The cruel irony of it all was that, while time had crawled by so painfully slow when we were in hiding, it flew by at a break-neck speed once we had arrived at Aunt Muriels. Our days were filled with playing catch-up in the business and information that the Order had been preoccupied with in our stay. When we weren't learning about the Order, or Harry, I tucked myself in the back of Muriel's home with Fred and George to help them fulfill postal orders for their shop. While the physical shop in Diagon Alley was out of commission, they had somehow managed to create a secretive supply chain to keep the business running via post.
Somebody please explain to me how these boys only managed to earn themselves three O.W.Ls?
At the end of our long days, regardless of how overwhelming all of it may be, I thankful that I was able to crawl into bed beside George, knowing that he was okay... And that was where I was when I awoke with a start, George shaking me gently by the shoulders. "Ace" he whispered, his lips on my ears.
I groaned, opening a single eye to peer at him through the darkness. "Wake up" he whispered softly.
I pulled myself into a sitting position faster than my brain was ready for. "Is everything ok?"
He chuckled, pulling the blanket off of me. "Everything is fine, love" he pecked me on the cheek.
I rolled my eyes, unable to share his understanding tone at such an ungodly hour. "Then why am I awake?" I yawned, stretching my arms above my head.
"It's a surprise." I could hear the smile in his voice as he grabbed my hands and pulled me upright. "Get dressed and meet me downstairs." With that, he scampered from the room like a mischievous child.
I stared down at the bedsheets, considering for a moment that I could simply roll myself up and go back to sleep. But then again, half of the appeal of sleep nowadays was that George was beside me like a human teddy-bear. With a groan of defeat, I pulled myself away from the sirens song of the bed and slid out of my pyjamas. Rummaging through my bag, I found a pair of joggers and stole one of George's jumpers from his pile of clothes on the floor. If he was going to be waking me up at this hour, he was going to have to accept me the way I was.
I snuck down the stairs, praying that I wouldn't hit too big of a creak in the floorboards, and felt my way to the kitchen in the dark. From through the windows I could see that perhaps it wasn't as late as I had initially thought, the slight glimmer of dawn creeping up on the horizon. From the window of the kitchen door, I could see George standing on the back porch. As I approached, I noted the bag he had slung over his shoulders.
"Good morning" he smiled, leaning down and pecking me on the lips. "Ready for a little sunrise picnic?"
I took his hand and looked up at him. "Of course." It was still too early to find proper words. I allowed him to pull me back towards the familiar paths of the Orchard. He found our spot without falter, traversing the rows of trees and roots with ease. Our space amongst the trees was quiet, untouched by time and conflict that had fallen between us. The smell of apple-blossoms in bloom filled the early spring air.
"M'lady" George laid out the blanket for me and I took a seat, happily. He sat down next to me, opening up the basket and laying out a small spread of fruit, bread, and cheese. "Thank you for joining me" he said, taking an unnecessarily large bite of bread.
"Did I have much of a choice?" I popped a grape in my mouth.
"Nope" he smirked, taking his eyes off of me and glancing towards the horizon once more. "But I figured that besides sleeping, we haven't actually gotten a lot of quality time alone together." He was right, when we weren't sleeping, we were either in the presence of Fred, Ginny, his parents, or my dad. I swear I could feel Molly's eyes constantly on us, even when she physically wasn't in the room. She had resigned to my presence, and while she wasn't as hostile as anticipated, she was definitely sceptical.
I laid back, starring up at the stars as they died in the sky, the pink sunlight slowly drowning them out as it rose in the distance. Up above, the sky was still a dusty grey-blue. A damp breeze blew along the ground, a reminder that it still wasn't even May yet, but in George's presence, the cold morning air was warmer than anything I had felt when I had been away.
"Cold?" George asked, shifting our bodies so that he leaned his back against the tree and pulled me in between his legs, allowing me to rest my head on his chest. Without words, we sat and watched the sun rise ahead of us. We didn't need much besides a blanket, each other, and the light that gradually rose and kissed our cheeks. With so much time apart, you'd think that we'd have so much left to say. But those words could never come close to saying what his presence so effortlessly spoke.
His carefree voice broke the silence. "Do you ever think about it?" he asked, his arms wrapping around me tighter.
"You're going to have to be more specific about that, love" I laughed.
"That night, when I found you stumbling around the castle with a bottle of firewhiskey." I did, I thought about that night more frequently than others. The heartbreak of Seamus Finnigan, and betrayal of Pavarti. The feeling of firewhiskey as it nearly burned a hole in my empty stomach. The memory that shines above the rest, however, was that of my red-headed saviour. The first time he'd save me, but not the last.
I nodded, and he continued. "You know, four years of being in the same house and it felt like you'd come entirely out of nowhere. First, with your nosebleed nugget idea, and then with those drunken antics. You know, Ace, Fred and I had gotten ourselves into some pretty rough situations before, but I went to bed that night wondering how big of trouble you were about to get us into."
