Chapter 6

()()()

Lily arrived at Hogwarts for noon to finish setting up her office and classroom. Tomorrow was her first day teaching and she was quite excited about it. James had been simply nodding along when she talked incessantly about her lesson plans for the different years of students, but he and Sirius were helpful when he told her she needed to interject some element of fun into it all. Children all learned by different methods, using games and prizes and such could be a great way to motivate them.

Sirius' idea for creating bubbles as first year's and then requiring second year's to make them change colour, then having that same lesson get harder and harder as the year's went higher was one that she really liked and added to her plans.

She had stopped into Hogwarts a few times over the past two weeks and brought some personal effects with her. There were staff quarters that had been set aside for her, but she would only be needing it one weekend a month. She still wanted it to have a level of comfort should she want to escape to it at some point through her days though, and it would likely be a while before she would be comfortable enough to use the same staff room as everyone there for extended periods of time.

Several of the other professors had stopped in when they knew she was there, including the new Headmaster Filius, and she had gone down to visit with Hagrid for tea. Severus though had not stopped by, and she had not gone to seek him out.

For several years she had tried to remain friends with him through their school years, but he had made it too hard, and the animosity between he and James had been too great. Had she not fallen in love with James, had Severus not been enchanted by that ridiculous man that had been hell bent on blood purity before he had been called out for being a Half-Blood and then killed by one of his young 'followers', who knew if they would have managed to find some kind of middle ground by this point and put it all behind them.

She told herself that just because they had to work together now did not mean that they had to become close once more. There would be very little instances that would require them to even be in the same room.

James still wasn't happy about them working together, but he had stopped mentioning it at regular intervals, so that was something.

"All settled in then?" asked that familiar Scottish accent from the doorway. Minerva, as Lily was trying to remind herself to call her, had stopped by a few times to chat as well over the past few weeks. Her voice still made Lily instinctively want to sit up straighter and pay attention.

During her school years Lily had always admired and respected Minerva McGonagall. She had that perfect balance of strict and kind. The students knew never to cross her, but that they could always come to her for assistance. That was how Lily hoped to come across.

"I'm sure there is something I'm forgetting, but I think I have all the essentials sorted out," she said confidently. "I'm rather excited," she admitted.

Minerva gave her a kind smile. "I remember those days. They don't go on forever."

"And yet you've stuck it out."

"There are always a few batches of students that make it worth it. Yourself and your husband were certainly a few that stood out."

Lily wanted to bite her lip at this point over a question she had, but she hadn't spoken to any that properly knew all the Weasley's yet. Minerva would have taught all of them, including Arthur and his late wife as well.

She couldn't resist though. "I've heard the Weasley children were a bit of a handful," she started cautiously.

Minerva's eyebrows knit together a bit. "No. Well, the twins, Fred and George, they were a bit of troublemakers, they could have given James and Sirius a run for their money. The eldest, Bill, and the middle boy, Percy, they were both Head Boys. Overall, Arthur and Molly, rest her soul, raised some lovely children. Their youngest, Ginny, she will be finishing her final year with us this year. That is the last we'll see of the Weasley's for quite a few years."

Lily nodded.

"Why do you ask?" Minerva questioned.

Lily felt that Minerva would be able to keep it to herself if requested, and it was possible she might know of a way around the contract that the solicitor had been unable to find yet.

The last of her nerve crumbled as she looked into her former Head of House's eyes. "We found out a few weeks ago that in the nineteenth century there was a contract made between the Weasley's and the Potter's," Lily told her.

Minerva gave a single nod, a slight encouragement to continue the story.

"It appears that there is some claim of a curse on the Potter family and at the time they thought that… that joining with the Weasley's would cancel out the curse. Ridiculous, I know," she tried to play it off.

"A contract? For joining the families?" It was clear that she knew what that meant. "Oh dear, and miss Weasley just came of age."

Lily's shoulders slumped. "We didn't even know about it until after she turned of age. Considering it has been generations since the Weasley's have had a girl, and the Potter's seemed to have simply forgotten to pass the information on the contract down the generations as well, it was a surprise to both families."

"And you haven't yet found a way to nullify it? Do you even want to?"

"Of course we want to," she assured her, then couldn't help admitting, "Harry and Ginny have been getting along alright, and I suspect there is some attraction there, but they certainly don't want to be forced into marriage on threat of losing their magic."

