Author's Notes: Remember, this is AU with canon-ness in it. So, while some of it is different, the rest of it is kind of like the main books. And I don't own any of these dudes...They're all JK Rowling's brainchilds. Heh heh. This is just my view on it ^_^;
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ = Scene/Time Change
--------------------------------------------------- = Day(s) Later
`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`* = Weeks/Months Later
~*~*************************************************~*~
It was the last day of school. Transfiguration and Muggle Studies tests, and they were pretty simple. Well, Muggle Studies was, at least.
The house elves had packed all of our stuff and the year end's feast was over. We were to ride the Hogwarts Express in the morning and return home via the train station. I wondered if dad had gotten Ministry cars to drive us there, since we didn't have our enchanted car anymore. Ron was still paying for that.
I had to admit that, during the middle of the night, I hardly slept any. Not because of the baby or anything, but because I was so...worried. About everything. I knew that Oliver would pass his Apparition test without fail. He informed me earlier in the day that his dad sent him an owl that said he was off to the Puddlemere Reserves just a day or two after he graduated. Really irked me.
I was having hot and cold flashes all night long. Plus, I couldn't lie on my back, so I was really uncomfortable. My stomach was bloody huge and people had started to say things about it.
"Wow, Fred, metabolism went down the tubes, did it?" A Ravenclaw asked me.
"Jeez, Weasley! You need to stop eating so much candy! Rotten teeth and fat? Who'd love you?" A Slytherin, of course.
A whole bunch of thoughts were keeping me up. I've already said most of them, so it wouldn't be very difficult to induce that I was very, very unhappy.
And suddenly, very sick.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I somehow managed to get to sleep during the night. I don't know when, or how, really, but I was appreciative. I needed sleep. I needed it more than anything. Well, except maybe Oliver. I always needed him.
With my bags packed on the train already, I wandered down through the large castle toward the giant oak doors. I wandered outside and down toward the platform, where I saw Oliver talking to Percy and Penelope. I stood beside a large topiary and waited until the two of them left, leaving him by himself.
"Oliver!" I waved my hand.
He turned in my direction and grinned some. "Hullo, Fred!"
We had to act casual around everybody. It was a cloudy day and it looked almost like it was going to rain. And this was in June! A lot of us were surprised. I was, but I was also lucky, because it gave me a chance to wear my robes. They made me look slightly smaller than I actually was.
I placed a hand on my lower back and pushed forward some, relieving a little stress on my muscles. It wasn't very comfortable standing up, but I would only have to do it for a short amount of time.
"I was just about to get on the train," Oliver stated kind of quietly. "Need any help getting up there?"
Granted, I wasn't as agile or fast as I used to be, but I wasn't incapable of stepping up stairs. Though, it might have hurt if I tried lifting my leg too high. I frowned and folded my arms over my chest.
"I'm not some bloody weeble than can't move," I spat out.
Oliver looked kind of surprised. "O-Oh. I wasn't trying to suggest that or anything, I just wanted to help you." Then he tried to smile, but it didn't exactly form right.
Another mood swing. I put a hand over my mouth and blinked profusely. "Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry, Oliver! I didn't mean to be mean...I was just..." No. I wouldn't cry. No, no, no!
...Too late. A tear rolled down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away.
I noticed Oliver lift his hand to touch me, but he stopped it midway and lowered it. "C-Come on. Let's just get a cabin."
I followed him into the train. We wandered down the hallway and took one of the cabin's on the left, near the middle. Hardly anyone inhabited those ones. Oliver let me in first and I slowly lowered myself to the seat, letting out a light grunt.
"Can't believe I'm an adult now," Oliver said. I think it was meant to be to himself, because he spoke rather softly. I still heard him, though.
"You can do magic legally now outside of school," I said with a grin.
He plopped down on the seat across from me and gave me a quizzical look. "Well, yeah, but I barely scraped by with an acceptable amount of O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s. I was never terribly good at magic unless it had something to do with Quidditch..."
"Well, as long as you remember the basic things, you should be fine. I mean, half the things my mum does, she doesn't do with incantations. She just flicks her wand and does it. So, you could pretty much do that too, couldn't you?"
