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It had been Hugo’s idea really. After discovering her girlfriend of almost a year was a witch, (a witch, honestly) and they'd finally been able to take their strictly muggle relationship into the world they'd both grown up in.
Her divorce had been finalized and when she became Rose Weasley once more she felt no qualms about introducing the girl who’d stolen her heart to her favorite brother.
When they’d told Hugo about the debacle in detail, leaving him nearly falling out of his chair with laughter, he’d gotten that trademark Weasley mischievous look in his eye and said, “You know, Uncle George will never forgive us if we don’t use this opportunity to our advantage.”
Rose half expected Evelyn to back down, but when she turned to her girlfriend she had a wide smile on her face and an eager look in her eye that would rival even the most mischievous of their cousins. They’d spent the night plotting, ensuring that Rose hadn’t let it slip that the girl she’d been seeing was magical and it set in motion the greatest prank Hugo, Rose, and Evelyn would ever pull.
“And when are you going to be bringing around this mystery girl you’ve been hiding from us?” her father questioned.
She’d stopped by for tea the following Sunday, and they’d gathered in the sitting room, she and her brother fiddling with the wireless as they talked with their father about the latest Harpies match, her mother curled up on the couch, a stack of papers in her lap.
“Well,” Rose answered as calmly as she could. “I wanted to make sure things were serious.”
“Oh, come-on Rose,” Hugo chimed in, “What’s wrong with her?”
“There’s nothing wrong with her!” Rose exclaimed, her cheeks flushing. “It’s just-“
Her mother, who’d been monitoring the conversation over the paper she was reading gave up the pretense of not being in the conversation. “What is it dear?”
“It’s just, well,” Rose hesitated until she worried her father would die for holding his breath and then said, “I met her in muggle London.”
It hadn’t been a lie. If her godfather had taught her anything about not getting caught it was, to tell the truth, or as close to as possible. Not that he’d ever admit to being an accomplice in her wrongdoings.
“Muggle London?” her mother repeated and her parents shared a confused look.
“Wait,” Hugo burst out, a grin spreading across his face. “You’re not telling me-“
“You’re dating a muggle?” her father beat him to the punch line.
Rose waited until the tension in the room peaked and then slowly nodded. Hugo looked like he could sing at the looks on their parents' faces.
Perhaps this would be asking too much of them. They’d already endured her failed marriage with as much grace as they could, and when she’d come out to them they’d accepted her with only a million questions. But accepting a muggle?
“Well, that’s great dear,” her mother managed, her voice sounding a little strange.
There was a pause while they waited for her father to catch up. Finally, he closed his mouth, after a well-placed elbow to the side by his wife, and gave her a strained smile. “Well, does she make you happy?”
“So happy, dad,” Rose answered, the flush on her cheeks not for show.
“And you haven’t told her…” Her mother trailed off, an anxious look on her face.
“Of course not,” Rose said firmly. “I just wanted to make sure before springing this on you.”
“Well, we know we’ll accept her, whomever she is,” her mother went on, looking just as worried.
Hugo still looked delighted. “Now that the secrets out, when are you bringing her round?”
They’d actually had to go shopping in a muggle store to find the right clothes.
“What you have is fine,” Rose tried to assure her after they’d spent almost an hour sorting through Evelyn’s closet. “Your muggle clothes are nice.”
“My muggle clothes are for going out,” Evelyn said firmly, shaking her head at the pile that had accumulated on her bed. “Not for meeting your parents.”
“Not to mention the saviors of the wizarding world,” Rose said dramatically.
“I didn’t say that,” Evelyn answered, but her face drained of color.
“Admit it,” Rose pressed. “You’re just as nervous to meet them because of who they are. It’s no secret to me that they’re famous.”
Evelyn tried to make a show of rolling her eyes but when she failed she turned away. Rose took pity on her and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. “I’m just teasing you.”
“Lucky my parents aren’t notable,” Evelyn muttered, gripping Rose’s hands. “They just run a pub.”
“They made you,” Rose said, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. “That’s pretty notable.”
Rose wasn’t sure who looked more nervous when Evelyn stepped through the door, a little winded from the hike up the hill. They’d considered renting a car for show but neither had learned to drive and instead made up a story about taking the bus into town and hiking the rest of the way.
“You should have said something,” her father chastised, “We could have picked you up at the station.”
