Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter 4

At around 11:30 in the morning, just as Fred was about to head out and go meet Sophie, Harry entered the store with a small baby boy on his arm.

"Hey Fred, George," the boy greeted. "Looks like it's a slow day."

"Yup," George responded as he continued restacking some of the items behind the counter. Ron was off in the back room, taking inventory, and Alison was on the second floor reorganizing some shelves that a few hooligans had knocked over. "Some days are like that."

"I was wondering," Harry began. "Ron and I have a meeting with someone at the ministry in about an hour. It has to do with our futures as aurors. And Andromeda is sick with the stomach flu, so she wanted Teddy out of the house. Normally, I would leave him with your mom, but she, Hermione, Ginny, and Fleur are having some sort of women bonding day or something. Could one of you watch him for me?"

Fred smiled and held out his hands, taking the baby from the relieved boy's arms. Sure, he hadn't been planning on taking a baby with him, but girls loved babies. It couldn't hurt to have Teddy with him.

"Right you are Harry. I will take good care of little Ted here. Ron's in the storeroom if you want to go get him."

Harry nodded his head and headed towards the back room, dropping Teddy's baby bag by the counter. He had been in the shop enough times to know where most things were. Fred looked down at Teddy and smiled as the boy curled his tiny fingers around the collar of his shirt. His smile faded as the young boy's hair turned from light brown to electric blue.

"That's going to be an issue," George remarked as Fred groaned. Fred had told his brother all about Sophie and the funeral that morning, and George was totally on board. "His hair's a dead giveaway that something's not right."

"I know," he sighed, trying to think of something that might help the situation. "Do you know any spells that might hide it?"

George shook his head. "None that I can think of."

"Whatcha guys talking about?" a voice asked. Fred looked up to see Alison standing there. She was wearing a flowery shirt and khakis and her brown hair had been pulled up into a bun.

"I'm going shopping in a little bit," Fred explained without hesitation. "And I need a way to make Teddy not change his hair. Muggles might see."

Allison frowned for a moment, then disappeared into another section of the store. Moments later she came back with a blue winter hat.

"How is a spell deflecting hat going to help us?" Fred asked.

Allison smiled, took out her wand and muttered a few words. In an instant, the hat shrunk down to the right size for the one month old. "Here," she said, carefully placing the hat over Teddy's head. "Now no one can see the hair. It's also charmed so he won't get too hot. So you should be good to go."

Fred beamed at her. "Thanks Al, you're brilliant."

The girl blushed and returned to work. With George's help, Fred fastened the baby carrier to his chest and slung the bag over his shoulder.

"Wish me luck," he said at the same moment George said "Good luck." Both twins laughed and waved to each other as Fred walked out the door.

Originally, Fred was going to apparate to an area near the pet shop, but that was impossible with Teddy strapped to his chest. So many bad things could happen to a baby during apparation. So, he stuck out his wand and the Knight Bus appeared before him.

As usual, the ride was extremely bumpy, and there were several times that Fred was afraid all the movement would upset Teddy. But the little boy was calm and quiet, even as the bus lurched to a stop and Fred clambered out on wobbly legs.

"Alright, Ted," he said. "You ready for this?" Fred checked his watch and saw to his delight that it was three minutes to twelve. Perfect timing.

Sophie was standing at the front counter when Fred walked in. As she finished up with a customer, she turned to look over at him, smiled, and then started freaking out.

"Ohmygosh!" she gushed as she practically raced around the counter and over to a spot next to him. Fred smiled as she stuck out her finger to stroke Teddy's small hand that was still clenched around his shirt collar. "He's so cute! What's his name?"

"Ted," Fred explained. "But the whole family calls him Teddy."

Sophie smiled and looked up at Fred. "Ted and Fred." The ginger boy laughed. "I thought you said all your brothers had graduated already."

"They have," the boy explained as Teddy reached out and tried to grab onto Sophie's hand. "Teddy's not my brother. He's my sister's boyfriend's godson."

The blonde haired girl looked up confused. Then busted up laughing. "I'm sorry," she said once she calmed down. "It's just, that sounded so strange."

Fred laughed too. "Yeah. It seems complicated, but it's really not." His face fell as he continued the story. "Teddy's parents died last week. His grandmother is his guardian now, but she's sick and wanted him out of the house. And Harry had a job interview with Ron, my younger brother. So I volunteered to watch him."

"That was sweet of you," Sophie murmured, looking down at the baby's hand curled around her pinkie. Then, excitedly, she looked back up at Fred. "Do you think I could hold him?"

The boy nodded and picked up the young boy and handed him over to the girl before him. She laid his head down in the crook of her neck and placed her remaining hand gently on his back. "He's so precious," she murmured.

"Where do you want to eat lunch?" Fred asked as she began rocking the baby back and forth.

"Um, there's a sandwich shop down the street from here that I really like. Is that ok?"

Fred nodded, thankful that he had thought to grab some muggle money from Gringotts the day before. He didn't want to tip her off that anything was wrong with him. "Of course. Wherever you would like to go is ok with me."

Sophie blushed and headed for the door. Fred opened it for her and followed her out, somehow managing to remove the carrier from his chest.

"Did you have a good morning?" Fred asked curiously as Sophie led the way to their destination.