"But I won't have time for any magic where I'm going..." Oliver sighed.
"Well, wand magic at least."
He looked up at me with a slightly sheepish grin, then quickly shot his eyes to the window. "I wish we could make love again. You know, before I left. Because that would be my way of showing you how much I love you."
I patted my stomach. "Got a sign right here, you know."
"Well, I know, but..." Oliver groaned, smacking a hand against his knee. "Why would anyone do this to you? I mean, you don't deserve it."
"Deserve what?"
"The pain of carrying a child. You're only sixteen, Fred. And you're a boy, nonetheless. Someone must really hate you for something..."
I narrowed my eyes. "What a comforting thought, Oliver. Thanks."
"You know I'll love that child unconditionally, right?" he said, lowering his voice. I nodded and he continued on. "Because, I mean, it's our child, Fred. Even though it was unexpected and all, and...and...yeah..."
I chuckled. "Nice words."
I managed to make him blush. "You know what I mean. I just want you to know that I'll be there when it's born. I'm...I'm telling my parents about us first thing when they pick me up. I want them to know that I have a boyfriend and I love him to death. And that he means the world to me. A-And that I want to be with him every waking moment of my life. A-And that--"
"I get the idea, Oliver," I said softly. "I really, really get the idea. It's very flattering..."
"When d'you think you'll be able to tell the gender?" he asked curiously.
"What?" I blinked. Then smiled. "Oh. Is there one you want specifically?"
"W-Well...I wouldn't mind, really, if it were either one, but...You know..." He was grinning like an idiot. It was cute. "I'd love to have a boy."
I chuckled. "I heard from my mum that if I sleep on my left side that it's a boy."
"D'you sleep on your left side?" he asked quickly.
"Occasionally." That answer made his grin fade some. So I changed my answer. "More so than my right." That brought it back.
"I'd love it whether it was a boy or a girl," he said again. Oliver wrinkled up his nose and then glanced downward. "Sorry if I seem really eager. I'm just...It's...It's hard to explain."
"I understand completely, love," I said. "Don't worry about it."
Oliver reached over and grabbed ahold of my hand, waving our arms back and forth some. "I'm kinda anxious to hear what my parents are going to say when I tell them about me."
"Don't worry about it too much," I said soothingly, rubbing his thumb. "Your parents'll understand. I mean, they'll still get a grandchild, right? Not many parents of gay kids can say that. Well, one that has their genes, anyway."
He nodded, looking rather at peace. "You know, you're right about that. I mean, that's what they'd worry about the most, right?"
"Yeah!"
"That'll be my argument if they get snippety with me," Oliver snickered. "Then they can still be happy." Then he blinked. "Er...Wait...How d'you think they'll take it that a guy's giving birth?"
I blinked some. "I, uh...Don't know. That's kind of hard to say. Pomfrey told me this kind of thing doesn't happen every day, and she didn't even know how I'm supposed to do it. I guess I never thought of it until now."
"It'll be a sight to see, that's for sure," Oliver said.
I yawned and nodded. "Yeah, it will be."
"Tired, love?" he asked me. "Why don't you lie down?"
I think he was trying to hold back a grin. He wanted to see what side I'd lie down on. It made me blink. "Oliver...Are you just trying to see which side I sleep on?"
"You caught me," he admitted. "I was trying to see. But, really, if you're tired..."
I yawned again and scooted close to the wall, then leaned into it. "Yeah, I'm kinda tired. Got nearly no sleep last night and now I'm feeling slightly better...So I think I'll try to sleep."
"Sleep well," Oliver told me. "I'll wake you when we reach the train station."
"I love you, Oliver," I said as I exhaled my breath, glancing over at him.
"I love you, too, Fred," he replied in a voice not above a whisper.
`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*
It was about two weeks after I arrived home. It felt weird being back here, especially in the company of both my mum and dad. Ginny wouldn't stop sending me funny looks whenever I walked by her, but I knew she was kind of fascinated. Who wouldn't be? It's not often your brother is pregnant.
George hung around with me and kept me company while we were at home. And any time he wasn't around, mum was happy to let me wander around with her. But, to be honest, I found it hard to move around a lot. My legs were kind of wobbly and my stomach was like this giant poof ball in front of me. I wasn't made for this. My body wasn't designed to support child-bearing!
