Chapter 11 – Developments
The month following their engagement, Luna and George began their house hunt. They decided to look near magical communities, namely in the west country since that was where both of them had grown up. They contacted a friend of the Lovegoods, Jeremiah Grafton, who was one of only a handful of wizarding realtors. Jeremiah was a half blood, whose mother had been a muggle who had raised him with a knowledge of both worlds. This gave him a unique viewpoint when searching for properties in areas with magical communities that were also near muggles. Both Luna and George specified that they wanted a good size house with history, charm, and a good bit of land. Their budget was quite sizeable and Jere assured them it wouldn't take long to locate some possibilities. While he began the search, life continued on busily for the couple. Luna's coworkers were all excited at her news and she soon adjusted herself so that she could continue working, but take naps in the afternoons after work. Doing so minimized any more of her dozing episodes.
Along with work, Luna began plans for the wedding. Molly and Ginny were both excited and contributed ideas. Ginny was also helpful in reigning in her mother and allowing Luna room to breathe. About a week after the engagement, she and George set a date in May that was about seven weeks away. It gave them enough time to plan and would be right at the end of Luna's first trimester. With the right cut of dress, she shouldn't show too much at the wedding.
A week after they first contacted him, Jere floo called one afternoon and arranged a meeting the following Friday. Molly happily took the kids for a few hours, while George arranged for his employees to handle the shop. They met Jere at a point just west of Mould-on-Would to look at a cottage in a small magical corner of the village. The cottage was quite nice, but they both decided the property was not large enough. Jere then showed them another property nearby and then they apparated just south of London. That third property was close to what they were looking for, but didn't seem to quite fit and it had no magical history, despite there being a couple of magical families nearby. With all three properties being a miss, Jere assured them he would keep looking and they headed to the Burrow for dinner and to pick up the kids.
While they waited for a new list of properties to examine, they remained busy at work and home. At home, the flat seemed to be growing smaller by the day as the four rambunctious children bounced off the walls. On her days off, Luna regularly took the kids out, but her ongoing fatigue meant her patience was pushed to the limit. She counted down the days, hoping that it would improve once she passed her first trimester, as it had with her first pregnancy. Molly and Ginny were always available and regularly took the kids when Luna needed a break. George desperately wanted to take the kids to the shop and start raising them in the family business, but they both agreed to wait until Fred was at least five. Meanwhile, at work, Luna continued her research and the information she was compiling was starting to form into a book she hoped to publish in a year or two. Evan and the department were in complete support and everyone was reaping the rewards as her work made their own research much easier. Now when they had reports of unusual creature sightings, cross referencing past sightings took mere hours instead of days.
Five days after the previous trip to look at houses, Jere arranged another afternoon with Luna and George. He had four houses scheduled and the first one was located near the Burrow on the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole. Unfortunately, the house was in near ruins and they both decided it was more than they wanted to take on with a wedding and a baby in the near future. Next they visited a magical suburb of London, but once again the land was not what they were looking for. The third house was located on the edge of Tutshill, also in the west country where they wanted to be. The house sat on a piece of property that was just shy of two hectares. It was a classic English cottage, but added on to several times since its original construction nearly one hundred years previously. It had six bedrooms, four full and a partial bath. There was also a large living room with a hearth style kitchen, separate dining room and a conservatory off the back. The place had been empty for several years and the grounds were overgrown, but the house itself was in decent condition. It needed cleaning and redecorating, but the work was all quite doable. Tutshill was an average size village where several wizarding families lived close with muggles, who had an idea that some of their neighbors were a bit odd, but didn't give it much mind. George and Luna fell in love with the village and the house and immediately knew they had their place. The house price was well within their budget and left a more than adequate remodeling fund. Jere was thrilled and apparated them back to his office where he cancelled the fourth showing for the day and then started the paperwork for George and Luna to make an offer.
The following day was Saturday and George had just returned from a half day at the shop when Jere floo called to tell them the house was theirs. George immediately swept Luna into his arms and began to kiss her soundly as he spun her around the room. The kids laughed and Roxy clapped as usual. They were clueless as to why their parents were happy, but were feeding off the good mood. That evening the family went out together to celebrate. As George sat watching Luna cut up Roxy's pizza, he looked over to see all three boys hanging their pizza slices in the air while they tried to eat them gracefully and failed completely. Luna felt his eyes on them and looked up and smiled at George. Her smile was a beacon and his throat caught with the love he felt for his family. He had come so far from the days of his divorce when Angie had left him and Fred and he felt nothing but despair. Luna was the main reason for his change in fortune and he silently vowed once again to do everything he could to make her happy. His loving reverie was then cut short when Lorry started to choke because he tried to shove half the pizza slice in his mouth at once. George grabbed his wand and the glob of pizza flew out as the boy gasped and smiled at his father. George just laughed and shook his head.
