Asking Arthur

Harry Potter was nervous, extremely nervous. He paced the floor of his living room before he flooed over to the Burrow. It was Sunday, meaning the Weasley family lunch at the Burrow. Since the end of the war, Molly had insisted the family gather for lunch at the Burrow on Sunday.

Over the past two years, Harry's Sundays were spent at the Burrow. He had only missed a hand full of these Sunday dinners due to illness or work.

But this Sunday dinner was different. This Sunday dinner was the one when Harry asked Arthur for permission to ask Ginny to marry him.

They had been happily dating for the last two years, since the end of the war. Harry and Ginny reconnected that afternoon just after Harry had returned to the Great Hall. He had just returned the Elder Wand to Dumbledore's tomb, where with the help of Kingsley, they repaired the marble tomb.

Harry was going to go on up to Gryffindor tower when Neville told him that it was safe and hadn't been destroyed. He was about to follow Ron and Hermione when he stopped and turned left, heading into the Great Hall once more. He had completed his first task, his next task was to get Ginny and try to repair their relationship. He walked straight to the table, where the Weasleys were gathered. He was halfway there when his eyes met Ginny's and she got up from the table and began to walk to him.

As she got closer, her walk turned into a run, and then she jumped into his waiting arms, hugging him to her and letting tears of joy and relief flow. Harry hugged her tightly, returning the embrace, tangling his hand in her hair, inhaling the scent that he loved. When he sat her back down on the floor, they said "I love you," at the same. Laughing, they leaned in kissed like they hadn't seen each other in a long time.

When they broke apart, Harry scanned the group of grinning Weasleys and finally landed on Arthur. The Weasley patriarch nodded, giving his permission. Hand in hand, Harry and Ginny walked up to Gryffindor tower. They paused only for a breath at the divided staircase. Without thinking, Harry pulled Ginny up the stairs to the boy's dorm with him.

There, Ginny took charge, ordered Harry to the bathroom for a shower, healing his injuries or what she could, treating the bruises and cuts. She made sure he ate something before he let total exhaustion set in. She had got up to head to her own dorm when Harry grabbed her hand.

Not wanting to be alone, Harry begged, "Stay with me."

Ginny complied, laying down beside him and kissing his cheek before she fell asleep. Thus began sleeping together in the same bed, every night. At first, Molly didn't approve until she witnessed Harry comforting Ginny at night. Considering Ginny's 17th birthday was that summer and they promised not to do anything besides sleep, Molly agreed.

They helped each other through the next month of funerals, memorials, helping George clean up the joke shop and the nightmares that plagued them both. Ginny helped Harry take care of Teddy, teaching him how to change nappies, feed him, burp him, and then play with him with Harry. After time went on, when Ginny saw Harry with Teddy, she thought about what a wonderful father he would make one day.

Ginny was Harry's saving grace through those three months after the war. She was his biggest supporter when he decided to skip his seventh year and go straight into Auror training. Ginny, was returning to Hogwarts, if nothing, for Quidditch. She got the Captain's badge and was looking for a professional career at the end of her Hogwarts days.

Ginny had stolen a few of Harry's T-shirts and slept in them. It helped soothe her to sleep, inhaling the scent of the sandalwood soup and Harry before she went to sleep.

Harry had stolen a bottle of Ginny's shampoo and occasionally used it when he missed her.

To help ease the strain, Harry bought a set of mirrors like the ones Sirius had and given her one. This way, they would talk at the end of every day and could "see" each other. Despite Harry's hectic schedule, he made time for Hogsmeade visits, Quidditch matches, and even took time off during Christmas and Easter break, during which he would spend all his time with Ginny.

When Ginny graduated and went to try out for the Holyhead Harpies, Harry went to Wales with her and was her support during the trials and continued to support her when she started her career. Even though Ginny was often gone with the Harpies, they managed during their time apart. A few times, Harry accompanied Ginny due to Gwenog Jones's request for security on away matches and any traveling the team needed to do.

Harry was permanently on the security list until Ginny's days with the Harpies were over.

Now that two years had passed, Harry felt the time was right to propose. Harry knew that he wanted to marry her. He couldn't imagine his life with her. She's taken care of him when he was sick, she was there when he needed a hug or a back rub at the end of a long day and she was there to support him and love him when they lost one of their own.

He looked at the clock and saw that it was eleven. "Now or never," he told himself. He walked over to the floo and picked up the floo powder.

"The Burrow!" he called, disappearing in a puff of green smoke.

Harry tumbled out of the floo and nearly collided with his best friend.

"Harry's here!" Ron called, laughing as he helped Harry up from the floor.

"Hey Ron," the raven headed man greeted. They then did one of those one arm hugs and pound each other on the back.

"Hey mate, what brings you here this early?" his best mate greeted.

