Revelations
Chapter 8

They couldn't have one wedding. It was impossible, Fred couldn't pay to fly her entire family to England, and Ani didn't want him to have to pay for his family to fly over either, so they were planning two weddings. Fred had given Ani complete control over the one in America, and his mother control of the one here.

He refused to be dragged into the wedding as much as George was. He couldn't ignore his twin as he had once been ignored, so he spent as much time as he could at the store, knowing as soon as he went home he'd have to hear boring details.

He knocked on her door two months after he proposed. He had to tell her about his family before the wedding, and preferably before the invitations went out. He'd always let her believe he was a single child. She didn't know about George, or his other six siblings, excluding Hermione and Harry who technically were just friends of the family.

"Oy, Fred, come in," she yelled from her couch, her voice low and mocking. Fred laughed as he walked through the door, happy she was in a good mood. He couldn't tell hear about his large family if she was in a bad mood, she might get angry that he had kept it a secret so long.

"Oy, love," he said softly as he kissed her lips, which she held in the air as she sat in front of her coffee table. She was glowing and Fred noticed the different types of invitations around her. He wanted to roll his eyes but knew she was watching so he just smiled falsely. "Can we talk," he paused as he felt quite odd. He'd said it in the way that one would end a relationship, or an engagement. "Nothing big," he said hoping he hadn't upset her. "On the balcony?" he asked wanting her to still be in a good mood.

They walked out onto her tiny balcony. It was just big enough for them to stand, Fred's arms wrapped around her. He held her close, her warm back pressed firmly against his chest, her sweet smelling hair on his cheek.

He kissed the side of her head softly, "I love you so much," he said happily. He knew he was lucky to have her, she was beautiful and smart, never mind that she was a muggle.

"But?" Ani asked worried that he was going to end the engagement or tell her that he was already married with ten kids.

"But nothing," he said trying to comfort her. He'd gotten her worried; maybe his news wouldn't be such a shock as he was sure a million things were running through her mind. "I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you," he said as if it was obvious, like there was no doubt in his mind that he wanted, and she loosened up. She knew he was telling the truth, he had never lied to her.

"But, I've lied to you," he paused, "sort of."

She tensed up again.

"It's nothing shocking, not that important really, just a detail rather that I never mentioned, really," he said trying to tell her in the softest, calmest way so she wouldn't get angry or upset or scared. "I, um, I'm not the only child in my family."

"That's it? That's all? You're not like really a woman, or married to like twenty midgets, or, or, that's it?" she said amazed at the small revelation he had made. She was expecting shocking, off the wall, insane, so horrible that she couldn't marry him, but having a brother or sister, that's like a penny compared to a gold bar.

"No, I'm not really a woman," he said oddly, "Adam's apple, right here. Twenty midgets…" he trailed off.

Ani laughed, "Sounded right when I said it."

Fred closed his eyes and smiled at the woman he was marrying. She truly was the one for him, she was so perfect. The way she would make a joke of everything, well, maybe not when she was angry, but he didn't know about that yet.

"So, what your brother, or sister's name?" she asked wanting to know more about the person he'd been hiding for years. Maybe they had been sentenced to life imprisonment, or disowned the family, or maybe, they were a spy.

Fred laughed before naming them by birth, "Bill, Charlie," he skipped Percy, "George, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny."

He watched as Ani counted on her fingers, "Seven, that's seven!"

"Glad you can count, love," he said trying to joke away the awkwardness he felt. "Guess your not counting me in there then? Not going to have me killed, are you?

Ani laughed, "No, just you hid seven people from me, wow."

He squeezed her a little tighter, "Didn't hide really, just didn't share."

"So all those times Hermione called, she's your sister, not friend?" Ani asked curiously, "that's hiding."

"Hermione is a family friend, but really so close she's my sister. Harry, too. Dating Ron and Ginny they are though," he paused knowing he should tell her about Percy and George. "Hid another one, though."

"So, there really are seven?"

