Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter or its characters.
A/n: This is it! The very last chapter of Playing with Fire. Thank you to all who have hung in there, who have spent the last seven years of this journey with me. It was fun to do this and to spend the time on this story. Thank you so much for Reading! S/O to my last new readers: Demona Evernight, luckienumber, kayleeh, Debesele, Ginabob, Aye-Sir, Creepersbox.
Twelve Years Later
Tilly dried her hands on a towel, glancing up at the clock. It was forty past seven and she shook her head, pulling her wand out of her pocket to wave it at the stove. The eggs continued to scramble themselves, the French toast flipped and the skillet with the bacon lifted and slid into a plate. Satisfied, she left the kitchen, hurrying up the back stairs to the second floor.
"Alright you lot!" she called out as she reached the second floor. She pounded her hand on the second door on the right. "I've given you an extra twenty minutes, it's time to get up!"
When no one respond, she pushed open the door, leaning against the door frame. Fitzgerald William Weasley laid sprawled out on his bed, dark red hair a mess, as always, drool on his pillow. Against the opposite wall on another bed, lay Edward Teddy Lupin, his head dangling off the mattress, arm flung across his face so that Tilly could only see his turquoise hair.
They were adorable, honestly, Tilly thought with a fond smile. Today, they would leave for Hogwarts, Teddy for the second time, Fitz for the first, but the sight of them reminded Tilly of two young babies sleeping peacefully in their cribs. . . .
Time to ruin it.
Tilly pointed her wand at her throat and cast a silent charm. "WAKE UP!" she spoke, her voice amplified.
Fitz sat up quickly, caught in a tangle of blankets. Teddy's hair turned a shade of yellow as he tumbled out of the bed.
"Ack!" Fitz yelled out, turning a glare at his mom. "Really?"
"You two are going to be late if you don't get your fannies out of bed," Tilly answered. She looked around the mess of the room. "Are you all packed?"
Fitz blushed, a cheeky grin on his face that reminded her of his father. "We'll get right on it."
"See that you do. Downstairs, twenty minutes, both of you," she added, shooting a glance at Teddy.
The boy grinned at her, looking like his mother. "Sure thing Aunty."
Nodding, Tilly walked away, leaving the door open so that she could check back on them. She walked down to the end of the hallway, pushing open the door and entering the master bedroom. Just like his son, Charlie Weasley was spread out across the mattress. Rolling her eyes, Tilly walked over, placing her hands on his back, rocking him. "Husband. Charlie, wake up. Char – Ahhh!"
Charlie's arms slipped around her waist and pulled her down onto his chest, smiling the whole while. "Good morning."
"Cheeky," Tilly murmured, trying to sit up but his arms tightened. "I just had to get two preteen boys out of bed. Please don't make this difficult."
With a sigh, Charlie released her, rolling over to slide out of the bed, groaning all the way. Tilly laughed as she got up as well, smoothing out her clothes. "You're getting old, Husband."
"We're the same age, Wife," Charlie muttered, hurrying into the bathroom so that the thrown pillow hit the doorframe rather than him.
Shaking her head, Tilly made her way back downstairs to finish breakfast, surprised to find Teddy already there, reading through one of his textbooks. She ran her fingers through his hair, causing it to blush a deep red before changing back to turquoise. Within the next ten minutes both her son and husband had joined them downstairs and Tilly started passing out breakfast.
The past twelve years had been rather nice, if not a bit hectic. The day after the death of Voldemort, Tilly and Charlie had found themselves back at Hogwarts, helping to clean and restore. Of course, everyone knew it would take longer than just a day to fix their home away from home but mostly they were there to memorialize their family and friends. Tilly, Andromeda, Harry and Hermione all stood with the Weasleys as lights flickered into the air, representing a loved and lost one. Tilly had clung tight to Andromeda's hand as they both shot up four lights, saying a final farewell to Marguerite, Ted, Tonks, and Remus. After a bit of hesitation, Tilly released another light for Tom Riddle, the man that her grandmother had once known and loved. She wished that something could have changed to stop all of this destruction, that Marguerite's love could have gotten through to him, if anything. She would have loved to know the brilliant, ambitious man whose name had decorated plaques throughout Hogwarts as she grew up.
Helping raise Teddy while being pregnant herself was a challenge. There were days, especially when dealing with a screaming Teddy at three o' clock in the morning, she and Charlie both dreaded the arrival of their own son. As it was, on the day she went into labor, both of them panicked, Charlie especially. He forgot his wand at their apartment, had to dash back anyway for Tilly's overnight bag. Andromeda and Molly had to shoo the man out of the delivery room for ten minutes just to get him to calm down. Once Fitz was born, however, holding him in their arms (slightly) dissolved all of their panic. He had been so perfect, this little thing with wisps of dark red hair on his head, her eyes staring back at her. He was inquisitive and smart with, as they realized watching him grow, a streak of danger like his father. He broke his arm jumping from a tree behind the burrow on his training broom when he was seven.