The finalization of their house purchase took a month. Two weeks before the wedding they took possession of the place and started a few plans, but deferred most of the work until after the wedding. The one exception was the grounds. They hired a magical landscaping crew who came in and in a matter of days cleared years of overgrowth and gradually started to prune and nourish the bushes and trees. George and Luna both agreed that they wanted to keep much of the historic gardens, but they did need to bring them under control. The crew began to catalog what was in the gardens, aided by the fact that it was spring and a number of items were in bloom. They soon discovered that several of the camellias and roses were unusual varieties and Luna sent an owl to an old friend for assistance. Neville was more than happy to help and met Luna one day at the house as they walked around the grounds and he excitedly examined all the trees and bushes. He took a number of samples and George and Luna were pleased to find that they had several rare varieties of plants and two varieties that were believed to be no longer available. They readily let Neville take cuttings and let him know he would always be welcome to come back for more. In exchange, he promised to check in and make sure all the plants remained in good condition.
The day of the wedding dawned with a bit of fog that burned off by mid-morning as the day brightened beautifully. After breakfast, George, Luna, and the kids floo'd to the Burrow. When they arrived, Molly was already buzzing around and Arthur was outside with the party crew who had arrived to set up the gazebo and tent to the east of the house. Ginny and Harry arrived minutes later and then rest of the family gradually dribbled in over the next hour.
George and Luna both wanted a simple affair, but since George had eloped the first time, all of the extended Weasley and Prewett clan wanted to be in attendance. Luna had a few guests, as well as all their school friends. By the end, they were expecting around 140 and Molly insisted that was actually quite small for her family. George had left most of the planning to Luna, but had insisted on bringing in a professional party crew to take some of the work off his mother. Molly had bristled initially, but eventually warmed to the idea.
As the morning wore on, the side yard of the Burrow was transformed into an explosion of spring with a gazebo at the end of a field of wildflowers. Perched in the flowers were rows of multi-color pastel chairs with the aisle rimmed in a shimmery opalescent ribbon. At ten, Luna and Ginny went to Ginny's old room and began her preparations. A half hour later George was upstairs with his brothers and sons to put on his suit. The suit was white with wide cream color lapels and a pale green tie. Ron stood by his side in a cream suit with a peach tie. Each of the boys wore small white suits with different color ties. They were dressed last and George begged them to stay nice for just an hour. Once they were all dressed, they made their way downstairs and proceeded toward the gazebo at five minutes until eleven.
Precisely at eleven, Luna, Ginny and Roxy descended the stairs of the Burrow and made their way to the ceremony. Luna had decided that with her father gone and the fact that this was her second wedding, the idea of being given away was ridiculous and she would walk herself down the aisle. Before her first went Roxy, scattering petals as she beamed at the assembled guests. She looked precious in her white dress with multi-color embroidered flowers. Ginny followed in a flowing pale green dress that cut from one shoulder down to mid-thigh. She looked beautiful and Harry grinned appreciatively as he held James back from running down the aisle to greet his mother. Finally, the harp music changed as Luna's turn came. She arrived at the start of the aisle looking radiant as her hair glowed in undulating waves from her shoulders down to her strapless dress. The dress was cream with thousands of sparkling Austrian crystals that reflected a rainbow of colors. She carried a loose bundle of wildflowers in a range of colors. George gaped at the sight of her and Ron leaned forward to chuckle and tell his brother to close his mouth. Luna proceeded up the aisle at a set pace, never taking her eyes off George. When she reached the front, she handed her bouquet to Ginny and turned to take George's hands in hers as the ceremony began.
The Ministry officiant was a small witch with a shock of grey hair and a surprisingly loud voice. She first incanted the marital binding charm and then George and Luna made their declarations to each other. Next, she took the rings and tapped each with her wand before first handing Luna's to George to place on her finger and then handing George's to Luna to place on his finger. With that complete, she sealed the marital vows and completed the charm as the air around the two of them shimmered. From that point the ceremony had been standard, but now they had planned a second part of the ceremony to include the children. Lorry and Sander were placed at Luna's side, while Fred and Roxy stood by George. George took his wand and lightly cut his hand as he kneeled down to make a blood vow to Lorry and Sander, taking them as his own and promising to cherish and nurture them throughout their lives. While he and Luna had agreed that the twins would keep the Scamander name so that it wouldn't die out, George wanted them to know that he considered himself their father. Once George's vow was complete, he stood and Luna took her turn. Kneeling carefully in her dress, she took her wand and cut her hand as she performed the same blood vow and bound herself to Fred and Roxanne. With the vows done, George healed Luna's cut and she healed his before then turning back to the officiant. With a grin, the witch officially announced them as Mr. and Mrs. George Weasley and Family. George needed no prompting as he swiftly took Luna in his arms and kissed her completely. This time the entire crowd joined Roxy when she applauded.
With the ceremony complete, the party began. A full luncheon was planned under a large tent that was erected not far from the ceremony setting. A dance floor was also in place and music started an hour later, giving everyone a chance to eat. Luna was famished and made it clear that she was eating before proceeding with any social obligations. Once she and George ate, they opened the dance floor with just the two of them. After a minute, the family sent all four kids out to join them and they formed a circle as they danced together as a family. Molly was in tears once again as the photographers snapped away.
Once the family was done with the first song, everyone else joined them and the next couple of hours were spent with George and Luna making their rounds between all their friends and family. Finally, at three, some of the attendees had started to disperse and the bride and groom decided to make their exit. The kids were all set to go to Aunt Ginny's for three days while George and Luna took a brief honeymoon. Later in the summer, they had a family vacation planned. Promptly at 3:15, George and Luna finished their goodbyes and took hold of their portkey as they were whisked off to a small cottage near the sea.
