Lean On Me (SEQUEL)

Chapter 7

Athena

"I cannot believe you just did that. Can you believe you just did that? I can't! You look like a fool!" I cackled at Fred. A white beard cascaded down his chin, and his orange hair had now reverted to a grey. He and George had shown a failed attempt at crossing Dumbledore's age line.

"Oh shut up." He muttered, running a hand through the newly appeared facial hair.

"You love me." I said, kissing his cheek. He gave a grunt of discontent.

"Sometimes." He laid his head back on the pillows. His eyes fell over me as I sat beside him. Madame Pomfrey was mixing a potion to rid them of their effects. I let a hand rest on my stomach. It had grown slightly, but not enough for anyone to notice. It was easily concealable within my robes. The day we found out, we shipped letters out to Fred's parents and my own. We had yet to receive replies. I was nervous, more so about my father than anyone. Remus I knew would be able to deal with it. Molly was accepting of mistakes her children made.

"That's rude. I think me and the child are going to leave. Maybe you can think about your actions while we're gone." I said, standing up. Joking was the only way we got through it. I still was hurting over the fact of our carelessness. I was scared that we would grow to love the baby, and not want to give it up. Deep down, we knew we had to. It would be the only logical thing to do. When I stood up, he pulled me in and kissed me lightly. I let myself rest there for a moment, annoyed at the scraggly beard framing his face.

"I love you." He stated. A blush dusted across my cheeks.

"I love you too, Freddie." I smiled. "I'm still leaving. I don't want to sit and watch you drink that nasty potion." I said. With that, I walked out of the hospital wing, bidding a small goodbye.

**

The next morning, I woke up and got changed. When I pulled off my shirt, I stopped abruptly. I looked in the mirror hanging from my wall. It was early, nobody else was even stirring yet. I let my hand fall over my stomach, rubbing it gently. A sinking feeling arose in my chest. The bump seemed to have gotten bigger overnight. I knew soon enough, it would be too hard to hide it. I looked over to see Angelina still sound asleep. She was faced towards the wall. She wouldn't have saw it even if her eyes were open. I pulled on my robes, and brushed through my tangled hair. When I finished, I trotted down the steps to the common room, and up to the boys dorm. I disappeared through the doorway of the twins room.

"Fred!" I shook him awake. He jumped with a startle, nervous that something had happened. His roommates didn't respond to my noise. The boys could sleep through anything.

"What? Are you alright!?" He asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. I gave him a nod.

"Look." I whispered, pointing to the small bump that had started to grow. He laughed and pulled me into a hug. It was a relief knowing the baby was growing. Despite our wishes not to keep him or her, we still wanted them to be okay. We knew somebody else could give them a life they deserved.

"He's certainly getting bigger." Fred grinned, pulling me into a hug.

"What makes you so certain it's a 'he'?" I questioned, smiling at his words.

"Have you seen my genetics? It's clearly going to be a boy." He grumbled, kissing my cheek. His beard had been reversed, and his hair was back to its normal colour. It was a relief seeing him back to his normal self. It was a little stressful thinking he might be stuck like that for a while.

"You never know, Freddie. I might just surprise you and pop out a girl." I joked. "Let's go get breakfast, I'm getting hungry." Luckily, my nausea had subsided. I could eat without issue anymore. The sleepiness had worn off as well. It got people off my back, making them believe I really did just have a flu. He stood at my words, pulling on his robes over his pyjamas. He did that often. His motto was, if nobody could see them, nobody would know.