Chapter Three: A Normal Family
Harry paced back and forth on the rug in his room. He was incredibly restless and had been since his arrival at Privet Drive. He had been there for thirteen days now. It had felt like thirteen weeks. The only things that kept him sane were the letters he received from Ginny. Though he didn't get any real information out of them for obvious reasons.
He was already aware that tomorrow, at noon, a guard was coming to pick him up and take him to the burrow. He had learned from Ginny that the wedding date had been changed to accommodate Harry's birthday. Also, there would not be a very big audience because the Weasley home was now being protected by a Secret Keeper. Only the Weasleys, the Delacours, the Grangers and the Order members would be there. Harry was rather grateful for this since the media had already given an announcement of his wedding. He would have been very angry if Rita Skeeter had decided to crash the ceremony.
The clock dinged. Harry looked up and realized that it was eight o'clock in the morning. The guard wasn't coming tomorrow, they were coming today! He had stayed up all night out of sheer anxiety and not even noticed.
Shrugging his shoulders, Harry threw on some clothes and headed down the stairs for breakfast. His aunt and uncle were already at the table and he could hear Dudley leaving his room.
"Someone coming to get you today," Vernon asked in his usual gruff voice.
"At noon," Harry replied.
"Good," his uncle said, "is that 'fiancé' of yours coming?"
"I don't know," Harry said truthfully.
"Exactly how do you intend to provide for a wife," Vernon asked contemptibly.
Thinking of his enormous Gringotts account Harry said, "We'll manage."
His uncle snorted gruffly, "I don't suppose you have a place to live."
"I inherited my godfathers house," Harry said, "but I think her parents will want us to live with them for a while. They're very protective."
Harry realized that, for the first time in his life, he was having a civil conversation with his uncle. He watched as Vernon nodded.
"I had forgotten about your godfather," his uncle said, "And do you have a job lined up?"
"No," Harry said, "I'm still considering my options."
"You'd better hurry up and figure out what you want to do. Especially if you plan to have a family."
"I was thinking about becoming a teacher," the words fell out of Harry's mouth before he had time to figure out if they were true. But he had thought about it, he realized. He had just never put a whole lot of energy into the idea. He had taught the D.A after all. Perhaps he could be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher when he was old enough.
"A teacher," Vernon grumbled, "At that school of yours?"
Harry nodded and said, "I think I might be good at it."
Uncle Vernon nodded, "Maybe you will be," he said.
The rest of the day at Privet Drive was the best that Harry had ever had. It wasn't as though there was a goodbye party or anything, but the Dursley's were civil to him. They didn't insult him or sneer at him when he walked into the room. It was almost as though they were a normal family.
Then, at noon exactly, Harry's guard popped into the Dursley's house. Lupin, Tonks, MadEye, Kingsley and McGonagall were standing around the living room. To Harry's surprise, none of the Dursley's jumped or even looked shaken. In fact, they seemed rather bored.
"You finally taking the boy of our hands," Petunia asked.
Lupin nodded, "You probably won't ever see him again."
"Ever," Petunia asked, "You mean, he won't ever be coming back?"
"Not unless he needs the protection."
Harry's aunt nodded. She didn't seem to be as happy about this news as Harry had thought she would be. She didn't seem as though she would miss him either, though.
"Are we flying," Harry asked.
"No," said MadEye, "We need to apparate. It's quicker and safer. But we had to take down the spells that prevent apparation. We only have a very small window in which we can leave. It'll be a little while before it reopens."
"When am I supposed to go take my apparation test," Harry asked curiously.
Tonks shrugged, "We don't know yet. We'll find out soon."
"So," Vernon spoke up, "this girl the boy's marrying, what of her? Seeing as she's about to become part of the family I'd like to know something about her."
Lupin looked momentarily surprised. Harry thought he was about to topple over. Could uncle Vernon actually care about Harry's life?
"What do you want to know," Harry asked his uncle.
"I don't want to hear it from you," Vernon said to Harry, "I would like an unbiased source."
"I know Ginny pretty well," Lupin said, "What would you like me to tell you?"
"Is she smart," Vernon asked, "I already know she's pretty, but looks don't mean a thing unless you've got brains to back 'em up."
"Oh, yes," Lupin said earnestly, "very smart."
"What of her family," Petunia asked now, "I never liked that Dudders had to grow up without grandparents. Are her parents still living?"
"Alive and kicking," Moody said, "She comes from a line of very talented wizards. They'll be good to any children that they decide to have."
"Does she have brothers and sisters," Vernon asked.
"Six brothers," Lupin told him, "She's the only girl"
"And what of these brothers of hers," Harry's uncle asked now, "They aren't a bunch a lay-abouts are they?"
"Oh no," Tonks said in earnest, "the oldest one, Bill, he works for the bank. And Charlie, he's in Romania working with-er- animals. Percy works in an office and the twins, Fred and George, own their own business."
Vernon nodded his head in approval, "And what of her father? What does he do?"
"Office work," Tonks replied, "he actually just got a promotion recently."
Harry's uncle looked thoroughly impressed now. "Sounds like a perfectly respectable family," Petunia said, "But you said that she had six brothers. What about the other one?"
"He's still at school," Lupin said.
"She isn't a trouble maker like this one," Petunia said inclining her head towards Harry, "is she?"
"Not at all," Lupin said, "she's very sweet."
"That's a relief," Vernon said, "don't think the worlds quite ready for anything more troublesome than him. Not even your wizarding world."
They all laughed. Harry was so surprised that his uncle had used the 'w' word that he almost fainted.
