Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Harry had been in the Great Hall when the House Cup was awarded to Gryffindor in his first year in almost ridiculously dramatic fashion. He'd survived attempts on his life every year since he was eleven. He'd caught the Snitch to win the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor– twice. He'd defeated the darkest wizard to ever live– with a lot of help. And yet, despite all of the successes and triumphs he'd experienced in his life, he was certain that he'd never felt more relieved, giddy, and filled with happiness than right now, with Ginny kissing him in the middle of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, feeling the cool metal of her new engagement ring on his cheek.

He was also certain he'd never heard a louder roar of celebration, even if he was a little biased.

Harry had seen a lot of beautiful things in his life, as difficult as it had been. He'd seen phoenixes and thestrals, hippogriffs and dragons. He'd seen the sun setting over a beach in Weymouth, and he'd flown above the clouds on a broom. More beautiful than all of that and everything else combined was Ginny. He'd felt like that for a long time. And yet, he was absolutely positive that she'd never looked more beautiful to him than she did as she pulled away, lips slightly swollen and parted, breathing heavily, eyes blazing with love and passion and fire and life. She was perfect, in every way. And…

"You said yes," he whispered, so quiet that nobody else could've heard over the din in the train station.

Her eyes lit up even more as she smiled brightly. "Duh. I've been waiting forever for you to ask, Potter."

Harry started to laugh before he was cut off by Ginny stealing another kiss. Merlin, he loved this witch. She pulled away after a second but kept her hands on his head, holding him against her.

"I love you," they said at the same time.

"You're engaged!" a voice squealed just before Harry felt a sharp pain erupt at his shin. "Oh! Sorry, Harry!" Emily gasped, moving her enchanted chair backwards even though the damage had already been done.

Harry was so deliriously happy that it didn't matter at all. "I don't think anything could hurt me right now," he replied as he crouched down. "Did you see it?"

Emily grinned and nodded. "Ginny looked like she was gonna tackle you!"

"Can't blame me for being excited. It's not every day Harry Potter proposes to you," Ginny said as she hugged Emily. "How did you see it though?"

"Concealment Charms," Emily explained. "All your friends told us what was happening and moved us out of the way before casting them. I'm so glad we got to see it!"

Harry glanced over and saw Ginny smiling widely at him again. "I am too. It must've been a very good plan by somebody."

"She means you," Emily informed him.

He laughed. "Thanks. I'm just relieved I finally did it."

"No kidding," Hermione butted in, pulling both of them into a tight hug. "Although you probably could've asked Ginny while she was in the loo and she still would've said yes."

Emily giggled at that while Ginny rolled her eyes but didn't deny the suggestion. "So seriously, who all was in on it?"

Harry was more than a little proud as Hermione explained, "Harry owled me a few days ago, telling me his plan to propose to you here. He wanted to be sure everyone in the family would be here and could help with the Concealment Charms."

"I also told Mia and Astoria," Harry added.

"That's why they were acting so weird on the train!" Ginny realised.

"Yeah, I probably would've been more worried about them giving it all away if I hadn't been so nervous," he admitted. "But everything worked out."

"It certainly did," she agreed, taking his hand and starting to lean in for another kiss when they were interrupted by Ron jumping on them.

"You two are gonna be Cannons!" Ron practically shouted, as if that was the most important thing right now.

"We also got engaged, mate," Harry pointed out before Ginny could.

"Well, yeah. Congrats, I'm happy for the two of you. But we all knew this was gonna happen; none of us had any clue that you were gonna pick the Cannons!"

Hermione shook her head. "Don't you think this is more important than Quidditch?"

Ron cocked his head, looking at her with confusion evident in his face. "I mean… they're close," he finally decided. Harry chuckled as Hermione opened her mouth, likely to tease Ron for his insensitivity or lack of emotional capacity, when Ron kissed her to keep her quiet. They did seem to have far fewer extended arguments now than when they were younger, but Harry was still undecided if that was worth having to see them kissing in front of him.

"Come on," Ginny said, winking at Emily as she pulled Harry away from his two best friends who had momentarily forgotten the reason they were at King's Cross today.

They made it about five steps away before Molly and Arthur caught them. They both had tears in their eyes.

"Oh… you two" was all Molly managed before collapsing in another wave of tears as she held tightly onto both of them.

After a couple moments, she did finally let them go, and Harry found, curiously perhaps, that he would've been okay if the hug had lasted longer. It felt good knowing how much she cared. Arthur put his arm around Molly and smiled at them.

"We're going back home with the rest of the family to get ready for tonight. You two celebrate with your friends, just don't forget about us."

"What's tonight?" Ginny asked. Harry had an idea but let Molly answer through her tears.

"You didn't think our baby girl would get engaged and we wouldn't celebrate it at home, did you?"

Ginny threw herself at Molly again while Arthur chuckled and clapped Harry on the shoulder. "Scariest moment of your life?"

Harry let out a breath and nodded. "Easily. And that's saying something."

Arthur smiled fondly. "Yep," he agreed, the memory of his own proposal to Molly evident in his expression.

Ginny hugged Arthur before her parents left, leaving them with a second of peace. "We're engaged," she breathed out, sounding a little in disbelief as she looked down at the ring on her finger. "I love you."

"I love–"

"Let's see it!" Demelza shouted as she barged through the crowd to them, seeming far more interested in romance than usual. Behind her, the rest of their friends from Hogwarts followed, looking about as eager to see Ginny's ring as Demelza was.

Ginny very proudly held her hand out, making affection swell in Harry's chest. He'd put that ring on her finger. She'd said yes to him. He was going to marry her. There couldn't possibly have been a better feeling than this.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

"Holy shit, look at this rock!" Demelza exclaimed, grabbing Ginny's hand to inspect the ring closer.

Ginny laughed but didn't think Demelza was totally wrong. The ring was absolutely beautiful. It wasn't absurdly large like Demelza was suggesting, but it was very obvious that the ring had been expensive. But she already knew what Harry would say if she asked why he'd spent so much on her. He'd say she was worth it, and, even though she didn't usually agree, it still made her feel like she could do anything when he'd say that. Merlin, she loved him.