"How long do they have?" she asked sympathetically.

"Until August 10th of next year."

"Not much time then. Miss Weasley might find something to help in the library here, or by speaking with Professor Binns," Minerva suggested.

Lily opened her mouth to comment but paused. She didn't know if anyone had ever asked Professor Binns a question before, alive or dead. She had almost forgotten that he was a professor here as he didn't attend meetings or meal times.

"I had completely forgotten about him," she admitted.

The corner of Minerva's mouth gave a twitch upwards. "Yes, many of us do."

Lily leaned in towards her and lowered her voice, as though for some reason worried that Binn's might overhear her. "When did he die?"

"In the 1880's, so there is a chance he is well acquainted with betrothal contracts. They were fairly common in his time."

That meant he would have been alive when the contract was made, Lily thought happily. He could have the exact knowledge of how to get out of them. "If you don't mind, I'm just going to see if I can track him down."

"I will suggest you start by checking the armchair by the staffroom fire. He can't feel the warmth anymore, but he is a creature of habit; what, with his still giving the same lectures for a century after his death," she told her, disapproval heavy in her tone.

"He wasn't very exciting, but at least that is one teachers' salaries you don't have to worry about," Lily joked.

Upon reaching the staff room she found that Cuthbert Binns was in the armchair, napping by the fire, and she also found that Severus was standing at the kitchen making himself a tea. It gave her pause to see him there. He cast a sideways glance at her and she was sure his spine had straightened some, then he returned to his task.

Lily swept across the room and sat in the chair across from the ghost and waited until Severus left before trying to wake him, since he was sitting with his head resting forward, hovering above the chair.

She tried clearing her throat, that didn't work, then she tried snapping her fingers by his ear, that didn't work either. "Cuthbert," she whispered, then repeated it louder. "Mr. Binns," she shouted, and he snorted and woke himself.

"Y-yes? Miss…. Everton?"

He never had learned anyone's surname in her year.

"I have a question about betrothal contracts."

He blinked at her a few times and then gave a cough. "My dear, I believe you may be passed the age of needing to worry about them."

"It isn't for me, it is for my son. Do you know a way of breaking a betrothal contract? If both parties object to it and it has been generations since it was made?"

"Generations you say? Oh, well then you have seventeen years to object to it. Not to worry. Just need to have the lawyers change the stipulations before the ink dries. Just add a caveat about paying them off, assuming you can afford it."

"Seventeen years? Do you mean from the date-"

He cut her off, clearly eager to get back to his nap. "Seventeen years from the date that the second name is added. That is the age of majority now, isn't it? Or did they change it again? When I was a child, the bride only needed to be fourteen."

"And what if that has come and gone?"

He frowned at her. "If both are of age then that is that. I don't understand what the problem is. They get married, have a child, then both can go about their lives however they want," he dismissed. "Is this not still common among the high-born society?" He shook his head in distaste. "It is a terrible practice and should be stopped. Every wizarding family is intermingled now. Cousins marrying cousins. My wife was my second cousin, I hated her. Got a job here to get away from her." He had started mumbling the last few sentences and then he was snoring again.

And she'd come into the room with such hope.

()()()

The first Monday of September came quicker than he had expected. It was hard for Harry to believe that he had gone from being a student just over two months ago to now launching into the start of what he expected to be a life-long career.

It was his family's company after all, he would always have some role to play in it, even if he decided that working in the lab wasn't for him.

His previous work experience had nothing to do with potions making, mostly just working for Sirius under the table, but he felt he knew what he was in for. His last NEWT level potions class had been all about the most dangerous potions one could make, working with very volatile combinations, and documentation.

From what Harry understood from his father's experience is that over half the job was actually about documentation.

Harry had gotten together with Neville recently and found out that a lot of the Herbology world that he was now working in was about documentation as well. When one worked on mass produced products that were going to be available for public use, the company needed to have their ass covered over anything that might go wrong.

"How're you feeling?" his father asked as they were heading towards the building. They'd gone out for breakfast and a coffee before walking into the office.

Harry was grateful for the distraction his dad had provided. He knew that if he just stayed at home instead of going out for breakfast. that he would have had restless leg syndrome and gotten it into his head that he would be late or something. Even though his father was the boss and there would most certainly have been some leeway and favoritism there, he was more concerned about making a good impression to his coworkers and proving it wasn't nepotism that got him through the door.

