The Sign

Chapter 10

To Kin

June 4

The four skipped breakfast, in order to let the household sleep in. Because Luna kept waking with nightmares, Molly had spent much of the night with her.

Stepping through the Floo, they were surprised by Kreature and six other elves standing around the long kitchen table, staring at multitude pieces of parchment.

"Master. Welcome home. Kreature has asked his friends. We are done, Master."

"Done? Done with all…?" Hermione bent down to read the scraps. "Harry, they are. Look. Exactly like what we needed!" She sat and reached for another sheet. "These are perfect!"

The four paraded down the line to see the house designs neatly drawn and measured. Every detail marked with delicate labels.

"These really are incredible." Ginny said, looking closer to some notations.

"Yeah, Now, what are we to do with them?" Ron asked, trying to make sense.

"According to Seamus, we must note changes we want made, walls moved, rooms added or removed, that sort of thing." Hermione said, "Like here, if these two tiny rooms were combined, they would make one nice large room. With the changes to the dining room, that would still give you eight bedrooms, four full baths, and one half-bath."

"I like this new master room, but that bath is tiny and I'm not sure about this second bedroom. It seems awkward. Maybe it can be an office of some sort. It would be good for Ginny to do her homework this next winter?"

For a long time, they went over and over, discussing each floor. Sometimes even running upstairs to get better ideas.

"I never realized that this place is so much bigger than the others along the street. It must be half again the size." Harry tried to picture how it all looked. His stomach rumbled but he ignored it.

"Yes, I wondered about that. And have you seen the back garden? It's huge, considering it's in London. It's a mansion.

Ginny kept looking at the drawings. Reality was sinking in. This was going to be her home... Sixteen years old and she is mistress to a London mansion. Sixteen and she'll be a married woman. Only sixteen.

"Honey? Are you okay?" Harry had walked behind her and was rubbing her shoulders.

She snapped out of her deep thoughts, "Huh? Oh, yeah. Just thinking." She forced a smile. "Just a lot of changes to get used to." She looked at the others, who were not paying attention, "Can we talk?" She motioned to the stairs.

"Of course." Harry nodded to the others, "Guys, we'll be back in a minute.

Harry and Ginny went up to the first floor, her leading the way into the drawing room. With the door closed, Ginny's false smile and bravado melted. Tears started to well up. Her body seemed to fold in on herself as she slid onto the floor.

Harry, totally shocked at seeing his calm, spitfire of a fiancé breakdown, didn't know what to do. "Gin? Please. What's going on?"

She fished a small handkerchief out of her jeans pocket. "I don't know. It's just…so much…all of a sudden." She had trouble finding the words.

"All of a sudden, what?" He sat next to her. apprehensive.

She took a deep breath, "Harry. I love you more than I thought possible and I'm not going to back down. We're going through with it. That said, I'm terrified. I don't know how to be an adult yet. I'm only sixteen. I'm still a kid. Then, I've seen so much, done so much that I'm not even sure if I'm a kid. Now, there's all this." She waved her hand to the walls. "And we don't have all that much to say on the matter."

Harry hung his head in understanding. "Yeah. I know." He thought hard. "Our lives have never been ours to live, have they?"

"I think only you could have understood what I'm trying to say." Ginny took his hand and kissed his knuckles. "I'm not ready, but I have to be, don't I?"

"You're right, we're not ready. But we can be ready, if we are together, right?" He touched his mother's ring on her finger. "After Sunday, our lives are up to us. No one else to say who we are and what we can do. Gin, I can't see the future without you because without you there is no future. Five weeks ago, I didn't have a future. I died. I had a choice. Do you know why I came back?"

She shook her head.

"You." He said simply. "Even if you never forgave me for leaving, I came back for you. But now, with you sitting beside me, my future is here. And it's going to be a future we decide. Not your parents, not Dumbledore, not some stupid prophesy, and definitely not some un-lamentable snake-face. You and me. Can you understand what I'm trying to say?"

She nodded, letting it settle in her brain. "Harry. Do you want kids?" She whispered, afraid.

He thought for a minute. "Yeah, I do want kids, but not right away. I hope you don't mind, I want learn more about this whole adult thing first."

She let out a huge sigh, "Thank you. I…I love my Mum, but I don't want to be her. She had seven kids in eleven years. Did you know she earned 8 NEWTS while she was pregnant with Bill? She was recruited into the healer program? She turned it down to raise a family."

"We don't have to be like that. Not unless we want to. There's school for you, training for me. Careers to shape. We have loads of time. How about we decide when we're ready to decide?"

"Decide when we are ready? I like that idea." She leaned her head on his shoulder. She waved her wand at her sodden handkerchief and used the now dried cloth to wipe her eyes and blow her nose. "Yeah. Let's decide our life together. No one else. Right?"

"Right. Just us." Harry kissed her gently, but she grabbed his head and deepened it fiercely.

"I love you!" she declared loudly when they came up for air.

"Good thing, 'cause I love you." He smiled.

"Can I yell it?" She said louder.

"As loud as you want! It's your house." He said louder.

"I LOVE HARRY FREAKING POTTER!" She screamed as loud as her lungs allowed.

"I LOVE GINNY FREAKING WEASLEY!" Harry yelled until his throat ached. They fell together in laughter, only to be startled when the door burst open with Ron and Hermione waving their wands.

