Chapter 2
George Weasley walks into the house and groans at the smell of supper wafting towards him from the kitchen. He hangs up his cloak and takes off his shoes, Hermione is a bear about wearing shoes in the house, and goes to find his wife.
He finds her taking out a large dish of lasagne and a loaf of garlic bread. Once she gets the food out of the oven and on their table, he walks up and wraps his arms around her from behind. "Mm, this smells good, Love. Almost as good as you do." He kisses her neck and hugs her from behind, before going to wash his hands at the sink.
"How was the last semester for 'Belle?" He asks, while drying his hands and looking around for their daughter, who was still upstairs moping.
"Grade-wise, as good as ever, but on the ride down, Ricky broke up with her. George, don't gloat too much, she is a mess about it." George is already bouncing on his toes over the good news. Well, good for him and Hermione. Not so much for his poor 'Belle.
"She asked me to tell her how we fell in love. I told her it was a long story, but we would tell her over the next couple nights. Now go up and tell her that supper is ready." Hermione tells him as she gets the dinnerware out of the cupboards.
George kisses her cheek and walks upstairs to fetch the only other girl that he loves, besides his sister and mother. Hermione is and always has been on a different level. Isabelle is sitting on her bed, wiping her eyes and looking at photos of her and Ricky. She looks up when George knocks on the open door and comes in.
"Oh, Daddy!" She cries as George wraps her in his arms and pulls her into his lap. Can't do this much longer. I don't know how she gained Dad's height. "Sweetheart, it will work out in the long run. You might not want to hear it now, being all mopey and sad, but maybe this is a sign that he wasn't the one for you. If he can't appreciate you for you, then he isn't. Don't let him bring you down.
I am sure your mother told you to think long and hard over the whole relationship and to tally up all the times that he was nice against the times he was cruel. Now, you can come to work with me and your mother, there you can do mindless jobs until your fingers are sore and your back aches, but it will allow you time to get your head around this and think about what you want. I don't think you've allowed yourself that in the past few years.
Now dry those eyes, firm up that lip and lets go have some food. I am famished and your mother has made my favorite, so I am going to have some." He stands and carries his daughter down the stairs and into the kitchen. Hermione is just setting the large garden salad and dressings on the table when they appear.
"Whew, last time I did that, you were a lot smaller." He holds his back for a bit, teasing Isabelle and sits down next to Hermione. After a moment of silent reflection, which Hermione and George started once Isabelle was old enough to understand about the War, they eat. George goes back for seconds and groans just as much as the first time.
"Love, this is as good as ever. It was just what I needed after today. It got busy after you left. We had an influx of customers once the train emptied. Fred is going to have to make even more fireworks, we sold out of them today. It might mean a couple nights of being late to restock the inventory." He tells Hermione as the two women hang on his words.
That was something that he loved about being with Hermione. They actually listen without talking over each other. She had said that she could never understand what everyone was yelling for at the Burrow mealtimes, as no one ever heard what the others were saying. Here each person has a chance to speak their piece before the other begins. She has even cut back on long winded stories and explanations.
Isabelle and George help with the dishes and cleaning the table, while Hermione places the leftovers in the refrigerator. Isabelle goes back upstairs to get changed into her pajamas and comes back down to read in her favorite stuffed chair by the fire in the library/her mother's office.
George and Hermione are in the living room filling their pensieve with their memories. It will be better watching the story than trying to tell it.
The small family walks upstairs to Isabelle's room to watch the memories. They all sit on the girl's bed and enter the pensieve.