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Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12
Within You, Without You
Chapter 12 - Here, There and Everywhere
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Harry and Ginny entered the Burrow’s kitchen; both were tired, after spending the day setting up the house. Feeling reflective about casting the matrimony spell tomorrow, they’d hoped for food and distraction tonight. Instead, they walked into a very odd sight.
Bill, Fred, and a very pregnant Fleur were in front of the door leading to the lounge, apparently eavesdropping on someone. Fred and Fleur were embroiled in a silent battle over the few inches of space that Bill had left available, and they were swatting at each other’s hands.
Ginny and Harry shared a curious glance at each other, and quickly looked back when Fred whispered a yelp.
“Ow! What’d ya do that for?” he hissed at Bill, rubbing his shoulder.
“Rules,” Bill growled, tucking his wand back into his back pocket, having apparently just hexed Fred. “Quit fighting or I’ll bee sting you again,” he added distractedly, the side of his head still pressed to the door.
“But she started it,” Fred argued.
“I’m not going to hex my pregnant wife, am I? Now quiet, I can’t hear.”
Fleur scrunched her turned up nose and made a prissy little sound at her brother-in-law.
Fred narrowed his eyes, looked at Bill again, and then huffed. Acknowledging Harry and Ginny’s arrival with a nod, he slumped over to them.
“Charlie’s here with the bird. They’re in talking to Mum and Dad now. And I don’t have any Extendable Ears with me!”
The kitchen Floo burst into flame just then and they paused for the sound of the flames to quiet down after Ron and Hermione stepped out.
“So, did you see her? What’s she like?” Ginny asked Fred excitedly.
“See who?” Hermione asked in a whisper, immediately picking up on the hushed anticipation in the room.
“Charlie has brought a girl with him, after all,” Ginny told her.
“Oh!”
“I dunno, haven’t seen her yet,” Fred answered Ginny’s question in hushed conspiracy. “I only got here a few minutes ago and found them already listening in.”
“Ooh!” Fleur suddenly squeaked.
“Go, go!” Bill whispered as the two of them scuttled away from the door. “They’re coming.”
Fleur moved to stir a pot on the stove and Bill quickly took a seat, looking ‘casual.’
“Oh, very dignified,” Hermione teased, and he smiled, slightly shamefaced at the accusation, and chuckled.
The door swung forward and Charlie emerged, slightly red-faced, and his eyes opened wide in surprise at the unexpected gathering.
“Hullo family,” he said. Ron and Fred greeted him with hugs and hand shakes.
“Hey, little girl,” he said as Ginny lunged at him, squeezing him around the neck as he lifted her off the ground. “How’s the bride?”
“I’m fine. I’m so pleased you could come back.”
“Me too, Ginny,” he said sincerely. “It was a good time for it.”
“Harry,” Charlie said, setting Ginny down, extending a handshake. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” he said, noting how different Charlie looked from the last time he saw him. Then, he’d been drunk, bitter, and humbled by Bill’s ‘reprimand.’ But now he had clear, bright eyes and a relaxed manner in him that Harry hadn’t seen since before the war. “Everything all right at the reserve for you?”
“Quite. There’s a lot of work to be done,” Charlie answered. “But we have a good team working on it.”
The door opened again and Mrs. Weasley entered arm in arm and deep in conversation with a young woman and Mr. Weasley closely followed them.
“Let me introduce all of you,” Charlie said, beginning to pinken up. He extended his hand to the young woman who was no more than Harry’s height but seemed to be positively solid as Charlie.
She met his eyes and gave him a reassuring look that conveyed some imperceptible communication as she pushed a stray curly lock of dark brown hair behind her ear and took his hand.
“This is Naama,” Charlie said, putting a protective arm around her. “She’s the Magizoologist assigned to the team, this year. She’s great with dragons - everything really.” Charlie smiled at her and she gave his belly a tiny pinch. “And, erm,” Charlie continued, clearing his throat. “She’s also my wife.”
The air in the room seemed to thin with the collective inhale that took place. Although the woman seemed well aware that she was being inspected and speculated upon, she didn’t look terribly fluffed by it. And one thing seemed certain by the sheepish pride that exuded off Charlie as he looked at Naama’s pretty olive skinned face and almond shaped eyes: Charlie was in love.
“Shalom everyone,” Naama said. Her deep, honeyed voice broke through the awkward silence, lingering gently on the open vowel sounds. “It is so nice meet you finally.”
Another moment passed in the very quiet kitchen, while Naama patiently waited for the shock to abate, while all eyes stared at her.
“N -Naama, is it?” Fred spoke up, being the first to find his tongue. “Well love, you’re either a bit touched in the head, or head over heels over this big Hippogryff, but I’ll congratulate you in any case.” Fred took her hand gently, giving her a very cordial kiss on the cheek.
