A Matter of Circumstance

Chapter 7 - Of Brotherly Love

Harry Apparated in the back garden just outside The Burrow shortly before seven. To avoid premature questions prompted by them arriving together, Ginny had gone ahead of him by half an hour. Through the kitchen window he could see flashes of Weasley red as members of the family moved about the room and snatches of laughter and conversation drifted to his ears. Harry wondered if this environment was reassuring to her or if she, like himself, felt the surreal atmosphere grate against his strained nerves.

Harry was dreading this evening even more so than the night they had told Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Perhaps he had been more confident, that Mr. and Mrs. Weasleys' obvious feelings about him would preclude their jumping to the worst possible conclusions. When it came to the Weasley brothers, there was just no telling how they would react. They were such a mix of diverse ages and personalities, and Harry didn't have a great deal of insight into any one of them other than Ron.

Despite this insight, it was Ron's reaction that worried Harry the most. Although there had been several times in the past that Ron had hinted he would not be opposed to Harry and Ginny getting together, Harry doubted that this type of 'getting together' was what he'd had in mind. Harry also knew that Ron was the closet brother to Ginny, not only in age, but in relationship. It would be a test of their close friendship to see how he and Ron were going to survive this situation.

Harry heard a burst of raucous laughter coming from the kitchen of The Burrow. Deciding he couldn't delay this any longer, he headed toward the house. Opening the door, he took a deep breath and steeled his nerves.

The cozy kitchen was crowded as most of the family was arranged around the large wooden table. Harry noted the only Weasley brother absent was Charlie. As he still lived abroad, Harry wasn't too surprised. Quite frankly, he was a little relieved-Charlie was the most physically intimidating of the brothers. Mr. Weasley wasn't present in the room, but Harry assumed he was in another part of the house. At least he hoped so. He couldn't imagine trying to explain the spell to this group without the older Weasley's support. Mrs. Weasley was busy preparing dinner and it appeared Ginny and Hermione had been enlisted to help.

Ron looked up from where he was seated to see Harry standing in the doorway. "Harry! I didn't know you'd be here-"

"--It's a Weasley family meeting, you git. Of course he'd be here," interrupted George.

"Watch who you're calling a git... you wanker!" Ron retorted.

"Ron! Language!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley and Hermione simultaneously.

"Hi, Ron... George. Evening, everyone," Harry interjected quickly. Last thing he wanted was for the brothers to start a row. Once they got started, it took a lot for them to back off one another.

"Harry, dear... have a seat. We're just about ready to eat," said Mrs. Weasley, as she sent a platter of bread to the table with her wand.

Hermione abandoned the gravy she was preparing and rushed over to greet Harry. "Harry, it's so good to see you!" she said, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight hug.

"Lord, woman... you just saw him last week!" Ron said with a crooked smile on his face. "You're going to suffocate him."

Hermione pulled back from Harry and looked toward Ron. "Yes, well... after your greeting, I wanted Harry to know he was welcome here," she retorted - after which she promptly stuck her tongue out at him.

Harry laughed as he watched Ron's eyes open wide. "He's just jealous, you know," he said conspiratorially. "I won't hug him anymore."

Ron's brothers broke into laughter and with a reddened face, Ron replied, "Oi! Watch what you're saying there, mate! Besides," he continued, a devious grin spreading on his face, "everyone knows you're just upset because I threw you over for Hermione."

More laughter filled the room as Harry moved to pull the chair next to Ron out for Hermione to sit down. With a grin still on his face, Ron's eyes narrowed as he said to Harry, "You're just trying to make me look bad."

Harry merely smiled, blinked innocently at Ron and turned to pull out the chair on his other side for Ginny.

"I don't think Harry has to put any effort into that, dear brother," Ginny said sweetly, taking the offered seat as she smiled her thanks to Harry.

Across the table the twins both snorted. "And the wee one scores!" said Fred.

As he took his seat between Ginny and Hermione, Harry tried to reassure himself that she had not intended to compliment him. He felt a rush of pleasure, nonetheless.

Noticing Mrs. Weasley making her way to her seat at the far end of the table, Harry leaned back in his chair to look at Ron. On the other side of Hermione, Ron returned Harry's look with one of challenge. As they both prepared to spring from their seats to assist Mrs. Weasley, her husband entered the room. Looking curiously from Ron to Harry, both half out of their seats and looking at Mrs. Weasley, he casually strolled to the end of the table saying, "Allow me, Molly, dear." He pulled out her chair and she took her seat beaming at him with adoration. Taking his place at the head of the table, he shot a look of smug satisfaction at Harry and Ron, who both deflated back into their seats.

