When they did, he had a stern expression on his face and firmly said, "Lord Potter and his betrothed, Miss Granger, have just come to visit. I want you two to be on your best behaviour and come inside.
"But, before you do, I'll remind you that the Harry Potter you thought you knew... was not the real Harry Potter. That was all an act to protect himself from Dumbledore. He no longer needs to act like that, now; so, he doesn't."
When he could see that both gave the impression they understood, he gave a nod and said, "Good. When you're ready, come inside."
As Arthur walked back in, Ginny immediately turned to Ron and said, "If you wanted any hope of not going to Aunt Muriel's this afternoon, now's your last chance. Mess this up and I won't be seeing you again until we're on the train to Hogwarts."
Without waiting for Ron to respond, she braced herself up, turned away from him and walked inside.
Ron thought about it for a few moments before he muttered to himself, "I can do this."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Harry and Hermione were sitting at the kitchen table, side-by-side, when Ginny came in. She had a big smile on her face; but, both could tell that happiness was not reflected in her eyes.
She practically skipped across the floor as both teens stood and she wrapped Hermione in a hug before turning and doing the same to Harry.
"I suppose I should be congratulating you two," she said. "Fred and George read their letter you sent them about your betrothal."
'I suppose I should be congratulating you two?' thought Hermione, as Harry replied, "Thank you, Ginny. We appreciate that."
Hermione immediately added, "Harry and I finally realised just how much we loved one another and decided to do something about it."
"We'd have probably figured that out sooner, if it wasn't for Hermione being potioned by Dumbledore," Harry almost growled.
Hermione was quick to say, "Water under the bridge, Love. He's in no position to do that to either of us again; and we're now aware of the risk of that happening in future and will be alert for it for now on."
"Potioned?" asked Molly, as Ron walked in through the back door.
As both teens turned to look at him, Ron's expression flickered only a moment on annoyance before it relaxed into a smile.
Hermione greeted him, "Hello, Ronald. Have a good Christmas?"
Harry didn't say a word. He just stared at the boy.
Ron, clearly uncomfortable from Harry's staring at him, ignored him and mumbled to Hermione. "Yeah. I did."
When he didn't say anything else, Arthur looked ready to say something to him when he finally turned his attention to Harry. "Harry," he mumbled.
Harry just cocked an eyebrow, raised his hand with the Potter ring on it and asked, "Have you forgotten you are to address me as Lord Potter until given leave to do otherwise?"
When the boy turned red and appeared about to say something snotty, they all heard a 'Dong!'.
As both teens started to turn to the sound, Ron suddenly and rapidly blurted, "My apologies, Lord Potter."
'Ding.'
Harry looked back, paused a long moment and said, "Apology accepted, Mister Weasley. However, know this: I do not like you. I find you to be greedy, indolent and a bigot. I was also quite angry to discover you were pretending to be my friend, while at the same time being paid by Albus Dumbledore to stay close to me.
"Furthermore, your brother, Charlie... Heir Secondary of your House... gave you specific instructions you were to warn me I would be facing nesting mother dragons in the First Task. He informed you of that at least a week before the Task. You did not do that. As the Task was designed for young witches and wizards who were at least of-age and I was only just starting my Fourth Year, meant you had to have believed I was, as your family clock over there would state if a hand for me was on it, in mortal peril.
"That means, Mister Weasley, through your deliberate actions you placed the last remaining member of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter in mortal peril. Effectively, you... deliberately and with forethought... engineered a situation where you attempted to end the line of one of the Seven through deliberate inaction. And that, Mister Weasley, irrespective of your age, if you had succeeded would have meant the Veil for you."
"Oh... dear!" exclaimed Missus Weasley. None of the other Weasleys moved a jot. It was almost as if they were holding their breaths in fear.
"From now on you are to keep your distance from me. From now on you are to be aware that angering me can get you seriously hurt.
"Furthermore, I also inform you that Hermione, as my betrothed, has been directed not to do your homework for you, any more. Your homework is yours to do. You may ask for help. However, if she says no; or otherwise stops that assistance, you will respect her decision and not press her.
"Is what I have told you, understood?"
Ron, though he looked grumpy and annoyed, eventually replied, "Yes... Lord Potter."
Harry gave a nod and said, "Thank you."
Missus Weasley piped up and, in a chiding voice, asked, "Harry dear, is that really necessary?"
.
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF with more than 400 chapters, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/sosukeaizen123🎉