It was no shock to Andromeda that she had managed to get pregnant once again, and when she casually mentioned this to Arthur one evening, he dropped the glass he was holding and stared at her before giving a whoop of delight and embracing her firmly. They both agreed that they needed to add another room to their home, as they would need more space when the new baby finally arrived.
Andromeda had the Healer come over one afternoon before Arthur came home, and went through a thorough examination to make sure that she and the baby were healthy so far. "How is he?" Andromeda asked as she lay on the couch, watching Bill and Charlie looking after baby Percy while Dora shot annoyed looks at her brothers and her mother.
"Well," said the Healer with a grin, "he's fine. They're both doing well."
"They?" Andromeda said, her mouth falling open. "Twins? You're sure?"
"Twins," the Healer answered, nodding. "There's definitely two babies."
Andromeda lay back on the couch in shock. "Twins," she breathed. "Oh dear."
Dora came over to her mother, leaning against the arm of the couch. "Yeah?" she asked. Andromeda didn't answer right away, and Dora reached out and tapped her hand. "Mum, you called me and Charlie."
"Oh," Andromeda said finally, looking up at Dora. "No, beautiful…." Andromeda hesitated, then placed a hand over her stomach cautiously. "Mum was talking about the other twins. Mum's going to have another baby."
"Like Percy?" Dora said, her face falling as she looked toward her littlest brother, who was currently learning to walk and kept falling every few steps.
"Babies grow up, Dora," said Andromeda gently. "They won't stay little forever."
"Where are the babies?" Dora asked, and Andromeda smiled, sitting up with the Healer's permission.
Andromeda took the girl onto her lap and said, "The babies are growing in Mum's tummy, Dora. They're too little to come out yet."
The Healer set aside some things, packed up, then told Andromeda, "I've left you what you'll need, and I'm sure you'll be brewing your own Anti-Morning Sickness potion after this first bottle."
Thanking the Healer, Andromeda got up and saw her to the door, Dora at her side. "Mum," Dora said when the door was shut, "you mean, two more babies like me and Charlie...because we were born at the same time?"
"Yes, dear," Andromeda said gently, doing her best to put on a brave face and not think about her future. "It'll be exciting to tell your father tonight...would you like to help me?"
Dora thought about it for a moment, then nodded eagerly. "And Charlie too," she said firmly.
"Of course," Andromeda laughed. "Let's go see what the boys think about the news, shall we?" Dora took her mother's hand again, and the two girls went back into the living room.
Later that evening when Arthur arrived home, the three older children greeted him at the door, and Andromeda scooped up Percy in her arms quickly and followed them. The one year old gave a squawk of protest, but his mother said, "Dad's home, Percy. Let's go see Dad."
Arthur Weasley hugged each child, laughing at the welcome he had received, then leaned over and kissed his wife's cheek. "What have I done to deserve this?" he said as all three of the older ones clung to his arms and legs, almost making him drop his case.
Dora gave a mischievous giggle, and he eyed her suspiciously, winking and making her laugh even more. Andromeda couldn't help laughing too. "Let him put his case away, children, and then you can bring him to the kitchen, okay?"
"Okay!" all three chimed at the same time, and followed their father from the room.
Andromeda couldn't help grinning to herself as she moved back to the kitchen and replaced Percy in his chair where he had been playing with a toy wand. Arthur was laughing when he appeared downstairs a few minutes later, Will, Charlie, and Dora still gathered around him. "What's going on?" Arthur told Andromeda, bemused. "Did you tell them to follow me around the house?"
"In a way," Andromeda replied, unable to keep a grin off of her face. "The Healer came by to check on me today."
"Oh good," said Arthur. "And what did she say?"
"Children, tell him," Andromeda prompted the three.
"We're getting other twins!" the three said together, these words seeming to excite them all over again. "Dad, Mum's having two babies!" added Will, just in case they hadn't made sense.
Arthur's mouth fell open. "What?" he said in disbelief, and she nodded, tears springing to her eyes unbidden. "Oh, Andromeda!" he breathed.
Dora noticed her mother's slight distress and hurried to her mother, hugging her gently. "It's okay, Mum," she said firmly, reaching up and patting her mother's stomach. "They're okay."
Arthur moved across the dining room and wrapped his arms around his wife, holding her close as Dora kept a hold of her mother's hand. "You're not ill like you were last time?" he asked in concern. "You're feeling all right?"
"Yes," Andromeda whispered. "I didn't expect—but I don't mind. The Healer said she'd keep a close eye on me, and she'll be seeing me every two weeks now. Another set of twins, Arthur."
"Yes," he said in quiet amusement. "You're quite talented at having children."
Andromeda brushed the moisture from her eyes and straightened up. "It's your doing," she told her husband. "The House of Black doesn't have twins."
