A/N: Not a huge fan of this chapter, which is sad b/c Ron Weasley deserves better. But honestly, I'm kinda just ready to move onto the big stuff. Sorry, Ron. Shafted again.

Also, did you catch that Mexico vs. Brazil game? CRAZY. GO, TEAM KOREA! GO, TEAM USA!

IN A HURRY. WILL RESPOND TO REVIEWS NEXT UPDATE.

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Chapter 53: Of Full Circles

"MERLIN, FUCK!"

Rowan flinched as the walls of the Burrow shook under the force of Molly Weasley's screaming. She sat on the wooden floor of the Weasley's living room with Fred and George, both of whom wore heavy earmuffs to mask the sounds of their mother's spewing vulgarities. The two seemed delighted by the vibrations in the floor and played with their earmuffs, alternating between holding them down and then lifting them to let in a strange rhythm of silence and screams. They giggled and clapped their hands and sometimes even mimicked the strange groans and shrieks that came from the upstairs bedroom where Molly was currently in the throes of labor. Rowan grinned awkwardly – it was disturbing to hear toddlers making such noises, but also strangely amusing.

Though Rowan remained rather unperturbed by the eerie sounds emitted from above, one could not say the same for Remus, who sat beside her. He was quite pale in the face and quiet, cringing with each cursing tremor that echoed down the stairs. Between him, Molly, and the twins, Rowan was torn between a strange mixture of amusement, pity, and apprehension.

It was March 1st. The past two weeks had passed quietly since Remus' return home, and Rowan was quite glad for this cut of light into their somber days. Remus had steadily been pulling himself from the blank stares and dark days, but Rowan had insisted still that he withdraw from Order business for some time to recover, both physically and mentally. Though his numerous broken bones and bruises had healed with the help of Lily's meticulous care, the memories of the pain and violence that had been seen and suffered were not so easily erased. Rowan had found herself shaken awake by his night terrors on more than a few occasions, and the distant looks he'd taken on during the day in his silent moments were frighteningly reminiscent of darker days – days that had once taken him away from her.

The quiet fears from the year before crept back out dauntingly from the shadows. Though he had made no move to avoid her like two autumns prior, she still wasn't able to shake the terrible premonition that there was still more to come. And with Garrick Ollivander's cryptic words still fresh in her mind, the suspicions felt heavier than ever. Though he had shared his deepest fears and shames with her that first night in the Potters' flat, he hadn't opened up to her again about his disastrous mission. She couldn't help but wonder what other terrible things he'd witnessed amongst the Gladaman werewolves. How many had died? What happened to those poor children? She could only hope that Greyback's presence would fall back into the shadows. Perhaps they could survive the rest of this war without facing him again.

"YOU DID THIS TO ME! ARTHUR! YOU BASTARD! YOU DID THIS!"

Rowan was jerked from her dark thoughts as the house shook again. Remus cringed and squeezed Rowan's hand painfully as Molly's shrieking curses echoed throughout the house. Rowan grinned at his surprisingly squeamish reaction, to which he could only glare back weakly. She squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"You're going to have to nut up eventually, you know. What will you do when it's my turn?" she teased.

Remus turned a strange shade of green. "I'll… you…" he sputtered. He closed his eyes and leaned into her with a heavy look of nausea. He took a deep breath. "I'll manage somehow."

Rowan laughed and leaned her head against his affectionately. It was such a simple response – silly almost – but it sent a wave of relief through her. That distant future together was still there.

"Sirius! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Rowan sighed as another female voice shook the Burrow. There was a crash and a girlish squeal followed by a few childish snickers. Rowan could deduce that whatever Mina had thrown at Sirius had made contact, much to the amusement of Charlie. Then there was a banging slam from the kitchen. Rowan and Remus both jumped to see Mina standing in the doorway, looking livid and brandishing a wooden spoon like a weapon.

"Get out! Now!" she screamed.

A very contrite Sirius scampered out of the kitchen followed by a giggling Charlie, holding a few dragon figurines. Sirius was rubbing what looked like a growing welt on his forehead. Beyond the doorway in the back of the kitchen, Rowan could see James holding Percy in his lap at the table. He was rubbing the four year-old's back consolingly as the little boy sniffled and whimpered. Mina threw one last glare at her boyfriend and then slammed the door shut.

As soon as Charlie saw Remus and Rowan, his face lit up. He came galloping over to them and plopped himself onto the floor next to Remus with a grin, still clutching his toy dragons.

"Sirius is in so much trouble," he faux-whispered conspiratorially.

"Siri is trouble with Mee-nah, Row!" George echoed to Rowan in a loud whisper. He had discarded his earmuffs once again. Rowan smiled and nodded, giving up on the earmuffs.

