Chapter Four: Tea and Reacquaintances
Arthur and Ginny apparated back to The Burrow only to find the whole family there and she meant the WHOLE FAMILY.
Ginny was greeted with many hugs, tons of kisses and a collection of compliments to last her through out the year.
"Looking good Ginny!"
"Ginny, you are so skinny."
"Gin, I like how you do your hair these days…"
Without counting her or her dad, she had counted at least 15 bobbling heads and maybe even more. Ron and Hermione, their kid Sam, Fred and his wife Angela, George and his wife Katy and their twins Marcus and Melanie, Percy and Penelope, their kid James, Bill and his son Leo, and Molly who came bustling over to her and pushing the kids out of the way.
"Ginny! It is so nice to see you! How's life been treating you?" asked Molly giving her daughter a huge hug and a kiss on both cheeks then on her nose.
"Nice to see you to mum," she said unhappily. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, why is everyone here?" she asked not meaning to sound rude but it came out that way anyhow. Plus she needed to speak to her parents alone and she was a little desperate for the privacy.
"Well I called them all over to come and see you! Isn't that wonderful? The whole family is here now except for Charlie of course but well, everyone was so excited when they heard about your arrival," exclaimed Molly happily giving her another hug, apparently not noticing how annoyed Ginny looked to find practically everyone at their small little house.
"Well mum, I was sort of hoping that I could speak to you and dad alone…" said Ginny staring at all the smiling faces.
"Oh, now Ginny. Anything you tell us, you can tell them. Everyone in here is your family," said Molly hugging Ginny once more and taking her purse and suitcase and setting them in corner of their tiny living room.
"Mum, please. I will tell them one the time comes but right now I really need to speak to you and dad alone. I'm only here for awhile." What was the point in going home right away if she already missed her meeting anyway?
"I guess. Come now Ginny," said Molly leading her daughter to the newly remodeled kitchen where Arthur was already pigging on chips and dip. The infamous 'Weasley Stomach' which could hold a ton came in to place.
"Arthur, quit eating that junk. We just ate. Ginny has to talk to us 'alone'," said Molly emphasizing the word alone.
"Mhmm" he grumbled stashing the last chip into his mouth and wiping his face with the end of his sleeve.
Ginny and Molly started at him impatiently as they waited for him to… clean up…
"Ok, I'm ready," Arthur said brightly at them, not in the least, detecting their anger and impatiency.
Ginny sighed and started telling her news but Molly interrupted.
"Um, Ginny dear. First tell us how you ended up at the Ministry."
Ginny looked at her father who sent her an encouraging look. They both knew that once Molly heard about how she ended up at the Ministry that she would blow up in her face.
Ginny looked annoyed at first but rolled her eyes and started by telling how she ended up at the Ministry before she went on to telling them about her bigger news.
"Well mum, you see I was kind of hoping Draco could sign these divorce papers but he was being a butt and said that he wasn't and so I 'alohomora'ed in and he called Harry and said that I broke in to his house but in fact it is my house to so-…"
But Molly stopped her from rattling on and on and said, "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. What do you mean 'it is my house to'? Huh? I thought you broke it off the summer you left. You told us that you both signed the papers and it was taken care of? So what you're saying is that you two are still married?" asked Molly angrily but for some reason, she seemed more depressed. She never approved of Draco but he had been the father of her grandchild.
"I'm sorry mum. I just didn't want it to be hard on me. I knew Draco hated me but I thought we still had something going and I guess I was just being stupid. I didn't want to break it off at first but now I do and I'm not changing my mind."
"So that's how you ended up at the Ministry?" asked Molly, relieved that she didn't do any serous damage.
"Yes, mum, that's how I ended up at the Ministry."
"Arthur? Don't you have anything to add to this little incident?" asked Molly angrily.
"Well Ginny told me already," said Arthur not catching his mistake till after he had already made it.
"She told you already?" Molly Weasley was not one to take things lightly and when dealing with 'her babies', she had to know everything first.
"I thought I told you to wait till you got back to ask any questions!" Molly went on.
Ginny watched their little argument with a touch of amusement in her eyes. After about 2 more minutes of their bickering, she decided she should stop it so she could tell them her news. The faster she told them, the faster she could get out of this hell hole and get back to London.
