Chapter 29

George gazed into his hands. The book that Teddy placed there could hold the answers to fixing everything. His breath was shaky and his hands trembled.

The group shared a quick anxious look before George swiftly opened the book and flicked through the pages rapidly until…

There it was.

A complete mirror of the page that was folded so carefully in his pocket. The five of them stood and stared at the page in awe. Fred jnr. was beaming from ear to ear, Molly had a huge look of relief on her beautiful face. Absentmindedly she was rubbing the stump that used to be her arm. Teddy wiped his brow as his hair changed from the grey-white colour it had been to a normal brown streaked with yellow. Angelina, however, was squinting down at the book.

"What's this for?" she asked, "Why are we all in the restricted section? George, I asked you not to get me involved with yours and Fred's stupid pranks!"

Four heads snapped up sharply.

"You- you're joking, right?" Fred stuttered, staring at his mother.

"Angie?" George breathed in concern.

"What, George? Why did you come back, you've left the shop!"

"No, no, no. Angie-"

"Who are these anyways?" Angelina continued, looking at Fred, Molly and Teddy. Her eyes stopped on Teddy and she gazed at him before leaning into George and whispering, "That guy's hella cute."

Fred and Molly gasped. Teddy blushed and glanced apologetically at George who was staring at his wife in complete shock.

"What's wrong with you? Come on, you're George Weasley you should be teasing me or something by now!" She swatted his arm playfully, but when no one responded she continued, "Oh come off it, George, I know I told you I like Fred but admit it, this guy is on a whole other level of hot. No offence."

Fred and Molly cringed and closed their eyes in despair. Teddy looked as though he wanted to run away and be swallowed up by the trick stair; his hair had turned an uncomfortable shade of green which caused Angelina to squeal.

"He's a metamorphagus too! Oh, George forget everything I ever said about Fred!"

George was struggling to breathe. Of course this wasn't Angelina's fault. Molly was cringing so much she was starting to get cramp in her neck. It was possibly the most uncomfortable and confused she'd ever felt. Angelina was confessing her love for her husband's twin brother in front of said twin brother's daughter and her own husband and son while also fangirling over a man whom she considered family. No one thought it could possibly get any more awkward.

But then, Fred barged in.

"Lovely to see you all," he began loudly, "But I hear we've got a bit of a problem which I don't fully understand but needs sorting out."

"Dad!" Molly exclaimed, running forward, "You remember!"

"Not quite. I assume you must be Molly?"

"You- you don't remember me?"

"I'm sorry sweetie. I wish I did."

"How are you-"

"I got a quick low-down from your-" he pointed to Angelina and George, "beautiful little girl. Needless to say I'm very confused, but, nevertheless, I'm here to help."

I got more awkward.

"My little girl?" Angelina asked, "With George?!"

"Yeah! Roxanne, she said her name was, I think?"

"But I- I don't like George. Not like that, anyway. I would never have his child!"

A lot more awkward.

George looked like he was about to faint. His face was pale and his mouth slightly open in shock. Fred jnr. ran over to his dad and dug his hand into George's pocket until he pulled out a small piece of paper. A tear began to form in his eye as his face fell and he dropped the paper. What had once shown a happy family photo, now had faded to show a picture of two ginger twin boys in Quidditch uniforms, batting a bludger to each other.

"It's ok," Teddy said, coughing awkwardly and stepping forward, "We have this, we can sort it out, yeah?" He patted George reassuringly on the back and gestured to the book, "Let's get to work on this potion."

The next few hours were spent poring over the method and collecting ingredients. After nearly half an hour of Angelina flirting shamelessly with Fred and Teddy, the group had sent her back to the Great Hall under strict instructions to look after the students there. Admittedly, that might not have been the best plan considering there were no other adults present but desperate times called for desperate measures.

George didn't seem to have quite recovered from seeing his wife try to hook up with his brother, so he too excused himself to take a walk. Fred jnr. was in hysterics, watching in fear as his arm gradually started to fade- it wasn't long before he too was sent to rejoin his friends, leaving only Fred, Molly and Teddy to get to work on the potion.

"Well," Teddy said as they all gathered around a cauldron in the dungeons, "That was awkward."

"Is," Fred said, "It is awkward."

Molly sighed sadly, "Yeah. Let's get this made quickly so we can sort this mess out."

Several sweaty and stressful hours later, it was finally completed. The three had followed the instructions perfectly, checking and double checking what it was they were doing before they actually did it. So, in front of them stood a cauldron full of orange antidote. It smoked slightly, just as the book said it should, and gave off a soft scent of burning wood.

"We did it," Molly breathed, looking up at her father who was staring at her strangely, "What?"

"You're really beautiful," Fred said, "Are you sure you're mine?"

Molly laughed, "Unless there's something mum didn't tell me."

"Damn, she must be one sexy woman something as fine as you."

"Hey!" Molly exclaimed.

"What? I'm just saying I did well."

"Well stop it," Molly scolded, "And you can tell that to mum when I've taken this and everyone's ok again."

"Surely I've told her before!"

"Yes, but something tells me she'll want to hear it again. Trust me."

Fred took a sharp intake of breath, "Rough patch?"

"Very," Molly agreed, "It's worse than bad."

Fred cringed and turned back to the steaming cauldron, "How about you have a bit of this then, sweetie?"