I Saw My Lady Weep

Chapter 22: Life Carries On In The People I Meet...

"I think I'll just go," Kingsley Shacklebolt muttered to Arthur. "I'm... I'm sorry if I provoked anything tonight."

Arthur shook his head. "It's not your fault," he said. "This has been building ever since Fred died. Molly's under a lot of stress, and she doesn't feel she's in control of everything anymore. She used to take strength from the family, but now... one of our sons is dead and the rest of our children aren't children any longer, and it's hard for her to accept that this is going to be the way it is from now on."

"Yes... Well... I hope things work out, Arthur. See you at work." With that, Shacklebolt saw himself out. Arthur walked back into the kitchen, staring at the floor as he mulled everything over. Molly was cleaning the dishes in the sink with her hands rather than her wand, something Arthur knew she never did unless she absolutely had to keep her mind occupied.

Ron and Hermione were still at the table, absently fiddling with the now-forgotten Chocolate Frog Cards everyone had been laughing at not twenty minutes earlier. To Arthur, they were obviously uncomfortable with the situation, but just as obviously had no idea what to do about it. Arthur took his seat, and for a long while the only sound was Molly banging around the sink.

"So..." Hermione said.

"Yeah." Ron leaned forward until his forehead was touching the tabletop. "That could have gone a lot better. A whole lot better."

"Everything would have been fine if Ginny had listened to sense." Molly didn't even turn around. Instead, she spoke loud enough to be heard over what she was doing.

"Mrs. Weasley, I don't think..." Hermione started to say, but Molly whirled on her.

"Hermione, please do not stick your nose into our family business." At this, Ron abruptly sat up. He opened his mouth to respond, but his father clamped down on his arm just in time. Arthur shook his head. His glare bored into his son's.

"Molly..." Arthur began "... you know I love you more than life itself, and that I will always support you and care for you. But Ginny is an adult now, and can make her own choices. I'm sure she will always want to hear your advice, but she has to make the decisions from now on."

"Arthur, she's just a child," Molly huffed. "She's too young to choose that sort of thing. When Ginny comes back down, we'll settle this once and for all. She has to be made to understand that as long as she's living in our house, she will do what we say."

At this statement, Ron and Hermione exchanged nervous looks. Arthur could tell what they were thinking... they were both currently living at the Burrow, and they weren't about to let Molly direct their lives like she was trying to do with Ginny. He waved a hand at Ron, hoping he wouldn't say anything.

"Molly... How do I say this? Molly... Ginny might not be living under our roof any longer." Arthur waited for the explosion, but it never came. Instead, Molly merely turned to look at them.

"What do you mean by that, Arthur?"

Arthur couldn't meet Molly's eyes. "She left, Molly... she left a little while ago. She left with Harry."

Molly's face clouded up. "And you did nothing to stop her?"

Arthur sighed. He realized there was no way he was going to win this one, so the best he could do would be weather it out and hope for the best. "How do you suppose I should have stopped her, Molly?"

"I don't... you should have just stopped her," Molly said with some finality. "As her father, you should have forbidden her from leaving!"

"Dearest, I only knew she was leaving when I saw her standing next to the door, waiting for Harry to finish talking to you. " Arthur sighed again. "She was on her way out anyway, and there was nothing I could say... or do... to stop it. I made a choice: did I want my little girl to leave and not want to ever come back because she was furious with both of her parents, or did I want my little girl to leave but hopefully see things would still be okay and have her come back because she was only furious with one parent?"

Arthur waited a moment. "I chose the latter," he finished. "I saw no benefit in her being mad at both of us. So when I saw her talking to Harry... I told her that it would be better that they go. I've asked Harry to come back tomorrow evening."

"Harry! It's always Harry! Harry-Bloody-Potter! This is his fault, you know!" Molly steamed.

"Don't." The vehemence in Ron's voice came as a surprise to everyone, especially Ron. He took a deep breath and started again. "Don't push this off on Harry. He didn't make Ginny leave. In fact..." he looked directly at his father "... I'm willing to bet real money that he at least made a token attempt to keep her from going. Didn't he, Dad?"

Arthur nodded. "He started to, but Ginny over-rode him."

