Diggle Manor
Molly was sitting in the dining room of Diggle Manor eating her lunch, a look of pure disgust on her face.
When Molly had first arrived at the manor, she had been so excited. The manor was a large three story home. It had looked so much better than The Burrow ever could. The outside of the building was a pristine white, and the perfectly manicured lawn was covered in lush flower bushes and trees. Dedalus loved to garden.
Then she had walked inside.
It was a disaster.
The wood floors were cracked and warped. The wall paper was moulding and peeling. And, there were all sorts of pests in the house. There were rats in the kitchen, along with flesh eating slugs and flubberworms. And the entire house was infested with doxy's. She even swore that she saw a billiwig flying around upstairs.
Dedalus had told her that the house had flooded a few years ago during a party and he just hadn't gotten around to cleaning up completely.
She was actually really missing The Burrow now. She missed the light flowing through the windows. Her babies things around, reminding her that they were there. She was even beginning to miss the stupid gnomes that were always getting into her garden.
But soon, she knew that she would be going home.
Arthur was already coming to his senses, she was sure. Just after she finished her lunch, she got dressed in one of her best outfits, and headed off to meet her rightful husband at Gringotts.
Molly was sure that the reason he had requested to meet her at the bank was so that he could invite her back home as well as add her back on the list of who could access the family accounts. She would, of course, accept, but she was going to make sure he got rid of that controlled account, she was the woman of the house, it was her right to access any and all funds that her husband earned.
Gringotts
Arthur was sitting calmly on one side of the table, waiting for Molly to arrive. She was already 10 minutes late.
Finally, Molly was escorted into the room by a clearly angry goblin.
"Arthur, darling, why on earth did you insist that we meet here, we could have just met at home? Honestly, there was no need to involve these filthy creatures, you should know just how untrustworthy they are."
Arthur just looked at the woman for a moment. Had she really always been so awful?
"Goblins are magical beings, just like witches and wizards.
But that isn't why we are here. We are here to discuss the custody of my children. So, please take a seat Mrs. Diggle."
Molly froze. Arthur knew that she was married to Dedalus. And worse, Albus hadn't fixed him yet. Then, her mind caught up with the middle part of his statement.
Custody. Custody of her babies. There was no way she was going to let this man take her babies from her.
"There is nothing to discuss. My babies will be staying with me. I have plenty of room for them now."
"No. They will not. I will not allow you to further corrupt my children.
I will maintain primary custody of the children. They can go to Diggle Manor every other weekend during the summer if they wish. As for the up coming school holidays, they will go to visit you for Christmas, since you celebrate that holiday, and New Years. And they will spend the last three days of spring break with you."
"You can't do that."
"Yes, I can. You should be grateful that I am even allowing you to see them at all."
"Grateful. Grateful." Molly shrieked. "You are telling me that you are stealing my babies from me, and you think I should be grateful."
"Yes, because I am at least letting you remember that you are their parent. A kindness that you denied Fabian and Gideon.
Don't try and pretend you are a victim in all of this Molly. You used dark magic to steal my children and I from our family, and now you want me to believe that you are the victim.
You should be grateful you aren't rotting away in Azkaban where you belong. That ritual you used is an automatic life sentence. The only reason you aren't is because I won't let your actions hurt Ron and Ginny that way."
"My actions have never hurt my babies. All I have ever done was help and protect you and your ungrateful spawn, and now you do this to me." Molly started to sob.
"All you have ever done is hurt us. You denied me a life with the men I loved. You denied my boys their fathers. Instead, they got you. The woman that did nothing but berate and belittle them every chance she got. I am just so grateful that they have managed to turn out so well in spite of you. In spite of, not because of.
As for Ron and Ginny, save me this act. Yes, I know you love them, but your love is a sickness. You treat them like babies. They have no understanding of proper behaviour. If they continue on like they are now, they will never be able to succeed at life.
And, as for the effect the ritual will have on them, you do understand just how people will look at them. You have two choices. You could continue on with this charade that I am their birth father, in which everyone will see them as the product of love potions. You do realize what that would be like for them, in spite of the progress our society has made, children of love potions are still mistrusted and often times seen as unsafe to marry. Every person they date will see them as a danger.
Your other option is to admit that they were not mine, and that you used a blood adoption to make them Weasley's. Which means they would be seen as bastards. Even with me claiming them, they will still be forced to live with the shame of your actions. You go on and on about working in the ministry, but if anyone knew the truth of their conception it would be almost impossible for them to get a job higher then secretary. They would be looked down on and mistrusted.
No, it is better for them if we continue to keep that secret.
As I was saying, as a direct result of your actions, I will be maintaining primary custody of the children."
Molly was completely frozen once again. He knew. Arthur knew about the blood adoption. And he was still trying to take her babies from her, he had no right. They were her's, not his.
"You can't take my Ronnie and Ginny. They are not yours."
"Oh yes, they are. Since they have been accepted by the Weasley family magics, it means you used a full blood adoption. That means, legally and biologically, they are just as much my children as they are yours.
Interesting isn't it. You, the woman that is forever going on about the evils of dark magic is just another dark witch, doing all manner of dark things."
"I am a light witch. I have never done anything dark in my life."
Arthur laughed. "Really Molly. You do know that that ritual you used on Fabian, Gideon, and I was olde dark magic. Then their was the blood adoptions you used on all of the kids. That's blood magic, also classified as dark. You've done more dark magic than most do in their entire lives. In order to get what you wanted, you forever tainted yourself with dark magic."
Molly was stunned. He was right, and she knew it. What had she done? She had used blood magic on her babies, that must be why they had a hard time with others. But, it would be ok. Molly was sure that she could overcome it. After all, she had done it for a good reason, so it really wasn't all that dark. Rather than answering, Molly just glared at Arthur.
"Nothing else to say, for once. Well then, here is a copy of the custody agreement that I just laid out. You are welcome to go over it, but it will not be changing."
Molly took the papers that Arthur passed to her in a rage. Sitting back in her chair, Molly went over the papers. When she came to a section on rules that she was supposed to make her babies follow, she had tried to argue them away, but Arthur wouldn't listen.
Arthur sat back after the argument about the rules. Really, Molly was acting like he wanted her to treat the children like they were prisoners. All the rules really said was that they would be expected to have a decent bedtime, wake up at a decent time, and have chores that they would do, like keeping their rooms clean. The only other real rules were restrictions on the amount of candy and junk food they got, and a 10 galleon maximum for their allowance.
Molly was devastated that Arthur was stealing her babies from her. And, the little time she did get with them, she would have to be mean. But she really had no choice right now. If she pushed back to hard, Arthur could follow through on his threat to file charges against her. Molly was sure that she wouldn't end up in Azkaban, she had done the right thing after all. But it would risk the truth about her babies getting out. And that would be bad.
She was sure that everyone would eventually get over what she and Albus had done, but it could take years, and neither she or Albus could risk that.
No, Molly had no choice, she would have to agree. At least Albus was working on getting Arthur back under control. It would probably only take a few more months, and she would be back at The Burrow, with her husband and babies, and then she could destroy this agreement.
Arthur sighed happily as Molly finally signed the agreement. Taking it, he slipped it into the mail slot on the table so that the goblins could copy it and place the copies in multiple vaults for protection.
