Hello ? Just letting everyone know my plans for this fic over the next few weeks. I have been updating weekly throughout 2019, but am going to take a few weeks' break over the festive season. I hope to finish and upload a Christmassy Fremione one-shot in a few days' time, and then I'm switching off to spend the holidays with my fam. Happy holidays! Hope everyone has a peaceful and love-filled festive season, and I'm sending virtual hot chocolate and Weasley jumpers to those of you who leave happy and appreciative messages and help fuel my writing pixies ? See you in 2020!
OoOoOoOoOoOoO"How can you not be able to find him?" Hermione asked, confused as to how Fred had 'lost' his twin. "His bond is open, and he's transmitting loud and clear."
"He's thinking nonsense though!" Fred exclaimed. "And it's so confusing! He's sad and happy at the same time, and he's thinking about driving a muggle bike to the moon!" He was a bit distressed himself. "You try and tune into him, then, clever clogs!" His tone was soft, but Hermione knew he was worried.
"I know exactly where he is," she said, touching Fred's arm. "Come on!"
After saying a quick goodbye to Molly and Arthur, Hermione apparated herself and Fred into Lauren's garden, where they found Charlie and Elliot playing in the sandpit.
"We've been irregulated," Elliot told them.
"Relegated," Charlie corrected, stroking Elliot's head. "They're on a date," he winked, tipping his head towards the cottage. "Something about needing a couple of hours of big sister time before his stag do. You were both snoozing and we didn't want to wake you." Seeing Hermione sit down in the grass beside Elliot, Charlie scrambled to his feet. Fred was making his way towards the back door and Charlie sensed that this would be too good to miss.
The two brothers crept softly through the kitchen. The house was so quiet that they weren't certain whether Lauren and George were even there. But they were. When they poked their heads into the living room, the first thing they saw was the top of Lauren's mop of curly blonde hair just about visible over the back of the sofa. Even though they could only see the back of Lauren's head, it was immediately clear that she was crying at the scene unfolding on the TV screen. Fred crept forward, pulling a confused face at what he saw on the screen. At least that explained the weird picture in George's mind. His twin's head lay in Lauren's lap on a full-sized feather pillow, which, if the dinosaurs on it were anything to go by, had likely been summoned from Elliot's room. The rest of George's body was curled up along the length of the sofa; his feet poking over the end where he was too long to fit in his entirety. Lauren was gently stroking his hair as he snuffled into a large polka-dotted handkerchief that Charlie recognised as having once belonged to Arthur.
"It's so sad," he said. "Why couldn't ET stay? Or take Elliot with him?"
Charlie and Fred exchanged a glance. Part of them desperately wanted to startle George and then take the mickey out of him. And yet, at the same time, they both knew that being able to cry and release his emotion was an important part of his healing. Perhaps especially on the day before he bonded himself to the woman he loved.
"I know," Lauren replied, still stroking his hair as she sniffed. Clearly neither of them had realised that Fred and Charlie were behind them. George, Fred thought, must be really engrossed in the film not to have picked up the proximity of his twin. "But he has to go home to his family. They probably miss him."
Fred shook his head. Charlie's shoulders were heaving with the effort of trying not to laugh out loud at how cute the two of them were on their 'date'. Clearly they were finding this shared experience very therapeutic. Or else they were on some kind of sugar high, as the empty ice cream container and chocolate wrappers would seem to indicate. Tiptoeing, Charlie and Fred sneaked back out into the garden again.
Ten minutes later, the happy pair emerged from the cottage, hand in hand, and joined the others on the grass.
"I enjoyed that," said George.
"It's a lovely film," Hermione told him, having worked out what they had been watching from Fred and Charlie's description. "I used to watch it with my Dad."
"Is that who Elliot was named for?" Charlie asked Lauren, speaking softly as he nuzzled her hair. "I heard the name in it and you said you named him after a boy in a film…"
"No," she whispered back. "It was a film, but a different one. One from when I was really little. The first film my mum ever took me to see, in fact." She paused for a moment; frowning, and wondering. Was it a coincidence that her favourite childhood film had included a dragon who she had named her son after, when she then went on to meet a dragon keeper and have a son who had a dragon spirit guide? Who didn't look all that dissimilar, if Charlie's tattoo was anything to go by, from the dragon in the film.
