DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter Three: Family Ties
Ginny's stunned face began to turn a brilliant shade of red as Harry looked at her worriedly. The words had almost popped out of his mouth of his own accord, but of course, now that they were out there he could not take them back. Her mouth opened and closed several times, and Harry patted himself on the back internally as this was the only time he had ever managed to make Ginevra Weasley speechless.
"Harry..." she began, her voice quavering. Harry's heart sank down into his shoes. "I'm only sixteen... we can't get married now." Harry blinked owlishly at her before replying.
"It could be a long engagement." He answered solemnly. "Ginny, I've been in love with you since sixth year. With all that's happened these past few months, I can't stand the thought of ever being without you. I know that we both have things that we want to accomplish in our lives, but why can't we do them together?" Ginny regarded him calmly, mulling his statement over in her mind. She knew she loved him, that much she was sure of. With a slight smile in her voice, she whispered,
"Let's get married." Harry whooped loudly, picking her up around her waist and swinging her in a circle. "Not right now, of course." She continued once he had set her firmly on her feet. "But a long engagement would be okay." Harry just nodded, unable to stop smiling. The prospect of once again having a family had put a warm feeling in his chest.
"Mom?" Hermione asked softly. The awareness that had been in her mother's eyes only moments before had faded, and she was now looking at Hermione with panic in her eyes.
"Who are you? Where am I? What is going on?" Her mother wailed. Hermione could hear her father's footsteps pounding through the house towards his distraught wife, and as tears streaked down her face she turned on her heel and ran from the door, as fast as her legs would carry her. Once she had gotten out of sight, she fell to her knees, curling her arms around her abdomen and allowing the sobs to tear from her, unbidden. Perhaps if she gave her mother some time... she would recover. Hermione knew that restoring memories was unsuccessful as often as not, and she only hoped that she hadn't done any permanent damage. Without her family, she felt so lost.
Ron glared hard at the dirt, as though the ground could simply open up and swallow his pain. He'd left Romilda's not an hour ago, her sleeping figure completely unaware that she was now alone. He supposed he was doing horribly at dealing with his feelings, but as Hermione had once said to him, he had "the emotional range of a teaspoon". Thinking of Hermione, however, simply made him feel worse, and he shoved the witch to the very back of his mind. He was dealing with enough as it was, his emotions threating to overtake him every minute. Even his family was shattered, the loss of Fred rocking the Weasley's to their very core.
AN: Sorry for the short chapter guys but I've been stuck on this for a while now so I figured I'd just upload what I had and hopefully the next chapter comes more readily.
Xoxo
T