The Cruelty of the Past

Chapter Two

Surprises

Ginny laughed at the note; it must be one of Fred and George's pranks. Well, she wasn't going to fall for it, but she had to give them points for trying. They must have come up with this one awhile back; it had the markings of Fred all over it. "Thanks for the laugh, big brother," she said, more to herself than anyone else. As she thought about it, it was really very kind that he left her with this as her final memory of him. She decided at that moment not to mention this to anyone, at least for tonight. Her parents seemed more excited about her birthday than she was. She did not want to bring up bad memories for them tonight. It would be hard enough without Fred there as this was the first family celebration since his passing. She took the letter and placed it in her top dresser drawer.

Elsewhere in the house, Harry was having a private talk with Mr. Weasley. "Harry, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, sir. First off I want to thank you for making me part of your family."

"Harry, you don't need to thank us. Look at the fact that you saved most of my children, and myself. I feel we should be thanking you." Mr. Weasley patted him on the back.

"No sir, that's not necessary. But there is one other thing I wanted. Sir, I'm not really sure how it's done in the Wizarding world, so please forgive me if I make a mistake here. Um, sir, I'm here tonight to ask for your blessing in marrying Ginny."

Arthur always knew this day was coming, but he only had one daughter and he wanted to watch Harry squirm a little. "Now Harry, she is only seventeen..."

"I know that, sir, but I have learned that life is short and I don't want to waste time."

"I understand that, Harry. But before I can give you my blessing, I need to know-"

Harry looked very nervous. "Sir, I love Ginny with all my heart. I promise you she will never doubt my feelings for her." The poor kid looked like he was about to explode.

"Harry, Ginny is still very young-" Okay, he played with Harry long enough. "Relax, Harry. I know you love her. You do have my blessing, but I do ask that you wait for the wedding until after she finishes school. The last thing a girl her age needs is to be married and still in school, or worse; pregnant."

"But do you mind if I ask her tonight?"

"No, I don't mind, but Harry, you are like one of my own sons so I would like to offer you some advice.

First off - If you're going to ask her tonight, do it in private. The last thing you want is Ron making some comment and ruining the moment. And the second things is- once you're married, give yourselves at least a couple of years to be a couple before starting a family."

"Yes, sir. And thank you!"

"Harry, one more thing- I think at this point it would be fine if you stopped with the sir and Mr. Weasley. Arthur or Dad is just fine."

"No problem, but I'll wait until after I ask Ginny. I wouldn't want her to think something was up."

Later that evening Ginny unwrapped presents with all her family around. Her parents had given her a small diamond solitaire necklace, Ron and Hermione bought her a couple of books on journalism, George got her a bracelet that matched the necklace her parents got her, Percy bought her a new cauldron that had the correct level of thickness, Charlie gave her a pair of very ladylike dragonskin gloves, and Bill and Fleur got her an adult jewelry box which contained several pairs of earrings, some for fun and some more serious.

After all her gifts were opened, Bill spoke, "Fleur and I would just like to let everyone know we have decided it's time to quiet Mum. We will be working on having a baby."

The way he said it caused laughter to erupt from around the table with the exception, at first, of Molly who had been asking about a baby a week after their wedding.

Harry leaned over and whispered to Ginny, "Come for a bit of a walk with me." Ginny smiled and rose. Harry took her hand and led her away from the others and towards the trees.

As they walked, Ginny smiled at him. "How long do you think it will be before Ron and Hermione get married?"

"I'm not really sure, but I know he can get pretty jealous, so I don't think he'll wait along. Look Ginny, I don't know if I told you how much time I spent thinking about you while we were gone."

"Yes Harry, you told me a couple of times."

"Good, because at times thoughts of you were the only things that kept me going. And I came to realize that my life will not be complete without you in it. Ginny Molly Weasley, I want you to marry me."

Ginny got a look on her face that showed utter surprise. "Oh Harry, I...I... I'm just seventeen! I ... I do love you, but that's just such a big step. I mean ...I love you, but I don't know if I'm ready to make such a big choice yet. But I don't want to lose you."

Harry smiled. "It's okay, Ginny. Look, it's fine that you're not ready yet. How about this, " He reached into his pocket, "I got this for you; it's your engagement ring. Why don't you wear in on your right hand until you're ready." He held out a diamond ring. "It's a copy of the ring my father gave my mum. Will you wear it on your right hand for now?"

Ginny smiled at him. "Thank you for being so understanding. Yes I will." She took the ring and slid it onto her right ring finger.

"Well, at least this way all the other blokes will know you're spoken for," he said sheepishly.