"Yes, Sirius is in trouble with Mina. Very good, Georgie," she said back slowly. George beamed at her praise.

Sirius sat down next to the twins and glared at the eight year-old. "Shut up, you little prat," he hissed at Charlie. "I got in trouble because of you."

Charlie cackled maniacally and waved one of his dragons in the air at the twins, who both giggled and groped after the toy. Charlie grinned and held the dragon up. A flash of red fire shot from the dragon's mouth. The little boys squealed with delight.

"Chahlie! More fire!" Fred exclaimed. He had also removed his earmuffs, which were now hanging strangely from his head like a skewed crown.

Remus frowned. "Is that really a safe toy for a child?" he asked warily, shrinking back slightly at the sight of the toy.

"That's exactly what I said!" Sirius exclaimed with some annoyance! "He was waving that thing around like a da- – darn - flamethrower, and of course, Percy freaked out and started crying. So I grabbed the toy from him, and Mina thought that it was me!" He glared daggers at Charlie who only grinned back.

"Who even gave those to you?" Rowan asked with some apprehension. She pulled Fred back gently into her lap as she saw the toddler reach for one of the dragons.

Charlie grinned again. "Uncle Gideon," he replied smartly. He then waved the other dragon around and let out a loud roar. Sirius groaned and buried his face in his hands. Remus grimaced.

"We'll have to tell Arthur when they're done. I doubt Molly would let him have something like that if she knew what it did," he whispered to Rowan. As if on cue, there was another wailing cry from upstairs. Rowan cringed and nodded in agreement as they eyed Charlie carefully. He sprawled out onto the floor with Fred and George and began speaking in funny voices through the dragons to the toddlers. They both giggled conspiratorially.

Suddenly, a strange smell hit Rowan's nose. She sniffed the air carefully before her face scrunched up with discomfort.

"Which one of you farted?" she asked the twins. Fred turned towards her and grinned cheekily.

"Me! I pooted," he declared proudly. Remus snorted.

"Need to go potty?" he asked the little boy. Fred nodded enthusiastically. Rowan sighed and moved to get up, but Remus put a hand to her shoulder. She looked over to see him smiling gently and already standing with Fred.

"It's okay. I'll take them," he said to her. He then turned to George. "George, do you need to go, too?"

George also nodded and leapt to his feet.

"Time for toilet!" he exclaimed.

"We go together," Fred said, reaching a chubby hand out to his brother. They clasped hands clumsily and then ran off towards the toilet giggling. Remus sighed and jogged after them. Rowan watched the three of them run off with great affection.

She then turned to see that Sirius was also staring after them with a concentrated expression. He seemed to be thinking very hard about something.

"Don't hurt yourself there, champ," Rowan teased.

Sirius looked up with surprised to see her smiling questioningly at him. He glared at her for a moment before falling back into his thoughtful silence.

Charlie announced to the room that he was going to go look for Bill and wandered off with his dragons, leaving Rowan and Sirius in the room to their silence. He still seemed lost in thought, and Rowan's mind wandered here and there before settling back on her friend.

It was rare for them to be alone and not speaking. Though they often fell into a comfortable silence, this felt different. Sirius seemed very preoccupied with something and kept staring back to the kitchen. Was he feeling guilty about angering Mina still?

"Everything okay?" Rowan asked finally.

Sirius jerked up in surprised and turned towards Rowan again with that confused expression. Rowan gave him a concerned look but didn't push him any further. She saw his brow twitch with effort before he finally responded.

"Are you and Moony going to get married anytime soon?"

Rowan's eyes widened with surprise. She hadn't expected that, of all subjects, to be bothering him.

"No, probably not," she answered carefully. "I mean, we've talked about it. It'll happen eventually but probably not for a while. Why do you ask?"

Sirius looked hard at her again, eye twitching slightly. He seemed to be searching for the words to say.

"Will you have children?"

Rowan's brow furrowed. "That's the plan, eventually. Is everything okay? What's with the sudden interest?"

Sirius breathed deeply and leaned back against the couch. His head fell back slightly as he stared up at the ceiling. He didn't answer for a while. When Rowan had finally decided that he just wasn't going to answer, he spoke again.

"I want to propose to Mina."

Rowan's stomach seized. She sat upright and turned towards her friend. His gaze still remained on the ceiling.

"Sirius, that's fantastic news. Why are you so depressed about this?" she asked in rushed, quiet tones. Her heart was about to burst. Why was everything so quiet?

Sirius just remained listless. "I don't think she'll say yes," he said quietly. His brow twitched again.

