Sunflower. [F. W]

81. Glee and sadness

Yet another month had passed and Bee and Fred had decided they didn't want to know the sex of the baby until it was born. They didn't want a gender reveal party, as they decided they'd push as little gender norms to the new baby as they could, claiming they wanted to let their kid experience life just like Sirius would have done with Bee: free, letting the kid express themselves. However, they decided that the secret keepers for the child's biological sex would be George and Lee. 

They were pacing around their living room, the envelope almost burning their coffee table as they looked at it. Inside there was the answer to the question had been asking themselves for months now: the sex of the baby. They had gone with Bee to the ultrasound, the last one. And after checking that what they had was indeed not twins, but just one healthy baby. They were glad the pregnancy was going great, and as intended, George had been playing his guitar a lot to the bump, claiming the kid had to come out singing Abba. 

"Babe, we have to open this." 

"What do you reckon it is, Georgie?" 

"A boy. I just feel it in my bones it'll be a boy. And Bee will have one of her revelations and will call the kid Sirius instead of Orion."

"I think it'll be a girl, you know?" Lee smiled. "She is going to be the spitting image of her mother, with Fred's hair. And a Gryffindor." 

"I swear to Merlin if they don't get into Gryffindor Freddie will have such a fit. Imagine Quidditch games!" 

The both of them laughed sitting down on the sofa, but the laughter soon died down. George and Lee wanted kids of their own, yet the wizarding world wasn't as kind as they should with same sex couples adopting young orphaned wizards. That's partly why Harry never went to Remus and Sirius, even after the later's name was cleared. Sure no one said anything when the two of them walked hand in hand in the streets, but systematic homophobia in the wizarding world was still a huge problem. So instead, Lee and George had to take on the role of the cool uncles. In the long run, it was okay with them. They knew they would spoil the kids rotten and that they would be to them like a second set of parents. 

"Shall we...?"

George nodded as Lee took out the ultrasound and the papers. 

"Oh my god" George whispered, his eyes filling with tears. 

"We're going to be uncles, my love."

"I love you so much Lee Jordan." 

Lee and George had been dating for a good 4 months and the three words were itching both of their throats already, but none of them dared to say anything. They had said I love you in their own different ways. It was the stolen smiles and lingering looks in the Great Hall, it was the way George's thumb rubbed Lee's knee when Snape was being an ass and he needed to calm down or the way the two fit like a puzzle when they cuddled. 

The both of them were doing just that in George's bed, the other twin and Bee were out on a date. But instead of going at it like crazy, they craved another kind of intimacy. George smiled at the boy in his arms, a boy he now got to call his. It hadn't been easy, at all. Lee was scared of his parents, George was nearly outed by some asshole and it was the first actual relationship for the both of them. Sure Angie and Alicia had been great flings and crushes. But it wasn't the same. George didn't get this tingly sensation at the end of his stomach when he kissed Angie. 

"Georgie?" 

"Yes Lee?" 

"I think I love you." He whispered. 

"I think I love you too." 

It had always been this simple with the two of them. Great love stories don't have to be complicated and extravagant like Bee and Fred, who had been going through a hell of a lot. Sometimes you just fall in love with your best friend, and you know it's forever. Sometimes love doesn't need angst and tears of frustration. It just needs to bloom and blossom, and one you let it do so, instead of getting just one flower, you get a whole garden. And that is what was beautiful about Lee and George. They had no rush, they were learning how to take care of each other and what it actually meant to love.

"What are you thinking about, love?" 

"The first time you said you thought you loved me." 

"And I still do Georgie. You are my best friend after all." 

But things weren't all that sweet everywhere. Draco had been looking for his mum for days. She left a note saying she had somewhere to be, but no one seemed to know where was she. He had looked for Narcissa everywhere she could have possibly gone. The only place Draco hadn't thought of yet was the manor. 

Instead he had turned to a new friend, someone who he realized wasn't so bad after all. Harry and Draco had started a little friendship, nothing major but they would meet over tea, mend little things and learn about the other. Draco had even confided in him about the Hufflepuff girl he had been seeing recently, who very ironcially was muggle born, first generation witch. The blonde boy knew Harry was in Auror training, so he turned to him to find Narcissa. 

"So you've looked everywhere?" 

"Everywhere Potter, I promise."

"Even... Well you know, even the manor?" 

"Malfoy Manor?" 

Harry nodded and Draco thought about it. Of course it had been Lucius. Draco feared the state they would find his mother in, and yet, Harry did not let Harry go with them. Not only it was far too risky, but it could make the Death Eaters this had something to do with Bee and put her at risk too. 

Turned out, it did have something to do with her. Harry and Ron, who now were work partners, walked into the Manor to find it empty. Almost. It wasn't until Ron was leaning into the wrong thing that it sank into wall and showed them a secret passage. The more they got in, wands illuminating the place, the more blood they saw all over the place. They noticed the place reeked too, like something had been rotting in there for days. Turns out, it did. 

The arrived to what they could only describe as a dungeon. It was full of corpses, Harry suspected most of them muggle born witched and wizards. They hadn't been dead for a long time, but the writing on the walls wasn't fresh. It read "Second Warning", something Harry knew instantly. Lord Voldemort didn't matter anymore, Bellatrix was thirsty for power and she was going to get it. 

What horrified the most, was the way they had found Narcissa. They had put her through the same torture they subjected Bee when she was kidnapped, meaning Narcissa had been stabbed and left to die. Ron took Narcissa into his arms, the pair not being able to apparate had to walk the same steps they did. As they were leaving the Manor, Narcissa stirred, and before passing out yet again, she let out in a whisper words that would have Harry awake for days. 

"Baby. Baby number 3."

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Heyyyy besties!

I wasn't planning on uploading today but it's almost 5 am and I'm very much heartbroken and in the ER, so I wrote a little something to keep me entertained and *not crying in this room*. Writing some Glee helped so much, and Harry and Draco mending things... They just make my heart happy.

I hope you are all okay and thriving, if you are reading this, stretch and drink some water!

-Berts <3 

Ps. I think my app has glitched and it only shows half of the chapter. I hope you could finish it well!!