Her father was many things, but a good driver was not one of them. He’d gotten his license just before she’d started school but never had much of an opportunity to become comfortable on the road.
“It was a nice walk,” Rose said, feeling a little out of shape herself. “I got to show her around the town.”
“Come-in, I just put the kettle on,” her mother said, ushering them into the sitting room. “And this is Rose’s brother, Hugo.”
“How do you do?” Hugo said, rising to shake Evelyn’s hand with a wink.
Their parents looked at Hugo approvingly. Rose could only imagine the lecture he and their father had endured prior to Rose’s arrival.
“You’ve got a lovely place,” Evelyn said as they settled down, looking around the room.
The pictures on the mantle had been frozen, giving all of the subjects odd expressions as if they’d been midway through a conversation when the snapshot had been taken.
“I told you my parents were old fashioned,” Rose said, “No tv or anything, the house isn’t even set up with electricity.”
“Oh,” Evelyn said, knitting her brow together. “And are the lamps-?”
“Candles?” Rose finished for her. “Old fashioned.”
Her parents exchanged a worried look but Evelyn accepted it in stride. “It makes the place look really cozy, I love it.”
The tea was served and while Rose had been nervous her muggleborn mother would ask one too many acute questions, she need not have worried. All of her mother’s attention had been on her husband, gripping his hand warningly every time he opened his mouth. Rose felt sorry for him, seeing how hard he was trying. They were almost an hour in, settled into a comfortable conversation about Hugo’s plans to take a year off and travel the world when it happened. Without warning, a screech owl flew through the open window.
Evelyn had let out an appropriate scream as Rose’s parents rushed to their feet to shoo the startled bird back outside.
“How’d that get in here?” her mother had feigned ignorance, snatching the parchment off of the bird’s leg as Rose’s father muttered his apologies to the bird while literally throwing it out the window.
“That’s an owl,” Evelyn said, clutching Rose’s arm painfully. “What’s an owl doing in here?”
Rose ducked her head, unable to keep the smile from her face at Evelyn’s impressive reaction.
“The danger of leaving our windows open,” Rose’s father chuckled, his eyes shifting nervously from his wife back too Evelyn.
“Yeah, birds get in here all the time,” Hugo put in, earning himself a nasty look from his father.
“I just,” Evelyn said, her hand over her heart. “I’d no idea they were so big. You see the pictures of them and they seem so, well, cute but-“
She stopped, looking around at the unfazed set of people. “I’m sorry, am I overreacting?”
“No, no of course not,” Rose’s mother answered, her anxious look was back. “Are you alright? The food should be ready, why don’t we head into the kitchen?”
Rose obliged, picking up their finished cups and leading Evelyn through to the other room, stifling her laugher all the way. She noticed her parents hanging behind as her mother read the parchment, her brow knit.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” her father mumbled, reading over his wife’s shoulder, “Harry’ll be able to handle it.”
They’d just entered the kitchen, her mother tossing the parchment into the fireplace as she walked when Rose’s godfather’s voice began emanating from across the room.
“Hermione?” came a muffled voice from her mother’s work tote. Evelyn began looking around in confusion.
“Is there someone else here?” Evelyn asked, looking around the room. “I swear I hear a voice.”
Rose’s parents exchanged a worried look and her mother hurried over to her work tote. She reached into the bag, her whole arm disappearing and after a moment of digging pulled out the shard of glass and muffled it against her jumper.
“Must just be the neighbors,” Rose’s father said, though there was was no one around for acres.
Evelyn gave him a funny look and his face turned red.
“Ron, could you-“
And her father jumped out of his chair as if there was nothing he’d rather do more than help serve up lunch. Rose made the mistake of catching Evelyn’s eye who still wore a puzzled expression and they grinned at each other.
“I didn’t think you’d be able to keep it up for an hour,” Hugo whispered to them, a wide smile on his face.
“I’m just getting started,” Evelyn whispered with a wink.
Merlin, Rose loved her.
“I haven’t even gotten started on my mobile not working,” Evelyn continued, pulling out the device they’d stopped at a corner store just to get.
“I bet they forgot about the mirror in the hallway too,” Hugo whispered, glancing at their parents who were huddled together talking about presumably whatever was on that parchment. “That thing has been a pain in my arse for years, always telling me to do something about my complexion, as if I can help all these freckles.”