"Now, we need to discuss my maintenance." Molly looked to Arthur.
"What do you mean Molly?"
"Since we are now separated, you will have to pay spousal support. I figure about 2,000 galleons per month should work. I am going to need spending money, you understand."
"No. If we had been married, I might have been required to pay support, but since we were never married, and I will be taking primary responsibility for the children, I will not be giving you a single knut."
"Just how do you expect me to live?" Molly demanded.
"Well, you could sponge off your new husband, like you did to me. Or, you will have to get a job.
Oh, and you are going to need to get things for the kids. Their clothing and toys will be staying at The Burrow, so you will need to buy them new stuff. There is no point in moving their stuff to your new home when they will be spending most of the time at The Burrow."
"Why are you being so cruel?" Molly was back to sobbing, but under that, she was still furious.
"You think that's mean. Get over yourself Molly. You are not the victim in any of this, you are the villain. None of us asked you to destroy lives, you did that because that is what you do. You have done nothing but hurt my family, because you thought what you wanted was more important. And now you act like none of this is your fault. News flash Molly. You are to blame for all of this.
I am not being cruel, I am protecting my children from a criminal. The only reason I am even letting you see Ron and Ginny again is because, in spite of everything, you are still their mother and they love you. But I will not have you carrying on teaching them your criminal ways. They need to learn how to be self reliant, productive members of society, not the childish brats that are constantly claiming that they are the victims of some plot that you have been turning them into."
"But I bought them all that stuff." Molly was not going to respond to any of those accusations, like usual, she preferred to ignore the inconvenient truth.
"With the money I earned." Arthur held up a hand, stopping Molly from responding. "Enough Molly, it's done.
Now, there is one more thing that we need to cover."
Arthur pushed a copy of the marriage contract between Hadrian and Ginny towards her. A big red 'CANCELED' was stamped across the front.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Molly screamed as she looked at the contract.
This couldn't be. There was no way that Arthur was so cruelly stupid as to take away her baby girls future. This contract had ensured her Ginny would get the life she wanted, and Arthur had just destroyed it.
"I canceled an illegal contract."
"This was Ginny's future. How could you do this to her?"
"I am protecting her. Molly, this contract was completely illegal. Do you understand that?
You even added a drop of Ginny's blood to seal the contract. How could YOU do that to her?"
"All I did was ensure that my baby girl got the life she deserved."
"No Molly, you risked her future. You clearly don't understand how olde marriage contracts work. By adding blood, you bound it in magic.
All Hadrian or his family would have had to do was call on magic to judge it, and not only would the contract have been canceled, it would have been changed. All of those who signed it would be punished. Ginny could have been forced to marry anyone that magic selected or had her magic completely stripped depending on how it was judged."
"You are just being dramatic. Harry and Ginny are meant to be. He never would have done something like that. Besides, that contract is perfectly legal. I will just have it uncanceled after this."
"Are you completely delusional woman. I read that contract. That thing was basically a slave contract. Hadrian wouldn't have been able to do anything on his own, he would have needed permission from both Ginny and Albus for everything. Then there is the money. You were all basically stealing that boys inheritance. It would have given you, Albus, and Ginny complete control of any and all families that boy is in line for. That is line theft Molly.
Only a complete fool would have ever just followed the terms of that monstrosity, and Hadrian is no fool, and neither are his guardians. Sebastian, Severus, Sirius, and Remus are all highly intelligent and extremely protective of Hadrian, they never would have let you get away with doing something like that to their son.
And again, like we told you when you threatened Charlie with a marriage contract, all legal parents must sign for a marriage contract to be valid. Neither James, nor I, signed. Also, that contract was dated after James arranged for Sirius and Remus to blood adopt Hadrian, so you also would have needed their signatures.
As I have already said, I will never sign a marriage contract for any of the children, so you can't reactivate that contract. It's done.
Also, if you really believed Hadrian and Ginny were meant to be, there would have been no need for that thing. Hadrian and Ginny aren't even friends, and I will not even attempt to force that sweet boy into something like that."
Arthur also secretly thought that there was no way he was going to let anyone steal Fred and George's soul mate from them. Something like that would destroy his boys, and he wasn't going to let that happen to them.
He had been extremely relieved that he had found that contract. He knew that it was illegal, and that Hadrian and his fathers would be well within their rights to just demand magical judgment and Ginny would suffer for Molly's actions. He had spoken with James and Severus and, although they weren't happy about it, they had agreed to just let Arthur cancel the contract without calling for judgment.
They had been furious when they had gone over the contracts expectations, but they had understood Arthurs desire to protect his daughter. Despite Ginny being a brat, what her mother had done wasn't her fault.
"Lily and I signed, that should be enough. We are their mothers, so our decisions for the future of our children should count for more. We know what is best."
"Yes, I saw that Lily signed. And, all I can say is she was clearly a terrible mother. Anyone who would put their child in a situation like Lily had placed Hadrian in clearly didn't care for their child.
But Lily's terrible parenting aside, it doesn't matter. All legal parents means all legal parents. And that's all there is to it."
Molly just glared. How could her sweet Arthur say and do things like this to her. Fabian and Gideon. It had to be them. They had turned her Arthur against her. She knew there was always a reason she didn't like them.
All she could do was hope that Albus found a way to fix Arthur quickly.
"Well, I think that is everything we needed to discuss." Arthur stood up and started towards the door. "Oh, I will pick the kids up from the train, and explain things to them, after all, we wouldn't want you to be seen as the bad guy."
Molly just huffed as Arthur left. She needed Albus, he would know what to do.
Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office
"Albus, Albus!"
Albus looked up from the book he was reading. He really was growing to hate that woman. Every time he was enjoying a peaceful moment, she would come into his office, screeching his name. Seeing the anger flushed cheeks with tear tracks, he sighed.
"What has happened Molly dear?"
"I just met with Arthur at the bank. He's stealing my babies." Molly broke down in a fresh set of tears as she collapsed into one of the chairs, so upset that she didn't even make tea.
"What do you mean?"
"Arthur made me sign a custody agreement giving him control of the children. I'm only going to get to see my babies every other weekend while they're home."
"If you didn't like the agreement, why did you sign it?"
"Because he knows about the ritual. He threatened to file charges.He even knows that Ron and Ginny aren't his, but he is still taking them from me. He even said I should be grateful that he was going to let me see them at all.
Fabian and Gideon must have done something to him. My Arthur would never be this cruel."
Albus just stared for a moment, this woman was demented. "But he isn't going to file charges, right?"
"No. He won't. He says he doesn't want anyone to know about my babies because it would destroy any chance at a good life for them."
Albus sighed in relief. "Don't worry Molly. We will work this all out. The children will be fine. Arthur would never hurt them."
"But he's already hurting them. That fool canceled the marriage contract between Ginny and Harry."
"WHAT!"
"I tried to refile it, but those disgusting creatures wouldn't accept it. Arthur placed a ban on any marriage contracts for members of the family. What are we supposed to do now? We will need to find a new way to make Harry propose to Ginny when they get older. And, what about Charlie and Nymphadora? How can we get them together now?"
Albus sat back to think. How he wished Arthur had just died, it would have made his life so much easier. And, then he wouldn't have had Molly crying in his office so much.