"The machismo is getting a bit thick in here, don't you think?" Bill said, turning to Percy seated next to him and rolling his eyes.

"I'm not saying anything," Percy responded, shaking his head with a grin. "I have to work with Dad."

"Chicken," Bill chuckled.

With everyone finally seated, Mr. Weasley announced, "Dig in!"

Barely-controlled chaos was the best way to describe meals with the Weasley family. Harry had always been amazed that between all the hands grabbing for dishes and elbows flying, nothing was ever spilled. Conversation was limited as mouths were much too full and the meal continued in relative silence. It wasn't until the plates were nearly empty that discussions picked up around the table.

Bill, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table next to Mr. Weasley, made an attempt to engage Harry. "Harry, I understand that Montrose is playing Wimbourne this week."

Ron leaned over his plate to look to Harry and struggled to swallow his food. "You remember I have ten galleons riding on you whipping Wimbourne's arse! Don't let me down," he said, his eyes watering a bit.

"Ron!" Hermione sputtered, choking on her pumpkin juice, "you know how I feel about gambling!" She turned quickly to Harry, adding, "Not that I don't think you are a sure thing, that is."

Harry grinned and directed his response to Bill. "Well, Ginny tells me they were a piece of cake when the Prides faced them last week. I figure if the Prides can beat 'em, Montrose is a shoe-in."

"Harry!" Ginny cried indignantly while batting Harry on the shoulder. "Just wait until Montrose up against us, you'll be sorry then," she huffed.

"Ohhh... that's right," Fred interjected, "If Montrose beats the Wasps, we're going to have Montrose versus Portree before the season is up. That should be a good game."

"My money's on Montrose," declared George.

"George!" shrieked Ginny as she tossed her napkin across the table at him.

"Sorry, Sis. Can't let family ties interfere with money matters," George replied unapologetically.

Harry arrogantly sat up straighter and grinned at Ginny. She smirked back at him and stuck out her tongue. Harry immediately lost all sense of what was going on around him. The conversation became a buzz in his ears as he watched Ginny argue with her brothers. His vision seemed to focus only on Ginny's soft, pink lips and remembering what they felt like under his own. As he mentally shook himself, he noticed Mrs. Weasley staring at him with an odd quirk on her lips.

As his surroundings were jolted into focus, he heard Bill ask mischievously, "What about you, Ron? Who will you bet on?"

Harry turned around to find Ron's eyes darting between he and Ginny. "Well... you know..." he stammered, "Hermione really doesn't like me betting on Quidditch." The table exploded in laughter as members of the family rose to clear their places at the table.

Harry felt his heart sink as he realized it was time to begin explanations. He glanced to the head of the table where Mr. Weasley gave him an encouraging smile. "Leave everything be," Mr. Weasley declared as he rose from the table. "We'll clean up later. Let's all go get comfortable in the lounge."

Mr. Weasley's announcement had the profound effect of quelling the feeling of joviality that had filled the room only moments ago. Expressions became serious and there were murmured conversations between one another as they quietly filed out of the kitchen.

Once seats on the various chairs and couch had been claimed, in addition to a spot or two on the rug, Mr. Weasley cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention. "We have something that we need to explain to you tonight and it's not going to be easy..." he began.

It didn't go as badly as it could have. Harry thought Bill's reaction had been the most vocal. Curse words that he had never imagined being uttered within The Burrow had flown from Bill's mouth with impunity. Harry supposed that considering the circumstances, admonishments were useless. Percy seemed to use action to demonstrate his feelings. He had taken to pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace with an air of barely-contained fury. The twins had initially tried their usual method of resorting to humor to alleviate stress. When Fred had rhetorically asked why he'd never had anything bad like this ever happened to him, he had spent fifteen minutes trying to recuperate from both a Jelly Legs Jinx and a Bat Bogey Hex. Wisely, George kept his mouth shut after that.

Soon after, Ginny had broken down into tears and had run back into the kitchen. It was nearly twenty minutes later before Mrs. Weasley returned with her. Harry had honestly felt like crying a time or two himself. The guilt he felt was tearing him apart.

An hour had passed and there had been some very tense moments where Harry thought he'd never seen so many angry, red faces in one place. Now, however, some of the anger had faded and had turned into problem-solving. The twins were huddled in conversation on the floor. Harry saw Bill, Percy and Mr. Weasley having a quiet discussion. Mrs. Weasley was still trying to comfort Ginny, cooing soft words and stroking her hair. Harry finally looked at the one person he had been avoiding. Ron was sitting stone-faced and staring at Ginny. Hermione was talking nervously to him, her hands making rapid, expressive gestures. Harry dropped in forehead into his hand and tried to massage away the headache that had formed.

