Chapter 8: A Return to (Some) Normalcy

The sun was sinking fast over the horizon beyond the fields of Devonshire. From the way the fireball light slashed across Charlie Weasley's face, it looked like his hair itself had been actually set ablaze. There was a Weasley, and then there was a Weasley at sunset – or, what Ginny would probably snarkily refer to as being 'too ginger.'

"Ohhhh…." Molly's voice sounded choked-off and tearful as she enveloped her second-born in a hug. "I'm going to miss you so much….!" After just about two months, it was time for Charlie to return to the dragon ranges in Romania. Out of all the Weasley siblings, Harry probably knew Charlie the least, even after all these years. There was something about the man that, probably because he lived so far away, made him seem distant from his parents and siblings. Aloof.

Whatever detachment, born perhaps of independence, there may have been, however, on the part of Charlie had pretty much evaporated over the first half of this summer, in no small part due to Fred's death. Something about loss can make people, particularly in a family, reassess. Grow closer, as a result of such a paradigm shift. Harry swallowed hard just considering this: if there was any silver lining to have come out of Fred's passing (other than Percy acting the part of the prodigal son and returning to the fold after estrangement) then this was it. It was nice to see Charlie become reconnected to his roots, his family.

Charlie now drew back from where his mum was clutching at him in a tight embrace, grinning dashingly. "Goodbye, Mother! I won't let you down!"

"Remember to use your head!" Molly called out imploringly, as Charlie dashed for the Portkey – an uprooted airline seat probably picked up and repurposed out of a dumpster dive somewhere - situated in the grass just several yards away.

The sight of Charlie sitting almost comically on the airline chair, as it now glowed blue and spun like a whirling dervish away into the ether, filled Harry with an almost sort of pining, as he was reminded of Ron and Hermione. Neither of them had bothered to write him, still. He missed them – terribly.

Evidently, Molly must have thinking along a similar thread, as she leaned into her husband bittersweetly. "Oh, Arthur…. our babies are scattering to the four corners of the wind…."

As the group of remaining Weasleys, Harry and Audrey traipsed back to the Burrow, Ginny snorted in the midst of lacing her fingers through those of her boyfriend. "Mum can be….. overly dramatic sometimes."

"Is that your tactful way of saying she can be overly emotional?" Harry pondered.

"You said it, not me, you misogynistic hellion!" At Harry's look of fear, Ginny collapsed her deadpan expression into a smile, though it came off as weak. "It's just…. I mean, she's right, I suppose – Charlie's heading back to Romania, Ron is hopefully managing to hang onto Hermione while they're on a romantic gallivant through Australia, but Fred…. It isn't as though Fred jetted off on vacation! He's gone! Forever! Yet to hear Mum talk, she's making it sound like it's the same and it's not!"

Trailing behind the others, Harry nonetheless had to frantically shush Ginny from becoming so loud in her ranting, lest her mum hear. Though he had to privately agree: "I know it's not the same. But you all are going to grieve Fred's passing differently, and you all should respect one another in how your grieving might differ from each other."

Ginny snorted again, side-eyeing her lover, amused. "Wow. Are they teaching you counseling expertise in those Auror work-outs too?"

"Hardly," Harry winced, rolling out some cricks in his shoulders, lingering from the previous bootcamp week. He sighed. "I understand that you're frustrated. Bloody hell, I am too. I still haven't heard one peep from Ron or Hermione…."

"Calm down…." Ginny cooed. "Post can take an awfully long time to reach here from Australia, even by owl. I bet you in the next few days, you'll get something from Hermione with a post-stamp that's heavily backdated!"

"Hmm," Harry grunted, pressing a kiss to his girl's temple. "I so jolly wish I had your optimism!"

"And hey, if one doesn't arrive, we'll just send those two lovebirds a Howler until they do write!"

"Now that sounds like the Gin I know and love!" Harry stopped them both just short of the front door. "You know what I think? I think we both just have to appreciate all the good that's coming our way. We have that outing next Saturday week to celebrate George and how well he's been doing, then you're going to have some nice bonding time with Audrey at Madame Malkins! August and the wedding will be here before we know it!"

