trauma team…shock…" He fell back in his chair and went limp, his eyes closed in death.

"Very funny." Becca laughed and dipped her fingers in her water, then splashed it in his face. "Come back from the dead already, we have a lot of work to do today."

"I know," He sat up and tossed a file at her. "And, we have a problem."

"The Huntley's?" She opened the file and looked it over. "I placed them two weeks ago."

"Yes, and the ministry inspected the abandoned property yesterday and condemned it. They said the foundation is unstable."

"Shit." Becca closed the folder and put her face in her hands for a moment before looking back at him with a worried expression. "Percy, we are out of properties. There is nothing left on the ministries list of abandoned houses and our funding for this is pretty much shot."

Percy nodded and sat back in his chair "I know Kingsley would approve more, but there isn't enough time. Even if we cut every corner known to man, there is no way we can get more funding today."

"Even if we could, we don't have time to find anything else. Besides, the market is flat. There is nothing out there anymore." Becca looked at Percy nervously, she knew how much he hated going to the office of the Minister, it reminded him too much of the past three years. Unfortunately, there was no other choice. "You're going to have to talk to Kingsley about this, soon. Maybe he'll have a solution."

"You're right." Percy reached for a notepad without hesitation, scribbled a note and stamped it urgent. Then he folded it into the shape of a paper airplane and set it free. It zoomed out of the office, en-route to the Ministers office. "I hope he's not too busy."

"I'm sure he'll make time for this, this office is important to him." She stood and went to the water cooler, a grin on her face because she knew he was now, not just looking at her legs, but her ass as well. "Get your eyes where they belong or I'll gouge them out of your head."

"Look who's talking." He grinned as she returned "The pot yelling at the kettle again?"

Becca figured it might be more prudent to ignore him than to toss her cup of water in his face.

"So, you never did tell me what had you looking so happy this morning."

"You mean until you showed up?" He smirked, a look that was becoming just a little too familiar.

"Yes," Becca shook her head and considered flipping him off but decided in the end to forego. He did after all approve her pay raises. "You know, I am about two seconds from taking back that sweet comment."

Percy laughed. "George and Luna got married last night."

"Last night," She raised her eyebrows, wondering how Mumzilla had taken that. "I thought the wedding wasn't until tomorrow."

"Yeah, it's not. Not the three ring circus wedding anyway…the one they are going through with for mum's sake." He rolled his eyes and bent back over the table again, his fingers fidgeting with a paperclip.

"Luna finally blew and let Mumzilla have it did she?" Becca laughed, remembering how on edge Luna had been the day before over lunch.

"She told you all about it huh?" Percy snickered "Don't get the wrong idea; my mother is a wonderful woman, really. I don't know, something about this wedding made her go all crazy. Everything had to be perfect, her idea of perfect, until she had perfected it into something George and Luna didn't recognize."

"I dread the day I get married." Becca confessed "I know my mother is going to be wretched. If I ever get married that is."

"What makes you think you won't get married?"

Becca laughed and looked at him like he was an idiot. "I guess you missed the fact that I spend my Saturday nights alone at home with a book."

"But why?" Percy asked, his tone sincere and non-combative. "Becca, you're a very attractive young woman, I don't understand why you're alone."

She resisted the urge to make a sarcastic comment, to repeat his feigned heart attack. He was being sweet and kind again, he deserved better than her sarcasm.

"You know why."

"Not every man is like your father."

"No," She thought of Sterling Warrington "Just the one's I've spent my life around, the ones my mother insists are the only ones suitable."

Percy looked at her questioningly. Becca rarely spoke of her mother, most of her issues had always seemed to stem from her father. It had never occurred to him that she might have an issue or two with her mother.

"My mothers a good person, but she spent twenty-two years married to Rufus, of course some of it rubbed off." She looked out the window, an unbearably sad look on her face as she remembered the parents of her younger years. Parents who had laughed, who had been content to just be an Auror and the wife of an Auror. Before crooked politics, social aspirations and the move to snobbery row had changed them.

