A/N: I would like to THANK Tanasia Maleficarum for helping me with some of the technical stuff for this chapter. You're great babe…..

When Evil Returns

Chapter Eight: When things go BOOM!

"Are sure about the time?" asked George.

"Yes I heard him say that it would happen at midnight when everyone was asleep," said Kyleigh.

"Okay that gives us enough time."

"How are you going to get out with out alerting him. If he sees you he may blow it sooner," said Remus.

"Well my fellow marauder if you remember correctly the tunnel that leads from the witches hump leads to Honeydukes. I own the old Honeydukes building. During the war Fred and I connected his shop with mine and later Neville's with his. We are all connected to the tunnel that leads to Hogwarts."

"That was ingenious," said Severus.

"Thanks, anyway I will go to Fred and Neville and get them out. We will meet you at the end of the tunnel at 11:00. We will send the ladies ahead first thank the gods that all the children are at school. And then we will be right behind them," said George.

"Please be safe," said Minerva, "If you need any help let us know."

"Okay, see you at 11:00."

And he was gone.

Minerva turned to Remus and asked, "How big is the opening on the witches hump? Is it big enough to accommodate all of these people?"

"No, we need to make the opening bigger."

So as Minerva, Remus and Severus worked to make the hole in the witched hump larger, George was telling Fred and Neville what was happening. They knew that they needed to stay as close to schedule as possible just in case Lucius or his cronies were watching the shops. It was decided that Laura, Caitlin and Emily would leave then, not that they wanted to leave their husbands behind but they knew it was necessary. Fred, George and Neville reassured them that they would be fine and would be coming out in plenty of time. Both Weasley's Joke Emporium and Longbottom's Apothecary closed at 6:00. The English Yankee closed at 9:00 so Fred and Neville came to help George with the restaurant. At 9:00 George locked the doors to the now vacant restaurant. When they got in the tunnel Fred turned and said, "Shit, I have go back, I left my wand on the counter. I'll catch up."

"Okay but hurry up and be careful," said George as he and Neville headed down the tunnel. Fred made his way back into the restaurant, got his wand and for good measure checked the front door. As he passed by the counter he heard a noise and paused to listen. There it was again only it wasn't a noise it was more like a moan. As he made his way back behind the counter he saw the cause of the moan. Someone was lying on the ground and they looked to be hurt. Fred bent down to see who it was lying there, gasping as he turned the person over. It was Darci Codrington. She had been severely beaten and at closer inspection he noticed a letter attached to her robes. He removed the letter and read the neat handwriting.

You have 5 minutes! BOOM!

Quickly Fred gathered her up in his arms ignoring her cries of pain as he ran for the trap door and into the tunnels. They were about 20 feet from the bottom of the long staircase that led to the trap door when the explosion ripped through the building. As the explosion shook the ground, Fred and Darci were thrown from the staircase and went hurdling through the air landing on the ground with a hard thud as rock, wood and metal came crashing down on top of them.

~~~~*

Further up the tunnel as George and Neville made their way forward suddenly there was a loud explosion rocking the tunnel and knocking them to the ground.

"Nnnoooo," screamed George as he realized that Fred wasn't with them yet. Turning he started running full out back up the tunnel closely followed by a very pale Neville.

~~~~*

At the witches hump they felt it before they heard it. The ground shook violently and then the loud blast.

All at once Laura, Caitlin and Emily screamed their husband's names and immediately tried to get back though the witches hump. Remus and Severus held them back.