Mum had signed me up for something called an ultrasound. We were going to St. Mungo's this afternoon. It was like some big family outing thing. Don't ask me why, but everyone wanted to go.
Once everyone had been gathered about, we changed out of our robes and into normal people's clothing. I had to wear a magically engorged shirt so it would fit around me. I was kind of insulted by it, but I guess my parents didn't want muggles seeing me looking like I did. So, I had to understand it.
We all ended up going to London by means of a taxi. I remembered the last time we used a taxi. Of course, I was kind of worried that the driver would think me strange, but he just figured I was some fat kid. Insulted...Again.
The muggle dropped us off in front of this old clothing place. It said that is was "CLOSED FOR REFURBISHMENT", whatever that meant. I'd only been to St. Mungo's once before, and that was when I was about five and Bill got into some hex fighting with Charlie. Needless to say, he lost. Bill couldn't sit down for days.
We wandered up to the window and I noticed the slightly familiar mannequin standing in the front. Mum said to it rather plainly that we were here for a special check up. One by one, we disappeared behind it and entered the curiously fascinating world of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
There was a man that was rushed by me who had boils popping out practically everywhere on his face. The whole place was brimming with this unseen energy. The kind of energy you feel when you first enter Hogwarts, or when you first go to Hogsmeade. It's...strange.
"Come along, now," mum told me, helping me to cross the floor. I was perfectly capable of walking on my own, but I didn't want her to feel I didn't need her. I really did. When we arrived at the desk, the Welcome Witch smiled up at us.
"How may I help you?"
"We're here for an ultrasound," mum said. "For him, right here." She pointed to me.
The Welcome Witch blinked, but didn't say anything. In fact, to her this must have happened before, because she seemed utterly unphased by it. "That'll be on the fifth floor. Once you reach the top of the stairs, it will be on your right, three doors down."
"Much thanks," my dad said. He was beside my mum now.
We made our way across the hall to right and up the stairs. It took me slightly longer to get up there than the others, and mum walked alongside me the whole way. I loved how supportive she was being. But then, a voice in the back of my head said that she was only doing it because she felt I was unable to do it myself, that I was incapable of caring for myself.
But that was a lie...Wasn't it?
"Here we are," she said, breaking my slightly painful thoughts. Mum knocked on the door and a young wizard, looking no older than Percy himself, appeared. Kind of cute.
"Hello."
"Hello!" My mum said cheerfully. "We're here for an ultrasound."
The wizard nodded and stepped aside, standing in front of the door. "Please come in, Mrs...?"
"Weasley," she filled in.
"I must say, you don't look that far along, Mrs. Weasley," the wizard commented. Was he flirting with my mother?!
Her skin turned a light, light pink and she placed a hand on her chest. "Oh, no, no! It isn't for me! It's for my son, Fred, here."
The wizard didn't even think twice about it. Much like the Welcome Witch. But then, I suppose that when you work at a place like St. Mungo's, something like this is bound to come along eventually. It just...had to.
"Well, I'll need only the parents in here. Is the father here, too?"
When he said that, something triggered within me. I felt water welling up in my eyes.
"No, he's not," my mum said for me. "He's...Absent at the moment."
"Oh," the man said. "Well, then just the parents. I'm afraid the room isn't big enough for these other four to accompany us."
Percy, George, Ginny and Ron looked sort of annoyed. Ginny especially since she'd never seen one before. But they listened to the healer and waited outside.
"Now," the wizard said, turning to me. "My name's Blayne Asherman." Then he grinned. "Just thought you might like to know my name before I went to work."
I blinked. "Er...What do you mean?"
"Just go over there and sit down on that chair over there," mum stated. "It's actually rather interesting." She smiled politely at Blayne. "I'm Molly Weasley and this is my husband, Arthur. And this is our son, Fred."
"Pleased to meet you," Blayne said curtly.
I went along with what he said. The chair was kind of padded and comfortable, and when I lied back on the slight incline, I grinned. It felt kind of nice. I watched as Blayne walked around working. He had a wand in his hand and he was setting up this mirror. It looked all nice and normal.