"You could try having a little bit of tact," Mia said, shaking her head at her girlfriend.

"Come on, you know you're thinking it too. This thing must've cost a fortune," Demelza directed her not-so-subtle question to Harry, who simply shrugged.

"Doesn't matter. Ginny's worth it."

Ginny tilted her head up and kissed her fiance again. She still couldn't fully wrap her head around it. There was a ring on her finger that he put there. He wanted to marry her. She said yes. They really were going to be together forever.

"It really is a gorgeous ring, Harry," Astoria assured him without mentioning the cost.

"Oh, and your birthstones are on it. That's a sign of good luck," Luna enthused happily. Ginny wasn't entirely sure if that was true, but she wasn't going to turn away any possibility of extra good luck for herself and Harry. They deserved it after everything they'd been through.

"So you two knew?" Ginny asked Mia and Astoria while Demelza tried to see her reflection in the ring.

They both smiled happily. "He told us a few days ago," Astoria said.

"I was expecting him to ask for our advice, but he had the whole thing planned out," Mia added.

"Don't know why he didn't tell me," Demelza grumbled, apparently done with her examination of the ring.

"Because you can't keep a secret," Mia answered.

"Can too," Demelza disagreed.

"Name one."

"I kept my crush on you secret all year," Demelza retorted, pleased with herself, until Astoria and Ginny locked eyes and started laughing loudly.

"You thought that was a secret?" Ginny managed.

"I think Mia was the only one who didn't know," Astoria added through her laughter.

"I actually didn't–" Harry started, but he stopped when Ginny squeezed his hand and barely held in another laugh.

"There were some Erosprites around both of you. And you always smiled when you looked at Mia," Luna added, making both girls blush.

"Whatever," Demelza finally said, her cheeks almost glowing pink. "Let's stop analysing my love life. This is about Ginny and Harry anyways."

"You must be really embarrassed to volunteer someone else to be the centre of attention," Dean joked, though he quickly put his hands up in self-defence when it looked like Demelza might hit him. "Seriously though, congratulations. Feels like this has been a long time coming, and the two of you deserve it."

Ginny smiled her thanks as Dean and Harry clapped each other on the back. It honestly seemed like she and Dean had dated in another life; it was hard to believe it was only two years ago. And yet, they were both happier. She was engaged to the love of her life, and Dean was genuinely happy for them, which was a weird and surprisingly good feeling. And Dean was in… whatever his relationship was with Luna, but Ginny was very happy for them both as long as they both were.

"Exactly what he said," Owen agreed, slinging an arm over Harry's shoulders and smiling at them. "Can't believe it took you this long though."

"Did you see how long it took him to catch the Snitch in our last match? Sometimes he's a bit slow," Ginny joked, taking all possible sting out of her words with a kiss on his cheek.

He grinned. "Sometimes it's hard to see what's right in front of your face. That's why I've got you to help me out."

"Forever," she agreed happily.

"So when's the wedding?" Owen teased.

"Maybe give us more than five minutes of being engaged before we answer that," Harry replied, smiling down at Ginny, who nodded.

"We'll figure it out. No rush."

"More importantly, when's the hen night?" Mia asked, raising her eyebrows at Ginny.

"Maybe letting everyone be here for the proposal was a bad idea," Harry said, even though he didn't look too bothered by all the jokes.

"Nah, I think it was still worth it," Ginny replied.

"Just to be sure though, you're definitely not pregnant?" Demelza asked, earning herself a punch on either shoulder from Mia and Dean.

"I take it back," Ginny laughed. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

"No, you love us too much to not want us here," Mia said, pulling Ginny away from Harry and into a hug with Luna, Astoria, and a reluctant Demelza.

"Loving you all less by the second," Ginny grunted, but she made no effort to move. She did love all of them. They'd all definitely be at her wedding, if not in it. Even though they could be annoying sometimes, they were some of her best friends. It wouldn't have felt right celebrating without them.

"That's not true," Luna said, calling out Ginny's lie. "But you can believe it if you want."

"Thanks," Ginny replied sarcastically.

"Alright, we'll let you go," Astoria said a moment or two later. "I imagine your fiance is pretty eager to get you back home," she added suggestively.

Ginny's heart skipped a beat at that word again. How would she ever get used to people calling Harry her fiance? How much worse would she be when he was her husband? That thought almost sent her mind spiralling again before her friends let her go and brought her back to the present.

She smiled as she looked at Harry, who was laughing with Dean at something Owen had said. "I can't say I'm any less eager honestly. But… well, when are we gonna see each other again?"

Mia grinned. "Astoria and I have been planning since Harry first told us he was going to propose. We're gonna have a celebration for the two of you in a couple weeks."

"You don't have to–"

"We know," Astoria interrupted. "We're not doing it because we have to. We love you two."

Ginny felt a sudden urge to cry, but she brushed it off as an effect of just how much had happened in the past few minutes. "We really do love you all too. It– this year would've been so much worse without you. Thanks for… you know, being there for us."

"That's never gonna change." Ginny was a little surprised that Demelza was the one to say this, a look of fierce determination on her face that she was always wearing on the Quidditch pitch.

"I know," Ginny said, pulling her friends back in for another quick hug. "Come visit whenever you want, okay? And we'll see you for the party, and then we'll plan something again after that, and then–"

"You can go now, Ginny. We're going to see you soon," Luna promised.

Ginny laughed as Harry walked back up to her. "I know. I'm just gonna miss you all."

"We both are," he agreed. "I'm really glad you all were here though."

"We weren't going to miss this," Mia replied. "But thanks for including us in it. It was… really special to watch."

"Definitely. I was pretty sure you or Demelza would kill me if I didn't plan for you all to be here, and I'm very happy to not test that. But um… you about ready to go, Gin?"