"What is it?" Charlie asked.
Lauren shook her head, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the complexity of the questions that were rolling through her mind. "Just wondering about prediction, coincidence, that kind of thing."
"Oooh, divination … Hermione's favourite," Fred teased, making George laugh.
"Arithmancy, much more interesting," she retorted. He pulled a face; arithmancy was much more her thing than his. Hermione turned to Lauren. "One day, if you're interested, we'll have a chat with Minerva. She'd be the best person to answer your questions, I think."
"Oh, I'd like that," Lauren said. "I liked her a lot, even though we only met briefly."
"She'll be at the wedding," George said.
"I plan to be far too tipsy to have sensible conversations at your wedding," Lauren replied. "Now that we have grandparents and all these aunties and uncles in the mix, I've got a couple of years of non-drinking to catch up on, you know!"
"Are you going to dance with me?" Charlie asked.
"Oh, I don't know about that!" Lauren said, unwisely alerting Fred and George to the fact that she was a reluctant dancer, which was like waving a reg flag in front of a couple of overenthusiastic bulls. They looked at each other and Hermione chuckled when she saw the vision that they had shared of spinning the muggle woman between them on the dance floor. She would try and find time to warn Lauren later. Although, if Lauren really was planning on drinking a lot, she might well enjoy it.
Shortly after, the twins and Hermione took their leave, with Charlie promising to apparate to Diagon Alley and meet them in the Leaky Cauldron as soon as he had helped get Elliot ready for bed. Fred and George stayed in the flat just long enough to set out everything they would need for the morning and change their tee shirts, and then kissed Hermione farewell, running loudly down the stairs and out through the shop. Hermione chuckled as she set out all the potions she had promised to have ready for the morning and then settled down on the roof with a pot of tea and her sewing. She took a couple of breaks and, at one point, headed down to the workroom to collect some supplies and put the finishing touches to a new idea. But mostly, she enjoyed the relative peace. For the first time in what felt like days, she had time to sit by herself and process her thoughts. Two or three times she heard loud cheers from some way down the Alley, and smiled to herself as she realised that it was likely the stag do. And she heard several familiar voices passing by on their way to join George. All in, it made her very happy.
A few hours later, she was slightly less happy when, just as she had predicted, two drunk men entered her bedroom, stripped down to their boxers and then joined her in bed. "Why are you getting in on my side?" she asked George. "You're supposed to sleep the other side of Fred!"
Fred simply giggled. Hermione rolled her eyes in jest; he was going to be no help at all.
"He's too hot," George complained.
"You're too hot," Hermione retorted.
"But I love you, you're my wife-in-law and it's our last night of you being the only woman I'm bonded with," he replied, reaching his arms around her and trying to cuddle her from behind, as if that settled things. Crookshanks was looped over her feet and, on her other side, Fred turned over and began to gently reverse his body towards hers so that she would be spooning him. Hermione realised that, if she didn't take action before the three males sandwiched her between them and then fell asleep, she was going to roast.
"Stop!" she said, reaching across Fred for her wand and casting a long-lasting cooling charm over herself. Then she levitated her pain potion onto the head of the bed, giving the pygmy puffs a gentle warning not to interfere with it. She wanted to be able to reach it if she needed it in the night, without having to wrestle a twin to get to it. "OK, now you can cuddle." They both snuggled into her, one either side, and promptly dropped off to sleep. Crookshanks grumbled slightly at the movement, turned around a couple of times, and then joined them.
When she woke, several hours later, Hermione's first thought was of how curious it was that, after the bonding ceremony, George would be the only one of the four of them that would be connected to all three of the others. She wondered if the twins had realised that themselves. The primacy of the first marriage bond meant that she and George would continue to feel each other, and he would also feel Ange through their marriage bond, of course, but Ange wouldn't be connected with her and Fred. Hermione spend ten minutes wondering whether there was an ancient reason for that, and then decided that this was too big a question for a Sunday morning, especially when she had promised George hangover care in return for the loving attention he had ladled on her the previous morning.