Looking at Becca, seeing the sadness in her eyes…he couldn't stop himself. He knew he was going to regret it. Regret it as much as he had ended up regretting having taking her to Luna's birthday party…which truth be told, he hadn't regretted at all. He had to, even if it was only one less Saturday night that she had to spend alone.

"Listen Becca, I was wondering…"

"Yeah?" She turned back to him, the calm façade back in place now.

"Would you like to go to the wedding with me tomorrow night?"

She grinned "Did Luna make you ask me?"

"Yes and no," He grinned sheepishly "She told me I should invite you, but she didn't make me."

"Are you asking me because you feel sorry for me?"

"No, I'm asking you because you're my friend." He smiled a little, the smile that had become her favorite of his many smiles. The one that was the most endearing and sincere.

"I don't reckon you were too much of a pain in the arse at Luna's birthday party."

"Thanks...I think. Do I have to dress up?" Becca crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a mock disgusted look. "Like, something fancy?"

"I'm afraid so, and I don't think they make leather formal wear."

"They make leather underwear." She grinned mischievously. Percy raised a hand and looked away as a folded airplane flew into the office.

"I don't need to know about your underwear, thanks."

"I never said I wear it."

"Just own it?" He smirked again, chalking up another win when Becca blushed.

The airplane landed on the table and he unfolded it. A look passed over his face, relief mixed with turmoil.

"Kingsley's working me in right away, I need to go now though, he only has twenty minutes before he has to be in a hearing." He stood and pulled his suit coat off the back of his chair, then slid his arms into it. "Think about it, I'll be back soon."

Becca watched him rush out and a smile passed over her face. She didn't have to think about it at all, she had known what her answer was the minute he had asked her.

Yes, unequivocally yes.

-)(-

The Burrow was in a state of unadulterated chaos. Molly ran rampant, barking orders right and left. By midday, though they were still pleased by George and Luna's desertion, the others couldn't help being a bit bitter over being left to deal with Mumzilla on their own. She was like a mad woman, easily three hundred times worse than she had been during the planning stage. The execution stage was turning out to be far, far worse. She was a woman on a mission, a mission she wouldn't share with anyone else.

The only things they did know was that she had been up all night, all five owls…Errol, Luna's, Harry's, Pigwidgeon and Hermes…were missing. Mr. Weasley had been put to work in the shop the moment he had finished breakfast and no one was allowed in. When questioned, the most Molly would say was that they would find out tomorrow evening. What was most amazing was that she was following George and Luna's wishes. Ginny had been sure she would be at the flat first thing in the morning, something that would have been sure to push, George at least, over the edge.

By the time they had sat down to a late dinner after the wedding the night before, Luna had calmed down considerably…though she was still noticeably upset. It was she who had finally convinced George that they should go ahead with Molly's wedding. She had put so much time and effort into it, not to mention, a considerable amount of money. And so, they all found themselves slaving away like house elves, and it wasn't until nearly two o'clock that Hermione realized that Ron and Harry hadn't been seen or heard from since lunch. She wasn't sure what they were doing, but she had a pretty good idea where they were doing it and it was time that someone go and stop them from doing it. If She and Ginny had to suffer the rampaging Mumzilla, then so did they.

The tricky part was sneaking out of the kitchen under Mumzilla's watchful eye. Finally, Ginny managed to create enough of a distraction by spilling a bowl of bird seed that they were supposed to be tying into little silver and blue bags of tulle.

"Oh Ginny!" Mumzilla threw her hands up in frustration, and then went for her wand. "We don't have enough of that as it is without you wasting even more!"

"Sorry mum!" Ginny giggled and motioned Hermione out the door while Molly bent down with her wand, siphoning as much as possible back into the bowl. Hermione laughed while she ran around to the other side of the house, and then slipped past the window and out into the high grass…towards Ron's old fort. Sure enough, she heard the two slackers, laughing inside.

