MetaFic

Scene 22.0

July 30, 1992

“Really, I mean no offence by this, but I have plenty of money, Mrs Weasley.  You know that.  Your family has plenty of everything that really matters, but in this case . . . well, Ginny is part of my family, too.  Everything that’s mine is hers.  We’ll take care of getting all of her supplies.  You just don’t need to.”

Harry could tell that the “discussion” – since it was impolite to suggest it might be an argument – was going to continue unabated for still longer than it already had.  When Ginny spoke up, however, the conversation changed abruptly.  “I agree, Mum,” she said in the firmest voice Harry had ever heard from her.  “I’ll want you to help me pick things out, but Harry and I will pay for our own needs.”

“Fancy meeting you here,” Harry said with a hint of his old humour when Seamus tumbled out of the floo.  When Cat tumbled out an eye blink or two later, Harry automatically extended a hand to her. 

“Since we’ve been here every day since you left, well,” Seamus said with a smirk, “you’d think we lived here, too.  Except we don’t do double chores, thankfully.”

Scene 20.5

1 Jul 1992

“They didn’t hex you.”

Ginny’s voice in the dark room was quite soft, but it carried easily across the few feet that separated their heads.  The L-shaped orientation of the twin beds – heads together, feet away – made conversation trivially easy, while any other contact could be completely avoided.  The only visible indicators of the strange status they shared were the additional wardrobe and a substantial expansion of the closet.

Scene 20.2

1 Jul 1992

The cool evening breeze wrapped around the Weasley parents, Ginny, and Harry as they watched the sun set over the hills on the horizon.  “Tomorrow,” Mr Weasley said, “Darius and I will bring the original cattle count and half the new count back here.  Those are the standard Fosterage fee terms, at any rate.  I’d like you to help remind Molly and me about all the daily chores that go with having them, if you would.  Then we’ll get everyone up to speed and split the work properly.”

Harry, sitting in a half-reclined garden chair while propping his feet on a bit of a stump, looked back at Ginny’s parents.  “Okay, Mr Weasley.”

Chapter 21
 
When you make a promise to someone, you're being a little unreasonable. 

Several folks have asked, including one via PM who doesn't accept return PMs, so I thought I'd provide what information I can about the rest of MoO2. The next chapter, number 26 by my count, is in early beta. Later early beta than it was a couple of weeks ago, so there is progress. Under ideal circumstances, it would be posted in about 3 weeks. In the real world, it will probably be longer, but it's still visible in the distance.

Scene 20.1

1 Jul 1992

Harry wished Aoife had stayed rather than Darius, but the three of them had privately agreed that she was the best one to explain “not so recent developments” to Seamus and Caitlin.  Harry was very, very glad he was not going to have to explain it to Cat, but at the same time, he wished there were some way he could cushion the blow.  Aoife had talked to him about her daughter’s mild obsession and terminal infatuation with him, calling it a first-crush that would pass after a year or two.  Considering it had only really become as pronounced as it had a few months before he left for Hogwarts, he thought it would have been much kinder to not tell her until her feelings had died on their own.  Unfortunately, the nature of his “relationship” to one Ginny Weasley was unlikely to remain a secret for long, no matter what they did.

Scene 20.0.2

1 Jul 1992

“The Fosterage was a requirement of the contracts we were . . . bound by when we agreed to take care of you, Harry.”  Mr Weasley had a kindly face, and Harry could see the laugh lines around the man’s mouth.  At the moment, the frank seriousness of the patriarch’s face left him with the impression that a really big shoe was about to drop – possibly on Harry’s head.  “We think,” Mr Weasley said after a bit of silence, “that she had considerable help from someone in the magical community when she wrote those contracts.  They were extremely well crafted, better than anything I’ve read before.  And I’ve been working at the Ministry for nearly three decades.”

Scene 20.0.1

1 Jul 1992

“I’d like to say it started,” Mrs Weasley began, “shortly after those horrible things that happened when you were just a toddler, Harry. The reality is it started much earlier, when I was still pregnant with Ginny, but it will be easier for me to explain it if I start with the days right after . . . well, right after you lost your parents.”

Harry nodded his head in acquiescence when she looked at him for approval, not really caring where she started as long as he finally got some answers.

Scene 20.0.0

1 Jul 1992

Harry stood a bit impatiently, waiting for his Aoife-mum to return from taking Darius to their ultimate destination.  Despite her assurances that everything would turn out okay, Harry’s efforts to remain aloof and calm about the “Big Change” - as Seamus called it - were starting to take their toll.  On the one hand, he was glad that Seamus and Cat had been banished outside while Aoife got everything rolling, but on the other hand, he could really use a distraction right now. He could hardly imagine that his favorite place to live and his near-brother were about to be set aside so he could be transplanted to a new family and a new non-home abode to occupy. 

With a soft crack, Aoife stood in front of him again, and he could see her own anxiety etched on her face.  She said nothing for a time, and then she enveloped Harry in a crushing hug.