"Ya" I laughed. "Man, you must have thought I was a total mess." He threw his head back and laughed harder than I'd heard him laugh the entire time we'd been here.
"You have no idea" he reached a hand up and played with my hair gently. His fingers trailed across my scalp, finally making their way to the faded white line that connected my ear to my eyebrow. "And every day after that. Every break. Every life-or-death situation. Every hurdle that we've had to face." I couldn't tell if it was nostalgia or sadness in his voice. Maybe a bit of both?
"Since the Wedding, Ace. I've laid in bed, alone, every night, with nothing but those memories. And I've come to a conclusion."
I tilted my head upwards, attempting to get a read on his face. Slowly, I pulled myself forward and turned to face him, propping myself up on my knees. "And what would that conclusion be?"
He sat up too, feeling around his pockets for a moment before he met my stance and was on his knees as well. "Despite everything that we've been through together, I cannot imagine a single day more without getting into trouble with you." From the chest pocket of his jacket, he produced a small, plastic, emerald-green ring. It looked like a muggle toy from a coin machine, and yet he held it with all of the care of a baby bird. "Acelynne Roxanne Connors. Will you do me the honour of becoming my legally-bound partner in crime, my wife, forever?"
My heart stopped in my chest. I looked down at the ring in his hands, and then back up at his hopeful face. Painfully aware of my silence, I looked back down at the ring as my mind fluttered back to all of those times that I had panicked, with his shoelace and Bart, thinking that he was proposing. This time, it was real.
"I know it's not much, but it's not exactly like we're free to go to a jewellers right now. So I knicked it from my dad's collection of muggle things. I swear, I can afford more, and when this is all over I'll-"
Before he could speak, I cupped his hands in mine, careful not to drop the ring, and kissed him, hard. "Shut up" I muttered against his lips, pulling back for a breath as my head began to spin. "Yes. George Weasley, my answer is yes."
In one smooth motion, he slid the ring on my finger. Together, we rose to our feet and he picked me up, spinning me in a moment too romantic to possibly have been real.
"You know what you just signed up for, eh?" he laughed, pulling me into him tightly. "You're going to have to put up with me for forever."
"And always" the words fell from my lips with ease. My mind was reeling, attempting to make sense of what had just happened. Thousands of questions flooded my mind in the seconds that followed. When would we be able to arrange this? After everything with you-know-who died down? How was I going to tell me father? How were we going to tell Molly?
The only question that I was able to answer was simple. That me and George Weasley, were going to be together until the end of my days.
______________________________________________________________________________
George and I sat at the kitchen table, enjoying a break from packaging Wheeze's merchandise and sending it off by owl. Even in hiding, nothing could have stopped their business success. I couldn't begin to wrap my head around how profitable the business seemed to become for them.
I kept my hand under the table, grasping onto his tightly as he toyed with the band of my ring. It had only happened yesterday morning, but we still were unsure of when to spring the news on our respective parents. We enjoyed relishing in our little secret for a few hours, exchanging gazes of excitement when we felt that no one was looking. But it couldn't be kept secret forever, and we knew we'd have to rip off the band-aid eventually.
"Dinner's ready!" Molly called from the formal dining room, which Muriel had insisted we collectively sit down for at least one meal a day. Muriel was everything George had described her to be, old and wrinkled, her eyesight clearly fading judging by the accuracy of her lipstick. She never failed to be dressed for the most formal of occasions, and was without a doubt the most prim and uptight individual I'd ever met. Her impression of me was undoubtably tainted by that of her experiences with the twins, as well as her knowledge of my muggle maternal grandparents. Every meal, without fail, she'd cautiously look under her chair before casting incredulous glances at the boys. As far as I could tell, they had been on their best behaviour while in her home, likely with the encouragement of an incredibly wound-up Molly Weasley.
George and I looked at each other over the tops of our teacups. He squeezed my hand gently and nodded in the direction of the dining room. It was time. I nodded back, a swell of nervousness rising in my chest. I didn't know exactly know why I was so nervous. With the exception of Molly, I had gotten along incredibly well with the Weasley household, and George and my dad especially got on like thieves. Even before everything that occurred, Molly seemed to like me well enough, and her only reservations seemed to be about my... well my stability. And propensity for hurting George with lack thereof. So announcing an engagement should further prove to her that we were serious, no?
I couldn't be sure.
Together, we sat down at the dining table and watched as the rest of the family gathered in around us. Muriel at the Head seat, Arthur immediately across from her. My dad, Ginny, and Molly sat along one side, myself and the twins on the other. At any typical table, this may have been a tight squeeze. But Muriel's table was designed to host balls and dinner parties amongst the magical elite, at least in times long past.
Molly tucked herself in last, gesturing to the roast chicken and vegetables she had prepared. "Alright everyone, dig in!" she exclaimed.
Fred reached forward for the potatoes greedily before George held up a hand, much more timid than I was used to seeing him interject. He placed a hand on Fred's arm and cast him a pointed look before clearing his throat.
"Actually, before we start. I, uhm" he cleared his throat again, "We have an announcement to make."
