XVII

Cassiopeia buried her hands in her pockets, trying to keep warm in her coat and scarf.

After corresponding with Harry for a couple of days, defining a budget and actually fighting him over her not wanting to raise the maximum price, she was in London looking for a house that would be fit enough for her and George, and Fred just as well.

She was doing that behind his back and couldn't even deny it. With the wedding closely approaching, the idea of moving into the tiny apartment above the store just got worse and worse. She'd seen and been in the place multiple times – it was where they kept part of the stock – and it barely had any space for a small kitchen and a tiny bed, while it's bathroom couldn't be much over 20 square feet. They didn't need much space, a two-bedroom house with a living room that served as a dining room and kitchen would be enough to fulfil their needs, but that apartment was a stretch of her tolerance.

So here she was, looking around for a place without her fiancé's knowledge. George was far too proud to allow her to do what she was doing, and it would be easier to get him to forgive her for hiding that from him than to convince him to let her actually buy a house.

The owner – an older man well past his 50s – showed Cassiopeia the place quickly. It had two bedrooms, a kitchen with dining furniture, a nice living room and two bathrooms. It was small – especially for her standards – but it looked good enough and was good for a starter home, and was already furnished.

"How soon can we discuss the payment?" she questioned when the two of them reached the door. "I plan to move around Christmas."

The man looked back at her with a surprised look.

"Well, anytime you want. We should go to Gringotts and negotiate everything."

"Actually," she turned to him. "I wish to pay in full right now."

"I want to see it," Tonks declared, stopping her activity. "You're gonna take me there."

"It's probably half the size of this place," Cassiopeia simply answered, checking on the chicken in the oven. "The corridor's bathroom only fits one person at a time and Fred's room barely has space for his wardrobe and his bed, I don't even know if the mattress will fit him, it was probably made for a child."

Her cousin rolled her eyes, but she could see the happiness in them still.

"Well, that's because most couples bring their kids to live with them, not a brother."

Cas just shrugged.

"It doesn't seem far to separate the two," she pointed out, reaching to clean her hands in the sink. "I don't mind having Fred there, I'm pretty sure he'd come live with us even if I didn't get him a bedroom, he'd sleep in the living room or something, I only gave him an official bed."

Tonks shook her head.

"Well, I'm still going before you move in, anyway. You're gonna need help with all your stuff."

Cas raised her eyebrows curiously.

"You mean the one chest I brought?"

She scowled at it, and the blond girl used her wand to take the food out from inside the oven, untying the apron from around her waist and checking for anything unwanted.

"How do I look?" she questioned, opening her arms and giving her a 360.

"Gorgeous."

Cassiopeia smiled at Tonks, putting everything in containers with her help and disapparating to her house.

She organised the small table with the food she'd prepared with help from her cousin and – earlier – her aunt, spreading everything she needed over the table and giving the small house a check before putting on her coat and disapparating again, this time in front of her fiancé's house.

"There she is," Fred exclaimed as soon as the girl walked through the door. "Georgie here was literally tearing the hair out of his head."

Cassiopeia laughed, and before she could even step in closer to the living room, her fiancé was already hugging her and kissing her lips gently.

"Hey," he whispered. "I was worried you'd forgotten about me."

She just offered him a smile.

"Ready for your surprise?" she reached out for her scarf.

George nodded almost desperately.

"Very ready and very anxious."

She chuckled and reached for him, covering his eyes.

"Promise you won't look?" the girl asked.

Cas could almost see George rolling his eyes under the fabric, but he squeezed the hand she had holding his.

"I promise."

They walked out of the house, and he held her tightly just before she got the two of them right into their new house. She really needed to work on the protection spells of that place.

Cassiopeia felt her heart racing inside her chest and dried her hands on her dress before reaching for the scarf-made-blindfold.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yes."

She untied it, biting her lip nervously, and watched as George blinked repeatedly, taking his surroundings silently.

"Where are we?" he asked, clearly confused.

She took a deep breath, hoping for his best reaction.

"This is our house."

His face moved from confused to surprised, then back to confused again, then slowly understanding, and his mouth opened and closed once and twice before he finally managed to say something.

"Did you rent this place?"

Cassiopeia felt her face warming up and looked around.

"Actually," she looked bit her lip. "I bought it about a week ago."

Her fiancé's eyebrows shot up so high on his forehead that she feared they might mix into his hairline, and George just kept staring at her with his mouth and eyes open wide.

