Millicent awoke to Fred gently nudging her. Yawning, she could barely believe that it was already dinner time! Sitting up, she quickly smoothed her hair and looked over at her husband, "I can't believe I slept so long!" She exclaimed, standing up. Her stomach growled, telling her that, indeed, it was getting close to mealtime. It took a few charms, but she managed to fix herself up before flooing over to the Burrow.

Fred loathed waking Millicent up, she looked so peaceful like that. But still, they had to eat and Molly was expecting them. By the time they made it there, everyone else was already lounging around, waiting for their arrival; Fleur was chatting animatedly with Draco, his arm slung protectively around Ginny's shoulders. In the corner, Penelope and George ignored each other civilly as their young son snuggled between them. Charlie was sitting in an armchair, Molly, Bridget and Lillian on his knees, regaling them with stories of dragons while his wife occupied herself chatting with Molly.

At their entrance, Molly stood, "Oh Fred, Millie, I was worried you two wouldn't come!" She clasped her hands together, beginning to herd her family into the dining room.

The smell of roasting chicken, boiled potatoes and something distinctly chocolate piqued Millicent's senses. Her mouth was watering as Fred helped her to her seat; she found herself looking into Fleur's excited, happy face. It seemed that the woman had either guessed her secret or was merely happy to see her. Blushing, she also noted that Draco and Ginny were staring quite intently at her.

With the entire family assembled, Molly clapped her hands for silence, "Charlie, you said you had some news for us?" She gushed excitedly, staring intently at her still-childless son. He had told her time and time again that he and his wife were just not interested in raising children in Romania.

Chuckling, Charlie patted his wife's hand, "I've been offered a job at the ministry as one of the experts on Dragon's issues," He announced proudly. "I'll have to go through a year of training that's all paid for. The problem is that I'll have to go to a school in America." Smiling sadly, he looked over at his mother, "I'm afraid that I won't be able to return home at all during that time, mother." It hurt him, that look in his mother's eye but in order to move out of Romania and to better his life, he would have to do it. "You may write owls and I'll do the best I can to answer, but beyond that I don't know what I'll be able to do."

Tears spilled from eyes as she looked into the face of her oldest so. Ron stood up, helping Molly to her seat and rubbed her shoulders. "It'll be alright, mum, you still have the rest of us," He said gently, "And Charlie will be home before you know it." He'd be a married man soon, the last of the Weasleys to married, and he felt as if it were his job to care for his mother beyond all the others. Bill had his hands full with his gaggle of girls, Charlie was leaving for a little while, Ginny and Draco both held important jobs, George was fall too self-absorbed to care and Fred was a newlywed. Florie would understand…she always did.

Nodding, Molly put on a brave face and took a sip of her wine. "Bill, Fleur do you have any news?" She asked, turning to the next couple sitting next to her. "Draco, Ginny, surely you have something to tell us?"

Sighing exasperatedly, Ginny shook her head, "No mum, I'm not pregnant!" Draco patted her hand, trying to calm her down. It was the same every Sunday, the constant pressure. He also knew that it bothered his wife deeply; she didn't want to have children just yet, she wanted to wait until she could relax a bit, not have to worry about being an absentee parent.

Fred knew he was next; his mother's eyes were already locked on his. He didn't need a formal invitation to tell his news either, he was grinning like a banshee. "Millicent and I have some news," Taking her hand, he found that she was blushing just as deeply as he was. "We found out recently that Millie and I are pregnant…with twins."

A whoop of joy went around the table. Molly, in her haste to rush over and hug the newly pregnant couple, knocked her chair over. Arthur laughed, standing to hug Fred and then Millicent. Hearty pats on the back for Fred came in all directions from his brothers and Draco while Ginny gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. He thought he saw Ginny winking at Millicent but he could've been mistaken…perhaps she just had something in her eye. Tears streamed from Molly's eyes, "Oh Fred, Millicent, that's wonderful news! And twins, oh bless your hearts," she sobbed.

Millicent, with all the commotion, also found tears leaking from her eyes, running down her face. She didn't understand why or how, she only felt the tightness of tears in her chest. Resting her head against Fred's shoulder, she laughed and cried at the same time. "Oh you must think I'm a nutter," She sniffled, chuckling all the while, "I don't know what to do with myself!"

Wiping her own tears and then swiping at Millicent's, Molly smiled broadly, "Oh you're not a nutter, Millie dear, you're just pregnant! Hormones are probably the worst part, aside from the morning sickness!" Looking like a mother bursting with pride, she looked between the two of them, "When are you due?"

Swallowing, she gave a sheepish grin, "The healer said August. I'm about four months along." Damn she hoped that none of them could do math…then again, all of them thought they had been married before the actual wedding at Hogwarts. She found that Molly didn't look disdainful at all. "Everything looks fine and we're all healthy."

Clasping her hands together, Molly looked utterly delighted, "And I plan to keep you that way! Now, eat!" She crowed, heaping chicken, vegetables and a wide variety of other delicious things onto her plate. Sternly, she narrowed her eyes, "I expect you to finish all of that!"

Fred leaned over, "She does this every time." He whispered and pressed his lips to hers. Slinging his arm over her shoulders, he looked over to where George was looking as if he had swallowed something sour. Frowning, he felt anger well up in his chest, "What's the matter, George?"

Twin eyes locked, "Nothing, Fred." The disdain dripped from his voice as he took a heavy swallow of the wine in front of him. "I merely marvel at just how quickly you got your wife pregnant after all of the times you said you'd never have children." Not even a quick jab in the shoulder from Penelope was going to stop him. "I'm not surprised, I'd have married her too if she was pregnant. Too bad you're stuck with her for life now."

