Weasley Family Fallout

Chapter 19: A Proposal and A Proposition

Exasperated, Molly turned to her husband. "Arthur, we discussed this the other night -"

"- Actually, it wasn't much of a discussion," Arthur countered. "Today, George appealed to my better judgement, and I don't see why she can't move in. I think it would be better for both of them."

Without hesitation, Molly answered, "No. George, I'm sorry, but no. She's only sixteen -"

"Oh, come on, Molly!" Arthur interjected. "She will be off to school in a couple months. She fought in the Battle of Hogwarts for Merlin's sake! I'm sure she can survive with her brother outside of the Burrow for a while."

"No. George, why don't you ask one of your brothers? Charlie is looking for a place since he isn't going back to Romania."

"Mum, they disowned me, Ginny, and Percy. Neither Ron nor Charlie will even speak to me, let alone live with me. Besides, I don't want them to."

"Well, what about your father?" she suggested, now grasping at straws.

"I'm always at work." Molly scoffed at her husband's blatant lie/ "It would be no different than George living by himself." The chair scratched the floor as Arthur stood. "If things hadn't gone to shite and I was still at home, you wouldn't have a problem with Ginny living with George!"

Rising from her seat, Molly now lost her temper as well. "You better believe it! It's not that I don't trust George. It's not that I don't trust Ginny. I do not trust you!"

"That's absurd! I won't even be here!"

"Mum, listen!" George raised his voice to gain Molly's attention before lowering it again. Luckily, he did not inherit his mother's temper, otherwise this kitchen would be a Weasley warzone. "I didn't want to say anything, but Ginny hates it at the Burrow. Every day she tells me how unhappy she is."

There...the bomb dropped. The ugly truth was out. Molly's heart broken - shattered even more than it already was...But she didn't show it. She did everything to hold herself together.

"Okay," Molly spoke, subdued. "Well, where will Harry be staying?"

"He can stay her too," George replied.

""You only have one extra room here, George..."

"They've been sharing the same bedroom the past couple months. If anything was going to happen, it would have happened by now."

"Okay. They can move in with you," Molly conceded, "but only for three weeks. Then she's back at home."

"Thanks, Mum."

"I must get going," Arthur announced. "I'm glad I could help, George."

"Yeah. Thanks, Dad. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

After the two men went into the living room, Molly overheard their hushed conversation.

"Why don't you wait for me to bring Ginny back? She'll want to see you," George's voice said.

"George, I have other business to attend to."

"Don't you care about your kids?"

"Of course I do. I did what you asked, didn't I?"

"Only because I made you sober up and dragged you here, even after you gave me your word."

"George..."

"No, Dad. We at least deserve a straight answer. Why are you shutting everyone out? First you shut out just about everyone, then Mum, and now me. I'm not asking you to promise me or give me your word, because that doesn't mean anything anymore, but please don't do that to Ginny. It would break her. Aside from Harry, you're her world."

The only other thing Molly heard was the fireplace roar to life before George reentered the kitchen.

"George, he's going to end up hurting all three of you in the long run," his mother warned.

"You think I don't already know that?" the usually calm Weasley exploded. "Percy and I were talking about that today. Unlike everyone else, we can't turn our backs on him! I mean, you're his wife, you're supposed to be the last person to give up. Besides, we haven't lost him yet..."

"George, I'm giving your father some space. I haven't given up."

"You bit both of our heads off right when we walked in. How do you expect him to get sorted out and come back if that's your reaction every time you see him?"

"George..."

The young man put his hand up to stop anything else his mother was about to say and mumbled, "I'm gonna go get Ginny and Harry."

oOoOo

There was a knock on Ginny's open bedroom door then George's head popped into sight. Even though it was late, it wasn't unusual for the two love birds to be wide awake.

"George!" the couple exclaimed.

"Hey. You still wanna move out?" George asked with a half smirk.

"Yeah!" his little sister answered.

"Alright then. Pack your things, both of you."

"What? How did you..." Ginny asked as she jumped up to hug her big brother.

"Ahh, it was nothing," George waved it off. "I talked to Dad about it today, and he came over tonight and helped me convince Mum. She only agreed to three weeks though, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," he finished, winking.

"Really? Is Dad still at yours?"

"No. He – uh – He had to go...You know, Percy and all that."

It only took a few minutes to pack the couple's things since two of the three were able to use magic. They were at the first floor landing when an excited shriek came from the kitchen. Rushing to the source of the noise, the three burst through the swinging door to find Molly suffocating Percy in a bear hug, his glasses askew.

Special date, George thought. Just as George was connecting the dots, Percy extracted himself from his mother's arms and exclaimed, "I proposed to Audrey!"

"Congratulations!" his siblings and Harry shouted, hugging him in turn.

After he relayed what had happened on their date in detail, the four young adults said their good-byes to Molly, some colder than others.

"Oh, and the engagement party is next Saturday. Her parents offered to host it when I spoke to them the other day," Percy added as an afterthought.

"You can count on me to be there," his mum assured.

"Us too," Ginny answered for herself and Harry.

"And me!" George added.

On the way to the apparition point in the garden, George spoke to Percy, "Why don't you come over for a bit to celebrate? I – uh – need to talk to you about something else too."

A/N: There y'all go, a nice 2,300 word chapter. I hated that I couldn't get this up earlier, but I was rear-ended on the 4th and told by a doctor not to be on electronic devices or read until my concussion was gone. Then a couple days later, my grandmother passed away, so that took away another week. But I'm back now and I hope y'all will forgive me since I gave y'all a long chapter that took me a few days to complete.

I'm glad y'all are still enjoying the story. I am still enjoying writing it. I've gotten part of the next chapter laid out, and the one after that is completely written and just has to be edited.

Please keep reviewing and giving me your thoughts!