Ginny glanced back at her friends again. Astoria nodded her head towards the platform's exit. "Get out of here. Congratulations, you two."

"We'll see you soon," Ginny said, wanting to be sure none of them forgot it. She took Harry's hand and squeezed it.

"Bye," Harry added, smiling at all their friends before they turned and started walking to the exit.

They were congratulated several times on their way, and Ginny even caught sight of Romilda Vane, who was glaring sourly at her. She resisted the urge to smirk, knowing there wasn't a need. They hadn't ever been in any sort of competition. Harry loved her. That hadn't ever been in doubt. The ring on her finger proved that it would never be in doubt. So, happily, Ginny held her head high, secure and confident in the love she shared with the man holding her hand, and left the platform a totally different woman than she'd been when she'd entered.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

Harry had stared death in the face more times than he could remember. He didn't like to think about it, but others had assured him that nobody his age had ever survived more near death experiences. He'd survived a basilisk, seven encounters with Lord Voldemort, and almost innumerable skirmishes with his Death Eaters, culminating in one that had very nearly taken his life a few months ago.

Despite his experience in surviving against all odds, when he and Ginny apparated to the Burrow, he struggled to think of a time he'd been more scared than he was now, seeing three of Ginny's older brothers in the yard, clearly waiting for them with their arms crossed and disapproving looks on their faces.

"What are you… no. No way. Don't even think about it," Ginny warned. Harry could feel her hand he wasn't holding move to her wand.

"We just wanna talk," George assured her.

"Fine. Let's talk," Ginny said tightly.

"Not to you," Charlie replied, lowering his hand to his wand as well.

"I'm not leaving. Not a chance in hell I'm gonna let you give shit to my fiance the day he proposed to me."

"Why do you always have to make everything so difficult?" Charlie asked in exasperation. "Yeah, congratulations on the engagement. It's great. Now we want to talk to your fiance."

"You're gonna have to–"

"Er– Gin, it's okay," Harry said, even though he wasn't entirely sure why he was saying it. It was like his mouth had completely ignored what his mind was thinking, which was that Ginny was a sexy badass for standing up to her brothers for him, and decided to cause even more trouble for him instead.

"It's not okay," Ginny fired back without taking her eyes off Charlie. "You don't have to listen to them just because they're my brothers."

Charlie raised an eyebrow, asking Harry silently if he really believed that. Harry did believe it. But his mouth still wasn't connected to his mind. "I know. But I need to talk to them too. Trust me, it'll be fine."

Ginny turned her glare to him now, and he was pretty sure he was even more scared now, and it just wasn't fair that she looked so damn perfect like that. "Harry Potter, I swear if you ruin today–"

Harry's mind had clearly decided to go the way of his mouth and do whatever impulsive thing popped into it. Which is why, despite Charlie, Percy, and George all watching and Ginny getting angrier by the second, Harry bent down and cut her off with a very firm kiss. Luckily for him, Ginny practically melted in his arms, wrapping her hands around his neck and pulling him closer to her. He wasn't sure how he'd survived the past ten minutes without kissing her. She was everything.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Charlie asked incredulously.

A low growl escaped from the back of Ginny's throat as she pulled back from Harry. It took everything in him not to chase her lips with his. "I'll give you five minutes. If any of you hurt him–" she turned to her brothers "– I will make sure none of you ever have the chance to put a ring on anyone's finger."

Harry wasn't entirely sure what she meant by that threat, and he was okay with that. "I love you," he whispered adoringly, continually growing more in awe of her passionate love for him.

"And I love you, fiance. Feel free to hex any of them if they get too annoying," she said before dropping another kiss on his lips and walking to the house, glaring daggers at her brothers the whole way there.

"Right… Charlie, get your hand off your wand. Seriously, do you really want to fight me?" Harry asked once the door closed behind Ginny. He wouldn't be surprised at all if she was still watching and didn't want to give her a reason to storm back outside.

"Maybe."

Harry rolled his eyes. All three of them were talented wizards, but even Harry, who usually had a rather humble view of his abilities, was aware that it probably wouldn't be much of a fight. Not that he would ever actually fight them, even if they drew their wands on him.

"Percy, I know you three didn't come out here to fight me. This is about me not talking to you three about proposing to her, right?"

"Pretty much," Percy agreed.

"We're all happy for you two. Charlie's a bit… aggressive, you know that," George said. "But… yeah, we know that Ron and Bill knew about it. We're supposed to be brothers, you know? Brothers are supposed to know about stuff like this."

Now Harry was confused. "Wait… so this isn't about me proposing to your little sister?"

"It is for me," Charlie muttered.

"It's both," Percy corrected. "We all knew that you bought the ring. We found out back in… well, we knew. Still, I think we all assumed you'd talk to us at some point before doing it."

"I did plan on it," Harry admitted. "Back before the attack. I was gonna talk to all of you and propose on our anniversary. But after that, I just… I wasn't sure when I was going to do it. For a while there, I wasn't totally sure I'd be able to do it at all. But when Ginny decided that she was gonna join the Cannons with me, I knew I couldn't keep waiting. But… you're right, I– I should've talked to you about it."

"But now you don't know if you would've had our permission to do it. I was looking forward to being persuaded," George lamented.

Harry managed to crack a smile. "I wasn't going to ask for your permission. You think Ginny's pissed off now? Can you imagine how mad she'd be if she found out I was trying to get your permission to propose to her?"

"He's not serious," Percy said. "I don't think we're actually upset–" Charlie narrowed his eyes in disagreement "– but… maybe try to include your brothers in something this big next time."

"I don't think there's gonna be anything this big ever again," Harry replied.

"We should just be included in every decision you make from now on, just to be safe," George decided. "Which reminds me… Chudley? Seriously?"

"We'll get to that," Charlie assured him. "First… you'd better never hurt her."

Harry nodded, taking things a little more seriously now. "I won't. I'd rather die than hurt her."

"That might mean a little more if you hadn't already pulled off coming back from the dead once," Percy quipped in an almost surprising joke.

