A day Iris was not sure was ever going to come was suddenly upon her. Just a few days prior she had received an owl, a incredibly familiar owl with filled her with a sense of deja vu. The letter attached could of only come from one of two people considering Yardy the Brown family owl was only now used by her mother and father. It meant that she was finally hearing from her parents. Her parents who had not allowed her to step foot into her childhood home over the holiday period were now reaching out to her. Inviting her over for dinner. The invite having been extended to allow her to bring a plus one with her. 

And there was no chance that Iris was going to head there alone. Not after knowing that the last time the Brown family had sat down and really had a proper conversation it had resulted in her packing her bags and moving out that very night whilst her parents slept. Therefore, it could head in either direction she would either call it quits and leave early once again or there could be a miracle twist of fate and things would go well. Not that she expected them to. After all, her parents had struggled even more than she had to come to terms with the fact that only one of their two children returned from school that year. And had promptly left the wizarding community that very summer. 

George however, at the news of having been invited to finally meet Iris' parents was much more excited than the witch could ever be. He had thought it had been too long since the family had truly sat down together, he wondered if they had even grieved together. But considering the stories Iris had told him he did not expect this to have occurred. And he thought it might have just been a step in the right direction if Iris' parents were reaching out to her. That the family could start to heal.

He was also desperate to set a good example. He wanted to show to them that he was going to be about for a very long time, that he would love their daughter more than they could ever imagine someone doing. And he wanted to prove to them that she was still safe in the wizarding world. He was under the belief that since they had left the wizarding community that they were not aware of the arranged marriage decree. So he was tempted to just introduce himself as Iris' boyfriend rather than ministry assigned partner turned boyfriend. It seemed like the better angle to swing. Therefore, this time it was him dressing to impress rather than Iris. She had told him that there was very little point in him putting in a great deal of effort under the belief they wouldn't be there for very long before returning. 

"I am dressing up to impress your parents Iris. I want them to like me." George was fiddling with the tie he had picked up to wear. The tie was bright yellow like his hair currently was.

"George it's practically impossible to not like you." Iris attempted to pull the tie away thinking that the shirt and trousers combination was way more serious than George needed to dress. 

"I like the tie, it matches my hair. They're going to think I'm bonkers when they look at me and catch the sunshine yellow." George had taken the tie back at this point and Iris let out a little laugh before turning serious. 

"I like the sunshine yellow. It's probably one of my favourite colours so far." She giggled knowing full well that it was probably the brightest colour George had tried so far but there were more to come. 

"I just want them to know how serious I am about you. The hair is going to hinder that." George huffed as he stared in the mirror, debating whether he should charm it back to the normal ginger just for the afternoon. 

"George they'll know just how much you mean to me the moment we walk through the front door. I have never brought anyone home with me before. You are the first and you are the last. And if that doesn't prove to them that you are my everything then we will leave." Iris smoothed the invisible creases out on the shoulders of his shirt as she waited for his reaction to her words. 

"You were the first girl I ever brought home to my parents as well." George's voice was slightly quieter as normal as he admitted the truth aloud. And Iris suddenly looked up at him with a clear look of disbelief on her face. 

"My George Weasley the ladies man, never brought anyone home?" And he couldn't help the way his heart skipped a beat at her use of 'my George'. 

"Never. Nobody meant enough that I wanted them to meet my parents. That was until I got to know you." Iris did not respond to his words with her own at first rather reaching up just slightly so that she could kiss him response. George Weasley was a man who was good with his words and could get a reaction like this out of Iris with ease. 

"Shit George." Iris paused wondering whether now was the time to finally say what she had been thinking for a while now. George looked at her expectantly. "I love you." And Iris felt her heart pick up its pace as she waited to see how he was going to respond. He then reached down taking his time to kiss her this time around. 

"I love you." He spoke before kissing her again. "I love you." He repeated another few times taking a moment to kiss her. 

Arriving outside of her childhood home, should have brought more emotions to Iris than it did. After all, most of her happiest memories were formed there, or at least she assumed they had been. But rather as she stared at the place she could only really associate to her sister and how she had returned without her, Iris felt a relief she was only visiting the place. The outside of the house had barely changed since the last time she had been there which must have been nearly 9 months ago at this point. And Iris was sure that the inside was the same. That there had been no changes since she had left. George stood silent by her side, his eyes fixated on the building and Iris wondered if he was comparing the place to his own childhood home. Whilst the Burrow had been in Devon tucked away in the countryside where there was plenty of land and no muggle families around. The Brown household lived on a street which was mainly muggle council homes, the family having brought the house from the previous muggle owners who had purchased the house from the council many years prior. It had a small garden in the front and a barely larger garden in the back. And looked much more cramped and conformity than the Burrow ever did. A sharp difference in the way the two had been raised. 

Iris rather just lead him to the front door. At some point she would have just let herself in, and she was sure she still had her house key attached to her keyring. But she felt nowhere near confident to do so this time. This place was no longer her home. And therefore, Iris knocked on the door with her right hand as her left held tightly onto George. Her heart raced as she waited for someone to open it on the other side. And soon enough the door creaked open. On the other side of the door was Iris' mother. The beautiful woman who looked so much like her eldest daughter was the first parent she had seen in a few months now. And Iris froze unable to say or do anything in that moment as she waited to her see her mothers response still not sure if she was truly wanted. 

"Oh Iris." And within in an instant her mother had embraced Iris and the witch realised just how much she had missed her mother. How poorly she had lied to herself when she said she was fine without the woman playing an active role in her life. And it should have been embarrassing that the let out a sob the second it dawned on her that she was in her mother's embrace. 

"Oh baby I'm so sorry. So sorry." Iris' mother continued to rub soothing patterns on her daughters back as they continued their tearful reunion in the doorway. George lingered back for the time being his eyes trained on Iris ensuring that she was okay despite the obvious. 

"Come inside the pair of you. It's still freezing out here." Iris' mother spoke as she beckoned for George to follow the two woman inside the house. It was there that he finally laid eyes on Iris' father. William Brown was a tall and threatening looking man, who was well built and was the same height if not taller than George himself. George turned his attention to him whilst the two woman continued their conversation with a little more privacy. He stuck his hand out for the older man to shake.

"George Weasley. It's an honour to meet you sir."

"Call me William. You the one looking out for my little girl."

"Yes sir." The pair shook hands a mutual agreement made that very moment. Before turning their eyes back onto the two woman. Iris beckoned for George to come over. 

"George I want you to meet my mum. Mum this is George my boyfriend, George this is my mum." Iris introduced the two as she went to take George's hand once again she had noticed the two men seemingly having started to get on okay. 

"Weasley? One of Arthur's kids? How is that man doing. He's bat shit crazy but a nice man." The second the words left Iris' mother's mouth Iris watched George's face lit up as if he knew from that moment onwards that he was going to get along with the older woman. 

"He's absolutely crackers but that's what makes him my old man." George smiled as he slipped into easy conversation with both of Iris' parents. The night going a lot better than either of them could have ever imagined. 

"Please don't be a stranger. We might have lost one of you forever. But I will never allow myself to push you away again so I lose you both." Iris' mother's parting words were enough to bring a tear to the girl's eye as she hugged her mother once more before leaving. It was still early in the evening but Iris had one final stop she wanted to make before the pair headed back to London and she would rather do it before it became pitch black.