Harry Potter and the Curse of Ages

Chapter 8 Family

Molly Weasley was heard padding out from a room on the second floor and then she appeared at the top of the stairs, barefoot and in a bra and slip, showing a quite substantial amount of her quite substantial bosom. "Oh, wonderful, Harry. So glad you've made it. I'll be down for hugs in a bit: I have to finish getting ready for dinner. Ginny, tell him about it, dear." Then she started padding back toward the room she had come from.

"Bill already told him. Erm, Mum?" called Ginny, stifling laughter.

Molly came to the rail and leaned over, which allowed even more of her bosom to slosh forward "Yes, Dear?"

"I don't think Harry's quite used to seeing a woman in a slip - he's turned red as a beet."

"Really!? Harry?" Molly called.

Harry had gone a bit toward the kitchen so that he could not see up the stairwell. "Erm, yes, Mum."

"No, not around the corner, Harry. Come where I can see you."

Harry stepped toward the stairwell, but kept looking toward the kitchen door. "Yes, Mum."

"Harry, I want to speak to your face, not your hair." Harry started to look up toward her. "That's better, now look toward me. My face, Harry. Right then. When you asked Arthur and me if you could call us Mum and Dad, you wanted to be treated as family as much as possible, right?"

"Yes, Mum."

"Well, this is part of it. Especially in a large family, being shy is not actually a choice, and we don't think it's really healthy. We're living together and we have to work around each other, in all aspects of our lives."

"Yes, Mum. I've just never, erm, been exposed to, erm ..."

"Let's just leave it at saying your muggle relatives were never so open about things, Harry. Do you think you'll be able to adjust?"

"Yes, Mum; it may take a bit, though."

"That's fine, dear. A relaxed family environment is new to you."

She started again to return to her room. Harry turned to look at Ginny, with a playful smile and said quietly, "Mmm - a 'relaxed family environment' - I could get used to that." Ginny started to grin at him.

Molly called out from the door of the room. "I heard that, Harry Potter! You and Ginny are dating, so don't think you won't be required to observe those rules. That's the one way we won't be treating you just like any other of our sons. Understand?"

Both Harry and Ginny answered simultaneously, "Yes, Mum."

"Am I staying in the same room as before, Ginny?" said Harry, grabbing his bag.

"Mm-hm! Let's get you settled," she replied, taking his hand and leading him up the stairs.

"I hear 2 sets of footsteps coming up - let's keep doors open," called Molly. "That's one of the rules of the house for unmarried couples."

"Yes, Mum," they both answered in matched mock sarcasm.

"So is Hermione already here?" Harry asked Ginny.

"Yes, Ron's getting her settled in, too -" she replied, then calling over her shoulder toward her mother, "and yet the door to Hermione and my room seems to be closed!"

They had to flatten against the wall as Molly came charging down the hall to get to the third floor. They heard the door swing hard and bang against the bumper.

"Mum!" exclaimed Ron loudly.

"Same rule for my boys as for girls under my roof - when it's mixed company in a room, the door stays open enough to see in."

Harry couldn't resist. He called out, "Technically it's my roof!"

"Quiet you! You can evict us if you choose, but as long as my family is under a roof, I'll be setting the rules. Now, Ron, I can't control what you do elsewhere, and I'm sure the two of you had your opportunities for, well, we'll just say opportunities, at Hogwarts, ..."

"Like you and Dad, Mum?"

"Now, see here, Ronald Weasley, that was a different age!"

"Yeah, Mum," Ron said very seriously. "We had to deal with a war."

That quieted Molly down. Then she said, through a constricted throat, "I know, dear. And you two, and those two down there, and all of you students behaved very responsibly and did brilliantly."

"Thank you for recognizing that, Mum. And by the way, while we found our opportunities to hug and comfort each other, which we needed because we were so scared and hated deceiving Harry so much, we've been very, very busy, so we really did not have 'opportunities for, well, we'll just say opportunities,' at Hogwarts. If we weren't in classes or training, we were keeping up the scheme or trying to keep Harry sane. I wish we could have felt as carefree as you and Dad were, but we had other things to do."