Harry didn't even have it in him to joke back, thinking this was too important. "Seriously though. I… look, what I would've told you three is pretty much exactly what I told your parents, Bill, and Ron. Ginny is literally everything to me. If I had to choose between anything and her, it's her every time. I'd give up Quidditch. Hell, I'd even give up magic if I had to to be with her or protect her. It's not a contest. She doesn't need my protection. But I'll still do everything I can to make sure she's always safe and loved. That's never gonna change."

"We know," George said simply. "If we didn't know that, we would've figured out a way to get rid of you a long time ago. You're the only person who could ever even halfway deserve to be with her, and you're definitely the only one who could ever handle her."

"For what it's worth, she's also the only person who could ever halfway deserve to be with you," Percy added. "I'm not going to say that again though."

"And the other part?" Charlie demanded.

"The other part?" Harry asked, still confused for a second before it hit him. "Oh… um, I– I thought you three should know that I proposed to my girlfriend today."

"How are you handling the rejection?" George asked with a grin.

Harry actually laughed. "Actually, she said yes. I'm engaged now."

"Congrats," Charlie said, a mischievous smile spreading across his face. "Let's get him."

Harry had less than a second to react before the three of them rushed at him. He wasn't sure exactly what he was expecting, but he was positive that a massive, back pounding hug wasn't it. At least Charlie was giving him something more like what he would've expected, punching him in the shoulder several times, even though there wasn't any animosity behind it. Hardly.

When Harry finally broke out of the hug, all three Weasleys were grinning at him. "Seriously, Harry… I'm never gonna stop giving you shit, so you're just gonna have to get used to it. But you are our little brother, and we're just really damn glad that you were here to get down on one knee for her."

Harry blinked at Charlie several times, wondering if he'd ever heard Charlie be more honest. "I am too," he finally said, clearing his throat of whatever emotion was caught in the back of it.

"Now for the more important part of our discussion…" Charlie replied.

In unison, all three of them exclaimed, "Chudley?"

"What's wrong with Chudley?" Ginny asked, walking back to them from the house.

"It's Chudley!" Charlie answered. "The worst team in the league? You two could've played anywhere, and you picked Chudley?"

Ginny surprised all of them when she gave each of her brothers a kiss on the cheek before stepping over to Harry and wrapping an arm around his waist. "It was the only place we could play together. It was almost as easy a decision as saying yes when Harry proposed. By the way, you three are very sweet, even if you pretend to be all tough and dangerous."

Charlie rolled his eyes as George said, "I told you we should've stunned her. She can't ever mind her own business."

Ginny just grinned at her brothers. "I love you all too. Now come on, Harry. We've got a party to get to."

Harry was very happy to be led by her towards the house, and he didn't miss the smiles her brothers were giving them, even though Charlie did his best to turn his into a snarl when he saw Harry looking at him. That only made Harry happier somehow.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

Merlin, her brothers could be annoying. On today of all days, why did they have to harass Harry? Hadn't they been through enough?

Ginny had half a mind to turn around and refuse to let her brothers anywhere near Harry as she opened the door to the Burrow, but Bill could probably see that look in her eyes and put a hand on her shoulder, guiding her into the house.

"You can watch from here," he assured her. "Congratulations by the way."

"Watch… them? They're not actually gonna–"

"Do you really think I would've let them be out there if they were going to attack him? They just wish he'd talked to them about proposing to you."

Now Ginny really wanted to storm out there. "He didn't need to get their permission to propose to me! He didn't need permission from anyone!"

Bill was still more levelheaded than she was. "It's not about that… well, maybe it is for Charlie. I think Percy and George are more bothered that their brother proposed to his girlfriend without telling them."

Ginny blinked. "Oh. So then…"

"I had one up in my room," Ron said as he ran down the stairs, holding out a flesh coloured string. "Hey, Ginny. Don't worry. George switched Charlie's wand with a fake one just in case."

"That was the only way I wasn't going to put up a fight about it," Hermione added as she took the Extendable Ear from Ron and fed it through a small crack at the bottom of the door. "Sonorus," she cast on the string. Ginny winced, expecting the conversation to bellow through the house, but Hermione apparently knew how to modify the volume enough so that all four of them could hear without it being loud enough for Ginny's parents to hear in the kitchen. She suspected Fleur was distracting them, based on how loudly her mum was talking.

Ginny heard George say, "We're supposed to be brothers, you know? Brothers are supposed to know about stuff like this."

Bill nodded without saying he told her so. They all listened silently as her brothers showed that they cared about Harry just as much as her, even if not all of them said so in as many words. It was very sweet. And Ginny thought her heart, already filled to the brim with love for her fiance, might explode when he told her brothers, without having any idea that she was listening, that he'd give up everything, even magic, to be with her. She loved him so much.

She did tense and start to move for the door when she heard Charlie say, "Let's get him," but Bill put an arm in front of her and looked out the window. Ginny followed his line of sight and saw that Harry was being tackled in a group hug.

"I'm never letting Charlie live this down," Ron said gleefully.

"He's never going to open up like this again if you do that," Hermione warned.

Ron shrugged, apparently unconcerned. "Don't care. This is good enough already."

Ginny laughed and tapped Bill's arm. "I think it's been long enough. I'm gonna go get them."

He smiled and stepped out of her way. "Yeah I think they've about sorted everything out now anyways."

She walked outside as Charlie, George, and even Percy exclaimed, "Chudley?"

"What's wrong with Chudley?" Ginny asked like she didn't know their answer.

"It's Chudley!" Charlie explained, waving his hands as he did. "The worst team in the league? You two could've played anywhere, and you picked Chudley?"

Before answering, Ginny stopped to kiss each of her brothers on the cheek. That seemed to mollify even Charlie a bit. She did have to restrain herself when she reached Harry though; she settled for wrapping her arm around his waist, wishing she didn't have to wait until tonight to do more with him.

"It was the only place we could play together. It was almost as easy a decision as saying yes when Harry proposed. By the way, you three are very sweet, even if you pretend to be all tough and dangerous."

