"I'd really like to know how you were able to get Rita Skeeter to write and conduct a proper interview." Hermione sat talking to her sister in law over morning tea as she held tight to her sleeping son.

After news of Angelina's death spread throughout the community, the entire Weasley clan all had mixed emotions upon hearing of the further postponement of the Weasley-Chase-Malfoy hearing. There was to be a full inquiry into the woman's death, starting with their lot.

Mackenzie and George's feelings were the most mixed. Both wanted to finish up and be done with the hearing as soon as possible, but were also both very upset and equally shocked by what they had seen. Mackenzie had taken off early in the morning to meet with her sisters, feeling as if George did not want her help in dealing with Angelina's death. Not to mention that once Percy had exited their home the previous evening, George and Mackenzie did not speak. Well, George didn't speak. He kissed his wife's cheek quickly, and closed himself off for the remainder of the night, falling asleep, or pretending to sleep by the time Mackenzie had appeared in their bedroom later during the night. She had shrugged off his behavior for the night, but really worried when they woke this morning and George simply moved out of bed without even a glance to his wife before he disappeared into the shower. This time Mackenzie didn't follow. She sat in bed for a few minutes, contemplating his odd behavior. She wondered if it had anything to do with her running off to see Draco without warning or a thought to George's feelings.

This was ridiculous she concluded because of course she had thought of George's feelings. She always had. He was her first and last thought throughout each and every day, so the idea that he could be upset over something as preposterous as that was set aside. But if not that, than what? Sure Angelina's death had shocked and set upon the couple a range of complex emotions, but no, that wasn't it either.

But here she sat with Hermione, taking her mind off any troubles she now had. She gave a slight nod and smirk in response to her sister's inquiry.

"You're not going to tell me?"

She smiled and shrugged. "I really didn't do anything. Just gave her a bit of information that managed to scare her off of her usual path of enlightened lies."

Hermione looked skeptically at the other woman. "Information?"

Another shrug. "Reminded her that it is now the Minister who holds the power of the paper and its contents, along with its…staffing. I then proceeded to tell her about Article fourteen, paragraph three of the Journalistic reliability Act of nineteen fifty-seven, and the laws under the Act that happen to mention a case of Simmons versus 'Silver Core' Magazine company, a case in which Victor Simmons sued the company for liable, slander, false truth, and malicious intent to obtain falsified information and such."

"Wow." Ginny breathed out, listening to the girls as she entered into the room where her sisters sat in talking. "It's a good thing you know all of that stuff."

"Yes." Mackenzie stood to hug the red head. "Very convincing, considering it's all fake." She smiled again.

Hermione laughed. "You made it up?"

"Yes. I had to get her to tell the truth my way and manage to get Draco to talk to me again. Plus I promised her exclusive rights to the Minister's daughter for any interview so long as I don't read anything that shouldn't be said."

The three girls were all breathlessly laughing over their conversations when they were interrupted by their husbands who had all met up during the morning as well. Hermione and Ginny both noticed the distance between George and Mackenzie even as they greeted each other. They waited until the men exited to a separate room to grill the woman.

"I don't know what I did." Mackenzie offered as she saw the inquisitive looks given to her. "Perhaps it was something I said, but I…I just don't know." She shrank into the couch. "It started last night after Percy left. I'd just come from seeing Draco, and…"

"Wait." Ginny stopped her. "Draco Malfoy? You went to see Malfoy? The same Malfoy who is putting you and George through the rings of Hell?"

Mackenzie nodded. "I had to. It was important that I…"

"Kenny, which one of those men is more important to you?" Hermione questioned.

Mackenzie looked as if she had been asked to jump from a bridge.

"How can you ask me that? I'm married to George. He is the most important…" she paused briefly. "Do you think it's the Malfoy thing?"

Both women gave her an incredulous look.

"George doesn't see it the same way you do, from a lawful sort of intelligent point of view Kenny." Hermione explained. "He sees it from the husband wife view. You went to see Draco Malfoy while your husband is grieving over his ex."

