The Aftermath

Chapter 3

Adelaide Meets Artemis

August 1st 1998

George was bloody excited to see his twin brother's kid. He would start grinning like he hadn't since Fred had died while just wondering if it would be a boy or a girl—his family was starting to wonder if he was right in the head; they never said anything out loud, but he knew they were thinking it… he was not paranoid. He had wanted to be there for the baby's birth, but he had a business to take care of. Besides, Adel could probably use some time to settle down, now that she had two babies to take care of. In her letter, Adel had been very evasive; she wouldn't tell him the gender, or what the kid looked like, or the name she decided on, only saying that it was to be a surprise.

So yeah, when George finally got his international Portkey and appeared right in the middle of Central Park at noon—wearing muggle clothes thankfully—he barely even paid attention to the fact that there were muggles that had just seen him appear out of nowhere, holding one of those cheap wands that muggle magicians used—that was the Portkey. While the muggles shook their heads with glazed eyes—the Mist in action right there, not that George was aware of that yet—he hailed a cab, which turned out to be surprisingly hard, and listed off the address he had been given by Adel in one of her letters.

It was a good thing Adel was waiting for him in front of her apartment building, because somehow George had forgotten about getting US muggle money for his trip and was therefore unable to pay for his ride. Adel paid the driver with no problem, and as soon as it sped away, she launched herself into George's arms. George hugged her back just as tightly. It had only been a few months since he had last seen her, but George had missed her terribly. She was one of the two who he thought were just as crushed as he was about Fred dying, the other being Percy. His mother was devastated of course, but she had never really known Fred that well, despite the fact that she was his mother. She just had never understood why they joked around and played pranks all the time, or why their joke shop was so important to them when they could get a secure and cushy job at the ministry. Percy, however unlikely, was the other because he completely blamed himself. There was no way in Percy's mind that the death of Fred wasn't all his fault, no matter what anybody told him.

"So," George said when they parted, "are you going to tell me if it was a boy or girl?" He looked her over. The last time he had seen Adel she had been getting pretty big around the middle—not that he would ever say that to her—and it had been surprising how quickly her stomach had grown. She had been one of the lucky pregnant women that had almost no morning sickness—though that was made up for with backaches—and had not started to show until the twenty-fourth week, or sixth month, of her pregnancy, which was when she had found the way to freeze her pregnancy in one of the books in the Hogwarts library. The most unfortunate side effect to freezing her pregnancy when she had was that it made for constant backaches for about two years, which was made worse with the fact that she had to be so active and not let on that she was in pain. George had no idea how she had done it, but he supposed that she had had Fred to complain to, and Fred had also said that he was getting really good at back massages. But when she had unfrozen her pregnancy right after the Battle of Hogwarts, she had blown up like a balloon in two weeks—with the help of George, who she had been staying with, because he kept feeding her huge meals—and it had also only taken those two weeks for her to decide to move to America after the funerals which she had worn a loose robe to hide her bulging belly and a hood to obscure her face into something unrecognizable.

Now, she was more recognizable as the girl who his brother had fallen in love with. Her long and messy dark red hair was pulled into a single braid that went down her back, her green eyes—while still sad—were brighter then George remembered, and her stomach, for obvious reasons, had now deflated. She wore plain jeans with a baby monitor strapped to them and a green shirt, the only jewelry being the engagement ring that Fred had saved up for. "You look brilliant," George commented.

Adel let out a small laugh, "I look exhausted." She did, having black circles surrounding her eyes, but that didn't mean that she didn't look better then she had when he had last seen her.

"Color suites you," he said, referring to the green of her shirt.

She shook her head at him, "The complements are not going to work on me," she said teasingly, "you're just going to have to wait a whole elevator ride and short walk to my apartment in order to find out the gender."

She took his hand and led him into the building, into the elevator, and then to the door of her apartment. "Did you paint it yourself?" George grinned.

Adel huffed, "It is a beautiful red!" She opened the door.

Her place was nice. The walls were a light blue, it was spacious, and the yellow couch—while not technically matching—was amusing. It was still bare, but bookshelves had been put up and filled, which made the packing boxes easier to ignore. There was a purple rug. He stared at it. Adel noticed.

"It's really soft," was all she said. George just nodded; he had a good idea of why she would go with so many contrasting colors. He had been in the Dursley's home before, and everything had been very bland and boring and normal, and subconsciously Adel was making her own home—because the Dursley's home had never been her home—as different as possible, to assure herself that her children—yes, Teddy was her child now too, along with the biological one—would never grow up in the same environment as she had.

George knew that Adel would never treat her children the way she had been treated as a kid. She was as different from her relatives as one could get, but if this is what she needed to do for her to know that too…well, he might have to get her some hot pink furniture.

"Are you taking me to the kid now?" He asked impatiently as she pulled him into a bare blue hallway to a pristine white door that had letters on it that George couldn't make sense of: TR, JS, FS, and LN.

