George couldn't remember a time when he'd cried and smiled at the same time. Those were two things that were mutually exclusive for him. He could remember grinning so much his cheeks hurt when he and Fred had their official grand open for the WWW. There was so much pride swelling in him that day he feared he'd float off never to be seen or heard from again. He could also remember screaming at his old bedroom wall at the injustice of his brother fighting so hard to overthrow a regime only to die hours before that regime was destroyed. Tears were streaming down his face then like water from a faucet. When his sister had found him with his knees pressed against his chest and their room trashed, his eyes were so swollen and the tears falling so fast that he wouldn't have recognized her if it weren't for her distinctive red hair.

But only his son had ever made him cry and smile at the same time.

"Georgie," Angelina whispered. "Are you alright?"

Angelina looked tired. Her hair was frizzy and starting to curl up even though she'd straightened it this morning. Twelve hours was a long time, and Angelina had been in labor since ten that morning. George couldn't imagine bringing a human into the world like Angelina just had. It made him admire her all the more.

Their son had been born two hours ago. After his family and Angelina's father doted on the newest member of their family, they'd departed promising to come visit soon. George was sure his mother was already planning to wake them up at an ungodly hour tomorrow morning. That left him and an exhausted Angelina. And their son.

George didn't know how long it would take him to get used to that word.

"I . . ." He started to speak, but there were no words for what he was feeling right now. Instead, he looked back down at his infant son. He had Angelina's dark hair and her pretty complexion, but the sharp tilt of his nose, the rounded corners of his eyes, and the wide shape of his mouth were all George. His mother had sobbed while holding him, no doubt seeing traces of her other son in the little baby.

George thought he was perfect.

"What do you want to name him?" Angelina asked softly.

Maneuvering the baby to the baby to the crock of his left arm, George wiped his eyes with sleeve of his shirt and shook his head. They hadn't been able to decide on that. They'd turned a dozen names over between them, but none of them had seemed to fit; George never dared to suggest the one name that always felt right to him.

"I dunno, Ange," he said. "Nothing seems good enough."

Angelina bit her lip, nodding slightly.

George traced his finger down his son's nose, another bright smile blooming over his face when the baby grabbed onto his finger.

"He's got a strong grip," he said.

"Maybe he'll be a Beater like you."

Like Fred.

For the first time, the thought didn't feel him with sadness. Instead, he was happy that some memory of Fred would live on in this baby long after he was gone. It felt an awful lot like poetic justice.

"I like William," Angelina said.

George scrunched up his nose. "That's Bill's name."

"It's also my dad's name."

George would have to concede there.

And if anyone deserved someone named after them, it was Angelina's father. He was fucking brilliant. He'd raised Angelina on his own after her mum left them and had been to all of her starting Quidditch matches at Hogwarts and listened to her rant about Quidditch regulations, never complaining once. When George had started dating Angelina, he hadn't tried to give him a stern lecture or pointed looks of disapproval. Instead, he'd insisted that if George broke Angelina's heart, she was perfectly capable of kicking George's ass herself. And when Angelina had told him they were engaged, he'd cried and told them he how happy he was for them and how proud he was of them both.

"Yeah, I guess William is alright," he mumbled.

Angelina smiled softly. "Doesn't have to be his first name. I just thought it was a good strong name, and Merlin knows he's going to need one in this family."

George snorted. "Yeah, you're right about that."

With a grimace, Angelina leaned forward. "I was thinking."

George raised his eyebrows. "Should I be scared?"

She rolled her eyes. "I like the name Frederick." There was silence before she continued, George's eyes fixed on the baby. "And I know you never suggested it, but I know that you wanted to name him after Fred. So, I thought maybe we'd put the two names together. It just felt right to me." She bit her lip again. "As long as you know that this baby isn't a replacement-"

"He could never be that, Angelina," George interrupted, and no truer words could have been spoken. "No one could ever bring back what I felt for Fred. And . . . what I feel for him is nothing like what I felt for Fred."

He'd always thought of Fred has a part of himself, the other half to make him whole. They were a unit, perfectly in sync. Fred had been brash where he had been more reserved. Fred's eyes sparkled with cruelty where George's had glinted with a faint apology. Fred was captivated by the big picture while George focused on the intricate details. And then George had lost all that in one crushing moment that took him years to recover from.

But this baby, he felt like something new — something so extraordinary that George didn't even think his twin would understand if he were here. There was a fierce protectiveness in his chest, roaring like a lion. And he'd felt protective of Fred, too, but not like this. Never like this. The other part of him was overjoyed; so much joy that he thought he'd explode and confetti would rain down on Angelina and their baby. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt before.

When he glanced back up at Angelina, she had a hard look in her eyes; pride, he thought, like when she'd won the Quidditch Cup against all odds in seventh year. She had never looked at him quite like that before.

"Frederick William Weasley does have a nice ring to it," she said.

"Yeah, it does." The baby started to fuss, little grunts leaving his mouth as he nestled into George's chest. "Think he wants you."

He stood up and gently placed the baby in Angelina's arms.

"Hello, Freddy," she said, a smile overtaking her lips. "Hello, sweet boy."