A Fruitful Love ; The Potter Twins

9. Going Home for Christmas

For the next two months, Harry kept teaching his defence against the dark arts lessons. They were having to be careful around Umbridge, but so far everything was going well. Soon, the end of term approached and they reached the final week of term.

That morning, Hermione went into the bathroom to find Elena in there. She was standing wearing just her underwear and looking down at her stomach in the mirror.

"Good morning, El," said Hermione. "Are you okay?"

"Hey, Hermione. Do you think I'm starting to show?" Elena asked.

Hermione looked carefully at Elena's stomach. It did seem to be slightly larger with a noticeable bulge beginning to grow. "Err, yeah, maybe a little bit," she said.

"Urgh. Do you think George will still think I look good?" asked Elena.

Hermione smiled then went over and hugged Elena. "Don't worry, you still look gorgeous," she said.

Hermione was still hugging Elena when the bathroom door opened and Ginny came rushing in. Her eyes were red and she looked like she had been crying.

"El, I was looking for you," said Ginny. "It's dad, he's been hurt."

"Ohmigod, is he okay?" Elena asked.

"I'm not sure," said Ginny. "We've got to go to Dumbledore's office, then we will find out more."

Elena rushed back to the dormitory to get dressed quickly. Then she and Ginny went to Dumbledore's office. When they got there, Dumbledore was pacing around the room talking to the portraits on the wall. Harry was there too, and he looked pale and tired. Ron was standing beside him with Fred and George.

Elena rushed over to George and hugged him tight. "Do you have any more news?" she asked. "Is Papa going to be okay?"

"He is hurt, but hopefully it's not too bad," said George. "He's been taken to St Mungo's hospital for treatment."

As George held Elena close to him, the door opened again and Professor Snape came in. "You wished to see me, headmaster?" he said.

"Yes, and it can not wait any longer," said Dumbledore. "You need to take Harry for some occlumency lessons."

Snape took Harry by the hand and led him out of Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore waited until they had left before he turned to the others. "We are not sure what was behind the attack on your father," he said. "So for your safety, I am going to send you all to the Order headquarters to stay with your mother."

"You mean at Uncle Sirius's house?" said Elena.

"Yes, that's it," said Dumbledore. "Go quickly to your dormitories and pack up your things."

The five of them quickly left Dumbledore's office and walked back to the Gryffindor common room. When they arrived, Hermione was sitting on the sofa waiting for them. She jumped up and went to hug Ginny, then she hugged Elena, and lastly she gave Ron a quick hug too.

"What has happened?" Hermione asked.

"Our dad has been hurt," said Ginny. "And we are being sent to Grimmauld Place."

An hour later, their bags were packed. Elena and Ginny went back to Dumbledore's office. It took the boys a bit longer to get organised, but eventually they were all ready to leave. Dumbledore got them all to hold hands, then he apparated them all to 12 Grimmauld Place.

They all appeared in the front room. It looked a lot cleaner than the last time they had been here, so they could tell their mother was around.

"I need to get back to Hogwarts," said Dumbledore. "But you should all be safe here."

Just as Dumbledore had disappeared, the door opened and Sirius walked into the room.

"Hey, Sirius," said Elena.

Sirius didn't say anything, instead he pulled out his wand and pointed it at Fred. Then he switched to pointing at George, then back to Fred.

"Urgh, you look the same," said Sirius, angrily. "Which one of you is George?"

George quickly dived to the side and hid behind Elena.

"You feckless cur, come forth and face me!" cried Sirius.

"Sirius, please leave him alone!" cried Elena.

From the next room, Remus heard the shouting and came running. He quickly grabbed hold of Sirius from behind.

"Calm down, old friend," said Remus.

"Calm down? You know what he's done to her!" Sirius shouted.

"Yes, but remember what we talked about. It's not a bad thing," said Remus, in his best calming voice. "Elena is fine, remember. He hasn't hurt her."

"He better not hurt her," said Sirius. "Or he will be in trouble."

"You better not be threatening any of my children, Sirius Black," said a voice from outside the room.

Everyone turned around to see Molly walk into the room. Her voice was quiet and calm, but her eyes were burning brightly with a furious anger just below the surface. Sirius shuddered at the sight of her. It was more scary than anything he had seen in all those years inside Azkaban.

There was no way that Sirius was brave enough to stand up to Molly. He put down his wand and gave a laugh that was not entirely convincing.

"Haha, I was just joking around with the boys," he said.

Molly folded her arms in front of her chest and glared at Sirius. "Perhaps you should take their bags upstairs," she said.

Sirius sheepishly took hold of the children's luggage and took it up to their bedrooms. Once he was gone, Molly came up to Elena and gave her a big warm hug.

"Hello Elena, how are you feeling?" said Molly.

"Not too bad," said Elena. "The morning sickness is getting better slowly. I'm still feeling a bit more tired, but it's not so bad."

"That's good," said Molly. "And has George been looking after you?"

"Yeah, he's really great," said Elena. "He made me some sweets to stop me from being sick."

"They were supposed to be puking pastilles, but the recipe went a bit wrong. So we gave them to Elena instead," said George.

"Awww, he's a sweet boy, in his own way," said Molly.

Then Molly led everyone through to the kitchen where she had been preparing some food.

~~~~~

The following day, Molly popped out just after lunch. Ginny and Remus were in the kitchen washing the dishes, while the others were in the front room. Ron and Fred were playing a game of wizard's chess. Elena was cuddling up with George under a blanket on the sofa. Sirius was sitting brooding in the corner and staring at Elena and George.

They heard a noise from the hallway, and Dumbledore apparated with Harry. Elena jumped up off the sofa and went to give Harry a hug.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Elena asked.

"I'm okay, I just stayed behind to get some extra lessons with Snape," said Harry.

"That sounds like torture," said Ron.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, but didn't respond to what Ron had said. "Well yes, I hope you all have a good Christmas," he said. "But I should return to Hogwarts."

"Do you have to rush off?" Sirius asked. "Molly made some mince pies and mulled wine in the kitchen."

Dumbledore's eyes lit up. "Molly's mince pies you say? Well I suppose I don't have to rush off straight away," he said.

"Great, then let's all go to the kitchen," said Sirius, merrily. "Mulled wine for everyone. Err, apart from Elena. You can have some orange juice instead."

They were all sitting around the table when Molly returned pushing Arthur in a wheelchair. "Daddy's home," she said happily.

Everyone cheered and welcomed Arthur home from the hospital. And for the next few days, they all forgot about their worries and had a lovely Christmas together.