Tilly smiled at him now, noting the slight green tinge on his face. She knew he was nervous about what House he would end up in. His best friend was a Hufflepuff, his mother a Ravenclaw, his father a Gryffindor . . . and his grandfather a Slytherin. When Fitz was born, Tilly knew that she wouldn't hide his heritage from him. That summer, she explained to him who his grandfather had been, who the world had known him as, knowing that . He took it well enough, though he was quiet for the rest of the day. He seemed to understand that every family had a past they probably didn't agree with (Teddy was descended from a family of blood purist after all). After that, mother and son spent a good amount of time going over the pros and cons of each house, especially Slytherin. Fitz could honestly care less that Merlin himself had been a member of that House, but Tilly knew it reassured him, even if just a bit.
"Whatever House you're in," Tilly had told her son, "you will be brilliant and a trendsetter and amazing. Don't let what people say about your House affect the wonderful boy I know you are."
She hope he took her advice seriously.
An hour later, the little family plus Teddy were gearing up to run through the barrier onto platform 9 and ¾ where she knew Andromeda and Harry were waiting to see Teddy off (little James still had another six years to go). Bill and Fleur would be there as well, seeing as how this was Victoire's first year too. It was always refreshing to see the giant scarlet train sitting on the tracks, waiting to take all these young happy kids home to Hogwarts. Tilly smiled, reaching over to grab Charlie's hand. Part of her would always relish in what she supposed were the glory days at Hogwarts but she liked where her life was now, wouldn't change what Hogwarts had given her.
Teddy ran over to his grandmother and godfather while Charlie went over to great his elder brother and sister-in-law. Victoire walked over, standing just slightly taller than Fitz. Just like her mother, she was a gorgeous little girl and just a bit haughty but Tilly adored her smile and she was sweet . . . sometimes.
"You look positively dreadful," she said to Fitz. "Did you sleep at all?"
"There's a spider in your hair," Fitz responded, laughing into his hand when his cousin swatted at her head.
"Listen up you two," Tilly said, kneeling down so that she could look both of them in the eye. "You be nice to each other. You're going to need each other over the first couple of weeks until you get to know your new surroundings."
"Yes mom."
"Yes Aunt Tilly."
Standing, Tilly wrapped her arms around them both, Victoire slipping away after a moment to return to her parents. Fitz stayed in Tilly's arms for a while longer, Charlie walking back to put his hand on top of his son's head.
"You'll write?" Fitz asked, looking up at them both, his eyes wide like they used to get when he was about to cry.
"Once a week, just like we promised," Tilly responded. "You can tell us what House you've been sorted into and all about your new friends."
"No need to worry about us," Charlie said with a grin. "It'll be you who's busy with classes and quidditch games and the like. You'll forget all about us till Christmas."
Fitz rolled his eyes. "Never that. You'll send me pictures of the baby dragons? And you'll send me autographs?"
"Promise." In three weeks, Charlie would head back to Romania for work till Christmas. It was the arrangement he set up to keep his job while also getting to spend time with his family. Tilly would be too busy to be lonely in an empty as she had a lot of quidditch games to organize. Fitz loved that he got to meet famous quidditch players, though Tilly had to make him promise not to gloat about it at school.
Fitz game his parents another big hug before backing away with his things and a grin very much like his father's, the shadow of tears gone. "I'll be home before you know it. You won't have time to miss me."
"That's my son," Charlie said, wrapping his arm around Tilly's shoulders.
"Stay out of trouble! The both of you!" Tilly added as Teddy followed him onto the train.
"Now who would we be if we did that?" Teddy called back.
The train whistled and the couple stepped back, Bill and Fleur, Andromeda and Harry joining them to wave as Teddy, Fitz and Victoire appeared at the window.
"He'll be fine," Charlie said, leaning down to kiss Tilly on top of her head.
He would be smart, like his mother, end up a prefect and then Head Boy in his seventh year.
He would be a Chaser, like his father, and eventually Captain of his quidditch team.
He would be caring, like his grandmother, and love herbology and medicine and become a Healer.
He would be a prankster, just like his Uncles Fred and George, and earn his own fair share of detentions.
He would be a Slytherin, just like his grandfather, but he would change the meaning of it. He would be ambitious, yes, but in making a better name for Slytherins. Just like his mother said, he would be a trendsetter. He would be the start of change.
But of course, Tilly and Charlie didn't know that yet. All they knew was that their little boy was headed to his first year of Hogwarts. He was scared, and he would probably be lonely for a while. But for now, he was smiling, and that smile was going to open up a lot of doors.
"Yeah," Tilly responded. "He'll be fine."
A/N: OMG! It's finished! It's finally done! There are a mixture of emotions running through me as I type this last note for this story. I am happy, I am sad. Tilly has been with me for so long now. I will miss writing her story but I am glad that I was able to do so and share it all with you. Thank you so much for being so patient over the years of me writing this. You all are so amazing and so dedicated. This story would honestly be nothing without you all. Thank you!
