Chapter 33: taking the leap

The next morning, Harry lie in bed with his head propped up in his hand, watching Ginny sleep. He still couldn't believe that she had said yes. When he thought back on the life he had lived so far, it seemed strange that he would finally be getting the things he wanted when he never expected to live long enough to obtain them. His life was finally heading in the right direction. As he lay there, he thought back to the first time he had ever laid eyes on Ginny. He remembered the little girl in Kings Cross Station on the day of his first trip to Platform 9 ¾. And then there was the girl who couldn't hold a simple conversation with him and who stuck her elbow in the butter dish. He wished desperately that he had noticed her for being more then just Ron's little sister a lot earlier then he did. There was so much time that he could have spent with her.

Harry reached out and gently moved a stray stand of hair from her face. She smiled without opening her eyes.

"Morning," said Harry.

"Mmm . . . morning," she said sleepily. "I had the most amazing dream last night," she added as she slowly sat up.

"Oh, yeah? What was it?" asked Harry with a sly grin.

"I dreamt that the most amazing guy asked me to marry him," said Ginny. She was having the hardest time keeping the smile off her face. Harry leaned over and gave her a lingering kiss.

"You weren't dreaming," said Harry, his lips brushing against hers. He reached down and took her left hand. "It's real."

"I still can't believe it. I can't believe we're actually going to get married," said Ginny. Harry could do nothing but smile. Seeing her like this made him realize that all his stress and anxiety over asking her to be his wife was for nothing. It seemed idiotic to him now that he ever thought she would say no.

"Oh no," she said suddenly, startling him. "I just thought of something."

"What?"

"My parents . . .my brothers!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening in alarm. "What are they going to say?"

Harry's face paled. He felt the fear and anxiety he had felt before come rushing back to him. He already knew that Ginny's parents, or at least her father, were okay with them getting married. Her brothers on the other hand were another story. He remembered how he felt his sixth year at Hogwarts when he realized his feelings for Ginny and how he battled with himself about telling Ron. He knew Ron was alright with him dating Ginny, but marrying her was so much different. And then there were her other four brothers.

"Harry?" said Ginny, a concerned look on her face. Harry's face had gone completely blank when she mentioned her brothers. "Harry? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh . . . yeah . . . fine," he said shakily.

"Harry . . . don't worry about them . . .," began Ginny.

"Don't worry about them?" said Harry, his voice getting higher as his anxiety level rose. "Ginny, your brothers are going to kill me!"

"They're not going to kill you, Harry," said Ginny in an attempt to calm him down. If she was honest with herself, she really had no idea how her brothers were going to react to the news. Out of all of her brothers, she was closest to Ron, mostly due to the fact that they were closer in age. And out of all of her brothers, his was the reaction she was most concerned about. She knew that he and Harry were best mates, and that they experienced things together that most people have only read about, but she also knew how protective he could be over her. "It's going to be fine," she added, more to convince herself then anything else.

"I guess we won't have to wait long to find out," said Harry. Every Sunday, Molly pulled all of the children home for dinner. It had become a tradition since after the war ended.

"How are we going to do this?" asked Ginny.

"I'm guessing the direct approach would probably be best."

*****

"Come on Harry," said Ginny impatiently from the sitting room. "We're going to be late."

Harry was pacing back and forth in the bedroom. He felt like his stomach was all tied in knots. Normally it was some emergency of Ginny's that made them late for Sunday dinner, but this week it was him. He had been wracking his brain all afternoon over the best possible way to tell Ginny's brothers that he was going to be marrying their baby sister. Every scenario that he played over ended badly.

"I can't do this," he called down the hall. "You go ahead and go. Let me know how they take the news."

Ginny threw up her hands in exasperation and walked into the bedroom. "I don't understand how someone who defeated the most evil wizard of all time could possibly be scared of my brothers!" she said.

"I'm a dead man," said Harry. He sat down on the edge of the bed put his head in his hands, running his hands through his hair and causing it to stand up at odd directions.

"Come on, Harry. We have to tell them eventually," said Ginny, sitting down next to him and resting her hand on his knee.

"Are you sure we can't just elope and move to Tahiti?" he asked pleadingly.

"No way. Then we'd both be dead," she said jokingly. "Now lets go. We don't want to be late again."

Harry let out a long breath before standing and attempting to flatten his hair. "Alright. Lets get this over with."

*****

Arthur Weasley sat in his favorite armchair while his wife was busy in the kitchen making sure everything was perfect for dinner. They both knew what news they would receive today. After Harry had come to him to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage, he knew it was only a matter of time. When he had told Molly about his and Harry's talk, they had both agreed that there was no one better for their little girl and they couldn't be happier. The only problems they could see were their sons. He had been joking when he had mentioned them to Harry after their talk, but the more he thought about it, the more concerned he became. They had always been protective of Ginny, even as small children. Bill, Percy and Charlie would probably try to say that Harry and Ginny were too young to get married. George would do his best to take the mickey out of Harry and then there was Ron. Arthur wasn't sure how Ron would react to the news.

"Arthur?" called Molly from the kitchen. "The kids should be here soon. Could you help me set the table?"

