A/N: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER :)

PLEASE BE KIND

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CHAPTER TEN - Angelina Johnson

With a black clipboard in hand, Avery waddled her way through the back door and into the shop, muttering all the orders and products that were written. It was now way past October so the cold days were once again at the door.

She would've loved to wear Fred's usual Weasley sweater, if it actually fit. Much to her displeasure, maternity dresses were the only thing that fit her.

"Princess?" Lee called out from behind her, a panicky look was on his face. "What are you doing here? Weren't you behind the counter?"

"I'm checking our stocks. We have some order to delivers and I noticed we were lacking on supplies as well when I was behind the counter" she explained without bothering to take her eyes off the shelves she was checking. "Why? What's up?"

"You know what's up"

"Oh right, Georgie" Avery rolled her eyes when Lee nodded in response. "Come on, I'm barely doing anything. I'm just waddling away reading a fucking list, chill" and without waiting for another complaint, she turned around and went towards the fireworks section of the shop.

"Heavily pregnant woman on the move!!" Lee suddenly announced loudly, much to Avery's displeasure.

Nonchalance was thrown out of the window as Avery turned back at Lee and tried to kick him with her impossibly huge belly. "I thought you were on my side, Lee!"

"I am, Princess, but you know how George gets now that you are in your last trimester and had been feeling faint most of the time!"

Upon hearing him, George immediately interrupted his conversation with Angelina and ran towards the quarreling duo. He looked extremely worried. "Avi, weren't you taking care of the counter?"

As soon as George joined them, Avery lifted her thumb and moved it swiftly across her neck while looking at Lee, making the latter look away in fake innocence.

"Don't worry, Verity is there" she replied while pointing at the young girl attending to some customers.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself, Avi? If you want to stay in the shop, don't go running around... " George reprimanded her, making her sigh exasperatedly.

"Georgie, it's boring to just sit there and ring products" she huffed at him.

"Read a book or something. You can even go visit mom if you want, she would love to give you tips about child birth"

"But can't I just walk around the shop? I won't be carrying anything and walking helps for pregnancies, you know?"

"No. What if you you trip? Or worse, faint again?"

"I told you, it was not because of my health! It was because of the sudden change of temperature!" she glared at him until she finally noticed the young woman looking at them with a troubled expression. "Also weren't you speaking with someone? It's impolite to just leave a conversation, you know that right?"

"It's nothing you have to worry about. Go sit down" George continued but Avery ignored him as usual, making him look annoyed at Lee, who shrugged back at him.

"Hey, you're Angelina, aren't you?" she asked with enthusiasm, ignoring George's attempts to support her by swatting his hands away.

"Oh... Uhm yeah, hi. I was actually about to leave... Yeah" she glanced at George briefly before turning around and leaving.

"What's gotten into her?" Avery asked with a raised eyebrow. Lee in response pointed at George, then at her and united his fingers while snickering silently. "What!?" she exclaimed with a disgusted look on her face.

She pointed at herself and then at George, wanting to confirm whether she actually understood right. Lee didn't hesitate a second before giving her thumbs up in confirmation.

"Avi, can you please stop being a child and just go back behind the counter?" George, who didn't notice the weird exchange between the two, took Avery by the collar of her dress and pointed at the counter.

"I'm not a child!"

"By the way you are acting, yes you are"

"I am with a child, Georgie. It's different!"

"Then a child with a child, so go upstairs!"

"What the fuck, man! Did you just call Fred a pedophile!?" Avery exclaimed with indignation.

"Huh?" George looked back at Lee, confused and speechless. "I didn't say that!?"

Right in that moment, Avery took Lee by the arm and began waddling away towards the front door. "Let's go before he uses his stupid brain to figure out what I just said"

With hesitation, Lee began supporting her away from the shop, flinching now and then whenever George would shout their names. "You do know he's going to fry us when we go back, right?"

"It's going to be worth it, don't worry" she nonchalantly said, ignoring her companion's fake cries. "He won't even follow us since the shop is full"

"But where are we going exactly?"

Avery stopped in the middle of the road and began scanning their surroundings, looking very thoughtful. "Did you see where Angelina went?"

"Angelina?" Lee frowned confused as she kept looking around. "Why do you want to find her?"

"Lee, just find her and stop asking questions, jeez"

Although hesitant, Lee followed what she said and began looking around for his old friend. It didn't take him long to search though, as he could recognize her anywhere. "She's there look! She's going into Leaky Calduron"

"Let's go, then. We're wasting time" Avery leaned on Lee's arm and quickly made their way through the crowd and into Leaky Calduron. "Do you see her?"

"Yeah, she's sitting there" Lee pointed at the far end of the room, where she sat alone.

She was talking to the bartender and seemed really down. Without warning Lee, Avery began heading towards her with a huge smile and invited herself onto the seat in front of the girl.