"We are going to have to trust the girls to take care of things for the moment. Ginny and Harry are still young, so we have time with them. You will just have to tell Ginny to make sure that she is wherever he is, it will allow him to fall in love with her. It will also help to convince others that they are together.
As for Charlie and Nymphadora, I'm sure Dora will be able to make the boy see sense. She is a strong, intelligent woman. I'm sure she will be able to find a way to get close to him."
"And the custody of my babies?"
"Just give it some time. I'm working on the problem. Soon enough you will be back at The Burrow, and all this will just be a bad memory."
Albus spent a little more time placating Molly before sending her off. In spite of what he was saying, he knew the chances of getting Molly back in The Burrow were extremely slim. Now that Arthur knew everything, he would most likely have set up precautions to ensure that she never came near him or his kids again. Arthur was a fool, but he wasn't stupid.
Not that Albus could even really blame him. If he had had to live with Molly for all those years only to get free, Albus would never let Molly near him again.
The Burrow - November 22, 2003
Arthur was sitting down at the table with Fabian and Gideon, all three of them were lost. A few days earlier, they had been talking about wanting people to know they were together, but they knew it wasn't yet time to let everyone know about the ritual. Dumbledore was still too influential, and Arthur didn't want to risk losing custody of Ron and Ginny.
It had been James who gave them an idea. Tell people that they were getting married, but just renew their vows.
That was what led them to sitting at the table, surrounded by wedding magazines, completely lost. None of them, it seemed, had any real talent for planning a wedding. Their original wedding had been completely planned by their mothers, they had just shown up where and when they were told.
"How's everything going in here?" Came a voice from the door.
Looking up, the three men saw Percy. Percy hadn't had any rounds or head boy duties this weekend, so he had signed himself out to go home and spend the weekend with his fathers.
"Terrible." Fabian sighed.
"Why would we need all this stuff? We just want everyone to know we are married. Do you know how to plan a wedding?" Gideon looked pleadingly to his middle son.
Percy raised and eyebrow. "I am a 17 year old boy. Ask me how to properly structure an essay, sure. Ask me the best way to study for an exam, alright. Ask me how to plan a wedding, not a clue."
"Ahh, so I see their still struggling." Charlie laughed as he and Bill came in.
"Why are you three so mean, you should be nice and help your beloved fathers." Fabian pouted to his three oldest sons.
"I do know a way that I can get this wedding planned, but I don't think you would consider it 'nice'." Percy gave his fathers an appraising look.
"Anything!" All three men said at once.
"Ok, if your sure." Percy said as he headed for the floo. Looking back, he gave his fathers one last warning. "Just remember, this was what you wanted."
Percy flooed away, whispering his destination so as not to alert any of the others just incase they chose to run.
Percy had been gone for about five minutes when Remus arrived. Bill had asked for his assistance on some research he was doing for the bank. He had finished it early, so he had decided to just bring everything directly to Bill.
"Hey Bill. I have that information you needed. Ah, I see these three are still struggling with wedding plans."
"Remus. Dear sweet Remus. How did you plan your wedding, and will you do ours?" Gideon got down on his knees to plead with Remus.
Remus laughed. "Trust me, you don't want your wedding planned like mine was. My wedding involved sneaking to France with two friends to get married there, since it was illegal for me to get married here. And my vow renewal was planned by two hormonal, pregnant men, that went back and fourth between giggling happy, crying, throwing up, and throwing hexes at Sev and I. We actually almost ended up with a colour scheme of burnt orange and baby pink."
"Sacrilege."
Looking up, the six men in the room felt their eyes widen in terror as they saw Percy standing in between Narcissa and Marlene. Both women had a maniacal gleam in their eyes.
"You didn't. Please tell me you didn't." Remus looked to Percy in horror.
"I warned them." Percy smirked at his fathers.
"So… What are we working with? Date? Colours? Theme? Speak gentleman." Marlene demanded. She was extremely excited. Since she had been trapped in the hospital, she hadn't been able to really do anything major for her own wedding, so this was her chance.
"All we have decided is that we think we want a Yule wedding." Arthur said in a hesitant voice.
Both women squealed.
"How romantic." Narcissa sighed. "Let's see, a winter wedding. Most would say go with ice blue and silver, but that has been overdone. I figure we go with something more bold."
Marlene and Narcissa huddled together over the table flipping through the wedding magazines in a hurry. All the men in the room took a step away so they wouldn't get caught in the whirlwind.
"What is it with crazy women in our lives?" Charlie stupidly questioned. "I mean, is it just that all women are crazy, or is it just something about our family?"
He froze as both women spun to glare at him.
"We are not crazy, we are passionate." Marlene stated in an icy voice.
"We are talking about a celebration of your fathers love, that is something that deserves to be perfect." Narcissa added. "Besides, we are in no way shape or form crazy."
"Cissy, you are forgetting, I have gone shopping with you. I have literally seen shop keepers break down in tears of both joy and terror when you walk into their store. They know that they will be making a great deal of money, but you can be more than a little intense." Remus said before turning to look at Marlene. "And Marley, really? I know for a fact that you have turned one of the drawing rooms in Grimmauld Place into an underground house elf casino. You hosted a poker championship last week."
"House elf casino?" Bill looked quizzically to a slightly blushing Marlene.
"What, they like to gamble a little to relax too, Kreacher and I play a little poker from time to time, that elf has an excellent poker face. It just sort of grew from there. Besides, it isn't anything bad, they usually just bet the baubles they make." Marlene explained. "And really, can any of you claim that you aren't crazy?"
"We are just fine." Remus argued back.
"Really." Narcissa raised an eyebrow. "Where should we start. Maybe, with the book worm werewolf, who is married to my crazy cousin, that manages a joke shop owned by teenagers.
Or, we could talk about the man that willingly chose to work with dragons with almost no protection.
Or…"
"Ok, ok. We get it. We are all crazy. I'm sorry." Charlie held up his hands in submission.
"Good, now back to the wedding." Marlene turned back to the books.
"You know what? Why don't we just let you two take the magazines and you can plan everything. Just tell us where to be and when to be there." Fabian said as he gathered everything up and handed it over to the two women.
"Nothing else to add?" Narcissa looked to the three men.
"Just that we want it to be small. Nothing to extravagant." Arthur gave the women a stern look. "This is about family. So, just keep it small. Other than that, just make it fun."
"We will." Narcissa called over her shoulder and she and Marlene quickly left.
The seven men all sighed in relief now that they were safe. And, now they didn't need to worry about planning a wedding, they could just go back to being together.
Prewett Estate
Muriel had just settled down in her sun room with a few of her closest friends with some fresh mint juleps when her house elf, Trissy, popped in to let her know that Narcissa and Marlene were there and wished to speak to her. Agreeing, Muriel sent Trissy back to lead them to her. She really didn't know either of them all that well. All she really knew was that Marlene had been friends with Fabian and Gideon.
"We are sorry to interrupt Dame Prewett, ladies." Marlene said when she saw the other women.
"Do not worry about it my dears." Muriel waved it away. She could see from the light in the women's eyes that something had happened. "What has happened that has gotten you both so excited?"
"Percy just came to us for help." Narcissa told her.
"You know my great great nephew?" Muriel was slightly surprised. She really hadn't gotten to spend enough time with her family to learn who their friends were.
