black and white ✰ g.w.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The couple arrived back to the shop not long later. Of course, Fred had been waiting for them, and as soon as he heard the bell downstairs ring, he Apparated to the door to meet them.

"She said yes?" he asked George.

"She said yes," George confirmed.

"Yes! See, what'd I tell you? You got yourself all worked up over nothing."

Suddenly, Olivia was hit with the realization of why everyone in her life had been acting so strange over the past month. "So that's why you were being such a pest!" she said accusingly to Fred.

"Oh, that's just what I love to hear. Being called a pest by the girl that's marrying my brother."

"And you," she said, turning to George, "that's why you've been gone all the time!"

"Well, you'll notice we don't sell rings here," George said.

"Yeah, and we don't sell cats either," said Fred, just then noticing the cat in Olivia's arms. "So where'd that one come from?"

"The garden," she said casually. "She obviously doesn't belong to anyone - and on the off chance she does, they don't deserve her if they'd let her go like this - and we couldn't just leave her there, the poor thing was starving. Also, she's adorable. Hope you're not allergic."

"I've been around Crookshanks for years and been fine, why would I all of a sudden be allergic?"

"It's worth making sure. All the men in my family are. Well, except for Faustus and Duncan, and funnily enough, they also happen to be the most calm and laidback of all of my male family members."

"Even little Gregory's allergic?" George asked, wondering if even though Gregory was not a biological member of the family if what she was saying applied to him as well.

"Yes, weirdly."

"If so many people there are allergic to cats, then why do you have so many?" Fred asked.

"It's not like it's a deadly reaction or anything. They just sneeze a lot when there's a cat around. Anyway, I'm going to go clean up Athena. You two have fun." And with that, she left to the flat with the cat still in her arms.

"You leave to propose to her and come back with a fiancé and a cat?" Fred asked George once Olivia was out of earshot.

"I truly don't know what else you could have expected," George said to him.

After cleaning Athena and then setting her free to wander about the shop and make herself at home, the newly engaged couple wrote to their families to inform them that they would be stopping by some time the next day and to be prepared. They also wrote to their friends - Angelina, Alicia, and Lee - to tell them that they all needed to get together sometime soon.

The next day, they decided to visit the Village first, as the Woods already knew what was to be announced, so it wouldn't take nearly as long.

As soon as Olivia and George walked through the door to Catrina's house, the various members of the Wood family swarmed around them.

"Oh, let me see the ring!" Catrina said, grabbing Olivia's hand.

"Wait, you knew?" Olivia asked.

"Of course I knew, silly. Who do you think he went to? Well, granted, I wasn't the only one, but all the same..."

Olivia looked at George with a grin and saw that Oliver was looking at him with a serious expression.

"Remember what we discussed, Weasley," he said.

"Oh, leave him alone, Ollie," Olivia said. "And it's high time you start calling him George again instead of Weasley."

"Yes, you're going to be in-laws, you know," Helena said. "You want to have a good relationship."

"I suppose," Oliver said. He looked to his sister and her fiancé. "Congratulations, you two."

Olivia smiled. "Thanks, Ollie," she said.

Catrina put her hand over her heart, touched by the rare moment of kindness between her two children.

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Their next stop was, of course, the Burrow. Fred would be tagging along this time so as to not automatically give away the news, as the Weasleys had no idea but certainly had their suspicions. When the three arrived, it was no surprise to not only see Arthur and Molly at the family home, but Bill and Fleur as well. Olivia and George decided to wait until after dinner to make their announcement, hoping that no one would notice the ring on Olivia's finger beforehand.

"I must say, having you all over for supper is so nice," Molly said, purposefully not looking at Fleur. "We should really do this more often."

"Well, Mum," George began, "there's actually a reason why we wanted to see you all today."

"Oh?" said Arthur, urging someone to explain.

George looked to Olivia. "Do you want to show them?"

With a smile, Olivia held up her right hand, the engagement ring visible.

Molly gasped and covered her mouth with her hands out of pure excitement and shock.

"Oh my goodness," she said. "You're engaged?" The couple nodded. "Oh, congratulations!" She pulled Olivia into tight hug before moving to do the same to her son. "Little Georgie's getting married!"

"Little?" George repeated.

"You'll always be little to us," Arthur told him before hugging Olivia. "Welcome to the family, dear."

"Thank you, Arthur," Olivia responded.

"I'm not going to lie, I saw this coming," Bill said. "I told Charlie a while ago it was going to be any day now and that he should be expecting another wedding invitation."

"Speaking of weddings, when are you thinking of having yours?" Fleur asked.

George and Olivia looked at each other, not expecting to be asked about their wedding less than twenty-four hours after their engagement.

"I think we'll wait until after you two are married," George told her.

"Yes, one wedding at a time," Olivia agreed.

.｡❅*⋆⍋*∞*｡*∞*⍋⋆*❅｡.

"Olivia Weasley... oh, that's so precious!" Alicia squealed a few days later as the group of friends from their Hogwarts days had gathered and George and Olivia had told them the news.

"I called it," Lee said. "Back two years ago when this all started, I called it."

"Congratulations, Lee, would you like a prize?" Fred asked sarcastically.

"And that ring is absolutely gorgeous," Angelina said in awe, still admiring Olivia's engagement ring. "If my future fiancé doesn't get me a ring like that, I don't want him."

[word count: 1068]
[written: 9/24/20]
[published: 9/24/20]