Angelina stared down at the clear boiling liquid with an expression of apprehension on her face. The cauldron tipped to the left, emptying the liquid into a thick iron bowl as the woman turned and fumbled with some objects on the table. Well, the potion was done; all she needed to do was put in a few drops of her blood and she'd know for sure. Her eyes darted to the large grandfather clock standing beside the mahogany bookshelf. She wanted to be sure she had enough time alone before she decided to go through with it. She scoffed as she mentally criticized herself for all the opportunities she'd passed up before that one. Fine, she'd drop the blood in and worry about what happened after that later. With a sharp bronze dagger, she pricked the tip of her middle finger. The blood dripped into the bowl of liquid slowly at first, but she squeezed her finger to speed up the flow. She sucked on her finger as the blood settled into the potion and it began to change colors. She turned back to the clock; she didn't want to know if what she feared was true, but it was too late to turn back now. Slowly, she gazed into the steaming bowl in front of her. Her full pink lips stretched into a small smile for a moment. There was a small pop behind her. She turned around in surprise to find Fred staring at her with one of his classic grins. The bowl behind her tipped over into the sink; the faucet began to run, and the contents of the bowl were washed down the drain.
"What are you doing?" she asked curtly.
Fred raised a dark eyebrow in surprise. "I live here." If her skin wasn't the color of milk chocolate, he was sure he'd see her blush at that moment. She laughed loudly, blocking whatever it was behind her. Fred's slightly freckled face went pink for a moment, but he recovered quickly. He looked past her at the cauldron. "What are you up to? Practicing something for school?"
"Ahh, no. My students don't do potions in my class, honey. You know I teach them how to ride brooms."
"Which makes me wonder why you even bothered going to college and interning to specialize in transfiguration."
"So that I could do this," she whispered. Her tall frame shrunk until she was on all fours. Well, she was no longer a woman; she had changed into a large white Siberian tiger. Fred rolled his eyes. Angelina laughed as she grew back to normal size. She wrapped her arms tightly around Fred. "You have your jokes and I have my transfiguration and flying. We're both happy."
Fred sat down at the table as Angelina fumbled around in the refrigerator for food. She sat slabs of lamb on the table and a box of rice. Fred could feel his mouth watering already. Angelina sprinkled spices on the meat as the stove and dishes flew from their respected places.
"Mum came by the shop again. 'Ten years with the same woman, Frederick, and you're still not married. Look at your brother George. He married Luna Lovegood only three months after the war, and they'd only known one another for a little over a year.' She's going mad, I tell you."
"Because she wants you to settle down?" Angelina asked the question with a bit of annoyance in her voice. Her eyes were on him, but the kitchen was busily preparing for dinner. Lettuce was being cut on the chopping board, the glass dish was being buttered, and a pot of water was being filled; the pot floated to the stove, which popped on a few seconds later.
Merlin, she reminded him of his mother so much it was scary. Angelina glared at him before looking back down at the meat in front of her. Fred made a clicking sound with his tongue. "You know how it was during the war and right after, Angel. We lost Dad and Percy and Ron and some of our classmates. Remember? We wanted to get married that year you graduated from Hogwarts, but then the war got worse and you found out you were pregnant, but that was only after you lost- -"
"I know, Fred. You don't have to bring up things like that. I'm not pressuring you into anything. I've been here for ten years. I'll stay as long as it makes us both happy," she said coldly.
He saw the tears fall on the table. Fred stood slowly and began to walk towards her. "It's okay. I'm sor- -"
"No, you aren't. Just shut up and leave! Why are you here so early anyway? Aren't you supposed to be celebrating the birth of Luna's and George's third child?" Her large brown eyes were filled with anger and sadness. Fred nodded and disappeared with a pop.
She felt so tired. After making sure the stove and pots were in place to cook, she rested on the bed with her eyes on the ceiling. What if Fred never wanted to marry her? How did she feel about that? She turned to the canary colored wall with a crease in her brow. That was an easily answered questioned: Fred had been her best friend for more than seventeen years and living with him and loving him did not stop him from being so. No, she was resolved to stay with him as long as time allowed them to be together. The fluttering in her stomach returned. The palm of her right hand rested on her stomach as her lips stretched into another smile. She would soon have someone of her own who loved her enough to make up for Fred's flaws. What person has a fear of commitment anyway? Stupid man.
Angelina groaned. Her eyes felt so heavy. The room smelled like something was burning, and her heart was pounding. I must be dead. She tried to move her body, but her limbs felt like they weighed over a hundred pounds each. Angelina is actually still asleep, but having dreams about an event earlier in life Angelina remembered suddenly that she was trapped in an underground passage near Diagon Alley, and it was filled with dozens of slabs of concrete that weighed over a ton each. Three deatheaters had thrown imperius curses at them (her, Fred, Oliver, Alicia, George and Seamus) at the same time, but missed. The magic had cause the passage to cave in, trapping her under one of the chunks of concrete. She tried again to move the concrete off her, but it was no use. Her wand had fallen out her hand when the concrete had slammed into her. She didn't even have enough air in her lungs to whisper the one spell she needed to be free. Her eyes clamped down heavily.
When she woke up Fred was standing beside her bed with a disgruntled and somewhat solemn expression. He kissed her on the forehead and ignored her questions about where the others were. She rested for the next few weeks and came out of the hospital almost as good as she was before. They were sitting in Fred's and George's flat the day Katie brought up the terrible news. Angelina had made tea and they were reminiscing about Oliver and Alicia, both of whom had died in the passage.
