A/N: Finally! More at the end.

The phone in the hotel room rang and Cassie reached over and picked it up. "Hi, Cassie. It's me. What's wrong?" Cassie had tried to sound brave on the phone a few minutes before but now that she heard the worry in her mother's voice, she couldn't hold it in anymore and she broke into huge, wrenching sobs. Her mum let her cry for a few minutes until Cassie could finally talk.

"George and I had a big fight."

"Oh, I see." Cassie heard the suppressed laughter in her mum's voice even over the transatlantic phone lines.

"It's not funny. He left me. And I don't think he wants to be married to me anymore."

"Cassie, that just isn't true, I'm sure. George loves you very much. One fight isn't going to change that. Tell me what happened."

"He won't stop doing magic."

"Hmm. Okay, and this is bad because . . . ?"

"It's against American wizarding law to do magic in front of Muggles just as much as it is in Britain. Well, more really, now. And he won't stop. Ever."

"All right."

"And I've asked him, and told him, and begged him to stop. And he won't. He says that he IS magic, that he doesn't just pull it out for cheap parlor tricks once in a while, but that it's natural for him to do magic, and if I can't understand that . . . . well, then I must not love him."

"Hmmm. Well, maybe he knows it isn't really that serious."

"No, he knows it is. He got a Howler today at lunch. A seagull dropped it on his plate and it exploded and everybody in the whole restaurant heard this huge noise and they were looking at him and he had mashed potato in his hair and everything. It was humiliating."

"For him? Or for you?"

"Well, both really. He had to run out with this smoking yellow envelope in his hand and left me to settle the bill, which I-"

"-Didn't have enough money for?"

"No, I did. But I had to pay extra for the broken china and I didn't even get to eat my food!"

"That would be embarrassing. What did he say about the, uh, Howler?"

"He was laughing when I got up to the hotel room."

"Laughing?"

"Yes, at me. Because I had mashed potatoes in my hair, too. Which I hadn't noticed."

"I see."

"Yes, and he laughed at the fact they sent him a Howler. He said it doesn't mean anything. But it does. They could arrest him."

"Who could?"

"Well, the magic government over here, I guess. I don't know what they're called. And if they arrested him, I don't know what I would do! I wouldn't even know how to try to get him out or pay his bail or whatever. I wouldn't have the foggiest idea how to even --" Her voice got higher and higher as she tried harder to explain to her mother what a horrible situation she would be in without George. Her mother didn't sound terribly concerned, as Cassie thought she should be.

"And you told him this?"

"Yes. But that's when he got mad. And then we started fighting about . . . all sorts of things. And I think now we hate each other. We never should have gotten married in the first place."

"Now-"

"I mean it. I don't know what we were thinking. It's obvious we aren't anything alike and it was silly to think that our marriage could ever work."

"Cassie-"

"I mean, he's fun and all, but is that really enough to base a marriage on? Can I put up with his joking and laughing 24 hours a day for the rest of my life?"

"Cass-"

"I mean it, Mum. I need someone more like . . . Dad."

"Cassiopeia!"

Cassie stopped talking.

"Listen to me for a moment. First of all, everybody fights. On their honeymoon."

"No-"

"It's my turn to talk now. I'm paying for this phone call, so you get to listen to me at least part of the time. Yes, they do. Your father and I fought. On the second day after we were married. And he walked out on me. And I called my mother and told her the exact same thing, that we had made a terrible mistake and that it was obvious we never should have gotten married. And she laughed at me, too."

"Grandma laughed at you?"

"Yes, she did. Now, we were actually surprised you made it this long without calling. We took bets around here, and no one guessed it would take almost two weeks. So, congratulations all around. In fact, think I won."

"Mother!"

"That doesn't matter, though. The point is that . . . everybody fights. It's natural. You're two very different people having to learn how to live together. If you didn't fight I'd be worried, because it would mean that one of you, presumably you, wasn't expressing any of your own opinions."

"But-"

"Still my turn. And you will fight many, many more times over the next few years. Over some stupid things and lots of important things. And that's okay, too."

"You and Dad never fight."