Harry could hardly believe how Ron was speaking to Molly - not so much standing up to her in a confrontational way, but speaking as an equal. As Harry thought about it, a young man who had taken such responsibility as Ron had should be able to speak as an equal to any adult - with due respect, but as an equal. It thrilled Harry as well to hear Ron say in an uncautious moment how he hated deceiving Harry; he still felt like he need reassurance that they took the matter dead serious.

"Yes, dear," replied Molly, "but it's time for some normalcy - it would be good for all of us - and while you're here or at The Burrow, that means keeping the door open when you're in any room with a girl you're not related to by blood or marriage."

"Yes, Mum," replied Ron warmly. Then Harry heard the sound of footsteps above and the swishing of cloth on cloth that told him they were hugging. "I love you, Mum," said Ron.

"I love you, too, Ronnie. I'm so glad you made it through."

"I never get tired of hearing it."

Ginny nudged Harry, and whispered through her grin, "It's been like that since we got back: we're all still very emotional. If you need them, the tissues are in the bathroom."

"You smart-aleck, you!" Harry whispered huskily. Then he called, "Hey, Hermione!"

Hermione's voice almost broke as she answered, "Yes, Harry, what is it?"

"Oh, nothing. Just making sure you were really there - it's the longest I've known you to keep quiet."

"Ha-ha, Harry! I've got enough sense to know when to keep quiet."

At that, Harry and Ginny looked at each other wide-eyed and then suddenly burst into laughter. In seconds, they heard Ron joining the laughter as well.

Harry turned to Ginny, "Is she still bald?"

"No, she's almost past the stubble stage."

"You didn't let up on her yet?"

"A deal's a deal - I could have done a lot worse."

"I'll keep that in mind. I guess I knew that you weren't someone to let such things go easily."

"I never wanted to hurt her, Harry, but I am very protective of the people I love and my relationship with them."

"I can respect that."

Then she smiled impishly up at him. "I just wanted her to finish the weekend like that. Then I'll help her replace her hair. Well, let's get going."

Harry had already set his case down in the room he would be sharing with Ron. He opened it, took out his best non-formal robes and pulled them on. "Ready!" he said.

"I take it we're going to Diagon Alley," said Ginny.

"I really don't have any clothes for a muggle restaurant, except the kind equipped with a playground. Hope you don't mind."

"Well, we'll have to do something about that, but of course, I'm not all that comfortable around muggles anyway."

"They don't bite any more than sorcerers do. There are bad eggs in almost every group, though."

"Oh, it's not that - I'm just not used to watching what I say to avoid magic talk. So how are we going?"

"I thought we'd apparate to The Leaky Cauldron and walk over to meet the twins at their place."

"Okay, I'll just get my robes and tell Hermione and Ron we'll be out front waiting. I'll also let them know to dress wizard."

"You're ready to go!?"

"What - I'm not presentable?" snapped Ginny, fists on hips.

Harry held his hands up in a panic. "No, no that's not what I meant. You needn't wear anything for me."

"Oh? I bet you'd like that, Potter, if I weren't wearing anything!"

"No, wait, I ... Right then, you're just playing." Ginny grinned at him. "If you want to wear nothing, that's okay by me."

"Is it really?" she said coquettishly.

"Actually, no. I really wouldn't care for all the other men ogling you - and trust me, there's not a man who fancies women who wouldn't fancy you." She smiled warmly. Then Harry looked closely at her. "You have make-up on," he said in wonderment. "I knew something was different, but it wasn't as obvious as some women are about make-up."

She tilted her head coyly and asked, "Well? Do you like it?"

"It's very nice, but the best part is that it doesn't hide your beauty. I always want to see the real Ginny."

She giggled and kissed him on the cheek. "Sometimes you're not an idiot, you know that?"

"Ooh, thanks," Harry replied, grinning. "You think you can say anything as long as you're kissing me, eh?"

