Five days later
Lizzie felt her eyes slowly flutter open and landed upon the sleeping form of her fiancé. Glancing at the clock on the wall behind him, she realised that Fred had probably been up most of the night with Elva and let Lizzie sleep.
She stretched her limbs out like a cat and slowly got out of bed, grabbing some clothes on her way out of their bedroom.
After a quick shower before getting dressed she quietly headed for their daughter's room. To her surprise, Elva was also awake but seemed quite content to lie there on her own and look out the window, mesmerized by a blue bird on a branch of their cherry tree.
"Good morning, sweetheart" Lizzie sung and approached the crib with a smile. Elva looked away from the window and greeted her mother with a soft squeal and bubbly drool.
Lizzie picked her up and walked up to the window to let her daughter watch the beautiful bird she had been so fascinated by.
"We have to be really quiet today, daddy's been up all night and need some sleep" Lizzie said softly to her daughter and kissed her cheek.
After the every day- routine of changing Elva's diaper and get her dressed (this time in the sweetest little yellow jerse dress and pastel pink leggins that Ginny had bought), Lizzie enjoyed a cup of raspberry/vanilla tea while she fed her baby girl.
It was quiet, apart from the sounds of nature, wich Lizzie loved. To be awoken by the sound of birds singing and watch wild rabbits eat their weeds was something she much more prefered than the shouting of the young people trying to sell the Prophet while watching the DIS* drag away passed out drunks off the streets.
She glanced at the clock in the kitchen. A few minutes past eight wich meant that in just under an hour the shop would have to be open and since tomorrow was Valentine's day it would be crouded fast. She didn't have the heart to wake Fred, so instead the wrote him a note telling him she and Elva would be at the shop.
She put the little girl in her lavender faux fur snowsuit before dressing herself in her knee-high Kirin* leather boots and apple green cotton coat and hung the baby bag over her shoulder.
The air was crisp and refreshing as they stepped outside and walked the short distance to the apparition spot down the road. There was a muggle school not far from their house and at that time of day it was too risky to do anything out of the ordinary in the morning.
In the meantime, she could show little Elva the nature surrounding them and even greet the neighbour's cat, much to Elva's delight.
After a few minutes of walking they reached the spot where the road takes a turn and as soon as they rounded the corner and were blocked by trees, Lizzie turned on the spot and apparated to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
They appeared just outside the door and while it was still closed, she could see George getting the shop ready for their biggest Valentine's Day sale yet. She walked up to the framed glass door and gently knocked on it.
He looked up from the box in his hands and smiled as he saw them, before he put the box down and went to let them in.
"Good morning, my favourite niece" he greeted with an exhaggerated gasp and gently took the girl from Lizzie's arms. "What a nice surprise this is"
Lizzie raised an eyebrow and followed him inside as if she was totally invisible.
"Morning to you too, George" she said with a sarcastic surprise in her voice as her brother in-law sat down on the counter, removing the little girl's outerwear. He looked over at Lizzie and smiled.
"You're not jealous, are you?" he teased and Lizzie rolled her eyes. "So how come you two aren't at home taking it easy and my dear brother isn't here to bust his arse off right now?" George continued. Lizzie removed her coat and walked further in the back to leave her things.
"Well for once I was able to sleep a full night while he took care of little miss stubborn" Lizzie called out from the back and soon returned. "I hope you don't mind that I let him have some sleep"
He gave her a suspicious glare before he turned to his niece.
"Were you in on this, precious?" he asked and she girl gave him a toothless grin. His face softened and he gave her a gentle peck on her forehead. "Alright then, I s'pose it's alright this time, but you, little lady, are far too generous towards your dad, mark my words"
Lizzie couldn't help but smile at the sight of the two. It wasn't obvious, but Elva was somewhat of an anxious baby who would cry if others held her and her parents weren't in the same room, but not with George. Ron had tried to explain it by saying that Elva couldn't tell the difference between Fred and George, but both Lizzie and Mrs Weasley knew that was total bull and that he probably just needed an excuse for himself. Even Hermione tried to explain to him that the child will remember both scent, movement and voice of their parents, but he had just huffed it away and they knew he was a bit jealous of George.
