Chéri || Fred Weasley

lxxxiii

With taking care of Teddy, being busy with the final details before the café's opening and spending time with her friends and family, Madeleine felt like she barely had any time for herself. She was so used to being on her own that sometimes, being surrounded by so much people felt suffocating. She had come to an agreement with Andromeda so that Teddy could stay with her in the flat four days a week but internally, Maddie wished he could stay with her all the time.

Everyone around her could tell the changes she had done to take care of Teddy the way Tonks and Remus would have wanted her to. Maddie was barely getting the grasp of 'motherhood,' but she couldn't deny that she was happy. She loved her godson with all of her heart and learning how to be a parent was as challenging as it sounded but wonderful nonetheless. Fred and Maddie had also kept their silent agreement of keeping their distance between them which was slowly tearing Madeleine from the inside out, unbeknownst that he was feeling the same way.

Maddie was hanging out George and Lizzie in the flat above the shop late one afternoon when a new recipe idea came to her head. Leaving the couple completely perplexed, Maddie bolted into the twins' kitchen to write it down in a spare piece of parchement, threw her hair in a tight ponytail and began cooking her newest invention.

"What are you doing here?" Angelina said rudely when she came out of Fred's bedroom to encounter Madeleine in the kitchen.

"I'm cooking," the blonde rolled her eyes, stating the obvious.

"Who invited you?" Angelina snapped.

"We did," Liz said coldly as she walked inside the kitchen

"And why are you here cooking?" Angelina frowned. "Don't you have a kitchen of your own?

"Oh I do, but I got a new idea that I needed to try instantly," Maddie said and tried to allow her temper to simmer down before exploding. "And I also cook for them because God knows that none of them can cook to save a life so I would rather make them food so Liz and George won't die from food poisoning."

"Godric's left ball, this is amazing," George moaned between bites of the dish Maddie served him.

"Glad you liked it Georgie, I'm gonna go now actually, I have to check some things out before I head home," Maddie smiled at her two friends. "Liz, try it out and let me know what you think of it later."

"Oh, hey," Fred grinned as he bumped into Maddie, "smells good."

"Why are you all sweaty and gross?" Madeleine scrunched her nose and looked at him.

"I was out for a run," Fred shrugged.

"I'll go left you go right," Maddie said and once again, got lost in his eyes like she did every time they were that close. "You know I don't like being near sweaty people."

"Some things never change," Fred chuckled. "Where's Teddy?"

"Andromeda's, I get him from Sunday to Thursday-"

"Freddie!" Angelina said in her fake sweet voice and went over to link her arm with his. "I forgot to mention that I changed the date with the venue, we're getting married the third Sunday of April! The seventeenth!"

"Right," Fred nodded slowly and exchanged one subtle look with Madeleine.

"I'm leaving now," Maddie cleared her throat before heading out the door, "take care!"

"Remember the party tomorrow!" George said loudly from the kitchen as she went down to the shop to leave the building.

The heavy knot in her heart tightened at what Angelina had said, in a month and one week she would lose Fred forever and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. Not even her. She shook her head and went over to the café that was already finished, only missing a few details before the gran opening.