Chapter 32
The second George and Ashley walked through the door Mrs Weasley practically ran over and looked at them expectantly, Ashley complied by lifting up her hand and showing Mrs Weasley, who smiled widely
'Congratulations!' she said, before embracing Ashley in a bone-crushing hug
'Thanks, Mrs Weasley' she said,
'Who's congratulating who?' Ginny asked, entering the room
'You will all be congratulating us' George grinned
'Why?' she asked,
'We are engaged' George smiled, wrapping one of his arms around Ashley's waist and pulling her into his side
'Really?! THAT'S BRILLIANT!' she yelled, before running over and pouncing on Ashley 'You're going to be my sister! Although you kinda were before'
'Yeah, I am.' Ashley smiled, before this information dawned on her 'Oh god, I'm gaining about 6 brothers and a sister'
'4 brothers…' George corrected,
'No, 6. Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ron, Harry and Fred' she smiled, then looked over at Ginny, who had gotten engaged a few months prior, at mentioning this the younger girl smiled. Ashley then looked up at George, who was smiling (which probably had something to do with her including Fred)
'So, where's everyone else?' George asked
'Kitchen' Ginny said 'Well, Phlegm isn't here yet'
'Oh no…' George said sarcastically, before he smiled and walked into the kitchen with Ashley - where everyone seemed to turn to face them the moment they walked in. Mrs Weasley had obviously told everyone that there was some form of good news, but she hadn't told them what it was
'So…what exactly is this good news?' Charlie asked
'Yeah, we've been sitting here for about 5 minutes trying to figure it out' Bill said
'Technically you haven't even known for 5 minutes' Ashley smirked, causing Bill to roll his eyes
'Yeah, yeah, whatever - just tell us, would you?' Ron butted in
'Well' Ashley said, looking at George
'Really? I have to tell them?'
'They're your family, George!'
'They'll be yours soon!' he said quickly, then realised what he had said '...Ah, at this point you probably already know'
'Congratulations little brother!' Bill said, whilst Charlie clapped him on the back
'Who'd have thought the immature one would be the second to get married?' Charlie smiled
'Third most probably' Ginny cut in 'There's no way they're getting married before us'
'You're on, little sister' George grinned
'Hold on, I just remembered something' Ron said
'Who knew Ron had the brain capacity to remember things' Ashley smirked, causing Ron to glare at her
'Anyway - as I said before, I just remembered something'
'And what's that, little brother?' George asked, wrapping his arms around Ashley from behind
'Fred said that you two would get together at Christmas' he said, causing Ashley and George to smile.
-oOo-
'George, Ashley, want some Firewhiskey?' Bill asked whilst they were sitting at the table, continuing to hold out two bottles
'Yeah' George and Ashley said in unison, both taking a bottle. Ashley lifted the bottle to her lips and took a sip,
'Ash, you're not meant to drink' George whispered in her ear 'Remember?' at this, she immediately spat the drink back out into the bottle, before gaining curious looks from the entirety of the Weasley family
'I erm - I don't like drinking…' Ashley said, hoping they would believe her
'That's a lie, you were off your face at the funeral' Charlie said,
'OH MY GOD!' Ginny squealed, obviously realising why she had done it…which was a lot more than the men had done, as they were currently sitting there looking completely dumbfounded…well, all the men other than Bill, who was currently grinning
'Good job, little brother' he said, smirking.
'Shut up' George said, blushing
'Are you going to name it after me!?' Ginny squealed again
'Wait, she's pregnant?!' Ron said suddenly, glancing between her and George 'But don't you have to have … y'know to-'
'Yes, Ronniekins' George said, grinning 'You do' he added, winking
'So you two have-' Ron began, awkwardly
'Yes, a lot' he winked again
'George!' Ashley said, slapping his arm
'What?! It's true!'