"Yes." She opened the door, and what George saw made his jaw drop and his eyes protrude disturbingly. That was when Apollo arrived, as well as his guest.

George couldn't stop staring at the four babies in front of him. One was Teddy, his hair a forest green color, eyes golden, with a smattering of freckles on his nose. It was the other three that he didn't know. The two identical boys had red hair that looked like a combination of Fred's and Adel's, with blue eyes that were exactly like his; exactly like Fred's. The lone girl had black hair, green eyes, and reminded George strongly of Adel.

He thought maybe his brain had short-circuited, because he couldn't think of anything to say and he couldn't bring himself to move yet.

"Adel?" George asked.

"Yes?"

"There are two extra."

Laughter came from behind them, and when George turned he saw a seventeen year old male with golden blond hair, sun kissed skin, and blue eyes. He was the one laughing. Beside him was a twelve year old girl with auburn hair, peculiar eyes that were silver-yellow like the moon, and wore silver clothing. She had a smirk on her face, looking amused. They hadn't been there before.

"Apollo," Adel greeted the man, "and this must be your sister. It's an honor to meet you Lady Artemis." Adel bowed. George gaped.

The little girl—Artemis apparently—said, "It is also my pleasure to meet a woman who is not fooled by my brother's charms."

Apollo didn't appear to take insult, he just sauntered closer to George, stuck his hand out and said brightly, "You must be George. I'm Apollo, Greek god of the sun, and this," he gestured towards the girl, "is my little sis, Artemis, goddess of the moon and maidenhood and stuff."

"I am not your 'little sis'" Artemis said angrily, "I helped give birth to you!"

George fainted.

Apollo turned to Adelaide. "You took that much better than he did." He commented.

"Of course she did," Artemis scoffed, "she is not an idiot male."

"Hey!" Apollo pouted.

Adelaide intervened, "He's just had a lot of surprises in the last couple of minutes." She coughed slightly, remembering George's face when he had seen Lily, James, and Frederick. "He just needs to have things explained to him." She took out her wand to rennervate George.

After a half an hour of explaining to George about the gods, and how they were actually real, then being introduced to his nephews and niece, Adelaide was finally able to relax. George and Apollo had gotten along brilliantly—which made up for the fact that Artemis kept shooting him dirty looks. Now George was holding both Frederick and James ("You can't split them up," Adelaide warned while handing both the boys off, "or they'll start bawling.") and sitting next to Apollo on her yellow sofa talking about whatever boys talked about—Adelaide suspected that it had something to do with George's missing ear, considering Apollo was staring at it and George was pointing at it. Adelaide had conjured a forest green loveseat for Artemis and herself, having not actually bought anymore seating yet. She was holding Teddy, who had the end of her braid in his mouth—his hair today was bubble-gum pink, reminding Adelaide of Tonks, while his eyes were the same emerald green as hers. Artemis held Lily, who she had immediately zeroed in on. Probably because Lily was the only girl.

Lily seemed very content in Artemis' arms, which Adelaide supposed attributed to the fact that she was the goddess of childbirth. Though occasionally Lily's eyes would drift to where Adelaide and Teddy sat close by.

"Where does Lily get her black hair from?" Artemis asked curiously.

Adelaide smiled a bit. It had struck Adelaide as peculiar that Lily would get her father's black hair when it had passed by her, even if Adelaide's hair was darker than her mum's had been. "My father, James."

"You named one of your son's after your father." Artemis observed.

"Yes, James Sirius. Sirius was my godfather and my father's best friend. I think they would be ecstatic to know that their names were put together." She looked wistful. "I also named Lily after my mum and Teddy's mum. Lily Nymphadora."

"What happened to them?"

"My parents died when I was just over a year old; they were murdered. Sirius would have taken care of me, but he was sent to prison on false charges and without a trial. He was framed. He escaped prison the summer before I started my third year. Died at the end of my fifth year. Nymphadora Tonks—she absolutely hated her first name, so just about everyone called her Tonks—she and her husband, Remus Lupin, who was also a best friend to my father and godfather, both died in battle only a month after Teddy was born."

Artemis stayed pretty stoic on the outside, not one to share her emotions, but she was thinking that it was remarkable that this woman had been through so much and was still functioning. Not many mortals that she had known could go through that much tragedy and come out standing, not to mention sane. She had lost her fiancé, which Artemis knew would send many women who were led astray by men into grief, but Adelaide hadn't. Aphrodite was always saying that having a man in one's life was important to mortal women. Artemis wished that she had come across Adelaide when she had still been a maiden.

