Chapter Fourteen: Dinner with the Family

"I always warned Fred that he would have children just like him; you two are in for quiet a ride." A small tear glistened at the edge of Mrs. Weasley's eye as she smiled down at George Phillip Weasley.

"He already has a lot of Fred's expressions." Angelina agreed, with a soft laugh.

"Sorry I'm late." Harry tried not to look in any way awkward as he slid into the last seat, next to Ginny. "I thought I heard something in one of the empty bedrooms." Harry lied; he had just been sitting in Sirius' room, thinking.

"Was it anything?" Ginny broke into Harry's clouded thoughts; passing him the potatoes.

"No; I must have imagined it."

"All sorts of things surface in large empty houses like this." Mr. Weasley pointed out, trying to start up a conversation as Mrs. Weasley laid her first grandchild down in a playpen.

Harry had been surprised to find, that with a few magical modifications, wizards used things like highchairs, baby food, walkers, and playpens; something about baby supplies just didn't strike him as magical.

Silence, interrupted once or twice by the happy burbling of George, began to stretch out from comfortable to somewhat pensive. "Can you tell us about anything you've been up to recently Ginny; I haven't seen you in weeks." Harry, glancing up at Molly's question, could not help but notice her obvious glance between him and Ginny.

"I've been working on something rather important, and you're right, I can't tell you about it." Ginny's voice was clipped and highly expressionless; she continued, after a pause. "I can tell you, however, that they just hired Blaize Zabini."

"They hired Malfoy's second?" Ron almost chocked on his applesauce in shock.

"Ron, nothing was ever proved; Zabini was never actually involved in anything to do with Youknowwho." Ginny's answer was cool; her expression very much nearing a glare as she looked across at him.

Harry gave an involuntary flinch; as if it was him under her demeaning scrutiny, and not his friend. "He just doesn't seem like the kind of person you would want the government to be hiring into the department of mysteries." They sounded pathetically lipid even to his own ears, but the peace making words were out of his mouth before he realized.

"No matter; he's very good at his job." Ginny's eyes, loosing little of their fire, turned to fix on Harry, and then fell to her plate.

Now the silence was most defiantly of the awkward ilk; Harry squirmed under each of the family's perplexed and confused looks in turn.

"If only Charley, Bill. And Fleur." The last name was added after a slight hesitation on Mrs. Weasley's part. "Could have been here; we have yet to get the entire family under one roof." No one mentioned Percy; Hermione, Angelina, and Mr. Weasley all nodded solemnly.

"I'm sure that they all wish they were here too." Hermione commented over her green beans. "After all, I managed not to burn the cake this time; with no magic."

"You have time to putter around now, but when you have a large family you won't have time to cook without magic." Molly delivered this sage antidote, while sending Ron yet another look.

Harry couldn't help but crack a smile over a mouthful of roast beef; the more Ron balked at the idea of children, the more his mother made her wishes known. Ron didn't dislike children, in fact Harry knew for a fact that his friend loved the idea; he also knew Ron loved Hermione deeply, and let his own insecurities about having children hide behind his concern for his wife's well-being.

"Muggle mothers have been surviving without magic for millennia; I just don't want to be dependent." Hermione offered her mother-in-law a noncommittal shrug; her shoulder unsurreptitiously shifting to entwine her fingers with Ron's, under the table.

Mrs. Weasley gave a slight huff, as if she could not imagine such a world. "So, have you two decided on a wedding date?"

Harry froze.

"Didn't he tell you mother; Harry and I are no longer engaged?"

It was over; the cat was out of the bag. Harry swallowed several times, trying to wet his suddenly sandpaper dry throat.

"What?" Four of the six occupants at the table chorused together; Hermione, and subsequently Ron, didn't seem all that surprised.

"We decided, mutually, to stop seeing each other; things just weren't working out." Ginny got out of her chair, pushing in again. "If you don't mind, I think I'll be going then." She turned, and walked out.

"Stop he-" As the sound of the front door closing behind his former fiancé resounded through the silent house, Mrs. Weasley jumped to her feet.

"Let her go mum." Fred was at his mother's side in an instant; his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"I don't think Molly." Mr. Weasley, the subject of his wife's demands, stood up more slowly; his head nodding in agreement with Fred. "She's a grown woman, who can make her own decisions."

Harry, now in full control of his limbs once more, slowly got to his feet; as quietly as he could. The play-acting was over now; his only claim on the Weasley family at large had just been shattered.

"Is this ok with you Harry?" Harry had been trying to slip past Mrs. Weasley and Fred, on his way out, but suddenly found himself firmly in the woman's teary grasp.

"Uh; yeah!" Her embrace had pushed all air of Harry's lungs, and this involuntary squeak escaped with his last gasps for air.

"It's really personal." Harry added, after a few deep gasps, and under a cajoling look from Hermione. "But, we felt that it wasn't the right time; I didn't want to burden…" He really didn't feel like explaining; he didn't even understand half of it himself. How could he break this nicely to his ex's mother?

"I'm sure that they thought this through before they made this decision Molly." Mr. Weasley came to Harry's rescue.

"I, we, all, just expected…" Molly trailed off; letting go of Harry. "We've all made our share of stupid decisions."

The decision had been made weeks ago, but it was a depressing culmination of the evening to have everyone moving out of Grimmauld place.

"Harry, I want you to know, that no matter who you marry, and wherever you go, you'll always be welcome at the Burrow." Mr. Weasley clasped Harry's shoulder warmly. "You'll always be part of our family."

Harry nodded, his eyes falling to his shoes, unable to meet the other man's eyes. "Thank-you; it means a lot."

"And, if you have any questions, or ever need anything, don't hesitate."

"I won't." With a final shaking of hands, they were all gone.

A/N You never thought I would update again did you?

Well, here's an update, on my part; some feedback, on your part, would be highly encouraging )