At the Burrow

[bill_weasley]

They walk down the lane leading to the house; it's always amused Bill so very highly that Muggles don't know the place is there. After all, it's a four-storey building with a very loud ghoul in the attic. Fleur's hand held tightly in his, he pushes open the front door

Comments

[leplusbeau]

*Fleur is smiling very politely. And not batting away Molly's hand when she starts to test the length of Bill's hair. She likes it long.*

Oui! Let us go tell your father! Doez he still have those funny electric plug thingz?

*Because that is the polite way to say 'please do not leave me alone ever with your crazy mother. I will have short hair and pregnant before you return.' She starts to skip out door with a death grip hold on Bill's hand. She will not be abandoned to kitchen work and an upset mother-in-law.*

[bill_weasley]

Bill's smart: he was Head Boy at Hogwarts for a reason. His mum scares him sometimes, and that's when she's being nice. "We'll be right back, Mum. I'd love a lemonade if you've got any

[leplusbeau]

*Fleur beams up at Arthur. She rather likes him. All bumbling and muggle obsessed and mostly bald. He reminds her of her own long dead father in a very round about and not at all similar way. She is cut off before she can even try to make polite conversation. Arthur leans over and hugs Bill. One of those one arm, father-son hugs that involves backslapping.*

*It makes Fleur smile. Because Bill is smiling like a little boy and that makes her heart quicken. Her husband is happy. And he is so handsome when he is happy.*

*Before she knows it, Arthur has thrown an arm about her shoulders as well to give her a fatherly squeeze as he steers them back up toward the house.*

[bill_weasley]

"So, Dad. What were you working on in there? Mum said something about a Muggle alarm clock

[leplusbeau]

*Fleur is clutching at his hand.*

Please.

*She wants to be anywhere else but with the Weasleys right now. Maybe it would be better if she went to the bathroom and Bill told them? Yes, that would work. She could go upstairs and listen for the yelling to stop. They won't kill Bill; he's the eldest! It would be bad luck on their house.*

*She turns her head and gives Bill a look meant to convey exactly all her thoughts though the power of marriage telepathy.*

[bill_weasley]

Is that... desperation in your eyes, my love? He moves his hand to her thigh and gives a small squeeze, hopefully a gesture of reassurance.

It will be fine.

He pours Fleur a glass of lemonade first, then one for his mum, his dad, and finally, himself. He lifts his glass, hand still on Fleur's leg

(no, she's not going anywhere)

and smiles. "Here's to family. Mum, Dad... we have something to share with you."

Sometimes, things happen out of turn, or in a blur, and memory doesn't do justice to the sequence. Other times, things are just laughable in their absurdity.

With a synchronicity born from years and years of marriage, both his parents speak at the same time. Arthur, looking hopeful, asks "You're coming back to stay?" and Molly blurts out "Bill, you've not got her into... well, trouble, have you?"

Setting down his lemonade, Bill laughs; his arm moves from Fleur's thigh to her shoulder.

"No, neither of those. We're married, Mum, Dad. We got married. We wanted to let you know straight away."

(Silence.)

[leplusbeau]

*Fleur bites down on her comment to Molly. Being rude to your mother-in-law in less then ten seconds after that little announcement will not start things on a good foot.*

...surprise?

*She smiles as brightly as she can.*

*Molly stares at Bill for a long moment. Her eyes swing over to Fleur, and she lets out a little choked sound. Arthur hands her a handkerchief, and Molly quickly covers her mouth and scrubs at her damp cheeks.*

*Fleur turns her head to watch the wall. And pretends not to be upset.*

[bill_weasley]

Bill waits for a little bit, just watching and listening, before he bursts into laughter

[leplusbeau]

*Fleur has decided to look at her lap instead of the wall.*

My family was not invited. It waz not planned. Very sudden, you see. He gave me thiz. *She offers her hand to both parents to try and show them her lovely wedding band. Arthur looks and smiles. Molly pulses her lips.*

...I am not pregnant. *She tries to be helpful.*

[bill_weasley]

He's not trying to step on any toes and he's certainly not trying to be macho about it, but Bill sits up now and takes over simply because this is his home and these are his parents and this is his element and he's more comfortable here than Fleur

[leplusbeau]

*Fleur...really wants a cigarette right now. But she is sure Molly still thinks she is P-R-E-G-N-A-N-T, and that would make her look even worse then a son stealing french whatsit.*

...non, he really picked it out himself. He iz not juste a pretty face, you know.

*A light touch to Bill's cheek.*

He iz good at almost everything he doez. Well, except pick furniture. He nevah haz been good at that.

*When she remembers that she is in the middle of her husband's mother's kitchen and talking about the furniture they bought together and thinking of bedsheets and things and...She smiles ever so slightly. Arthur seems amused. Molly--er. Fleur smiles a little more.*

[bill_weasley]

With a laugh, Bill rests his arm around Fleur's shoulder. "So, Mum. Dad. Want to hear about the rest of our trip there?" He's very sketchy on some details, like where they've been living and staying before the lure of Nevada, although he's relatively sure that Dumbledore sent word to his parents that he was safe. But since Molly doesn't object and he knows his dad is enchanted to pieces by all things Muggle, so he launches into rather a lot of detail about the casinos in general and the slot machines in particular

[leplusbeau]

*Fleur is already out the door and taking frantic drags on her first smoke. Down to the filter. Her hands are only shaking a little.*

*She looks up at Bill and grins. Very small grin, but a grin none the less.*

...that waz fun. We should do it more often.

[bill_weasley]

He kisses both sides of her grin. "It was loads of fun, Fleur." Bill really does try to imagine how his mum has to be feeling, but that pales in comparison to the way Fleur was shaking beneath his hands when they first made their way outside. "Still, my love, I wouldn't have done this any other way. I love you, I'm thrilled we're married, and I don't give a dragon's fang what anybody else thinks, my parents included."

He means it, too.

Steal you away with me in the middle of the night. Take you somewhere without judgment, without worries, without stress.

They wander to the base of an old oak tree; Bill sits beneath and and motions for Fleur to join him. "I always feel like a child when I come back home, Fleur. We used to use this tree as a base playing tag, and growing up here was wonderful." He lets out a small sigh. "But we need a place to call our own. While we're here, we should start to look. After we tell your mum, of course."

[leplusbeau]

*helpful*

We can start tomorrow! We can go out and look! ...and spend time with your family. *That is most mumbled against her fingers as she takes her cigarette and puts it out in the grass.*

*And buries her face in his chest.* Love you.

...that would be nice. A little place with a big bed.

[bill_weasley]

"Perfect."

He wraps his arms around her and looks up at the stars in the sky. It's peaceful here, and it smells like home and it feels like home, but it doesn't feel like their home. And they need their own place and he knows that as pleasant as it is at the bar, they need a place out here. They can't hide at the end of the universe forever.

"Tomorrow."

For tonight he's content to be here, to have got this announcement over with, to hold her in his arms. He knows they'll go back in eventually and be steered to separate rooms; it's his mum's way. He also knows his dad will give him an apologetic glance and shrug of his shoulders; that's his dad's way. And it's fine.

It's fine.

News like this takes a little while to sink in, and they don't need to stay here for as long as that takes. They can go to London, start looking for flats, go to Paris, tell Fleur's mum, go back to Milliways, gather up their things, and... see where life takes them.

It can't help but happen.