This chapter takes place in Book Two, during chapter seventy although it doesn't make any references to what is going on in Shifting Lines. This is Fabian's POV of meeting his new nephew Charles for the first time

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Your little hands wrapped around my finger

And it's so quiet in the world tonight

Your little eyelids flutter 'cause you're dreaming

- Never Grow Up, Taylor Swift

/\/\/\/\/\

Fabian was only half-awake, brushing his teeth, when there was a sudden tapping at his window. He wandered into the front room and saw a familiar owl pecking furiously at his window.

"Errol?" he asked, dropping his toothbrush on the floor.

The Great Grey owl balanced on the sill, fluttering his wings anxiously. There was a rolled-up bit of parchment in his mouth. Fabian quickly threw open the window, and Errol spat the parchment out; there were still two rolls tied to his legs. He began to grow excited, realizing what this meant before he read the parchment.

"Good boy," he said, and Errol hooted, pleased with the praise. His brother-in-law's owl took off as Fabian unrolled the parchment, grinning broadly as the words confirmed what he thought.

Charles Quinn Weasley, Born 12 December! 6.3lbs 18.4 inches!

Fabian whooped loudly, dropping the parchment as he jumped up and down. "YES!" he shouted at no one.

He danced around for a bit until he remembered he had class soon, and had to rush to get ready. He ran down to the Great Hall, arriving almost at the same time Errol swooped in to deliver letters to his two in-laws. First to Kenneth, and then to Quinton.

"FUCK YEAH!" Fabian heard as he reached the High Table, and saw a Gryffindor Prefect rush over to lecture Quinton about his foul mouth. Fabian chuckled, sitting down.

"You're in quite a cheerful mood today, Fabian," Pomona said as he began putting food on his plate.

Fabian beamed. "I'm an uncle again!"

"Congratulations!" Pomona said, and clinked her glass of orange juice against his.

"What are we congratulating him on?" Minerva asked as she said on Pomona's other side. "Getting out of bed on time this morning?"

Fabian's ears went red. "That's quite unfair, I was only late to one class."

"Yes, your first one teaching," Minerva said in a dry tone, though her lips were twitching.

"Molly and Arthur have had their second," Pomona explained.

"Oh! Well, congratulations indeed! It seems like just yesterday they were students. Hard to believe it's been four years already." Minerva gave a bit of a sigh, stirring her tea thoughtfully. "How old is their first?"

"Bill turned two two weeks ago," Fabian said, unable to hide the pride in his voice. "I was hoping to go see them today—"

"Of course," Minerva said, turning towards him. "We can arrange for someone to take over your tests."

"Oh, I—I appreciate that, however I was thinking of waiting until after so Kenneth and Quinton could come with me, if that's all right," Fabian said slowly, unsure if it would be acceptable for him to take two students out of school for a nephew, even if they were his in-laws.

Minerva sipped at her tea. "I don't see why not. As Head of Gryffindor I give my permission."

"Excellent!"

Minerva smiled. "Give my regards to the proud parents."

Fabian bowed his head. "Thank you, I will."

After he gobbled down his food, probably not very befitting a teacher, he wiped his hands off on a napkin and took off to the Gryffindor table. He motioned for Kenneth and Quinton to come over and they detached themselves from their friends, following Fabian to a corner of the room.

"Did you get the notice?" Kenneth asked.

"Yes," Fabian said, grinning again.

"It's so fucking awesome!" Quinton laughed.

"Quin, watch your language," Fabian, only half-caring about the cussing. "Minerva has given permission for you two to accompany me to visit them this evening."

"Yes!" Kenneth said, pumping his fist.

"Aw, hell yeah!" Quin shrieked. "Skipping classes!"

Fabian rolled his eyes. "No, after the exams."

"Oh." Quin deflated a little. "Damn."

Kenneth snorted, punching his little brother roughly. "Yeah, you sound excited to see your new nephew."

"No I am," Quin promised. "It's just even better if we miss our fu—our, uh, classes."

"Right, well, meet me outside the front doors at five," Fabian instructed. They both nodded, and Fabian left the Great Hall to make arrangements with Rubeus about having a carriage waiting to take them into Hogsmeade. Once he got that sorted he went to get ready for his first exam of the day.

