I was released about a week after I woke up, and I stayed at the Burrow the duration of my recovery, along with most of the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry. Bill and Fleur stayed at their own home in Shell Cottage, though they visited almost daily and brought my things to the Burrow. Charlie had arrived near the end of the battle, and so he was staying for a while to help his family and with any repairs and clean-up that needed to be done at Hogwarts. Percy also stayed at the Burrow for a while, making up for lost time with his family.
After about a month, though, Fred, George, and I moved to the flat above WWW and began getting the shop ready to be reopened, as well as helping all the other shops in Diagon Alley reopen. I contacted my boss at The Quibbler, hoping maybe I could get my job there back if I explained the situation. However, much explanation wasn't needed. They were aware of my blood status, as well as the death of my parents, and pretty much put two and two together. So, they welcomed me back and I started where I left off, while also helping the twins get their shop going.
George began dating Angelina Johnson near the end of the year, having gotten back into contact with her in the few days she was being treated after the final battle. Then, about halfway through the next year, 1999, George moved out of the flat and into Angelina's small apartment.
~*0*~
Lightning lit up the dark sky in all the flat's windows in Diagon Alley one summer night. Rain was pouring down in sheets as thunder nearly shook the building. Fred and George had closed the shop an hour early due to a lack of customers and we were having a night at home. It was still a bit weird having the flat to ourselves, and Fred missed having his brother around, since it was the first time they'd ever lived under different roofs, but it was sometimes nice when it was just the two of us. Plus, we saw George every day in the shop downstairs, not to mention Molly insisted on having huge family lunches at the Burrow every Sunday.
Fred and I were both sitting on the couch with one of the twins' products, a Reusable Hangman, sitting on the coffee table in front of us. Fred was smirking at me while I narrowed my eyes at the contraption, trying to think up some letters. Despite my hatred of Umbridge, I didn't really want the little figurine of her to hang, because that meant I lost. So far I had:
M_RR_ M_
I growled under my breath, trying to think of another letter that I hadn't guessed.
"I don't know…'A'?" I asked hopefully. Fred smirked as an 'A' appeared between the 'M' and 'R'. I sighed in relief at getting one more letter down. I still had no idea how Fred got my word 'Hippogriff' without the 'I's, 'P's, and 'F's. I racked my brain for any 2 letter words I could think of that started with an 'M', while Fred laughed at my faces.
"'E'?" I asked, looking over at him as he took a sip of his bottle of Butter beer. He smirked at me, a triumphant gleam entering his eyes, causing me to look back at the toy. An 'E' appeared on the end, making the last word 'ME'.
I muttered the phrase under my breath a few times, trying to figure out what the phrase could possibly be. I was down to my last guess. The pink toad would swing if I guessed this last letter wrong.
I groaned, rubbing my eyes with my palms in frustration. "I hate this game!" I grumbled.
Fred laughed at me, sliding his hand up and down my back as he scooted closer to me. "Relax, Love. Need a clue?"
I peaked up at him from between my fingers. "If you're offering?" I urged quietly, making his smirk grow even more. He leaned down until his lips were at my earlobe.
"It's a vowel." he whispered before pulling away.
I scrunched up my face, confused. Of course, I knew what vowels were, I'd learned all of them before I was even in primary school. I was confused because I was pretty certain I'd used all the vowels. I just used 'A' and 'E', 'O' was one of the first letters I'd picked, and that didn't work out, a little while ago I'd picked 'I', and that wasn't in there. I hadn't picked 'U', but that didn't seem right. 'Marru Me'? That wasn't a word. But there weren't any other vowels. Except-
"'Y!'" I shouted, staring wide-eyed and on the edge of my seat as the 'Y' appeared in the gap. I didn't have time to think about it before hand, I just shouted it, hoping it was right. But as I read the phrase, my brain stopped working. It wouldn't let me fully take in what the phrase was saying.
Marry Me
I heard a throat clearing and turned my head. Fred was no longer sitting on the couch next to me. He was down on one knee, holding a small black box in his hands, a small, amused smile on his face as he looked up at me. I looked back and forth between the Hangman and my boyfriend, finally realizing what was happening.