“Todah-thank you, George? Or are you Fred?” she asked, glancing about, apparently looking for another similar face.
“Fred,” he confirmed, with a smirk. “George and Lee’ll be along soon.”
“Lee?” Naama asked. “He is not one of your brothers.”
“No, he’s not. Lee is the twins’ best mate from school,” Charlie said.
“Ah, I see.”
Harry saw Fred’s eyes narrow slightly at Bill who responded with a slight shrug and a shake of his head. Apparently Bill hadn’t filled Charlie in about George’s recent announcement to the family.
Naama was shaking Ron’s hand and exclaimed loudly. “Then you are surely Ron, yes? Walla, you are good looking - Molly, really, you make handsome boys!”
Mrs. Weasley beamed in spite of the breach of etiquette.
Ron flushed and muttered a barely audible introduction to Hermione. Harry watched with removed amusement as the family welcomed a new member into their midst. The Weasleys had accepted Hermione and him years ago, and slipping into the fold by means of marriage was fairly smooth - so far, he conjectured - but Fleur and now Naama’s merging was done with welcome, but with thorough scrutiny as well. He could only image what Lee Jordan must feel like.
Harry felt a small sure hand on his waist and Ginny’s warm breath on his shoulder blade as she spoke in a low voice that only he could hear.
“Wow - huh? What do you think?” she asked.
“Oh. I dunno,” Harry muttered over his shoulder to her, while they watched Naama engage Hermione in conversation, allowing Ron to slink away from the general praise of his good looks. “Should I have an opinion about her?”
“Just look at how Charlie’s smiling. Looks proud, doesn’t he? But not swotty and full of himself. He looks happy. And Mum’s placated enough.”
“Who’s gone and placated Mum?” interrupted George, who had just entered the door behind them.
But Harry barely had a chance to smile at him before George, being taller than Harry and Ginny, was noticed and called over.
“Ok - here we go,” George muttered to them. “You better come along, too, mate, I’m not doing this alone,” he added to Lee, who said something under his breath and followed dutifully.
Ginny’s arms slipped around Harry’s waist and they watched together as Naama was welcomed into the arms of the family. Charlie beamed as he introduced his bride, and she didn’t seem to mind the scrutiny.
Harry traced circles over the back of Ginny’s hand that rested on his stomach, while across the noisy room, George kissed his new sister-in-law on the cheek and after a few moments of conversation, he and Charlie went out into the garden.
Harry continued touching Ginny’s hand, and closed his eyes thinking about how her hand had felt on his body a couple hours earlier. Her hand and her mouth. He could still feel the slight soreness in the small of his back from lying directly on the hard-wood floor while she hovered over him, sucking on him until he thought he’d go blind with the force of his orgasm.
Then he smiled again at the pain in his knees from lying on his belly while he loved her with his mouth. He licked his lips, still able to taste her-
Ginny patted his belly and gave him a squeeze. “I think I’ll go introduce myself now. Poor thing. The lot of us are a bit much to take all at once. But there’s nothing for it; she’s in a fix now. See you later, love.”
“Yep, I’ll be here.”
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After a hearty meal of chicken parcels with cauliflower-potato bake and plenty of loud conversation on the side, the party had retreated from the confines of the stuffy, crowded house to the open air of the garden. Harry was telling Remus and Mr. Weasley about the protection spells he’d used to ward off dark magic from the new house in Godric’s Hollow. There would be no ghouls or Boggarts taking up residence in the attic or under the sinks.
Percy quietly joined them, seemingly taking an interest in the conversation, and shortly after, he sensed Ron near his side as well. None of this felt out of place to Harry, as there was an undercurrent of anxiety thrumming through the inhabitants of the Burrow and as usual he was at the center of it.
Remus continued speaking about keeping Horklumps out of the garden and nodded hello to Bill and Charlie as they sidled up to them. Harry was taking a great interest in what was being said about repelling gnomes from the water well, and didn’t pay much attention when Fred and George flanked him.
Harry did, however, notice the change in Remus’ expression when Mr. Weasley coughed and excused himself with an odd smile.
That’s when Harry finally noticed the blinking eyes and highly animated smiles on the Brothers Weasley, and with a jolt of apprehension he suddenly realized there was no way that they were taking an interest in the conversation at hand.
A glint of some understanding flickered through Remus’ subtle grin.
“Ah, yes. Well, Harry,” Remus said, looking around at the sudden gathering that had surrounded them. “Anytime you have questions about those charms, please, just let me know.” He was clearly excusing himself, but then added, “I will be just right over here, mind.”
Harry felt his parting words were meant to be some consolation, and perhaps contained a hint of some kind of warning as Remus walked away.