Ginny smiled and looped her arms lovingly about his neck. "See, this is why we fit, Potter. You keep me well supplied with a level head, and I manage to work you up into a lather so you can let off some much-needed steam. It's a perfect match, really!"

Harry smirked and bent down to capture her lips with his in the dying rays of the sun.

"Friends, wizards, countrymen! Lend me your Extendable Ears!" George boomed. Too on cue for there not to have been any plants in the crowd, scores of Extendable Ears were now suddenly being thrown at George from where he stood on the front stoop of the joke shop. The surviving Weasley twin blinked and pretended to frown. "I'm sorry, but that's bloody disgusting!"

The shoppers and assembled press people chuckled heartily. Though Harry had known George to perform comedy that was far less….. muted, the Chosen One had to be grateful that his best mate's brother was here and cracking jokes – even corny ones – at all.

Following his brothers' intervention, with an assist from Harry and Neville, George had struggled back onto his feet. Tucked away in Knockturn Alley, the thoroughfare on which Weasley Wizard Wheezes sat had been spared more than most during the war. Only a few shattered windowpanes had needed to be replaced at the ground level, which had mostly resulted from acts of petty vandalism and intimidation by Death Eater sympathizers enraged by Fred and George's actions behind Potterwatch, the underground radio station that had broadcast the real news countering pureblood supremacist propaganda when even the Daily Prophet had been infiltrated.

Now, today on the joke shop's grand re-opening, George looked clean-shaven, tired yet tentatively back on the road to something that, someday, might even be called happiness.

The only thing that would probably make this grand occasion better is if it wasn't so bloody hot! The humidity on this early July day was stifling. Meanwhile, Harry still hadn't heard a word from his two best mates since they had been abroad, for close to three weeks. He didn't think he had ever gone so long without talking to Ron or Hermione, not even when writing to them during his summers of…. really, house arrest with the Dursleys. It was just past the point that he was starting to get worried. Ginny chalked it up to Hermione and her brother being busy, having so much to do in order to uproot Hermione's parents' lives and bring them back to England. Yet Harry could tell, even his girlfriend's good-intentioned patience – not something she was known for to begin with! – was starting to wear thin.

Next to him in the crowd, Bill leaned over and murmured, "Lee Jordan looks as wily as ever!" The old Hogwarts Quidditch commentator was beaming with pride, here at the ribbon cutting.

"Am I correct when I heard that George gave Lee Fred's holding shares in the company?" Harry wanted to know.

"Yeah. Perce helped them resume and reorganize the account books."

"Hmm, I'm surprised Percy didn't insist on giving a speech here as reward," Ginny mused from Harry's other side. Harry could feel Bill's eyes on his little sister, swiveling curiously from her and back to him, but he, Harry, didn't comment on it. Since getting back together, he and Ginny had tried to be discreet when around her family – how much that strategy had worked was really anyone's guess. They hadn't been actively trying to hide anything from anyone (well, with the exception of Ron), but Harry simply hoped that Ginny's brothers would accept her making her own choices. Ginny now side-eyed her big brother. "Or you."

"Me? Give a speech?" Bill chuckled.

"Didn't you and your wife put money into getting this shop back up and running?" "Well, Fleur and I helped with a small investment, just to rebalance the budget." Bill shook his head with a smile as he applauded along with the crowd. "This may sound cheeky, but it really does pay to have a career in Gringotts banking, if you know what I mean."

"Ah, get on!" Harry grinned, nudging the older man away.

Neville and Luna, hand in hand and still very much in love, sidled up to them. "Bloody good show there by George, Bill, old boy!" Neville boomed, glancing about as some members of the small throng now surged forward to re-enter the joke shop at last. Smiling down at Luna, Neville now bent and kissed her firmly on the mouth, the pretty Ravenclaw's eyes shining. "You girls ready for the off, then?"

"Here, now – what's all this?" Bill glanced between them all.

"Audrey's taking us out for say Yes to the Dress shopping!" Ginny gushed.