"So, since you're having a bit of an issue understanding what's written in front of you, I'll read it out loud. Amber Carter, will you marry me?" Fred asked teasingly.
A shy smile slid onto my face and I nodded mutely. Fred leaned closer, his head tilted toward me with a smirk on his face.
"What was that? I didn't quite hear you there?" he joked.
I laughed, shaking my head in amusement. "Yes, I'll marry you, you prat."
"Hey, that's not a nice thing to say to your fiancé." he retorted, sitting back on the couch next to me, taking my hand and slipping on my finger a small, simple silver ring with a small diamond in the center. I felt tears sting my eyes as Fred lifted my hand to his lips, kissing my ring finger before smiling at me.
"Fred, it's perfect." I whispered, looking from the ring up to him.
"Simple, beautiful, and it still caught my eye, just like you." he smiled, making me blush. "Amber Weasley. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
I grinned hugely, leaning up and kissing him.
~*0*~
We got married just under a year later, in late June of 2000. It was a small wedding behind the Burrow with only family and very close friends, meaning with the Weasley clan, the guests totaled up to about 60. I wore a simple white sundress and Fred wore a dress shirt and slacks. My Maid of Honor was Ginny, and my bridesmaids were Hermione and Fleur, since we'd all become extremely close during and after the war. Fred's Best Man was obviously George, and his groomsmen were his friend Lee Jordan and Bill. Since my parents weren't alive to celebrate this special day with me Molly and Arthur really stepped up. Molly helped me get ready and prepare, as well as cooking all the food for the reception, and I asked Arthur to walk me down the isle, since he'd become a second father to me.
The youngest guest was the newest member of the Weasley clan, Victoire Weasley, Bill and Fleur's one month old daughter, who was born on the anniversary of the final battle of the war, hence her name.
George and Angelina's wedding was a few months later. And Percy brought a date, a woman named Audrey, to both weddings and a few family events. They announced their engagement as a Sunday lunch near the end of the year and had their wedding in the fall of 2001.
~*0*~
(Fred's POV)
I raked my hands anxiously through my hair for the twentieth time, my legs bouncing as I glanced over toward the doorway into the birth ward for the hundredth time. I was sitting in the waiting room of St. Mungo's Hospital, surrounded by some of my family. It was a chilly afternoon in early autumn of 2008, so a good portion of my family were still arriving, or couldn't make it due to work or other complications.
So far it was just me, my mum, Fleur and their kids: eight-year-old Victoire, four year old Dominique, and their one year old son Louis; as well as Ron, and Harry with his and Ginny's kids: James, who was four, and Albus, who was two.
My dad couldn't make it because he was at work, though we were keeping him posted. It was the same for Bill and Percy. Charlie was back in Romania and didn't come home to visit often, though he promised to visit for Christmas because of all the new babies being born into the family this year. Percy's wife Audrey was at home with their four year old daughter Molly, and she would've come if she wasn't heavily pregnant with their next child. Hermione also would've come if she wasn't at home with her and Ron's newborn daughter Rose, as well as Ginny and Harry's four month old daughter Lily, who she was babysitting because Ginny was currently working here at St. Mungo's, where my wife was currently giving birth.
I would be back there with her, but last time that happened I threw up. I'm sorry, it just wasn't something my already-nervous stomach could handle.
The sound of flames coming from the Floo entrance nearby didn't reach my ears, however the little kid's voice that came seconds later did.
"Daddy!"
I looked up and saw my twin and his wife, each carrying a five year old, red-haired boy. The one George was carrying was wiggling to be let down, and as soon as George lowered his feet to the tile floor, the little tyke bolted down the hall, through the waiting room, and leapt into my lap, making me laugh and relax for a moment.
I held my son in my lap and studied him as he started rambling about how much fun he had in school and then how his Aunt Angelina took him and his cousin Gideon out to ice cream.
Fabian George Weasley could easily be a mini-me, except he had his mother's eyes and nose and less freckles than me.