"Were there no others to take care of the boy?" The goddess asked, gesturing to Teddy. At that moment, Lily started to whine, and immediately Adelaide plucked her right out of Artemis' arms, and plunked Teddy there instead. The whining stopped immediately. Artemis was left awkwardly cradling a baby boy in her arms. It had seemed so natural to hold Lily, but with the boy Artemis was tense. Teddy didn't seem to care; he looked right up at her and changed his hair to the exact same auburn as hers and matched his eyes with hers. His skin even changed to the same pale moonlight as hers. Artemis, almost against her will, felt her heart melt. She could almost imagine that this was her own son. Although she had many sisters and even brothers, she had never had a child of her own. She never would either; she didn't plan to and nor did she really desire one, but for the first time she found herself almost understanding why the gods and goddesses had their demigod children—even Athena, who was a maiden goddess but was able to make her brain children when 'meeting' her mind with a mortal.

"He does that."

Artemis almost jumped, but reigned herself in—she was the goddess of the hunt damn it, she would not allow herself to be startled! She turned to Adelaide, who was looking at her with a mildly amused expression. "Hmm? Does what?"

"Makes you love him in seconds. And to answer your question: he has a grandmother Andromeda, who is Tonks' mother. It was very hard on her though, the war. She lost her husband, who Teddy is named after, her daughter, who had the same talent of changing her appearance as Teddy has, and her son-in-law, who Teddy has a remarkable resemblance in manner to. If she were to take Teddy in, every day and every time she saw him, she would be reminded of precisely what she didn't have anymore. She asked me to take him, and I said yes." Adelaide explained. She was going to give George some photographs of Teddy to give to Andromeda, because she didn't want her to not know her grandson at all, but Adelaide would not force her to see him if she didn't feel up to it. She sort of understood where Andromeda was coming from: Adelaide had needed to separate herself from the place, but Andromeda needed to separate herself from the people—she wanted peace and quiet.

Artemis didn't say anything more, preferring for silence partly, but also because she wasn't sure how to respond to that. She watched her brother and the red-haired one-eared man she had already forgotten the name of. She understood why her brother had begged her to come, so much so that she had given in if only because she wanted him to shut up and leave her alone. Artemis had thought that she was being forced to visit one of her brothers mortal lovers—of which she had no desire to—but she could see with the way Adelaide and Apollo interacted that they were only friends. She found herself wondering how they came to meet, so she asked.

"I was going into labour," Adelaide responded, "and he helped me to the hospital. He was the perfect gentleman, I assure you."

Thunder sounded through the room, accompanied by a brilliant flash of lightning seen through the window. The triplets looked on with wide eyes; Teddy started crying. "He doesn't like loud noises." Adel explained and took him in her arms, making soothing noises while occasionally humming.

Apollo and Artemis both stood. "Father wants us for something," Artemis said. "Thank you for inviting me into your home."

Adel smiled at her, "It's no problem really. If you or your huntresses ever need somewhere to stay or just want to visit, you're always welcome."

Artemis snapped her fingers. "Your gift is in your room." Then she was gone.

Apollo waved, "See ya soon!" and was gone just like his sister.

Adel and George put the babies down for a nap, and returned to the living room, sitting on the sofa. George's head was swirling with new information. First, Adel had had triplets—which was hilarious and pitiable at the same time—second, she had made friends with a god! "You never do things small do you Adel?" He asked rhetorically.

Adel snorted, leaning on his shoulder tiredly. George wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she yawned hugely. "I got you a present." He whispered.

"What is it?" She whispered just as quietly.

George reached into his pocket and brought out a velvet box, the kind you get jewelry in. It was long and wide and black. Adel gasped quietly. "George…"

"No. None of that 'you shouldn't spend so much on me' nonsense. You're my sister and I got you a present. Deal with it."

Adel laughed and took the box gently, as if she was cradling the world in her palms. "Thank you." She opened it, and there was an oval locket made of sterling silver with a single rose design in the middle. She opened it to see a picture of her and Fred when they were about to go to the Yule Ball, their first date. She wore a simple pale green knee length dress made out of flowing material, and Fred looked handsome in black. They were both smiling in a combination of shy and ecstatic. George had taken the picture, and he had been teasing them relentlessly.

Adel swallowed a sob, "Thank you," she repeated.

George took it out of the box and fastened it around her neck. "Only one side is taken up so that you can put a picture of the kids in beside the two of you." His voice seemed oddly choked.

"I got you a present too." Adel told him quietly.

"Adel, it's not my—"

"I'm getting my fireplace connected by Floo," she ignored his protests, "just to your place, so you can visit whenever you want without having to buy an international Portkey. You are their uncle, after all."

There were very few instances in his life that George Weasley couldn't think of what to say. This was one of them. Gratitude expanded in his chest, his lungs constricting with it. He swallowed very hard. "Go to sleep Adel. When you wake we'll take the kids to the park for a bit."

"Hmm." She hummed, already half asleep. Her head slid down to his chest and her small arms encircled his waist and squeezed tightly. George imagined it was very easy for her to forget that he wasn't Fred. After all, when he looked in the mirror sometimes he forgot too.