Chapter 5: Engagement Do

The late May evening was cool but clear, a "right good night for a party" Arthur had declared it earlier in the evening when finishing up the degnoming. Dusk was falling as two dozen guests milled around the Burrow's lantern-lit front garden, others making their way to the small white tent bearing food at the edge of the lawn. Harry and Ginny wove their way through the crowd, greeting Harry's Ministry friends, Ginny's Quidditch mates, and a dozen Gryffindors from their years.

Dressed to the nines and grinning wildly, George crept up behind the pair, grabbing each by an arm and pulling them away from their surprised guests in mid conversation.

"Bloody hell, George!" Ginny protested loudly, glancing back apologetically at her abandoned Harpies teammates.

"Do you mind, mate?" Harry exclaimed, jerking his arm free from George's grasp as the three of them arrived at a spot a few yards away from the crowd.

"Just wanted to have a private word with you two," George said with mock seriousness, arching his eyebrows and attempting to look menacing.

Ginny eyed her older brother up with suspicion. "Where's Angelina anyway?" she asked, glancing around for the older girl.

"Not back from practice yet courtesy of that twat new coach of hers. She'll turn up soon, I expect.. But for now, I'm unsupervised."

George grinned maliciously and moved a step closer to Harry.

"So, where's the shiner, mate?" he asked, taking Harry's face in hand and whipping it back and forth playfully as he inspected him. "I heard all about your little pub brawl. Can't help but be a bit proud of my baby brother."

"Gin took care of it," Harry muttered, jerking his face from George's hand.

"Wouldn't do to have to explain your indiscretion at your engagement party, eh?" George teased.

"It wasn't an indiscretion, blimey!" Harry said, glancing around to make sure none of the guests standing nearby had overheard.

"Sod off, George," Ginny grumbled, attempting to swat her older brother as he pretended to cower in fear behind Harry.

A sudden pop rang out, and Hermione and Ron appeared ten feet away in the garden, each looking flushed and a bit disheveled. Hermione turned immediately to Ron, patting down his wild-looking hair and smoothing his clothing as he did the same for her.

"I told you not to apparate us yet!" she whispered to him under her breath as Ron stood close to her grinning.

Grateful for the distraction, Ginny strolled briskly across the lawn towards them, followed close at the heels by Harry.

"Why is it you two can never manage to be on time these days?" she huffed.

"We're newlyweds," Ron said, his grin nearly splitting his face. "Do I really need to draw you a picture?"

Hermione swatted him reproachfully across the chest, turning pink in the face, but smiling.

"Please don't draw us a picture," George groaned as he joined them.

"Under any circumstances," snickered Ginny.

"I've seen that picture," Harry muttered under his breath, enjoying the hot blush his words elicited in both his friends.

Recovering herself, Hermione slipped her hand into Ron's and pulled him forcibly across the garden in the general direction of the tent.

"Come along, Ronald," she said. "The buffet table's this way."

Ron trailed after her happily, glancing back over his shoulder to flash Ginny, George, and Harry a triumphant grin. Watching them go, George shook his head and chuckled.

"You know I may have liked it better when they fought all the time."

Ginny nodded. "Positively soppy," she said, smirking as she watched them.

"It's a problem," Harry said, grinning after the pair as they wove their way through the crowd towards the food.

oOo

"Was it absolutely necessary for you to tell Ron about it?"

The crowd of partygoers had thinned considerably, and Harry and Hermione were standing alone a few feet from the tent as five Weasley siblings posed for a rare group photo at the insistence of their mother.

"Was it absolutely necessary for me to be honest with my husband?!" Hermione said with a degree of incredulity. "Is that what you're asking me, Harry?!"

She sounded dangerously close to slugging him herself, prompting an immediate stab of remorse in Harry.

"Okay, point taken," he said, hanging his head.

"Thank you," Hermione huffed, brightening somewhat as she watched Ron playfully shove and elbow his brothers.

Harry studied his shoes for a moment, looking sulky.

"It's just that everybody knows, and everybody's taking the piss," he said finally.

"Shouldn't they?" she retorted.

"I suppose."

Glancing sideways at him, Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Honestly, Harry, you only defeated the worst dark wizard in history. I'd think it would toughen you up a bit."