"Put them away. It's only us being silly." Ginny laughed even more.

Ron looked towards the corners of the room and found no one else. "Oh, right. Just making sure." He put his wand back in his pocket. He tried to look gruff, but it came out comical.

Hermione looked closer to the tapestry. "What's gonna happen to this?"

"Burn it." Harry said firmly.

"But Harry, it's history." Hermione cried.

"I don't care. I don't think Andromeda wants it. The Malfoys don't deserve it. I want it gone." He got up and tried to pull it away from the plaster. All he got was a fingernail that nearly bent backwards. "Oh, It's permanent. Hmm. Let's make a note and ask Seamus about it." Harry was getting antsy. He looked down at his watch. "Hey guys, it's after one already!" He was astonished.

Just then, Luna wandered in, "Hello. Your elf let me in. Mrs. Weasley sent me to tell you that you're on your own today. And to ask if I can be with you? She wanted to look for a new cow and didn't want to take me."

"Of course, you can stay. We were just talking about lunch, have you eaten?" Ginny gave the little blond girl a hug.

"No, I didn't want to bother Mrs. Weasley." Luna looked around, "What an interesting house." She touched the tapestry and brought her hand back as if hurt. "Ooh, that's dark. It makes the house feel sad and angry."

"Yeah, I want to get rid of it." Harry agreed. There was no way he would have his honeymoon here with that thing over his shoulder.

"I have an idea." Hermione looked out the front window. "I can see a pizza parlor. How's that for lunch?"

"Pizza? What's that?"

"Pee what?"

Ron and Ginny both asked at the same time.

Harry and Hermione shared a smile. "Oh, do we have a treat for you!" Hermione tugged on Ron's arm. It's a special…well, I guess you're just going to have to wait and find out."

"I tell you what, I'll go get them, You guys set up for a feast. Oh, and ask Kreature if he has any butterbeer." Harry felt for his wallet, "What toppings?"

"I like pepperoni and mushroom." Hermione spoke up.

"Mushrooms? Forget it!" Ron looked as if he were turning green. Too many over the past year on the hunt.

"I think mushrooms are lovely." Luna smiled dreamily. "I had pizza before. It's heavenly. Really Ron, I think you'll love it."

"Yeah?" He still wasn't convinced.

"How about one with, and one without." Hermione said in compromise.

"Deal. Be back soon!" Harry yelled as he raced out of the room.

0000000000

"I think you have just converted me to mushrooms again." Ron mumbled around his fourth slice.

"I think the sausage is my favorite," Ginny twirled a string of cheese around her finger before she took another large bite.

"Oh yes, just how I remember it. Daddy and I tried some when we went on an expedition to the Italian Alps. He suspected the chef to be a wizard, to have created such a divine dish."

Hermione just laughed and shook her head. Then she had an idea. "Luna? How old are you?" She asked off hand.

"Seventeen, last February, why?" She answered as she carefully chose her next slice.

"Well, I'm sure Molly has told you why we're doing up this house, right?"

"She said you have the Celtic Soul Signs. Will you four be living here?"

Ron took a swig of his butterbeer and tried hard to not belch. "Uggg, yeah. We're planning on it. Hic!"

"Good try, Ronald. As I was trying to say, Luna, we are all of us being betrothed Sunday next." Hermione started again.

"Betrothed? How romantic." The fey girl sighed.

Ginny snickered, "Yeah, it ish romantic." She bumped into Harry sideways. She felt a little lightheaded.

Harry looked at the label of his bottle. This brand seems to be harder than they were used to. He'll have to have a talk with Kreature later.

"Well, since my parents can't stand for me, I'm in need of a sponsor. Wou…would you be willing to stand as sponsor?" Hermione tried to spit it out quickly.

Luna stopped mid-bite. Slowly she set the slice onto her plate. "Me?"

"Please? I need an adult female. I can't think of anyone but you. Will You?"

There was a single tear sliding down Luna's cheek. She made no move to wipe it. "I…I'm honored. But I don't know what to…"

"Don't worry. Mum'll walk you through it." Ginny assured her. "Neville will be her Male sponsor."

"Neville? I'm so glad we remained friends. But you're serious? You really want me?" She was smiling brightly.

"Yes, Luna. I really do. Will you?" Hermione hugged Luna.

"Of course. Anything for a friend." Luna contemplated her plate. "Will this make us kin? Like family?" Her voice sounded hesitant, almost childlike.

Harry reached over and squeezed her hand. "I don't care what ritual you go through, you're already kin. Right guys?"

"Here, here!"

"Righto!"

"Of course!"

"Hic!"

More tears joined the first and she raised her bottle high, "To kin!"

"To kin!" Bottles clinked together. Luna found family, and the four became five.

By seven, they had gone through all the rooms, making changes. They had gone to the top floor and were on the way down past the third floor before they realized they had forgotten to take notes. Most were holding onto the walls. Harry, who's head was more than fuzzy, made an executive decision to just go back to the Burrow.

When they got back down to the kitchen, he asked the elves to come back the next morning. He turned to Kreature. "Please, in the name of Merlin, don't ever buy that brand of butterbeer again. I think we got *hic* drunk."