Ginny found her mother in the kitchen. She was preparing dinner as though nothing has happened.

"Mum?" Ginny asked softly.

"Yes?" She didn't turn around, and her voice was strained, as though she was forcing herself to sound calm.

"…I am lesbian,"

"I know that veela girl's been telling you things, but–"

"Mum!" Ginny cut her off. "Gabby didn't pervert me or anything. Gabby has nothing to do with this. I was lesbian long before I ever met her. Ask Hermione – I came out to her last spring."

Now her mother turned to face her. "No. No, you aren't."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before… but I am."

Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "No… It's just a phase. You'll outgrow it."

"It's not a phase. It's the way I am."

Now her mother could only shake her head, sinking down into a chair and burying her head in her hands. "How could you do this to me?" she asked, her voice choked with tears.

Ginny felt tears welling in her eyes. Why couldn't her mother just accept it? She took a hesitant step towards the woman, laying a tentative hand on her shoulder. She had no idea what to say now… no idea how to comfort her mother.

Just then, her father and Charlie entered the room. They fell silent the moment they saw Mrs. Weasley.

"What's wrong? Ginny?" Her father sounded confused and concerned.

"…I'm lesbian…" Ginny felt her cheeks flame as she said it, suddenly wishing she could just sink into the floor.

Charlie blinked. "Huh…"

Mrs. Weasley looked up at him, anger flaring in her eyes. "You sister's lesbian and all you can say is 'huh'?"

Charlie shrugged. "Sorry…" He turned to Ginny. "So, you got a girlfriend?"

Ginny felt her flush deepen, even as she breathed a sigh of relief. "…Er…"

Charlie laughed. "Never mind."

Now Mrs. Weasley turned to her husband, who was standing quietly in the doorway – apparently processing what his daughter had just told him. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Mr. Weasley blinked at her. "Uh…"

Mrs. Weasley pushed herself up from her seat, storming out of the room.

After a moment of stunned silence, Charlie spoke. "I… guess I'll finish dinner, then."

Now Mr. Weasley seemed to break out of his stupor. He turned to Ginny. "Are you sure?"

Ginny nodded guiltily.

He sighed. "Alright then."

A huge load seemed to have been lifted from Ginny's shoulders. Her father was okay with it. Her brother was okay with it. Almost laughing with relief, Ginny threw her arms around her father, kissing him on the cheek. He blinked in surprise, then hugged her back.

"You want to help with dinner?" Charlie asked in an amused voice. And for once, Ginny was more than happy to help out.


Bill came into the kitchen a few minutes later, looking concerned. Mr. Weasley had gone outside to go round up the twins and Ron for dinner.

"Does anyone one know what's up with Mum?"

Ginny stared down at the pot of soup she was stirring. "I… told her I'm lesbian."

"Oh… I take it she wasn't thrilled."

Charlie glanced over his shoulder at him. "You could put it that way."

"Put what what way?" George asked, entering the kitchen.

Bill glanced at Ginny to see if she was going to explain. When she just stared intently at the soup, he sighed and turned back to George, Fred, and Ron. "Ginny's lesbian and Mum isn't thrilled about it."

Fred and George exchanged a smugly amused glance that Bill decided to ask them about later. Ron was gaping in astonishment.

"But… but… but…"

Charlie glanced at his father. "Hey dad, you remember those Muggle toy boat things you got us when we were little? The ones that always drove Mum crazy 'cause of the sound they made. And Ron always used to imitate them just to annoy her…"

Bill grinned. "Yeah… I thought he'd outgrown that years ago."

Ron quickly shut his mouth, his cheek going pink. Ginny just smiled, her heart much lighter than it had been in… ages. Years. Maybe ever. Just having her family know made her feel giddy with relief, and having them react so well – much better than she had imagined – was, in her mind, nothing short a miracle. And she could deal with her mother. She had the rest of her family behind her – well, except maybe for Ron, but still…

Molly Weasley came downstairs for dinner to find her daughter grinning broadly, the rest of the family laughing and joking with her. The sight of her smiling, happy face made Molly feel a sudden twinge of guilt. Then Ginny noticed her, and the smile died on her lips and Molly's feeling of guilt deepened. She knew she had hurt her daughter, but Ginny had hurt her at least as much.

With three simple words, Ginny had smashed all Molly's dreams of her daughter having a normal life with a husband and children to little bits and pieces. Molly had always felt that of all her children, Ginny was the closest. Ginny was her only daughter and while she loved all her children dearly, Ginny had always held a special place in her heart. But now…

God, how could she have let this happen? She knew it was her fault – she had been the only female role model in Ginny's life. She should have been there more, should have been able to do… something. And now it seemed it was too late.

And the worst part, of course, was that she hadn't even noticed. She had always thought that she was closer to her daughter than anyone else in the world, and she hadn't even noticed. Now that she thought about it, the signs had been there. The distance that had grown between them, the way Ginny seemed to avoid the subject of her boyfriends, the way she tensed when the subject of boys came up, the way she'd look at Hermione, the way her gaze would linger just a little too long on a particularly attractive woman before she guiltily looked away … Yes, the signs had been there. Molly had just refused to see them.

Dinner was tense, with everyone carefully avoiding the subject of Ginny's sexuality – which was difficult, since that was what was foremost in everyone's mind. Gabrielle sat in her usual seat next to Ginny – how could Molly not have noticed how Ginny and Gabrielle looked at each other, or the way they just barely restrained themselves from touching? – and Hermione sat on Ginny's other side. It seemed that they had made up over whatever they had been fighting about – and now Molly had an inkling of what it might have been. How could she have been so blind?

After dinner, the children all went upstairs to bed, leaving Molly, Arthur, and the Delacours alone in the kitchen. Mr. Delacour turned hesitantly towards Molly.

"You know, it's not really such a bad thing."

Molly glared at him. "What would you know? Your children are part veela."

He shrugged. "Do you think that makes it any easier when Gabrielle comes home in tears because her girlfriend's parents accuse her of corrupting their daughter? Or when our neighbors won't let her baby-sit their children because she might abuse them or worse, 'recruit' them? And do you think that means that you can't love and support your daughter just because you're human?"

Molly closed her eyes. Why was everyone else so okay with this? Why didn't anyone else care that Ginny was lesbian? She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Arthur sitting next to her, a look of gentle concern on his face.

"It's not the end of the world," he said softly.

"How can you just accept this?" she asked him, her voice trembling with emotion.

Arthur shrugged. "Well, we have seven children, love. It's not that surprising that one of them turned out to be homosexual."

"…but Ginny…"

Arthur shrugged. "So our daughter's lesbian. There are worse things that could happen."

Molly looked away, unable to put her feelings into words. For several minutes, they all sat in an uneasy silence. Then Mrs. Weasley sighed and climbed to her feet.

"I'm going to bed. Good-night."

A/N: Jewess84: I checked and 'lesbian' is actually an adjective as well as a noun, and I think it sounds fine. But thanks for pointing that out anyways :P And Mrs. Weasley will come around eventually -- she just has to work a few things out for herself first. Silver-nex: Yeah, Mrs. Weasley's being pretty mean to Ginny, but I don't want her to become the bad guy because she isn't. She has a reason - not a good reason, but it makes sense to her... Most of the rest of this will probably be focusing on Mrs. Weasley's relationship with her daughter. And I hope you like the rest of the family's reactions. Terresa Greenhill: Thanks... More chapters soon.