"Yes. Percy apprenticed to my husband at the ministry over the summer." Marlene told her.
"Anyways. The reason he came to us was to get our help with planning and we thought you might want to help." Narcissa announced happily, building up the tension in the room just for fun.
"Planning what?" Muriel smiled at Narcissa, deciding to play her game.
"Arthur, Fabian and Gideon… Have decided to get married." Marlene announced happily.
The entire room suddenly got very loud as all the women started a little celebration. Muriel quickly motioned for the two younger women to sit down.
"What do we know so far?" Muriel asked as soon as her friends quieted down.
"Well, apparently none of those foolish boys know what they are doing. When Percy realized that they needed help and got us, it was a mess. Arthur, Fabian, Gideon, Bill, Charlie, and Remus were all talking about colour schemes. We really only heard the end of the conversation, but burnt orange and pink were mentioned." Narcissa, and every other woman in the room shuddered in horror.
"They practically begged us to take over. All that they told us was that they wanted to hold the wedding this Yule. And that they wanted it to be a quiet, family affair, with just a few friends." Marlene added.
"But that doesn't even give us a month." Muriel was shocked that they were expected to set up a wedding so quickly.
"We know, that is why we came to you. We figured between the three of us we had a chance of getting it all done." Narcissa said.
"Yes, yes. I do believe the three of us will be able to pull this all together." Muriel nodded to the other two women.
The rest of the afternoon was spent planning the basic outline of the wedding.
It was early evening by the time they were finished with the weddings outline. All the other women had left after finishing their drinks and adding their opinion on the wedding.
After the last woman left, and it was just the three of them, Marlene turned to Muriel.
"I was wondering if you knew what happened to the handfasting ribbons that they used last time. I think it would be wonderful if we could use their original ones."
Muriel gave both of the others a look. "So, you two know what's going on."
"My husband is and unspeakable. He and Percy worked together over the summer to find a way to counter the ritual. I was also at their original wedding." Marlene smiled as she sipped her water.
"And I have known for years. Bill was apprenticing to my cousins team when he learned what had happened. My husband and I were often there to visit, so we found out." Narcissa added.
"It's good to know that we will be able to speak openly with each other then." Muriel was pleased. "As for the ribbon. I actually think that they should be somewhere here. I think the twins mother created a wedding memories box that came to me after she died."
Muriel thought for a moment before a thought struck her. "Trissy."
"What can Trissy bes doing for Mistress Muriel?" The elf asked in a soft voice.
"Trissy, I think there should be a memories box from Arthur, Fabian, and Gideon's wedding. It should be up in the attic. Would you go and check for us? If it's there, bring it here please."
"Yes mistress." With a pop, the elf was gone.
It was barely five minutes before the elf popped back with a chest.
"Here's is the wedding box, Mistress Muriel. Can Trissy bes doing anything else for Mistress Muriel?"
"No. Thank you Trissy, that is everything." Muriel gave the elf a smile before she popped away. "Well, lets see what we have."
Lifting the top of the box, the three women started sorting through. Laying right on top, was the two binding ribbons, one marked 'Fabian/Arthur' while the other was 'Gideon/Arthur'.
Deeper in the box, they found so much more. There were copies of the wedding vows. The crystal wedding cups the men had used. Copies of the original invitations. Table centre pieces. Candles. Hundreds of pictures. And even some of the confetti.
The three women knew they now had everything they needed to make this wedding perfect.
Hogwarts - November 28, 2003
Friday evening, the week after his fathers had decided to renew their vows, Percy called his younger siblings to a family meeting in one of the empty rooms on the ground floor.
It had been decided that he would have to explain things to his younger siblings, because it wasn't something that could just be said in a letter. Arthur had at first considered calling the kids home for the weekend, but felt that it would be better not to disrupt their routine. He also didn't want to have to deal with Ron or Ginny demanding to go to see Molly.
Percy had chosen to wait until Friday so that the kids would have the entire weekend to figure out their feelings on the subject before they had to go back to classes.
Now he just had to wait for the kids. Fred and George had arrived right after dinner, like he had requested, but Ron and Ginny hadn't. Eventually, after almost half an hour of waiting, they arrived.
"What do you want Percy?" Ginny whined as she and Ron entered the room.
"There is something we need to discuss. As a family." Percy said as he ushered them both to chairs.
"What now?" Ron groaned. He really wasn't liking all these changes.
"I went home last weekend…" Percy never got to finish his sentence.
"Why did you get to go home and I didn't? I want to go home, too." Ginny whined. She didn't like that her brother had gotten to leave, and she had been left behind.
"Ginny, I didn't go home because dad called me home, I went because I chose to." Percy started trying to explain.
"Well, I want to go home too. Why do you get to just go home when you want and I can't?" Ginny pouted.
"Because, I'm 17." Percy was already getting annoyed, and he hadn't even got to telling them about the wedding.
"What does that have to do with it?" Ron snapped. Like his sister, he wanted to be able to go home on weekends again.
"Because I'm a legal adult. As an adult, I can sign myself out whenever I feel like it." Percy explained. "When you two turn 17 you will be able to sign yourselves out. So long as you are passing all your classes that is."
"But I want to be able to go home now." Ginny whined.
"What is it that you wanted to talk to us about Percy?" George asked, side tracking Ginny's latest fit.
"As I was saying, I went home last weekend and there has been, and is going to be a few changes. The first thing is that a custody agreement has been reached. Dad is going to be picking us up for Yule, he will explain the specifics of the agreement with us all then.
But, the big news is that on the Sunday, just after we get home, dad is going to be getting married." Percy smiled as Fred and George cheered. They were glad that their fathers were going to be formally welcomed back into the family. Then he looked to Ron and Ginny. Both didn't look happy.
"How could he do that to mummy?" Ginny demanded.
"Ginny, he isn't doing anything to Molly. He is getting married for him." Percy tried to soothe the girl.
"He's breaking my mummy's heart. I won't let this stupid wedding happen. I won't, I won't, I won't." Ginny started repeating.
"Oh for Merlin's sake. Ginny shut up." George snapped.
"You do not get to make every decision about what happens in this family."
"Really, dad moved into his home office years ago."
"There hasn't been anything between them for years."
"And as for your precious, broken hearted, mummy,"
"She got remarried over a month ago."
"At least dad wants you to be there for his wedding."
Both twins glared at their little sister in annoyance. She just glared back.
"What are you talking about. Mum and dad love each other." Ron was confused by all this. His mum had been writing him for weeks telling him that they were going to be getting back together.
"No Ron, they don't. And Ginny, the twins are right. Your 'mummy' became Molly Diggle in the middle of October." Percy explained, giving the twins a look. He understood their anger, but Ron and Ginny were still just children, made even more immature by Molly's own treatment of them.
"Well I won't be having anything to do with this stupid wedding. Who is even so stupid as to think they can marry my mummy's husband?" Ginny glared at her brothers.
"Merlin." Percy sighed in annoyance at the bratty little girl. "Dad is marrying Uncles Fabian and Gideon."
"What?" Ron shouted. "That's disgusting. No father of mine is gay."
"Enough Ronald." Percy snapped. "I understand that Molly has taught you her bigoted ways, but being gay is perfectly normal. It is not disgusting. It is not immoral. And it is not wrong.