She squeezed herself out from between the twins, laughing to herself as the mattress moved and they unknowingly cuddled into each other instead. Having swallowed a bit more pain potion, she took a shower, put on coffee and began grilling bacon for sandwiches. While it was cooking, she settled her beaded bag on the kitchen table and began to load it with things she might need for the wedding. Fleur was going to take all the dresses to the restaurant, so that Angie and her bridesmaids could get ready together in the morning, and Hermione had promised to be there. Pouring herself a cup of tea, she sat at the table and ate her own breakfast, figuring that the twins could enjoy some more time asleep. She smiled as she heard them, even halfway across the flat. Both of the twins tended to snore after drinking, and their breathing was almost synchronised, so that the snores of one sounded like the echo of the other.
Once she had finished and had nothing else to do before she left, she collected supplies and went to administer hangover care to the groom. Sitting on the bed beside him, she stroked George's hand and, when he grumbled at being roused, told him that she had a new product for him to test.
That got his attention, as well as Fred's.
"I made it last night, while you were out," she said, holding up a large ball of chocolate which was nestled in a purple wrapper. "It's a chocolate truffle, with standard doses of hangover potion, a half dose of Pepper-Up and a remedy that will rehydrate you within a minute, as long as you suck it rather than chewing," she said. "Oh, and some raspberry flavour, to hide the taste of the potions. I've made two. Do you want to test?"
Both of the men turned to face her and opened their mouths, like baby birds. Hermione took that as consent and tipped a chocolate into each. "Suck," she reminded them. "I think it'll absorb faster that way."
Ten minutes later, they were both sat up in bed, drinking their coffee and tea and throwing out name suggestions for Hermione's new invention. "It's bloody brilliant," Fred said, scooping his wife onto his lap and kissing her neck.
"I might need to add a breath freshener to it as well," she teased him, declining a snog until he had brushed his teeth and got rid of the stale beer breath. George reached for his wand and then leaned over to cast a breath-freshening charm on his brother, who grinned in thanks before capturing Hermione's lips with his own. Hermione kissed him back with a soft moan but then, realising that she couldn't take this any further, because George was there and she needed to get going, pulled away and raised her own wand. "Accio bacon sandwiches," she said. They duly arrived and were pounced upon.
Satisfied that she had done what she had promised, Hermione kissed them both on the cheek, telling George that she loved him and wished him the very happiest wedding day.
"And as for you," she said to Fred, letting her hand run over his chest. "Well, I'll see you as soon as George shuts us out and we can catch up with each other again." Her meaning was clear; she couldn't wait to be alone with him again.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Going from the relative quiet of the bedroom into the restaurant was somewhat surreal. Hermione hadn't known where else to apparate to, and she hadn't thought to ask Angie, so she had simply taken herself and all her stuff to the restaurant entrance. Phil's staff were bustling around, rearranging furniture, and she could see several chefs chopping meat, fish and vegetables in the central kitchen, which was visible from the main restaurant itself.
"Welcome, welcome!" the older wizard said, enveloping Hermione in a hug. He was more colourful than ever, wearing a red and gold outfit that had been picked as a crowd pleaser for the Weasleys, who had thus far all been in Gryffindor. Hermione suspected that would almost certainly change with their own children. If Hogwarts even kept the house system on, and she wasn't sure if that would be the case in the longer term, given the damage that separation and rivalry had done to their world. She was pulled out of her thought process when Phil began to lead her around, offering a commentary on what was happening. They ended up on a balcony; not the one they often ate on, but another one, slightly higher, which she had never noticed before. It gave a partial view of the edge of the cove that she and Fred had honeymooned in, and a much better view of another, larger cove that was beyond it. Hermione blushed slightly as she recognised the rock that Fred had sat her on and on which she had almost begged him to make love to her on their first date.
"The honeymoon cove you know," he said, waving his arm in its direction, "and as soon as we have stocked the food, then no-one will be able to get or see into that other than Angie and George. Unless they allow it. You know how that works."
"I do," she replied simply.
"And that cove there?" Phil pointed to the much larger area where a whole procession of chairs were being set out in semi-circles. "That's my wedding cove. We'll have the wedding there, and then the reception. We move everything around, depending on what we need. Chairs, buffet, dance floor. Even tents, in case anyone doesn't want to apparate home!" His laugh boomed, as he then told her that they had plenty of sober-up potion as well. "We have a magical lift from the apparition point to the beach, so no-one needs to fly or apparate up, but everything is down there, even a bathroom suite, so the lift is really just for the staff to use once all the guests have arrived."