Taking a steadying breath, Harry observed the freckled faces of the men around him and was well accustomed to the Lockhart-like shining smiles and the gleam that showed in their eyes.
“Okay, then, I get it,” Harry said slowly, feeling like a worm on hook. “This is the part where all the big brothers threaten me within an inch of my life about taking good care of their little sister, right? To tell me if I ever make her cry, or hurt her in any way I’ll disappear and no one will ever find the disassembled parts, yeah?”
They all chuckled quietly and gave each other pointed looks as though the tension was broken, but Harry wasn’t disarmed just yet.
“Nothing like that at all, kid,” Bill said. “We know you’ll be good to our sister.”
“Course you will!” Fred said. “You’ve been with the family for awhile now.”
“-And we’re glad to have you,” George completed.
“She chose you. We all respect that,” Percy said, adjusting his glasses, looking only slightly out of place with his brothers.
Harry was literally backed against the wall of the shed with the brothers making a semi-circle in front of him.
“We’d never threaten you, Harry,” Bill said. “We just want to let you know that you’re … one of us now.”
Harry detected hesitation on Bill’s part, as his eyes darted to Charlie, who then spoke up.
“That’s right. You see, the thing is, well, Bill and I were already off to school when the babies came along.” Charlie reached up and patted his ‘baby’ brother Ron on the head, who looked down at him. “But we’ve all marked each other along the way.”
“Yeah, incurable arachnophobia, thanks to Fred,” Ron said, rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, I’ve had my arm broken twice,” George said. “Once by Charlie, and once by Fred.”
“Nearly lost an eye when Bill broke my glasses,” Percy added.
“See this?” Fred smiled wide, and pointed at his front tooth. “Chipped, by Percy.”
“George set my hair on fire once,” Bill said, quite happily.
“That’s right,” George agreed. “And in return, he charmed my arse cheeks together.”
They all shared a reminiscent chuckle and Harry couldn’t help but join in. Each of them seemed to feel a sense of pride for the injuries they’d sustained and inflicted on each other. As if it was a sign of belonging. Of all the times Harry could remember getting pounded by Dudley, he was never left feeling full of familial attachment. But the Weasleys were different.
“See, we’ve all paid our dues in this family,” Fred said. “Everyone belongs.” He slung an arm over George’s shoulder. “No matter what.” He squeezed George’s shoulder and gave a quick sharp look to Charlie.
Bill quietly cleared his throat and took a swig of Charlie’s Butterbeer, then he passed it back and spoke.
“We’ve got your back now, man. And all the Rules apply to you now as well.”
Harry studied Bill’s face, which bore a mask of sincerity that barely veiled amusement. He then looked to Ron, whose pursed lips and twinkling eyes was confirmation enough. ‘The Rules’ dictated that younger brothers couldn’t use magic against elder brothers, an old tradition that kept discipline among large families of wizards. With Harry in the line of succession now, this meant that Ron was no longer the end of the line: Harry was.
Ron sipped his drink with a smirk and Harry narrowed his eyes slightly before looking back at Bill, who shook his hair out of his face and extended his hand to Harry.
Harry finally let his guard fall away as he took the hand offered by his surrogate big brother, the head of the fraternity he was joining.
“I appreciate that, Bill. Thanks.” Harry was looking Bill directly in the eye as he spoke, and just as he said the word ‘thanks,’ Bill’s grip on his hand tightened. The older man pulled back his left hand and punched Harry in the arm.
Hard.
Harry grunted and saw the slight rise of Bill’s eyebrow and hint of a smile that echoed Ron’s when he kept a secret. Harry understood immediately that this was a challenge.
Recovering from the shock and ignoring the muffled guffaws around him, he composed himself and smiled.
“Thanks,” he said again, wishing his voice was a bit steadier. He heard a snigger that indicated that it hadn’t gone unnoticed.
He couldn’t be bothered with it though, because Charlie stepped up in front of him.
“I’ve got nothing but respect for you, little man,” he said, holding out his right hand. “Welcome to the family.”
Harry’s insides plummeted at the thought of taking a frogging from Charlie, but he met his eye and didn’t pause as he took Charlie’s larger, calloused hand to shake it.
Fuck, ow, ow, ow! Harry screamed in his head, fighting all natural instincts to react, as Charlie’s fist struck his arm, the middle knuckle slightly protruding from the rest.
“Thank you, Charlie,” he said, his voice perfectly even. Wankers, I’m thanking them for this!
Percy, who had just had George whispering into his ear, then took up his place in front of Harry. He pushed up his glasses and offered his hand.
“I know you’ll make Ginny very happy, Harry,” Percy said somewhat awkwardly. Harry almost felt a little sorry for Percy, knowing that he’d been wrangled into this macho showmanship by the rest. That was until Percy’s small but strong fist tagged his arm. Not as strong as either of the older brothers, but the spot was already tender and it hurt like hell.