Dora squeezed her mother's hand, and Andromeda looked down at her daughter. "Mum, you told me babies made you happy," Dora said in confusion.
"Well, Dora, sometimes you can be so happy that you just cry," Andromeda explained, turning to stir the pot on the stove. "And also, having babies can make Mum really happy one day, and really sad the next day."
Dora frowned even more. "I don't want babies," she said firmly, shaking her head, and both her parents laughed.
"You might change your mind when you're older," Arthur said. "How long til dinner, Dromeda?"
"As long as it takes to serve it," Andromeda replied.
"Come, Dora," said her father. "Will! Charlie!" He raised his voice to call the two boys in from the living room. They ran into the dining room, and the Weasley family settled in to eat supper together.
Around Dora and Charlie's fourth birthday, Andromeda was suffering from some pretty bad Morning Sickness when she heard a commotion from outside and looked out just in time to see Will running toward the house, looking terrified.
Andromeda forgot all about how ill she was feeling and hurried to the door to meet her oldest son. "Will?" she asked.
"Mum," he gasped, "Mum, Dora's hurt!"
"Where is she?" Andromeda asked quickly, hurrying out of the house.
"Orchard," Will answered, his face white. He turned around and ran toward the orchard, his mother following him quickly.
Charlie was sitting beside his twin on the ground, whimpering, "Dora, Dora," but the girl did not respond.
Andromeda had her wand out and knelt next to the twins. "What happened to her?" she asked Charlie and Will.
"Charlie told her to breath fire," Will said in terror. "I told her not to, but—she tried it—" the boy's lip quivered. "She grabbed her throat and fell over."
Andromeda did her best to hide her look of horror. "Will, I need you to run get my bag that I keep under the chair in the sitting room, okay? We're going to take Dora to get help."
Will nodded, running off again, and Charlie whispered, "Mum, I didn't mean to…."
"It's okay, Charlie," Andromeda said softly, though her heart was pounding in fright. She got to her feet, beginning to levitate her daughter once again and wondering how often Dora was going to be hurting herself from now on as she experimented with her powers.
Will met them at the edge of the ward boundaries, and Andromeda said, "I'm going to get Percy, and then we'll leave. Stay here." She rushed back to the house, grabbed up her youngest son, and hurried back to the other three. Kneeling down, she took a hold of Dora's arm and told her sons, "Grab my arm and hold on as tight as you can, okay?"
They nodded, both looking scared, and Andromeda took a deep breath, clutching Percy and Dora, and disapparated.
The moment they arrived, Percy began to cry at the feeling he'd had to endure during apparition, and Charlie looked like he was going to be sick. Andromeda was nearly sick herself, but took several deep breaths and with a wave of her wand, put Percy to sleep and levitated Dora forward. Will stayed at his mother's side as they walked into the building, and Charlie held on to his mother's dress.
Everyone in the waiting room stared as Andromeda walked by with her unconscious and terrified children, going straight to the desk. "What's wrong with her?" the welcome witch frowned at the unconscious girl.
"She's a Metamorphagus and tried to make herself breathe fire," Andromeda replied as calmly as possible. "I don't know what she's done."
Within a few minutes, Dora was taken to a ward, Andromeda following them with Will, Charlie, and Percy after snapping at the Healer in charge that she wasn't going to leave her children on their own. Andromeda stood back from Dora's bed, cradling Percy and feeling Charlie shaking as he watched the Healers looking over his twin.
It seemed like nearly an hour had gone by before one of the Healers came over to Andromeda and said, "Her lungs seem to have collapsed, but we should be able to put her to rights within a few days. What did you say happened to her?"
"She tried to breathe fire," Andromeda sighed. "She was trying to be a dragon."
"It's my fault," Charlie sniffed. "Dora's hurt because of me."
"No, she's not," Will said sternly, though he looked just as scared. "Dora did it because she wanted to."
"She's going to be okay," the Healer said to the two boys kindly. "Your sister will be back to normal in a few days."
"I've got to let my husband know," Andromeda said quickly, turning to the woman.
To her surprise, the woman nodded. "Arthur Weasley," she said. "We'll send him word that his family is here.
Andromeda sighed. "Thank you," she said, and the Healer smiled.
"If you'll be staying, you can conjure chairs," she said kindly. "But there won't be much to do while the girl's recovering. She'll have to stay asleep for a while, and we'll be putting her in some healing wards to help her."
"All right," Andromeda said, and conjured three comfortable chairs out of the way near the foot of Dora's bed. She, Will, and Charlie sat down to wait, but less than an hour later, the door to the ward opened and Arthur Weasley hurried in, looking concerned.
"Dad!" Will said, alerting the others, and Charlie looked around at his father, the boy's eyes filling with tears finally.
"Dromeda, I came as quickly as I could," Arthur said, placing a hand on Will's shoulder and squeezing it gently. "How is she?"