"Of course," Petunia put in after the laughter went away, "any children they have won't be able to cause much trouble at school, seeing as Harry ought to be teaching there by the time they're old enough."
Vernon nodded sagely while the others wore looks of utter bewilderment. Harry had never told them that he had considered a career as a professor.
"Excuse me," Lupin asked, "did you say that Harry would be a teacher?"
"Well, of course I don't know anything about how Harry would become a teacher," Petunia said, "but we think that he may do well at it and he seemed rather keen on the idea."
"You never told me you wanted to be a teacher, Harry," McGonagall said, "I thought that you wanted to be an auror?"
"I did," Harry said hurriedly, "but now I'm not quite sure. I did rather love teaching the D.A. I thought that being a teacher might be a better choice for me."
"Let me guess," Lupin said, "you want to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, don't you?"
Harry nodded and McGonagall and Lupin's faces beamed with pride. "I think that's a wonderful idea, Harry," the Headmistress said to him.
"You do?"
"Of course it is," Lupin said, "you did get an O in D.A.D.A, didn't you?"
Harry nodded again and Lupin turned his attention to McGonagall. "How long do you think before he can apply for the job," he asked her.
"In about a year or so," she said, "if we can get him trained up properly."
"Isn't that a bit young to teach," Harry asked her, "Dippet told Riddle that he was too young when he applied for the job at that age."
"That was just an excuse," she told him, "of course he would say something like that to keep Voldemort from teaching. He was rather scary, even at that age."
"Voldemort," Petunia squeaked, "isn't he the one who killed …her?"
"Yes," Lupin said sadly, "he is the wizard who killed Lily and James."
"Does your fiancé know about this man," Vernon asked, "Is she aware that he wants to kill you?"
"She knows all about him," Harry said.
"At any rate," Tonks interjected, "we have to leave in a few seconds. Are you three coming to the wedding?"
Vernon shook his head as Harry latched on to McGonagall's arm. "We can't," he said, "we're leaving for Ibiza tomorrow."
"Bye," Harry shouted over his shoulder as he felt himself begin to disappear. He could have sworn that he saw his aunt and uncle raise their hands in farewell as he went away.
"They weren't so bad," Lupin said to Harry when they landed.
"They're probably just in a good mood because their going to Ibiza."
Their conversation was interrupted, however, when a girl with flaming red hair came bounding into the dining room directly at Harry.
Crash! Ginny slammed right into Harry's arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Without so much as a 'hello' she kissed him hard on the mouth causing everyone around them to laugh indulgently.
"Oh, Ginny," Mrs.Weasley admonished, scuttling into the room, "get off of the poor boy and let him rest for a few minutes."
Ginny pulled her mouth away from his and set her feet down on the floor, smiling widely the whole time.
"How are ya, love," Harry asked her sweetly.
"Better now," she said.
"Alright alright," Mrs.Weasley said now, "you've seen him. Now get out of here and stay away from him."
"Huh," Harry said.
"It's tradition, Harry dear," she told him, steering Ginny to the door, "You aren't allowed to see the bride before the wedding."
"I thought that was only on the day of the wedding," he said dejectedly.
"This is how I did it," she said, "and this is how my daughter will do it."
"Come now, Molly," Arthur Weasley said, "you know that's not all together true." Mrs. Weasley blushed sheepishly.
"And besides," Mr. Weasley continued, "It's not very practical with them living under the same roof."
"Oh, alright," she said, "But we are locking the outside of his door when he goes to bed. Oh, it's not that I don't trust you, dear," she directed her words to Harry now, "It's just the way things are done."
"I understand, Mrs.Weasley," he said.
"Oh, call me Molly, dear," she told him.
"Alright."
"You must be starving, Harry," Molly said, "Would you like me to get you something to eat?"
"I'll do it, Mum," Ginny said, "I think that I can feed my fiancé."
Molly nodded and Ginny sent Harry a smile before exiting into the kitchen.
"Where is everyone," Harry asked.
"Bill, Fred and George are at work," Arthur said, "Fleur and her family are staying in a tent behind the house (they really believe in tradition), and Ron and Hermione are in the backyard with Charlie and the Grangers."
"Oh, Charlie came," Harry said, "I didn't know he would be here."
"Of course he came," Molly said, "you don't think he was going to miss seeing his brother, sister and friends get married."
"Harry," Ginny's voice sounded from the kitchen, "do you want tea or butterbeer?"
"Um…tea I think," Harry yelled back.
"What kind?"
"Earl Grey," he said, "with lemon, please."
Only a few moments latter, Ginny came through the door carrying a tray. She set it down on the table and told Harry to sit and not to move until he'd eaten everything on his plate, which wasn't exactly a form of torture as she had made Mrs.Weasley's famous meatballs.
"How did you do that so quickly," Harry asked in surprise.
"I actually made them a few hours ago," Ginny said, "Mum's been teaching me all kinds of recipes all day."
"What d'ya know," Harry said, very happy with the idea that his wife would be as good a cook as Mrs.Weasley, "I've found a whole new reason to love you."
Ginny bent down and kissed him on the cheek. "Well," she said slyly to him, "if you like this then wait until tomorrow. Mum's going to teach me how to make treacle tart."
"Ohhh," Harry said smiling, "I've got the shivers already."
She and the others laughed. After Harry finished his amazingly wonderful meal, Ginny cleared the dishes off the table. She seemed to like the idea of being a wife very much.
"Bill and the twins are back," she said upon returning from the kitchen, "Do you wanna go play some Quidditch?"
Harry smiled and said, "Absolutely."