George nudged Charlie, who was rolling his eyes. "I told you we should've stunned her. She can't ever mind her own business."

Ginny almost laughed. After what she'd just heard from them, she wasn't concerned about that idea in the slightest. "I love you all too. Come on, Harry. We've got a party to get to."

She took Harry's hand and led him back inside. Bill, Ron, and Hermione had wisely moved away from the back door, though Ron wasn't subtle with winding the Extendable Ear back up, and Ginny was fairly certain Harry saw it.

Fleur came out of the kitchen, probably kicked out by her mum, and smiled widely at the two of them. "Let me see!"

Ginny blushed a little as she held her hand out. Fleur took her hand and admired the ring. "Oui, Harry, you have very good taste in jewellery. This eez gorgeous!"

Harry seemed pleased with himself, even though he said, "The couple who run the store were really helpful. There's no way I could've done it without them. Oh… I was thinking that we should get our wedding bands from them too… whenever we do get around to that."

Ginny's heart fluttered, and she nodded, probably a little too excitedly. "That's a great idea."

"Any clue when that'll be yet?" Bill asked.

Harry and Ginny locked eyes. She thought she'd marry him tonight if her mum and Fleur wouldn't kill her over it. Actually, Hermione and her friends from school would probably also be in line for that.

"Er– I guess we don't really have a time in mind… yet," Harry answered, barely managing to look away from her. She wasn't doing much better, not with the thought of marrying him suddenly so much more real and tangible than ever before.

"We'll figure it out," Ginny said. "We've figured everything else out so far."

"Alright, I'm pretty sure there was supposed to be a party?" George interrupted loudly as he entered the house. "Last thing any of us need to see is the two of them eating each other's faces."

The rest of her brothers laughed, and, just for that, Ginny pulled Harry into a quick but very hot kiss, all while giving her brothers a one fingered salute behind his back.

They were interrupted by a very cheerful "in!"

Ginny laughed as she pulled back from Harry and saw the only person who could rival her fiance for her affections. "Hi, Teddy!"

She and Harry both moved over to Andi, who was holding a very happy-looking Teddy in her arms. Teddy leaned away from his grandmother and reached his hands out, making a grabbing motion with them as he waited for Ginny to take him after calling her.

"So needy," Andi said with a cluck of her tongue.

"How can I say no to this face though?" Ginny asked, taking Teddy out of Andi's arms and sticking her tongue out at him. He giggled and swiped at her mouth.

"I'm sorry we couldn't stay for long at the station. He was a little extra fussy today around that many people."

"You were there?" Ginny asked, a little surprised since she hadn't seen either of them on the platform.

"Long enough to see the proposal. It really was beautiful, Harry. Good job," she added.

He grinned. "Thanks, Andi. I'm glad the two of you were there, even if Teddy won't remember it."

"He may not, but the two of you will know he was there."

"Did you see Harry propose to me, Teddy?" Ginny asked, kissing Teddy's cheeks and making him giggle even more. He did notice the ring on her finger though, and he reached out at it, looking more curious as he stopped laughing. Ginny let him look, but she quickly moved her hand away when Teddy lurched forward and tried to fit the ring in his mouth.

"Aww, Teddy you can't do that to her ring," Harry said, a little teasingly. "I'd never be able to get another one like it."

Teddy didn't understand though. All he knew was that Ginny had just taken away a toy he was very interested in playing with. He looked betrayed as his bottom lip quivered.

"Don't cry, Ted," Ginny tried soothingly. It didn't work. Teddy's eyes squinted shut and he began wailing loudly.

Ginny tried bouncing him on her hip, but that didn't seem to be doing a lot to relax him. Harry tried offering him a stuffed animal out of the bag Andi had left in the living room, but he wasn't interested in either his lion or his badger.

"I can take him if you want," Andi offered.

Ginny, maybe a little stubbornly, shook her head. "Nope, I'm fine. He's my godson; this is just part of the job."

She wasn't really sure what her plan was, but she was saved from needing one when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned back and saw Bill holding out something that looked quite a bit like her ring, except that it was much larger and less shiny.

"Maybe he'd want this?" Bill asked hopefully.

Ginny turned Teddy so he could see what Bill was holding. Teddy's screams quickly slowed and quietened as he stared intently at the fake ring. Then, he warily reached his hands out, seeming nervous about the possibility of if being taken away again. When he decided he was close enough, he lunged again and greedily wrapped his hands around it after it wasn't moved away.

"It is soft, right?" Harry asked when Teddy pulled it up to his mouth and began trying to chew on it.

"Yeah, I figured it wasn't a good idea to give him a piece of metal to gnaw on," Bill answered wryly.

"That was smart though. Thanks, Bill," Ginny said gratefully.

Fleur kissed her husband proudly as Ginny's parents came in. "Now that he's calmed down, are you all ready for dinner?" her mum asked.

In response, Ron's stomach growled rather loudly. "Er– yes," he answered, leading the way back into the kitchen and magically expanded table.

Everyone else followed him, laughing at his eagerness, but they all quickly tucked in to the delicious shepherd's pie that her mum had made. Ginny remembered, with a confusing mixture of sadness and love, that this was what she and Harry had eaten on a date when he had lost his memory a few months ago. She wasn't sure she'd ever fully recover from just how painful that time was, but seeing a ring on her finger, a ring Harry had proposed with, with full knowledge of the entire history of their relationship, did help a lot. So did seeing Teddy contenting himself with chewing on his own ring.

"So tell us everything," her mum encouraged. "How was your last week at Hogwarts?"

Ginny and Harry exchanged a look, trying to figure out exactly how to sum up everything that had happened. For it only being just over a week since the last time they were home, it felt like it'd been much longer.

"Um… N.E.W.T.s went well, I think," Harry started. "Pretty sure I didn't fail any."

"Same," Ginny agreed. "We went to Hogsmeade with everyone last weekend. That was a good time, even though we were all pretty sad by the end of it."