“I think it’s been talking about all that food you’ve been saving for later,” Rose teased, reaching out to wipe away from imaginary crumb from his cheek.
Hugo made a hand motion that their mother would have yelled at him for had she been paying attention.
“Evelyn, would you like something more to drink? We have-“
But whatever Rose’s mother was about to offer was lost as the unmistakable sound of some apperating echoed from the garden and before her parents could react the kitchen door burst open.
“Hermione!” her godfather called. “Hermione is everything-“
He stopped in his tracks, staring at Evelyn with wide, understanding eyes. He was dressed in full Auror’s robes, and clutched in his hand was an identical note to the one her parents had just received.
“Er-,” her godfather said, “I didn’t realize you had company.”
“Evelyn, Rose's girlfriend,” her father said as he and her mother tried to usher Harry back through the door and out of sight.
“That’s funny, I didn’t hear a car pulling up.” Evelyn said, not too quietly and it was again it was to the muffled laughter of Rose and her brother.
The last time she’d seen her uncle at such a loss for words Lily had been six and grown tired of the game of keep away her brothers were playing with her favorite stuffed hippogriff. James and Albus had fallen to the ground screaming and when they finally were able to pry away the boy’s hands from their faces it was only to discover that gigantic bat-boogies had formed all over their skin.
“Ah,” Uncle Harry recovered first. “I’m Rose’s Uncle, Harry, I didn’t mean to interrupt-“
There was another pop as Aunt Ginny appeared in the garden. She burst through the door, looking flustered, “No, Rose’s girlfriend is there and she’s a muggle, Harry-!”
She stopped just in the doorway, taking in the room.
“Moogle?” Evelyn whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. “What’s a moogle?”
At this Hugo lost it and ducked beneath the table. Rose could feel him shaking with silent laughter against her leg.
“You must be Evelyn,” Aunt Ginny said finally, stretching out her hand. “Rose has told us all about you.”
“Yes,” Evelyn answered and she looked just as stunned. She shook the offered hand but Ginny didn’t release her and instead looked at her closely.
Her eyes narrowed. “You look familiar.”
She glanced around the room
“What house were you in?“
“Ginny!” the three adults chastised in unison but she waved them off without breaking eye contact with Evelyn.
“Oh, come off it. We’re going to have to oblivate her anyway, between the owl and my husband charging in here wand first she’s going to suspect something.” Ginny said smartly, “Not to mention Hugo is quite literally rolling on the floor laughing.”
Evelyn stared at her, blank-faced for a moment longer before breaking into a grin. She looked to Rose for approval and Rose squeezed her hand appreciativly .
“Why’d you have to spoil it?” Rose said, grinning at her aunt. “We were hoping to make it to Christmas.”
“You mean?” her mother asked and Rose nodded.
Her father, clutching his heart gave a dramatic sigh of relief and sunk into his abandoned chair looking weary.
“What’s a moogle?” Hugo said wiping away the tears from his eyes as he emerged from under the table. “That’s bloody brilliant.”
“Language,” her mother chastised in a stunned voice. She allowed her husband to tug her into his lap and gave an equally exhausted sigh.
“Hufflepuff,” Evelyn said to Ginny. “I was four years ahead of Rose.”
“How’d you recognize her?” Harry asked, moving forward to put his hand on his wife’s shoulder.
“I work at St. Mungo’s,” Evelyn explained, “Brewing potions.”
“And whose bright idea was this?” her father asked, finally recovering his ability to speak.
“We were both so bad at pretending to be muggles,” Rose explained, “When we went out with Hugo a couple of weeks ago, he bet us that she wouldn’t last an hour with you two.”
“I figured what better way to see if she was fit for the family,” Hugo said, “Seeing how challenging Rose is.”
“Hey,” Rose said warningly.
“I rather like your sister,” Evelyn said, winking at Hugo who shook his head at her good-natured.
“And you thought this would be funny?” her mother asked sternly.
“Hilarious,” Hugo answered unabashedly.
“You should see the look on Ron’s face,” Harry said with a wide grin of his own.
Rose’s mother and father glanced at one another and gave reluctant chuckles.
“Oh, can I be there when you tell George?” Ginny asked eagerly. “He’s going to get a kick out of this.”