✔️ 𝐔𝐍𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐃 → 𝑐.𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

EPILOGUE

   "And those ones", said Fred, looking all excited, as he turned around and pointed at the high shelf in the heart of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, that of course hadn't remained unrecognised before; it was filled with crimson red balls, floating about three inches above the wooden boards, whirring quietly, "those are Vloaters."

   "Your what?", Ana laughed, looking at him, as his cheeks took a light shade of pink around his freckles.

   "Vloaters", he repeated. "Like floaters, but spelled with a V. You were a great inspiration for creating them, so ... the V is for Voinescu and — you think it's stupid, don't you?"

   "No, no!", she quickly replied, taking a closer look at those red balls. "What do they do but floating midair? I mean ... they look cool, without a doubt! But knowing you and George for a while now, I don't think that's all they can do."

   "Merlin, no", Fred said, shaking his head. "We wouldn't dare to only use your initial for something as plain as a floating taw." He stepped closer to the shelf. "Knock it over."

   Ana blinked. "You're standing right below it, I won't —"

   He shrugged and cut her off, saying, "Just do it, how much worse than a massive castle wall could it be?"

   "But the wall never hit you, and you know I lost my powers, I can't save you this time."

   "Ana, just do it, will you?" With a snorted laughter, he rolled his eyes, as if her hesitation was insulting the putative genius of his idea.

   Ana raised her wand — dragon heart string, cedar wood, eleven inches; brand-new from Ollivander's — and pointed it at the high and heavy wooden shelf, flicking her wrist and the boards began to shudder, then tumble, and Ana instinctively took a step back.

   "Wha—?"

   Her gasp of surprise had nothing to do with the shelf finally collapsing; it wasn't for longer than the blink of an eye. Hundreds of red balls bursted into crimson gleaming light, like Ana hadn't seen it in months, and halfway on its way to the ground, the shelf stopped midair, floating — or vloating — for a heartbeat or two, before it sprang back into its usual position, as if no curse had ever hit it.

   Fred's face was marked with pride, as he turned back at Ana and grinned.

   "It's brilliant, isn't it?", he chuckled. "McGonagall has already ordered them for the rebuild of Hogwarts. I mean, Voldemort is dead, but just in case another noseless villain will ever try to blow up the castle again, you know?"

   "It is brilliant!", she agreed, taking one of those balls to let it float onto the palm of her hand. "Is it dragon-S
safe?"

   "Dragons, giants ... Even if an airplain will land on your cottage, not a scratch would remain on your walls."

   "Can you imagine that not so long ago, I wanted him and George to launch an accademical career?" A bubbly voice swinging with pride appeared behind Ana, and as she turned around, the small and chubby Mrs. Weasley was already smiling at her, pulling Ana immediately into her arms. "How has your journey to London been, dear?"

   "Oh, it was amazing! Definitely will never travel by Portkey ever again, though", Ana laughed, hugging Mrs. Weasley back. "Charlie said, I'd get used to it, but I don't think I even want to."

   "Wait until you try Floo Powder", Fred said, winking at her, before he walked away to help a new customer.

   Ana swore to definitely never try Floo Powder ...

   When in the evening, Charlie and Ana headed to the burrow, she could feel her palms growing sweaty, so she tried to hide them in her clenched fists. Tonight, Ana would finally meet them all, every single Weasley, to celebrate George's engagement with his girlfriend Angelina, and Ana felt awfully nervous. As they arrived, the crooked house was already crowded with people: eight fiery haired Weasleys, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, Bill's wife Fleur and their new born daughter Victoire, Fred and a dark haired girl in her early twenties introducing herself as Analeigh Graves, Percy and his fiance Audrey.

   Chatters and laughter was hanging in the air during the whole dinner, and soon Ana relaxed in her seat next to Charlie, raising her glass as Mr. Weasley spoke a toast for George and Angelina, then sitting down and watching his growing family with flagrant pride.

   "Ah, so I wonder who'll be next in line", he said, looking at Charlie, Fred, Ron and Ginny, and Ana's shoulders immediately tensed. She knew that day would come; she just haven't expected it to arrive this early.

   "Charlie, of course", said Ginny, grinning at her big brother bewildered. "But to keep it in order, you'll have to be quick, so you'll put a ring on Ana's finger before Percy does with Aubrey's."

   Ana threw a side glance at a politely smiling Charlie. She knew Ginny was just joking; from all the couples around this long table, Ana and Charlie were the ones with the shortest time spent together. But even if it wasn't ...

   "I guess we'll have to break the order", said Mrs. Weasley, placing the desserts on the table. "It's seldomly a wise choice to marry after such a short-time relationship. Just take your time." Smiling at her second eldest son and Ana, Mrs. Weasley sat back down with her family.

   "Actually", Charlie said and the sweat was no longer just located on Ana's palms, but she feared it would drip from her forehead. Her shoulders tensed even more, and she stared down at her plate, avoiding to look at anyone, as Charlie continued, "Actually we don't need to take our time."

   Silence fell, then Mr. Weasley said, "Well, if the both of you are sure, the time spent together doesn't really matter —"

   "No Dad, I think you got me wrong." Charlie was ridiculously calm, while Ana's heart was throwing itself against her ribs, as if it was trying to escape this uncomfortable event before the bomb would drop. "Ana and I had talked about this before we engaged in this relationship, and we both agreed that we don't want to get married." He made a short pause; the silence was tangible. "Or have kids."

   "That's a big decision to make", said Mrs. Weasley, "but you're still so young, maybe someday you'll change your mind."

   Next to Charlie, Ana shook her head, while Charlie replied, "I don't think so. The dragons are claiming every minute of our time. Just coming here for dinner was extremely difficult to manage. But even if we had the time and room for marriage and children, we both don't want it."

   As finally Ana dared to look up, Mrs. Weasley seemed to be lost for words for a moment, glancing at her son dazzled, then her eyes wandered to Ana and her lips curved into a smile.

   "Whatever makes the two of you happy, is just good enough", she announced, and Ana smiled back gratefully.

   She danced on six weddings, but never on her own. She held so many babies during the years, played with kids and sang them to sleep — but never her own.

   And Anastasia Voinescu and Charlie Weasley couldn't have been happier for their whole lives.

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state: finished - november 23, 2021

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