"We will go to them. Stay here and get things ready just in case someone is hurt," said Severus.

~~~~*

As the dust settled the air was thick, almost too thick to breathe and cold, so very cold. Darci moaned as she tried to move. Slowly she pulled herself free of the debris, wiping her face feeling blood as it oozed from a gash over her left eye. Where was she? She wondered. The last thing she remembered was being hit by Lucius. He was so mad because she had lost her job at Hogwarts. He kept hitting her telling her what a sorry excuse of a human she was and how he never really loved her she was only a distraction until he could have the one woman that had captured his soul, Hermione. Trying not to panic she frantically reached in her robes for her wand. As her hand touched the cold wood she felt better. Pulling it from her robes she mumbled "Lumos."

As she surveyed to room she was filled with sickening dread. Where was she? She knew she must be underground because it was so cold. The kind of cold that goes deep, chilling you to the bone. Holding her wand high she noticed that there was splintered wood and broken rock all around her. Feeling woozy from the loss of blood from the gash and the cold of the room she thought that she was now delirious because she thought she heard a moan come from somewhere to her right. She stopped, listening carefully to see if she would hear it again. After a moment she did. But who was it? Was it Lucius? Dread filled her heart as she moved to find where the moan had come from.

"Hello, is anyone there?" she asked waiting to see if she got a response. A soft low voice said, "Over here. Please help me"

She crawled on all fours with her wand in her mouth trying to locate the voice. Finally she found the source of the plea. Even though there had been so much dust she could still make out a crop of red hair. Looking at his face she realized it was one of the twins. She didn't know which one, she never could tell them apart.

"Are you Fred or George?" she asked quietly.

"Fred," he said in a whispered moan and then, "Hurts."

As she knelt beside him she felt something warm and sticky soaking her robes. Blood. Darci used her wands light to travel up and down his body to see where all of the blood was coming from. When she got to his leg she saw what hurt. As the stairs had fallen a piece of sharp metal had severed his right leg just below the knee. Fred was slowly bleeding to death. Even though she was squeamish she knew if she didn't stop the bleeding he would die so despite the gore she tore a piece of her robe a bound Fred's leg as tight and held the stump using as much pressure as she could. After a couple of minutes she was exhausted. Fred moaned again as his body started to shake from shock. She lay down next to him as whispered into his ear.

"Fred, they are coming for us. They will be here any minute. Please hang on. Laura is waiting for you. Please just hang on."

Tears started to well up in her eyes. He just couldn't die. She had to let them know where they were. She suddenly heard someone calling and she started to crawl to them.

"Fred, can you here me? Fred?"

"Help," she cried out but it was only a whisper, "Help!" and she collapsed.

~~~~*

Frantically George was running back to the shop. There was rock, wood and twisted metal everywhere. A sick dread filled his heart. He knew that Fred was still alive but he was hurt and hurt bad. He could feel it. As George and Neville entered a particularly bad section of tunnel he saw it. Wand light.
"Hang on Fred we're coming," he said with anguish in his voice.

As they got closer to the wand light they saw him. Neville conjured up one of Hermione famous balls of blue flame and held it down to see Fred's face.

"What have you done now?" asked George as Fred smiled weakly up at him.

"Don't ask, just get us out of here."

"What do you mean us?" asked George.

"Darci, she is over there somewhere. She is hurt pretty bad," whispered Fred.

"You don't look to good yourself," George said to Fred, then to Neville, "Neville see if you can find Darci."

Neville laid down the blue flame and conjured another as he slowly walked looking for Darci who was only a few feet away lying unconscious.

As George inspected his brother he saw his leg. With tears in his eyes he conjured a couple of stretchers. Neville picked up Darci gently placing her on one of them. George muttered a spell and levitated Fred onto the stretcher and then took off his robes and wrapped them around Fred who was shaking again.

"Hang on Fred, we will be there in a few minutes okay?"