"Yeah, pretty much," she answered. "Meet me at the door."

With that she ran upstairs. Harry started down to the front and heard a sudden commotion and figured that the 'open door' policy had not been a total hindrance to Ron and Hermione's affections.

"Pardon me," said Ginny playfully. Harry heard footsteps, then the sound of a wardrobe being opened and then shut, and then more steps. From the foot of the stairs, he heard Ginny say, "We'll be out front. Dress for Diagon Alley. We'll expect you in ten minutes or we'll leave without you."

On the front steps, Harry sat Ginny down on the top step and sat next to her. "I overheard the 'ten-minute' warning. That's just about right. There's something I need to ask you."

"Oh, Harry, I hope it's not... I mean I'm not even done with school yet, and, erm, the war is just over and we've just sorted out the whole plan and everything. I had hoped we'd have time to ..."

Harry waved a hand and smiled. "No, not that. I hope I could find a better place than the front stoop for something like that. No, it's about spending more time together." Harry proceeded to tell her all about the promotional tour, all the places he would have to travel, and how Ron and Ginny were going as well.

Ginny looked oddly at him. "Unless I've missed something, Harry, I don't see how this means we get to spend more time together."

"Oh!' he said. "I forgot to mention that part - I can take a guest. Do you want to go?"

She suddenly squealed "Harry!" and threw herself on him, kissing him profusely and so strongly that he was forced to lie back on the brickwork of the porch. Then the frequent kisses settled down into a long lingering tender kiss.

After a bit Harry broke free and gasped some air. "I take it that's a 'yes'?"

A deep voice behind him said, "If you can't figure that out, Potter, you're stupider than you look."

Ginny and Harry both jumped up and turned to see Ron and Hermione right where they had slipped out the front door. They both had big grins.

"How long have you two been there?" snapped Ginny.

"Long enough," said Hermione. "It was so sweet; we didn't want to interrupt."

"It was kind of like Fang when he's lonely, wouldn't you say, Hermione?" said Ron.

"Only wetter," she added.

"Ha, ha, ha," said Harry. "Okay, Ginny, now the problem is convincing your parents to let you go."

"We could just ask," she said.

"Yeah, Ginny," said Ron, "we'll do that. But we have to present it just right."

"So you two already knew about it? Why'ncha say anything?"

"Yeah, of course we knew about it: we're part of the tour. Harry just wanted to ask you himself."

"Well, I guess that was thoughtful, but Hermione, I'm surprised you didn't say anything."

"I haven't been here very long - I've been a little distracted," she said turning toward Ron and grinning. "Do you think you're the only reason I came here, Ginny?"

"I hope not."

"C'mon now," said Ron. "Let's go get Fred and George and talk it over during dinner. I'm starved."

"Maybe you shouldn't have worked up such an appetite, dear brother," teased Ginny.

They came in the back way through Weasley Wizard Wheezes, after disabling the hexes as Fred and George had shown Ron and Ginny. First they went to the kitchen of the apartment above the store where Fred and George lived. Obviously the place doubled as a laboratory for them, as there were magical substances, large folios with notes on different formulations and a couple of dozen miniature cauldrons with all manner of substances heating, chilling or just resting which occupied every available space. Fred and George were not upstairs yet, so the four went down the stairs to the storeroom behind the shop.

"Greetings and salutations, all,' called George cheerily. "It's lovely to get back to relatively normal business." He had leaned in from the shop with his arms full of relatively expensive and potentially dangerous items he was busy stocking on the shelves behind the counter. It just wouldn't do to have someone drop a ready-to-use blizzard indoors.

They all greeted him back. "Is Fred here?" asked Ginny, giving George a hug as soon as he set down his things.

"Yeah, he's out front showing a customer our prototype trick broomstick. After five minutes it changes into a wild boar glued to your trousers and you begin falling. When you get about five feet from the ground, it reverts to a broom and keeps you from hitting ground."

"After you've soiled yourself, eh?" asked Ron, laughing.