"Oh, there was the fireworks show," Harry added. "And, of course, graduation and telling everyone bye."

"We also signed our professional contracts," Ginny tacked on.

"And I proposed to my girlfriend," Harry finished, smiling broadly at her.

"Fiancee," Ginny corrected with an equally wide smile.

Hermione cleared her throat before Ginny could jump Harry, pulling their attention back to the family, who was just watching them with smiles of their own. It seemed like everyone was in a very happy mood tonight.

"Maybe you could elaborate on some of that?" Hermione suggested.

"Oh… er– what didn't we explain?" Harry asked.

Ginny's dad chuckled. "How about we start with the fireworks show?"

"That's a bit of a long story," Harry started. "So… there's this book that the Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts has that was written by the founders. It–"

"The founders?" Percy interrupted. "As in…"

"Yep," Harry replied. "Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin themselves. It's basically a history of how Hogwarts got started, but with a lot more details on how the castle was built too. It's what we used to fix the Room of Requirement last summer."

"The Room of Requirement?" Andi asked.

Ginny hadn't realised that she'd never heard of it. "It's a magical room in the seventh floor corridor, across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls ballet. Basically, the room can transform into anything you want it to. I've seen it as a classroom, a training room, the Gryffindor common room… even a Muggle cinema, but I'm still not totally sure how that was possible."

"Across from the tapestry…" Andi started but trailed off as a blush crept onto her cheeks. "Oh, I know what you're talking about."

Judging from the amused and scandalised look her mum was giving Andi, Ginny didn't need to give Andi any grief over whatever secret she was hiding. Her mum would almost certainly handle that.

"Right," Ginny said instead. "But there was a lot more in the book too. So a couple months ago, we found a… sort of like a half scavenger hunt and half test, I guess? There was something written by Godric Gryffindor saying that we needed to complete the quest by the summer solstice in the thousandth year after Hogwarts was founded. The book said Hogwarts was founded in nine hundred ninety-nine, a thousand years ago. So we had to find these four pieces of crystal armour around the school."

Harry picked it up from there. "We found these shoes underneath the head chair of the High Table in the Great Hall. They were sort of greenish and corresponded to Slytherin because you'd have to be ambitious to sit in that chair. And then we had to solve a puzzle in the library to find a helmet that was blue for Ravenclaw. After that was…"

Ginny realised why he trailed off. Damn, her mum was going to be pissed off. "The breastplate for Gryffindor was in a cave in the Forbidden Forest, so I ran in and got it really quickly, but it wasn't actually a dangerous cave, and I made it out safely so it was all okay. And we found the gloves for–"

"You went into the forest alone?" Ginny's mum practically screeched. Ginny winced, reminded of Ron getting a Howler in her first year.

"Technically, but like I said–"

"Do you have a death wish, Ginny Weasley?" Her mum had really just wasted sickles on the Howler. An ordinary talking letter would've conveyed her sentiment just as well.

Wisely, Ginny decided to not remind her mum that her name would soon be Ginny Potter, a thought that, even now, thrilled her. "Of course I don't have a death wish, Mum. I'm not a little girl who can't protect myself, and I was perfectly fine. If we've got to have this discussion, could we maybe not do it on the day I got engaged?"

Harry put a hand on her leg under the table, comfortingly stroking her thigh with his thumb. Ginny half wondered if her dad was doing something similar to her mum, with the way he was looking at her as some of the redness in her face slowly disappeared. Finally, her mum sighed heavily.

"We don't need to have a conversation about it. You're an adult; sometimes it's just… easy to forget that you've been protecting yourself for so long. Anyways, what was after the forest?"

Harry cleared his throat. "Er– we found gloves for Hufflepuff in the kitchens. All we had to do was ask the house elves nicely for them, and they helped us out." Hermione looked pleased but didn't interject, Ginny noticed. "Then, once we had them all, we needed someone from all four houses to help us put it together on the twenty-first, so Luna, Owen, and Astoria helped us out."

Ginny took over for the end of the story. "The armour like… came to life and led us outside. And it somehow brought an ordinary suit to life and got it to bring everyone from dinner outside too. Once everyone was out of the castle, this… absolutely incredible fireworks show went off over the castle, and the armour gave us a piece of parchment from Gryffindor, congratulating us and saying he was proud of us for completing the quest. It was amazing."

"Second best fireworks show I've ever seen," Harry commented with a smile.

Ginny glanced curiously at him as George, disgusted, groaned and said, "Merlin's saggy left buttock, why the hell would you say that in front of us? She's still our sister!"

"I think you're getting a bit too comfortable with all of us," Charlie added in a low tone, trying to unnerve Harry, who looked terrified, eyes darting from Ginny to her brothers and parents quickly.

"I– no– that– that's not what I meant! I was talking about Fred and George's fireworks show when they left Hogwarts a few years ago!"

George instantly relaxed, laughing loudly. "I'm sure the founders would be proud to know they were outdone by us."

Harry chuckled weakly. "Yeah."

Ginny had to bite back the grin as everyone around the table was silent, apparently split between amusement at what had just transpired and amazement at their story. The only sound disturbing the silence was Teddy sucking on the fake diamond of his ring.

Finally, Ron decided to break up the awkward silence. "So you two really don't know what a quiet term is, do you?"

Everyone, even Charlie, laughed at that. "You don't have that much room to talk, mate," Harry replied.

"Nobody ever believes me when I tell them that you're the reason I never had a quiet year at Hogwarts. I think this pretty much proves it."

"Perhaps it eez Potters and Weasleys together that cause problems," Fleur suggested teasingly.

"Yikes. I might want to give this back then," Ginny joked, gesturing to her ring. Harry just grinned and put an arm around her like he didn't believe it at all.

"At least it was a more productive and somewhat less dangerous term than you've had in the past," her dad pointed out. "I do believe there's still a bit of a hippogriff in the room though."

As if it was rehearsed, literally everyone other than herself, Harry, Teddy, and Ron exclaimed, "Chudley?"