There was laughter at this, although to Rebecca's credit, she didn't laugh too long. "Yes, we do. All the time. Oh, most of the time they're pretty minor and one of us just gets our feelings hurt and an hour later we've forgotten what we ever were upset about to begin with. But we do have some major ones still, occasionally. Fortunately, not very often now. But we've been married for a lot of years. We settled most of the huge disagreements a long time ago."

"Oh."

"I think you have some valid concerns. Being that you are a Muggle, his being arrested by the wizarding government would really put you in a bad position. Let's play a little game I like to call what if."

"What if? What sort of a game is that?"

"It's not so much a game as an . . . exercise."

"Okay, an exercise?"

"Yes. What's the worst thing that could happen over there if George keeps doing magic?"

"Um, he could die."

"Die? Really?"

"Yeah. If one of his "little tricks" went awry."

"Okay, so let's say George, uh, dies. What would you do?"

"I don't know! I wouldn't have the faintest idea!"

"Really, think. What would you do?"

"Call you, I guess. Collect."

"Naturally. And what would I do?"

"Um, I . . . Call his family?"

"That's right. You know both Ron and Harry have phones for emergencies and I have their numbers. And they would contact everybody else, and they would come over there immediately. And I would also get on a plane and get there as soon as I could. And we would take care of everything."

"Oh. That would work."

"Now, see, you really aren't helpless! If he got arrested, though, then what could you do?"

"I guess I could call Harry or Ron myself. I have their phone numbers, too."

"That's a good plan. Then they could probably contact Arthur. However, my personal guess is that they wouldn't really dare hold the son of the British Minister of Magic very long in America. I think they would contact Arthur themselves -- however they do that -- and tell him about their arresting George."

"I didn't think about that."

"I understand. You're upset. So, everything seems horrible. But I really don't think it's that bad. Any other possibilities?"

"He . . . really left me and went back to England." She broke into sobs again at this point and again Rebecca waited for her to calm down before continuing.

"I think that's unlikely. But, let's just consider it. Where are the airline tickets?"

"I have them."

"And your passports?"

"Here with me."

"Money?"

"Yeah. I have most of it."

"Well, then, even if he did take off for parts unknown, you have everything you need to come back home to me. And we can either find him so I can kill him with my own two bare hands, or we can turn him over to Harry; or better yet, his sister, Ginny. Or, if he came back here without you . . . then at least he'd be easy to find."

They both laughed together and Cassie wiped her eyes just as the hotel door opened and a rather worried, pale-faced George walked in the door. "He's back."

"Okay. I'll get off. I'll call you tomorrow night, okay? Just to make sure everything is good."

"Thanks, Mum. I love you."

"I love you, too. Bye, sweetheart."

Cassie hung up the phone and stood up from the corner of the bed where she had been sitting. They both eyed each other carefully.

"George-"

"Cassie-" They both started speaking at the same time.

"You go first-" They both said at the exact same moment and George smiled faintly.

"I'll start, then. Cassie, I'm sorry. I never meant to . . . say those things. I do love you so much. More than I knew it was possible to love anyone."

"I love you, too, George."

"I wouldn't have blamed you if you took the tickets and went home without me."

"I wouldn't ever do that to you."

"I'd have deserved it. I . . . I didn't think about your point of view, really."

"I know." Cassie smiled a bit and wiped her eyes on the balled-up Kleenex she had in her hand. George wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed the top of her head.

"I was so scared I would come back to an empty room. I don't deserve you."

"Don't say that! It's not true. You're wonderful!"

"Right. Really wonderful. I walked out on you."

"That's what the husband is supposed to do, I think. In the couple's first fight."

"Really?"

"My mum specifically said that that is what my dad did in their first fight. So, it must be the standard thing."

"Oh. And what is the wife supposed to do?"

"Call her mum."

"So you did that, too?"

"Yeah. I did. And she did her job by laughing at me."

"She laughed?"

"Just a little bit. But she did."

George drew back a bit from her and looked down at her. Cassie didn't look up to meet his eyes, so he gently lifted her chin. "You were right, of course."

"I was?"

"Yes. I was being selfish."

"And I wasn't being very smart. They wouldn't just arrest you and throw you in a jail cell and throw away the key. They'd contact your dad."

"Yeah. They would. Although, considering how my dad would react, I think I'd prefer the key-throwing-away thing. But, really, I wasn't thinking about you. And I'm sorry about lunch."

"It doesn't matter."