"Um, Mum? Mum! Hello!"
"What!" she shouted angrily at Ginny and giving her death glares.
"Can I tell you the real reason why I came here now?" asked Ginny impatiently.
Molly let out a long sigh and rubbed at her temples before looking back up at her daughter and smiling. "Yes honey. You may. What's your big news?"
"Mum, Dad, I'm getting married!
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After staring at the ring for about 5 minutes, Ginny took away her finger and smiled up at them brightly. Arthur was gaping at her stupidly as Molly was still wide eyed from staring at the large diamond on her hand.
"Good lord Arthur. Our daughter is getting married," Molly said slowly and then she started laughing. "Our daughter's getting married!" she exclaimed happily in a sing-songy voice.
Arthur laughed too as he went over to Ginny and gave her a big hug.
Ginny smiled and hugged him back and went over to hug her mum.
"Who's the lucky guy?" asked Molly after a huge hug and a kiss on the nose from her daughter.
"Darren Fudge," Ginny replied happily.
There was a tense silence in the room as two sets of eyes stared at her, truly amazed.
"Darren Fudge as in the Darren Fudge?" gaped her father as Molly's eyes widened to about the size of a strawberry.
"Yes, the Darren Fudge. Cornelius Fudge's grandson," mimicked Ginny smiling brightly.
"Didn't you go to school with him?" asked Arthur thinking about if he remembered Darren going to Hogwarts or not.
"No, Darren went to one of the wizarding schools in the states. He lived there with his father for 7 years," replied Ginny not in the least bit caring if he went to Hogwarts or not.
"So, let me get this straight. Gin's gonna marry the new Minister of Magic?" asked Arthur dreamily.
"That's right dad. Do you approve?"
"Do I approve? I think that's a perfect match! Gin, you could be rich! Live the life you want to live! Explore t-."
"Arthur! That is not what this is about! It's about love and happiness! Not for how much money he has. Right Ginny dear?" cut in Molly, glaring at her husband.
"Right, right. It's not about the money. It's about if you love him or not," said Arthur shaking his head but both Ginny and Molly could tell he was still thinking about the money.
Molly stared at him impatiently a little while longer before looking back toward Ginny and smiling happily. "I'm glad that you finally want to settle down and marry…again."
"Thank you mum and dad. Now if you don't mind I would love to sleep. Today was… tiring," replied Ginny, hoping her parents would get the idea that she wanted a little privacy and quiet time and to hopefully get all her brothers out of the house.
"Oh! Did you want me to show our guests out?" asked Molly.
Score! "Yeah! That would be wonderful!" Sighed Ginny happily, not meaning to sound too desperate but in the end, that's how it came out.
As Molly went to tell everyone to leave, Ginny got into her pjs and fell into a deep, deep slumber.
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Ginny talked into a muggle receiver looking thing as she talked to one of them muggle lawyers about the dumb divorce papers. "Yes, I was wondering how long it took for the divorce papers to actually, you know, get through? I mean, like, how long till me and my husband are officially divorced?" asked Ginny.
"8 months," replied the voice of her lawyer at the other end of the receiver.
"8 months! I don't even have 8 days!"
"I'm sorry but that's how long it takes."
Ginny continued to argue over the phone with her lawyer for a few minutes more as she headed off towards the portkey which led back to The Burrow.
This was an interesting phone. Most phones she heard about in muggle studies were hooked to a wall or post or something or other. She was allowed to walk around with it wherever she wanted to walk with it.
"What's a pretty young lady doin' on this part of town this early in the morning?" called a voice from the other side of the street she was on but Ginny just ignored it, not knowing if it was for her or for someother 'young lady'.
"Hey gurlie? Can an old friend have a hug?"
Ginny still ignored the voice still not knowing or caring if it was for her or not. She still walked on.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't walk away!" the man laughed. She finally got tired of it all and hung up the phone to confront this imbecile till she realized who it was.
"Listen up bu-," she started to say till she recognized the person that kept shouting. From the other side of the street, she could see the chubby, buck tooth Gryffindor staring back at her. He could only be one person. Neville.
"Neville? Is that you?"
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