"Hi!"

Angelina looked at her cautiously before answering. "Hi..."

Avery offered her hand to her while Lee merely stood beside her seat, he waved at his old friend and nodded. "I wasn't able to present myself earlier. I'm Avery, Avery Weasley"

Upon hearing her name, Angelina flitched away from Avery's hand as though she was burned. She went to look down in an attempt to avoid the eyes of the smiling woman in front of her, but instead caught the sight of the beautiful ring wrapped around the latter's finger. Avery followed Angelina's eyes and knew immediately what was running through her mind.

"Beautiful right? George gave it to me a few months ago before my so called 'marriage'" she said, putting much emphasize at the word 'marriage' with an exaggerated eye roll. She observed as Angelina pursed her lips and finally decided to stop torturing the poor woman. "It was Fred's last memento for me before his death"

The suddeness of her words caught Angelina by surprise, making her look up and stared at Avery with open mouth. Happy by the reaction as it meant that things weren't too late for George, Avery smiled.

"I'm Fred's wife" she said, then she put both hands on her belly and continued. "This is our child"

"Fred's... Child?" Angelina breathlessly asked. "You mean you're no-"

"Not Georgie's wife?" Avery scrunched up her face in fake disgust. "Oh fuck no, that's icky!"

Angelina's relief was visible on her face as her shaky hands took the butterbeer she ordered from the bartender, who turned to Avery. Lee dismissed him without waiting for her response, as Avery couldn't really stomach anything the was being served there.

Rolling her eyes at him, Avery looked back the smiling woman who was clutching her drink tightly. "I'm sorry if I made you feel bad but I wanted to see if you still had feelings for Georgie"

"But George told me he wasn't looking for a relationship..."

"That might've been my fault. He had taken Fred's last will a bit too seriously, I suppose" she sighed at herself. "I'm not gonna sugarcoat anything, Angelina. I need George and this may sound selfish on my part but I am barely alive because he gave me enough motivation for it… Had he not come into my life, I don't know where I'd be. That obviously does not mean I want to fuck him, for heaven's sake. He just keep me stable and-"

Angelina stopped her with a slightly forced smile. "I get it. The bond between you two is a lot greater than what people may think. Both losing Fred, who was each other's most precious half. George had told me that he couldn't leave you behind but I initially thought it was because you two were a couple" she chuckled when Avery made a disgusted face. "But now I see that it wasn't the case"

"Are you going to ask him out again then? Because honestly he is too stubborn and might not do it himself"

"But he said-"

"Of fucking course, he would say that" Avery face palmed in frustration. "Don't listen to his stupid ass. Both twins really suck in the heart department as much as they are geniuses in the business department. Like seriously I-" suddenly she stopped talking and was now bent down on her stomach.

Lee immediately kneeled down next to her, looking very worried and followed by an equally worried Angelina with her drink forgotten on the table.

"What's wrong, Princess?" he asked while holding her face into his hands. He swept away her hair from her face along with the beads of sweat forming on her forehead. "Hey, talk to me"

"It-... It hurts" Avery managed to say between deep breaths.

Angelina took Lee by the arm and shook him awake from his momentary panic. "Go get George! Go! I'll stay here with Avery"

"I-I'll be back!" Lee stuttered before apparating way.

Avery chuckled painfully. "Nice way to meet, isn't it?" she muttered to Angelina, who amused her with a forced smile. "Oh don't look so worried, pregnancy is always been a bitch"

"What can I do? D-do you need anything?"

"Maybe a new belly would be wonderful right now" she replied, making the other woman look surprise for a second. Before she could crack up another joke, Lee apparated back along with a worried looking George.

George didn't hesitate a second to kneel next to Avery, completely ignoring everyone around them. "What's wrong, Avi? Are you on labor? Like... It's still not your due date, isn't it?"

As if the pain was never been there, Avery sat back up and began adjusting herself. She took a piece of tissue from the table to wipe off the sweat on her face with one hand caressing her belly." I don't know what you're talking about. I wasn't in pain"

"Avery, it's not the right time to joke around!" George scolded her but she just laughed at him with much gusto. "What?"

"I was just faking it, Georgie. Making you come here was so easy" he looked at her like someone had just punched him in his gut. Lee and Angelina were both equally confused as Avery slowly got up and pushed George onto her chair. She then took Angelina by her hand as well and led her to her chair. "This is your first date! Isn't it wonderful?"

George looked at Angelina as if finally noticing her for the first time since he arrived. He blushed lightly when they made eye contact before looking back at Avery with a glare. "It wasn't funny, Avery!"

