I actually have a reasonable explanation for my absence and delay. Believe me. Also, I'm not happy with this.
"How is it standing?" Paul breathed, eyes wide with shock. "It's just so out of proportion."
"That's what we ask ourselves every time we see it," Harry admitted and Hermione grinned.
"What even is this place?"
"Welcome to The Burrow."
"The Burrow? That doesn't exactly answer my question," Paul muttered as they began the trek down the path to the crazy looking house that seemed to bring such a beautiful smile to Hermione's face.
"You didn't tell him?" Harry asked, leaning forward to look around Paul to Hermione. She shook her head, grinning. "You gave him no preparation?" She laughed and Harry patted Paul on the shoulder. "You are in for a treat!" Harry exclaimed.
As they grew closer to the house, Paul's hearing allowed him to hear the large number of people on the upper floors who seemed to be discussing some weird thing called quidditch? And there were only five people on the lower floor: one in the kitchen and four in another room. Out of that four, one was asleep and the other three were conversing about werewolf rights and laws. Paul felt his heart speed up. Werewolf rights? Were they talking about him?
"Hey," Hermione said softly. "There are some things that are going to come to light today, okay? Things that wouldn't be right coming from me. But I'll be here and you shouldn't panic."
"It's not going to kill me, is it?" he asked, causing her to laugh.
"Absolutely not," she reassured him. "Oh, also, don't accept anything from the Twins." He blinked at her serious face and spared a glance at Harry who nodded solemnly. "Just, trust me on that."
He didn't question her on anything else, instead choosing to follow her closely as they drew nearer to the unusual house. They didn't enter via the front door, which hinted to the familiarity that the duo held for the house and its inhabitants and he nodded to himself when they reached the kitchen door. He could hear a woman speaking to herself about food and someone called 'Ronald' which he could only assume was Hermione's friend, Ron.
"Just, let her do whatever she does," Hermione told him without elaborating and he silently followed her into the large kitchen.
"Hey Mrs Weasley," Harry greeted and the woman in question waved a hand over her shoulder without turning around.
"Hello Harry dear," she replied. "Ron and the others are upstairs whilst Remus is in the living room with Arthur, Teddy and Tonks. I have to get this pie perfect otherwise Remus will be deprived of his daily chocolate dose."
Harry snorted. "If you think that will be the first bit of chocolate Remus has had today then you're largely mistaken Mrs Weasley. I know for a fact that he had chocolate spread on toast today," he told her conspiringly causing her to chuckle. She knew the werewolf had had chocolate but it just gave her more reason to cook food and make more of her family happy. "I'm going upstairs to see Ron and Ginny and the others," he told her, winking at Hermione behind her back and quickly popped out of the living room. He could be heard running up the stairs seconds later.
"Now, should I do the potatoes or the vegetables first?" Molly asked herself.
"Well, maybe I can help," Hermione offered and both Paul and the young witch watched the elder woman freeze before turning around suddenly. She squealed loudly in delight, causing Paul to wince due to his sensitive hearing.
He watched his girlfriend get pulled into a crushing hug that made him smile and the woman he knew to be Mrs Weasley was babbling about "how happy I am to see you," and crying - practically sobbing - into Hermione's shoulder.
"Molly? Why are you making so much noise? Is everything okay?" a manly voice called, and Paul heard someone start walking towards the kitchen door only moments before it swung open and revealed a balding ginger man. "Oh Merlin! Hermione?" he asked rather loudly. Molly pulled back and wiped her cheeks, allowing the man to pull Hermione into a hug.
"Hello Arthur," she greeted, wrapping her own arms around him. This must be Ron's dad, Paul mused. His attention was brought somewhere else when a stampede of feet came down the stairs.
"Dad? Bill said he heard you say Hermione's name," a female voice spoke loudly, before she burst into the room with a whole group of redheads behind her. "Oh Godric. Hermione!" Paul grinned happily as his girlfriend was passed from person to person, held tightly in hugs and kissed on cheeks or foreheads. It wasn't until she'd been passed to a tall redhead with scars on his face that Paul got a sniff of his scent and stiffened.
"Hermione, love," Paul called. "Please come here." The attention shifted from the curly haired witch to the large stranger standing in the corner. The room fell silent shortly afterwards. "Hermione," he pleaded. "Please." The amount of effort that went into restraining himself so he didn't charge over and rip her away from the new and unusual threat was muscle-aching.
