"Who's home, who's not?"
Kit laughed, looking up from the morning paper as Jake let himself in through the front door. They were only a few days into November and the temperature had dropped considerably. It seemed that Halloween night would have been the only mild night in the coming month. Jake stripped off his jacket and fell into the couch next to her.
"Just me today," she smiled. "What are you up to?"
Jake shrugged, looking at the front page. "Nothing. I'm restless. Got fired yesterday."
"Oh, I'm –"
"Nah, don't be," he interrupted. "I hated it there. Are you going to the shin-dig tomorrow night?"
Kit shrugged, turning back to the paper. "We probably should, seeing as we were invited." She looked to him. "Are you?"
"Nope. We've met them already; we don't want to do it again."
Her eyes narrowed. "Are they that bad?"
Jake shrugged. "You'll see for yourself tomorrow night. And don't get too dressed up. They aren't worth it."
"Well, gee, thanks for the advice," she said sarcastically. Jake grinned.
"Any time. Let's make cookies."
---
They walked hand-in-hand down the street. Kit looked extremely nervous as she held Nate's hand. Nate swung both their arms, and Harry couldn't help but smile.
"We have been invited to the Burrow," he said finally, breaking the silence.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
Kit tried to hide the smile blossoming across her face.
"What?" Harry asked slowly.
She took a breath, and then all at once, said, "I told Hermione."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "I told Remus."
Kit laughed as they turned up the walk. "It's a party, isn't it?"
Harry only smiled as the door in front of them flung open and another smiling face greeted them.
---
"Wow."
Kit laughed nervously.
"My cheeks hurt."
"Same here."
They lapsed into silence. Harry carried Nate in his arms back down the street. The three of them left under the pretence of putting Nate to bed.
"No more neighbour parties without Jake and Carrie," Kit said, shock plastered on her face.
"Agreed."
Another silence fall as they let themselves into their darkened home. Harry put Nate to bed without a word as Kit took a plate of cookies up to their bedroom. When Harry finally turned off Nate's light, Kit was under the covers.
"I think we should talk about it," she said as he entered.
Harry shook his head. She watched him slowly undress.
"Talk about what?" He pulled off his shoes and socks.
"Tonight. The neighbours."
"And the fact that they are all lunatics?" His shirt landed neatly in the open hamper.
"Not all of them."
"Okay, the lesbians are alright. But the rest of them?" he asked incredulously, slipping under the covers with her.
"Well, yeah."
"Rob would be okay if he wasn't whipped."
"Because you aren't?"
"Eat your cookies, dear."
---
The next day, Fred and George dropped by just as Kit was putting away the breakfast things.
"Good morning, Bride-to-be," Fred grinned, wrapping her in a hug as George did the same to Nate.
Kit and Nate laughed.
"Thank you," she said, and Nate clapped. "What brings you two to this area?"
George shrugged as he plonked down in the chair next to Nate.
"No reason, really," Fred said, mirroring his twin. "Just wondered if you three had plans for tomorrow night."
"Nope, we're free," replied Kit, smiling.
"Well, you're not anymore," George said seriously. "Because you're coming to the Burrow."
"Well, I suppose if we have to," Kit sighed, feigning disappointment.
"It's absolutely mandatory," Fred said briskly. "Everyone's going to be there."
"Oh really? Even Kris and Charlie?"
"Hopefully," George piped up, "but we won't be holding our breaths."
"They'll probably be too busy taking care of the little one."
"The baby is doing okay?" Kit asked, looking concerned.
"Last time we checked she was okay," Fred said, shrugging.
"But we should be going now," George said suddenly, standing up. "Places to go, people to prank –"
"The usual," Kit and Fred chorused.
They shared a smile in parting. Fred saluted Nate as he left.
"Who was that?" Harry asked, sitting in the chair George had just vacated and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"George and Fred!"
Harry smiled at Nate.
"The dinner is tomorrow," Kit said, trying to dash the thoughts of Kris and her baby from her mind.
But she wasn't to find any peace, as a knock echoed on the front door. Harry stood and answered it, gasping as Charlie and Remus hauled Kristina into the living room.
"Hi, Harry," Charlie said softly. "Sorry for just barging in like this. We didn't know where to go."
