Songbird ; Fred Weasley

Sixty

Four and a half years later

-

"One, two, three..."

The small voice counted each stair we climbed, her hand holding mine.

"four, five, six..."

She paused and she stopped, tugging at my hand. I paused on the seventh step, looking down at my daughter as she looked up at me with a deep frown on her face.

"Mama, what comes after six?"

I smiled.

"Remember the song you and daddy sing before bedtime?" I asked. "Try and sing it in your head."

Instead of singing it in her head, she sang it out loud, her light voice echoing through the hallway.

"One, two...buckle my shoe. Three, four... shut the door. Five, six... pick up sticks." And then she smiled big as she continued. "Seven..."

She took one step up, now on the same step as I, and I softly sang along to the rest of the song.

"Eight...don't be late. Nine, ten... do it over again!" We reached the top and she cheered, causing me to laugh at her enthusiasm. "I did it mama!"

"I'm so proud of you, baby." I smiled, running my fingers through her hair as I pressed a kiss to her head.

"Can we sing the rabbit song now?" She asked, and that's what we did as we climbed the next set of stairs.

Though my daughter's voice carried over mine, her happiness radiating off of her.

"Rabbits, rabbits one, two, three, will you come and play with me? Camels, camels four, five, six, why do you have a hump like this? Monkeys, monkeys, seven, eight, nine, will you teach me how to climb? When I have counted up to ten, the elephant says now start again."

She giggled as we finished the song, and then she let go of my hand and ran up the remaining stairs until she reached the floor we loved on.

"Daddy!" She exclaimed when she saw Fred who stood in the doorway, probably having heard the singing.

She jumped into his arms and he laughed as he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up off the floor.

"Do you remember what comes after ten?" He asked her as he brushed some of her wild hair out of her face.

She shook her head so Fred whispered it in her ear.

"Eleven!" She shouted and looked at me. "Mama, I can count to eleven!"

I smiled widely as I walked over to them. I pressed a kiss to her temple. "You're so talented, you are? Who would've known?"

"I knew!" She said as Fred put her back down.

She ran inside, and Fred turned to me with a soft smile.

"Did you have a nice day?" He asked, stepping aide to let me in. I shut the door and locked it, then turned back to face him.

"I might graduate early." I said, smiling up at him. "They told me today."

"Really?" A smile spread across his face as he watched me.

He slid his arms around my back and pressed his lips to mine.

"Maybe already by Christmas." I whispered and he kissed me again.

"That's so great, gorgeous." He said and then hugged me.

I buried my face in his chest, taking in the smell of him. I ran my hands up his back and held onto the back of his shoulders while his arms were tight around my back.

"I'm so proud of you." He said. "So proud."

"Mama!" The small voice pulled us out of our moment. "Can I have a juice box?"

I rested my head against Fred's shoulder as I looked at our daughter.

"I'm not sure we have any juice boxes." I teased, pulling away from Fred. "Should we go check?"

"Mama!" She whined, following me into the kitchen, and I couldn't help but laugh.

I opened the fridge where the juice boxes were visible on the lowest shelf.

"Hmm... I think we've run out."

"Mama, they're right there!" She shrieked and pointed.

I laughed before I grabbed one of the juice boxes and handed it to her, then shut the fridge again.

"Phoebe!" Fred called. "Come pick your coat up off the floor!"

Her eyes went wide with alert at Fred's strict tone, but then she ran out into the hallway to clean up after herself.

I walked out there too, pushing off my shoes and hanging my coat on the wall while Fred waited as Phoebe cleaned up.

We both knew that if someone weren't there to make sure she did it, she would get distracted and run off after two seconds.

I walked back into the kitchen and peaked into the oven, smiling when I saw the lasagna sitting in there.

Fred's lasagna was the best thing in the entire world.

Normally we didn't eat a warm meal at this time, since it was only the afternoon, but we had guests coming over.

Max and Flynn would be over for a meal. They had just moved into a flat nearby. It hadn't been on purpose, but they saw a flat they liked and could afford, so they moved in.

It had been difficult for them to find a landlord that wanted to have them in their building. A lot of places didn't allow gay couples to rent flats.

But they found one and they were thrilled.

So was Phoebe because that meant she got to have two of her uncles nearby.

Fred walked into the kitchen, carrying Phoebe's school bag. He put it on the island while Phoebe crawled into one of the chairs.

"Did you do something interesting at school today?" He asked while I found a glass and poured myself some wine.

Phoebe rested her chin in the palm of her hand and shook her head.

"No... wait, yeah we did!" She perked up with a huge smile on her face. "We painted pictures and I painted a picture of uncle Max and uncle Flynn. But I couldn't take it home because it isn't dry yet."

I smiled, taking a up of my wine.

"Maybe you can take it home on Monday and we can walk over and give it to them."

Fred cleared out her backpack, the lunchbox that needed cleaning and her bottle of water that needed to be emptied.

"Do you have any homework?" He asked her. "Something you need help with?"

"Nope." She shook her head and took a sip of her juice box.

Fred paused and narrowed his eyes at her.

"You lying to me, young lady?"

Phoebe tried to hide her smile, but the small evil smile that found it's way onto her face revealed that she had indeed been lying.

"Why, you little—"

She screeched and jumped off the chair before Fred chased her through the flat.

Her laughter filled the flat and it was the most amazing sound I had ever heard.