Ginny and Harry both laughed, even though Ron looked a bit annoyed. Teddy glanced up from his ring for a second before deciding that the disturbance wasn't more interesting than his toy.

"What's wrong with Chudley?" Ron asked. "We've got a real shot now that we've signed two of the best prospects to come out of Hogwarts in decades. You're all gonna see."

"We actually do want Chudley to win," George informed him. "More for Ginny and Harry than you, but still."

"It's just… Chudley," Charlie added, like that explained everything.

"I mean, I can't speak for Ginny, but I picked Chudley because they were the only team that didn't make me feel like I'd be signing on to be some kind of zoo animal that would sell loads of tickets. Every other team was telling me how much merchandise they could sell with me, but Mister Trumble actually talked about playing Quidditch and clearly cared about me beyond how much money I could make him."

"Fine, that makes sense… I guess," Charlie conceded. "But Ginny? Didn't you have an offer from Holyhead?"

Ginny had wondered if anybody in her family would find it odd that she'd signed with Chudley over Holyhead or… any other team, really. She was already expecting ridicule and confusion in the press whenever the news did inevitably break, and she hoped it would be easier to explain to her family than the rest of the country.

"You might think it's stupid, Charlie, but I decided that, if I had the choice between being on Harry's team or not, it didn't matter what team it was, I was always going to pick Harry's team. Especially when I knew he was going to pick Chudley. They were one of the only teams that offered us both a contract, and I love Mister Trumble. I wouldn't ever pick anywhere else."

"Plus, I'm there," Ron added helpfully.

Ginny snorted. "And Ron coaches for Chudley."

"You couldn't have been happy being on separate teams?" Charlie asked.

Ginny glanced over at Harry, who was watching her curiously, even though he already knew the answer. "Maybe we would've been. But I know I'm going to be much happier like this. After… everything we've been through… I just wasn't ready for us to be apart for anything, even Quidditch."

Harry squeezed her leg. "I did try to talk her out of it. A lot, actually. She got fed up and burned the other contract offers, so I figured she was probably pretty serious about it. And it also sounded awesome to me."

"Just watch," Ginny said, smiling at Harry before looking around the table at everyone else. "We're gonna win at Chudley."

"Yeah we are!" Ron agreed enthusiastically.

"I believe it," Bill said. "They might as well shut down the club if you don't because they're never gonna get a better chance than this."

"I believe it too," her dad said. "Although, I wouldn't be surprised if it took more than a year for things to start turning around fully."

"It'd be great to see someone other than Tutshill win the league," George added. "And we'd get to see the League Cup up close… yeah, I like this idea."

Charlie nodded a little but shrugged. "I really hope you're both right."

"We are," both Ginny and Harry said at the same time, exuding confidence that wasn't fake in the slightest. They had to win together. There wasn't another choice.

"Well, since that's settled… how long are you going to give us to get ready for the wedding?" Ginny's mum asked, looking expectantly at them as if they'd already have a plan in place.

"Oh, we don't have a date or anything in mind yet, Mum. I mean, I had literally no idea he was proposing today until just before he got down on one knee. I don't think we're in any sort of rush though–" Harry shook his head to agree with her "– but I don't think we want a really long engagement."

"Definitely not. But we'll figure it out," Harry assured them. "And once we do, we'll let you all know so we can start planning things."

"Really, the sooner the better though," her mum said, in case they didn't already get the message.

"It will be perfect, no matter when it eez," Fleur promised them. "We'll all make sure of it."

Ginny smiled at her sister-in-law. Considering how badly Fleur's wedding had been derailed, it was incredibly kind of her to be so eager to support them with their future wedding. Granted, Ginny had no doubt that everyone would want to help, even Charlie.

"We hope so," she said. "I can't wait."

Harry took her hand in his. "Neither can I."

"Alright lovebirds," George interrupted. "Could you at least wait for the rest of us to leave before you start looking at each other like that? You're gonna make Teddy sick."

"Eh?" Teddy almost burped out as he looked away from his ring again, recognising his name.

"He doesn't mean that, Teddy," Ginny said, scooping him up in her arms again. Teddy smiled brightly at her before suddenly closing his eyes and falling asleep on her shoulder. "I guess that ring really tired him out," she whispered.

"I'll take him home," Andi volunteered.

"If you don't mind, can he stay with us?" Ginny quickly offered. Harry immediately nodded in agreement. It'd only been a week since they'd last seen him, but that still felt like too long.

Andi smiled at them both. "I don't mind at all, you both know that."

"I'll just go put him to bed, then," Ginny said, still in a hushed tone. She rose from the table and walked up the stairs, knowing Harry was following behind her.

"What was his deal with the ring?" Harry asked while they tucked him into his cot.

Ginny shook her head but smiled. "No idea, but he likes it almost as much as I do."

Harry exhaled a small laugh before kissing Teddy's head. Ginny did the same, and they set their usual Detection Charm on his cot to alert them if he woke up. On the landing, Harry stopped her before they went back down the stairs. When she looked at him curiously, Harry bent down and dropped a very warm kiss on her lips that made her tingle all the way down to her toes.

"It's been way too long since I've kissed my fiancee," he explained before kissing her again.

"I will literally never get tired of you calling me that," she said after they broke apart.

"Well I'm gonna have to stop at some point and start calling you my wife," he joked.

She knew she was looking at him hungrily, and, based on his expression, Harry was very aware of it too. "If you don't stop talking like that, I'm gonna shag you right here on the landing."

Harry looked like he was genuinely considering it for a moment before he blinked and cleared his throat. "Er– let's… tell the family good night first, and then we can see about… that." He shifted a little, and Ginny smirked, knowing they were in for a great night.

"Let's make it fast then," she said before racing down the stairs, a little relieved to see that everyone was standing in the living room like they were waiting to leave.

"I'm going back home, but I can come by and pick Teddy up whenever. Congratulations you two, I am so happy for you!" Andi said, hugging both of them. "You two deserve all this happiness, and I couldn't be more proud of you," she added before saying goodbye to everyone else and leaving.