"Well, I haven't seen a bloody curse yet that couldn't be broken somehow. Honestly, what is Dumbledore playing at?!" Bill's frustrated complaint had ridden over the din. The room quieted as attention was focused on the three older Weasleys.

"It's not Dumbledore's fault!" exclaimed Percy. "What do you expect him to do?"

"Dumbledore is doing exactly what he can do for the moment," Mr. Weasley said placatingly. "Bill, I'm sure he would welcome any help you could offer."

"What about finding the person responsible for this?" George asked from his place on the floor. Having learned from Fred's mistake, he made sure his question was productive.

"There is really no idea who might have done this, but an investigation is being done. As I said, we've done all we can for now." Sighing with fatigue, Mr. Weasley continued to the room at large, "For the time being, there's nothing else to debate - Harry had less than an hour to make sure your sister didn't die and was facing circumstances that would have crushed a lesser man. Remember, their lives are at stake here; be thankful there is some way to deal with it."

As the gathering broke up, Harry glanced over to see Ginny in deep conversation with her mum. His attention was caught when Ron shrugged off Hermione's hand and silently walked to the kitchen. There came a moment later the sound of the back door slamming. Harry saw Hermione look to him, an expression of worry on her face. He nodded in reassurance to her and mouthed I'll go as he followed Ron.

*****

Harry stood in the moonlit garden, staring out beyond the fence line towards the orchard before he started forward. As he willed his feet to keep going, his stomach churned at the thought of this inevitable confrontation. Born from years of close friendship, he knew right where Ron would be. As he rounded the hill near the field where they used to play Quidditch, he saw Ron's lone silhouette standing under the stars. He joined him and silently they stood side by side staring out into the black nothingness. Harry didn't pressure Ron to speak. He knew that when Ron was ready, he would talk.

After what seemed like an hour, Ron shifted his feet and slid his hands into his pockets. "I think the thing that bothers me the most," he began, "is what this will do to Ginny." He turned to face Harry. "Not that I don't worry about you, mate," he added, "but you're a survivor. You can handle yourself and anything thrown at you."

Harry looked out over the field and sighed. "She's stronger than you think, Ron. Like the rest of us, she's had to survive a lot, too."

"Yeah... but there are parts of her that just aren't as strong as she'd like people to think," Ron replied.

Harry furrowed his brows trying to think of where Ginny had any weaknesses. "What do you mean?" he finally asked.

This time, Ron sighed heavily. "I probably shouldn't say... but you need to know." He looked around guiltily before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Ginny has a very tender heart, Harry. I don't want to see it crushed again."

"I'm not following you, Ron," Harry said, confusion gnawing at his insides. Or was it guilt? "You know I care about Ginny very much. She's been my friend for years. I would never do anything to hurt her."

"No, I suppose you don't get it..." Ron trailed off. Harry could see the irritation growing in him as his friend pushed on. "You already have hurt her. She carried a torch for you for years, mate. You never saw the hurt in her eyes when you treated her... like a chum. You never had to hear her crying herself to sleep. This is going to kill her."

"I never knew..." he pleaded. Harry felt the guilt burrowing deeper into him. "She told me yesterday... but she said she's over me now... we're... we're dealing with this. She'll be okay." He was confident, that she would be all right. He just wasn't so sure about himself.

"What are you going to do when there's a baby, Harry?" Ron countered. "What is she going to do? I know Mark a little better than you do. He's a decent enough bloke, but he has plans for his life. Plans for both him and Ginny. Having a baby so soon isn't going to sit well with him." Ron turned and looked off in the distance. Shaking his head, he said softly, "He's just not the sort of bloke who'll stick around to raise your kid."

"Ron, we don't know if there will be a baby--"

"--You'll both die if there isn't, Harry! If you two keep having to...well, it's bound to happen at some point!"

"Dumbledore will surely find something to stop this." Although guilt had him by the throat, Harry's mind had screamed No at the thought of his son or daughter being raised by Mark. When Ron made no reply, Harry continued, "Look, Ginny and I haven't discussed this yet... but if it comes to the point where there is a baby, I would gladly take it and raise it by myself. It would be mine and Ginny wouldn't have to suffer for it."

