Author's Note: Sorry for the abnormally long time (for this fic, at least) between updates. I had minor surgery (it went well and I feel much better) and my grandpa was in the hospital for a bit (he's all healed and back at home), so I've just had a lot going on. Hopefully a new chapter is a good apology! Thanks for reading!
Warnings: Extensive discussion of needles and other tattoo paraphernalia; actual depiction of piercing process
"We have come to seek thy holiness!" a voice boomed through the studio.
Ginny's head jerked up and collided with the shelf. She strode out of the storage area, grumbling as she rubbed the back of her head, and found her twin brothers standing in the lobby.
"What are you two on about?"
"Whatever do you mean, dear sister?" George asked, unable to suppress the twinkle in his eye. "We simply came to talk to you about getting an ear pierced."
Fred tugged his ear lobe and grinned. "Get it? Holey-ness?"
She rolled her eyes. "Mum's going to love this. Come on then."
The twins followed her behind the beaded curtain, their heads swiveling about and taking in the shop as they did so.
"What exactly do you want?" Ginny asked, taking a seat in Luna's chair and pulling out a thick catalog.
"Well, obviously Gred here only has one option," Fred joked.
Ginny shook her head. "I mean where exactly were you thinking of getting the piercing? Lobes? Upper shell? Inner cartilage? And what do you want from an earring? You can get them with all kinds of charms and glamours and shields and—"
George held up his hands and shook his head. "Slow down there, little sis,"
"—we just want our ears pierced." Fred said.
"Forge, it seems there's a bit more—"
"—thought that goes into the process. Think we should take a look—"
—at that enormous book? Good idea."
"Thank you, Gred!"
Ginny slid the book toward them. "This is a catalog of the various earrings I can get. I don't have them all on hand, but I've marked the ones that I've got in the shop. You can come see what they look like in real life if you come out to the case. Look through them, pick one to keep in for six to eight weeks, and we'll do it."
With that, she left them in the consultation area and walked back out to the counter.
It took them over half an hour, but eventually Fred and George came out to the front with a list. "We'd like to see these."
She pointed out the half dozen styles they'd noted, providing them with pros and cons of each piece. When she was finished, they looked at each other and did that weird, silent "twin-speak" thing for a minute. Then they turned to face her again.
"We'll take that one," they said in unison. They were pointing to a small silver spike in the back of the case.
"Nice choice, boys. Though I'm a little surprised the two of you would choose something with a built-in communication charm. I thought you two could do that without any help?"
Fred grinned at her. "A twin never reveals his secret."
Ginny led them back to her workspace and gathered up all materials. "Who wants to go first?"
"I'm in a hurry to make my two sides match!" George jumped up on the table and swung his feet. "Let's get this show on the road."
She shook her head but went about marking and verifying the location on George's ear lobe. After applying a quick Numbing Charm, she carefully lined up her needle and took a deep breath.
Just as the needle was about to make contact with his skin, George screamed at the top of his lungs.
Ginny jumped back, nearly knocking over her tray of tools. "What the fuck? I didn't even touch you!"
The two men started laughing like loons, pointing at her and trying to say something she was sure would just make her angrier.
As they started to calm down, Luna poked her head into the room. "Everything alright in here? I thought I heard a scream."
George and Fred collapsed in a fit of laughter again while Ginny's face grew impossibly redder. Once she explained the situation, Luna let out a little giggle.
"It's not funny!" Ginny cried, stomping her foot.
"You have to admit, it's a little funny," Luna chuckled.
The redhead reached for her wand. "I'll show them funny."
She surreptitiously canceled the Numbing Charm and waited for her brothers to come back to earth. When George was finally still enough, she lined up the needle and quickly shoved it through.
"Ouch!" he yelped. "I thought you were supposed to use a Numbing Charm!"
"I guess you took so long that it wore off," Ginny said sweetly.
Fred gaped at her. "That's inhumane!"
She shrugged and said, "Muggles do it all the time," earning another laugh from Luna.
Without another word she threaded the jewelry through and shoved a mirror at him.
"Thanks," George snorted. "Does look good though."
"Your turn Fred," Ginny said, shooing her other brother off the table. "Have you thought about which ear you want it in?"
"Right ear," he replied.
"Still have to match George after all these years?" Luna teased.
He snorted. "More like I need to match him so that people continue to have trouble telling us apart. Well, at least from some angles."
Fred was much better behaved, and he never felt a thing thanks to his Numbing Charm.
On their way to the front of the shop, Ginny handed the twins each a slip of paper. "This is the charm to activate your earrings. It's got the incantation and some instructions, so I'd wait until you get back to your flat to start them up and give them a try."
"Will do," George said as they each stacked the appropriate amount of gold onto the counter.
Before Ginny could give them care and cleaning instructions, their father burst through the door.