The sixth year Gryffindors Defense exam was the last class of the day for Fabian, so he and Kenneth walked out together to wait for Quinton. It was snowing lightly and Kenneth bounced from foot to foot, blowing into his hands until Fabian put a warming spell on his coat.

"Thanks," Ken said, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Where is that idiot?"

"Probably being yelled at by a teacher," Fabian said, and Ken laughed.

A moment later Quin came barreling out of the school, wrapping a scarf around his neck and trying to get his gloves on. He slid on some slush and crashed into Kenneth, nearly going down.

"Watch it!" Kenneth snapped, yanking his brother up by the back of his coat despite Quin already being the same height as him.

"Sorry, bloody McGonagall decided to give me a damn lecture," Quin complained, wriggling his fingers into the gloves. "Apparently she took offense to me calling the exams a load of hippogriff shite."

"I can't imagine why," Kenneth said dryly.

Quin flipped him off. "Anyway, let's go! New nephew to see! Bloody excited! He sounds small. Was Bill that small? How big was Bill?" Quin kept talking as they made their way to the awaiting carriage. Once inside, Quin bounced in his seat. "I can't wait to meet him! I was bloody well annoyed when I got the note this morning, thinking I wouldn't be able to fucking see him till Saturday. Can't believe he had the audacity to show up almost a week early, the little bugger."

"Would you please keep your mouth clean for five seconds?!" Kenneth moaned, rubbing his forehead. "If Molly hears you, she's going to kick you out into the snow."

"If Molly hears you," Quin mimicked in a squeaky voice. "Don't worry, I'll keep my mouth 'clean' for five fucking seconds once we're at the Burrow. Besides," he puffed up, "Molly adores me."

"When you're not swearing," Fabian pointed out, and Kenneth snickered. "I don't know if she'll ever forgive you for Bill saying 'fug'."

"'Fug' could mean bloody anything, couldn't it?" Quin sniffled. "I don't see why she blames me for that one. He could be talking about frogs. Bill likes frogs."

"He uses 'fug' like you use 'fuck'! Besides. He calls frogs 'foggies'," Kenneth pointed out.

Quin let out a tsking sound. "Now he does! They could have started off as 'fug'. Knobhead." He fell silent for a moment, looking out the window. Then, "Did you see the middle name?"

Fabian smiled. "Yes."

"Yes," Kenneth sighed. "Poor kid, saddled with such a miserable namesake."

Quin punched Kenneth's shoulder and didn't say much else for the rest of the trip to Hogsmeade. Thankfully. Fabian often felt very awkward having to break up the fights between his brothers-in-law! It was one of the downsides to accepting the teaching position, one he didn't think of until the first class he had with one of them.

Once in Hogsmeade, Fabian took them to the Hogsmeade Floo Connection where he stood aside as Kenneth and Quinton went through first. Then he tossed in a small handful of Floo powder, stating clearly where he needed to go. He'd rather have Apparated—using Floo was a dizzying and discomforting experience—but since he was in charge of the two Weasleys he needed to stay with them as much as possible.

It didn't take long before he was spat out into a living room, banging into Quin who had stupidly decided to stay put instead of getting out of the way. Quin yelped out apologies as the room erupted with laughter from a variety of people.

"Still haven't broken that habit I see, Five!" bellowed out the deep voice belonging to the eldest Weasley brother, Bilius.

"Shaddup!" Quin complained. "Don't call me that, you old goat!"

Fabian brushed the soot off his robes and then began removing his winter gear, peering around the room which was full to the brim of Weasleys and Prewetts. There was music playing, the smell of food, and the sound of glasses clinking together. Fabian put his things on a chair then wove his way through the crowd where his baby sister was curled up with a newborn in her arms.

"Mols!" He bent down, kissing her cheek. "Congratulations!"

Molly beamed up at him, looking weary but very content. She glowed as much as she had after Bill's birth. "Hullo Fab, it's good to see you. Thank you for bringing Ken and Quin, Arthur's very happy."