Ron looked back at Harry and shook his head in disbelief. "The baby would be Ginny's as well. You must not know her very well if you think she'd ever give up her baby." He looked away from Harry back out into the night. "No, she'd insist on keeping the baby... then Mark would leave her and she'll have a hard time finding someone to marry her." He shook his head. "A single witch with a baby alone..."

Harry's gut twisted at Ron's words. He couldn't let that happen to Ginny... he wouldn't. He wanted to assure Ron that he'd never leave Ginny alone like that, but he wasn't sure what Ginny would have to say about that. The Weasleys were a proud family... they didn't take charity. And Harry was afraid they'd consider any offer to help from him as just that.

"Ron... something will be worked out," he said, attempting to reassure not only his friend but himself as well. At Ron's blank stare, he added desperately, "What else can I do? I don't know what you want from me... I couldn't let her die."

"Yeah, well... you didn't walk away from that empty handed either," Ron spat, rounding on Harry with unexpected vehemence. "Shagging my sister saved your hide as well."

Aha, Harry thought to himself as his temper bubbled to the surface, now we've come to the point. "My hide wasn't in any danger before I shagged Ginny!" Harry blurted out. "Look, I wasn't concerned about me. I never have been and I'm still not. This is about Ginny."

Ron narrowed his eyes at Harry suspiciously. "What do you mean... you weren't in danger before?"

Harry stared at Ron and was seriously tempted to just walk away. He was so tired of this. He was tired of feeling guilty... tired of being angry...scared... tired of the emotional roller coaster. "Just what I said, Ron," he muttered, running his shaking fingers through his hair and weary to his bones. "I wasn't in danger before. The spell was cast on Ginny alone... she and I weren't bound together so there was no way for the spell to affect me."

"You said 'before'... what about now?" Ron asked softly.

"It's different now." Harry looked away, taking a deep breath before he continued. "When we... well, that first time... the spell encompassed me then. I'm not sure I can explain it any better." He raised his eyes to his friends, asking him without words to understand. "But the bottom line is I had a choice: to ignore the "Muggle girl" that had been sent to me, letting her die in the process; or to do what had to be done to keep her alive, regardless of the costs to myself. If was willing to do this for a stranger, Ron, there should be no question in your mind that I would have done it for Ginny."

Ron was silent for several minutes before he spoke the words Harry knew were coming. "Does she know this?"

"No, and you can't tell her, Ron," Harry warned. "Besides, it doesn't matter now anyway," he said with a sigh of resignation.

"I'm sorry, mate," Ron apologized. "I can't imagine what its been like for you." He hesitated for a moment. "It must be hard... trying to... being with... someone who's... like a sister."

"It is hard," Harry admitted. "But not for the reasons you think." He looked down at his feet and decided to confess completely. "Ron, you know that I care about Ginny. But I think I could have really cared about her... at one time." Choosing his words carefully, he pressed on. "I mean, I never considered Ginny... in that way. But it wasn't because of her. I've always thought she's great. She's smart and witty, kind and loving... and I think she's beautiful. To be honest, I think I've spent the last couple of years measuring every one of my dates up to her. They've all fallen far short."

"But I don't understand. Why didn't you... think about her that way?"

"Because of who she is," he said. "Your sister. I never wanted to jeopardize our friendship. Your support meant too much to me. And back in school, well... I had other things to worry about. I just couldn't risk conflict between us because I couldn't give Ginny the attention she deserved." Harry paused in reflection. "I guess I just never wanted to have to make a choice between the two of you."

"I had no idea," Ron said with a stunned look on his face. "But Harry, I would have never stood in the way if you had wanted to be with Ginny. And our friendship has never hinged on your treatment of my sister. If it had, we would have had this out years ago. It killed me to see what she went through. If I had only known you felt that way..." he trailed off introspectively. "If Ginny had any idea then there was even a chance... well, Lord only knows how she wanted that--"

"--That was years ago," Harry interrupted. "She's moved on... she's engaged to Mark, now." He swallowed the bile rising in his throat. "I can't dwell on what might have been. I'll be happy if Ginny and I can get through this with our friendship intact."

"Well, she gave up ever having you," Ron reasoned. "She had to move on. But I'm not so sure she ever--" He stopped and shook his head slowly. With a look of sympathy in his eyes, he placed his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Listen, mate. It sounds as if you are alone because no other woman is Ginny. And don't get me wrong... Mark is a nice fellow, but Ginny's had to settle for less than what she's wanted her whole life... maybe... it's time you two have a talk."

Harry looked up at the stars and felt a small glimmer of hope rise from the pit of his despair. "Perhaps we will."