"Erm, yes," Fred was feeling rather mad with himself at this point. Why had he kept it a secret? Did he to it so she saw him differently? As one of a kind instead of one of seven, or one of a kind preferably to a copy of his twin? "Percy," he said his brother's name with such distaste and animosity that Ani knew he was the black sheep, the one who'd turned his back on the family or got himself arrested.

Ani wiggled to get more comfortable in Fred's arms, letting him know that she wasn't angry. "I know there's something else," she said oddly. She had been referring to Percy, but he thought she meant about his family and possibly George.

"I'm a twin," he said before closing his eyes and bracing himself for a yell.

Ani smiled, of course there was more than one Fred, he was two perfect to be the only one. "So, if I don't like you, I can trade you in."

"Yeah," Fred said just agreeing with her before he realized what he'd agreed to, "no!"

Ani laughed, she loved Fred just as much as he loved her. He was so unrealistic. It was like he walked out of a dream and appeared on a rainy sidewalk in New York. He was whimsical almost, the perfect gentleman, always opening doors, pulling her chair out, paying for meals without a second glance, but so loving. He was unlike some men that wanted complete control of everything and was concerned with where she was of every second of the day, but relaxed. He trusted her to be the woman he saw when he looked into her eyes, and she liked that.

"Anything else you'd like to share?" she felt odd, like there was still something there, but she knew it wasn't the time, "for now?"

"Yes," he said before holding his head high, "Percy is a git and will not be receiving an invitation to our wedding."

Ani laughed again and he joined in, his head falling into the crook of her shoulder as they doubled over laughing, Fred's arms still wrapped around Ani. Ani wanted to ask him why he didn't like his brother, but she couldn't. She wanted to know, but she didn't want to spoil the laughter they were sharing. She knew, though, that there were many more secrets wrapped in Fred, she'd noticed over the time together that in his eyes was a spot of dullness almost. If you looked deep enough you could see a spot that wasn't right, as if something tragic and long had happened, like a long fight for freedom.

They returned to the flat so they could pick out the perfect invitation to sent to everyone coming to their second wedding. He watched without giving any help as Ani picked out an invitation and smiled when they were finally finished.

"I'm starved," Fred said as he stretched his arms in the air.

Ani leaned against him and he wrapped his arm around her. "There's a pizza casserole in the oven," she said as Fred held her tighter. She didn't know it was uncommon for a Weasley to not run for food, to not burn their hands as they tried to bring a hot dish from the oven without realizing they had a wand in their pocket.

"My nose is cold," Ani said before staring at it cross-eyed and moving her lips around trying to move her nose to warm it up.

Fred watched her for a few seconds before letting out a laugh; he couldn't help but be more attracted to her, no matter how funny she looked. He kissed her nose softly, letting his lips rest there to warm her nose.

When he pulled back Ani wiped the tip of her nose with her sleeve, "Great, now it's cold and wet. I'm not a dog, you know."

Fred laughed again. She seemed to fit in to the Weasley family. She reminded him of Ginny, the way she was sarcastic and the way her lips curled mischievously when she smiled, almost as if she had just set the best prank and was waiting for him to walk into it. But she was so unlike Ginny. He was attracted to her, were as Ginny was just his kid sister. He wouldn't be able to get Ani out of his mind once he started to think about her, he could wink or smile at her and she would smile back at him, her cheeks turning slightly pink every time. He loved to make her blush; her cheeks would burn so warm he could almost feel them across the room.

Fred almost forgot sometimes that he'd already asked her to marry him, and sometimes he'd ask her again only to realize that they were already engaged seconds later. She would always say yes, laughing at him the entire time. She loved it too, it was almost like he was telling her how much he truly wanted to get married, even if he didn't want to take part in any of the plans.

"Let's get married," Ani said jokingly, she knew Fred was in one of those moods, where he just wanted to hold her and smile and feel her warm body against his own. It was like he just wanted to hold her, he'd finally found her and he wanted to hold her in his arms so he never had to look for her again.

"Yeah," Fred said in a daze, his thoughts of white picket fences and a car parked in the three car garage, or in his case a secret lab in his three car garage where he and his children could experiment for hours.

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AN: You've taken the time to read... so please review!