Muriel huffed in exasperation, placing her glass down delicately on the table. "I'm starving. Whatever nonsense you two have concocted this time, can wait."
"No" George said, with more patience than the woman may have deserved. "Not Fred and I. WE, that is me and Acelynne, have an announcement to make."
My dad raised a sceptical eyebrow at me and I couldn't help but cast him a nervous grin. George turned to me, and together to rose to our feet. "I'll just keep this short and sweet." I couldn't help but notice that his nervousness was now gone, instead replaced with what I could only describe as pride. "We're engaged!" He yanked my hand up from under the table, showing off the toy ring that was now adorned on my left ring-finger.
The reactions around the table were noticeably different, but a majority positive... I think. On the other side of George, Fred stood to his feet and shouted "I KNEW IT!" as he celebrated. Arthur, smiled widely, all the while his eyes on my hand. My dad raised his eyebrows in shock, although I couldn't necessarily describe his reaction as negative. Ginny gasped excitedly, and Muriel raised an eyebrow at us in neutrality. Molly, on the other hand, made a choking noise as her hand flew to her chest.
"Finally!" Ginny beamed, leaning forward over the table to examine my hand. "Merlin, George, are you kidding me? I know you can afford something real for the poor girl." Her eyes narrowed in scrutiny.
"Is that from my collection?" Arthur leaned in as well, chuckling softly.
"Hey!" George defended, as we sat back down. "I know that! I wasn't expecting Ace to show up so soon, and it's not as if I'm able to head off London right now to find a diamond-" I could tell that George was beginning to get worked up, so I reached over to place my ringed hand on his atop the table.
"It's brilliant" I interjected. "Besides, it's not about the ring. It's about what it represents." I looked down, suddenly aware of the seven pairs of eyes on me. "George and I want to be together, forever. I love this ring the exact same as if it was stolen from the layer of a dragon... That is, if its ok for me to keep it, Mr. Weasley." I turned my gaze to look at him, certain that he was among least of my objectors right now.
He nodded, grinning at his sons choice. "Of course, dear." I ventured to gaze over to Muriel, who was inspecting her own rings, much larger and certainly more real than mine. She seemed indifferent, which I was perfectly content with.
Hesitantly, I switched focus to look at my dad. He was staring at the ring, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was in shock. "Dad?" I prompted softly, and his focus was broken. "What do you think?"
"I can tell you what I thought a few days ago, when George asked me" he looked up, a faint smile on his lips. "I didn't think it would be so soon. And I think you're so young... But I also know that times like these tend to bring what's most important into focus. I also know that, when you know that you've found your person, you know." George turned his hand in mine and gave me a squeeze.
I had zero idea that he'd asked my dad... permission? I was unsure of how much of it was asking permission, versus paying him a curtesy. George knew how close me and my dad were, but also he had to have known that my dad wouldn't be crazy about being betrothed at the ripe age of eighteen. Technically, if I had gone to school this year, I wouldn't have even sat for my NEWTs.
The final person left to look at, the person I was most afraid of rejecting the idea, was Molly. She'd sat in a stunned silence, something I thought may not be possible for her. Her eyes raced from George, to the ring, to my face. "Mum?" George prompted expectantly.
She sighed loudly. "Well..." she began, furrowing her brows in thought. "Well, with all of this... conflict going on right now... it's about time we had some good news." Finally, a smile made a way onto her lips and she reached a hand forward to grab her glass. "Congratulations, you two." She held her glass up to the centre of the table.
"TO ACELYNNE AND GEORGE!" Fred cried, standing up from his seat once more with an enthusiastic toast. A round of congratulations circled the table as everyone took turns in clinking their glasses together. I couldn't help but feel my face grow warm in happiness. We sat back down, the sounds of chairs against the floor scraping loudly. "Two engagements in two years, Mum! I don't know how you guys planning on keeping up with all of these events after popping out so many-" Fred had been smiling as he started his sentence, trailing off as his smile dropping into a look of confusion.
"Do you feel that?" Fred asked, looking around the table at George and Ginny.
"Yup" Ginny confirmed, her smile too, gone. I turned to look at George, his excitement now clouded over with a look of concern.
"Me too."
I glanced at them all confusedly, and George reached a hand into his pocket. From its depths, he pulled out a Galleon.
It wasn't just any Galleon, however. It was the fake Galleon Hermione had given us all in fifth year during our D.A meetings. I had no idea where mine had went in the chaos that was my life, but I raised a hand to George, feeling the unnatural warmth of the coin between our palms.
Ginny cast a dark glance at the boys. "I think I know what this means." Of all people, Ginny would be the one to know. Afterall, she had been at Hogwarts for her sixth year up until Easter, when the family went into hiding.
"They're calling us" Fred grimaced.
"What does that mean?" my father asked, unaware of all of the shenanigans we had gotten up to during that horrid year under Umbridge.
I turned my head to find George, still holding the coin, only to meet his worried eyes. He tightened his hand around mine and I sighed.
"It means" I took a last gulp of my water. "The final battle has begun."