Dad is marrying Uncles Fabian and Gideon, and there is nothing wrong with that."
Ron joined Ginny in glaring. They both knew that this was wrong, and they weren't going to let it happen.
"Now, it is up to the both of you how you behave, but we will not let your childish behaviour disrupt this wedding. It is happening whether you like it or not. For once in your lives, I beg you, do not act like spoiled babies." Percy sighed in exasperation.
"We are not spoiled babies." Ginny argued.
"Good." Fred smiled.
"Then we don't have to worry abut you acting like you are."
"You will be grown up and mature during this wedding."
"And you will be happy to see that your father is happy."
"Without doing anything to try and destroy it."
Fred and George just grinned at their two clearly furious siblings before they got up to leave.
"Like they said. If you don't want to be called babies, then you can't act like it. Ron, Ginny. I am begging you. Please, do not try to ruin this for dad. He deserves to be happy." Getting up Percy headed for the door, before turning back to look at them sadly. "But, I won't be surprised if you can't put someone else's needs above your own desires. Like always."
Ron and Ginny just sat alone in the room for a few minutes. Both furious about what their brothers had just said.
"…nny. Ron. Ginny. RON! GINNY!" Snapping out of their own thoughts, Ron and Ginny saw an annoyed Hermione. She had been trying to get their attentions for over a minute.
"What Hermione?" Ron asked. Looking up at his friend.
"What did Percy want?" Hermione demanded.
"It's dad." Ginny started to tear up as she looked to the older girl. "He's getting remarried."
"But he and your mum only just separated?" Hermione was stunned at how fast Arthur had moved on.
"It's worse than that." Ron gave her a disgusted look. "He's marrying Uncle Fabian and Gideon."
"WHAT?" Hermione shouted. "But he can't. It isn't legal to marry a man, let alone two."
"We need to stop this." Ron said, starting to think of how he could make his dad stop being stupid and get back together with his mum.
"Don't worry, we will." Hermione reassured them. She wasn't about to let something like this happen.
Quidditch Pitch
After leaving Percy with their younger siblings, Fred and George had gone to one of the empty stands on the quidditch pitch with Hadrian. They were sitting high up on the stands looking around the empty, silent stadium.
They were both concerned about what Ron and Ginny were going to do. They both knew that their younger siblings were incapable of accepting their dads decision. They were going to try and disrupt, or destroy the wedding.
As much as Ron and Ginny annoyed them, they knew just how much it would mean to their dad to have them there. They were going to have to do something.
"Use me." Hadrian said from between them.
"What?" Fred looked down to where Hadrian lay with his head in his lap.
"Use me. So far this year, I have been able to avoid them almost completely. Ron's been dealing with all his extra class work and a crazy Granger. And I have been using my map to avoid Ginny.
We all know that they want me to change houses, but haven't gotten close enough to try and convince me. So, if we let them know that I will be at the wedding, then they will have to go. If I make a big deal about supporting your dads, then I figure, at least Ginny, will be less likely to do anything too bad.
That is, if you guys want to invite me." Hadrian finished his idea with a hesitant voice. Just realizing then that he wasn't sure if he was going to be invited to the wedding.
"Of course you're invited." George assured his slightly blushing soul mate.
"It wouldn't be a proper wedding without you there." Fred added. Giving his brother a smile as he too saw Hadrian's blush. "But, are you sure you want to do this? Putting yourself back in their sights, I mean."
"For your dad's, of course." Hadrian gave them a shy smile.
Fred ran his fingers through Hadrian's hair giving him a thankful smile. George leaned down and gently hugged Hadrian. But he couldn't give him a proper hug, because Nem was curled up, sleeping, on his chest.
They were both so grateful that Hadrian was willing to do that for their family. Now they just needed to figure out how to let Ron and Ginny know that he was going to be attending the wedding without it seeming to much of a set up.
Prewett Estate - December 6, 2003
Arthur flooed to visit Muriel early on Saturday. Today, Muriel was going to the school to go and collect the children and take them to get their wedding outfits. But, there were a few warnings that he needed to give the woman.
"Arthur, my dear." Muriel smiled happily as she saw him. She was extremely happy and excited to be welcomed back into the childrens lives now that Molly was gone. "You said there was something that you needed to speak to me about. Please, sit with me."
"Thank you Muriel." Arthur smiled as he took the seat and she poured him a cup of tea. "Yes, I needed to speak to you about a few different things about the kids. The first, is their behaviour. I am going to warn you now, Ron and Ginny are more than likely going to be extremely childish. And, more than likely extremely bratty. You have my full permission to call them out on it. Now that Molly is gone, I am going to be implementing behavioural rules."
"Oh, don't worry. I don't think anyone would ever accuse me of being to kind or letting someone disrespect me." Muriel gave him a smile. "Is there anything else?"
"Yes. It is a major bit of family drama, that actually reminds me of what happened with Fabian, Gideon and I.
I didn't even really notice until recently, but Molly has been telling Ron and Ginny about how Hadrian Potter-Black was destined to be Ron's best friend and Ginny's future husband. She had even made up a despicable marriage contract with Lily Evans between Ginny and Hadrian. It was a complete travesty of a contract that would have basically enslaved Hadrian to Ginny and others, I canceled it, much to Molly's fury.
But, Ginny is extremely obsessed with the boy, but he will never get together with her. I was hoping that, as a woman, you might be able to help her get over this obsession."
Muriel nodded. "Of course. But I must ask, why are you so sure that Hadrian would never date Ginny? From all the pictures I've seen, Ginny is a beautiful girl."
"Yes, there is no doubt in my mind that ginny will grow up to be quite beautiful. But Hadrian…" Arthur gave a happy little smile. "Hadrian is actually Fred and George's soulmate."
Muriel gasped before her face broke out in a huge grin. "Really. How sweet."
Arthur could only smile. He knew that Muriel was probably already planning their wedding.
What Arthur didn't know, was that Muriel had received a letter from Fred, George, and Hadrian only half an hour earlier. They had explained to her that Ron and Ginny were obsessed with Hadrian, and that they were planning to use that to ensure that Ron and Ginny attended, and didn't sabotage the wedding.
While she was taking the 5 Weasley children shopping, Hadrian would be going shopping with his Aunt Marlene. They were hoping that she would help them arrange a meeting between the two groups to let Ron and Ginny know that not only would Hadrian be there, but he supported the wedding.
Muriel smiled. She was definitely going to ensure that meeting, she wanted to see Hadrian interact with Fred and George, just to ensure that he properly appreciated his soul mates.
Twilfitt and Tattings
Muriel smiled as she lead the five youngest Weasley children into her favourite clothing shop in England, Twilfitt and Tattings. This was her chance to get to know her great great niece and nephews.
"Ahh, Muriel. Right on time." Francesca Tatting hummed as she walked out of the back room to greet her old friend. "So, let's see what I'm working with."
Muriel smiled at the woman. Francesca was over 50 years her junior, but she was still fond of the woman. It also helped that she was in the book club, and had also been at her estate when Narcissa and Marlene had first told her about the wedding.
"Hello Franky dear. Yes, these are my great great nephews, Percy, Fred, George, and Ron. And this is my great great niece, Ginny. They are all in need of proper wedding attire." Muriel indicated each of the children as she named them.