"You're so caught!" She said, jumping in front of the door and laughing at the frightened looks on their faces. Ron jumped so badly he nearly fell into the fire and Harry had fallen backwards, putting his hand through one of the holes in the blanket.

"Damn it Hermione!" He shot her a glare while he untangled himself. "Give us a heart attack why don't you!"

"You know," She smirked "A person would think after last year you would be a bit more vigilant."

"That was the whole point of last year," Ron smirked up at her as she passed and sat down next to him "Taking care of things so we wouldn't have to be so vigilant."

She rolled her eyes and sat back on her hands, giving them both admonishing looks. "You should be ashamed of yourselves, out here slacking while Ginny and I deal with Mumzilla."

"Did she send you out here?" Ron groaned, cringing despite himself.

"No, Ginny did." Hermione was deeply satisfied to see Harry tense, even Ron flinched slightly. "It's time you got off your lazy bums and helped."

"We were just taking a break." Harry protested, getting to his feet.

"For two hours?"

"Okay mum," Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm going in. You coming?"

"In a minute." Ron gave Harry an obvious look and Harry grinned and turned away. He was barely out the door before Ron turned to Hermione and pulled her into his arms.

"Hello there."

"Hello." She grinned and put her arms around his neck.

"Do you realize how long it's been since we actually had any significant time alone together?"

"I do as a matter of fact."

He grinned and lowered his face to hers, kissing her for several blissful moments before a loud voice called out from the distance.

"Ron, Hermione!"

"That fink ratted us out." Ron shook his head.

"Harry wouldn't do that." She grinned "She probably saw him come in and realized you weren't with him, the two of you are joined at the hip you know."

"I'd rather be joined at your hip."

Hermione bit her lip, a question forming on her lips. She wasn't sure how to word it, not in a way that wouldn't sound like she was being clingy or possessive. She had seen enough to know just how well Ron liked possessive women.

"If that's the case," She began nervously "Then why don't you want to make it official that we are exclusive?"

" 'Moine," He looked at her in exasperation "You're the only one I want to be with, you know that."

"I may know that, but others don't."

"Everyone knows."

"Who? Your family, Harry…Luna. They're the only ones who really know."

"Things have been just fine all these months. Why are you getting so wrapped up in this now?"

"Why are you being so evasive?" She pulled away from him, refusing to let him see the hurt in her eyes. "Maybe you don't want people know were" She made quote marks with her hands "unofficially exclusive."

"Like who?" He spat angrily "Who would I not want to know?"

"Lavender Brown maybe?"

"Lav…" He looked at her incredulously "You honestly think I would care about Lavender Brown, after everything that happened before?"

"She obviously still cares about you. I've seen it, the way she looks at you, and she would go back with you in a second…"

"She would not!" Ron stood angrily

"She would!" Hermione stayed on the ground glaring up into his eyes. "I've heard her say it!"

His mother called again from the house, her voice louder and much angrier.

"Hermione, this is just…just stupid!" He turned and pushed the flap open for the fort. "I'm going in before mum skins me alive, are you coming?"

He looked at her for a moment and when she didn't answer, he turned again and left her behind. She sat quietly, her arms wrapped around her knees, feeling incredibly stupid. She knew that Ron had no interest in Lavender Brown, even if he hadn't told her so, his actions spoke to that fact. Since the summer the two of them had been so close, everything had been so perfect.

So why,…why had she felt so insecure about their relationship since the first second since they had stepped foot back inside Hogwarts?

-)(-

Becca stood freezing in the cold. A light snow had begun to fall, mixing with a gentle breeze. It wasn't bad, but it was enough to make her wish that she had worn a warmer coat. She wasn't precisely sure why she was here, standing on an empty lot of land, when she had expected to find a house. The best guess she had was that Kingsley hadn't been able to do anything with so little notice. Surely he planned to do something for them after the first of the year and wanted them to at least see where their home would be. Percy had sent an airplane down after his meeting with Kingsley and told her to bring the Huntley's and meet him here in two hours.