"Go," a man urged. The man who Paul recognised as Remus. Taking another sniff as Hermione got closer, Paul got a stronger and more overwhelming smell of him and he had to fight off the urge to shift. His large wolf in a kitchen, even one of this size, would cause damage. Hermione, being the closest to him would experience the brunt of it and he'd probably kill himself with the pain of knowing what he'd done to her.
"Babe," she murmured. "It's okay. Everyone's a friend here." Paul didn't look at her, his eyes looking at Remus and back to the redhead and it flickered between the two. They were both threats. He had to protect his imprint. "Woah," she gasped as he shoved her behind him. "What's gotten into you?"
"He iz acting like a protective wolf, non?" a french voice drawled and Paul's eyes narrowed in on her. She was a beautiful blonde and was being protected and sheltered by the redheaded man. He felt no inclination to keep looking at her and turned back to the threats.
"Did he just shrug off Fleur's looks?" someone whispered but he didn't take in their words.
"Paul," Harry called. "Step outside and check she's okay. Cool off and then we can send them two out and have everything explained." Paul backed away and out of the building - mainly due to Hermione's tugging hands - and sighed with relief when they were out.
"Come here," Hermione commented and it wasn't even a second later that she was pulled into his arms as he sniffed her and ran his hands over her body. "I'm good. You good?" He nodded shakily and she peppered kisses along his neck. "Is this because of the wolf seeing threats or because you felt threatened with all those handsome men?" He growled at her, tightening his arms around her middle and not giving her a definitive answer. But they both knew it was the wolf. "You're more of a danger to them than they are to anything right now."
"'Mione, why do your words hurt so?" Remus asked, standing on the back porch and looking over at the couple. They separated and Remus smiled at the protective male. "Paul, obviously you've met me. This is Bill," he introduced, motioning to the scarred man beside him. "Werewolf and half werewolf."
"Paul, werewolf," he introduced and Remus shook his head.
"Fortunately for you, you are a shapeshifter. Different to a werewolf." Paul didn't argue and instead let Remus talk about werewolves and shapeshifters; he mentioned their differences and similarities but mainly their differences. All whilst Hermione stood by his side with a supporting hand on his arm. "And so, that's how I know," Remus finished.
"So, you're an… actual werewolf?" Paul asked, shocked at the revelations. Remus nodded. "And you were attacked but not actually bitten by the wolf?" he asked Bill who nodded, looking more at ease now that he wasn't going to be attacked. "And I'm a shapeshifter which is why our scents are different and I saw you as a threat," Paul surmised more to himself than anyone.
"It will take you a while to get comfortable with the thought of Hermione near us without you in between but you'll get to that stage eventually," Remus promised. "It'll be harder once you've had kids."
"Speaking of kids…" Hermione suggested and Paul felt himself pale at the thought though he couldn't argue with the short burst of excitement and the thought of a Mini-Hermione. "When do I get to see Teddy?"
"You saw him yesterday," Remus teased. "That's all of the little kid you're gonna see." Before either could carry on arguing, the kitchen door opened and a pink haired lady walked out, carrying a blue haired little kid.
"Are we done? Ron's complaining that he's hungry."
"So, Paul," Molly said, bringing attention to the shapeshifter that had been sitting silently and peacefully whilst stuffing his face. "What do you do for a living?" He grimaced, his mouth full of chicken which prevented him from answering, and only swallowed when his witch placed a comforting hand on his knee.
"Erm, I actually don't have a job," he informed her, wincing as he expected everyone to look at him in disapproval. That's what he's always had to deal with. "With the Pack and patrols, I can't keep a steady job," he defended.
"Oh don't worry about that dear," Molly said, brushing off his concerns. "Remus here, a lovely chap, turns into a wolf less than you do but he still has trouble getting employed."
"Thanks for the reminder," Remus muttered bitterly, glaring at the bowl of mashed potatoes that he was feeding Teddy.
"What I mean to say is that we don't judge you for that at all. I was just curious. If Hermione is happy, then that's all that matters to me." Hermione removed her hand from his knee and rested it instead on his hand which was on the table, shooting him a happy smile.