"Well, why don't we go oldest to youngest. That will allow you and Ginny a chance to make a few selections in our show room. Sorry boys, mens fashion does tend to be rather monotonous, but don't worry, I will make sure you each look your best."Francesca quickly ushered Percy into the back room to start with his measurements.
"Where are all the clothes." Ginny was looking around, but she didn't see much.
The shop really just looked like a tea room, with a few dummies around displaying different styles.
"Twilfitt and Tatting's isn't Madam Mulkin's dear." Muriel gave Ginny a small smile. "Roberta Mulkin and her husband order mass produced clothing, and tailor it to fit. It is just fine for everyday robes, but not for a wedding. Franky and her partners deal in custom clothing. Everything that is sold from this shop, is made here in this shop, by hand.
That's what she's doing with Percy now. Franky will take the measurements of each of you. Then, you will select a style and colours. When we leave today, we won't be taking anything with us. Instead, Franky will make your clothes over the next few weeks.
We already have a final fitting scheduled for the day you come home from school. Any changes or alterations will be made then, and then we can take the clothes. Now come, let's sit and start looking at the different fabrics and styles they have."
Ginny sat down and started flipping through the design books that were placed around. She wanted to make sure that she had the perfect dress. Not that she would be wearing it to any weddings.
When she and Ron had first gotten the letter telling them that their great great aunt was going to be taking them to get wedding clothes, their initial reaction had been to refuse. But then they thought better of it.
For Ron, it was a chance to get out of the school for an afternoon. Hermione was really losing it because of all the extra work she was doing. And, if he was anywhere near her when she was working, he got yelled at.
Ginny saw it as an opportunity. Her mum had always told her that her aunt Muriel had a lot of money, and no children to leave it to. Ginny knew that she deserved that money. Plus, it got her a free dress of her own design.
Flipping through the books, Ginny found the exact style of dress she wanted. It was beautiful.
"I want this one." She announced.
Muriel took the book, and sputtered on her tea. "Not a chance."
The dress was a fuchsia pink baby doll strapless dress that didn't even go down to mid thigh. It was clearly for a much older woman, and a very different kind of party.
"But that's the one I want." Ginny started to get angry at being denied.
"You are a 12 year old Hogwarts student. Not a 25 year old harlot." Muriel took the book away and placed it away from the girl. "Those designs are intended for a much older clientele, not children. Look through these books, you will find something that will be much better for a girl your age."
Muriel handed her some of the books that had more formal dresses.
From across the room, where Fred and George were looking at different styles of male robes, the impending Ginny tantrum was obvious.
'How long do you think it's going to be before she throws a fit?' Fred asked his brother in his head.
'I figure she will lose it if she gets told no again. She's been sucking up ever since Aunt Muriel picked us up.'
'Which means she want's something.'
'Probably money. You know how Molly was always going on about how Aunt Muriel had all this money but was never willing to share it.'
'Yeah.'
"Hey guys," Looking up, they both saw Percy coming over. "I'm done. Who's next? Uh oh. What happened?"
Percy had just caught the look in Ginny's eyes.
"Aunt Muriel told her no to the dress she wanted." Fred explained. "I'll go first, it was supposed to be oldest to youngest, after all."
After Fred had walked towards the fitting room, Percy turned to George.
"Where is Ron?"
George smirked before tipping his head towards the tea tray. Ron was over by the tray systematically eating an entire tray of finger sandwiches. Percy just rolled his eyes slightly. Really, how that boy could eat so much and not explode still amazed his brothers.
Back over with Ginny, Muriel was carefully watching the girl. It was clear that she was angry, so Muriel was watching to see how she handled her anger. So far, she was impressed that the girl was holding herself back. When Molly had been her age, the word 'no' would have resulted in instant tears and tantrums.
Glancing over, she saw Ronald eating. She shook her head slightly at his complete lack of manners. Muriel knew that she was going to have to start teaching the children proper etiquette.
Looking further, Muriel saw as Fred came out of the dressing room, and George went in.
"If I can't have that other dress, then I want this one." Ginny demanded.
Muriel looked down at this new dress, and once again sputtered. This dress, at least, wasn't a mini dress. The dress that Ginny had selected this time was a skin tight floor length dress in a beautiful shimmering pink. It was incredibly beautiful, but Muriel wasn't about to let a 12 year old attend her fathers wedding in a dress that had two thigh high slits in the skirt, and a plunging neckline that would easily display her belly button. It also didn't help that it was 100% acromantula silk, and cost more than most people made in a year.
"No, Ginny. That dress also isn't appropriate for a girl your age, or your fathers wedding. Also, the colour scheme of the wedding is ruby, and sapphire, with silver accents. Your dress needs to be one of those."
"Well I don't want to wear one of those colours. I want to wear one of those two dresses, in pink. And you can't stop me." Ginny crossed her arms over her chest and got ready to argue.
"No." Muriel gave the child a hard look. "You can make all the demands you want, but I don't have to do what you say. If you can't pick a dress that is age appropriate, and in ruby or sapphire, then you will be left wearing whatever I select."
"Then I won't go to the wedding." Ginny challenged.
"Then there is no need for you to get a new dress." Muriel gave the girl a serene smile. "Once all your brothers have been measured, we will just leave, and you can go back to school."
"But I want a dress." Ginny's voice started to rise in her anger.
"Then, you will select an appropriate dress, that you will then wear to the wedding."
Ginny glared for a moment while she thought of a new argument. "You can't make me go to that wedding."
Muriel looked at the cruel smirk on the childs face and knew Molly really had done a number on this one. "You're right, I can't. But the simple fact is, you are being presented with two choices. You can attend your fathers wedding, in a new dress, and be seen as a loving daughter. Or, you can refuse to attend, and prove that you are a spoiled little girl that doesn't care for anyone but her self.
If you choose the latter, than that is how you will be treated. The only way to correct the behaviour of a spoiled child is to stop spoiling them. That means telling them no when they start making unreasonable demands. No extra presents or treats. Grounding them when they throw tantrums. To put it simply, they get taught the meaning of the word 'no' by being told 'no'."
Ginny just stared for a moment. Who did this woman think she was? Suddenly showing up in her life and giving her stupid rules. Ginny knew just what to do, she was going to show this bitch who was in charge. Her mother had always made sure she got what she wanted when she started screaming, it was, after all, the only way she would stop.
Muriel saw the vicious light enter the girls eyes. When she saw Ginny draw in a deep breath, and prepare to start screaming, Muriel quickly pulled her wand and cast a silencing spell. She almost smirked as the girl silently screamed for a moment before she realized she wasn't making any noise. The girl had an extremely funny stunned face.
"That is quite enough young lady. You will not be throwing a tantrum here. It is clear that your mother has done her best to ruin you, but I have no intention of allowing this behaviour when you are with me.
Let me make this perfectly clear, you are a daughter of the noble house of Prewett, and you will be expected to act like it. The Prewett family is an ancient and noble family that has a seat in the Wizengamot. You are going to be held to a higher standard of behaviour.
Just look at your mother. She threw fits every time she didn't get her way, a behaviour that you are apparently mimicking, and it cost her greatly. It was her dream to marry a lord of one of the noble families so that she could dress up and attend fancy parties, but, you might notice that never happened.
