April Fool's Day by Medelia
Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't need a line at the top beginning with "Disclaimer".
Summary: It's the middle of the first war. In one day, Molly Weasley lost two of the most important people in her life... but gained more than she ever expected.
Chapter Three: April Fool's Day
April 1st
"Arthur, the baby's coming. Now."
Arthur stared at his wife for a moment. "Are you sure?" he asked, face paling.
"Of course I'm sure," she snapped, her face tight with contraction pains.
"Right. Er… should I get the midwitch? Or-"
"Don't worry yet, it'll be hours yet," Molly soothed, her tone back to normal. "Just help me up to bed."
They were only halfway up the stairs when another contraction hit, and Arthur couldn't help but notice that even after the pain was gone, the tight, worried look on his wife's face didn't leave.
"Molly… are you sure you don't want me to get the midwitch? I mean…"
"Arthur!" she cried as she manoeuvred herself slowly into their bed.
He backed down quickly under his wife's stern gaze, and hurried back downstairs to get the tea she'd requested.
He was only downstairs for five minutes, but when he got back, carrying tea destined never to be drunk, Molly's face was pale and far tenser than it'd been before he left.
"Arthur, perhaps you should get the midwitch now," she said.
"But- I thought you said-"
"I have a feeling this is going to be a rather quick birth," she replied edgily.
He swallowed and, placing the untouched teacup on the mantel, grabbed a handful of Floo powder from the pot on the mantel and flung it into the fire in their bedroom, asking for her midwitch as he stuck his head into the flames.
He found the healer, a specialist in midwitchery, sitting in a chair by her own fireplace, reading a book.
"Healer Gadringer? I'm Molly Weasley's husband. She says she's having the baby, now."
She studied him as she placed her bookmark sedately – and far too slowly, in Arthur's opinion – in her book and stood up. "I'll be there in five," she said calmly, and walked away from the fire.
Arthur jerked his head backwards out of the flames, and turned to his wife.
"She says she'll be here in five minutes."
Molly's face relaxed.
"Do you want your tea?" he asked, seeing it on the mantel, but it was driven out of both their minds by a quiet knock on the door and a tentative, quivering, "Mummy?"
Molly gestured to her husband to go and see what the matter was. He slipped out the door, closing it behind him before Percy could see in.
"What's up, Percy?" Arthur asked, crouching down to his youngest son – though not for long, he reminded himself.
"I want Mummy," he whimpered, his eyes filling with tears. "I had a bad dream."
Arthur hugged the boy, and stood up, grasping Percy's small hand in his own, larger one.
"Mummy's gone to sleep. Come on, Perce, it was just a dream, let's get you back to bed."
"But I heard her talking," Percy said obstinately, hanging back as he followed his father down the hall to his bedroom.
"She's asleep now. Surely you don't want to wake her up," he said, helping the reluctant boy into bed and tucking him in.
Percy shook his head, but looked unsure.
"The bad men might come..."
"Oh, Perce," Arthur sat down next to his son, brushing his red fringe away from his eyes fondly. "There aren't any bad men here tonight," he promised, praying that Percy didn't hear the way his voice almost broke.
"Are you sure, Daddy?" Percy said sleepily, but he was already snuggling into the covers, nightmare forgotten. Arthur smiled faintly, dimmed the light and hurried back down the hall.
As he opened the door, he immediately noticed the midwitch in hushed, furious conversation with Molly.
"But… this should have showed up when I did the scans last month," Healer Gadringer was saying, looking almost offended that her spell had apparently failed.
"Is it possible that these things won't always show up?" Molly asked, and the tense, worried look still hadn't left her face.
"Yes," the midwife admitted reluctantly. "But the chance of it… miniscule. I've heard of such things happening, but never experienced it… I'd always put it down to shoddy spell work on behalf of the Healer in charge…"
"Wh-What's happening?" Arthur croaked, his mouth dry.
"Mr Weasley… your wife is giving birth to twins," the healer said, still sounding irritated.
"Twins?" he repeated, breathing a sigh of relief. "Nothing life threatening?"
Nobody answered, but Molly smiled tightly through her contraction, and the midwitch raised her wand to perform yet another check.
"Definitely two in there. Molly, it's time to push."
"Have you thought of any names?" Molly whispered tiredly from where she sat on the bed, cradling two tiny baby boys in her arms. Healer Gadringer had just left, pronouncing them healthy, and a quiet, bittersweet mood had fallen over the bedroom where Molly and Arthur sat, gazing at their newborns.
"No," Arthur admitted. "You named the others easily, I hadn't given it a thought."
"I can't think now," Molly said desolately. "Not now."
Arthur moved to his wife's side, draping an arm around her shoulders.
"Moll, darling, it's going to be alright," he whispered into her ear, but she was crying again, sobs wracking her body, as she stared down at the babies in her arms.
Eventually the sobs subsided, and Molly turned a watery smile to her husband.
"Do you think it's just a coincidence," she asked softly. "Twins, I mean. Twin boys, born tonight… and Healer Gadringer was so sure she hadn't detected them before-"
"I don't think we can ever really know, Molly," he replied.
"No," she agreed, adjusting the babies slightly in her arms. "We really need to name them, soon," she said.
"I'd understand… if you wanted to…" Arthur said.
She was silent for a while. "No. No, it's too soon, I couldn't… Not entirely."
Arthur gave her a squeeze. "Whatever you want," he told her.
"G… George," she said suddenly. "And.. and Fred. George and Fred, Fred and George, do you think it fits?"
"Yes. Yes, I rather think it does," he smiled, taking the older boy – Fred, now – into his arms. The sleeping baby, he noticed, was all but indistinguishable from the slightly younger boy, still asleep in his mother's arms.
"They're going to be trouble, aren't they," Molly said, a wistful smile on her face as she followed Arthur's gaze from one to the other. "Gid- Gid and Fab were always swapping places, pretending to be each other, always making mischief…" she stopped to sniff back tears.
"Yes, I don't know how we're going to tell them apart," he said, stroking Fred's tiny cheek.
"Colour-coded clothes," Molly giggled softly, even though her eyes were still awash with tears.
Arthur looked up at the calendar, then his watch, and sucked in a breath.
"They'll definitely be trouble, Molly," he said, carefully handing her Fred back and getting up off the bed to check the documents Healer Gadringer had left behind. "Have you noticed their birthday?"
Molly looked at him, briefly confused, then smiled again.
"It's April Fool's Day, isn't it?"
And as Molly settled back down into her pillows in the early hours of the morning, her husband and new babies asleep beside her, her older children peaceful in their beds just a room or two away, she knew it'd all be alright in the end, because her older brothers must be up there somewhere, making mischief but looking out for her, like always, looking out for their family. The hands above the house of cards wouldn't falter, and somehow, everything would turn out all right in the end.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed this – both times round – it means a lot to me. This started as a random plot bunny, about a year ago. It's sad that it took me this long to write 3 short chapters, but I've got a lot of other, bigger plot bunnies in here as well, and not a lot of time. To all you Weasley fans – this has gotten me rather attached to Molly and Arthur, so expect something more about them, sometime in the future. Thanks again, love Medelia