"We defeated him," Harry corrected, raising his head.

Hermione turned to look at him and the two of them managed a smile before turning back to continue closely watching the Weasleys. Family occasions could get emotional quickly, Fred's absence still felt by all.

As they looked on, George tried to pull a reluctant Angelina into the family photo. The tall, athletic girl promptly tackled him and pinned him down as George cried out mournfully in mock pain.

"She's a bloody Amazon, that one!" Harry exclaimed, sounding awed, as Hermione nodded, grinning.

"So, anyway," he said, turning away from the hijinks on the lawn. "About, uh, you know, what we were talking about. Why did it even come up? Just out of the blue like that?"

"Ron asked me if you ever tried anything when we were younger," Hermione said flatly, smiling as she watched Ron grapple with Bill on the lawn. "I certainly wasn't going to lie to him."

"I wasn't trying anything, Hermione," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

Hermione turned to him, raising her eyebrows skeptically.

"Oh, no?"

"I wouldn't have, okay," he protested, "probably."

"Probably?!"

"I was just.. I dunno.. lonely, alright?" Harry stammered, his face turning red. "That was a miserable fall. Especially after Ron left."

"No argument there," Hermione said, a shadow falling across her face.

The Weasleys were now scattering across the lawn, Ginny walking purposefully towards her fiancé and sister-in-law while Ron attempted to escape a headlock Bill had got him in.

"I'm not INTERRUPTING anything, am I?!" Ginny called out loudly as she approached them, wagging her eyebrows suggestively.

"Of course not!" Hermione exclaimed, going red in the face in an instant. Ginny laughed out loud at her friend's reaction.

"Relax, okay?" she said grinning. "I know you're not after Harry." Ginny moved quickly to Harry's side, slipping her arm in his. "Besides... I nearly had a close encounter with Neville the year you two had your moment."

"It wasn't a moment," Harry grumbled, his irritation clear.

"What? Neville?!" Hermione exclaimed, her mouth hanging open.

"Yep!" Ginny confirmed, grinning. She shook her head. "It was a strange year."

"No argument there," Harry and Hermione said in unison, catching each other's eye and smiling.

Spotting Ron strolling across the lawn towards them, Harry grinned broadly as he watched his friend.

"Here comes Muhammad Ali," he said wryly.

"A very ginger Muhammed Ali," Hermione said happily, enjoying the view.

"Who knew?" Harry said, as the two of them erupted in laughter.

"Who in the blazes is Muhammed Ali?" Ginny asked, looking mystified.

"Tell you later," Harry said, kissing her cheek.

"Hey," Ron said to Hermione as he reached the three of them, moving in to kiss her softly on the mouth then slipping an arm around her waist and turning back to face the garden.

"Did you see me pin Bill?" Ron asked with a hint of pride, catching Harry's eye.

"We saw Bill get you in a headlock," Hermione said, suppressing a smile, as Harry and Ginny promptly began laughing.

"For two seconds he had me in a headlock, Hermione!" Ron protested, reaching in to tickle her mercilessly in retaliation as she wriggled and shrieked and demanded loudly that he cut it out. After a few seconds Ron relented, pulling her close to his side as she straightened out her clothing.

"Is that what you three prats were laughing about when I walked up?" Ron asked as he watched George and Lee Jordan wrestle on the lawn. "Me and Bill?"

"No, just you, mate," Harry said.

"What?"

"We were wondering how you manage to carry this tremendous thing around, Sluggo," Harry said, pointing to Ron's bicep.

Ron shoved his friend good-naturedly with his free arm, looking vaguely pleased.

"Just try not to make me a widow before I'm even married yet, okay, Ron?" said Ginny. "It'd be a bit inconvenient."

"Thanks for that, Gin," Harry said sarcastically under his breath, eliciting a playful swat from Ginny.

"Just TRY to keep your prat fiancé off my wife, okay, Gin?!" Ron said loudly. "It'd be a bit inconvenient."

All four of them erupted in groans and laughter.

"That's gross," Hermione said, looking ill.

"So gross," added Ginny.

"Ugh," said Harry, rolling his eyes and looking vaguely nauseated.