"I have great news!" he crowed. Then his eyes landed on his prankster sons, and he raised one eyebrow. "What are you two doing here? I just went by your shop to tell you about this, but Lee said you'd gone to seek divinity, or some other nonsense."
"Of course, dad," Fred replied. "We came to see if Gin could help us on our path to holey-ness."
Arthur's eyes narrowed. "Holiness?"
George pointed toward his newly pierced ear. "See? Now both sides match!"
Arthur heaved a sigh. "Your mother is going to love that. Anyway, since I've got you all here, I'll just go ahead and say it—Fleur's pregnant!"
"Again?" all four young people asked in unison.
"Yep!" Arthur chirped, completely missing their sarcasm and exasperation. "I'm going to be a grandpa again!"
Despite their surprise, Fred, George, Luna, and Ginny shared smile. They knew there was nothing he loved more than doting on his grandchildren.
Luna kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Congratulations, Arthur, that's wonderful."
"It really is, Dad," Ginny added, pulling him into a tight hug. "I'm excited."
"Come on, Dad, let us buy you a pint to celebrate!" Fred said, pulling his father out of the shop.
"Thanks, Gin," George called over his shoulder as he followed them.
She slumped against the counter, and Luna gently wrapped an arm around her waist.
"They're always so full of energy," she murmured. "That hasn't changed since we were all little and they used to chase you down the hill into our back garden."
Ginny chuckled. "Yeah, my brothers can be a bit much. I don't know how mum and dad handled raising all seven of us."
She stared out the shop window at all the passersby. In the middle of the day, there weren't a lot of people milling about. These shoppers were mostly stay-at-home wives and mothers. There were young mothers with babies on their hips, older women out for the day with their daughters, mums trying to wrangle a few children just too young for Hogwarts into behaving. At her age, Ginny felt like she should have felt some kind of pull, some instinct or desire to be one of the women changing diapers and chasing children. Yet, there was nothing. She liked kids, and she wouldn't say she'd never want them. But right now, she just didn't.
"A Sickle for your thoughts?" Luna asked, bringing her out of her head and back to the present.
"I thought it was supposed to be 'a Knut for your thoughts,'" Ginny joked. They'd never discussed that particular topic, and she wasn't sure if this was a good time to bring it up. Better to just redirect the conversation.
Luna hummed noncommittally. "Perhaps that's true. But these are your thoughts, so I figured they were worth more than just a Knut."
Ginny leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Thanks, Lu."
"Now tell me what's got you so… pensive."
Of course she couldn't hide it from Luna. "I was just thinking about Dad's announcement and how much he loves being a parent and a grandparent."
"And?"
"And I don't know if that's something I want."
There, she'd said it. Ginny chewed her lip and looked away, afraid of what she might see if she met Luna's gaze.
Luna gently pulled her chin around so that they were face to face. "It's okay if you don't want to be a mum."
Ginny swallowed. "But do you?"
"Not right now," Luna said with a shrug. "And I'm not getting any younger, so unless I changed my mind pretty soon, I don't know if I'd be able to have one of my own. Though Neville would be a wonderful sperm donor."
"You're not wrong," Ginny laughed. "I think I feel the same way. We've just got so much going on, and I'm happy with my life and where I think it's headed. But I'm afraid to completely rule it out, you know?"
Luna mused, "If we decide we want kids later, there's always adoption."
"I suppose you're right," Ginny said. Maybe they would have their own children someday. Maybe they'd adopt a baby from a foreign country like Muggles sometimes did. Maybe they'd take in a whole passel of orphans from the war and raise them to be tattoo-loving rebels themselves. But she and Luna didn't have to make a decision today, and it felt right to know that, whatever decision they did make, they'd make together.
MC4A Challenge Block
Stacked with: SIN; FPC; BAON; STL; Star; SF; Shower; ER; Shipping War; Summer Bingo
Individual Challenges: Short Jog; The 3rd Rule (Y); Lovely Triangle; Gryffindor MC (x4); Ravenclaw MC; Red Moon Quindrabble; Seeds; Witches Coven 2; Flags and Ribbons (Y); Inks (Y); Letter of the Day; Times to Come (Y); Shipmas (Y); Themes and Things A—Family (Y); Themes and Things B—Surprise (Y)
Representations: Luna Lovegood x Ginny Weasley; Fred Weasley; George Weasley; Arthur Weasley; Adoption Discussion
Bonus Challenges: For the Vine; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Nontraditional; Zucchini Bread; Clio's Conclusion); Chorus (Endless Wonder; Odd Feathers; Tomorrow's Shade; A Long Dog; Unicorn)
Tertiary Bonus Challenges: O3 (Orator; Oath); T3 (Thimble); LiCK (Yarrow); FR (Satisfaction; Liberation)
Word Count: 1687
Shipping War
Ship (Team): Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley (Dreamy Redhead)
List (Prompt): Summer Micro 1 (Adoption)
Summer Bingo
Space Address (Prompt): 3B (Sickle)