"I'm fine," he told his dad.

"Alright. And are you planning on letting everyone know your surname, or shall I call you Charles Warren like you had listed on your resume?" he teased.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure it will have made it around the office by now that the new guy is your son. But yeah," he gave a side smile, "call me Charles. I could make up some story about how you're always getting my name mixed up. That won't start any rumors."

They pushed through the shiny glass doors and into the lobby. It was a fairly plush entrance; there were nice bench seats for visitors to sit and wait and a security guard post with a man in his late thirties checking ID badges behind a granite desk with a shimmery glaze on it. There was a second-floor balcony level that looked down into it, and the whole area was light and airy.

Harry gave a swallow and tried to keep his nerves down.

Everyone else looked calm.

Well, not that guy, he thought as he noticed a guy that looked to be about his own age sitting on one of the bench seats all by himself and staring at the clock on the wall. He looked like maybe he was going to be starting his first day too and didn't want to come across as over eager.

He also looked somewhat familiar.

"I think I know him," Harry said with a nudge to his father's shoulder.

James looked over and frowned as he assessed the man, searching his memory to try and place him. "I don't think I recognize him."

"I'm going to go over and say 'hi'," Harry told him.

"Alright. You know where you're going from here though, right?"

"I'm sure I can find my way. There are signs posted everywhere with directory and such," he said and pointed to the closest floorplan that was posted on the wall.

James gave him a cheeky grin. "Alright then. I'm going to go and run the company or whatever."

Harry chuckled and watched his father head off for a moment before turning back to the other guy and walking over to him. "Hi there," Harry started. "Sorry, but, I feel like I've seen you somewhere before. Have we met?"

The blonde man turned towards him. He couldn't be any more than a year or two older than Harry was. Something about his features and the cut of his jaw line, it just looked so familiar. "I'm not sure. It's my first day here and I don't know many people in this country yet," he responded in an American accent.

"Did you go to Ilvermory?" Harry grinned and it all clicked into place. "You were a Prefect, weren't you? Would have finished up two years ago?"

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Yes, I… You're that Potter guy!" he snapped his fingers upon recognition. "You were one of the Quidditch Seekers! What brings you here?"

Harry laughed from his surprise. "Yes! I'm just starting here today, in the potions lab. What about you?"

"Same! I spent two years training at Lumiere in New York. I was living with my girlfriend, but we broke up so I figured I should broaden my horizons a bit and applied here. She had the apartment in her name anyhow," he shrugged, his expression not quite giving the impression he was entirely over his heart ache about that situation.

"Harry," he held out his hand.

"Daniel," he said, taking his hand.

"Good to know I won't be the only one starting today. You've got the heads up on me though with the work experience."

"Oh, so long as you know what you're doing with the potions you'll be fine, and I don't imagine they would have hired you if you didn't," Daniel grinned.

"Shall we?" Harry pointed towards the security desk.

As they got their temporary badges from the guard they caught up on what they'd both been up to, Daniel with his life in New York, carefully stepping over any details about his girlfriend, and Harry with the two other locations he'd lived in since being at Ilvermory, also carefully avoiding mention about the fairer sex.

The pair wandered through the hallways towards the lab they'd been instructed to visit first for orientation and Harry was relieved to find that there were six people starting today. It seemed that his wanting to start at the beginning of September rather than sooner had not been an accommodation at all for him. Everyone there looked to have finished up with their NEWT studies in the last four years at least.

He and Daniel took seats at the table open near the front.

There were two girls that were at the table behind them that had given the two of them a forced smile in greeting when they walked in and were now back to talking to each other in hushed voices. Harry was catching part of their conversation considering the room was so quiet.

"He's taking over the company now. I don't know if there are going to be any changes happening," the blonde one said. It was in a tone that indicated gossip more than concern.

"Hasn't he and his wife been working elsewhere in the company for, like, decades?"

"Yes. My mother says that they've travelled all over to the different branches, now it appears they're ready to settle down here. They've got a son too, around my age, so he would have just finished up with his schooling."

Harry shifted a bit uncomfortably.

"I heard his wife doesn't work for the company anymore though. What do you think happened there?" the older one asked with interest.

"Don't know. Maybe it's the reason they decided to come back. Maybe she worked with the company to sort of humor him or something." Now it sounded like she was enjoying starting up the rumor mill.

