A/N: I proudly present chapter 1 of Don't Let Go, a sequel to So Close, Yet So Far. :)

Summary: Two years after Fred's birth, Angelina discovers she's expecting again.

Date: October 16, 2010

Chapter 1: Happy Birthday, Fred!

'Fred, come here!' Fred toddled around the room, giggling madly. 'Fred, I swear, if you don't come here right now, we're not going to the Burrow!' Fred stopped laughing abruptly and grabbed his mother's trouser leg. 'Good,' Angelina said, picking up her son and dressing him in a yellow shirt and overalls. When he had run off again, Angelina sighed and leaned against the wall.

Fred was two years old now, and he was quite a handful. He seemed to be living up to his namesake, as he managed to create chaos at every turn. Even on his second birthday, he never seemed to stop being mischievous.

Right on cue, Angelina heard a crash. She ran out of the room to see Fred wailing loudly in the middle of a pile of rubbish, which undoubtedly had fallen from the bookshelf. 'Oh, Freddie!' She scooped him up and waved her wand to clean up the mess. Everything flew back to its original place, but Fred continued to cry. 'Hush,' Angelina whispered gently, rocking him. The sobs subsided, and soon enough Fred was giggling and racing around again.

'Ange?' She heard the door close, and George came into view.

'Oh, thank the lord,' Angelina muttered. 'Your son,' she said, pointing her finger at the culprit, who at the moment was trying to chew Angelina's toe, 'has been driving me mad all day.'

'Has he?' George said, picking up the baby and tossing him in the air, much to Fred's delight. 'Oh, you're such a bad boy!' he cried teasingly. 'We'll have to send you to Azkaban!'

'George, he just ate - '

'Ack!'

'You'd think you'd have learned by now,' Angelina snickered, taking the baby back. 'You did that the day he was born, remember?'

'Yeah, well, I was a bit preoccupied that day to remember that,' George muttered, cleaning himself off. 'Is the party still on?'

'Yes,' Angelina sighed. 'Molly said to come over around five. Can you believe little Freddie's already two?'

'He's a big boy, aren't you, Fred?' George said, ruffling his son's hair.

'Yes!' Fred replied eagerly. He started to run around again, yelling, 'Burrow! Burrow!'

'In a little while, Freddie,' his mother replied.

'No! Now!'

'We'll be there before you know it,' George assured him. Satisfied, Fred flopped onto his back and squealed happily. George rolled his eyes and kissed his wife. 'How are you?' he asked.

'Exhausted,' she replied, sounding it. 'This little one keeps me running around all day,' she added, gesturing to Fred, who was now attempting to climb onto the table by the couch. 'No, Fred, don't do that!'

It was too late. The lamp fell to the floor with a resounding crash, making both George and Angelina flinch. Fred giggled, apparently pleased with the mess he had made. 'I swear, that's the fifth thing he's broken today!' Angelina cried, fixing the lamp with a flick of her wand. She heaved it back up on the table and picked up Fred. 'You're not going anywhere until we go to the Burrow!' she scolded. He blew a wet raspberry at her, and George laughed.


'Hugoooo!' Fred wailed, a few hours later.

'We'll see Hugo as soon as you're dressed!' Angelina cried, slightly frustrated. Fred continued to cry for his favourite cousin, who was a mere three months older than him. Angelina managed to stick him in a t-shirt and brown trousers. 'Now go bother your father!' she said, and he toddled off. She heard a yelp a moment later as Fred undoubtedly sat on George's feet. He tended to do that nowadays.

'Ange?' George hobbled into the room with Fred clinging to his leg. 'Why is Fred using me as a transportation device?'

'I suppose he just wants to make sure he comes with us, wherever we go,' Angelina laughed. She attempted to tug Fred off of his father's leg, but he held fast. 'Alright, I guess we'll have to Floo like this,' she sighed.

She ushered her family into the fireplace, then yelled, 'The Burrow!' They were whisked off in a streak of green, and Fred started to cry from the feeling of Flooing. Once the familiar house came into view, however, he hopped off of George's leg and immediately ran to his cousin, who jumped off his toy broomstick to greet him.

'Hi, Angelina!' Ginny yelled across the room. 'Come join us!' Angelina stepped carefully around the many children playing on the floor and sat down next to Hermione, where the girls were chatting. 'Happy birthday, Fred!' Audrey said, since she was closest to the birthday boy, but he paid no attention to her and continued to play with Hugo.