By the time she had finished Hogwarts, she had thrown so many fits that she was considered completely unmarriable by those of noble birth. As far as I'm concerned, your father is a saint for putting up with her behaviour for as long as he did. But again, you might notice that her new husband also isn't from a noble family. That is a direct result of her behaviour.
If you continue to carry on like this, there is no doubt in my mind, that you will never even be considered as wife material to anyone of noble birth. So, it is time to start to grow up young lady. If you ever want to be a respected member of high society, as I am, then you will need to start behaving with at least a modicum of decorum. Which means, you do not throw fits in the middle of exclusive shops such as this one.
Now, I am going to remove this spell, and we are going to go into that dressing room and have you measured. As you have refused to select an appropriate dress, then that will be up to me. If you decide to throw a tantrum, or are at any time disrespectful to Franky or I, then we will leave. You will just have to wear a dress you already have to the wedding.
Am I understood?"
Ginny glared for a moment before she nodded. When the spell was removed, Muriel lead a quiet Ginny into the dressing room as Ron walked out.
It was only a few minutes after Muriel and Ginny had gone into the dressing room, that Ron started to whine about how long everything was taking. The good thing was that Percy had known that Ron was going to get bored, so he had made sure to bring a new comic that he knew Ron liked.
As soon as Ron had his new comic, he quickly went and sat down. His older brothers were all grateful for the few moments of silence.
It wasn't long after that that Hadrian arrived with Marlene. Ron didn't even look up as the two of them entered.
Fred and George both grinned as soon as they saw Hadrian. Quickly, they led him over to some of the fabric samples to show him what they thought he should have his robes made out of. They had found an emerald silk that was almost the exact same colour as his eyes. Although they didn't confess it to him, they had originally wanted to have their robes made out of that material because it reminded them of him, but in the end they had had to stick to the colour scheme.
Fred and George made sure to tell Hadrian about everything they had seen. They figured that Hadrian might be able to bring up manners in front of they're siblings. Maybe if they heard it from Hadrian, Ron and Ginny might start behaving appropriately in public.
While Fred and George were quietly talking to Hadrian, Percy and Marlene were across the room talking to each other.
Ginny was furious as she was led out of the dressing room by her great great aunt. The first thing that was angering her was that she hadn't been given a say on the dress. The mirror in the room was enchanted to reflect the design that was wanted. Muriel had told the other lady what Ginny was going to get, rather than letting Ginny say anything. The other thing that was angering her, was that the design of the dress that Muriel had chosen for her was actually really cute.
The dress was tea length, and a deep rich red. The top was a loose t-shirt style with a pretty floral pattern. While the skirt was a full layered design that had little rosettes on it.
"Ah, Marlene." Muriel smiled as she walked over to greet the younger woman. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a beautiful dark haired boy was standing between the twins. "What brings you here today my dear?"
"I brought my nephew to get measured for his robes for the wedding." Marlene smiled. "It would seem that you had the same idea."
Hadrian slowly walked over to meet the formidable woman for the first time.
"Aunt Marlene?" Hadrian gave Marlene a smile.
"Hadrian, allow me to introduce you to Dame Muriel Prewett. Muriel, this is my nephew, Hadrian Potter-Black." Marlene directed Hadrian towards the woman.
As soon as she said that, Ron and Ginny's heads went up. Ron got up and started to head towards the boy he was told would be his best friend, and Ginny started fluttering her eyelashes in what she thought was a cute fashion.
"Dame Prewett." Hadrian bowed slightly and kissed the air above her hand. "It is a true pleasure to meet you. Fred and George have told me good things."
Muriel couldn't help but smile at the boy. There was just something completely disarming about him, it reminded her of another Potter she had once known.
"Well aren't you charming. But, I would expect nothing less from someone like you. It is such a pleasure to meet one so young that understands proper manners."
Hadrian gave her another slight bow, smiling as he understood what she was hinting at. "Of course madam. My Aunt Narcissa insisted that I was properly educated on what was socially acceptable. Given the families I'm in line for, any form of impropriety could cost me greatly politically.
I have no intention of ending up as a disgraced Lord before I am even old enough to take my seats in the Wizengamot chambers. There is nothing that ruins the reputation of a family faster than uncouth behaviour."
"Quite right." Muriel gave the boy a smirk as she glanced over to where Ginny stood, still clearly trying to flirt with him, but Hadrian hadn't even looked to her. "You must forgive us, but we should be off so that you can get to your fitting. But, we will have to sit down and talk after the wedding."
Ron interrupted before Hadrian could respond. "You're going to the wedding?"
Hadrian raised an eyebrow as he finally turned to acknowledge the other boy. "Of course. Fred and George invited me. But I would have been attending any way. My Uncles have been friends with your father since before I was born, and, there has been a long standing alliance between the Potter and Prewett family.
But, even without that, I would of course be their to support both your father, and Fabian and Gideon. They're all wonderful people, and deserve to be happy. There is no doubt in my mind that the wedding is going to be perfect. Although I am a little biased since two of my aunts helped to plan it, along with Dame Prewett."
"I appreciate your vote of confidence." Muriel smiled, there was no way Ron or Ginny could do anything now. Not if they wanted to ever get close to young Hadrian. "But, as I said, it is time to go. Children…"
Muriel ushered the Weasley children towards the door. It took a little bit of effort because Ginny kept trying to get around her so that she could go back and talk to Hadrian. Plus the twins were also hesitant to leave Hadrian so soon after seeing him again.
But, Francesca Tatting came out, and, upon seeing who was in her shop, quickly ushered the boy into the dressing room. It wouldn't do to leave the saviour of the wizarding world to wait.
After Hadrian was out of sight, Muriel was finally able to get everyone out.
Hogwarts
"Who does that woman think she is?" Ginny demanded as she and her brothers arrived back at school.
"What now Ginny?" Percy sighed.
"There you are. What happened?" Hermione rushed forward when she saw the others arrive. The girl was a complete mess.
"That, that woman. Who does she think she is? Telling me that I need to change my behaviour if I want to marry Harry. What would she know about marrying? She's still single." Ginny ranted.
"That's enough Ginny." Percy tried to quiet his sister. "Just for your information, Aunt Muriel is single by choice. She had been engaged when she was younger, but only a few days before the wedding her fiancé was killed personally by Grindelwald.
After that, she chose to go into mourning, and just never really stopped."
"Who would be so stupid as to get engaged to a woman like that?" Ginny growled. She really didn't like Muriel, now she understood why her mum never let that woman near them.
Percy gave a sad smile. "That is actually a topic that I thought you might have paid attention to, given your obsession.
Given your stalker habits, I'm sure you know that Hadrian's grandfather was named Charlus, and he was once Lord Potter. But, he wasn't originally the families heir. Charlus had an older brother, Hadrian. Our Hadrian was named in his honour, it is one of the reasons he hates when people try to call him a different name.
Anyways, Aunt Muriel was engaged to Hadrian Potter. That is why Hadrian said that there is a long standing alliance between the Potter and Prewett families. Even after the death of his older brother, and he took the family title, Charlus always treated Aunt Muriel like she was a member of the family.