"It's lovely," Hermione said. It really did look like a resort, with everything on hand, just like the cove had had. She was particularly taken with the fact that a number of day beds, much like the one that she had Fred had enjoyed on their honeymoon, were scattered around the edges, so that people could enjoy watching the sea and perhaps take a break now and again.
Phil nodded. "I want Angie to be happy."
"I'm sure she will be," Hermione said. "She and George love each other very much. He's a good man. And I think having a wedding bond makes for a happier marriage. Truly, I do." Phil didn't say anything, but his eyebrows moved a little and she could see his interest in his face, so Hermione continued. "Fred and I rarely have cross words, because we can sense each other's feelings," she confided to the older wizard. "It's hard to be angry or in conflict with someone when you know they mean well. And Fred and I are both good people, like Ange and George, and we do both generally mean well, even if we have different ways of doing things. The bond helps each of us to understand that. To understand each other."
Phil nodded. "It sounds like a very special kind of connection."
"It is," she agreed, feeling a surge of gratitude and love for the man who, just a few weeks before, had stood beside her and committed to spend his life connected to her, just to save her from the threat of being forced to marry someone who might not have cared for her. If she lived to be a hundred and fifty, Hermione couldn't imagine loving Fred Granger-Weasley more than she did in this moment. And yet, paradoxically, she also felt her love for him growing each day. Her thoughts turned back to the lingerie that she had bought to wear for him a few days prior, and she felt his matching surge of lust as he picked up that thought through their bond. It felt like he was in the shower, and she swayed slightly as she sensed him grin and move his hand over his body, teasing her with the knowledge that he was naked, alone and in a good position to take care of himself.
Smiling to herself and using the skills she had learned from Bill to temporarily dampen the transmission of her emotions and blur the distracting images from Fred, Hermione made a mental note to herself to do more nice things for her husband. He was right; she was often doing nice things for other family members. She wanted to make sure that she put just as much thought into doing nice things for him as he did for her.
"Phil," she said, causing Ange's dad to raise his eyebrows in question. "Can I book the balcony for a romantic dinner for Fred and I next week?"
"Of course you can," he smiled. "Come, we'll go and look at the reservations book, and then I'll show you where to find Angie and the others. Alicia came for a sleepover, you know; it was like having a couple of giggling twelve year-olds in the house again!"
Phil's house was higher up the cliff, but connected to the restaurant by a passage that Hermione imagined was one of George's favourite features. When she stepped out into the large kitchen, her gaze was drawn to the picture windows that seemed to stretch the entire length of the beach-facing side of the house.
"You're here!" Angelina sounded excited, and Hermione was surprised and pleased to see that Molly, Elliot and Ginny were already there as well. Molly had been seated in a place of honour in the living room, and was busy helping Elliot get used to walking in wizarding robes.
"I had Charlie bring him over first thing," Molly told Hermione. "Turns out he needs a bit of practice," she laughed, watching the little boy try to walk in the unfamiliar outfit. Lauren usually dressed him in dungarees or shorts and tee shirts, and he was having a bit of trouble managing the formal clothing.
"Keep looking up, darling," Molly prompted, seeing that the main problem arose when Elliot kept looking down at his robes, making them trail on the floor where he then promptly got his feet tangled in them and fell over. She shook her head, smiling at his lack of co-ordination. Most of her own children had been the very opposite. Even Percy, studious as he was, had been competent on a broom.
"Hoop spell," declared Molly, her eyes lighting up as the idea came to her. "We used to use it for our dresses, back in the day." She cast a spell at Elliot's outfit and the bottom of the robes moved into a circle, whose form held and kept the fabric away from his feet even when the little boy bent down again, this time to inspect a spider which was crossing his path. He carefully picked it up with his fingers and moved it to a windowsill, in a move which, had his mother seen it, would have reminded her of the first time she laid eyes on his father.