"Ginny's not here right now because of Ginny and because of you, Mum. Not because of Harry. So please don't blame Harry for what happened tonight."

"Ronald!" Molly exclaimed. "I will not be talked to like this by one of my own children!"

Arthur watched as Ron dropped his eyes to the table. Under his breath Arthur heard Ron mutter "... so far tonight you've been talked to by two of your children..." The way Hermione's eyes widened, she heard him clearly. She reached out to Ron and took his hand. Arthur started to say something, but stopped.

"What was that?" Molly demanded.

Ron looked up. "Mum, I love you, but sometimes... sometimes it's hard to like you. Ginny's not a baby anymore. I'm not a baby anymore. None of your children are babies, Mum. Please! Try and stop thinking of us as babies!" His voice was level and calm, but there was an obvious undercurrent of heat there.

"How dare you!" Molly was winding up, and Arthur realized he was going to have to do something he hadn't done in almost two decades... he was going to have to raise his voice in his own house, to his own wife. The thought shocked and disappointed him. Merlin, he didn't want to...

"All I've ever wanted was for you and your sister and your brothers to have decent, safe lives!" Molly was speaking so quickly that she barely seemed to be breathing. "I'll be damned before I fail Ginny like I failed Fred..."

Molly's eyes widened as she realized what she said. She took several quick gasps and burst into long sobs. She started to collapse, but Arthur was up and in place to catch her before she could fall more than an inch. He pulled her back up to her feet, and then lifted her into his arms.

"Ron, Hermione..." he said, hesitantly.

Ron simply looked blank. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah." Arthur carried Molly out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

XxxxxxX

"Ron!" Hermione swatted Ron on his arm. "I cannot believe you said that to your mother!" She was trembling inside. Her entire world had just tipped sideways and she didn't know how to right it. The Weasleys don't fight like this, she thought to herself, they just don't!

"Well I had to say something before she got wound up about Harry. He didn't do anything! And you heard Dad... he tried to talk Ginny out of it!" Ron was nothing if not loyal, Hermione knew, so this reaction should have been expected.

And Percy fought with his family for years, Hermione thought suddenly. "Ron, she's just worried about Ginny's future."

"I realize that. But I think Ginny should have a bit more to say about her future than Mum, don't you?" Ron asked. "What if it was us? What if she tried to make decisions for us like she was trying to do for Ginny?"

"Ron, that's different..."

"How?" Ron demanded. "Ginny's only seventeen, yeah... But what's the real difference between her being seventeen and my being eighteen? Or your being almost nineteen, Hermione?"

"It's not about our ages, Ron, and you bloody well know it. It's about your mother wanting to hold on to what she has. It's about your mother realizing that none of you are children anymore." Hermione took a deep breath. "She wasn't trying to order Ginny around... she was trying to protect herself, not Ginny, no matter what she says."

"Protect herself? Protect herself from what?" Ron was struggling to find Hermione's point, but as usual was nowhere near as sensitive or as quick-witted as she was.

"From change, Ronald." Hermione brushed her fringe out of her eyes. "She's afraid of what's going to happen now that all of her kids are grown and moving on to their own lives. For most of her life, this house was full of children running around, causing problems, making noise... have you listened to this house lately? Go on... just listen."

Ron sat still for a moment, and then shrugged. "I don't hear anything..."

"Exactly! Where are the kids who used to run around this place?" Hermione held up her hand and ticked off one of her fingers. "Bill's at Shell Cottage with Fleur, starting his own family." Another finger. "Charlie's back in Romania, looking after his dragons."

Still another finger. "Percy... during his absence from the family built himself a home and is in a long-term relationship with a wonderful woman who might well marry him some day." A fourth finger. "George hasn't lived in this house in years."

She looked at her thumb for a long time before a single tear fell down the right side of her face. She wiped it away, and then smiled. She waggled her thumb, the only finger left sticking up on her hand. "You, Ronald, just asked the love of your life to marry you and she said yes." She smiled at him, showing him how much she loved him.

But then she continued by closing her hand into a fist and extending her index finger. "And we come to Ginny, who my guess is probably lying in bed snuggling with Harry right about now. It wouldn't be a great surprise to me if she told me tomorrow she was going to live with Harry full time from now on."