So, you might want to start listening to Aunt Muriel. She knows better than anyone what it takes to be welcomed into a powerful family like the Potter's. Plus, she holds a great deal of power in the more elite social circles. She is not the kind of woman you want to make an enemy of."
Smirking at their little sister one last time, Fred, George, and Percy left.
"Well…" Hermione's voice was demanding. "What was all that about?"
"Harry was at the robe shop to get fitted for robes for the wedding." Ron told her while Ginny just continued to pout.
"What? Why would he be attending that abomination?" Hermione was stunned. What was wrong with that boy?
"His uncles are friends with my dad, so they were invited. The twins also invited him for some reason." Ron explained.
"We need to get the stupid twins away from my Harry." Ginny finally spoke through her rage at her Aunt Muriel.
"Then we have no choice," Hermione sighed. She really hated that she was going to have to do this. "We are all going to have to attend the wedding. Ron, you are going to write to your father and tell him that you have invited me. We will just spend the wedding keeping Harry away from the twins.
I know that you want to disrupt the wedding, and we will if we can find a way, but our first priority is Harry. I'm sure the headmaster and your mum will be able to force your dad to get a divorce after."
Both Ron and Ginny agreed before they went back to their common room.
Hogwarts, School Board Meeting Room - December 3, 2003
Like every year, James once again sat down in the school board meeting room. This year, things were going to be different though. The governors had received a request from a small group of students that they be allowed to attend. It was a little unorthodox, but they had decided to allow the students so that they could find out what it was that they wished to discuss.
That was what led to him, and the other school governors, sitting down, asking the students what it was that they wished to discuss. The group included the head boy and girl, Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater, as well as prefects Marcus Flint, Katie Bell, and Cedric Diggory.
"What is it that you wished to discuss with us that couldn't wait until the next complaints meeting. It is only a month away?" Alice asked kindly as she looked at the mixed house group.
"What we wished to discuss really isn't a complaint." Percy said. "It is more of a request. After a great many discussions amongst ourselves, we have decided that we feel the student population deserves it's own voices on this board. As such, we would request that a representative of each house be given a place on this board."
"But you are just children." Molly didn't like this idea, they were just kids, and kids shouldn't get to make the decisions.
"Exactly." Penelope smiled softly. "We are the students of this school. We know what we need, and what we don't."
"We mean no offence, but the school we attend isn't the same school you did." Katie tried to explain. "So much has changed since any of you were last students here.
And don't think we aren't grateful for all the changes you have made in recent years, we really are, but that has changed a lot of things for us. We just feel that we, the students, should be able to have a say on certain things."
Seeing that Dumbledore was about to shoot the idea down, James quickly jumped in. "Can you give us an example? What sort of things would you like to change?"
"Well, for one thing, Hogsmeade weekends." Cedric took a step forward. "The schedule for Hogsmeade weekends is completely nonsensical. We looked it up, last year, from the start of school until Yule, we had three Hogsmeade weekends. But, this year, we have only gotten to go once, and not even all of us got to go.
The only warning of a Hogsmeade weekend that we get is a note posted on the announcement boards in our common rooms a few days before. That doesn't give anyone enough time to shift around our study or quidditch schedules.
Almost the entire sixth year alchemy class had to stay at the school during the weekend to finish off our assignments. We had hoped that their would be another trip later in the semester, but, obviously, there hasn't been. If we had known more than a few days in advance, we could have made sure our work was finished earlier.
I also know that the Slytherin quidditch team had to stay at the school for the weekend because they had the pitch booked for practice, and were refused when they requested to reschedule their time.
We think that the school should allow us to have Hogsmeade weekends every other weekend. That way, we can pick and choose which weekends we go into town, and still be able to make sure that we can get all our work done."
"I'm sorry my boy, but that just isn't possible." Albus twinkled at Cedric. "The staff just doesn't have enough time to arrange it. Plus, the local businesses prefer it if the students are only there a few times a year."
"I don't mean to be contrary Headmaster, but how does it take up the staffs time?" Flint gave a slight grin. Although he wasn't a death eater like his father, he still didn't like this manipulative old fool. "All the staff does is post a sign, or, has the house elves post a sign, and checks off names.
I have been going to Hogsmeade when I can for the past four years. And the reason I say, when I can, is because almost every Hogsmeade weekend happens on the weekends Slytherin has the quidditch pitch booked. Of the 6 Hogsmeade weekends we had last year, every single one of them took place on a weekend we had practice, so the Slytherin team didn't get to go even once.
But, I'm sure that's just a coincidence, so, back on topic. We are not monitored while we are in town. On the rare occasions that we do see a staff member in town, they are sitting in the Three Broomsticks, not even paying any attention to us. If anything, it lessens the workload for those at the school since so many students are gone."
"And as for the idea of what the local business owners want, I have no idea where you could have gotten that idea." Percy's voice was bland. "Since a few of us are 17, we signed ourselves out so that we could go and talk to them.
According to Madam Rosmerta, the only warning that the business owners get that it is a Hogsmeade weekend, is when students start arriving. They hate that. Madam Rosmerta only keeps a certain supply of butterbeer around, since she never knows when the students will be there, she never has enough when they do show up. If you ask any student, you need to get to the pub by 10 at the latest if you want one, after that, she is always out. She said that if she had warning, she would order more so that everyone could have some.
The same thing happens at every shop. Since they have no pre warning, they don't have the time to stock up on what they know that the students like, so many of the students have to go without."
Penelope pulled out 2 sheets of parchment and handed it to James. "The first sheet is a petition from the students for a set schedule of Hogsmeade trips. Even if it is just once a month, we want a schedule. We only started that last week, and have already gotten signatures from over half of the students third year and above.
The second sheet is a petition from the business owners of Hogsmeade for the same thing. If you'll look, you will see that it is signed by every single business owner in town."
The students relaxed and just waited, there really was nothing else they could do now.
The school governors went over the petitions. Each surprised at just how much work the students had done, as well as how passionate they were about this.
Albus was annoyed. He didn't want the students to have even more freedoms. "Now children, it's clear you've all done a lot of work, and it's a decent idea, but…"
"I think it's a brilliant idea." The bold voice of Rowan Finnigan overpowered Dumbledore's weak, placating one. "Whether we want to admit it or not, we are old. We don't fully understand what the students of this school are going through.
Sure, we can talk to our kids, or try and remember what we wanted when we were here, but we still won't be able to fully understand. What better way to get around that than having four students on the board with us. Also, it's clear that the Hogsmeade issue is something that both students and business owners feel strongly about. I say yes to both. Let the students on the board, and let them go to Hogsmeade every other weekend."
"I agree." James smiled. He really was glad that Dumbledore had put Rowan up to replace Elphias Doge. The man must have thought she would be another blindly loyal follower with the attitude of Molly, he had clearly underestimated the woman.
"As do I." Was heard from most of the other governors.
In quick succession, both requests of the student group was approved. Starting when the students returned to the school in January, they would be able to go to Hogsmeade every other weekend.
When the meetings started up again, they would be on a Saturday so that they could be attended by a student from each house. After much debate, they also managed to figure out who could represent each house, and how they would be selected. It was decided that the heads of house would nominate four students, fifth year and above, from their house, and the students would then vote for who they wanted.
After that, the meeting finished up quickly.