"There's a new president of the company?" Daniel leaned over a bit and asked Harry.

Harry didn't get a chance to respond before the blonde girl behind them answered, leaning forward. "James Potter. He isn't really new into the role. It's his family's company."

"James… Potter," Daniel repeated, his eyes locking with Harry's at the realization. "Oh. Interesting."

Daniel seemed to find humor in Harry's reaction of biting his lip and his chin jutting out slightly. He didn't say anything about it though. Instead, he regarded the brunette at the table behind them and changed the subject. "Did you both go to Hogwarts?"

"We did," she smiled at him. "I finished up there a year ago and took a gap year. Did some travelling. Cassandra," she reached a hand out to shake his. "And this is Daphne."

"Nice to meet you both. I'm Daniel and this is Harry. We bumped into each other in the lobby. We went to Ilvermory together for a few years."

Harry shook their hands as well.

"Both of you are American then?" Daphne asked, unimpressed.

"I am," Daniel admitted. "Harry's…"

Harry arched his eyebrow at him and fought back a laugh. No one ever knew what to classify him as.

"I'm worldly," Harry offered with a grin. It was his go-to. "Never stayed in any one place more than two or three years. My parents are British though."

Cassandra cocked her head at him. "Your accent," she started.

"Is different, yeah," he nodded. "Had a lot of influence."

"What all schools did you go to?" asked a girl at the other table, sitting farthest away from them. She had bushy brown hair and was regarding him with fascination.

Daphne scoffed. "No one cares about schools, Granger."

Harry frowned at Daphne's rudeness, then turned his gaze back to Granger and tried to remember where he'd heard that name before. He didn't have an opportunity to ask though because someone else came into the room, someone wearing a lab coat and an official badge sporting their photograph.

"Good morning! Thank you all for being prompt," the woman said. She looked to be in her early thirties with a kind face and her pin straight hair pulled back in a low ponytail. "I am your supervisor Marina Aetos, just call me Marina. I will be walking you through all of the safety procedures and protocols this morning. There is a lot of material to go through because there are many hazardous ingredients we work with. Today will only be about procedures and protocols as well as a tour of the facility. I will require your full attention, and yes, there will be a test at the end of the day. You all had excellent resumes and interviews but your performance and ability to fall under leadership in a way we appreciate is not something we can gauge from those things. Thus, if you fail to impress then rest assured, you can be replaced."

She turned her gaze on Harry then and he noted a glint in her eye. It struck him then that not only did she know exactly who he was, but they had met before; she had worked in the Egypt branch when he was ten! She had been getting trained by his dad and Harry clearly recalled a mortifying incident where he ran head first into her and knocked water on her white shirt and it turned clear, giving him an eyeful of her revealing bra she'd had on underneath.

Now he felt his face heat up. Hers were the first breasts he'd ever properly taken notice of.

As she began launching into the safety procedures he managed to pull himself together, figuring if she ever brought it up then he would simply do his best to channel his uncle and respond with a cheeky flirt that they could both laugh off.

By the time the introduction session had wrapped up he had taken so many notes that his brain had gone into this zone where he was hearing and understanding as he was copying down notes, and it allowed his brain to start to wander a bit and it clicked where he had heard the name Granger before.

She was Ginny's brothers girlfriend!

He glanced back at her and saw her studiously taking down notes as well.

How had Ginny not mentioned that Ron's girlfriend was starting at ELM as well? They had talked about absolutely everything else, hadn't they?

By the time lunch came around he had a hand cramp.

Most of the material that was being covered he knew, because he had grown up hearing his mum and dad talk about it, and because he had done his fair share of running around the different laboratories, just ask Marina.

The hand cramp was something he wasn't prepared for.

"Merlin, I don't even remember writing this much for my NEWTS classes," he said to Daniel as he shook out his hand.

"You need to learn to work with point form or shorthand," Daniel told him and showed him the parchment he was working with, on which were some kind of hieroglyphics that didn't nearly take up the entire page.

"You and I don't know each other well enough for you to be looking quite so smug," Harry joked. They had an hour for lunch, and he was craving a Cornish Pasty. "You going to the cafeteria, or elsewhere for lunch?"

"Was going to see what kind of food joints there were around here. Still haven't had much of a chance to scope it out. Had to do all the touristy stuff when I first arrived."

"Ever tried a Cornish Pasty?"

"Oh, I love those," Hermione sighed.