A crack was heard round the table and for several moments, Fred didn't know if Penelope had smacked her husband or if Arthur had lost his temper. Never before had Arthur spanked any one of his children…but the ire in his face spoke volumes about the level anger he was feeling. It became evident after the fact that it had been Penelope; she cradled her stinging hand close to her body. "George and I have news," She screeched, handing off the baby to Arthur, "We're getting a divorce! And I want you to know that it wasn't me who asked for it!" Her face was red with anger and sadness, "But I'm glad he did! I'm not going to be married to a giant, ungrateful arse for the rest of my bloody life!"

Fleur took it upon herself to shoo the children from the room and Florie went to look after them for a few minutes. Penelope wasn't done yelling at him yet, nor did her rage seem to be wavering in the slightest. "When you married me you promised that you would honor every promise Percy ever made to me!" Tears were blinding her and George was looking like he was going to cry as well. "Well you failed him and you failed me! You couldn't protect me or his child and you couldn't even protect your own!" Looking back to where her child rested in Arthur's arms, she let a sob tear from her throat as she addressed the family, "I've wanted to tell everyone the truth for years. Little Percy is adopted."

Molly gasped, pressing her hand to her heart, "Penelope, we all saw you pregnant." She had been present at the birth of the baby, even! It was impossible that this child was adopted.

"I was pregnant," She sobered, her hysterics wavering slightly as her malicious gaze fell to George. "The mediwitches told me that after I lost Percy's child that I would never be able to carry a healthy baby to term…it has something to do with how my magic responds to that of a magical child. There's something irrevocably wrong with me. It killed me when I lost Percy's child and after I became pregnant with George's child I told him everything! And we went through everything together, going all over the world to see if there was any person that could save our baby."

Throughout her rant, George hung his head, flushing darkly. He knew what he had done to her and to their child. Penelope had never lied to him, she told him that she couldn't bear healthy children and he destroyed her by getting her pregnant. And then after the baby died…he couldn't handle losing a child he'd come to love either.

Trembling, she wrapped her arms around her thin waist, "But there was nothing anyone could do. So George used his ministry connections to find us a baby…" Haunted eyes looked over at the small child still sleeping peaceably in Arthur's arms. "I love him as my own…but George, he can't. He won't." Stepping away from her soon to be ex-husband, she shook her head, "It's meant more than anything that you've let me be a part of your family and I'll understand if you never want to see me again."

Arthur was ripping mad; the dark mask of disgust played on his face as he turned to her. "You are as much a part of this family as Percy was and as much as Little Percy is." He looked over at his wife who was nodding her agreement even though she had succumbed to tears. "You are flesh and blood to me, as much as my children are."

George stood, anger and pain flashing in his eyes, "So you're just going to hear her side? Is that right?" He slammed his fist down on the table, "She never, ever loved me how she loved Percy!" Turning to Penelope, he swiped at an angry tear that ran down his face, "Everything I did it was 'Percy used to do it this way' or 'Percy didn't like Quidditch'! I wasn't good enough for you, I never was! I thought that if I could give you a child, something that he couldn't, you'd forget! You'd let him go!"

Shock coursed through her; had this been the heart of the matter? Had he been hiding this from her? "George, I do love you! I'm sorry if you feel that you live in Percy's shadow…but I loved him too!"

"You love him more!" George fired back, wiping several more hot tears from his eyes. He pointed an accusing finger at her, "And don't lie, Penelope! I know you do!" He was so heartsick and embarrassed, having this knock-out, drag-down fight here in front of his entire family.

"That's not true!" She snapped back, stepping forward and grabbing the sides of his face, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "I love you, George! Percy is gone and it's you that I pledged to spend my life with, to love, and to be with until death do us part!" How could he possibly think that she loved Percy more? After everything they'd done, after everything they'd shared…

Wrapping his arms around her, he buried his face in the crook of her neck as he cried. Years of sorrow burned through him as she rubbed his back, ran her fingers through his hair and whispered little words of love to him. "I love you, Penelope…and I don't want a divorce. I just want everything to be okay again. I want it to be just us and our son and nothing else." He'd tried to fill the void with affairs, booze and work…but nothing consoled him and filled him the way that Penelope's love did.

Arthur stood back, wrapping his free arm around his wife. Finally, after so much heartache and pain, their family was finally letting go of the grief that had plagued them for so long. Of course they would always grieve for Percy and miss him something awful, him and Molly especially. But Percy wouldn't have wanted it to last forever, he'd want to see his beloved brothers moving on, getting married and having children; he'd want laughter at family dinners and good conversation. Most of all, he'd want them all to live life to the fullest, the way that he couldn't. And now, after so much time, the real healing had begun. George and his wife were slowly building up from the shambles of their marriage; Fred had put aside his fear of love and taken himself a wife, who was now expecting twins. For the first time in a long time, he smiled. He smiled so wide that tears ran down his face and he felt his face would tear in two.

Life sprung from every flowering tree, hope babbled in the brook outside…here, in the heart of the Burrow, the Weasley Family had made their peace with the world. Nothing would ever come between them again.

Whoo after a long hiatus, which I apologize for, I have updated! I have not yet finished the story but I do plan on it! Hopefully soon I can complete the last few chapters for all of you!

Read and review! It keeps my muses alive! And they need all the help they can get...

Thanks!

Marina