After a few moments of rambling, Fabian turned his attention to his cousin, who had walked up to talk to him while my twin and his wife sat by me.
Fabe and George's son, Gideon Fredrick Weasley, could very nearly pass as twins themselves, even though they weren't identical. They reminded all of us of how me and George were, even though they were cousins. They were only a few months apart in age, and George and I came up with matching their names by switching our middle names, Fabian and Gideon, with our first names. Gideon had much darker eyes, which he got from Ang, and his hair was a darker shade of red than Fabian, whose hair was more of an orange.
My mom called Fabe and Gid over to tell her how their day had been so far, leaving me to anxiously watch the door again. I felt an elbow nudge mine and I turned to my twin.
"Nervous?" he guessed with a gentle smirk.
I smiled a bit. "A little."
"She'll be fine, Fred." Angelina reassured me from on the other side of George. "She's done it before."
I nodded, knowing she was right, before I nodded to her stomach. "How's the little one doing?" I asked curiously, gesturing to the little bump that you wouldn't notice if you weren't looking.
She smiled warmly, placing her hand on her tummy. "Good. Though, I'm starting to get nauseous at the smell of eggs and cleaning supplies. So I'm fast approaching my least favorite part of the process." she grimaced slightly, making me chuckle.
"Fred?" I immediately snapped my head to attention at the sound of my sister's voice, my whole body growing tense. She waved me over and I stood on shaky legs, following her down the hall until we were out of ear shot, where she turned to me.
"Did something happen?" I asked frantically.
Ginny smiled reassuringly. "No, Fred. Everything's going fine, but there's something I needed to ask you…"
"Yeah?" I urged when she stopped.
A smile slid over her lips. "Did you and Amber, by any chance, have more than one name picked out?"
I looked down at her in confusion, not understanding the point in that question. Why would it matter? But something about the tone she used, as well as that grin and the look in her eyes, told me I was missing something.
Then, I got it.
My mouth fell open, slowly forming into a grin. "You're kidding me." I breathed, not really believing it. "Twins?"
She nodded. "Yep. Congratulations, big brother. You're about to have twins. The first one's out, he's just being washed up right now, and the second one should be out soon, since it's much smaller."
"Oh my god, thank you Gin." I breathed, pulling my sister into a tight hug. I walked back to the waiting room in a sort of daze.
"Daddy, where's Mommy?" Fabian asked, running up to me and holding his arms up, silently asking to be picked up. I scooped him up and placed him on my hip like usual.
"Well, you remember how we told you you'd be having a new baby brother or sister?" I asked him.
He nodded. "Yeah. Is that where she is? Is she going to get the baby from the owl?" everyone but George and Angelina looked confused, while I grinned. Amber and I had come up with the story that babies got delivered by owls, since when Amber was little her parents told her a stork delivered babies.
"Yeah, she is. But, apparently the owl is going to be a little bit longer, because he's got an extra bundle to carry." I explained, hoping at least someone in the waiting room would understand what I was saying. I smirked when I heard mom gasp, and looked over to see several people either with excited grins or their jaws hanging open. Ron seemed to be the last person to get it, but then Harry whispered something in his ear and then his mouth fell open with everyone else.
Fabian, however, had his face screwed up as he tried to figure out what I was saying.
"Fabe, you remember how I explained to you that me and your Uncle George are twins, and that we have the same birthday?" I asked, to which my son nodded. "Well, this is the same thing. We're going to have two babies on the same day, just like me and George. They're going to be twins."
"So, am I going to get two brothers?" he asked excitedly.
"Well, I'm not sure. Sometimes twins can be a boy and a girl. Aunt Ginny just told me that she found out one of them is a boy, but we're not sure about the other one, yet."
"Okay." Fabian nodded once before squirming to be let down. I placed his feet on the floor and he hurried over to play with James, Dominique, and Gideon while I returned to my seat next to my twin. My mum was holding Louis on her lap and Harry was holding Albus in his.
"Owls? Seriously?" Ron asked with a smirk from his seat next to me.
