No Laughing Matter

Chapter Thirty

It was almost one in the afternoon when Carly Apparated into the front garden of the Burrow with a large hamper full of food. Toolah had packed it to the bursting point, and it was quite heavy. She set it down and took a look around her at the wreckage and the progress that had obviously been made in a few hours. She was relieved to see that Fred wasn't acting foolish by trying to do any lifting, and that his robes were clean enough to suggest that he hadn't been trying anything earlier, either.

Ginny and Harry were kneeling down in a relatively clear spot within the rubble, and appeared to be sorting through a trunk of some sort. Charlie was vanishing a couple of stuffed chairs and sofas that looked as though they had been eviscerated by some wild animal. George was gathering fat brown chickens to put back into the repaired coop, and Ron was walking toward her, carrying a large wooden cradle. He set it down with the pile of apparently salvageable items to her right.

"Every one of us slept in that," he said, dusting off his gloved hands. "I'm glad it survived. Mum will be really pleased."

"Are you ready for lunch?" she asked with a smile, determined not to let her emotions get out of control at the sight laid before her.

"Ron's always ready to eat," Fred said. He had spotted her the moment she'd appeared, and had quickly finished repairing a cracked mirror. He set it down beside the cradle, and leaned in to give her a kiss.

Ron just grinned widely and picked up the basket, calling out, "Lunch!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing, and gathered around. Ginny brought over a couple of quilts that she had found and spread them out for everyone to sit on, and then called out, "Are you two going to be joining us?"

"In a minute!" Carly called back, much to Fred's delight, and went back to kissing him.

Harry grinned as he saw Ron's face turning red, and held out his hands when Charlie told him to, to get them 'washed' with a wave of his wand. The others followed suit, and they began to unpack a small feast. Carly and Fred joined them, and Rowan appeared a few minutes later. George got up to greet her, and the two of them took a short walk around the remains of the house, as Rowan got a bit teary-eyed. When they came back to the blanket, they concentrated on eating, but eventually the edge was taken from their hunger, and they began to talk. Ginny said that she had found a lot of kitchen items that were salvageable, and only needed some cleaning. Ron had found the section where the attic had collapsed inward and with it, several large trunks that stored Christmas decorations, memorabilia, old summer clothing, and other things that weren't really of much use, but were comforting just the same. Harry had found Ron's collection of Martin Miggs comic books, and his dresser almost completely in tact, though it had fallen from a great height. George had found the crates of pictures that he and Fred had been blown off of the walls and not replaced yet, and he and Charlie had cleared out almost all of the unusable furniture, and sent it off to a Muggle dump. There were really quite a lot of things that could be repaired or saved. When the new Burrow was built, it would still be able to be filled with all of the things they had come to recognize as the comforts of home.

After they had finished eating, it was decided that Carly would work with Fred, repairing items, and the Rowan would help George and Charlie clear away debris. Harry, Ron and Ginny carried on with their rummaging, taking items to be piled with unbroken items, or over to Fred and Carly for repair. They stopped to rest once or twice, but it seemed that in no time at all, the sun was beginning to set. As the sun sunk just below the horizon, Bill arrived with Fleur, who had just returned from France. Arthur, Molly, Suzette and Nigel were quick to follow; Suzette had brought another basket of food for their dinner.

Bill used his wand to make torches for light, and Harry had found several lanterns that were still in good working order. Soon the scene was lit sufficiently for them to see, and after they ate together, made short work of clearing out the rest. They had secured the salvaged items with several charms and wards to protect it from any weather or disturbances of any kind before traveling back to the Winters estate. Any Muggles who might happen by would only see a large outcropping of boulders where the remains of the house sat.

