Light and Darkness

FORTY-EIGHT

FORTY-EIGHT:

I dressed Iris in a cute, little pink dress I had bought for her months ago, but was slightly too big. Fred entered the bedroom in a panic, "You ready to leave?" He asked.

I picked Iris up with a smile, "Yes." I turned to Iris, "Are you excited? You're one year old today."

The toddler bounced around in my arms with delight. "Mum was expecting us quite some time ago. George is just closing up the shop now."

I exited the room with Iris in my arms, Fred following close behind. George entered the apartment, "That's the last of them. I couldn't get them to leave." He said, referring to this morning's customers. "Are you both ready?" Fred and I nodded. The three of us headed over to the fireplace that rested in the living room. It was quite inconvenient despite times like these. We all squeezed into the fireplace with George taking a handful of Floo Powder that was left in a container beside the fireplace. George cleared his throat, "The Burrow." He said quite clearly, throwing the powder down. We were engulfed by the green flames. Seconds later, we were standing in the fireplace of The Burrow; the Weasley's home.

The house had been decorated by Mrs Weasley. Pink banners, balloons and streamers were spread throughout the house. I smiled at the effort Mrs Weasley put in for Iris' birthday. "Ah, there you are." A voice was heard, quickly approaching. Mrs Weasley appeared greeting both of her sons with a hug and hugging me quickly. Her attention was quickly devoted to Iris, "Happy birthday, darling." She smiled, opening her arms for her granddaughter.

Iris smiled and happily wrapped her arms around Mrs Weasley's neck. "You really didn't have to do this, Mrs Weasley." I smiled to her, my arms becoming significantly lighter.

Mrs Weasley kissed Iris before smiling to me, "It's my only grandchild's first birthday, of course we have to have a fuss." She said, "Arthur! Iris is here!" Mrs Weasley swiftly left on a quest to find her husband.

We stepped out of the fireplace, looking at the decorations in awe. All of a sudden, I heard footsteps run down the stairs. Ginny Weasley turned the corner and smiled to her older brothers, "It's so good to see you." She smiled to them, embracing each of them in a hug. She let go of her brothers and turned to me, unknowing what to do. "Bexley." She smiled weakly, not touching me, not going anywhere near me.

I smiled back to her, "It's good to see you, Ginny."

Ginny diverted eye contact with me and looked to Fred, "Where's Iris? I have her present upstairs for her."

"Mum has her somewhere. I think she was looking for dad."

Ginny thanked him and ran back upstairs, each thud heard clearly on the way. I turned to Fred who looked a bit uncomfortable, "If you don't want me to be here, I'll leave." I said to him.

Fred furrowed his brow to me, clearing his throat, "No, no. You're Iris' mother and my girlfriend and if I want you here, that's my choice."

I smiled to Fred's response. We made our way to the sitting room. A tray of pink frosted cupcakes rested on the coffee table. "Now it's a party." George smiled, picking the one with the most frosting. He sat down and engulfed the cupcake in no more than two bites. Fred and I simply laughed to him. "They're really good." He said, his mouth full of cake.

We sat there for a moment; Fred and George tucking into the cupcakes. Mr Weasley soon joined us with Iris in his arms. He sat down in an armchair opposite us. "Is she allowed cake?" Mr Weasley asked, looking at the cupcakes and then to Fred and I.

Fred chuckled with a nod, "Yeah, she loves frosting."

Mr Weasley leaned forward and grabbed one of the last cupcakes left and broke it in half for Iris. Iris grabbed onto the cake tightly and put whatever she could in her mouth, smiling once she tasted the frosting. In the distance, I heard Mrs Weasley speaking, quite loudly. I looked to Fred, "I'm going to use the lavatory. I'll be back in a minute." I smiled to him. I got to my feet and made my way up the stairs toward the bathroom but became quite indulged in what I heard of Mrs Weasley's conversation.