Harry pulled Ron by the arm to a quiet corner of the sitting room. He didn't need Molly or Hermione overhearing this conversation. "Remember what I told you last week?"

"When you said you were going to ask Ginny to marry you?" Ron asked.

"Yeah."

The week before, Harry and Ron had gone out for lunch in Diagon Alley, alone with neither of the girls or other Aurors from the department. It was a rare chance for Harry and Ron to talk freely without having to code everything. The one topic off-limits was work. Harry often looked at his lunch break as a break from work and refused to talk about work during lunch. Ron agreed. Instead, they talked about Quidditch, Teddy, and Victoire, things happening in the family, and generally, catching each other up in their lives.

They even talked to each other about life-changing decisions, like the one Harry told Ron during that same lunch last week.

"I'm thinking about asking Ginny to marry me," Harry blurted.

Ron just stared at Harry. Realizing what Harry just said, he laughed, pulling Harry in a brotherly embrace.

"Seriously?!" Ron exclaimed. He had hoped that one day Harry and Ginny would get married. The happiest he has seen Harry was when he was with Ginny, and Ginny was the happiest when she was with Harry.

Harry nodded. Ron laughed and embraced Harry in another brotherly hug, muttering congratulations.

"Have you got a ring yet?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I've already got a ring. I'll show it to you when we get home."

Since Ginny had a late practice, they met at Harry's flat that evening to discuss the plans Harry had of asking Ginny to marry him. The first thing Harry did was show Ron the ring. He handed the box to Ron and he opened the small velvet box.

Ron took a sharp intake of breath. "It's beautiful, mate," he said, softly.

Harry found the ring when he explored the vault when he went to Gringotts after the war to settle any issues with the Goblins and to look in the vault.

When he saw it, he could imagine it on Ginny's finger.

"It's my Mum's engagement ring," Harry explained. "In the letter that came with it, Mum told me to give to the girl I could imagine spending the rest of my life with. And with Ginny, I can."

"She'll love it," Ron assured had him. "When are you going to ask her?"

"This weekend when we go on our date," Harry decided. "I would have done it last weekend, but Ginny had that game and I want this to be romantic. Like what she reads about in those romance books."

Ron shook his head. "Hermione's the same way."

Now Harry was going to ask Arthur's permission to ask Ginny to marry him. Even though Harry knew what his answer would be, he still wanted to be proper and ask Arthur anyway.

Molly entered the sitting room, having heard the floo and the whispered conversation. She was thinking it was George planning a prank during dinner, but when she saw her son and the boy she thought of as a son, she smiled.

"Hello Harry, dear. How are you?" Molly greeted.

Harry smiled and hugged the woman he thought of as a mother. "I'm good. I was wondering if I could have a word with Arthur?"

Molly smiled knowingly. "Of course, he's in the shed, dear." She returned to the kitchen.

Ron patted Harry on the back, as he headed towards the kitchen to help Molly with lunch. He stopped before his foot crossed over from the sitting room to the kitchen.

"So you know mate," Ron began and turned around. "You have my blessing. I haven't seen Ginny this happy in a very long time. I don't think I can thank you enough for that."

Harry crossed the room over to where Ron was standing and engulfed his best friend in a tight embrace. The last time they had hugged this tightly was after their near-death experience with some death eaters a year ago.

"You're welcome."

Ron patted him on the back as they broke apart. "Take care of her, mate. And let her take care of you."

"I will," Harry said, in almost a whisper.

As Harry crossed the kitchen to the back door, he couldn't help but notice Molly looking at him and smiling, as if she knew what Harry was planning.

The butterflies in Harry's stomach, increased as he approached the shed. There was a hand full of times that he was in the shed, but that didn't make this time less nerve-wracking.

"Arthur?" Harry called when he approached the propped open doors.

The Weasley patriarch turned from the TV he was playing with and saw Harry standing at the door of the shed. Arthur was tinkering with a TV that Harry and Ginny gave them for Christmas. They were given two, one for Arthur to play with and another to watch. Harry had charmed it to work in the house just like he did with the Muggle appliances in the kitchen.

"Harry, how are you?" the Weasley patriarch asked.

"I'm fine." Harry swallowed thickly. "You can do this, Harry," he thought to himself. He approached Arthur, sitting down on one of the stools.

"Um, Arthur…." Harry began but trailed off.

"Everything okay, Harry?" Arthur asked.

"I love your daughter," Harry stated, deciding to get it over with before he lost his nerve.

"I know that Harry." Arthur turned to face the blubbering man in front of him with a smile.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is," Harry paused, and took a deep breath. "I….. I want to marry your daughter."

Arthur dropped the screwdriver to the workbench and turned to the boy, now a man, he thought of as a son.

Harry waited for what felt like an eternity before Arthur smiled and said, "If you're asking for my permission you got it."