"I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Huntley; I don't know where he is." She shivered a little, thinking of the many ways she was going to hurt him when she got her hands on him. The words were barely out of her mouth before there was a loud crack behind them, startling the four youngest Huntley's and sending them skittering to hold onto the edge of their mother's cloak.

"Sorry I'm late." He smiled at Becca, and then turned to the Huntley's "Archie, Cassandra, nice to see you again." He reached into his pocket and pulled out four candy canes and presented them to the four children, who ranged in age from three to ten.

"First, let me apologize for the fact that the first house fell through. Sometimes, these things are unforeseeable."

"We understand Mr. Weasley." Archie smiled in understanding "No hard feelings."

"Were happy that you're trying to help us at all." Cassandra agreed.

"Percy, please." Percy smiled and then nodded towards the middle of the lot. "And, helping you is exactly why we are here. If you'll follow me?"

Becca looked at him curiously and he winked and turned away, leading them towards the gravely spot where a house once stood. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small yellow box, and then laid it on the ground. Becca's breath caught, she knew what the box was…and obviously so did Archie and Cassandra Huntley.

"Archie, would you like to do the honors?"

"Percy…" Archie had tears in his eyes as he pulled out his wand. "I don't know what to say."

"Well, Contructus is what the instructions suggest."

Archie laughed and nodded to his family to move out of the way. Percy took Becca's hand and moved back, his smile wide. Archie waved his wand over the box and spoke the spell; it sprang to life in a burst of dust, snow and construction materials. When all settled, a lovely little yellow house stood in the middle of the lot.

Cassandra stepped in front of Percy and pulled him into a tight hug, and then she kissed his cheek before moving on to Becca.

"I can't tell you what this means," She spoke through tears. "Having a home for Christmas."

"I know that you lost everything Cassandra." He reached into his other pocket and pulled out another box. "It's not much, just some old furniture I had, but it will start you out. A group from our office will be by tomorrow to bring you some other things, and a Christmas tree, so don't go rushing out to buy one."

"Thank you Percy." Archie shook his hand, then turned and ushered his family into their new home.

Becca had to turn away, her eyes were misting badly and she was afraid if she didn't she would start blubbering. She had never seen a gesture so kind before in her life. The Ministry under her father's administration never would have done something such as this, and Sterling Warrington wouldn't have given a needy family as much as a stick of firewood.

"Becca?" He put his hand on her shoulder and she turned and smiled at him.

"Oh crap, you're not about to say something nice again are you?" He shuddered in mock terror.

She smiled and then stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"That was the sweetest thing I have ever seen in my life." She couldn't have put the tough exterior back in place even if she had wanted to, for the first time in as long as she could remember, she didn't want to.

"I can't believe the Ministry bought them a new house."

"The ministry didn't." Percy looked down at her and smiled.

"This is the land that the house stood on that had to be condemned, Kingsley arranged for the old house to be cleared and then sent me out to buy a pre-made house kit."

"Wow." She shook her head, taking one last look at the Huntley's through the windows as they ran excitedly from room to room exploring their new home. She turned and began to walk away. "Was that really old furniture you gave them, or were you shopping too?"

"Most of it was, I tossed in a couple beds for the kids and a few blankets. They couldn't very well sleep on the floor." He smiled and didn't resist the urge to take her hand in his. "I'm glad to be rid of it, now I can start fresh in my new place after the first of the year, no memories of my old life."

"You know Percy," Becca gave his hand a little squeeze "You keep this up I might have to stop saying that you're a pain in the arse."

"Merlin's drunk goldfish Becca," He laughed and squeezed her hand back.

"Where's the fun in that?"

-)(-

Finally!

George and Luna's (Second) Wedding day arrives!

What's this surprise that Mumzilla has up her sleeve? Will George and Luna like it…

or will it have them running for the door? Will Ron and Hermione make up, or will things only get worse?

And what happens when Becca finds out something that Percy never intended her to?

-)(-

It's all coming up in Chapter Twenty-Six!

-)(-