"Sure," was all Fred could say as he fainted.

~~~*

Holding a torch Severus and Remus made their way up the tunnel searching for Fred, George and Neville. After a few minutes they saw George and Neville walking with two stretchers. Seeing the look on George's face, Remus knew it wasn't good.

In a shaky voice, George said, "We really need to hurry."

In what seemed forever they reached to witches hump and were helped out by Severus and Remus who had rushed ahead to get Madam Pomfrey. As they pulled Fred out, Laura was immediately by his side. Fred opened his eyes when he heard her voice. "I can't take you anywhere," she said with tears in her eyes she smiled down at him.

"Don't leave me," he said as his own tears started to flow.

"Never," she whispered as she gently kissed his lips.

They made it to the hospital wing in record time. Poppy checked on Darci as they walk to the infirmary.

"Please, take care of Fred, he saved my life," said Darci as tears ran down her face as she slipped into oblivion once again. Poppy knew that Darci's injuries weren't life threatening, however Fred's were.

"Lie him down over here and put Darci over there," said Poppy as she looked at the stump that was once a leg.

Looking at Minerva she said quietly, "We need to get the bleeding stopped now!"

As Minerva and Poppy worked to stop the bleeding saying healing charms, Laura sat holding his hand crying quietly.

"It's a good thing that Darci was there to stop as much bleeding as she did, a few more minutes and he wouldn't be with us. She did a good job," Poppy said to Laura.

"He is going to be alright then?" asked Laura hopefully.

"It is still hard to tell, he lost a lot of blood. We need to replace it and that is one thing I am not familiar with. I have notified St Mungo's and they are sending a midiwizard. We can only hope he gets here soon," said Madam Pomfrey gravely.

"Anna," said George.

"Excuse me?" said Poppy.

"Anna and Charlie are here to see Thaddeus aren't they?" asked George.

"Yes," said Minerva. "I forgot. Anna is a muggle doctor. She will be able to help."

"Where are they?" asked Neville.

"They are up in Gryffindor tower visiting Thaddeus," said Minerva.

Charlie and Anna had come to visit Thaddeus as a surprise for his birthday since he couldn't come home during spring holiday due to all of the excess homework given by Darci.

"I'll go and get them," said Neville.

"Thanks," said Laura.

Stopping abruptly Neville said, "Shit, what's the password?"

"Nifflers," said Remus as he tried to suppress a smile.

Neville shook his head as he left mumbling something about that being the perfect password.

While Neville was gone Laura sat quietly by Fred, wiping his brow and talking in low soothing tones to him reassuring him that everything would be fine.

Madam Pomfrey and Minerva then set their sights on Darci. Darci's injuries were severe but not life threatening. Her s consisted of three broken ribs, a concussion and various cuts and bruises from both Lucius and the fall. All of her injuries were healed in a matter of minutes although her ribs would be tender of a few days.

When Charlie came into the room he was pale. As he and Anna made their way to Fred's bed he had tears in his eyes. Anna turned to him and said, "Charlie love, go to the owlry and owl your Mum and Dad. Tell them that Fred had been injured but don't go into detail. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes."

"I'll go with you," said George.

"No George, I need you here dear. Fred needs your blood," said Anna as she placed her doctors bag on the bedside table. Anna never went anywhere without it. Besides she was planning on doing some tests on Remus' blood while they were at Hogwarts. She wanted to test a serum she had been working on for werewolves.

Looking puzzled George asked nervously, "And how are you going to get my blood?"

She just smiled and said, "Come over here and lie down." Patting the bed on Fred's right as she went to work. Madam Pomfrey watched in amazement as Anna hooked up an I.V. extracting George's blood and capturing it into an I.V. bottle that was conjured for her by Minerva. Minerva had seen the procedure done once before and was a lot of help to Anna. Once the right amount of blood was gathered Anna started an I.V. in Fred giving him his brother's precious gift. Anna also started an I.V. of fluids for Fred. Now it was only a matter of time. Hopefully they weren't too late.

"That is all I can do. It should take a couple of hours for it to work. My suggestion to you is try and figure out what you are going to tell him about his leg when he wakes up."

"Thanks Anna, I am so glad you were here," said Laura.

"I will leave you two alone. Think about what I said."

"I will thanks again."

Anna left the hospital with Charlie to go wait for his parents to arrive, which left only Fred and Laura. Madam Pomfrey had moved Darci to a different part of the infirmary since she felt that Fred had a lot to deal with and didn't need an audience. Laura sat down in the chair next to his bed placing her arms on the bed, resting her head on her arms and watched him. He was so pale. She reached up and smoothed his hair loving the feel of those red curls against her fingers.

"Oh Fred," she sighed, "What are we going to do? I am so sorry for all the times I have been mad at you and all the times we have argued. Fred, you can't leave me. Please. I love you so much."

Fred didn't move or make a sound. This was very unnerving to her, even in his sleep he either moved or made some kind of noise and now he lay there so quiet.

Laura then broke down.

