Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling; this is written for entertainment purposes only, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter One
She stood away from the family during the service. They were a line of red hair on bowed heads and trembling torsos.
She struggled with the weight of the unfairness of it all. The Weasleys had all feared yet half expected a loss due to their numbers and commitment to the cause. There was something more than cruel in ending the life of the one who was perhaps most vibrant, in separating twins. Their only sister sobbed uncontrollably into Harry Potter's shoulder. The rest of the siblings looked pale and sickly. George looked incomplete, towering over his mother. It was hard to tell if he or the parents were suffering more.
He had caught sight of her a moment watching in the crowd just before they'd gone out to the gravesite, recognized her, but been moved onwards and distracted right away. They had shared no words, just a look.
Izzy felt a wrenching in her abdomen that made her draw a quick breath. She needed to calm down, she told herself. No matter what she was feeling, she needed to relax or she could cause something dreadful to happen.
Something somehow worse than what already had.
Izzy had not known Fred for very long. She'd met him a party, a secret one celebrating some tiny victory that was really an excuse to boost morale. They had a penchant for that, the twins. It was one of her first nights back in England, and she had known when she went out that night she was looking her best, one of those nights when things fall into place—the dress fits perfectly, hair cooperates, and you feel lovely, know you're beaming. Heads turn, smiles are returned easily.
She'd been introduced to them through a mutual friend, Lee Jordan, but the twin had been eyeing her from across the room all evening. He asked, well if you can call it asking, to dance right away. He had said, "I'm Fred Weasley. Dance with me, or I'll die straight away."
She laughed a wet sob at the memory. She had laughed then too, taking his hand. She wasn't one to go home with a man on the first night, but she felt safer with Fred than alone. She had nearly been late the next morning, she told him as she scrambled out of bed and he offered to make eggs, for a very important business meeting. An hour later, she had gone to her hotel room to get ready and managed to make it to an office very close by, only to have the door answered by a mischievously grinning Fred, his twin sat a table behind with a matching smirk.
Forgetting all professional decorum, she declared jokingly, "Oh, you two idiots!" At this, they laughed.
They were hot for her idea, treated her absolutely as an equal as she proposed it and they drew up contract specifics. There were no jokes when it came to discussions and no flirting. She knew when they shook hands on the deal and he asked her politely to join them for dinner to celebrate that she liked Fred Weasley more than she should.
Much more than she should. Nothing should hurt this badly.
She began to feel faint. She couldn't watch the rest, not even from afar. Some people were looking at her funny; they could be Fred's extended family for all she knew, his own flesh and blood. She had covered her face because she knew she was ugly crying now, snot rolling down her face, eyes red with tears. She was already too pale to look ashen. She spun and walked off, sinking down by a tree to sit. She looked out at the fields of his childhood home, a place he had never had the chance to bring her yet, though he had said he would, and she cried. Her large cloak fell open, but she didn't care that it exposed her swollen stomach.
She watched the guests angrily as they began to leave. They piled cards and candy and joke items and flowers at the Weasleys' door. The family slowly began to make their way inside. George and his mother were last, guided by Arthur Weasley, who looked too unsteady to be leading anybody anywhere.
Izzy was cold with fear. She was terrified that she would go up to George and he wouldn't recognize her for some reason or think she wanted something and tell her to leave them alone. Or worse, he'd explain she was just one of a dozen girls Fred dated, no one special, and he'd joked about marrying them all. But it was now or never. She approached him, the setting sun burning behind her.
He shielded his eyes when he saw her coming, trying to make out who it was. She wanted to look pretty, but there was no use bothering now, and perhaps that was best. Perhaps if he saw how upset she was, he might not be angry…
"George," She said softly, letting him chose to close the gap between them. He gently waved his parents on, standing silent before her with his hands in his pockets. She wished he would say something, though she had no right to want anything from him.
"Izzy," he breathed.
She could not say anything, so she hugged him.
"Why weren't you sitting with us?" He said into her hair, his voice sounding distant. She squeezed him hard.
"Oh, I—I couldn't I," She had stepped back trying to explain, unsure how to begin, but thank the heavens something happened. George's face came out of its dark empty state as his eyes widened. He placed a hand on her bump of a tummy without asking. Somehow, this otherwise awkward gesture made her feel better. He knew it was his brother's baby.
"You're carrying his child?"
She nodded, smiling through her tears. "Children."
His face lightened again, eyebrows up. "Twins."
He hugged her again, this time desperately. "A piece of him is still here."
"More than a piece." She squeezed him back, reminding him.
He let go shaking his head with a frown. "You should have been sitting with us."
"They don't even know me." She said quietly.
"I know you," He took her chin gently, releasing it. "You could always tell us apart even when we were messing with you. Even Mum couldn't do that." He smiled sadly. "Did he know?"
"He only knew I thought I was, right before…" She swallowed, not wanting to say 'the battle'. "So it's not like, well, like I could have—"
"No," He stopped her. "No of course not."
They were silent for a minute as it began to get dark, standing a foot apart. An unusually cool wind came between them. Unconsciously, George leaned closer to her.