"Come on in!" Angelina called from the bedroom door. "I've saved you a slot in the bath; thought you might like it, what with your tummy…"
Hermione was about to tell Angie that she had already taken a shower, thank you. But upon seeing Angelina's bathroom, she decided to keep her mouth shut. The room overlooked the ocean and had more floor-to-ceiling windows. One could lay in the bath and watch the sea without any fear of being seen. Hermione spent more than half an hour in there, enjoying the feel of the hot water on her body and getting out only when Alicia called to say that it was her turn with the witch who had come to do their hair. Applying drying spells and putting on a fluffy dressing gown, Hermione went and sat in the main living area, admiring the others' hair arrangements as she patiently allowed her own locks to be tugged and charmed into an updo which she felt sure that Fred would feel the need to comment on. Angelina sat beside her and gave her a run-down of the plans for the actual wedding, which Hermione listened to carefully; nodding to let Angelina know that she understood where she was to stand and what her role was.
"What time is everyone arriving?" Angelina had finished talking, and Hermione had suddenly noticed that the others were all ready.
"Don't panic, lovely," Molly said. "You only need to put your dress and shoes on. We left you til last so you could have a bit of a rest," she said sympathetically.
"They're starting to arrive now," Alicia said. Her face was pressed to the window. "I can see Arthur," she reported.
"Daddy!" shouted Elliot, who was standing beside Alicia. "I can see Daddy!" Sure enough, Charlie was offering Lauren his arm as they readied themselves to step into the lift down to the cove.
"Then I'll go down," said Molly. "Come on, Elliot, you can come with me. We'll let these ladies finish getting ready and you can sit with Daddy and Mummy til they need you. Is that alright with you?" she asked Angelina, who nodded. The young woman was ready for a firewhisky with her friends now and, although she had no doubt that Molly would approve, she was glad of the chance to spend the last few moments of her single life alone with her friends.
When Charlie and Lauren stepped out of the magical lift, there were so many people milling around on the beach that the normally extraverted couple barely knew where to dive in. Then they spotted Bill and Fleur, who were sitting a little way from the crowds on one of the daybeds that Phil's staff had set up so that guests could sit and watch the waves. Their legs stretched out in from of them as they enjoyed the view. Charlie and Lauren looked at each other, nodded in agreement and then made their way over. As soon as he and Molly stepped out of the lift, just two minutes later, Elliot broke away and ran to join them, while Molly went to help Arthur pick appropriate seats for the ceremony.
Having barrelled into Charlie and then given Lauren a cuddle, Elliot spotted that Fleur was there too. He wriggled himself out of Lauren's arms and ran to his aunt, launching himself onto the daybed to give Fleur a hug. He then lay flat on his tummy beside Fleur. Lauren frowned a little as he turned his head towards Fleur's tummy and gave it a gentle kiss through her dress.
"Hello," he said to her bellybutton, and he gently patted her with his hand.
"Elliot," warned Lauren, as Fleur looked at her friend.
"Yes?" Elliot looked up innocently, his hand still on Fleur's tummy.
"What are you doing?" Lauren asked, trying not to sound as concerned as she actually was by his rather odd behaviour.
"Saying hello," he replied, as if this should have been obvious to his mother.
"To Fleur?" she asked.
"No," he said. "To my friend."
Lauren looked at Charlie. "Is this Inardoe?" she said quietly. Charlie pulled an 'I don't have a clue' face, but he walked around the day bed and knelt in front of the little boy.
"Inardoe's not in there, is he?" He managed to keep his tone light; not quite a question, not quite a statement, but leaving it open to however Elliot would interpret that. He was grateful that Bill and Fleur had been filled in on 'the Inardoe situation', therefore saving themselves a bit of time explaining.
"No, silly," Elliot told him, receiving a slight warning look from Charlie, who was trying to carefully balance his desire to allow Elliot to express himself with his desire to ensure that the little boy also behaved appropriately. "Inardoe's in here," Elliot said, putting his little hand over his own heart. "And there," he pointed to Charlie's shoulder, where his shirt covered his tattoo.
"So why are you kissing Fleur's tummy?" he asked, not noticing the surprised and somewhat excited look that Fleur and Bill were giving each other.
"Inardoe says my friend is in there," he explained. It was all very obvious to Elliot, who couldn't really understand why the adults weren't keeping up.
Fleur swallowed and looked at Bill, her eyes full of hopeful tears. "Do you think…?" She trailed off, not even wanting to entertain the possibility.
Bill immediately took her hand. "It would only be a day or two. How could he possibly know? I can do the test if you like, but…" He watched Fleur closely, knowing how many disappointments they had had and not wanting to spend George's wedding day feeling sad.
