...And another one opens - Part 4

Gritting his teeth, he stepped in behind Ron and forced himself to walk at the slower pace. He had no idea what he'd say to Ginny when he saw her, but just the thought of seeing her filled him with such hope that nothing else mattered.

In his mind's eye, he could picture her hair all windblown from a morning fly in the meadow and a spot of flour on her otherwise flawless face from helping her mother bake the scones that Harry was now certain were awaiting their arrival.

He forced down the uncomfortable thought that she might not even want to see him and wouldn't be anywhere near him when his presence became known. He wasn't certain which would be worse... her rejection or her welcoming arms that he'd have to avoid... but he couldn't stop his own feet from hurrying to find out.

Ron pulled the door open, and they stepped into the chaos that was the Burrow. There were boxes and stacks of paper everywhere. Robes hung inside clothes bags from hooks on the ceiling, and Harry could make out a line of high-heeled shoes resting on the windowsill. Gaily wrapped packages were piled in every spare bit of space in the room, which admittedly hadn't been generous to begin with. Voices could be heard shouting from upstairs, as well as in the kitchen.

The sudden vibration from a small explosion in another room knocked Hermione into Harry's shoulder, and he barely caught the both of them before they tumbled to the floor.

"Bloody hell," Ron said, craning his neck to see if there was any damage.

Harry set Hermione back on her feet just as Mrs. Weasley began shouting at Fred.

"Welcome home," Ron said, grinning sheepishly.

A wide, delighted grin spread across Harry's face. "Can't think of any place I'd rather be," he said honestly.

"Come on," Hermione said, grabbing each of them by the hand. "Let's see what that was and if your mum needs any help cleaning it up."

Hermione pulled them into the kitchen, where they found a frazzled-looking Mrs. Weasley using her wand both to cut vegetables and stir several pots, while simultaneously berating the twins for their careless antics.

Bill sat calmly at the table, shuffling through what appeared to be a list of names, while Charlie Weasley sat across from him with a somewhat dazed expression on his face. Sitting next to Charlie was the reason for his dazed look... Fleur was instructing him on the proper pace to keep as he walked down the aisle.

Harry wasn't certain if Charlie's blank look was because of the topic or just Fleur in general. Ron still reacted the same way to the beautiful part-Veela.

Hermione stiffened next to him and scowled at both Charlie and Fleur. Hermione had never warmed up to the French girl, and Harry wondered how Ginny was faring with her future sister-in-law. Ginny hadn't liked Fleur any better than Hermione did.

Harry's gaze lingered for a moment on Bill's scarred face. The wounds inflicted by Fenrir Greyback were plainly visible and still looked quite painful. On Bill, though, they somehow gave him a rugged, manly sort of look.

While Harry thought his own scar just drew unwanted attention, like the star attraction in a freak show, Bill's gave the older man an aura of mystery. Bill appeared to be someone in control of the situation, and the scars added a bit of daring to his story.