"They said she'll be okay," Andromeda told him quickly. "She should be back to normal in a few days."
"What happened?" Arthur asked, gently lifting his second son from the chair and holding him reassuringly as he sat down next to his wife.
"Dora—Dora tried to breathe fire," Charlie said, sniffing. "I told her to."
"Oh, but she'll be okay, Charlie," Arthur said, cradling the distraught child. "Dora's powers aren't supposed to be used for breathing fire."
"I didn't know," Charlie cried, burying his face in his father's robe. "I didn't mean for her to hurt herself."
Arthur held the boy close, shushing him and murmuring reassuring words. Will sat next to his mother and said nothing, continuing to watch his sister through the ward that the Healers had placed around the bed. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Arthur got up to see Dora and realised that they couldn't even approach the bed because of the ward around it.
Charlie began to cry silently, leaning into his mother's side as Arthur looked at the little girl through the ward. After a few moments, Arthur came back to his family and said, "There's no point in all of us staying here, Andromeda. You should take the others home."
"No!" Charlie cried. "I want to stay with Dora!"
Andromeda sighed. "Arthur, I can't handle all of them right now," she said. "I'm not feel very well today, and the apparition here nearly did me in. I can stay with Dora tonight, and I think Charlie should stay too."
Arthur seemed to want to disagree, but Andromeda held Percy out to him and said, "I'll write Alice and see if she'll help with the children tomorrow. Go on with Dad, Will."
Will wanted very much to protest, but looked between his sick sister, his sad little brother, and his tired mother before deciding that it was best that he go home with his father and Percy. As soon as the three left, Andromeda motioned Charlie to come to her, and he curled into her arms, sniffing against her dress for a long while, worried about his twin.
Just as the Healers had said, Dora improved enough in the next couple days that they allowed Dora to regain consciousness with Andromeda present, Arthur staying home with the other children. Dora took a couple of minutes to stir, but when her eyes flickered open, she gave a jolt and her hair shot pure white. "Mum?" she said hoarsely, scared as she tried to make out who was around her. "Dad?"
"Mum's here, Dora," Andromeda said gently, and Dora tried to sit up, but one of the Healers went to push her back down and Dora yelled out, slapping at the hand.
"Dora, you've been sick," her mother said, reaching out and taking the girl's hand. "You're in St Mungo's so that the Healers can help you."
"Sick?" Dora rubbed her eyes sleepily before lying back again. "I'm so tired," she mumbled.
"You need to rest," Andromeda said, noting that Dora was obviously unwell if she was willing to go straight back to sleep.
"Mum," Dora whimpered, "why can't I see?"
Andromeda looked at one of the Healers in alarm, and the lead Healer said, "It's one of the side effects of a spell we used to help restore her lungs, clashing with the ward we used. It will wear off in time."
Dora looked around at the sound of a strange voice, but she was only able to see shapes. "Mum," she whimpered again, and Andromeda could hear the fear in her voice.
"It's okay, baby," Andromeda said softly, and after exchanging a few mouthed words with the Healer, she climbed into the bed next to her daughter and held the girl close.
"Mum," Dora sniffed, "I can't see."
"It'll get better," Andromeda promised, hoping fervently that it would be very soon, too. She felt Dora's hand running over her dress, the girl trying to find something that she knew.
"Baby," Dora whispered, feeling her mother's baby bump and curling up against it, closing her eyes. "Where's Charlie?"
"He's with Dad, Will, and Percy," her mother answered. "Charlie really wants to see you, Dora, but we want to make sure that you're okay first."
"Tired," Dora said again, and her mother rubbed the girl's back comfortingly so that the girl was asleep again within minutes.
"Come on, Charlie," Arthur said kindly a couple days later as they prepared to visit Dora in St Mungo's again. "Your mother said she's awake and ready for us."
Alice Longbottom appeared out of the sitting room with Percy in her arms. "You're taking both Will and Charlie, right?" she asked, and the man nodded.
"Thanks for your help," Arthur told her gratefully, then turned and led his older sons from the house, disapparating to St Mungo's. They made their way to the ward where Dora was, then entered.
Andromeda looked up from her daughter and smiled at her husband and sons. "Charlie!" came Dora's yell of excitement, and the boy broke away from his father, running the length of the ward and jumping onto the bed, nearly tackling his twin in his eagerness to see her again. "Dora!"
Will and Arthur joined Andromeda at Dora's bedside, and Arthur smiled at the twins clinging to each other. "Breathing fire isn't good for people," Dora told her twin seriously when they allowed each other to sit up.
Charlie shook his head vehemently. "But you're okay?" And when she nodded, he let out a sigh of relief.
The girl lay back against her pillows and said, "I missed you."
"I missed you," Charlie said, and did not move from her side for the rest of the visit.