Author: Antonia East
Story: Happily Ever After
Rating: Everyone
Setting: Pre-HBP
Status: Completed
Reviews: 15
Words: 1,225
"...and then the handsome prince married the beautiful princess, and they all lived happily ever after."
William Prewett finished his story, and Molly gave a happy sigh. She pulled her quilt up to her chin and watched as her father bustled about her bed, tucking her in. When he'd finished, William leaned in and kissed the little red head on the pillow. He hoped his daughter didn't mind that her mother hadn't come in, but Mary was so tired at the moment. He had turned off the light and was about to leave, when Molly voiced a question.
"Did they have lots of babies?"
Molly had been excited when they'd told her that Mary was pregnant, and since then babies had been at the front of six-year-old Molly's mind. She'd also expressed her wish that it would be a girl.
He chuckled. "Yes, Molly. Lots of babies."
Molly looked thoughtful. "How many?"
"How many babies?"
"Yes."
"Oh, erm, seven." William thought of a number at random.
Molly gaped. "Seven? Seven babies? That is a lot."
Molly's eyes were wide at the idea.
"Wouldn't it be hard to love them all?" she asked.
Fatherhood always threw up some interesting questions, William thought.
"No, darling. They loved all their babies with all their heart. The more people you love, the easier it gets."
Molly's eyes shone in the darkness.
*****
"...and the handsome prince married the beautiful princess, and they all lived happily ever after."
Arthur Weasley put the book down. Ginny stared up at him, blinking sleepily. Arthur could tell she was tired, but she had listened, riveted, all the way through the exciting story. Now, she snuggled down in her sheets and clasped her battered teddy bear to her chest.
"That was a nice story," she said.
"Yes, wasn't it?" said Arthur, thinking how much more restful telling bedside stories to Ginny was, compared to her brothers. Bill had liked bloodthirsty tales of pirates; Charlie had always wanted to hear about the dragons and fidgeted through the rest. The stories that Percy enjoyed had been so dull that Arthur had taken no interest in them, as he'd droned on, watching Percy's rapt expression. It had been impossible to get Fred and George to sit still long enough to tell them a story, while Ron would always interrupt. Ginny, on the other hand, listened with Bill's excitement and Percy's attention.
"Will I marry a prince?" Ginny asked, her eyes large.
"Any boy who deserves to marry you will be a prince," Arthur answered, with a slight shake to his voice. The little face looking at him was so sweet, so vulnerable, and so precious, that he didn't think that any man would ever be good enough for her.
Ginny nodded. "Good. I don't want to marry a nasty boy like Fred."
Arthur suppressed a laugh. Fred had hidden her beloved teddy bear that morning. Ginny had been beside herself, until George, pitying his small sister's heart-broken tears, had divulged the bear's whereabouts.
"Fred's a good boy, really," he said.
Ginny sighed. "I know, but he can be so trying."
Arthur had to laugh at his six-year-old daughter coming out with an expression often used by him or Molly when talking of the twins.
"Very trying," he agreed.
"Is Harry Potter a good boy?" she asked.
Ginny, a girl who delighted in fairy tales, also had a ghoulish side to her, and was fascinated with the story of the defeat of 'the nasty man' who had terrorised the wizarding world until just after she was born. She liked the part about the little boy who had defeated 'the nasty man' best of all.
Arthur smiled; this was familiar territory. Ginny loved to talk about Harry Potter; at breakfast this morning, she'd asked whether he liked bacon and eggs.
"Yes, Harry Potter's a very good boy."
Ginny hugged her bear tighter and closed her eyes. "Good. I'll marry him, then."
*****
"...and then the handsome prince married the beautiful princess, and they all lived happily ever after."
Harry Potter closed the well-worn story book and looked at the untidy mop of hair spread over the pillow. She was asleep.
"And then what?"
Or so he thought. The voice had been muffled, but it clearly showed that his daughter was still awake.
Daisy further proved this by sitting up and regarding her father imperiously.
"And then what?" she said again.
"And then what...what?" Harry asked, confused.
Daisy sighed in a way that made Harry think of Hermione. "Then what did they do?"
Light dawned. "After they lived happily ever after?"
"Yes!" she said with an impatience that was her mother's.
"Erm," said Harry, thinking quickly. "Er, the next morning they, um, had breakfast and-"
"What did they have for breakfast?"
Harry was on firmer ground now. "They had orange juice, a bowl of cereal-"
"What kind of cereal?"
Harry thought of the kitchen cupboard. "Pumpkin Puffs," he tried.
Daisy nodded, satisfied. "What else?"
"A boiled egg."
"With soldiers ?"
"Definitely with soldiers."
As Harry went on to describe the Quidditch match that they went to see (Chudley Cannons versus Falmouth Falcons; the Cannons won - this was, after all, a fairy tale), he looked closely for drooping eyelids, yawns, and any other signs of tiredness. Eventually, her breathing became heavy and regular, and Harry pulled the blankets around the little figure, kissed the pale skin, and made his escape.
Ginny was cleaning the kitchen with a practised efficiency. She looked up when he entered the room and checked her watch.
"Forty-three minutes," she said, grinning.
Harry sighed. "Getting better."
Ginny nodded. "Yes, she'll probably have grown out of that stage by the time Arthur's grown into it."
Harry groaned. "And then it'll be James and Sirius's turn."
Ginny wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Yes, but don't worry about that. By that time, Daisy will be leaving to go to Hogwarts."
Harry gulped.
"And then Arthur will go, and then the twins will, and by that time Daisy'll be getting boyfriends, and then she'll leave school and move out. Then she'll get married, start a family of her own, and we'll be the old grandparents who only get called up when she needs a babysitter," Ginny carried on in a teasing voice, but tightened her hold on Harry.
"And by this time Arthur will be moving out, and he'll have his own life, and then the twins will be going off on their own, and it'll all be over," Harry finished.
Ginny stiffened in his arms. Then she looked up at Harry, her hair tumbling around her face and shoulders.
"Not quite," she said.
"What?" said Harry, searching her face. Her expression had changed, and she now wore the delighted, triumphant expression that he'd seen before. The one he'd seen three times before.
"No!"
"Yes," she said, her mouth twitching into a smile.
"Really?" He was gripping her arms, as ecstatic now as he had been the first time.
"Yes," she squealed, laughing at him.
He spun her around and around the kitchen in his arms and then kissed her full on the mouth, breathless and laughing.
"Have you seen the Medi-Wizard yet?" he asked.
"Yes." She was glowing, and he wondered that he hadn't noticed before. "Ten weeks."
Earlier that evening, Harry had been surprised when his daughter had not been satisfied with the ending "happily ever after." Thinking about it, he saw that she was right. There was no such thing as happily ever after, only a life spent with as much love and happiness as possible. This was what he had with Ginny and the children, and there were no words to describe it.