"Yes, that was so sad. Too bad you couldn't have been at the funeral to help Mrs. Spinnet, Angie. It was horrid. So was Oliver's funeral. Then again, I'm sure you needed your own time to grieve," Katie said quietly.
All conversations in the room ceased. Seamus sent Katie one of the coldest glares he could manage. Angelina frowned. "My brother is in America helping them prepare in case the war spreads over there. Aside from my friends, why should I be grieving? I'm alive and well." She smiled.
"But it must have been horrible to lose your first child." Katie stated blankly. Seamus grabbed the collar of the dress she wore and threatened to hurt her if she said anything else.
"What child? Katie, you've fallen off your rocker. I don't have any children. I'm only eighteen."
Someone burst through the door and interrupted the entire conversation; it was Fred. Blood was smudged on his face and it looked like someone had repeatedly punched him in his right eye, but he was smiling. "We…won. It's over. Harry killed Voldemort about two hours ago in the forbidden forest. People are going mad. We have to leave as soon as possible. Some of Voldemort's followers can't accept his defeat so easily and they are killing anyone they happen to stumble upon. Angel, why do you look so grim?"
"We should probably start leaving." George glared at Katie behind Angelina's back as he shoved things into a small bag he could carry on his back. Angelina was hesitant, but she finally moved and packed her things. They all traveled lightly because they moved around so much.
It wasn't until three days later at the burrow did the excitement die down. Harry was in Ron's room with the door bolted shut. George, Ginny, Hermione, Fred, Angelina, Bill, and Mrs. Weasley sat in the front room sipping tea and reading through papers. Hermione rarely spoke; she blamed herself for Ron's dying. After all, she'd proclaimed, the Avada Kedavra spell was meant for her. Angelina got tired of sitting in the house. So, she went for a walk in the garden. Fred followed her out some minutes later. He could tell that something was bothering her. He waited for her to speak.
"What happened to me in the passage, Fred?" she asked cautiously.
"You were hit by a boulder that knocked you unconscious. You're fine now."
"There's nothing else?" She stared at him. Her dark brown eyes searched his face for some hope that he would say that was all, but she also wanted him to tell her the truth.
Fred glanced around the garden. "Well, the healers at St. Mungo's said you were uhh you know." He frowned when she gave him a blank stare. He sighed. In an almost strained voice he muttered, "You were pregnant." He wrapped a strong arm around her waist and kissed her on the neck. Her knees went weak just as he knew they would. She buried her face in the nape of his sweater and cried. Fred squeezed her against him, falling in love with her lavender scented hair all over again. Angelina tightened her grip around his neck. How could something so horrible happen to her? How could she not know? They stood in the cold air holding one another until it was almost dark out. She made the resolve mentally to never get pregnant again; she didn't want to have to deal with thinking about the child she hadn't known about and would never know. She didn't want to deal with the fear that she might not get to enjoy her second child either; she wanted to forget about children altogether. She fell asleep in Ron's old bed with Fred's arm wrapped around her.
Angelina's eyes flew open. Fred's face was buried in her hair and his right arm was draped around her waist. He snored softly in her ear. She smiled and turned to him. Her lips pressed into his and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Fred smiled against her mouth as her tongue slid beyond his lips and brushed his. He pulled her shirt and bra off quickly. Angelina moaned as Fred's lips traced down her neck to her chest. She hastily unbuttoned his pants and pulled them and his underwear down. They laughed as he kicked the unnecessary clothes onto the floor where his sweater and her skirt soon lay. She bit into his shoulder as he pushed inside of her. He moaned in her ear, kissing her lazily on the neck. It was her favorite part of the day. The days after that moment in the garden almost always went like that: they would argue and have sex later. Their lips met as he began to push into her harder. She giggled softly as she thought about their first time. Oddly enough, both of them had been virgins. She'd visited him at his and George's apartment during Easter holiday her seventh year at Hogwarts, and all the emotions had led from one thing to the other. She smiled as Fred rolled over onto his back, pulling her on top of him. His fingers dug into the soft brown skin of her hips. They were more experienced now, having grown more experienced through one another. She knew his body like she knew how many stripes were on the coat of her animagus form, and he knew her body like the back of his shop. She half screamed and half giggled when he grabbed her hips and thrust into her hard. His warm hands clamped down on her perfectly shaped breasts and squeezed. Her teeth dug into her lower lip, as his grip on hips grew tighter and his thrusts harder and faster.
"Oh, Fred. Bloody fuck!" Angelina buried her face into the nape of his neck. Fred panted into her hair as an orgasm passed from him into her. She rolled over onto her back, but Fred's head rested on her heaving chest. "Merlin. You are amazing."
"You say that… after every time," he said with a laugh.
"And you say that," she said. She sighed. "Baby, I'm sorry. I guess…I just want things that - -"
"Do you want to get married?" Fred's honey colored eyes stared into her darker ones. She looked at him puzzled. "What? I think I could make a pretty good husband. We've been together this long." Angelina rolled her eyes and groaned when he kissed her on her right breast. Fred smiled and whispered, "Maybe a few children? Just one would be okay if… you know."
There was a light flutter in her stomach again. She nodded and said, "How about in a few months? Is that soon enough to start with the children."
Fred's eyes went as round as galleons. He grabbed Angelina's face and kissed her happily; which basically was kisses all over her face. "I love you, Angel. I'd never let anyone else have you."
Angelina smiled and replied, "I'd never want anyone else to have me. You'll always be my first."