Meeting a Muggle

Chapter 6

Molly stared at her youngest son then shook her head slightly, as if trying to understand a foreign language. When Ron had fire-called and asked if he could come out for dinner, Molly had agreed, glad of the company. It was so lonely in the house now that all the children had--gone. Sometimes the weight of emptiness and past lives crushed her so heavily that just getting out of bed was too much of an effort. Ginny had caught her during one of the really bad days and rushed her straight off to St Mungo's. There, the medical staff had given her all sorts of charms and potions to make her happy, to cheer her up and make her less anxious about the future. In fact, they gave her so many potions and notions, Molly wondered what would happen if she used them all at once. Would she explode with maniacal cheerfulness, or would she laugh herself to death.

Rather than precipitate another round of the poking and prying of the medi-witch conventions, Molly made sure she was always out of bed on time and ready to face anyone who 'popped' in unannounced, like her children. And now Ron was giving her some news that took a lot of swallowing.

"She's a Muggle, a pure Muggle? And you want to marry her? But how will she cope with our world? What will your fa...? He would probably approve very much, wouldn't he? Very well, bring her out to the Burrow whenever you like, I'll be here."

"Do you want me to arrange for Ginny and Harry to be here too, Mum? I can, if you think it would be easier for you," Ron said gently, watching the veil of sadness fall back over his mother's eyes.

"If you would like them here but it's not necessary for me. I always thought you might marry Hermione but then, when I saw her with Draco, I realised you were very good friends, not romantically involved. Ron, you have a right to marry anyone you like, as long as she is a nice girl, and she makes you happy. And you are happier now, happier than you have been for a long time. We could have a picnic on the lawn and perhaps...." She broke off as her son kissed her cheek soundly.

"Thanks, Mum, you will like her, I promise, and she does make me happy. You're right, I was 'in love' with Hermione for years, a sort of blind devotion but when I met Desiree I suddenly realised it was only affection compared to what was sparking between Dez and I, and I don't mean just sex, Mum, so you can put the lecture back on the shelf." He grinned as his mother settled her feathers again.

"I'm glad you have found the real thing," she temporised the lecture with a smile.

~~*~~

Molly stared at the hand that was held out to her then took it and turned it over to look at the palm. "Long life line and lots of vigour, your heart line is thick and strong too. Lots of little creases along the side of your palm mean a good number of children, not as many as Hermione, but enough to make a good and proper sized family. Perhaps you are a keeper after all."

Desiree blinked at the strangely shrunken woman who was holding her hand and making such pronouncements then she smiled a little. "Can you tell how many children?" she asked softly.

Molly looked up at the tall, busty blonde and smiled, getting a good feeling from this Muggle girl. "As many as you and him want Girl, as many as you and he want. Come along now; let's get some hot tea into you, or are you a hot chocolate fan?"

Ron let out a slow breath, careful not to draw attention to his self, as his mother led his girlfriend into the house and sat her at the long, scrubbed table. His mother had done it, she had made the leap to accept Desiree all by herself, and once Molly Weasley made up her mind, there was no changing it! As he watched, Desiree exclaimed excitedly and Molly laughed as the girl went dashing over to look at the fairies as they pollinated the flowers while munching up the petals. Grinning, he shook his head and strolled out after them.

"So, what do you think?" he asked as dusk began to fall and the stars became brighter high in the sky.

Leaning up against him as he sat propped against a tree, Desiree sighed deeply and snuggled closer. "I have had such a good time. Your mother is a treasure, and this place is just fantastic. Mind you, I don't think I will ever be a fan of broomstick riding, which was scary!"

Ron sniggered when he recalled her screams and dire threats she had made until he brought her down again. No, Dez was not a flying fan!

"It must have been wonderful growing up here," she said snuggling into his chest.

Ron sighed and plucked a straw to chew on meditatively. "At the time, no. Oh, the brothers next to me in age were twins and had a rugged sense of humour. Gred and Forge were bastards to me on more than one occasion. Hey, they turned me blue, gave me fur, blew me up and shrank me down on so many occasions, I'm still not sure if I came out right. In retrospect, I miss the hell out of them."

"They were killed in your war, weren't they?" Desiree said softly, trying not to break the introspective mood. Ron rarely spoke of their losses.

"Yeah, they worked for the Order, as we all did, gathering information in some very strange places. Unfortunately one afternoon, Fred got caught with his extendible ear in the wrong window. George was in agony, said he could feel what they were doing to his twin but no one realised he had gone off on a rescue mission on his own. Of course, it didn't work and Severus Snape brought the bodies back as soon as he could. I think he cleaned them up a lot before Mum saw them, but they were still pretty bad. They're over in the family garden along with Bill and Dad."

"You lost a lot of family, didn't you?"

"We had a lot of family to lose." Ron tried to joke but it was flat, and he almost crushed her ribs as he held on. "Bill went first; he was a curse breaker for Gringotts. The Death Eaters tried to take over a branch of the bank, looking for funds probably. All the Gringotts staff, goblin and human, were killed in that battle, including Bill. Then the twins caught it not five months later and it took Mum and Dad to their knees. Then things began to hot up when the Ministry finally admitted there might be some truth in the rumour that Voldemort was alive. When Charlie was taken, I thought it would be the end of Mum, but Snape managed to get him away more or less in one piece, so that was not so bad. Then there was the aborted attack on the Ministry itself and that brought the rest of the Wizarding world into the conflict. 'Course it was at the cost of my Dad's life. After being ridiculed and bullied by the minister and his hacks, if not for my Dad raising the defences and keeping the bastards occupied, there would have been a massacre. But Dad was a fighter when standing up for his convictions, a bloody brave fighter and they drove the Death Eaters out but at a cost." Ron sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face, taking the handkerchief Desiree offered with a rueful grin. "And then they all got serious, and we finally won."

"How long after that was the war over?"

"Oh, six months, a year, something like that," Ron said off-handedly. "Oh enough of this maudlin talk. Ever made love in a hay field?"

"What are you suggesting?" Desiree giggled, as he began splatting sloppy playful kisses over her face and neck.

"A roll in the hay?"

They both burst out laughing and rolled about until the darkness hid them totally.

~~*~~

"So, when are you going to make an honest woman of the girl?" Ginny demanded as she stirred her coffee.

Ron had invited her to an outdoor restaurant 'to talk' he had said in his invitation.

"How did you guess?" Ron yelped, flabbergasted by her question.

"Oh come on Ron, you worship her like she is the sun and you are the flower. You take her to Mum and all but beg for approval. You even try to be a Muggle yourself and go visit her parents and brother, you the consummate Wizarding brat! You're in love, and she's got it just as badly, so when are you going to propose?"

"Tonight, I'm going to ask her tonight and if she accepts, I want to have a small get together next weekend, just you and Harry, Hermione and Draco. I bought her a ring - Harry said it's a tradition amongst Muggles - with a diamond in it, again, a traditional thing. I got Draco to arrange a meeting with the jewellers, as he did for Harry. I even got Draco to help pick it out, he's rather good with that sort of thing, you know. Although I don't like to admit it, the ferret has good taste. Do you think it will be alright?"

Ginny inspected the engagement ring her brother had bought and nodded approval. "Yes, I think she'll like that one, it's beautiful. And if she accepts, you will probably have to have a Muggle sort of engagement party too, for her friends and family, but we'll worry about that later. So, call me when you know, won't you? And I'll set everything up for the party, for you."

"Thanks Ginny, you are the.... Bloody Hell," he exclaimed as the warning charm on his wrist chimed. "I have to get back, there's some sort of emergency. Sorry Ginny, duty calls."

"Go!"