"Like they wouldn't miss that fact with you coming around the school all the time! Let's head back before my brothers begin to think you're out here trying to steal my virtue."

Harry took her hand in his. "Ginny, when you're ready, I want to be the one to move the ring from you right hand to your left."

As they got back to her party, Arthur looked at Harry expectantly. Harry dropped Ginny's hand and nodded to the side, indicating for Arthur to come with him. Arthur did follow and once they were out of earshot he asked, "Did something go wrong?"

"Yes – no, I guess not – she said she was not ready to make such a choice. But she did say she would wear the ring I gave her on her right hand, for now."

Arthur smiled at Harry. "She probably just needs more time. Harry, because of your life experience, you have matured much faster than most men your age. Ginny is still young and while you long for a calm normal life, she's looking at the world with excitement. I would guess the idea of being married and starting a family is not where she's at yet. I'm sure she wants to travel or at least to have some time to not have responsibilities. She may see marriage and children as one and the same. You know, at seventeen I'm sure she thinks romance dies the minute you're married." He knew all too well how hard it was to find moments to be just a couple when you had children.

When they returned to the others, Ginny was showing them all Harry's birthday gift to her.

The next morning when Ginny woke up, she grabbed the joke letter Fred had sent. It had to be all Fred, or George had totally forgotten about it. When she reached the bottom of the stairs both her parents were talking at the kitchen table. "Morning Dad, Mum," she said as she made her way into the room.

"Ginny dear, it looks like your Hogwarts letter arrived." Molly indicated to the envelope on the table.

"Thanks, Mum." Ginny grabbed the envelope and then sat down to open it. It read:

Dear Miss Ginevra Weasley,

This letter is to inform you that Hogwarts will be reopening for the coming school year as of September the First. Enclosed you will find your book lists. As a seventh year, you are reminded that this is a very important year as you work towards your NEWTS. Also Miss Weasley, you will have the added responsibility of being Head Girl, a position that you have earned as you have displayed natural leadership capabilities, even if in the most unorthodox way. As Head Girl you will have your own room located so that any students or teachers can come to you. I have complete faith in you, Miss Weasley.

Sincerely,

Headmistress Minerva McGonagall.

Ginny reread the letter out loud.

"Oh Ginny, I'm so proud of you!" Molly beamed.

"I completely agree with your mother, Ginny," Arthur said.

"Thank you. Dad, I wanted to show you this; it arrived yesterday. I think Fred had this planned for some time. I thought you might like to see it." She handed him the other letter and then watched as he read over it.

He read it three times, then asked, "Do you still have the envelope this arrived in?"

"Yes, it's up in my room," Ginny replied as she picked up the glass of milk her mother had placed in front of her.

"Go get it, now!" Ginny had rarely seen her father look so serious. She did as he asked without question, but she never would have thought it would have had this effect on him. As she made her way back down the stairs, she heard her father speaking;

"Molly, I will let you read this in a moment. I just need to check something."

"Here's the envelope, Daddy," Ginny said as she handed it to her father.

He read the address label, then folded the letter back and laid both on the table, touching, side by side. He then pulled out his wand and muttered a spell and on the two pieces, the letter and the envelope, there appeared the Ministry symbol. "You see that, Ginny?" He handed the letter to his wife. "This is no practical joke worked up by your brother. This is for real." His face was white.

"No! It can't be," Ginny said as she slipped into her chair.

Molly finished reading the letter, taking a full minute before speaking, "No Arthur, this must be a joke. If it were real, I'm sure we would have heard from the Malfoys. Narcissa, at the very least."

"Molly, if you read the paper this morning you would see Narcissa Malfoy was killed yesterday while riding at Malfoy Manor. Her horse threw her off and she died instantly. I'm sure that they're a little too preoccupied to be reading any owls."

"Daddy, no. I can't. Harry asked me to marry him last night," Ginny whispered.

"Ginny, relax. I'm sure once they are aware of this, they will contact us. Then we can all go before the Wizengamot and appeal this. I'm sure that Lucius will be as against this as we are," he surmised.

"But there's a chance that I will have to..."

"Ginny, you don't have to do anything," Molly interrupted.

"But if I don't, there will be no more babies born in the family!"

"It looks that way, but still, no one would expect you to forsake yourself just so they could have a child," Arthur tried to console her.

"How long do you think it will be until we hear from the Malfoys, Arthur?" Molly asked.

"I can't say. I do know that there was nothing suspicious about the death, so it's not as if we will have to wait for the Aurors. If we have not heard from them by three days after the funeral, then I will pay them a call."