"I'll keep Harry on me, Ron," Ginny said.

"Good," Ron replied, distracted by George and Lee's increasingly comical wrestling moves. "Wait.. WHAT did you just say?" he asked, looking horrified as he whipped his head back around.

Harry and Ginny exchanged a look then began mock groping each other, laughing uproariously as Ron covered his eyes and groaned loudly.

"Try not to think about it, Ron," Hermione said, giggling, as she slipped a supportive arm around his waist.

"BUGGER," Ron said, trying not to think about it as the two prats continued their show.

oOo

"What's this?!" Dean asked with amusement as he jerked his thumb in the direction of the spectacle on the lawn.

"They do this every time we eat outdoors," Ginny said rolling her eyes.

"It's best to ignore it," Harry added, exchanging an amused look with George.

His arms wrapped around her from behind, Ron was spinning Hermione madly in the middle of the garden, her legs flying out perpendicular to her body as she shrieked loudly and Ron laughed uncontrollably.

Dean grinned in their direction, shaking his head, while Seamus gave an amused snort.

"Well, we're off, mates," Dean said, turning his attention from the garden. "Great party, by the way. This one's half pissed already." He hooked a thumb towards Seamus who nodded blearily.

Dean removed his wand from his jacket pocket and took Seamus' arm.

"Come along then, love... I'll tuck you in."

"You wish, lover," Seamus quipped, just before they apparated.

"Lovely couple, that," George grinned, as he, Harry, and Ginny chuckled and turned back in the direction of the shrieking figures on the lawn.

Standing in the doorway of the Burrow, Molly called out loudly to her youngest son.

"Ron, stop that! ... You'll make her tinkle."

In the doorway next to Molly, Angelina and Fleur doubled over with laughter, and Hermione and Ron suddenly collapsed in a heap on the lawn.

"Too late," Hermione said, as she rose grinning to her feet and began to wobble unsteadily across the lawn towards the house.

"Get back here, woman!" Ron shouted, staggering to an upright position and lighting out after Hermione.

Catching up to her, he locked his arms around her middle and began spinning her again, as Hermione shrieked "Ron, stop! I have to go to the loo!" again and again. Ron teetered over and collapsed onto the grass finally, taking Hermione with him.

"Oh, honestly," Molly said, handing her dish towel to Fleur, then crossing the lawn towards her son and daughter-in-law.

"Are you two about done?" she said looking down at them with amusement as they lay close together face up on the grass. "I believe I've already asked you once, Ron, to help me with the tidying up."

"Why is Mum spinning?" Ron asked with an affected confusion that made Hermione immediately erupt in a fit of giggles.

"I can't imagine," she said.

Molly caught Arthur's eye across the lawn and rolled her eyes. "That's very amusing, you two," she said, smiling. "Now come inside, please, and help me with the dishes. Harry and Ginny helped out before the party."

"Ever heard of, um, ... MAGIC ... Mum?!" Ron said loudly, prompting Hermione to dissolve in a fresh wave of giggles. The Butterbeer he'd talked her into downing ten minutes earlier was having a predictable effect.

"ENOUGH, you two!" Molly said sharply, her good humor fading, her patience at an end. "I'm still your mother, Ron, and this is still my house!"

In the doorway, Fleur and Angelina, joined by Percy and Bill, broke into enthusiastic applause and loud "woohoo's!"

"Here here, Mum!" George called out as he, Harry, and Ginny stood on the lawn a few yards away blatantly eavesdropping on the conversation.

Hermione colored at her mother-in-law's words and scrambled up to her feet, disentangling herself from Ron, who had sat up halfway and was attempting to pull her back down to him.

"Your Mum's right, Ron," Hermione said, grabbing both his hands and pulling him to his feet as he gave a reluctant groan.

"Thank you, dear," Molly said, giving Hermione an affectionate pat. The older woman turned and began walking quickly back in the direction of the house, her voice trailing behind her.

"Just help me with the dishes, dears. Then you can have your cuddle in the garden."

The rest of the family erupted in laughter, Ron flashing them a collective middle finger in response. Hermione turned bright pink and gave a bit of a giggle as the two wobbled hand in hand towards the door.