"You're always welcome here," Harry said, handing Kristina a box of tissues. "What happened?" he asked as Kit stood at his side.
"We lost the baby," Charlie whispered, falling onto the couch next to his wife.
Kristina choked back a sob.
"She died?" Kit asked, disbelievingly.
Kristina nodded. "It was – yes. But I don't want the others to know. It – it hurts too much to tell them now."
Charlie wrapped an arm around her and Kit squeezed her hand as she sat on her other side.
"It's okay. We won't tell them."
Kristina nodded, lost for words. Remus handed Charlie a tissue and squeezed his shoulder. Charlie tried to smile in thanks, but could not, and he could not find the will to stem the tears falling from his own eyes. Kit left them to make a pot of tea, and Harry took her place, holding Kristina as she sobbed.
They had tried so hard. Kristina had had three miscarriages, and when she reached the end of her first trimester on the fourth try, everyone was ecstatic. When the baby girl was finally born earlier that summer, Kristina was the best mother she could be, and Charlie the best father. Although the baby girl had been born premature, she was healthy – something they had prayed for throughout the pregnancy. She only stayed in hospital until she reached her full term. Everything had run smoothly.
When Kit re-entered with tea, Nate was at her heels, Caleb clutched in his hands and a confused expression on his face. Without a word, Harry led Nate back in the kitchen.
"Sorry, bud," he said softly, "we have to stay in here."
Nate pouted, huffing as he sat on the floor, Caleb in his lap. He began feeding the ferret cheerios as Harry listened to Kristina's story in the other room.
"We had hired a babysitter for one night," she said softly. "We had interviewed her before, we knew her parents, and she was nice. Took a class and everything. All we wanted was a movie. Two hours."
Kit nodded as Kristina blew her nose.
"It was all fine. I mean, I worried, of course, but I called halfway through the movie when I went to the washroom and she said they were fine. So I stopped worrying so much."
-- Charlie unlocked the door and led Kristina into the dim hall.
"The baby must be asleep," she said softly, flicking on the hall light as Charlie hung up their coats.
"Where's Adrienne?" Charlie asked as Kris started down the hall.
She turned and looked at him. "On the couch?" she offered.
Charlie shook his head and both of them looked to the kitchen, but no one sat at the table. It was not until Kristina turned on the kitchen light they noticed her.
"My baby," she gasped, kneeling next to the child.
"Kris, stop," Charlie snapped, and Kristina froze.
"What?" she asked, looking up at her husband. As she did, she noticed the blood spatter on the front of the fridge, on the floor at Charlie's feet. She picked up the baby immediately.
"An attack," he gasped, and looked to Kris and the baby.
But Kristina had not stood, she sat on the floor, her daughter in her arms, and tears sliding down her cheeks.
"She's so cold," she sobbed, and Charlie collapsed next to her. –
Kit squeezed Kristina's hand again, looking down at it as she could not look the other woman in the eye. There was blood still smeared on it.
"Where's the baby?" she asked softly, looking up.
Kristina shook with new sobs and could not answer. Charlie looked up, red-eyed.
"In the car," he whispered.
Remus stood immediately and went to look. Kit sat with Charlie and Kris, holding Kristina's hand as they both cried, distraught.
Remus went into the kitchen after he looked in their car and sat across the table from Harry.
"The Order's work isn't done, is it?" Harry asked in an undertone.
Remus shook his head sadly. "It seems that someone has tried to pick up where Voldemort left off," he said softly.
"Damn."
Remus left Harry in the kitchen and approached the couple.
"We have to find the babysitter," he said, kneeling in front of them. "We need to bring the both of you justice."
"The others can't know," Kristina begged, sobbing.
"They won't," he assured them, and Kit stood up to join Harry in the kitchen.
As Remus spoke calmly to Charlie and Kristina, Kit stood behind Harry with her hands on his shoulders.
"I just feel so useless," he said softly, making funny faces at Nate to try to cheer him up. But Nate kept on huffing.
Kit did not say anything, only watched and smiled at her son.
"Maybe you'll be the one to stop it all, Nate," he mused, and Nate finally smiled. But Harry couldn't. He shook his head and sighed. "It'll never be over."