"Isn't that Muggle food?" Daphne scoffed from behind them.

"What the hell is the difference between Muggle and Wizard food?" Harry nearly snapped at her, then turned back to Hermione. "Care to go for a walk and grab one then?"

Hermione seemed very pleased with his reaction. "Sounds great."

Daphne gasped in an obviously fake breath. "Granger! What would Weasley say?"

Harry stood up and turned around. "I think Ron would be alright with his girlfriend and I being work friends. Enjoy your Mermaid Caviar or whatever."

Daniel snorted at the affronted expression on Daphne's face at that. Cassandra looked like she wasn't sure what to do, clearly she was friends with Daphne but she too looked like she wanted to get out of the building and join them.

The three of them headed out the door and made it to the lobby by the time one of them spoke, and it was Hermione.

"You are him then? Ginny's Harry? Ron told me about you," she started.

Harry blinked at that. He hadn't been referred to as 'Ginny's' before. And he wasn't quite sure if that was an accurate way to phrase it, but he understood the context. "Yeah. That's me. It took me a bit to realize why I knew your surname. She didn't mention you were starting here today as well."

"Who's Ginny?" Daniel asked, wanting to be part of the conversation.

"Er, she's my… friend," Harry managed, and gave Hermione a pleading look. One which she seemed to understand right away.

"Yes, Harry is friends with my boyfriend's sister. We hadn't had a chance to meet yet," she explained to him before turning back to Harry. "And I had a few job offers on the table and hadn't decided where I wanted to go until recently. I did quite well in school and wanted to keep my options open, so I applied on quite a few positions with different companies and the Ministry. Ron isn't the best at retaining all the information I spew at him," she chuckled.

"What was your deciding factory then?" Daniel asked her.

The two of them carried on their career discussion as they headed towards the nearest underground station, it was where most Cornish Pasty stands could be found. Harry enjoyed listening to their back and forth about career choices. It had always been the plan for him to start up with ELM. When he was just a boy he'd played Auror and Villain with a few of his other friends, but throughout school he knew exactly what he was working towards. And he enjoyed creating potions more than dealing with Charms, or business and marketing. There were several different facets of the company he could have wound up in, but Potions was it for him.

"What about you, Harry?" Daniel asked after giving a summarized version of his last few years of employment in America.

"Oh," Hermione looked surprised. "Does he now know?" she asked Harry.

"I'm not exactly broadcasting it," he told her. "I imagine that that Daphne girl would have acted a bit nicer if she knew."

Hermione gave a scoff. "I went through school with her. She's actually the nicest of the girls she paled around with."

"What am I missing?" Daniel asked.

Harry knew he'd guessed it based on the name of the new President of the company, so he felt okay about confirming it. "ELM was partly founded by my family," Harry told him.

"And the Potter's have been working their way from the bottom to the top in the company for generations," a familiar voice said from behind them.

Harry gave a start and saw that it was Marina that had caught up with them. He gave a blush. "Marina, hello. Thank you for not broadcasting it back there."

"Oh, I wouldn't have done that to you," she grinned and fell in step with them. "We actually met a decade ago," she told the other two. "I was just starting out and this little rascal was just out of nappies and terrorizing the office."

"I wasn't that young!" he protested half-heartedly.

"You were that exuberant. Couldn't sit still for a minute. Suppose that's why I was so surprised when you barreled into me. Thank Merlin it was just water I was carrying at the time," she chuckled.

Humor over embarrassment, he decided. "I remember it well; white shirt, blue bra."

Hermione gasped, hiding a smile behind her hand. Daniel let out a loud laugh. Thankfully Marina chuckled and shook her head. "And there, I had been trying to make an impression on your father, not you."

"What kind of impression?" Daniel asked with a waggle of his eyebrows.

"Oh please," she waved off. "If you ever see his parents together, you'll know that there is nothing on heaven or earth that would come between them."

"You seem to have worked your way up the company ladder nicely," Harry changed the subject.

"Yes, I have," Marina said proudly. "I stayed in Egypt for a few years after your family moved away and then put in a transfer to London about five years ago. Met my husband on my first day and have been loving London ever since."

"Awe," Hermione mooned, "that's wonderful."

The four of them got to the stand and Harry and Hermione ordered first, heading to a standing table and starting in on their lunch while the other two had to wait for a minute.