'Sorry about that,' Angelina said, making herself comfortable. 'He's working on his manners.' The other women laughed.

'Well, at least we know they'll be good friends,' Hermione said fondly, looking at their two boys.

'Oh, yeah, that'll be perfect,' Angelina snorted. 'Two little boys to make our lives difficult.' Everyone laughed again. Angelina yawned. 'I'm so tired.'

'Are you okay?' Ginny asked.

'Oh, I'm fine,' Angelina replied dismissively. 'Freddie's a real handful. He makes me run around the house all day! I've been so cranky lately. Like this morning I yelled at George for forgetting to make the bed.' She laughed. 'Poor thing was so confused.'

'Lunch!' Molly bellowed over the noise, and everyone scrambled to the table, trying not to trip over anyone else.


'Please finish your beans, Freddie,' Angelina begged.

'No!'

She sighed. 'If you don't finish, I guess you don't get dessert. That's fine, Daddy will eat it all.'

Fred gasped. 'No!' He grabbed his mother's hand and directed it toward his mouth.

'Good boy. Now, here comes the broomstick!' Fred opened his mouth obligingly, and Angelina tipped the spoon into his mouth. Around the table, the other mothers were doing similar things as well. Hugo refused point-blank to accept the beans, and Lily took a small nibble from the spoon Ginny was holding out for her. Finally, Fred's plate was clean.

'Cake!' he cried, and soon the entire table of children was begging for dessert.

'Oh, alright then!' Angelina said finally, and the table went up in cheers. 'Molly?' she asked, sticking her head into the kitchen. 'The kids want dessert now. Is everyone finished?'

'Just about,' her mother-in-law replied, wiping her forehead as she juggled nearly twenty dishes.

'Here, let me take some of those,' Angelina said, reaching over and taking a stack of plates from her left hand.

'Thank you, dear,' Molly said gratefully, sliding the dishes into the sink, where they began to clean themselves. 'The cake's in the fridge,' she added, mopping her forehead again.

Angelina took the cake out and carefully placed it on the table, where all the kids crowded round. She lit the candles with a flick of her wand, then encouraged everyone to start singing.

'Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuu,' the Weasley-Potters sang, terribly off-key. 'Happy birthday to youuuuuuuu! Happy birthday dear Freeeeeeeeeed, happy birthday to youuuuuuu!' Fred attempted to blow out the candles, but sneezed on the cake instead.

'Ew!' Teddy cried, recoiling.

'I'm not eating that,' Victoire stated firmly. The rest of the children seemed to have no problem with the cake, so Angelina cut a slice and placed it on a plate in front of Fred, who immediately grabbed a fistful and stuffed it in his mouth.

'Manners, Fred,' Angelina reminded him, picking up the fork and placing another bite in his mouth. Molly then served the rest of the children their slices, and everyone seemed happy after that.


'If our family has any more children, that house is going to explode,' Angelina said as they stepped out of the fireplace.

'BOOM!' Fred yelled ecstatically.

'That's right, Fred,' George said. 'Explode means boom!' Angelina rolled her eyes, and Fred laughed happily.

'Alright, Fred,' Angelina said, picking him up, 'time for bed.'

'No!' Fred yelled.

'Yes!' George cried back, tickling his son.

'Come on, now,' Angelina said. 'I'll tell you a bedtime story if you come.'

Fred pondered it for a moment, then said, 'Okay.'

'Good boy,' Angelina said, kissing his forehead. She carried him upstairs, changed him into his pyjamas, then tucked him in. 'Do you want to hear the story of Larry Dotter?'

'Yes,' Fred said, yawning.

'I'll tell you about his first Quidditch match. See, there were six other people on his team. One of them was named Langelina Thompson, and she was a chaser...' As Angelina went on about 'Larry's' first Quidditch match, Fred slowly drifted off to sleep. Once he had finally fallen asleep, Angelina kissed his forehead, turned off the light, and closed the door.

'What story did you tell him tonight?' George asked, yawning as he got into bed.

'The one about "Larry Dotter's" first Quidditch match,' Angelina replied, turning off the lamp.

'That was a fun one. Who am I, again?'

'Lorge Peasley.'

'Oh, yeah,' George mumbled, pulling his wife close and snuggling with her. 'That's a good one.'

'Sure is,' Angelina said, feeling herself falling asleep. 'Good night.'

'Good night,' George whispered back, kissing her tenderly.