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Chapter 10

Angelina wondered why George had even bothered to worry about his mum. They had been at the Burrow for almost two hours now and Mrs. Weasley hadn't said anything but nice things to her. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Bill and George were all in the back yard playing a bit of Quidditch while she and Hermione helped Mrs. Weasley clean up after dinner. Fleur was upstairs caring for her and Bill's recently born daughter. Molly had tried to push the girls out of the kitchen, but they had both firmly stood their ground and begun cleaning up. Hermione had the advantage of being Ron's fiancée—she told Molly that she might as well get used to her helping.

When all was cleaned up and tea was set out in the yard, Angelina sat at the Burrow's outdoor table with Hermione. They weren't speaking, but they enjoyed the presence of another person next to them. Molly had made them serve the tea while she went about finishing dessert. Successfully banished to the back yard, they watched as the boys and Ginny flew around and tossed the Quaffle amongst them. As Angelina sipped her tea she wondered about George's concerns about his mum.

"So Angelina, do you think you'll be making it to more of these family gatherings?" Hermione asked, finally breaking their comfortable silence.

"I suppose as long George invites me, I'll be here," she responded, a bit taken aback by the sudden inquiry. She couldn't quite pinpoint if there was hidden meaning in Hermione's question or if she was merely curious. "I've really enjoyed spending time with you lot. It's been a lovely evening."

"Of course. I'm glad you came. Usually it's just me and Ginny and Fleur. Fleur takes naps and Ginny goes off to play with the boys. Arthur usually goes into the shed to fiddle with some Muggle contraptions and Molly eventually manages to boot me from the kitchen. When Charlie and Percy can make it, they're off in the air too. It's nice to have someone else here to sit with."

Angelina smiled at this. She'd normally be the first to grab a broom and toss a Quaffle around, but she'd wanted to be helpful and do her best not to alienate Mrs. Weasley. She was glad she'd made a good impression on Hermione too. She supposed there wasn't much hidden meaning in her question—she was just glad to have company.

"Molly was very glad when George told her he was bringing you. It's good for George to spend time with someone," she continued. "Whenever he's not around, half of her time is spent fretting about him."

Hermione stopped talking then because Mrs. Weasley was coming out of the kitchen with pie. She smiled at Angelina as she got up to gather plates and forks for everyone. Angelina offered to help, but Molly just shooed her and told her not to worry a minute about it. Molly yelled up into the air at her children on brooms to come down to Earth for some pie. While the older witch had her back turned, Hermione handed her a knife and she began slicing the pie.

"Harry, I've never seen you move that fast even for a snitch," Angelina joked. "If I'd known that all it took was pie, we might have won games in five seconds."

The whole group laughed at Harry's cheeks as they flushed. Angelina began handing out plates of pie. She handed one to George and smiled at him. He smiled back, but she wasn't sure why his smile seemed different. He was probably flushed from flying.

,,,

When the family was done with dessert, they gathered in the living room. It was dark out now, and the pie had settled in the flyers' stomachs, so there would be no more playing on brooms. Tea was served and the radio was turned on. After an hour of jokes, politics, and music, the older Weasleys excused themselves to bed, and Bill and Fleur, the ever-exhausted new parents, left to take baby Victoire home to Shell Cottage. Angelina was left in the living room with George, Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron.

"So you know Percy's got a new girl," Ron said once his parents were gone. "He hasn't mentioned it to Mum yet because it's pretty new."

"He seems quite smitten," said Ginny. "Harry and I had lunch with him the other day and he mentioned it."

"Really it's all he could talk about," added Harry. "She works closely with Kingsley like he does."

"Wait, you're telling me that Percy is actually fraternizing with a coworker? How un-Percy of him," George laughed. The others laughed too. It was funny to them mostly because Percy really had become a different person after the war. He was still uptight and all about the rules, but he valued the important things—love and family—much more than before.

"Right then, how's about a real drink?" Ron asked as he jumped up from where he had been sitting with Hermione. Harry followed him into the kitchen. They returned with armfuls of butterbeer and were greeted with a chorus of muted cheers (to avoid waking the old folks).

It was almost midnight, but they were still young and wanted nothing to do with sleep just yet. Ron claimed his spot next to Hermione, who quickly cuddled into the crook of his arm. Ginny followed suit as Harry sat next to her. As Angelina sat with her feet propped up and sipped her drink, she became painfully aware of the distance between herself and George. She was used to this by now. When they hung out with their friends, she and George were the single ones, the ones who didn't canoodle—unless they were drunk. She looked across at the couples cuddled together with their drinks and tried to ignore the nagging sensation within her. She focused on her drink and laughed when jokes were made. This distance was nothing new, so it wasn't going to bother her. Not now.