"He had joked." She choked on it. "You know Fred," She forced a smile. "He joked about eloping. Right after it was over. That's when I told him it would be good idea, if it turned out I was pregnant."
"He was happy, wasn't he?" Fred asked knowingly.
She nodded, tears falling again. "I guess so. He smiled."
"He told me I had to live, so I could be a witness at the ceremony. I wasn't going to tell you…didn't want to make it harder, but there's no point in that now."
"Maybe he meant it." She barely said, in a hopeful voice.
"He did." George looked down at her, very serious. "Fred Weasley did not talk about serious stuff like that, even as a joke. If he said it, he meant it. Come on," He took her elbow.
"W-what?"
"Meet the family."
"No, George! Not right now!"
He tugged her anyway. "Nope. Right now."
"George! No." She hissed as they neared the door. Immediate family only were behind those doors having a subdued, depressed meal. "They are grieving right now! They don't want to meet some…Merlin, I'm not even a proper girlfriend."
"You're more than that." He said, his voice un-George-like again. "Right now, you are the only person in the world who can make them feel any better. They just buried their son. They need you, and you need us, even if you don't know it yet."
She knew he was right. That's why she was there, wasn't it? George took her hand as she drew a deep, unsteady breath. It was like he was promising he wouldn't leave her. She squeezed to make sure he wouldn't.
He made eye contact, ducking as he opened the door for her. "I won't." He promised. She was surprised they had not actually said anything about the promise aloud.
The family looked up, a few small frowns or looks of confusion as George tugged in a young woman most of them had ever seen. His voice was hoarse from crying. "Oi, guys. I want you all to meet someone." Izzy's hand was trembling in George's. If he let go of her hand, she was going to collapse.
"This is someone who is going to brighten your day." The looked pointedly skeptical. "I met her through Fred. She should have been sitting with us really. Izzy is expecting. Twins." He grinned broadly, bouncing on his feet. She could have slapped her face. That was bad, George, very bad.
Trying very hard to be polite, a faint sounding Mr. Weasley offered a "Congratulations."
"Congratulations to you, Dad." George said. Suddenly, Izzy knew what was coming. "You're going to be a grandfather!"
If possible, everyone paled even further. Mrs. Weasley strode towards her. The younger woman actually felt afraid. The matriarch was a formidable woman. All eyes were on them. Izzy was not sure what was coming. Would she slap her?
George let go to stand behind her.
Searching Izzy's face, Molly Weasley said, "It—is it Fred's?"
Izzy shook her head yes, hearing a gasp around the room. She kept her eyes on Molly's. "You can check, if you want." She offered. She wanted to offer before they asked. It would hurt, she knew, when they had the logical doubts—this girl coming forward they had never met, claiming their dead, hero son had fathered her illegitimate children. And they would ask to make sure she wasn't a liar, or so promiscuous she was mistaken.
Molly extended her hand to the lower abdomen, and Izzy stiffened in anticipation of the spell. "No need to check, dear." Molly smiled, actually smiled. George pinched her elbow playfully behind her as if to say 'I told you so'.
"Isolde, is it?" Izzy shook her head yes, cursing her emotional eyes for watering. She was not the sniffle-y type. "And you're sure it's twins?" Again, she nodded, still not trusting herself to speak. Her eyes grew wide as Mrs. Weasley burst into renewed tears and hugged the girl tightly. Izzy was clearly mortified. She had not meant to upset her!
But George pulled his mother off, "You're frightening her, mum. Let her breathe!"
"I'm sorry. It's just. Oh, I –I can't believe. Grandchildren and Fred's."
"Isolde?" Mr. Weasley stuck out his hand, looking to have regained a bit of his color. He closed his other hand around hers gingerly. "Congratulations. Thank you so much for …. well, for," He struggled unsure why he was thanking her exactly or how to do it. Instead, he demanded kindly, "Now, what do you need?"
"Oh," She said more shyly than she had ever. "Oh I'm—"
He put up a hand to stop her. "No, no. You and those babies will have everything you need, make no mistake. We've done this a few time before." He winked, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder.
"Oh yes," Mrs. Weasley said. "Your parents, dear. Are they near?"
"Oh no, ma'am. They're um,"
"Izzy doesn't have family mum, she's a bit of loaner, well except for Fred. She's done business with us, see? That's how she met Fred." She mentally thanked George for the fib. "You know those little communication devices based on muggle technology, dad? That was Izzy."
"Really?" He said, wide-eyed and even somewhat eager, considering how exhausted he was with grief.
"She's a regular genius." George declared. He was her hero at the moment.
"Did you go to Hogwarts?" Mr. Weasley asked, having clearly never heard of an Izzy.
"Nah," George answered for her, swiftly changing the subject, "but she can tell you about that later. Let me introduce you to everyone else." He guided her around the table, but she noticed Arthur's eyes never left her. They were wet with tears but there was something else there too. Pride.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Sorry for any errors. I edited this briefly myself and probably missed something. I have pre written the first few chapters and will post more if you're interested. Please take a second to review and share your thoughts. Thanks again.