Fabian settled down on the couch next to her. "No problem. Oh!" He jerked slightly as Molly untucked her legs so she could sit upright and place the bundle in his arms. "Well, hello there!" He looked into the pink face of his newest nephew. "Charles, I presume." He carefully took one of the teensy hands and solemnly shook it. "It's very good to finally meet you! Mols, I think you've had a Prewett this time. Those are undoubtedly Prewett ears."

"Really now, what's the difference between a Weasley and a Prewett?"

Fabian looked up into a mirror of his own face. "The Weasleys don't have your ugly mug to deal with," Fabian said.

Gideon kicked his ankle and plopped down on his other side, an arm across Fabian's shoulders as he put his face close to Charles's. "Your Uncle Fab is an idiot."

Kenneth and Quinton finally extracted themselves from their relatives to come over. Fabian handed Charles back to Molly but Molly just put the baby in Kenneth's arms.

"He's bloody amazing, Molly!" Quin said, grinning. "You and Artie sure know how to make'em! Though considering that time I caught the two of you in the broom cupboard, that doesn't sur—OW!" he yelped as Arthur smacked him upside the head. "What? I was only saying—"

"I know what you were 'only' saying," Arthur grumbled. "Hello Fabian!"

"Hello Arthur, good to see you! I suppose a congratulations is in order for you too."

Arthur turned a little red, very pleased. "Molly did all the work."

"Not all the work, I'm sure it took some effort on your part," Quin snickered while wriggling his forefinger; Arthur smacked him again.

Kenneth, after checking with Molly, gave Charles to Quin who immediately stood still, looking extremely awkward as he held the baby. "I'm n-not good with this," he squeaked out, elbows out at strange angles. "Fuck. Hi there, little knoo… uhhhhh…" Quin trailed off seeing his sister-in-law was giving him the death glare. "Kno—uh—nut. You little nut. Okay that's enough with Uncle Quin holding the fragile baby." He quickly handed him over to Arthur.

"Do you like his middle name?" Arthur asked.

Quin rubbed the back of his head. "Er, y—yes. It was a surprise."

"You know, Molly and I figured since you're the youngest and usually last in line for everything that it'd be nice," Arthur said, and Quin blazed redder than a beet.

"Charles Quinn is a brilliant name!" Gideon exclaimed. "Next up, Gideon the Second."

"You want a Gideon the Second you have your own baby," Molly teased as Arthur took Charles off to meet more relatives.

"I'd look bloody awful pregnant," Gideon retorted. Then his tone softened. "How are you doing?"

Molly shifted her position, a hand settling on her stomach. "Exhausted, though this one went much easier than Bill's. At least I knew what to expect this time. Though, he was much more active than Bill ever was."

"Shouldn't you be in bed resting?" Fabian asked, trying not to worry about her,

"I'll rest later," she said, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. "Besides, the mediwitch gave me good potions. I feel fine right now. It's good to see everyone. I'm happier with a lot of people around, you know that."

"How's Arthur doing?" Gideon asked.

Molly wound some hair around her finger. "Tiptoeing around, acting like Charles will break, acting like I will break, driving me mental."

"And Bill?"

She let out a sigh. "I don't know. When we put them together he said 'no' and tried to run away."

Fabian took Molly's hand in his, squeezing. "Don't worry about it, Mols. I did the same thing when Mum and Dad introduced you to us. Bill will get used to being a brother."

Molly smiled. "Yes, though I am dreading the inevitable fights. Hopefully we won't get there for a while."

Gideon gave a laugh. "By the time they start, you'll probably be on the third child, won't you?"

They both knew Molly wanted a big family, to the point that they joked that's the only reason she married a Weasley.

Molly kicked Fabian. "Hey! I didn't say it, Giddy did!" Fabian protested.

"Same thing," she teased, cheeks a little pink. "All right, maybe. I'm thinking a year or two between each baby would be a good idea." She began plucking at a thread on her loose pajama trousers. "Five or six children over ten years sounds good to me."

Gideon leaned across Fabian. "So, who's in the kitchen? Mum or Mrs. Weasley?"

Molly rolled her eyes. "Both."

"And there hasn't been need to call the Ministry in yet?" Fabian asked. "Are you sure they haven't killed each other?"

"No, but a murder might be happening soon," Gideon mumbled, elbowing Fabian as two more faces came into the room. "Uncle Ignatius! Aunt Lucretia!"