"I embarrassed you."

"I know, but it's not like I know any of those people, anyway. Just think of the stories they'll tell their friends! We'll be entertaining strangers for decades to come."

"Yeah, but I bet it was expensive. And we never got to actually eat anything."

"It was. But I don't care about that. You're the most important thing to me." They hugged each other tightly for a few minutes.

"Is your mum going to call back soon?"

"No, it's strange, really. She said she'd call tomorrow night. Why would she wait so long? Maybe I'll call back now."

"No. Don't do that."

"Why not?"

"Fred told me a while ago that the best part about fighting with your wife is, um, making up afterward. I bet your mum figured that out." His eyes had a gleam in them that Cassie recognized. She pushed him away.

"George Weasley! You cannot come waltzing in here and think I am going to hop right into bed with you after that huge fight!"

"I can't?" He looked crestfallen.

"No. I'm still . . . Did you just say that my mum thought we'd be . . . having, uh-"

"Of course she did. It's called make-up-"

"I know what it's called." She flushed lightly. "Really?"

George nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely. I'm sure your mum and dad have "made up" plenty of times."

Cassie blushed and laughed. "Yeah, I guess they probably have. I just don't know if I want to think about it."

George also laughed. "And with the way my mum and dad fight, I know they've made up plenty of times. That's probably why there are so many of us Weasleys. So, what do you say?"

"I'm not sure I'm in the mood."

"I could convince you. We could start and then, if you, changed your mind in a bit, we could stop."

"Oh, that always works with you!" The sarcasm in her tone was obvious even to George in his extremely aroused state. He chuckled warmly and she laid her head against his chest.

"It would, but you never want to stop." George moved aside her hair and kissed her gently on the neck and Cassie closed her eyes against the sudden tingling radiating from that spot all over her body.

"George. I . . . I'm not sure."

"Please. Oh, Cassie, let me make it up to you. Let me show you how much I love you." Her arms crept around his neck and she pressed herself closer to him, feeling his arousal against her tummy and his hard warmth everywhere else. His hands slid down from her waist and cupped her bum, lifting her up against him so that he was supporting her weight. "Um, you feel so good. I love you, Cassie Weasley."

And Cassie knew she was lost. He laid her back gently on the bed, kissing her softly over and over, unbuttoning her blouse and pushing aside his own clothes. Cassie sighed into his open mouth as his tongue swept in to tangle with hers and she knew she had no strength to tell him no and no wish to in any case.

A while later, she cuddled close to him under the light blanket he had pulled over them. "That was pretty nice."

"Yeah. Definitely. Why did we wait so long to fight?"

"George!"

"I mean it! We'll have to do that more often!"

"I hated fighting with you."

"Well, that's true. That part wasn't very fun. I was sure you had left me."

"I wouldn't do that. Not until I was sure you weren't ever coming back."

"Oh, Merlin, Cassie. I can't . . . I would just . . . well, I would never be able to walk away and leave you."

"Are you sure? I know I made you pretty mad." She kissed a freckle on his left shoulder that she had just noticed and he shivered, then cranked open an eye to look at her.

"Well, I deserved it. I need to think of us now, not just what I want, but what is best for both of us."

"But I still don't want to be your mother."

"Thank Merlin for that. One mother is enough for me. But that means that I need to grow up quite a lot."

"Maybe just a little. I like you the way you are, most of the time."

George sighed and pulled her closer, his eyes closing again as their legs tangled in the blanket. "I really don't deserve you, Cassie Robinson Weasley. Now sleep. And later, we'll find a new place to eat with no mashed potatoes."

Cassie grinned and let her eyes drift shut. Her last coherent thought was that baked potatoes would fly even better if another Howler dropped onto his plate.

A/N: I really wish I had a good excuse as to why it has taken me almost two years to update this blasted story, and I really don't except to say that apparently my muse completely deserted me. I knew what I generally wanted to happen, but just could not seem to get them there is a realistic, natural-feeling manner. I thought about it all the time, but I just could never get it to work. I've actually got about three half-chapters on the computer that were abandoned. Then, suddenly, the other night, the opening paragraph came to me and I had the whole thing written within two hours. Hopefully, it won't take nearly so long for the next chapter or two, now that I seem to have gotten back into George's and Cassie's voices.