"Would you prefer we told him babies come from their mother's-"
"Fred!" my mom hissed, cutting off the word I was going to say.
"I was going to say 'tummy'!" I defended quietly, trying not to smirk. George snorted to cover his laughter on my other side.
"Sure you were, Gred." he muttered quietly.
After another ten minutes, Ginny called me into the room. Fabian wanted to come with me, but I told him I'd come back to get him in a few minutes. I wanted to see how my wife was without having to watch what I say and how I say it in front of my son. He wouldn't completely understand why his mommy was so tired.
As I expected, Amber's thick, brown hair was frazzled and sweat was making her face glisten, strands of hair sticking to her forehead and cheeks, which were flushed red. She grinned tiredly when she saw me and I hurriedly approached her bedside, taking one of her hands in mine and sitting on the edge of her bed.
"Twins." she muttered, her tired smile still in place.
"Yeah." I laughed quietly, brushing some of her wet hair behind her ear. "How're ya feeling?"
"Tired." she huffed, making me smile, "And a little sore. Where's Fabe?"
"Out in the waiting room with the others. I wanted to check on you myself before I brought him in."
"Good idea." she mumbled before a nurse came up to us holding a bundle wrapped in a blue blanket.
"Would you like to hold your son?" the nurse asked Amber, who nodded. I helped her sit up against the back of the bed, and the nurse gently placed our baby son in her arms. I turned around to sit facing the same direction as my wife, looking down at the baby we had created.
He had his tongue sticking out a bit and looked asleep. He had the faintest smattering of orange hair on his head. His cheeks were chubby, like any baby, and his skin had a red tint to it, though I remember Fabian was the same color when he was born, and he turned out with fair skin, like me. He also had a barely-visible sprinkling of freckles across his cheeks. I wanted so desperately to know what color my new son's eyes were, but they were firmly closed.
"He's smaller than Fabe was." Amber noted, smiling fondly down at him.
"Well, he had to share his space." I pointed out just as another nurse approached, holding a small bundle in a pink blanket.
"Would you like to hold your daughter?" the nurse asked me with a kind smile. I glanced down at Amber, who nodded reassuringly. I swallowed, looking down at the tiny, fragile bundle in the nurse's arms. Sure, I'd held babies before, obviously. But they'd all been boys. I didn't normally hold any of my nieces and nephews when they were babies, apart from Gideon, because all the girls fussed over them and hogged them, not that I minded. I just didn't have any chances to hold any baby girls. And this was my baby girl.
Slowly, I nodded, and the nurse gently placed the baby girl into my arms. The first thing I noticed was that she was just a bit smaller than her twin, who was already smaller than Fabian when he was born. So she was much smaller than I was used to holding. The second thing I noticed was that, unlike her twin, she was wide awake. And staring up at me.
She had sharp, green eyes, just like her mother, and she had about the same amount of hair as her brother, though it was a darker shade, but still Weasley-red. She had the same nose as her twin, her eyes looked a bit bigger, though that might have been the baby-eye effect she had on me, and she already had dimples on her chubby cheeks.
I was mesmerized as I slowly let go with one hand and ran my finger along her soft cheek. As I pulled away, her fist grabbed hold of my finger, her tiny hand not even half the size of my finger.
I was hooked.
(Amber's POV)
Watching my husband with our newborn daughter was something out of fairytales, or a sappy romance novel. It was a perfect moment, and I wished I had my camera to capture it forever. He had a small, loving smile spread over his lips, his brown eyes glistening with tears that he would never let anyone see fall, and he was letting our baby daughter hold his finger. Then he leaned forward and kissed the top of her head.
"Any ideas for names?" Fred asked, finally taking his attention from the baby he was holding.
"Well,…I had an idea for a girl name…and I would like to honor both my parents…" Fred nodded, we had already talked about having my parents' names for middle names.
"What were you thinking for a girl?" Fred asked, sitting on the edge of my bed, facing me.
I was silent, looking down at the baby girl in my husband's arms before I answered, "Winifred Bridget Weasley."