Rowan stared hard at Sirius. She scoured her mind for every memory she had of the two together and every conversation she'd ever had with Mina regarding her relationship with Sirius. Since they'd graduated, she hadn't been as open about her private life as she had been while in school, but she'd never made any indication that she had doubts regarding her relationship. They'd even been living together for nearly two years now! Wasn't marriage the logical outcome?

"What makes you say that?"

Sirius just shook his head slowly. "I don't know," he replied. Every muscle in his face seemed to be focused on sorting through this issue. "I mean, we've never really talked about it – she's never been the kind of girl to settle down with just one guy for long. It took her years to even give me the light of day, and I don't even know how many boyfriends she had before then. I couldn't believe she'd agreed to go out with me at all, and then to move in with me? And then she's doing so well in the Auror Department. She won't want to take a leave if we decided to have a family. She'd definitely choose her career over me. And it's not like she's into kids either. And seriously, what kind of father would I make? I'd be the shittiest dad in all the wizarding world. I mean, did you see James in there with Percy? Even he's getting his dad shit together. If I can't even deal with a four year-old, how can I hope to be a godfather? How can I hope to be a real father?"

Rowan gaped slightly as his thoughts spilled and splashed around them. She'd never even considered that Sirius Black could have reservations about his relationship with Mina or concerns over fatherhood. Mina and Sirius had never seemed at all worried or troubled about their dynamic. Sure, they weren't the most outwardly affectionate couple and they bickered frequently, but that was just how they were. They never argued about anything serious, and they always went home together hand in hand. How long had these insecurities been eating away at him?

"Sirius, you need to talk to her about this. I can't answer any of these questions for you," Rowan said quietly.

Sirius breathed deeply again. "I know," he said, more to himself than to her. He still stared up at the ceiling.

"But you know," Rowan started carefully, "everything you just said… It reminds me of this conversation Mina and I had in school during our Seventh Year, right after I caught you too hooking up in the Owlery."

Sirius didn't look at her, but his lips twitched with some amusement at the memory. Rowan smiled softly.

"She'd fancied you already at that point for a while – did you know?"

Sirius' brow furrowed with confusion but didn't respond. His eyes were focused hard on some point on the ceiling she couldn't see.

"Almost an entire year – but she was too scared to tell you. I told her to talk to you about it, but she was sure you'd freak out, that you wouldn't want anything to do with committing to her. She said that she'd be 'the mockery of the whole house' or something like that."

Sirius finally looked over at her with a look of alarm. "But I'd fancied her for years! How could she not know that?" he exclaimed. Rowan could see a flicker of anger there.

She nodded in agreement. "I know. That's what I said, but she was sure that it had all just been a game for you, that you were too much of a playboy to ever commit to one girl, let alone to her. But she kept going along with whatever arrangement you had at the time because she wanted whatever she could get from you, even though she thought you were just using her," she explained slowly. Sirius' face screwed up with guilt. Rowan knew that telling him this was probably going to piss off Mina, but she hoped it'd be worth it in the end.

"You see? You two are so stupidly similar. If you would just talk to each other about this kind of stuff, you wouldn't have these misunderstandings," she said. "So just talk to her. If she doesn't want to get married, then don't get married. If she doesn't want kids, then don't have kids. Getting married doesn't mean that you love each other anymore than you do now, and having kids isn't for everyone. If you don't want to have children, that's fine. You're still a family. Fuck what anybody else says."

Rowan's words seemed to sink into Sirius slowly. She watched the muscles in his face relax slightly one by one until she could see the comprehension melt over his features. His frown remained but he nodded slowly.

"You're right. Thanks, Winnie," he said quietly.

Rowan smiled. "Of course," she replied. "And you and I are going to be kickass godparents. So stop bitching."

Sirius snorted, and finally, a smile spread across his face. "Yeah… yeah."

Suddenly, a long, shrieking wail echoed down the stairs and throughout the house followed by a loud shout of pain that sounded like Arthur. Rowan and Sirius jumped and looked around dumbly before breaking out into broad grins. The sound of a baby's cries rang out loud and clear. Another Weasley had been born.

"It's a boy!" came a muffled cry.

Sirius let out a barking laugh. "HA! A FUCKING BOY!" he bellowed. Rowan laughed as well, her chest swelling with great warmth. Poor Molly. Maybe next time she'd get that girl.

And so was born Ronald Bilius Weasley.

About an hour later, Arthur came down the stairs presenting his newest son, wrapped in a pink baby blanket. His face was coated with a thin sheet of sweat and a strange series of scratches along his forearms that looked disturbingly like the result of clawing fingernails, but the glowing look of pride on his face outshone it all.