"Can I ask," Harry started. "I haven't actually met any of Ginny's brothers, save for Percy, and that was only for a few minutes after Ginny and I had just met. But how do they… feel about me?" He felt like an insecure girl having to ask, but it had been several weeks now that he'd known Ginny and about their potential future and he thought it odd that that was his only encounter with her family other than her father.

Hermione tilted her head a bit, looking reluctant to share her insight as she bit the corner of her lip. "Well, Ron admitted they were all shocked and outraged at first. But he also confessed he had a small chat with Ginny, playing devils advocate essentially, telling her that it might not be the worst thing in the world because it looks like the two of you are getting on alright."

It was strange to hear, but also somewhat of a relief. At least one of her brothers wasn't out for blood.

"They do understand that we, the current Potters, had nothing to do with it."

"And you understand that they, the current Weasleys, had nothing to do with it either," she countered.

Harry frowned at her. "I hadn't really thought about it that way."

She rolled her eyes at him. "You realize that you are the family with the money and prestige and all that."

That made him frown deeper. "I hadn't thought about it like that. I read the contract, we were the one's looking to get a bride. Ginny is giving up more than I am." That was the way he saw it at least. He would be getting a pretty wife and, potentially, children, plural. Ginny would have to delay her future Quidditch career and give up all future romantic choices.

"That says a lot about you, that you see it that way," she gave him a soft smile.

They were then joined by the other two and put a full stop to the conversation.

()()()

Dear Ginny,

I've made it through my first day of training!

There is only one new trainee that I can't quite stand. You might know who she is, she went to Hogwarts last year, Daphne Greengrass? Hermione tells me she wasn't the worst of her friends at school, but she sure stands out as the worst in training. Unfortunately, it is all due to her attitude rather than her performance, not that we've actually started in on Potion making yet.

Did you catch that bit about Hermione? Ron's girlfriend has started at ELM as well! It took me a bit to place how I knew her surname, but it all clicked together. I like her, she's nice and very bright.

I've made another work friend as well that I knew somewhat abstractly from Ilvermory. His name is Daniel.

We're all going out for drinks at the end of the week. I've told Hermione to invite along Ron. Hope you don't mind, but I do feel it was kind of odd that I hadn't met him yet. I've heard enough stories about him from you. And you had once suggested I chat with your brothers about their recreational Quidditch league, and I wouldn't mind doing that.

By the end of the first day everyone had figured out exactly who my father was, but I am determined to prove myself.

I hope you are settling into Hogwarts alright for your last year.

No new news on the solicitor front, but don't worry too much about that. We've got time still. You just focus on having an excellent final year.

I've included some Muggle chocolate bars for you. I find chocolate really helps me study.

Harry

Ginny smiled as she read the letter from Harry. She was already settled into her dorm and started her classes. Each class bore the same message; you'll study like you've never studied before, then you'll study some more.

Every single class started off with that message, even Care of Magical Creatures!

The last class she attended was Potions and it took everything in her not to roll her eyes and scoff.

The professors really needed to share their opening speeches so they knew they were all making each other redundant and could get to the actual study material.

The train had arrived two days ago to school and today had been the first day of classes, so Ginny had time to catch up with her dorm mates summers and check in on the remaining members of last year's Quidditch team and chat with Demelza Robbins, her fellow Chaser who was made Captain this year.

Demelza was as eager as Ginny to get out there again and start flying, so they had pulled together a recreational team of mixed players to have a fun game on the pitch, less the Snitch because it wasn't a sanctioned game, and because they could get in a lot of trouble if they never found it.

Ginny had caught up with Lily as well. Or, Professor Potter, as she now tried to remember to refer to her.

After the Sorting Dinner in the Great Hall on the first night Ginny had gone up to say a quick hello to her and called her that. She beamed brightly at being called 'professor' for the first time by a student and was grateful that Ginny was so looking forward to her class.

They had met for a private lunch on the day of her first classes and Ginny mentioned to her how she wasn't telling anyone about the betrothal, it was just Luna that knew about it, and Lily had promised to keep it as quiet as possible too, she agreed that there was no need for anyone else to know.

All in all, she was settling into her final year as the only Weasley at school just fine and was looking forward to whatever lay ahead.

She was glad that Harry was going to get to know Ron. Out of all of her brothers, he had been the most receptive about the situation they had found themselves forced into. Hermione being there too would make it as polite as possible.

()()()