Mackenzie nodded, understanding exactly where Hermione was coming from. She needed to talk to her husband. He was obviously upset with her, and she had to face it. She stood, walking away from her sisters, going to get her husband to face her and talk to her. She made her way to the kitchen, taking a deep breath before entering.

"Hey." She said, walking into the room, interrupting whatever was being said between the group of men.

All of them turned their heads to her in acknowledgment. The only set of eyes she met, still looked distant and bothered.

"Can I talk to you?" She mouthed to her husband, motioning her head to another room.

George nodded once, following her lead out of the room into the hallway.

"What do you want?" He quietly questioned her, an impassive tone surrounding his words.

Mackenzie was quite through with this colder than normal demeanor. She had never experienced this side of him directed at her or anyone else. There were the tense moments when he had confronted Angelina, but that was a different sort of circumstances. She wanted to help, she wanted to make things better, and if there was any possibility that his mood was directly caused by her, she only wanted to fix it. Without realizing it, her own tone turned just as offhand.

"I want to talk to you alone. This way." She pointed in the opposite direction they were standing down the hall, forcing him to lead into an empty room. Once the two had entered into a small vacant room, Mackenzie closed the door behind her, watching her husband sit down onto a couch off to the side. She felt her heart sink when he pulled his hands over his face, lowering his head, his elbows resting on his knees.

"George, I need to know what is going on with you. I need to know what I've done or said, because this whole mood swing thing is not going to fly. You've barely said two words to me in the past eighteen hours, and that scares me."

George didn't say anything.

"George, talk to me." She demanded. "Tell me what is wrong. Tell me what I can do or say. I love you and I cannot handle you ignoring me." She worried about approaching the impending subject, but before she could stop, words began to flood out of her mouth. "Is this about me going to see Draco?"

George removed his hands from his face, giving a defeated sort of expression. "No." He pointedly told her. "I doesn't bother me that you went to talk to Malfoy. He's the reason we are in this mess, sort of…" He looked guilty, knowing that he and Mackenzie were also to blame. "And I think that what you can do to soften the blows of any oncoming storms should be done."

"Then what is it? Why are you acting so…"

"Don't get me wrong Kenny." He stopped her. "Don't let my ability to see past you running off to Malfoy make you complacent about how I feel. I'm positively enraged by the fact that you dropped everything to run off and secretly meet with him."

Mackenzie gasped at his accusation.

"It's the secrecy Mackenzie. We have never had secrets between each other." He stood up.

Mackenzie took a step back. He was angry with her. He only sought to use her full name when he was annoyed or angry with her, which wasn't very common for the two. His posture, his eyes, and his voice all told her just how irritated he was. But she wasn't about to allow this behavior to continue.

"This is about you trusting me? You're angry with me because I went to see Draco, which you yourself just said you were okay with, and now you're contradicting yourself." She summed up, challenging him. If they were going to fight, she wasn't going to sit back and say nothing to appease him.

"No." George returned. "This is not about trust. It's about you running off without giving a second thought to how your husband would react, directly after a death of someone I once knew."

The two voices were growing louder.

"You think I didn't consider how you would react George? Of course I knew how you would react. You would've flown off the handle, either refused to let me go or insisted upon tagging along, and given me no room to do what needed to be done."

"Why Mackenzie?" He argued. "Why did it have to be done? Why then? Could it not have waited? Why did I come second?"

"Second?" She sounded outraged. "When have I ever let you come second in my life? I wasn't aware that you thought that."

"I needed you. I needed…"

"How was I supposed to know that when you chose to walk away from me without a word or a glance that you needed me to follow behind? You greeted your brother, you let go of me, and left the room. Am I supposed to read your mind George to know what you want from me?"

"No." George sighed, sounding defeated this time. "But you've never once not been by my side, and I needed you to be. Why did you make the choice to go off and see Malfoy over me?"