"I'd been so sure it was going to be a girl this time!" mourned Molly. "I guess we'll have to put the girl's clothes away for now." Still, the tired look of motherly pride on her face had not been one of disappointment. Rowan could only hope that one day she'd have just as much to be proud of.

Another small boy with flaming red hair, "Ron" was the first newborn Rowan had ever seen. She could already tell that he'd look like Arthur. He already had his blue eyes and nose. She wondered which older brother he'd take after most. As she saw the small twins looming over their new baby brother with skeptical glares, she grimaced inwardly – she had a feeling there would be some tension there in the future.

Lily had been the Healer to oversee the delivery and was now collapsed tiredly on the couch, hand cradling her swelling stomach. James hovered over her with drinks and snacks and blankets with concerned looks and a steady flow of rambling anxiety. Rowan grinned with amusement as she watched Lily swat him away with some annoyance. She could only imagine how much worse James would get with the coming months.

Remus was quiet throughout the rest of the evening, electing to occupy the twins and keep them out of trouble. After coming out of the kitchen from helping Mina prepare dinner, she found him in the corner of the living room with both in his lap and a large copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Little Percy sat beside him as well, listening intently.

Rowan couldn't hear which story Remus was telling from his muted tones, but as she watched his face twist into silly expressions with presumably just as silly voices, the boys' faces all lit up with delight. Rowan's chest tightened almost painfully. The thought hit her quietly and with so much warmth that her breath left her for a moment: she'd have this for herself one day – with him.

Remus suddenly looked up, as if feeling her gaze on him, and smiled quietly at her before returning back to the book. The boys didn't seem to notice and continue listening with great rapture. Rowan had to shake herself before heading back into the kitchen.

At the end of the evening, Rowan and Remus tiredly stepped out into the cold together and headed back to his flat. As they walked down his quiet street, Remus took Rowan's hand in his and laced his fingers in hers. She looked up at him fondly. He smiled.

"What're you looking at, Delacroix?" he asked softly.

Rowan shook her head. "Nothing. Just happy," she said.

He squeezed her hand, and she sighed contentedly, leaning into him slightly as they walked. She hummed vaguely and gazed up at him again. The last full moon had been hard on him. The waning moon glowed blue against his skin. It was almost cruel how the soft light illuminated his face so kindly, devoid of his tired lines.

"Sirius is thinking about proposing to Mina," she said lightly.

Remus frowned. "Really?" he asked carefully. "He never mentioned anything to me about it."

Rowan smiled softly. "I don't think he's told anyone about it. I sort of pulled it out of him earlier while you were in the toilet with the twins."

Remus nodded vaguely. "I see," he said quietly. "You do seem to have that effect on people." He seemed to think hard for a moment. "What about you?" he asked.

Rowan looked up at him with confusion. "What about me?" she echoed.

Remus' mouth twisted with concentration. She could see that tendon in his jaw twitch slightly. His pace slowed as if he needed the energy to focus on his thoughts. Rowan looked up at him with concern. Finally, he stopped.

"Would you want to get married… like soon?"

Rowan's lungs seized. She gaped at him dumbly. He seemed to wince at his poor choice of words.

"It's not a proposal! I just mean… I don't know… shit… Shit, what the hell am I saying?" he rambled.

Rowan stared disbelievingly as he fumbled for control over his train of thought and mouth. He ran an anxious hand through his hair and looked around wildly for some sign of what he was supposed to say. He looked like he might scream with frustration at any minute.

A giggle bubbled at the back of Rowan's throat.

Remus stared with alarm at her as she fought to keep the grin from her face. She wasn't quite sure why she was laughing, but the enormity of the wave of relief that washed over her was almost overwhelming. They'd been together for how long now? She wasn't even sure anymore. It had been years, and yet he was still so clumsy with such matters. She still saw the deep lines of his inner turmoil on his face from the events of the past month, and yet, his current fluster was so endearing, so familiar. Despite all that had happened, he still wanted to marry her. She felt very warm against the early March chill.

"Remus, we could get married tomorrow or in 10 years. It wouldn't make any difference to me," she said fervently. Remus' mouth twitched slightly as her words sunk in. "As long as I know that you're mine and you're here to stay, no certificate or ring will change anything about the way I feel about you."

Remus' eyes burned into her. He took a deep, ragged breath. His hands gripped hers tightly to the point of discomfort. She smiled gently and leaned into him, breathing him and the cold night air into her lungs. His hands slid up her arms and wrapped tightly around her shoulders, holding her to him as he buried his face into her hair.

"Soon," he whispered. "I promise it'll be soon."

Rowan nodded into his chest and squeezed him back. His heat seemed to spread from her heart to the tips of her toes. She closed her eyes.

"I know."