"Oh Freddie, you are my life, my soul, my heart and my existence. Please, my love, don't leave me. I can't do this on my own," she cried. Then with an anguish that she didn't know she possessed she pleaded, "Freddie, you can't leave me. I haven't had a chance to tell you but we are going to have another baby. Our baby needs its father," she said as she lay her head back down and started to sob.

With the lightest of touches she felt someone stroking her hair.

As she looked up tears streamed down her face and she smiled. Fred was awake. Smiling weakly he said, "Hello love, don't cry."

"Oh Fred," she said and couldn't continue.

"Is it true?" he asked with a smile.

"What?" she asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"That we are having another baby."

"Yes," she whispered as she looked lovingly in his face.

He smiled and said, "I love you. You make me happy." Then suddenly his face furrowed, "What happened? And what is all of this?" he asked looking at the thin tube that seemed to be sticking out if his arm.

Laura took a moment to compose herself and then said, "The explosion came early. You were still on the stairs when it blew. Darci Codrington was with you. The stuff sticking out of you arm is what Anna called an I.V. You lost a lot of blood and it needed to be replaced so she took some from George and gave it to you.

"She gave me George's blood?"

"Yes, you had lost way too much and would have died had we not given you George's."

"Is Darci okay?"

"Yes. How did she get there?"

"I'm not sure probably a port key. All I know is I went back to get my wand and heard her moan. She had a note attached to her robes. It said you have 5 minutes. BOOM. I picked her up because she was unconscious and headed down the stairs. Next thing I know there's an explosion and then my leg hurts. Was my leg hurt badly? It feels pretty good now. What was it a broken bone?"

"No it wasn't broken," she said as she tried to think of the best way to tell him. "It's about your leg."

"What?" he asked looking at the anguish in her face. "It's gone isn't it?"

"Yes."

"How far?" he asked blankly.

"Just below the knee."

"Which one?"

"Right."

He sat there for a moment with tears running from his closed eyes. Laura got out of the chair and sat down next to him on the bed, pulling him into her arms. After a few minutes Laura pulled away and looked into his eyes as she wiped his tears away. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. As he wiped her tears and said, "Yes." Upon closer inspection she saw that Weasley sparkle in his eyes and asked, "What have you got planned?"

Smiling her asked, "Do you know how much mischief I could conceal in a false leg? We just may have a whole new line of products when the joke shop is rebuilt."

Looking at him dumbfounded she said, "You absolutely amaze me Mr. Weasley and I love you."

"I love you too Mrs. Weasley," he said as he pulled her close and kissed her passionately.

They were still kissing when his Mum and Dad entered the hospital wing followed by Charlie, Anna, George, Caitlin and Ginny.

"Are we interrupting anything?" asked George with a smile.

"Yes you are," said Fred with a grin. "My wife and I were just discussing our new line of products for the soon to be rebuilt shop."

"And what might that be?" asked Charlie.

"Artificial limbs. Do you realize the possibility of what you could smuggle in an artificial leg?" he said with a big grin.

Shaking her head Molly said, "Leave it to you to take a tragedy and turn it into something lucrative. But really, how are you?"

"I'm fine. However I feel the urge to cook something. George your blood tasted like garlic."

Everyone laughed.

"Oh by the way," said Fred as he squeezed Laura's hand, "I would like to announce that my lovely wife and I are going to have another baby."

This made Molly turn kind of green. "Merlin's beard I hope it's not triplets again. I don't think this family can survive three sets."

"What," said George, "mine are angels," he said proudly.

"Yeah," said Ginny, "Angels with horns." Fred laughed. "I wouldn't laugh if I were you Fred yours have horns too."

"Hey, they are just babies, besides if their Aunt Ginny didn't spoil them so much they wouldn't be that bad."

Ginny giggled, "You do have a point there."

Everyone laughed. Anna noticed that Fred was looking a little pale and suggested that everyone leave and let him rest. When everyone but her and Laura were gone she looked at Fred.

"Are you sure you are okay?"

"Yeah, I mean can I change what happened? No, so I just take what life gives me and make lots of money," he said with a smile.

"Excellent attitude," she said as she felt his forehead.

"How long do I have to be attached to this?" he asked pointing to the I.V.

"I think we can take it out now, if you promise to eat something and drink a lot of fluids."

"I promise. I am getting kind of hungry," said Fred as Anna removed the I.V.

"Excellent," said Laura, "Me too. I'll just go grab George and make him take me to the kitchens. Anything special you want?"

"No just a lot of whatever you get."

"Alright, I'll be back shortly," Laura said as she kissed him tenderly and left.

After Laura left, Anna looked at Fred and said, "You sure you are okay?"

"No, but what can I do. It will take some getting used to. It still feels like it's there."

"That's called Phantom limb. You will get used to it. You know if it hadn't been for Darci, you wouldn't be here. She did an excellent job of slowing down the flow of blood."

"I will make sure I thank her. And I really want to thank you Anna."

"What are sisters for," she said with a smile.