Fred looked down at our daughter contemplatively, bouncing her just slightly. "Winifred…Winnie." he tested with a grin, making me smile. "Winnie Weasley. I like it." he grinned down at me before looking down at our son thoughtfully.
"Can you think of a boy name?" I asked curiously, looking down at my son, too.
"Well,…most of the family are already naming kids after people, so I kinda want to get away from that, and he'll already have your dad's name for a middle name. But…I always liked the name Wyatt." Fred answered quietly.
I looked down at my son, examining him. "Wyatt." I tested quietly. "Wyatt Murphy Weasley." I smiled when his eyes slowly blinked open, the same brown eyes of his father's looking up at me. "Hi Wyatt." I whispered to him, stroking my thumb down his cheek.
"Winnie and Wyatt. I like it." Fred whispered, leaning over to kiss my sweaty hair. He turned to the nurse still in the room and told her the names, so she could record them for the birth certificates, and then asked if they could bring some of our family in. The nurse could only allow a few visitors at a time, so Fred and I agreed that Fabian, George, and Molly would be the first group.
Fabian burst into the room a few moments later, followed quickly by George and then Molly. Fabian rushed over and was about to bounce into the bed when George scooped him up.
"You gotta be careful, Bud. Mommy and Daddy have some delicate cargo there." George told him before placing Fabe gently on the bed by my feet. Molly came around to the opposite side of the bed from Fred so she could see the baby I was holding.
Fabe crawled up the bed until he was kneeling near my waist between me and his father, looking between the bundles we were holding.
"Are they the babies?" he asked curiously.
"Yeah, they are." Fred answered, tilting Winnie just enough that Fabe could see her, and Winnie's bright green eyes fell on him. He stared back at her with wide eyes of his own.
"Is it a boy?" he asked, looking up at his father. Fred smiled.
"No. This one is your new little sister, Winnie." he nodded to the baby I was holding, "And that's your new little brother Wyatt." I lifted one arm slightly so Fabe could see his new little brother.
He looked back and forth between them. "Will I be able to play with them?" he asked curiously.
Fred smiled. "Maybe not for a while. They're really little right now, so they won't be able to do much. But when they're older, yes you can play with them."
"Okay." he smiled before scooting over to look at the baby in my arms. George took that moment to stand by his twin, looking down at the little girl in his arms.
"She's cute. Probably 'cause she takes after her mum." George smirked. I tried not to smile while Fred stuck his tongue out at his twin.
"Yeah, well Wyatt's going to be a handsome little devil, just like me." Fred countered.
George smirked, but didn't reply, simply looking down at his new niece instead.
"Geeze. You, Fredrick Weasley, have a daughter. Think she's going to be a daddy's girl?"
"Oh yeah, obviously." Fred grinned.
"Yep, she'll have you wrapped around her finger. You'll probably cry the first time she laughs." I teased him as I handed Wyatt over to Molly to hold, since I was getting a little tired.
"If I do, it'll be because it'll be the most amazing sound in the world." Fred boasted.
George smirked and I just knew he was going to say something bad. "I thought you always said that Amber makes the most amazing sounds when you two-"
"George Fabian Weasley!" Molly hissed while my face went up in flames. After all these years, you'd think I'd be used to his little perverted sex jokes, but noooo.
I covered up my embarrassment by holding my hands out to my husband. "Can I hold my daughter for a few minutes before I'm too tired?"
Fred smiled at me before gently placing our little girl on my chest, right over my heart. I placed both my hands gently on her tiny back, taking up most of her body, and watched with a smile as she tucked her tiny fist into her mouth and closed her eyes. Fred kissed the top of my head and put his arm around my shoulder.
"I love you, Amber Weasley. Thank you for giving me such beautiful children." he whispered in my ear so just the two of us could hear.
"I love you, too." I smiled back.
THE END
OoOoOoO
And there's the ending! I hope everyone liked my story, and don't be afraid to leave a review to let me know what you thought of the whole thing! And if anyone would like to mention what their favorite part was or what they liked about the story, that would really make my day!