Harry took a breath and shuddered, never breaking his eye contact with the other bespeckled face. “Thanks a lot, Percy. I’ll certainly try.”
He wanted desperately to rub his already painfully sore arm. The throbbing was traveling down to his wrist.
This was when he noticed that Fred, just like the three before him, had conspicuously tucked his wand behind his ear. They all could have used magic on him here if they’d wished to. Harry could be dangling upside down and naked in the chicken coop muck right now. But no, this was more personal, and a hell of a lot more devious.
Typical.
“Big day tomorrow, mate,” Fred said, cheerily. “Don’t forget to wear fresh pants.”
Harry didn’t have another second to ponder Fred’s usual oddity before his vision swam with the jolt of another blow to his well-bruised bicep. He rolled his head slightly, but forced a smile.
“Clean boxers, check,” Harry grunted, his heart pounding now. “Thanks, Fred.”
Harry wondered if his recent contention and reconciliation with George bought him better or worse favor in the strength of ‘brotherly love’ he was about to receive.
“Our sister is one capable little witch,” George said, holding out his right hand. Harry could no longer lift his own right arm. The muscles were cramping up on him. George quirked a smile and reached down to take Harry’s hand for him and shook it. “I’ve no doubt you’ll treat her right, Harry.”
“Oh!” Harry exclaimed, trying not to flinch but failing miserably. “I will, George, I will. … Thanks.” Harry’s eyes watered and he blinked back the reaction. He was aching mercilessly and his arm twitched on its own, but Harry was stubborn enough to force a smile and carry on one last time.
Harry stood ramrod straight as Ron set his drink down and took his own place, last in line behind his brothers. Harry hadn’t looked for Ron’s reaction to all of this and noticed that he didn’t look nearly as mischievous as the rest. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Fred nudge one of the others as Ron stood before him. They probably wondered, as he did, if Ron would be easy on him.
He looked up into the eyes of his friend: the one person who was responsible for saving his life numerous times and for Harry having this family now and having met the woman he loved.
Ron reached down for Harry’s right hand, which hung limp and aching at his side.
“You’re already my brother. You know that,” Ron said with a genuine smile. “Welcome to the family, mate.”
If Harry or any of the others had thought Ron would spare him, out of long time friendship, they were all quite wrong. As he shook Harry’s hand, he pulled back and punched Harry’s arm worse than any of the others. Harry inhaled sharply and Ron instantly yanked on the hand that he shook, and pulled him into a rough, brotherly hug.
Harry was glad for it, as he surreptitiously wiped a tear on Ron’s shirt, and his small groan of pain and relief was muffled into Ron’s chest as the others laughed.
Harry had passed their hazing and had accepted their ‘warning’ with humility, just as he was expected to. He was surrounded then in a close group hug, congratulating him and scruffing his hair.
“You guys are just the best brothers a bloke could hope for,” he said, only the tiniest quiver in his voice and with sarcasm deeply set. He set his teeth in a grin and glared. “Wankers.”
Ron held Harry about the shoulders and started walking him towards the house. Remus joined them on the other side, biting his lip to hide away a smirk.
“You’re ah, a very lucky young man, Harry, to marry a young woman with so many brothers.” Remus chuckled, his own sarcasm evident.
“Yeah, aren’t I?” Harry said dryly.
“Chocolate?” Remus asked, holding out a partially unwrapped bar. Harry tried to take the bar with his right hand, but was foiled by the screaming burn in his arm; he was using his left hand to rub it. Instead he leaned forward and took off a bite while Remus held it steady.
He and Ron chuckled at Harry.
“Now, let’s get you a drink,” Ron said. “Bet you could use it.”
“Yeah,” Harry agreed. “You going to hold the bottle for me, too?”
Ron only grinned and clapped Harry on the shoulder.
Harry looked across the garden at Ginny, surrounded by family as he was, by people who loved them. She smiled at him, and he canted his head in acknowledgment. He may have passed a contrived test of his worthiness, but there wasn’t a soul who knew him that wasn’t certain that Harry would die for her, and would love Ginny Weasley for the rest of his life.
“Tomorrow,” Harry whispered to himself.
~^~ Continued to Chapter 13
A/N - Many thanks to Quizzical, Lnalvgd and Gwen1170 for the pre-beta work and to my CM beta, BelovedRanger, who has worked on this story for so long now. And a huge Ron snog to Yaara who helped me give 'Naama' her voice.
One more chapter will follow this one, to close out this segment of the story. I look forward to hearing your comments. Please remember to check out The Glass Onion if you are interested in reading George and Lee's story - Thank you!