Arthur heaved himself up from his chair and made his way toward the kitchen.

"Do you think Harry and Ginny are too young?" he asked once he entered the kitchen.

"They're older then we were," said Molly. "What brought this on? I thought you were okay with them getting married?"

"I was just thinking about what the boys will say," said Arthur as he sat the plates down on the scrubbed kitchen table. "I think we might have to play mediators today, dear."

Molly stopped what she was doing and turned to face her husband. "Ron," she said simply.

"Exactly."

* * * * *

The entire Weasley family, including Harry and Hermione, were gathered around the scrubbed kitchen table at the Burrow. Harry and Ginny listened as George and Ron rattled off excitedly about the new shop in Hogsmeade. Ginny was nervously twisting her engagement ring around her finger from under the table while Harry was pushing his food around his plate. No one seemed to notice that the two of them seemed less then interested in the conversation going on around them. No one, that is, except for Bill.

"What's wrong with you two?" he asked, making the pair of them jump. They had both been lost in their individual thoughts.

"Oh . . . er . . . uh . . . ," stuttered Harry. He looked over at Ginny for help.

"Um . . . Harry and I have an announcement to make," she said.

The conversation around them stopped and everyone turned and looked at them expectantly.

"You're pregnant!" blurted Ron, his face getting red. He stood from the table and glared at Harry accusingly. "You knocked up my baby sister!"

"Ronald," scolded Hermione, tugging him on the arm until he sat back down. He crossed his arms over his chest and continued to stare daggers at Harry.

"I'm not pregnant, Ron," said Ginny angrily. "Harry asked me to marry him and I said yes!"

Every head in the room turned to face Harry, who was still in shock over Ron's wild accusation. He swallowed past the lump in his throat and said, "It's true. I love Ginny very much and she loves me and we're getting married."

"Oh I'm just so happy!" exclaimed Molly, tearfully. She stood from the table and engulfed them both in her arms.

"Oh Ginny. We have so much to plan!" said Hermione, also standing from the table. All the women were so engrossed in wedding plans that they didn't notice the men still staring at Harry.

"Harry, can we go outside and talk?" asked Bill while the others nodded.

"Boys . . . ," warned Arthur.

"We're not going to hurt him Dad," said George as he and Charlie led Harry outside, the others trailing not far behind. "Not too bad," he added in an undertone.

"So Harry, you want to marry our baby sister," said Percy once they were all gathered out in the back garden.

"Er . . . yes . . . I d-do," stammered Harry.

"And you love her?" asked Bill, a serious look on his face.

"Of c-course I d-do."

"I can't take it anymore," said George, a huge smile forming on his face. "Look at him. I think he's ready to pass out!"

"Yeah, Harry. We're just pulling your chain," said Charlie, laughing and clapping him on the back. "We know how you feel about her."

"You just better not hurt her," said Ron, speaking for the first time since his outburst in the kitchen.

"Ron, I would never do that," said Harry, walking over to stand next to his best friend. The other four made their way back in the house, still laughing.

"I'm sorry about earlier," said Ron. "I guess I kind of over reacted."

"Yeah, you kind of did," said Harry with a laugh. Ron held out his hand for Harry to shake.

"We better get inside. I think Mum and Ginny are getting worried," said Ron, nodding his head in the direction of the house. Sure enough, Molly and Ginny were standing in the kitchen looking out the window. Both women had anxious looks on their faces.

"Good idea."

*****

"See, it wasn't that bad," said Ginny. They were back at their flat and cuddled up on the sofa. "You're still alive," she added when Harry didn't say anything.

"That was the single most terrifying thing I've ever been through," said Harry. "You didn't see how they were looking at me when we were outside!"

"They were just messing with you. Bill told me later that they had been planning on doing that."

"Well, I don't think Ron was in on the joke," said Harry. "I'd hate to see what he would've done if you were pregnant. He probably would've hexed my bits off!"

Ginny pretended to consider this for a moment. "Yeah. He probably would have," she said, laughing.

"Well, I'm just glad that's over with," he said. "What happens now?"

"We have lots of planning to do. I was thinking we could have a spring wedding. Maybe do it at the Burrow," said Ginny excitedly.

"Nothing too big. Just family and close friends. I don't want it turning into a media fiasco."

"I hadn't thought of that," said Ginny. "We have plenty of time to figure things out though. Right now I just want to go to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, getting scared half to death really wears you out," said Harry. He stood from the sofa and pulled Ginny to her feet.

"I still don't understand how you could walk into that forest and face Voldemort, but facing my brothers completely freaks you out," she said.

"I don't know either," said Harry, shaking his head and laughing.

"My big tough Auror," teased Ginny.

"And don't you forget it," he teased back.

That night, lying in bed, Harry thought back on the days events. He had done it. He had told Ginny's brothers he was going to marry her and lived to tell the tale. He turned his head on his pillow to face Ginny. She had fallen asleep almost immediately after her head hit the pillow that night. As he lie there watching her sleep, he realized just how unbelievably lucky he was to have her in his life.

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A/N: As always . . . PLEASE REVIEW! I live and breathe for them . . . well, maybe I wouldn't go that far, but I do love hearing what you think!!! :)