Harry released the breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"Harry," he continued. "I've seen the way you and Ginny look at each other. I knew this day was coming for a while and I knew my answer even then. If it's my blessing you're looking for, you got it."

"Thank you," Harry breathed, feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Arthur approached his soon to be son in law and placed his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Just so you know, Ginny is my little girl. All I ask is that you take care of her."

Harry nodded, feeling very relieved that this part is over. "I promise. I love her and I promise I will take care of her. I'll love her until I take my last breath."

"I know you will, Harry," Arthur began. "I'm not going to look at this as I'm not losing a daughter, instead I'm looking at this as I'm gaining another son."

That brought a smile to his face. Marrying Ginny, he wouldn't only get a wife, but a family.

"Thank you, Arthur," Harry said, sincerely.

"Do you have a ring?" Arthur asked.

Harry nodded and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the box, opening it and handed it to Arthur.

Arthur gently opened the box to look at the beautiful ring Harry had picked out.

"It was my mother's," Harry explained. "I found it in the vault after the war and got it out a week ago."

"It's beautiful Harry." Arthur studied the white gold band, the small diamonds along the sides and then the big diamond on the top. It wasn't too large to dominant Ginny's hand, but a perfect size for petite fingers like Ginny's.

"I'm thinking about asking Ginny to marry me this weekend. We have a date planned for Friday. I'm on day shift this week and Ginny will be off on Friday."

Arthur was about to ask Harry how he was going to ask Ginny when Molly called them from the kitchen.

"Lunch is ready!"

That was Harry and Arthur's cue to come to the house or face the wrath of Molly. Harry sometimes could see an older Ginny when he saw Molly. He would never voice this to her for fear of getting hexed.

"Do you know what you're going to do?" Arthur asked as they walked back to the house.

"Not yet, I'm helping Ron plan his proposal to Hermione and he's agreed to help me with mine."

Arthur smiled at the mention of Ron and Hermione getting engaged. Ron had talked to him about it last week and had approached Hermione's father during the week. Harry knew that Hugh Granger had given Ron his blessing because he was smiling so big that Harry was positive his cheeks were hurting.

Upon entering the kitchen, Harry headed straight upstairs to wash up. Ginny was coming out of the bathroom as he approached the first floor. She smiled and then flung herself into his arms.

"Hi babe," Ginny greeted.

Harry kissed her forehead. "Hi, Cupcake." Once Ginny let go of Harry, he told he would pop in the bathroom for a second and will be right back. A few seconds later, they were heading down to the kitchen.

"Did you just get here?" he asked as they descended down the stairs.

"Yes. Gwenog told me as I was leaving that I wouldn't have to stay next time since we've got the floo problem fixed." They approached the table and Harry pulled out Ginny's chair at the table and sat down next to her. Ginny sat down at her chair, and Harry scooted it in for her.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Ginny smiled and began to fill her plate. Conversations began around the table from Ministry politics, George's new product that was being introduced that week, and life in general.

Harry drowned out all of it as he listened to Ginny recap the game. Harry hadn't been able to come to the game due to work but had listened to it on the wireless. Ron had told the brothers that Harry even put a handmade 'Do Not Disturb' sign on his office door.

"Are we still on for our date this weekend?" Ginny asked.

"I should be asking you that question." Harry laid his arm around the back of Ginny's chair. Dinner had been eaten and now they were waiting for Molly to dish out the dessert.

"Gwenog said that we could have a few weeks off since we won the last match and the one scheduled for next week is canceled. The pitch was flooded and Gwendolyn said that it would be three weeks until it was prepared. Gwenog decided we could use a break and we'll make it up later."

"So does that mean that I get you to myself some?" Harry asked.

"Maybe," Ginny teased. "I thought I would clean my flat some since I would have some free time and while you're gone to work. I'll have something ready to eat when you get home."

Harry paused, a roasted potato speared on his fork. He turned to Ginny, waiting until she was looking at him again. "Um, you don't have any food in your fridge the last time I checked," he reminded her.

"That's why I'll come over to your place. I'll cook and clean up and then we'll cuddle on the couch."

Since Ginny lived in the flat across from Harry, she spent a lot of her time at Harry's, even when he wasn't home. She had been known to go to Harry's flat and clean and cook. She's washed his clothes, made his bed and cooked a hot meal that was ready when he walked through the door. Harry may have flooed to the office, but he walked home. He would sometimes floo to the Leaky Cauldron and walk home from there since it was close. Sometimes he would pick up takeaway on the nights when he was too tired to cook and Ginny had a late practice.

"I can't wait for Friday," Ginny whispered.

Harry smiled at her and thought of his plans for Friday night. "Neither can I."

For after this weekend, Ginny would be a future Mrs. Potter. Only she didn't know it.