"You did what?! How? When?" he repeated, looking around. "How?"

She took a long breath. Okay, he was surprised. She'd be surprised by that kind of movement too. Things were going well.

"Well, I talked to Harry and we settled on a quantity that I could take from the fortune, and because I paid the house fully I didn't have to deal with any interest or excessive ratings," she explained, and his face didn't change while she spoke. "I finished the paperwork and it's mine now, but as soon as you sign the official document, it'll be shared property."

George blinked slowly.

"How did you become this good with money and math?"

Cassiopeia felt her cheeks heating up once again.

"My uncle helped with a lot of it," she shrugged. "Do you want a tour."

He just continued in his place and moved a hand through his hair.

"What is wrong with the apartment?" he finally asked. "Why a house?"

She took a deep breath. She knew he'd ask that.

"George, the apartment doesn't fit the two of us at the same time," she noted. "If I put on high heels and walk in there, I hit my head right on the ceiling."

He just gave her an awkward look.

"Well, you're just tall," he pointed out. "It happens to tall people."

Cas shook her head. He was defensive. She was expecting that. She'd known George for almost two years now, and if there was a thing he was, it was proud, and she could understand that very well; she was much different in that area either.

"Is this because I was the one who bought the house?" she asked, ignoring any beating around the bush and aiming directly at the probable problem.

Her fiancé stared at her in silence, and she could see him debating over himself before cupping his own chin momentarily and finally dropping his hand.

"Yes."

Cassiopeia nodded slowly. It was good that he was becoming blunter, she wasn't much of a fan of avoiding subjects.

"Okay," she said slowly. "How do you want to compensate for that?"

George looked at her, puzzled.

"Compensate?"

"I bought the house and now we are uneven," Cassiopeia pointed out. "How do you want to compensate and make us even in terms of what we are bringing to our married life?"

Her fiancé moved his eyes away from her, looking around the place.

"I'm the one paying the bills," he decided. "And the taxes."

She thought about it. It was a good proposition.

"For how long?"

"The first five years," he declared. "Then we can split."

"Okay," she agreed with him.

The two kept an awkward silence for what felt like an eternal moment before she offered him a teasing smile.

"Do you want to see it now?"

George blushed, and nodded silently, both shy and embarrassed, though Cas could see something else in his eyes that he was clearly trying not to show.

She didn't have to show him the living room, as their whole talk had been there, but he was happy to see that the kitchen was big enough to fit two people cooking plus the dining table, and eyed the food with clear longing before she dragged him out, promising they'd be back after the tour.

Cassiopeia showed the first bathroom without much excitement. The one in the corridor was the smallest, though the one in the master bedroom wasn't exactly big, and George seemed content with the idea that he wouldn't need to share a tiny bathroom with another five — or eight —people for the first time in his life.

"This is our bedroom," she opened the door, letting him step in. It wasn't huge, and according to her uncle, it was just the same size as the room she took in the Tonk's house – which was just a guest's room before they arrived. "We'll have to get a bed before moving in."

The room had a bed, but she wasn't exactly kin of the idea of having someone else's old bed.

"I'll take care of it," he assured her. "Is that a bathroom too?"

Cassiopeia nodded and her fiancé walked into the bathroom with a surprised face. It was a bit bigger than the other one, with a tub and a showerhead.

"I gotta say," he turned to her from inside. "The place is great. It's…"

"Small, but ours," Cas finished his sentence. "I know."

George opened a large smile and walked to her, ready to lift her in his arms before she stopped him.

"There one room left," she told him, barely able to contain her excitement.

He frowned, but walked after her anyway, raising an eyebrow to the closed door in front of the two.

"Storage room?" he questioned.

"You can call it that," she said slowly, turning the doorknob. "But what about 'Fred's room'?"

The look George gave his fiancé was only surpassed in surprised by the one he'd given her when she had accepted his proposal, and Cassiopeia yelped when he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her in his arms, as if she was no more than a feather.

"You got Freddie his own room?!" he half asked and half exclaimed.

"Couldn't get a house that didn't have space for him," she laughed.

George put her down and kissed her lips passionately.

"You're amazing, do you know that?" he questioned. "Couldn't have asked for a better partner."

Cassiopeia smiled largely, kissing him again and holding his hands.

"Come on. We can kiss some more later, dinner is waiting."