The Chambers doing

Chapter 10 - Another Aunt Arrives

The next day, Harry headed downstairs before Ginny woke up to start breakfast. He preferred to let Ginny sleep in for as long as possible, for a few reasons. He didn't want her to feel obliged to share in his chores, he liked being able to make her a surprise breakfast with all her favourites, and he much preferred a happy Ginny to a grumpy one, and he knew a sure-fire way to achieve that was allowing her to sleep in as long as she wanted. He was interrupted on his journey to the kitchen by Uncle Vernon.

"Boy, remember that Aunt Marge is visiting this week. Make sure you behave, and your friend stays upstairs, and I might think about signing your form."

Harry had told him about the Hogsmeade form on the off chance he would sign it. It hadn't worked. All he'd got was a half-hearted promise that if he behaved during Aunt Marge's visit and Ginny wasn't seen, he might think about it. In Harry's opinion, the form was unlikely to be signed no matter what happened. Ginny had decided only to give her parents her form if Harry's was signed. No point revealing her advancement to the next year unnecessarily. It would probably just cause her mother to break down into tears again.

Just after lunch, a knock was heard on the door. Knowing it was Mr Weasley with another care package, Harry headed downstairs to open it, then invited him back up to his room. Ginny was lounging on the sofa, and he sat next to her, then wrapped an arm round her shoulders and pulled her into his side.

Mr Weasley was looked to be fighting his emotions between joy and anger. He headed over to Hedwig's cage to allow the snowy owl (who looked very pleased with herself) to jump off of his shoulder, then took a seat on a chair he pulled out from the desk opposite them, placing another hamper stuffed full of food between them.

Finally, he smiled. "What was it you sent me, and am I to assume it wasn't meant to explode in my face?" He asked cautiously.

"It's a type of muggle drink. Fizzy drinks are very popular in the muggle world, with the unfortunate side effect of exploding everywhere if you shake them before opening them." Harry replied.

"I tried one for the first time yesterday. They're really nice and I thought you would like it, especially how they get the can to open. We asked Hedwig to avoid shaking it on delivery, but she must be getting a mischievous streak, as she got a glint in her eyes and took off immediately."

Mr Weasley laughed. "That owl! Well, I did look at the can once it had finished covering me with its contents. It certainly works in a way I've not seen before. I'll have to explore it further. Anyway, what was happening yesterday to cause you to be able to get muggle drinks. I doubt your relatives would provide them?"

Harry blushed as red as Mr Weasley's hair. "I, um..., I decided to take Ginny out on a date for her birthday." Harry responded, worriedly. Ginny grinned at him being so obviously scared of her father, but knew what was coming next.

"Oh. Now I wish I hadn't asked. I don't think I wasn't quite prepared to hear you were dating, Ginny-girl. I'd only just got over the fact that your unique circumstances forced you into sharing a bed." He replied sadly.

Harry and Ginny fought a grin and another, this time shared, blush, thinking about how much more their relationship was than he thought. They'd skipped dating - they were married.

"Please don't tell mum yet." Ginny implored. "We want to be safely back at school before she finds out - give her some time to calm down before she sees us again. You know she'll take the news much worse than you did." Harry nodded his agreement.

"Yes, unfortunately she probably will. Neither of us were really prepared to see you start growing up, but for some reason its been worse on her. I won't tell her yet - you don't need the fuss it will kick up." Mr Weasley shook his head slightly, trying to clear such thoughts from his mind. "Anyway, back to what I'm meant to be here for. How are they treating you at the moment?" He hadn't had a chance to visit since before Harry's birthday - International apparition was not easy to do and highly restricted, therefore he could do it rarely to get back from Egypt.