But, like I hinted at before, nothing is normal at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Blayne walked around the chair and got on my left side, that way mum and dad and I could see the mirror. I glanced into it and didn't even notice him tap my stomach.
"Intrinsecus Manifesto," he said clearly.
I felt a gentle prick in my stomach and, with my eyes still on the mirror, blinked. Suddenly there was this blackened image on the screen. There were shades of grey and they were...moving. And there was a beating rhythm in the room. Sort of fast. Like an echo, almost.
"Voila," Blayne said. He walked around the chair again and moved over to the desk in the eastern corner of the room, setting his wand on the surface and reaching for some papers. But he was just organizing his desk. He came back over and stood right on the side of the new...well, it wasn't a mirror. I guess you could call it projector of some sort. He pointed at the moving object.
"That's your baby," he pointed out with a smile.
Mum nudged me in the side, smiling like a bloody nut. "Fred, honey, that's your child!"
"Er...Hold on a minute..."
I blinked and looked at my mum, instantly worried. She caught my drift.
"What is it?" Then I heard her gasp softly.
My dad placed a hand on my mum's shoulder, leaning in to look at the picture. Then he made kind of this gaping face.
"It's twins," Blayne pointed out. "You see? Right there, it's twins. And if I'm not mistaken...Both boys."
"How can you tell?" I asked quickly.
"Well..." Blayne pointed to the moving figure on the left. "This is one heart. This is the beginning heartbeat. And you see down here?" He lowered his wand. "Right here? These are his genitals."
I grinned some. "And so that goes for the other one on the other side?"
Blayne nodded. "That's why the heartbeat sounds echoed. After hearing something the same sound twice in a row for a while, your brain can separate them. Well, Mr. Weasley, looks like you have a pair of boys to look after. Thought of any names yet?"
"None yet," I admitted. "I didn't know what gender they'd be...Hell, I only expected one..."
"It's not uncommon to see twins in male pregnancies," he explained to me. "Because it's potion created, it's not terribly rare to see men have triplets, too. Or even quadruplets. It all depends on the potion."
"Roughly how expensive d'you reckon them to be?" I asked rather randomly.
Blayne blinked. "Er...Not quite sure, actually. We don't sell them here, nor do I know of any place that actually does."
I frowned. "Oh. Well, thanks anyway."
It was sincerely incredible. Twins. I mean...Twins! With Oliver! They would look like him and me...and possibly each other. Could they be identical? I really hoped they would be. They were both boys, so that was a greater chance of them being like me. I always heard that, if you were a twin, it was slightly more common for you to have them. And if you were identical...
I found a grin breaking out on my face as Blayne said the undo the spell and put away the mirror. He said that the others could come in, and not even seconds later, George, Percy, Ron, and Ginny came rushing in.
George was the first to speak. "So?"
"I'll let you tell them," mum said to me with a smile.
"It's twins!" I said ecstatically. "Twins!"
George came over and hugged me tightly. I couldn't stop grinning and smiling. "Twins! Freddy, you're keeping the tradition alive!"
Percy looked happy, but he couldn't help but say something that sort of paused the moment. "It will be difficult to care for them, you know, Fred."
"Don't ruin the moment, Percy!" Ginny hissed, smacking him on the arm. I snickered because he winced.
"Can't believe it," Ron said finally. The look on his face was hard to describe. "My brother...Pregnant. Twins. Merlin..."
He ended up fainting. Percy managed to catch him before he fell. It was just a brief spell, and about a minute later, Ron rejoined us.
"Sorry about that," he said with an embarrassed smile.
George stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder if whoever did this to you would expect such happiness over this. They probably did it to spite you. Maybe they were jealous of you or angry or something."
"We don't need to think about that right now," mum said dismissively. "Fred's going to have twins and we need to celebrate. Come on, we're going home."
The first thing I was going to do when I got home was send an owl to Oliver. Maybe Percy would let me uses Hermes. Or Ron, Pig. I don't know where he got that owl, but he didn't have Scabbers anymore.
~*~*************************************************~*~
Author's Notes: Review, review, review...Whee. I'm having fun writing this...Just wait and see what's in store ^_^;