'Doesn't mean you tell people!' Ashley exclaimed,
'So' Ginny began, changing the subject 'I bet mum and dad will be happy'
'Yeah' Ron said, turning to Harry
'Definitely' he said awkwardly
-oOo-
After everyone had eaten, and all the presents had been opened, mostly everyone was sitting in the main room; Harry and Ron were playing exploding snap, Ginny and Hermione were talking about babies and weddings, Bill, Charlie and George were drinking whilst talking about something and Percy had gone home as it was "getting late". Ashley, however, had decided to walk outside. She slowly made her way down towards the lake and sat on the floor, regretting not having bought a jacket with her. She stared out towards the lake for at least half an hour before the silence was broken
'What on earth are you doing down here?' George asked, 'You realise how bloody cold it is right?! What about the baby!'
'George, calm down, I doubt coldness can effect anything' she smiled
'Still …' he said, then sat down next to her and took off his jacket, placing it over her shoulders, before wrapping his arm around her. She then continued to rest her head on his shoulder 'I'm sorry about what I said earlier'
'It's fine, George, it doesn't matter' Ashley said, smiling
'Promise?'
'Promise' she grinned, and he kissed the top of her head
'So, why are you out here?' he asked
'I like it down here'
'Doesn't explain why you had to come out at midnight in the freezing cold'
'it looks nicer when there's snow everywhere'
'It does, but you should have come in the day when you're able to see'
'Why?' she frowned
'I don't want anything to happen to you, or him' he said
'Ah, so it's a boy is it?' Ashley smiled
'No idea, maybe. Not that I'd mind either way'
'I can imagine it being a boy…I'm not sure why…'
'Ash?' George asked suddenly
'Yeah?'
'If it is a boy…'
'Yes?'
'Could we er – name him Fred?'
'Of course' Ashley smiled, then froze for a second
'What's wrong?'
'Oh god it had better not be twins - I've already looked after twins, I don't need to go through it again' she said, causing George to laugh, then lift her head up and kiss her.
'Come on, we better go back, they're probably wondering where we are … and I don't want you staying out here any longer, you're bloody freezing' George said, standing up
'Probably' she replied, then held her hands up 'Pull me up?'
'Lazy!'
'Shush' she smiled, as he pulled her up. He was about to pull her away before she took her hand from his
'What?' he asked, looking at her, he got no reply, she cocked her head to the side then wandered over to a tree near the lake, he slowly followed after her. Ashley walked over to the tree and saw that, in fact, something had been etched into the bark, she frowned and tried to read it
'George + Ashley' she murmured, turning around and seeing George stood behind her 'It has a heart around it' she said, causing him to turn a vivid pink colour that was still very visible in the dark
'Course it does' George said, sounding embarrassed.
'It's sweet' she smiled, wrapping her arms around him, he proceeded to kiss the top of her head 'So, when did you do it?'
'Er – technically it was Fred…but it was in our third year?' he said, quietly. Ashley stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on his cheek 'You missed' he grinned, to which she rolled her eyes, he looked at her then leaned forward and kissed her.
'So, Fred thought we would be together in third year?'
'Everyone did - Ash'
'Yeah, but if Fred thought it...'
'Yeah' George said, giving her a slight smile
'Anyway, it's cold, let's go' she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him back towards the house. When they walked back into the Burrow - there was no one in sight,
'I'm guessing this means go to bed, right?' George smirked
'Presumably so' she smiled, as George took her hand and led her into his bedroom, where he immediately rolled into his bed and pulled the covers up to his neck 'George, you realise you're still dressed, correct?'
'One sec' he said, then started fumbling with something under the covers, before a pair of jeans were chucked out of the bed and a shirt
'Really, George.' she smirked, rolling her eyes
'I took my clothes off, you like?' he winked
'Get over yourself' she smirked, before getting undressed herself and getting into the bed,
'Merry Christmas, Ash' George muttered, kissing her nose
'Merry probably boxing day, Georgie' she smirked
'Had to ruin it'
One more chapter and then it's all over.
Yup.
So, please review and thanks for reading!