The two Prewetts came over to the couch to congratulate Molly and greet their two nephews as well. Aunt Lucretia kept glancing around the room, obviously nervous about something. Fabian excused himself and, after giving both Uncle and Aunt a hug, disappeared into the kitchen where his mother and Arthur's mother were both arguing over the best way to prepare the potatoes.

"Fabian!" Annette Prewett kissed his cheek. "It's so good to see you! How's teaching going?"

"Very well," he promised. "Hullo, Mrs. Weasley. Er, I thought I'd come warn you that Uncle Ignatius and Aunt Lucretia's just arrived."

Mrs. Weasley paled slightly. "I see. Thank you for the warning." She smoothed her hair down then her apron. "I think I'll step out into the garden."

"It's so cold out!" Annette argued. "You can't go out like that—"

"Better than seeing her," Mrs. Weasley said.

Annette took hold of Mrs. Weasley's hand. "She won't come into the kitchen. I'll go keep her out."

Fabian hovered uncertainly in the kitchen, not sure what to do. The fact of the matter was Cedrella Black had been disowned from the Black family for marrying Septimus Weasley, while Lucretia Black had stayed welcomed in the Black family after marrying Ignatius Prewett.

It made family gatherings extremely awkward.

Though in Fabian's opinion, being disowned by the Blacks was probably a mark of respect.

"Gammie?"

Fabian and Mrs. Weasley turned at the tiny voice. Bill Weasley was standing in the doorway in his pajamas, one hand rubbing his eye, the other hand clutching a blanket.

"Ungle Fa!" Bill held out his arms and Fabian picked him up.

"Ooooof! You're getting too big for this!"

"No," Bill said, wrapping his arms around Fabian's neck. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"Imma bi' brover!"

"You are!" Fabian tickled his stomach. "Just like me. The biggest brother." Bill giggled, feet kicking. "Guess what that means?"

"Um…" Bill scrunched his face up. "I tome first?"

Fabian and Mrs. Weasley both burst into laughter. "All right, yes you cheeky little toad. But also you get an Official Big Brother present!" He set Bill down on the table and then pulled a box out of his pocket. He still remembered when Molly was born, and how he and Gideon had felt so left out at their new baby sister being showered in presents.

"Pesent for me?!" Bill took the box, eyes huge. Then he began ripping the paper off, revealing a brand new stuffed lion. "Mine! Mine!" He wrapped his arms tightly around the lion which ran a soft velvet tongue across his cheek. "Mine lion! Ungle Giddy, mine lion!"

Gideon had come in to see why his twin had disappeared for so long. "Is that an Official Big Brother present?" he asked.

"Uh-huh!"

"How about that! Now you'll have two!" Gideon said as he pulled a bag from his pocket.

Bill took his present with slight apprehension, eyes narrowing in utter suspicion. "Anover brover?"

Fabian covered his mouth, trying not to laugh too hard. "Maybe one day," Gideon said, patting Bill's head.

Bill opened the bag and found a lion costume. "Me an' Lion—um—same!" He stood up on the table and began taking his shirt off.

"Bill, darling, you shouldn't do that in the kitchen," Mrs. Weasley said, scooping him up. "How about I take you to your room and get the costume on?"

"Tang you, Gammie."

"What do you say to your uncles?"

"Oh!" Bill beamed at them. "Tang you, Ungle Fa, tang you Ungle Giddy."

As soon as Mrs. Weasley left, Gideon made a beeline for the stove, scooping out a big spoonful of potatoes. "Bloody brilliant idea to give him presents."

Fabian sat down, propping his elbows on the table. "I think he liked them, though this does mean when Mols and Arthur expand we're going to be shelling out for a shit load of—Gid, what are you doing?"

"Eating, what do you think I'm doing, the foxtrot?"

Fabian glanced around, terrified. "Mum is going to kill you if she sees you." He half expected her to come barreling in wielding her wooden spoon.

"I'll take the risk," Gideon turned around, another giant spoonful of potatoes ready to stuff in his mouth. "She won the potato war, these are hers."

