The Proposal

‘There you go dear.’ Mrs Weasley said to Harry placing a plate of bacon eggs and toast down in front of him.

‘Thanks Mrs Weasley.’ Harry replied seizing a knife and fork, ‘Smells good.’

‘For Merlin’s sake Harry call me Molly!’ Mrs Weasley chided swatting him affectionately with a tea towel. ‘You’re an adult now. And everyone calls me Molly’

Harry swallowed his mouthful. ‘Sorry Mrs We….ah I mean Molly,’ he said ‘No one else up yet? Ron was snoring his head off when I came down.’

‘No I think I might go and wake them up it’s nearly nine.’ Mrs Weasley bustled out of the kitchen and moments later Harry heard her thumping up the stairs.

As he ate his breakfast in silence, Harry reflected on what had happened since his last year at Hogwarts. At the end of the summer of his sixth year he, Ron and Hermione had abandoned Hogwarts and set off in the pursuit of destroying Voldemort a destiny that had been with Harry his entire life.

Only Harry, Ron and Hermione knew of the Horcruxes but the entire Order Of The Phoenix were involved in the final battle. Several members of the magical and muggle community had been brutally murdered during the course of the battle including Mad Eye Moody Snape, Lupin and Tonks, Dobby and Harry’s beloved owl Hedwig.

Ick… it had been a bloodbath and it still nauseated Harry to think about the bodies of Death Eaters, wizards and witches alike strewn all over Hogwarts. The Ministry Of Magic went into damage control under the leadership of Kingsley Shacklebolt to cover it up from the muggle community casting memory charms on all who had witnessed any peculiar activity and then to deal with the outcry of the magical media who were enraged to know why an event of such magnitude had been allowed to happen in a place of significance like Hogwarts.

Of all the Horcruxes, Slytherin’s locket was the one Harry had most wanted to find after the failed trip to the seaside caves and discovery of a fake Horcrux in his sixth year. It had been found in the possession of Delores Umbridge after being stolen from 12 Grimmauld Place after being stolen by Mundungus Fletcher. Because Harry had incapacited at the time it had fallen to Ron to destroy the locket after that momentous occasion the trio had set out on the path to the last showdown.

It had taken an enourmous amount of research on Harry, Ron and Hermione’s part to discover and track down the rest for the Horcruxes and even more work on their part to figure out how to destroy them. Then the final battle had gone to Hogwarts and ended the darkest era in magical history.

This had taken much longer than Harry had anticipated. Hermione had researched long into the night of her collection of books and had spent countless hours with Ron and Harry all over the country collecting little bits of information here and there that ultimately led toward the end of Voldemort.

After the final battle and after everyone has recovered(In the physical sense anyway)The wills of all the people lost in the battle had been finalized and Harry as Godfather to Teddy, Lupin and Tonks’s son had taken custody of the child. Having to take care of a baby had forced Harry to mature even more than he had already and there were times when he wasn’t sure he could do it but with help from Mrs Weasley and Andromeda, Tonks’s mother he had managed and Teddy had turned into a delightfully cheerful and happy child. The physical spit image of his father but a metamorphmagus like his mother. At the current time he was spending some time with Andromeda at Tonks’s childhood home.

Harry along with Ron and Hermione had returned to Hogwarts to complete their studies and then all three had gone into the Ministry. Ron and Harry into the Auror Department and Hermione first into the office for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and now the Improper Use of Magic Office within the Office for Magical Law Enforcement Departmet. A year previously Harry had been appointed the head of the Auror office the youngest person in history to assume the post.

Professor McGonagall had assumed the position of Hogwarts Headmistress after the war and during the last battle and had put her body on the line holding off and killing some Death Eaters while Harry finished off Voldemort. She had suffered near fatal injuries and had been in a coma in St Mungos for weeks before recovering and returning to Hogwarts to convalesce. It was the summer holidays now and in the new term she would resume her role as Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Withcraft and Wizardry.

The Wizarding Community had been decimated in the final battle for Voldemort’s soul killed the Ministry of Magic. Many witches and Wizards who worked within the Ministry were murdered and the Minister Of Magic himself was murdered. Even now five years later, the Wizarding Community was struggling to continue and next to everyone were going about their day to day life on auto pilot.

Thankfully, thought Harry most of the people closest to him had survived with the exception of Tonks and Lupin. Ron and Hermione, after everything that had happened, had finally stopped deluding themselves and declared their love for each other. Privately Harry thought this would do the world of good for Hermione as having to wipe the memories of her parents then send them to Australia had more of an effect on her than she let on at the time.

Charlie had returned to England where he was now the head curator of a dragon reserve in the highlands of Scotland he had also married his long time girlfriend Charlotte (Who he had met while in Romania)and he and Bill were helping the Ministry rebuild, Percy who had returned to the family fold during the final battle and had married a witch called Audrey and had two children with her, Molly (Named after her grandmother)and Lucy and he was now working alongside Kingsley Shacklebolt who had assumed the Ministers post immediately after the final battle as the senior undersecretary . George after the death of Fred had settled back into life as the owner/proprietor of ‘Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes’ alongside his best mate Lee Jordan and had proposed to his girlfriend Angelina Johnson who he was due to be married in a ceremony at the beginning or August.

After the last war was over Harry and Ginny had found solace in each others arms and had quickly settled into a comfortable relationship. They casually dated but spent most of their time at The Burrow as Harry still had issues with going out in public. He was constantly hounded by the press and flocks of people would swamp him. And on the rare occasions he did go out he had to disguise himself.

‘Fuckin’ Rita Skeeter.’ He huffed idly fiddling with his food.

‘What’s that bitch done now?’ A familiar vice asked snapping Harry out of his reverie.

‘Oh morning ‘Mione’ Harry said looking at his best friend, who was wearing a scowl. Hermione had held a grudge against the Daily Prophet reporter since she started spreading false and misleading rumours about Harry during the Triwizard Tournament in their fourth year and the acidic and vastly false biography of Dumbledore.

‘Nothing recently but she’s the reason I can’t go out in public without being swamped by people wanting all the gory details.’ Harry continued, ‘I mean, I love it here at the Burrow but I would like to go out more than once in a blue moon. Bloody Harry Potter should be the next Minister of Magic, what a load of shit. Kingsley does a fine job, and I have enough issues heading the Auror department. I’m starting to wish I was the one vanquished.’

‘Harry James Potter you say anything like that again and I will hex you into the second hereafter!’ Ginny Weasley shrilled from the base of the stairs ‘We will find a way to get out of this situation.’

Harry lit up as Ginny entered the kitchen. She was the sole reason he’d managed to get through the war and the years afterwards. The rest of the world ceased to exist when she was in the room. He abandoned his breakfast and went over to her kissing her passionately. He ran the tip of his tongue inside her lips and rubbed her back sensually. Ginny leaned into him and returned the kiss.

‘OH GET A ROOM!’ Ron bellowed coming down the stairs. ‘No need to shag in the hallway!’

‘RONALD WEASLEY!’ Mrs Weasley screeched, clipping Ron around the ear.

‘OwMuuumwhaddyadothatfor?’ Ron bellowed wincing in pain.

‘I did not raise you up to speak filth like that! Mrs Weasley ranted, pointing her wand at Ron in a threatening manner. ‘If you utter another syllable like that again I will put a permanent silencing charm on you! Understand?!’

‘Yes’m.’ Still rubbing his ear Ron continued into the kitchen. Harry, Hermione and Ginny had to exercise all their self control not to burst out laughing.

‘Oh shuuuuut uuuuup’ Ron said eventually seeing the expressions on their faces.