"I'm so very happy," she commented, leaning over to kiss him sweetly on the lips. He kissed her just as sweetly - aware that these people were her family - and was quite thankful that he'd finished his mouthful of food.
"I love you," he murmured when they separated. Her smile widened into a grin and he heard the collective 'aw' from the females around the table. He blushed lightly and returned to his food.
"You're saying the love word, eh?" Fred - or was it George? - asked, winking at him. "She must have used a love potion. See, we caught the little bookworm eyeing them up a few years ago," he informed him. Paul smirked at his girlfriend's uncomfortable face and fought off a laugh.
"Now, I can't imagine why that is. A beautiful girl like her was surely fighting the men off at school."
"Shut up," she grumbled. "And, you two," she warned, pointing her fork at the twins. "I'll have you know that I was merely browsing your store, not looking to buy and if i really wanted to use a bloody love potion then I could've bloody well brewed one myself."
"Got your hands full with this one," the twin with one ear said.
"I love it when she curses in British," he confessed, smirking at her flustered look.
"Fred is right though," Arthur spoke. "Love is a word that isn't commonly used in relationships of your length. Not even Molly and myself had spoken those words until we had been in a relationship for two years."
"I understand but she's the only one for me," Paul promised. "The only one."
"Well, I better begin dealing with the dishes," Molly said, sighing as she looked at the long table and all of the empty plates and bowls. Ron, even on a good day, hadn't been able to finish everything but the addition of Paul had saved her wasting any food. "Paul, honey, why don't you give me a hand?"
"Of course Mrs Weasley," he agreed, beginning to stack the nearest plates to him. The Weasley family left the room almost immediately with the confirmation that they wouldn't be tricked into helping and the Lupin trio were seconds behind. "You two go ahead." Paul nudged Hermione with his hip as he passed her, noticing that she still remained in the room with Harry. "I won't be long."
He didn't notice the look Hermione was exchanging with Harry or the confused glances they were both giving Molly but they did leave the two alone soon after his words.
"Now, Mr Lahote," Molly said slowly, turning around with her arms crossed and wearing a look that only a protective parent could muster. "Let's talk about you and Hermione."
"Harry, I can't hear anything!" Hermione hissed, her ear pressed against the wood that served as a door between the kitchen and living room. Everyone was sat in their seats or on the floor comfortably and watching the duo with looks of amusement. "What is she saying?"
"How the bloody hell am I supposed to know?" Harry growled back at her, his voice just as low and quiet as hers.
"Well, you're the chosen one! Can't you, I don't know, walk through walls and have x-ray vision?"
"Hardy har," he snarked, offering her a laughing face that was as fake as Sirius' portrait's claims of dying a virgin. "You're the bookworm, aren't you supposed to have read spells that help you spy on overbearing parents?"
"If you break her heart and ditch her for another woman then we are going to have huge problems. I will hunt you down like the wolf you sometimes are and you will become the new rug in my living room."
Molly Weasley, Paul decided, was one of the scariest women alive. If he'd encountered her the first time he'd started getting an interest in breasts and women, he'd probably have been a bit more careful with the whole sleeping around.
"You misunderstand me Mrs Weasley. She's the only one I can have. I'm not made to love anyone else. She's it for me."
"They all say that," she countered, batting a hand to wave his excuse away.
"No, I mean it. I've imprinted on her which means that my whole world revolves around that witch in there. I couldn't date another person even if I wanted to - which I don't."
"So, she really is it for you?"
"Till the day I die," he confirmed and she covered her mouth as she welled up.
The door opened and both Harry and Hermione - who were still arguing - fell forwards, hitting Paul's chest and causing him to stumble backwards. "Oh," Hermione breathed, standing up and brushing herself off. "Everything okay?"
"Hermione, I think I've fucked up," he whispered urgently causing her to frown in worry.
"What on Earth do you mean?" she asked but was interrupted as Molly barged her way into the room, arms spread as if to embrace everyone in a hug.
"I'm planning Hermione's wedding!" she announced excitedly.
My life went 0 to 100 real quick. First the delay was due to measly writer's block. Then I fell ill and was bed bound and energy sapped and just as I got over that, my pet died. I'm a very animal emotional person and I blubbered all day. Even now things aren't okay because my room is so empty without her, aha.
I've also begun writing the next chapter as we speak because I'm now in a writing funk.