"Have you had any breakfast?" Lizzie asked from the doorway between the shop and the back room.
"I was just about to put a kettle on, actually" he said and glanced over at her. Elva played joyfully with his purple bow-tie.
"I'll do it" Lizzie said and headed back. "Don't let her put anything in her mouth. He snorted and turned his head towards the doorway as he called back to her.
"I would never do that! Thought you'd trust me that much at least". He turned back and the timing was priceless as the baby girl managed to put the object of her fascination into her mouth. George chuckled and gently removed it all together, putting it in his pocket. "Not a very good idea. You never know what's in those things these days, might be bad for you" he explained to her and she just watched him with her sea-blue orbs surrounded by ginger lashes.
...
Fred woke up when the sun made it too warm to stay under the covers. He slowly opened his eyes and sat up, yawning as he stretched his muscles with a groan. After a quick moment he had a feeling that something wasn't quite right. He glanced over at the clock. It was almost eleven. Shit, he'd overslept, and why hadn't Lizzie woke him up?
He got out of bed and walked out of the room and through the hall in nothing but his pajama pants. It was quiet, too quiet.
He opened the door to Elva's room. She wasn't there.
"Lizzie?" he called as he continued his search throughout the house. They weren't there.
Just as he felt panic rise in his chest, he entered the kitchen and found a note on the table. A sigh of relief escaped his lips and he ran his fingers through his hair.
With a flick of his wand the coffee maker began to brew and he headed for the shower.
...
It was just before lunchtime when Fred arrived at the shop to find it completely packed with people, most of them were young, giggling girls buying love potion, Passion Pastils or Kiss-me caramels, but some of them were currently surrounding his fiancé and he could quickly figure out why.
"You're not using my daughter as advertisement, I hope" he said as he approached his twin behind the register. George chuckled with his hands in the air.
"Completely innocent, dear brother. Didn't need my help to act as a magnet for those girls" George said and turned back to help out the costumers. Fred just shook his head and pushed past the army of squealing girls to give Lizzie a kiss.
"Morning, love" she teased as she recieved a peck on the cheek.
"How are my favourite girl's doing?" he asked and leaned in to give Elva a kiss aswell. Lizzie nodded with a thoughtful pout.
"Great actually, she loves it here and for some reason she seems very comfortable even when it's packed with strangers".
Fred snorted.
"She's got no problem with strangers, it's just Ron"
Lizzie giggled and handed their daughter over to him.
"I'll be back in a sec"
As she left, it seemed the girls surrounding them went even more hysterical once they figured it was actually Fred's daughter. The echo of high pitched disgustingly cute words that surrounded him made Fred back off a little.
"Oi! Buy some love potions and make your own. Bet she's knackered after spending the entire morning with you lot"
George announced that they'd close up for lunch in a few minutes and the customers rushed to get in line. Fred was relieved to finally get some space with his daughter and chuckled as she yawned, eyes fluttering close.
Lizzie soon returned and George locked the door, flipping the sign from OPEN to CLOSED and let out a heavy sigh.
"Got a love-hate relationship with sales" he said and shook his head. "Bloody hysterical"
They walked to the back of the shop to use the floo, as Mrs Weasley insisted they'd have their lunch at the Burrow these days. The experiences of the past year had really set her on edge and she wouldn't take no for an answer.
...
The wonderful smell of Mrs Weasley's stew made their stomach's growl as they stepped out of the fireplace. Elva was still sound asleep in her father's arms as he moved to put her to bed in the livingroom, where her grandmother had prepared a basonette in the far corner. Typical Molly Weasley, really, always prepared for the family to visit.
"Hi, mum" George greeted his mother as he entered the kitchen and gave her a peck on the cheek as she checked the potatoes.