"Oh yes," she responded, slowing down so Fred could catch up with her. "We had some new kittens come in today, so I got to play with them for a bit. And I was pretty busy for a few hours with the register. So that was nice."

"We were having a pretty slow day at the shop this morning," Fred remarked. "So there was no problem with me leaving."

"Won't George miss you?" the girl asked curiously. Fred was impressed. She had remembered George's name.

"Oh, no. He'll be fine. Besides, he left me alone last night to go spend time with a friend from school. It's only fair that I return the favor."

Sophie smiled. "Did you have a lot of friends at school?"

Fred nodded. "I suppose so. George has been my best friend my entire life. But the two of us had some other friends too. A bloke named Lee, and then there was Angelina, Katie, and Alicia. The three of them were on our…school team."

"Oh," her eyes lit up, "You were on the soccer team?"

Soccer. That's what the muggle quidditch game was called. "Yeah. George was too. And the three girls."

"You had a coed team?"

Fred inwardly winced. He was going to end up giving himself away if he didn't learn more about muggle culture. Why hadn't he taken muggle studies at Hogwarts? "Yeah. We did things a bit differently at my school."

"Oh, that's right. You went to a boarding school." She paused. "Who did you play anyway? Were there other schools nearby?"

Thinking quickly, Fred decided to try the truth, or part of it. "Our school was split up into four different groups. We called them houses. And each of the houses had a team."

"That's really neat." They had reached the sandwich place. Fred opened the door for her and Teddy and followed her inside.

"Any idea what you want?" Sophie asked, shifting Teddy from one side to the other.

"Um," Fred began, glancing over the menu. "I was thinking an egg salad sandwich. You?"

Sophie smiled at him. "I was going to get the same thing. And a bottle of water."

Fred grinned. "Then we'll be twins."

The younger girl laughed and Fred approached the counter to order. The cashier was a cute red haired girl with deep blue eyes, about as many freckles as Fred, and a small nose ring in the shape of a butterfly.

"Hey there," the girl said cheerily. "What can I get for you?"

"We'd like two egg salad sandwiches and two bottles of water, please," Fred requested as he pulled the strange bills from his pocket. He hoped he didn't look too foolish trying to figure them out.

"Oh Fred," Sophie began, reaching into her pocket. "You don't have to pay for me."

"It's no trouble, really."

The red haired girl raised her eyebrows. "Is that your baby?" Fred frowned at the clear judgment in her voice.

"No," Sophie bristled, picking up on what Fred had. "We're watching him for a family friend."

"Oh," was all the girl said. "Your total is $17.94."

Fred breathed a sigh of relief. One of the bills he held in his hand had a twenty marked on it. That would surely work. Wouldn't it? He handed over the bill and watched as the girl counted out his change. Muggle money was so strange.

"Hey," the cashier said as he began to walk away. Fred turned around to face her again. "I didn't catch your name."

"Fred," he answered.

She smiled. "Lacey. I'll be right over with your food. Sit wherever you'd like."

"Thank you," he said, flashing her a grin. She winked at him and retreated back into the kitchen.

Fred then turned to Sophie. "Where do you want to sit?"

"Doesn't matter," she said, averting his gaze. Fred frowned. Was something wrong?

"Do you want me to take Teddy again? He can get kind of heavy."

Sophie just nodded her head and handed the boy over. Teddy began to squirm and cry out in protest. "Shh," he soothed, bouncing the young child back and forth. "It's ok Teddy. You're fine."

"Maybe he's hungry," Sophie offered as she reached for the bag by Fred's feet. After a bit of rummaging around, she pulled out a bottle and handed it to Fred. "That bag must be a really good insulator. The bottle's still warm."

"Yeah," was all Fred said as he stuck the bottle in Teddy's mouth. The baby instantly began to suck on it. Fred really hoped there wouldn't be any more slip ups on his part today. It was exhausting trying to remember what he could and couldn't say.

Moments later, Lacey showed up with their meal. "You're so good with him," she remarked, flashing Fred a smile.

The ginger haired boy grinned. "Thanks. I've watched him a few times before. He's a really well behaved little tyke."

"I can see that," the girl said smiling. "Alright, I should get back to work." She reached into her pocket and handed Fred a slip of paper. "Here's my number. You should call me."

Fred grinned. "Do you have pre-made pieces of paper for every guy you meet?" he teased.

She smirked. "Only the cute ones." And with that statement, she gave him one last wink and disappeared behind the counter. Fred chuckled to himself and turned back to Sophie. The girl was studying her sandwich very intently, but she hadn't taken a bite of it yet.

"Aren't you going to eat that?" he asked curiously. Maybe she wasn't feeling very well.

"I'm not feeling too well," she said seconds later. Wow, was he good at reading people or what? "I think I'm gonna go back to the shop and let my manager know."

Fred's face fell. "But you didn't even eat anything."

"I know," the girl said quietly. "I'm sorry. But I don't think I can anymore." She stood up and leaned down to kiss Teddy on the forehead. "I'll see you around Fred." She took out another muggle bill and put it on the table in front of him before walking out the door, her food sitting untouched on the table.

A/N: Hey guys, I'm a little bummed out right now. So far, I've only gotten one review, and I know there's more than one person reading this. Could I have just a few more, pretty please? Reviews literally make my day. I would love you all forever. Thanks! :)