George grinned. "That's a possibility. Surprisingly, the biggest interest we've had in these is from witches who think their husbands spend too much time in the pubs - they reckon to switch the brooms out while the wizards are drinking and give them a good scare."

They all laughed. "That should sober them up," said Hermione.

"Is Lee going to keep the store while we're out to dinner?" asked Ron.

George got a mournful look. "I'm afraid Lee is no longer with us."

"What!" said Ron in a panic. "I thought I knew all the battle casualties? Lee wasn't killed! Or was he?"

George started to giggle. "Gotcha, Ronniekins! Wood hooked him up with the quidditch league. He'll be doing the announcing both for the live audience and over the wizard wireless. The games are always scheduled not to overlap, so he'll be able to cover them all. The previous announcer became unavailable. Lee's getting paid twice what we could pay him, and he'll be at too many games to work here as well, so he's no long with us."

"Very funny, George," said Ron. "What happened to the previous announcer - retired?"

"No, killed in the battle. He had signed on with Moldy-Voldie's team and tried to attack Dean when Dean was petrifying dementors. He hadn't reckoned on Neville."

Harry cocked his head. "Neville used something deadly!?"

"Not really, but he was wicked fast and used a lot of spells. He took no chances so long as an enemy was still moving and holding a wand. It was just too much for that old son-of-a-witch's system. Neville's probably responsible for half of the dark side's human fatalities."

"Wow, I hadn't known about that part. But you were in the Broom Corps - how'd you hear all that?" asked Harry.

"Dean came around a couple of days ago. He had an interview with Denton Drabble, the portraitist. He's got a good shot at an apprenticeship. Wizard portraiture isn't something you can learn from a book."

"That's excellent," said Hermione. "He was always so good with art."

"Yeah. He also liked that it was something his family could relate to. How do you explain to muggles that you are working in the Department of Mysteries or making Floo Powder or some of the other jobs muggles don't do?"

Harry smiled. "You 'purebloods' might be surprised at how similar muggle jobs are to wizard work, just without the magic."

"Okay, Harry, I'll take your word for it. To me, life without magic would be like not having colors."

Soon Fred was done with the customer and they were on their way. Fred and George asked Harry if he had a notion of what restaurant they were going to. He didn't so they suggested going to Chang's Enchanted Wok.

"Erm, any connection to Cho Chang's family?" asked Harry.

"As a matter of fact, yes," answered Fred. "Her family moved here during the war and saw there was a need for more restaurants. It just so happens that we had already taken out options on most of the available real estate in Diagon Alley ..."

"As well as Hogsmeade," interrupted George. "That's what happens when your business partner has insight into how a war is shaping up."

Fred nodded. "Yeah, we could see when the terror war started that everyone would want to gather for safety and that meant skyrocketing prices for living and work space. Don't feel sorry for the Changs though; they more than covered our war-inflated rents, and they're still covering it nicely."

"We've got them on a five-year lease. Harry, you're raking it in with us, you know. Ginny, you'd better hook 'im so we can keep the money in the family."

"Don't rush me," she said. "So far we don't know if he's good for anything when there isn't a war on."

"Oi!" said Harry, "That's not very nice."

Hermione giggled. "Well, it's not as if you ever had a job. Oh, that's right, the Dursleys trained you as a groundskeeper - you can trim hedges for the muggles."

"I have a job already, thank you very much," replied Harry.

"ENOUGH!" shouted Ron. They all glared at him. "All this airy persiflage is cute, but it's not getting us closer to dinner. Let's move out."

"Okay, Ron," replied Harry, with a laugh. "We're hungry, too. So do you think Chang's will have a table for us? It sounds pretty busy and this is Friday after all."

"No problem," said Fred. "We took the liberty of reserving a table. They were already booked, but when I said it was for the 'Harry Potter party' they found room."

"See, Ginny," said Hermione. "He's good for something."

"Yeah, right! They're also the landlords and sons of the Minister of Magic - I don't really think they had to drop Harry's name."