"Is that what you think I did?" Her voice lowered in concern this time, sounding far less antagonistic and angry. "George, that was not what happened. My only concern was and has ever been for you and me. I was under the impression that you wanted some time alone to sort your head out. I only went to see Malfoy because I knew he had seen the article in the Prophet. I wanted his take on the whole thing, and needed to feel him out before I personally have to face him on the stand questioning me, and when he is on the stand. It has nothing to with me disregarding your feelings, which I could never ever do."

George groaned out loud, falling back down onto the couch, tilting his head onto the back, looking straight up at the ceiling. "I know that."

"What did he say?" George still impatiently asked.

"Who?"

"Malfoy."

Mackenzie shook her head. "That's not your concern." Their argument had not finished yet.

"What? It most certainly is my concern! You are my wife Mackenzie!" George yelled again.

"Yes I am." She stated back to him, just as intentionally loud. "But that does not give you the right to insist on knowing things that do not concern you. What is said between me and Draco is between me and Draco."

"That's not fair!"

"I don't tell him what is said between you and me. It's not his concern."

"Good reason for that." George growled.

"I'm not going to argue this point with you George." Mackenzie threw her hands into the air.

"No point in arguing. You win. I will always give you your way."

"No one said you must always give me my way." She countered.

"Ken, I love you. You are everything to me. I will always give you your way."

The two stayed quiet, calming down, calming their breathing, staring at each other, their eyes changing in expression. The fire finally ceased, bringing them back to the content coupler that they were.

"Then why the attitude and bad behavior?" Mackenzie pushed further, her voice filled with trouble.

"Because I don't know how to handle all of this on my own."

Mackenzie sat down beside him. "Who says you're handling it alone sweetheart? I'm here with you. And don't you dare believe otherwise."

He lifted his head. "I don't know where to begin." He told her. "There is a massive combination of crap, all hitting me at once." His tone was softer, quieter now that they had come through the yelling.

"Angelina?"

He nodded. "I was angry with her, even after talking to her. Then we find that she was spying on us…it made me angrier, but for her to be killed, knowing that she is dead…" He lowered his head again.

Mackenzie moved closer to him, placing her arms around him.

"I'm so sorry George. I know it probably hurts you more than me, but I wish you would talk to me about this stuff, rather than cutting me out of your thoughts and feelings. I feel very isolated lately with the craze surrounding us, and without you beside me, talking me through things, I feel…"

Immediately George shifted his body, turning to his wife, pulling his arms around her body as well, keeping hers wrapped around him, needing the closeness once again, missing the feel of what they were, what they had.

"I'm sorry." He told her. When he pulled away, his eyes met hers again, this time showing more emotion than before.

After a few minutes of simply sitting on the couch, holding each other tight, the two stood, preparing to re-enter the rooms where their family members sat, likely in shock from listening to them fight so loud. And just as suspected, once they entered into the Family room up front, the pair cringed at the sound of Molly Weasley rushing up to her son with a lecturing tone. She had arrived just moments before the argument between George and Mackenzie increased in volume.

"George Weasley! How dare you! How dare you speak to your wife in that manner!" The irate woman reached George as Mackenzie stood beside him holding his hand. "If I ever hear of you using that kind of language and raising your voice like that…"

"I sort of deserved it Molly." Mackenzie defended. "I did some things that I shouldn't have done without…"

"Kenny dear, there is never an excuse for any of my sons…" she pointed to all of the men in the room. "To speak that way to their wives, or any female for that matter in that manner."

"Oh, I don't condone the yelling Molly, or the method in which it took to get talking again, and I agree that it had better not happen again, but I also said things during that fight that were inappropriate."

"Yes dear you did, and I will reprimand you just the same for talking like you did to my son, but for now…"

George chuckled, pulling Mackenzie close to him. "For now mum, what do you say you let me and my wife go home and make up." He grinned, gaining laughs from everyone but Molly, who simply stepped to the side letting her children pass.

"See you all later." The couple waved goodbye, laughing and playing as they stepped into the floo, grabbing powder, disappearing in seconds.

A/N: Okay, I shortened this chapter to read like this only because I had too much going in to begin with. So, chapter 27 will be finished very soon. So, until next time…