Now that Fleur was home, Bill decided that he would rather be back at their apartment, and so they departed to together. Charlie provided the portkey for Ginny, Harry and Ron to take back, and the others all Apparated. It was near eleven o'clock when they got back and no one, though tired, seemed to want to call it a night. They knew that in the morning they would be attending a funeral, and none of them was looking forward to it. One by one they went to shower, and by midnight, Carly, Rowan, Fred, George, Charlie, Harry, Ron and Ginny were all sitting around the kitchen table in their pajamas and dressing gowns.

"So how does building a house work in the Wizarding world?" Harry asked, his hands wrapped around a cup of hot chocolate. "Are there Wizarding contractors?"

"Well there are," Charlie said. "But I think that we'd be better off trying to do as much as possible ourselves. Money's going to be tight, even with Dad's new job, and us all pitching in. There's some stuff we won't be able to handle ourselves, like plumbing, but I think that we should be able to work together for a lot of it."

"Well I want to help out," Harry said. "I know that your Mum and Dad would never accept money from me, but they don't have to know if I pay for supplies, do they?"

"I appreciate that you want to help, and believe me, we maybe calling on you for, uh, donations," Charlie said. "But first we need to find out how much building materials cost and how much we're going to need. I'm going to start contacting people the day after tomorrow about it."

Harry nodded.

"Oh! I found this while we were working today," George said, pulling a flat piece of wood from his pocket and handing over to Harry. "It's the name of the people who made the family clock."

Harry, with Ron and Ginny leaning over to take a look as well, read the label: Gear and Pendulum Clockmakers. Hogsmeade.

"Thanks," he said. "I'll send them an owl tomorrow. With a little luck, maybe they can have it done by Christmas."

At last, weariness got the better of them, and Charlie, Ginny, Ron and Harry went off to bed. George said that he wanted a few minutes alone with Rowan, and so Carly said that she needed to change the bandages on Fred's shoulder, and they left the room.

]

"Okay, Winters," George said shrewdly. "Spill it. You've been waiting all day to tell me something important."

Rowan grinned at his perception and, then said, "I'm being given my own column at the paper. I even got my own office!"

George grinned back at her and drew her into a huge hug. "You'll be brilliant! Take a walk with me while you tell me the whole story."

They stepped out the back door into the moonlight, and walked around in the cold night air as she recounted the whole thing. They didn't even notice to three sets of eyes watching them happily from the windows of Harry and Ron's room.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Carly took Fred's hand and led him back to his bedroom, pausing at her own room to gather her bag, and closed the door behind them. Though Fred had taken the pain-relieving potion she had brought him at lunchtime, she knew by the way he was being cautious and deliberate with his movements that it had worn off. He sat on the bed and let her remove his pajama top and unwrap the bandages.

"I had an interesting meeting today at the hospital," she said to distract him. She poured out some potion into a cup and handed it to him.

Swallowing the bitter liquid with a grimace, he asked, "Did that great prat ask you out again?"

"Well, sort of," Carly chuckled. Fred had taken to calling Marcus 'that great prat' even when Marcus was present. "But I think I've got him sorted out. He somehow ate a Canary Cream today."

"Did he?" Fred grinned. "Imagine that."

"Anyway, Healer Swift called me into his office and told me that three different Healers have asked to mentor me for the rest of my apprenticeship." She went about checking his wound, which looked much improved, and putting the different salves on it as she explained to him what an honor she was being given. She re-wrapped his shoulder neatly, even as he was reaching for her.

"I'm proud of you," he said simply. "And I know you'll make the right choice."

She smiled at him and framed his face in her hands as she kissed him.

"Hey!" he noticed, suddenly. "You didn't put that red stuff on."

"You don't need it anymore." She sighed as he kissed her. "I love you, Fred."

"I love you too."

With a flick of his wand, he locked and barred the door.

"Fred!" Carly objected. "George will be coming back any minute!"

"Not if he's smart," Fred growled against her ear. "I love you, Carly."

And then when he went about showing her how much, even a damaged shoulder couldn't slow him down. George never even noticed, as he didn't get back to his own room until very late, indeed.