Fabian leapt from his seat and dove for the stove, getting his own spoonful of his mother's incredible cheesy potatoes. "Ohhh, haven't had these since summer. Mmmm."

"How are the exams going?"

"Long and boring. If I thought they were awful as a student, I had no idea how torturous it was for the teachers."

"Like it more than the Ministry?" Gideon asked as he got into the fridge for something to drink.

Fabian slowly licked his spoon off. "I don't know. Sometimes, yes. It's nice working with kids. Well, most the kids," he added as they heard Quin yell 'fucking bollocks' from the other room, then Molly chewing him out.

"What's it like teaching him?"

"Bloody awful," laughed Fabian, accepting the bottle of cold beer from his twin. "He turned in an assignment the second week of school calling doxies 'little buggers' and boggarts as 'transformy knobheads'." He shook his head, grinning. "He and his two friends are quite the troublemakers. Not the worst in the school by a longshot, but annoying enough."

"No one to beat us, eh?'

Fabian took a swig of beer. "Actually, there are two kids who could."

"What, really?"

"Yup. You know the Potter family?" Of course he did, who didn't? While they may not be in the spotlight as much as most pureblood families, everyone knew perfectly well they were the richest ones. "Their heir, James Potter, has joined up with—" Fabian hesitated then, "with the Black heir."

Gideon froze at those words. "I see. That'd be Sirius, right?'

"Mmhmm."

"The one sorted into Gryffindor?"

"Mmmmhmmm. Those two are terrors."

Gideon stared at his bottle for several long seconds. "We had to question Bellatrix Black a few weeks ago."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, there was some blood purist shit going on. Couldn't prove she was involved." Gideon took a long swig. "She had this disgusting smirk I wanted to wipe from her face, though. I knew she had a hand in it, just couldn't prove it." He took another swig, wiping his mouth off on his sleeve. "Sometimes it feels as though things are getting worse. And that name that keeps cropping up."

"What is it? Voldemort?"

"Yeah. Voldemort."

Neither of them spoke for several seconds, barely hearing the happy chatter from the rest of the house. A cold, icy chill was going down Fabian's spine. Before he left the Ministry to teach, he knew some of what was going on. Not as much as Gideon, since Gids was an Auror and privy to the darker stuff. However, since Albus took him into some confidence, Fabian knew things were building up. Slowly, but surely. And that name…

"Do you have any idea who that might be?" Fabian asked quietly.

Gideon shook his head. "No fucking clue. Sometimes I don't think it's a real person, you know? Just a name some purists are using as an excuse."

"Voldemort sounds like a made-up name to me."

Their mum came bustling back into the kitchen, furious over the food left, demanding to know where Mrs. Weasley went. She calmed down a little when they explained she had taken Bill to his room. "You two get back out there and stop eating my potatoes," she said, shoving her sons out of the kitchen.

"Yes, Mum!" they chorused, tripping into the living room to rejoin the families in the joyous celebration of the newest member. Quin spotted the beers in their hands and sidled up to them, asking innocently if he could have a drink. Gideon handed his beer over and Quin ended up choking while the twins laughed.

"Bloody wankers, both of you," he grumbled, stalking off. Then, "AND I CAN SAY THAT, PROFESSOR, SINCE WE'RE NOT AT SCHOOL!"

Fabian held his hands up. "I didn't say a word!"

Sometime after Mrs. Prewett and Mrs. Weasley finished the food, while everyone else got plates, Fabian took his teensy nephew back in arms and cradled him, smiling down at the sleeping face. He wished he could freeze time permanently, to stay in this moment forever with his family.

"You're going to do amazing things, Charles," he whispered, rocking him back and forth. "You and Bill and any other sibling you might have. There's nothing a Prewett-Weasley couldn't do." He kissed Charles's forehead gently, feeling content when his nephew gave a little snuffling sound.

As he handed Charles back to Molly he couldn't help but think what he and Gideon had talked about. He thought of the things Albus was asking him to do.

He hoped that the blood purity zealots would quiet down soon, and the storm that seemed to be brewing would simply blow away. But if they didn't then he knew he was willing to do anything in his power to keep William and Charles's futures as clear from the dark clouds as possible.

He just also hoped he'd be there to see his nephews grow up.