She stood up and moved behind Ron, then leaned into him with her hands on his shoulders. "And to be honest, Ginny could have reacted better. Getting into a shouting match with your mother isn't the right way to earn respect as an adult. It takes two people to fight, Ron... the person who provokes and the person who allows themselves to be provoked. Ginny could have made her point a different way."

Ron just shook her head. "Yeah, okay... I see your point. It's not all Mum's fault. But I still think the way she treated Ginny is a pretty shitty thing to do. This isn't a good time for this. Everyone's still hurting; we don't need Ginny just walking away from the family like Percy did."

"Ronald, he did come back, you know," Hermione scolded.

"I know... but it never should have happened in the first place." Ron's jaw was set. "I don't think Mom could take it if Ginny just..."

Arthur re-entered the kitchen. His eyes were hooded. i

"Your mother is sleeping. She needs it... what with everything that's happened, she hasn't been getting a lot of... Ron... you made a good point..." at Ron's startled look, he raised a hand "... yes, you have a point and I think there is something to it, but always remember that your mother's point was also valid... at least in part. And always remember that, whatever you are thinking of her at the time, she is your mother. She deserves your respect for that, if nothing else, even if you've decided you don't like her for a time."

Ron had the good grace to at least look chastened. "Sorry, Dad."

Arthur harrumphed... "I'm not the person you need to apologize to."

XxxxxxX

Ginny couldn't sleep. The turmoil from earlier had rattled her to the point that she simply could not sleep. She thought about her mother. She thought about Harry. She thought about the argument. As she became more and more tired, though, her thoughts ran to other subjects.

Ginny Potter. Mrs. Harry Potter. Mrs. Ginny Potter. Ginevra Molly Potter. Gin Potter. Ginevra Potter. Ginny Molly Weasley-Potter. She made a face at the last one. No... I'd never be a Weasley-Potter. Hyphenating sounds is something Hermione would do. Hermione Granger-Weasley. Though I hope she doesn't...

It was fun, if only as a way to get used to the feel of the name.

Ginny M. Potter.

She felt it fit pretty well. She could definitely get used to being Ginny Potter. Now, after her mother's screaming rant that drove her out of her parent's house, she found no small amount of solace from the thought.

She gently shifted herself backward, closer into Harry's embrace. She could feel his slow, steady breathing on her neck and it made her feel wanted. As always, a strong sense of belonging bloomed somewhere deep inside of her when Harry held her. She was content to remain like this. Even the thought of her argument with her mother didn't lessen the feeling.

Ginny brought one of Harry's hands up to her lips and kissed his fingers. She had been fighting a strong physical desire for him lately... a desire that had only grown as the two began to occasionally sleep together. Sleeping being the operative word, she thought to herself with a snort. There had been a brief period after they returned to Grimmauld Place where Ginny was dead-set on breaking the promise she had made to her mother regarding waiting until they were married. She'd come close to brazenly attacking Harry.

But Harry wouldn't. He simply wouldn't. Noble, lovely, compassionate, caring, understanding moron. Ginny smiled at the thought. I throw myself at him and what does he do? Catches me, sets me on the ground gently, and tells me no. In retrospect, she had to respect that.

She knew she'd remember his words for a long time: "Ginny, if we do this now, because you're mad at your mother, it would be for all the wrong reasons. I absolutely refuse to have the word 'wrong' be associated with our taking that final step." He had kissed her gently, and then carried her upstairs. And they climbed in bed together to sleep.

She closed her eyes and reveled in the security his embrace gave her. G. M. Potter.

She wasn't looking forward to tomorrow evening and another possible confrontation with her Mum, but Harry wasn't going to let her out of it. He didn't want her to become Percy. And in her heart, she knew he was right.

But I'm still not going back to Hogwarts. I don't know yet what I'll do with my life, but I will not be a schoolgirl any more. My adult life starts now...

G. Molly Potter. That one caused another soft snort.

"Ginevra Molly Potter," she said, her voice the near-whisper of a person almost asleep. She wasn't even aware she had spoken aloud. Harry's embrace tightened for a moment as he hugged her in his sleep. It was a small thing, but it made her smile.

Shortly, her eyes closed and her breath began to come slow and regular. Her heartbeat fell into sync with Harry's, and she fell asleep.