Lauren sat down on the edge of the day bed and scooped Elliot onto her lap. "Can you tell me what's happening, lovely?"
"I wanted to kiss Fleur's baby," he said, a bit sad now that he thought he had done something wrong.
"That's OK, lovely. We were just a bit surprised." She cuddled the little boy on her lap. "No-one is cross with you," she reassured him. Then she looked between Bill, Charlie and Fleur. "Is this possible?" she said. "I mean, dolphins can sense when women are pregnant; something to do with their echolocation, I think…"
"I guess we won't know unless we do the test," Charlie said, but he could see that Bill wasn't sure about it.
"Do it," Fleur said firmly. "I shall wonder all day if not and that will be just as bad as hearing a 'no'."
Bill nodded. He wasn't entirely happy about it; he would rather have done this in private, where he and Fleur could cry together when it was negative again, but it made sense. He had no idea where Elliot had got his new notion from, but he had almost given up hope that they would conceive after trying for all this time. Molly had begun to drop hints about it being more likely now that the stress of the war had passed, but Bill knew she was just trying to make him feel better.
"I can ask Hermione or Ginny to do it if you prefer," Fleur told her husband, knowing that Charlie was unlikely to have learned a pregnancy testing spell but that all witches were taught it in their sixth year. That was one thing that Hogwarts had got right when it came to sex education. At least, if one of the girls did it, Bill wouldn't have to watch when it came up negative again.
"No," said Bill, pulling Fleur close to him and wrapping one arm around her while taking out his wand with the other. "I'll do it." He kissed her cheek, whispered the incantation and moved his wand in the spiral shape. Lauren was just about to ask Charlie what they were looking for when she saw the look on Fleur's face as a soft purple light glowed over her lower abdomen.
"Oh Bill!" Fleur wrapped her arms tightly around Bill's neck and he dropped his wand onto her lap as he encircled her waist, dropping more kisses onto any part of her that he could reach while laughing so loudly that Charlie quickly cast silencing and notice-me-not spells around the bed so that they wouldn't attract unwanted attention from the guests that were taking their seats just fifty feet away. If Fleur really was only just pregnant, they might not want everyone to know at this point.
Fleur was kissing her husband back, murmuring his name over and over. Charlie and Lauren looked at each other, simultaneously overjoyed to be a part of this moment and also feeling a little like they were intruding on something very private that really was none of their business.
But it was clear that Fleur and Bill didn't feel that way. Once Fleur had peppered Bill's entire face with kisses, she reached out her hand for Elliot, who didn't need to be asked twice. Scooting off Lauren's lap, he bounced back over to Fleur and allowed her to wrap him in a hug before he escaped to lay with his head on her lap, wrap his own little arms around her waist and press his cheek to her tummy again.
Later in the afternoon, in the traditional space between the wedding breakfast and the evening party, when English people sit around and drink tea in the belief that this will fortify them for the remainder of the festivities, the two eldest Weasley brothers and their partners would find each other again. They would quiz Elliot more about how he knew and what he could feel. And later that week, he and Charlie would have a long dad-son chat about what Elliot should do the next time he and Inardoe spotted a baby growing in someone's tummy. (The answer to which was that he could tell Mummy and Daddy but not anyone else. That trick would work for approximately one pregnancy, until the Weasley women and wives worked out what it meant when Elliot saw them, looked delightedly at their tummy, widened his eyes and then immediately rushed to whisper into Lauren's or Charlie's ear.) For now, the priority was to explain to Elliot that he couldn't tell anyone else about Fleur's baby, and he seemed to understand that.
When the four of them heard Kingsley's voice inviting everyone to take their seats for the wedding, more hugs and whispered congratulations were exchanged and they walked back to the seating area together. Molly watched them walk towards her, noticing that Charlie and Lauren looked slightly dazed as they sent Elliot running towards Phil, while Fleur looked more radiant than ever. She smiled at the seemingly effortless beauty of the French woman. And then Molly saw the look on her eldest son's face and froze.
Molly knew that look.
She had seen it on Arthur Weasley's face six times.
Quickly, Molly smiled and then turned her face to Arthur, not wanting Bill and Fleur to suspect that she knew their secret. She knew they would want to make their own announcement in their own time. But this day, for Molly, was just getting better and better. And the wedding hadn't even begun.