Chapter Two

Charlie had a big grin on his face when he entered his old room. He still had one on when his brother Bill aparated in front of him with his luggage. "Is that smile for me, or have our younger brothers finally got to you?" Charlie laughed. "I haven't even seen them yet. I guess it's just because I'm happy." Bill looked at his brother closely. "I've seen you happy before, and it never came close to this. You're positively beaming!"

Charlie knew he could not keep anything from his brother. "If you must know, I think I've met my match in life." Bill's jaw dropped. "You mean a girl?" Charlie gave him an intense look. "Woman. Bill, she is a woman. There is nothing girlish about her. Yep! She is definitely a woman."

Bill almost collapsed as he went to sit down on his bed. "And here I had you pegged as a confirmed bachelor and womanizer. Where did you meet her? How come I haven't heard about her before this?" Charlie blushed. He didn't know how to explain. He could just imagine it. 'I met her at the coffee shop just before boarding the train to get here.' Bill would have kittens. Either that or bust a gut laughing.

If Charlie was predictable, Bill was the complete opposite. Charlie cleared his throat. "Bill do you believe in love at first sight?" Bill looked at Charlie waiting for him to continue. Charlie sighed. "I met her at the coffee shop outside the train station, waiting for the train to arrive."

Bills eye's expanded. "Bloody hell! Does dad know about this?" Charlie looked at Bills expression. It wasn't as bad as he had expected. Charlie grinned. Bill knew instinctively that their father did. And by the look on Charlie's face, he had probably milked the encounter for as much as he could. Laughter, that is. They needed more laughter. Especially after what had happened to Harry and Ginny. Two years after they had graduated, they had gotten married. Everyone had expected it. What no one had expected was Ginny almost dieing while giving birth to their child. A son, whom Harry had named Serius after his godfather. That was why Hermione and Ron had put off their wedding for so long. "He gave me the old lecture about the consequences, especially with her being a muggle."

Charlie grinned even harder when he saw the look on his brothers' face. Bill looked at him quizzically. "She must be real pretty then. As I seem to remember you'd sworn off romance once you'd became more seriously involved in caring for dragons. You didn't want to leave a widow behind as I recall. Charlie sighed, "I don't know if she would be classified as pretty. attractive yes. And as far as the chances of her becoming a widow, I've an equal chance of becoming a widower. What I do for dragons, she does for large cats. She does volunteer work at a muggle zoo." Bill almost chocked. "Does mom or dad know about this?" Charlie gave him a determined look. "Nope. And I'd like to keep it that way until I know for sure the way things are going to turn out between us.

Charlie and Bill headed down together. Valerie was already down there talking to his parents, sipping tea. "So what do you do for a living?" Asked Molly. Charlie tensed. Valerie thought for a while. "Well for the most part I run a shop. I grow and purchase herbs to sell. Some common, some not so common. I also sell books in there about the handling and use of them. In my spare time though I volunteer at the zoo." Arthur looked interested. "Oh! And what do you do there?" Valerie smiled. "I help look after the big cat's."

Molly Weasely groaned. Arthur paled. Now Arthur knew why his son was so interested in this young lady. They were both suicidal. Valerie picked up on their worry. "It's not as dangerous as you think. We handle them as babies. By the time they are full grown, it's like you are part of their family." Arthur still looked dubious. Charlie chuckled. "It's no use Valerie. I've been trying to tell them the same thing for years and they still don't believe me!"

Molly looked indignant. "Well can you blame us? Look at all the scares you have on your arms. If you didn't wear that dragon skin vest while working with them, you'd have been burned to a crisp long ago!" Valerie gave Charlie an understanding look. "My Parents are as bad as yours when it comes to my volunteer work. Strange though. They didn't argue as much when I tried to join the army reserve. I got turned down though. Flat feet."

Ginny, Harry, Serius and Hermione arrived just before dinnertime. Charlie was glad to see that Ginny and Harry had put on a bit of weight since the last time he'd seen them. Serius had been a demanding child as an infant. For the first month, Harry had been franticly worried over both mother and son. Fortunately for the two of them, after six months Ginny agreed to switch to bottle-feeding, so Harry could take turns and allow her to rest.

Charlie shook hands with Harry. Ginny couldn't have picked a better chap to marry. Two-year-old Serius ran up to Molly. "Gamma! Gamma!" He exclaimed. Molly swept Serius into her arms. "Oh my! You sure are getting to be a big boy, aren't you?" She told him as she hugged her grandson to her.

Turning to Hermione, Molly said. "Your cousin is in Ginny's old room unpacking." Hermione let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god! I was worried about how she would get here." She confided. "Mom and Dad are just outside talking to ." She didn't know how to address Mr. Weasely. Molly picked up immediately. "Just call us Mom and Dad like everyone ells. You will be related to us by tomorrow anyway." Hermione smiled and with Ginny's Help managed to get her stuff into Ginny's old room.

Valerie gave Hermione a big hug. "It's good to see you." she said as they backed up and looked at each other. "It's been Years now since Marty and Ann got married. Their twins Marty and Ralph show promise as being Hogwarts material. I could have sworn that on my last visit Ralph unconsciously aparated a dish of cookies in front of him. And Marty has an uncanny ability of making the TV move to what ever channel he wants with out getting up or using the remote. They will be 11 come July. I wouldn't be surprised if they got letters from Hogwarts.

Hermione grinned. "And I don't know what it is about twins, but I swear, they are just as bad as Fred and George. Ginny snorted. "They are still bad." Ron is staying with them until it's time for the wedding. It's just as good. He's a bundle of nerves. They are getting him good and toasted!" Hermione gave them all a wicked grin. "That's fine with me. Just as long as he's sober for the wedding. Otherwise he'll have to answer to me. Not till after the wedding of coarse. I don't want him to change his mind."

Ginny giggled. Ron had gotten Harry smashed the night before their wedding. "If he turns up like Harry did to our wedding, you won't have to give him hell. He'll be going through it already.

After dinner, Molly shooed everyone upstairs to bed. "We have an early morning ahead of us. Mr. and Mrs. Granger, I've put your stuff in Percy's room. Percy will not be coming till just before the wedding. Harry and Ginny, You have Fred and George's old room. It's bigger and I fit it with Ginny's old crib for Serius. You will find all your stuff where it's supposed to be." With that said Molly directed them all to their designated rooms and made sure everyone was comfortable. With a sigh she headed for her and Arthur's room. Arthur was already there and had changed into his nightshirt.

He looked worried. Molly changed into her night gown and climbed into bed beside him "Did you see the look's they were giving each other?" She asked. Arthur chewed on his lip. "It was hard not to. All we can do now is trust our sons instincts, and hope for the best." Molly chewed on her lip. "Well, at least she does seam like a nice steady headed young lady. Quite mature. Maybe some of that maturity will rub off on him." Arthur snorted. "I can only hope. If they do get involved, maybe she can cure him from that wander lust at least. You never know where he is going to be from week to week." Molly agreed. "Goodnight Arthur." She said and kissed him on the cheek. Within minutes she had fallen asleep.