It took a moment of Bill staring at his kid sister blankly before he recovered. "Oh! Oh, yes! The wedding. Bridesmaids and all." He hummed fondly. "I remember when Fleur had to do that…."

"…. and yet, you recall eet as eef eet didn't just 'appen a year ago!" Fleur, her voice heavily accented, suddenly spooned her husband from behind as she gave him a saucy kiss on the cheek.

Harry scanned from female face to female face, quickly performing a head count. "Hang on – Ginny, Lu, Fleur…. That's three…. How many bridesmaids is Audrey getting? Aren't brides supposed to have at least five or six?"

"Well, there's us," Ginny confirmed. "I talked Audrey into giving a spot to Lavender – she should be discharged from the Hospital Wing by then; she owled me her sizes!" Ginny held up a small square of parchment. "And, of course, Hermione rounds it out."

"This better not be the part where you mention to me that Hermione's being owling you all this time, with her sizes!" Harry frowned hard.

His girlfriend stuck her tongue out at him. "Don't need 'em. I shared a room with the woman for however many summers in a row! And a Gryffindor dormitory! If Ron knew what I know about his girl's bra cup preferences, he'd hex me himself!" Harry turned an unflattering combination of green and pink while Bill and Neville roared with laughter.

Audrey now came bouncing up to the group; some of her lipstick was visibly smudged.

"Been keesing Percy goodbye, 'ave you?" Fleur teased her best girlfriend and future sister-in-law.

"A bride-to-be never kisses and tells," Audrey purred smoothly. A beat, and then she giggled. "Although, I daresay the man is very happy he's working on duty today!"

"Never thought Percy was actually serious when he said he'd come onboard at the joke shop, of all places!" Bill's eyes twinkled.

Harry shrugged. "People change."

"Yeah, but…. what are we supposed to do while you ladies are doing…. whatever henning you're doing?" Neville frowned. "Boys can't come; seeing the bridal party in their dresses is bad luck!" Harry nodded in fervent agreement.

"No, only the groom seeing the bride in her dress before the wedding is bad luck," Audrey corrected him loftily, grinning. "But between you and Potter here, Longbottom…. we could have some right fun with this, yeah, girls?"

Bill fixed Neville and Harry with an apologetic stare. "Bye." And before either could protest, he had dodged Fleur's desperate attempt to seize him, turned on the spot and Disapparated.

Neither of Gryffindor's strongest war leaders was so lucky, as Harry and Neville now found themselves being swept up in a shopping adventure with a gaggling quartet of chittering women.

Harry inwardly panicked. Maybe he should have stayed home today.

At Madame Malkins', the boys' job was to wait outside in front of the changing stations and attempt to give their best critiques on the dresses. Harry knew nothing about women's fashions, except for the rare occasion as a child when Aunt Petunia would leave him alone on her way to a business function with Vernon, and she would bark at him rudely, demanding to know if he thought this or that gown made her look fat.

The first dress Luna emerged in brought out the silver in her eyes, causing Neville to turn into a stuttering mess. When Ginny came out in the same design, the tone really brought out the auburn highlight in her hair.

Harry shrugged. "You…. look wonderful. Now go on, try on the next option!"

Ginny next appeared wearing a flashy, gaudy, truly ghastly pink that this time clashed with her hair horribly.

A horrified Harry was now even quicker and blunter in his assessment. "OK, girls who wore that anywhere near Privet Drive would get beat up!" Ginny threw a comb at him.

Then it was time for the lady of the hour to try on the first bridal gown. "Just promise me you won't like it too much?" Audrey pleaded at the girls (and Neville and Harry, still seated awkwardly) through the curtain. "I already know I'm going to have to return this one!"

"Errr…. We promise!" Harry called out lamely, confused.

Audrey appeared, and she looked breathtaking; even Harry had to let his mouth fall open a little. He could only imagine what Percy would say, if he saw her, his bride.

"Wow…. do you look hideous!"

"Yeah, put it back!" Neville quipped, far too quickly; he was also clearly lying through his teeth.

Audrey and her bridesmaids spent the rest of the afternoon teasingly putting the boys through dress-up-induced torture.