"Hello, dear" she answered and glanced over his shoulder. She quickly let go of the pot and rubbed her palms against her apron as she approached Lizzie with a big smile on her face. "Oh, Elizabeth, what a wonderful surprise" she cheered and embraced her daughter in-law.
"It's so nice to see you, Molly" Lizzie answered and smiled as they pulled away from the hug.
"Is Elva here too?" Molly asked and Fred entered the kitchen.
"Yeah, she's napping though" he said and he too gave his mother a peck on the cheek.
Mrs Weasley grinned, her dark eyes sparkling as she went back to the stove.
"Oh, I suppose I'll have to wait then. Everything alright with her?"
Fred threw a look at his brother before answering.
"She's been at the shop all morning, charming the customers"
"What?!". Mrs Weasley turned back around with the typical look of being ready to scold her son's written all over her face. "Have you gone bonkers both of you? She could've caught some nasty bug from all those people"
Lizzie quite enjoyed the show as she sat down at the table, watching them. There was a swoosh from the living room and soon Mr Weasley joined them in the kitchen, removing his coat.
"Just in time Arthur, do you know what your son's have done?!" Mrs Weasley shrieked. Mr Weasley calmly put his coat over his chair and sat down.
"Haven't got a clue, dear, but I'm sure it's not as surprising as you make it sound" he said and looked at his wife with a soft smile.
Lizzie chuckled.
"It's really nothing, Arthur, I brought Elva to the shop to let your son sleep a little longer. He's been up all night with her".
Mr Weasley blinked a few times as if he let the information swirl around in his head.
"And this is Fred we're talking about?" he asked, sounding surprised, but it was obvious he was playing with them. "I agree, that is surprising" he continued with a chuckle.
They were soon joined by the other Weasley children along with Hermione, Harry and Katie and Mrs Weasley put the steaming pots on the table.
"Dig in, everyone. I bet you're starving".
They ate in silence for a moment, enjoying the delicious stew, before the kitchen was buzzing with the sound of people talking.
"So, how's it going?" Lizzie asked Hermione. "With the baby and all".
Hermione wiped the corner of her mouth with her napkin, even if there was nothing there to wipe away, before she answered.
"It's going surprisingly well, actually. I haven't got any of the downside symptoms, apart from craving anything high in sugar all the time. For the first time I do appreciate that my parents are dentists"
The girls giggled and continued their chatting.
George, Harry and Mr Weasley were talking about the upcoming Quidditch cup as Mrs Weasley, Ginny and Katie discussed the "horror" of Elva being at the shop all morning, more so to calm Mrs Weasley down than anything else.
Fred took a gulp of his pumpkin juice before he turned to his younger brother.
"So, Ron, how's your Auror training going?" he asked. Ron swallowed his mouthful of food before he replied.
"Really well, but a lot of it is old news really so me and Harry will probably just have to go three days a week in a few months" Ron said. The war had certainly prepared them for the job as aurors. Fred nodded.
"I wanted to ask you... I want to share Lizzie's maternity leave and be at home with Elva about six months from now, and I was wondering if you would like to step in and work at the shop just for a few hours a week".
Ron stared at him, completely gobsmacked.
"Sorry, did I hear this right? You, the ultimate prankster with no sence of responsibility what so ever want to be at home, alone, with a baby and instead let me, the brother you've never, ever trusted with any property of yours, work at the shop?"
Fred looked as if he was considering what Ron had said before he nodded.
"That's correct".
Ron was silent for a while, blinking with confusion.
"Alright" he then said and went back to his food.
*DIS is short for Department of Intoxicating Substances and is one of the departments at the Ministry of Magic.
*Kirin (also called Qilin) is a mytholocial creature from China. It's also called the Chinese Unicorn and is described as a tiger with scales on parts of it's body and with a dragon's head, two horns, with hoovs and an ox tail.
AN: I just now realized I might have miscalculated a month or two throughout this story, but I hope it hasn't bothered you that much.
Please leave a review and let me know how you think it's going :)
