#not the least of which is Molly no longer dropping rapidly less subtle hints about them tying the knot

[cursed-moon-blossom]

June 16th, 1993

~

"Should we get married?"

Charlie stopped in his tracks as he carried a basket of laundry through the living room, looking up at where Leona stood in the loft. She had her easel set up, working on detailing a sketch she'd done of a juvenile Norwegian Ridgeback, body language loose and relaxed despite the seriousness of the topic she'd brought up seemingly from no where. He shifted his grip on the basket so he could rub the back of his neck, had he missed something?

"Uh... What brings that up Lee? I, uh, didn't really realize we were apparently dating..." He said awkwardly. Leona shrugged, glancing down at him.

"We're not. Or at least we've never said it so formally." She said, reaching for another pencil to shade in part of the dragon's form. "But, think about it, Char, we kind of already do pretty much all the stuff marriage entails. We live together, exchange physical affection, share the chores, celebrate the holidays together... Hell, we share a bed, Charlie. You bring me to your family functions and I bring you to mine. We went to all the balls and parties together at Hogwarts. We rear orphaned or rejected dragon hatchlings together, which seems pretty similar to raising babies I think. And, I don't know about you, but when I think about the future I see us doing this for the rest of our lives..." she set her pencils down and walked over to lean on the loft railing, looking down at Charlie. She smiled softly at him, leaning her chin on her hand.

"I've never really given romance and such a lot of thought, but I know I love you in some way, and I'd be more than happy to spend the rest of my life by your side. And I just happened to think that if we got married it would make your mum really happy, and as a bonus nobody would have to pretend to live in the loft when your family comes to visit, because she couldn't scold a married couple for sharing a bed." She grinned cheekily at that last part and Charlie couldn't help but laugh. Setting the laundry on the couch he put his hands on his hips, smiling up at her.

"Okay, I'm willing to consider this, but I have one question: Would this make you Mrs. Weasley, or me Mr. Stargazer?" He asked cheekily and Leona snorted.

"Oh your mum would probably have a cow over that second one!" She chuckled. "Hyphenating is also an option, or maybe just keeping our names. Whatever is the most comfortable honestly." Charlie smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, it's not like we're in a rush right now anyway, we can take our time figuring that part out."

"Why Charlie Weasley, is that a sneaky yes I'm hearing? That sounded a lot less hypothetical."

"I think I'm saying I don't see a reason not to." He smiled. "But I say we take our time figuring it out, make it a long engagement. Right now there's not a reason not to." Leona nodded, smiling softly.

"Yeah, that sounds great to me."