~~~*

Right after the explosion, Lucius went into hiding. He is believed to be at Durmstrang once again.

Over the next few weeks following his injury, Fred received his new leg and in no time had customized it.

Darci had recovered from her injuries and was doing better. An experience like that changes a person.

As June came in the end of the term came for Kyleigh. It was hard to believe that she had already been at school for a whole year.

Minerva and Shane decided on a quick and private wedding ceremony in which Albus married them. Draco and Hermione stood as their witnesses. Vincent and Lavender however had a very large wedding at Malfoy Manor on July first.

"Merlin's Beard Lavender be still," said Ginny as she tried to finish Lavender's hair.

"I can't help it. I can't believe I am finally getting married."

"Well if you don't calm down you will be spending your wedding night at St. Mungo's due to a heart attack."

"I'm nervous."

"Of what. You love Vincent don't you?" asked Hermione who was there for support.

"With all my heart."

"Then why are you so nervous?" asked Ginny.

"Of the wedding night," whispered Lavender.

"But you two have already slept together haven't you?" asked Ginny.

Looking dreamy she said, "Oh of course."

"Then why all the nerves?" asked Hermione.

"Because I was going to try something new."

"Like what?" asked Hermione who was now very intrigued.

Lavender looks around and says quietly, "Chocolate."

"Oh is that all," said Ginny, "That's easy. All you have to do is pour and lick."

All three burst into gales of laughter.

"I just want it to be really special."

"Well dear if you want special, here's what you do…"

With this the three women put their heads together and giggled as Ginny explained.

Looking shocked Lavender said. "And you think he will like that?"

Ginny looked at Hermione and Hermione at Ginny and in unison said, "Oh yeah."

So later that night after they retired to Vincent's flat in London, Lavender excused herself to the bathroom claiming she wanted to look perfect for Vincent. After a few minutes she came out wearing a short shear silk robe. Vincent was lying on the bed looking at her. "Hello Mrs. Inkinsoot," he said as he held out his hand to her.

"Hello Mr. Inkinsoot," she said as she pulled a few items out of her overnight bag.

"And what do you intend to do with that Mrs. Inkinsoot?" Vincent asked as he saw the bottle of chocolate syrup, the blindfold and the silk scarves.

"Oh you'll see," she said smiling evilly.