"We're heading out too," George said, gesturing to himself and Percy. "Doubt it'll be too long before we see you again, but yeah, congratulations. Can't believe it took you this long, Harry, but I'm glad you finally remembered you had balls and did it."

Ginny snorted as George pulled Harry into a hug that Harry might've been a little more reluctant to be a part of after that comment.

"He knows I'm kidding," George whispered to her when he hugged her.

She kissed him on the cheek. "Duh."

Percy followed George in hugging both of them. "It was a great proposal, honestly. And don't forget what we talked about out there, Harry."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, I don't think I'll be forgetting that any time soon."

Percy grinned. "We're counting on it."

"I've gotta get back to the reserve," Charlie said after they'd left. "But– um… ah, to hell with it. I'm happy for you both. You basically act like you're married already, so it'll be good to finally make it official. But don't think that marrying my sister is gonna get you off the hook for anything, Potter."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Harry replied easily.

Charlie snorted. "Yeah, right." Then he grabbed them both and yanked them forcefully into a tight hug. "See you soon," he said before shooting one last falsely menacing glare at Harry and exiting.

"We're all staying," Bill said once Ginny and Harry turned to them expecting to say goodbye. "Just for tonight. So it's just good night for us."

Even so, that didn't stop them from hugging any of Bill, Fleur, Ron, Hermione, or Ginny's parents. It was a big night, after all.

"We're so happy for you," Hermione said, hugging Ginny. "We're going to have so much to talk about though."

Ginny wasn't sure she wanted to know what that meant. "Okay," she agreed as her mind began wandering to thoughts of returning to her bedroom.

"So do we," Ron added.

Ginny had a better idea of what those conversations would be about. "Can't wait, Coach. But… I'm exhausted, so we'll see you all tomorrow."

Harry quickly finished hugging everyone and trailed closely behind her as she ran upstairs again and quickly entered her bedroom. "Good thing Imperturbable Charms exist," she commented as she turned back and grinned wickedly at Harry. "I wouldn't want Bill and Fleur to hear what we're gonna be doing over here."

"Indicens," Harry cast behind him before tossing his wand onto the nightstand. Then, before Ginny even had time to try seducing him, he stepped forward and pressed her against the wall, crashing his lips onto hers.

Ginny moaned into his mouth as she jumped off the ground and wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer. He responded by cupping her bum in both of his hands and kissing her even more ferociously. Eventually, he tore his lips from hers, leaving Ginny almost whimpering before he began planting kisses along her neck and at the sensitive spot behind her ear.

"Harry," Ginny gasped, pulling desperately at his shirt.

His shirt was almost completely off when a vibrating sound made him look up at her in confusion. "What the–" he said in a lower voice than usual, which Ginny was fairly certain almost unbuttoned her jeans magically.

He shifted his hands on her bum, but she couldn't get too excited before he pulled her wand out of her pocket and held it between them. It was still vibrating softly.

Slowly, their eyes travelled from the wand back to each other's, and then Harry quickly turned around, still holding onto her, so they could both see what they'd somehow forgotten in the middle of her bedroom. Teddy's cot was right there. And Teddy was sitting up in it, staring at them curiously.

If Ginny wasn't already unwrapping her legs from around Harry's waist, he would've dropped her on her bum. Instead, she landed on her feet while he pulled his shirt back down, blushing incredibly red. From the heat in her face, Ginny was certain she was even more red than him.

Without saying anything, they went over to the cot together. Ginny moved to lift Teddy out of the cot, but, now that the disruptive noise that had woken him had stopped, he seemed happy to lay back down and go to sleep, which only made her blush more.

They both quickly changed into their nightclothes once they were sure he was asleep, a pair of sweatpants for Harry and one of Harry's shirts for her, and climbed into bed. She felt like an awkward girl with a crush again for all of two seconds before he whispered, "We're randy idiots."

Ginny snorted into his shoulder. "We really are. Can't blame us though."

"Definitely not," he agreed.

"I was not expecting to have this quiet of a night after you proposed to me."

"So you had imagined what tonight was gonna be like?"

Ginny brushed a kiss on his ear as she whispered, "First, I was going to get all of your clothes off, and then–"

He quickly shut her up with a kiss. "You can't torture me like that," he said a moment later. "That's just cruel. You're the one who volunteered to take Teddy."

"I missed my godson," she argued.

Harry sighed. "Yeah. So did I. But I think I'm gonna hold a grudge against him for a bit now. Not a very cool thing to do to a bloke."

She grinned as a brilliant idea popped into her head. "Well… what if, to make up for it, you and I took a vacation?"

Harry cocked his head, looking very excited by the prospect. "A vacation? Where?"

"You promised me we'd go back to Weymouth this summer, didn't you? I miss Sunrise Cottage."

He planted another kiss on her lips. "Merlin, you are absolutely perfect. Yes, we're going to Weymouth. Next week. That gives us a few days here and then we can take all the time we want there. I really love you."

Her smile grew wider. "I love you too, fiance."

He pulled her closer to him. "We're really engaged. This is amazing."

"It really is," she agreed. "Just…"

"Just what?" Harry asked when she didn't finish her thought.

"Just… if this is how great it feels to be engaged to you… I can't even imagine what it's gonna be like when we get married."

"You know… I fall in love with you more with every second I spend with you. I meant to tell you earlier that the next thing on my list of why I love you is pretty easy– you said yes. And I can't wait to find out what it's like to be married to you. I just know it's gonna be perfect."

Ginny kissed him several times before they finally started to settle down. It was disappointing that they couldn't have had some more… physical fun tonight, but Ginny wasn't with Harry for the sex. Well… the sex wasn't the main reason. He made her feel safe and loved. He'd put a ring on her finger. And she loved him with every part of herself. If the first day of being engaged was this magical and perfect, she was just so excited to spend every day in this ever-growing, wonderful feeling of joy and happiness and love.