"Georgie, it was funny" she tapped his cheek affectionately. "At least for me. Now love, I know you've made it your life mission to take care of me and my child for Fred but I think you've done enough"

"What are you talki-"

"My Freddie would have preferred it if his twin got together with the woman he had been crushing on since they were at Hogwarts, Georgie" Avery said softly but loud enough to be heard by both parties. "I am not running away but please don't bound your life to me. I am Fred's wife and you want to take care of me for him, but you should have your own life and family as well"

"Avi..." George tried to argue back, even looking at Angelina and Lee for surpport but he knew she was right. "... But what about you?"

"Oh I'm sticking with you, of course! But don't limit yourself to be my babysitter for life" Avery ruffled the younger twin's hair, then went to stand next to Lee. "I'm going back to the shop now. I'll take care of it so take your time. Don't be back by midnight!"

Without waiting for another word from the couple, Avery leaned heavily on Lee's arm while pretending to be okay. She took steady and low breaths as she walked, ignoring the careful looks of the tall young man beside her.

"You weren't faking it" it was more a statement than a question, making her chuckle softly.

"I'm fine" she flinched slightly when she felt sudden pain. "But I doubt I'll even reach my due date"

"Why pretend, Princess? What if it's something serious?" he guided her back to the shop and helped her onto a chair in the back store. "George needed to know"

"It's nothing, seriously. Fake contractions are a bitch, Molly told me about it" she leaned on the chair and sighed. "I'm fine, don't worry. I can't always burden Georgie"

"You are not a burden"

She looked at him with a smile and gave him a light pat on his cheek. "Yeah, yeah. Go back to work, Lee. I'll be fine with a bit of rest and no words of it to him"

Lee initially shook his head in denial.

"You are already in it with me since you didn't tell him, might as well continue"

"My head is gonna fall"

"Let it fall then" she chuckled when he shook his head adamantly. "Please. I'm always with y'all anyway, you'll definitely know when I'm really in labor. Please?"

They stared at each other for a while, one was smiling while the other was frowning. They probably would have continued had Verity not came in a hurry and flustered.

"I need a hand, please?" the younger woman begged. "Lee?"

He sighed in defeat. "We are not done with this conversation, Avery" he said, then followed his girlfriend back into the shop.

"We're back with the names now?" she called after him sarcastically.

Contrary to what she hoped, the false contractions became more frequent in the next few days to the point she even thought she was in actual labor. George, despite being constantly with her, was still in the dark about it and Lee had been taking it upon himself to help her conceal it.

"We can't continue hiding it. What if there are complications?" Lee worriedly stated. He had accompanied Avery back into her room while George was busy closing up the shop along with Verity.

"The midwife said I was fine. I don't want to ruin Georgie's happiness with paranoia" she mumbled as she gulped down a glass of water he had given her. "He is finally with Angelina and I'm not gonna ruin it"

In that exact moment, they heard someone enter the flat and it didn't take him long before he was at the door of her room. George was now rolling his shoulders tiredly, his jacket was hanging from his arm and he had a satisfied look on his face.

"Thank you, Lee. I can take it from here" he told his friend, who nodded. George observed as his friend hesitated from leaving, though wasn't sure if something was actually wrong.

"I'll see you tomorrow then" Lee said to the both of them before leaving.

George made a confused face when he walked past him, then went to kneel in front of Avery like every night before bed. "How's my baby niece been today?" he asked her belly with both hands on it.

"You don't know if the baby is a girl" Avery rolled her eyes at his confidence. "What if it's a boy?"

"Merlin, another Fred? That's scary"

Avery snorted at his audacity to say that. "How was your date? Did anything special today?" she winked at him, earning herself a flick on the forehead.

"You are so dirty minded" he said back, though he had a secretive smile on his face.

"I never meant that!?" she gasped exaggeratedly. "You are just as dirty minded as Fred"

"Fuck off"

"And as filthy mouthed as me" he smirked in response, which made her happy since it definitely meant that the date went well. Suddenly the pain that had been afflicting her that day came back even stronger but instead of curling up in pain, she merely sighed as she pushed him away on his forehead. "Go back to your room and sleep. We both deserve a bit of rest now, don't you think?"

"Yeah, we should rest" he responded. He leaned down to kiss her belly, then got up and helped her into bed. "Are you okay though? That sigh was really deep"

"I'm just tired, Georgie. Don't worry about it" she reassured him.

"Are you sure? Maybe tomorrow you shouldn't come down to the shop" he tried to persuade her as he always did when she was slightly off than usual.

"I'm fine, I promise. Now go, I feel like today I can finally sleep alone" she mumbled with closed eyes.

"That hurts. I thought we had a connection but now you don't need me anymore" he faked a sob, making her laugh at his ridiculousness as she shooed him away with her hand. "Fine, I'm leaving. Call me if you need"

"I definitely will"

As soon as he was gone, Avery curled up in pain while taking deep breaths to calm her pain. It was way too early for her to go into labour since she was barely in her 8th month now.