TW: Pregnancy, major character death
You had so many mixed emotions when you looked at the test. Your hand flew to your mouth and tears filled your eyes. Butterflies went crazy in your stomach. You were going to bring a baby into the world. But not the sort of world you'd pictured when you imagined this moment. You allowed yourself a couple of minutes to absorb the information before taking some deep breaths and wiping the tears from your eyes. As you opened the bathroom door you collided with a firm chest.
"Blimey y/n/n, sorry, I-" but Fred fell silent as his gaze drifted to the stick in your hand. Your eyes widened and you hid it behind your back, but it was too late. "Y/n... is that what I think it is?"
You debated lying, but there was no point, you wouldn't be able to hide the truth from him now. Checking the hallway to make sure you were alone, you forced yourself to say the words.
"I'm pregnant." You looked down at the floor, digging your toes into the carpet, anxiously awaiting his response. Surely Fred would be disappointed that you were pregnant now, that you were bringing a baby into this. But Fred's arms wrapped around you and he lifted you off the ground.
"Merlin's beard y/n/n, that's brilliant! Georgie's gonna be so happy-"
"I'm not telling George." Fred put you down and looked at you with furrowed brows, hands still holding onto your arms as though he didn't want to let go completely. "Not yet. Tomorrow is just so... huge. I don't want him distracted or... or worrying about me."
Seeing the resolve in your eyes, Fred knew there was no changing your mind, so he enveloped you in another hug and mumbled in your ear, "I'll look out for you, you have my word. But If it's going to be a secret you might want to stop waving that stick around." You slapped him lightly, but hid the test in your pocket nonetheless.
-
You and George stood side by side, the rest of your families not far away, a united team. It was the calm before the storm, and the castle was completely silent. You couldn't believe that this used to be your school, your home. Soon to be a battleground, inevitably covered in bloodshed. A shiver ran down your spine before you pushed those thoughts to the back of your mind. Now, more than ever before in your life, you needed to focus. You observed the grey skies, the cold bite to the air, as you listened, waiting for any sign of movement.
Something brushed against your fingers and you jumped, your hold on your wand tightening, before realising it was George. "Sorry love." he whispered as he clasped your hand in his own and squeezed it reassuringly. You squeezed back, leaning in to him so that the side of your body was flush with his. George, your George, your boyfriend of 6 years and the soon-to-be father of your baby. You sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening, asking that you, George, and bump would survive.
"I love you Georgie." Your voice was barely a whisper, but in the silence he heard you perfectly.
"I love you too y/n." You could see the fear in his eyes, watched as he bounced his leg and looked nervously around. You pressed a delicate kiss to his cheek, lips lingering on the stubbly skin.
Suddenly the shields surrounding the castle began to break, and the scene turned to utter chaos. You and George stood back to back, casting spells at death eaters, constantly scanning your surroundings in case anyone needed backup. Fred had joined you so you were now standing in a triangle, fighting enemies on all sides.
The battle was a blur, flashes of red and green all around, shouts and screams filling your ears. Pushing down thoughts of the baby, thoughts of George, and of everyone else you wanted to protect, you focused instead on what you could see, on what you could do. That is, until the moment time seemed to slow down. The moment when three death eaters apparated in front of you. You knew there was no way you'd win against all of them, but dammit you would not go down without a fight. As you lifted your wand to disarm the death eater closest to you, all three of them raised their wands, pointing them directly at you. You heard the words forming on their lips, seeming to take an eternity, words that haunted your worst nightmare. Words you had hoped never to hear in your lifetime.
"Avada-"
You watched a mess of ginger hair in front of you.
"NO!" Your mouth formed the word, feeling disconnected from the rest of you.
You watched his arms spread wide to shield you
"Expelliarmus!" You cast, disarming one of the three evil people threatening the life of those you held dearest.
You watched as he disarmed another one, doing his best to protect you just like he promised.
"Kedavra."
You watched as he crumpled to the floor in front of you, revealing the last death eater stood before him, the one responsible for taking his life.
You cast the curse back at him, not that you needed to because your scream had attracted attention, and curses were firing at him from all sides.
You fell to your knees next to Fred, letting out a scream that came from the depths of your lungs, your soul. You felt George beside you, turning to see him stare blankly at the lifeless face of his twin, of his other half. George was looking but not seeing, not registering, until suddenly he did, and he grabbed Fred's hand.
"No no no no, Freddie, wake up, wake up, it's me, it's George." His voice was breaking, and you cradled his head, brought it to rest in your chest as you held him, tears streaming down your face. "It's George, you know, like Forge? Gred? I can't be Forge or Gred on my own, I can't do it, you have to wake up, you have to." You clutched George tightly but his hands still held Fred's cold one, refusing to let it go, refusing to believe that he could be gone. "You have to. You have to."
The battle raged on around you but you couldn't bring yourself to care, George had to know. He had to know why this happened.
"I-" the words caught in your throat, it was so painful, your heart was aching, but George needed to know. "I know why he did it." George lifted his head, glazed, bloodshot eyes meeting yours.
"What?"
"He- he jumped in front of me because otherwise- otherwise it would've been me-" at this thought your chest constricted and you had to fight to breathe, "and he didn't want that because I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant Georgie, and he knew." The last bit came out as a mere whisper, but George was hanging on to every word, trying to make sense of it all.
"You're- you're pregnant?" You merely nodded. George finally found the courage to let go of his twin's hand, holding on to you for support because there was no way he could do this on his own, he needed you, his lifeline. He buried his face in your chest in an attempt to ground himself, and you clutched onto him, not daring to let go. The two of you rocked back and forth, unable to process the severity of the situation.
His family, his parents started to realise what had happened and were coming towards you, but you couldn't bear to see the looks on their faces, so you pressed your face on top of George's head, kissing him because he's still alive and Fred isn't and it's not fair and your baby's dad is alive and his uncle isn't.
You stayed there for hours, long after the battle ended. You'd won, but at what cost? You didn't know if you'd ever be able to breathe without feeling the pain in your chest, the weight filling you, reminding you of what Fred had done. What he'd done for you. You couldn't even imagine the pain George was in, losing half of himself. You didn't know what the future would look like or how things could ever be ok again. So you did what you could. You held on to George.
YOU ARE READING
Harry Potter Imagines
FanfictionA collection of reader-insert fics with both Golden Trio and Marauders-era Harry Potter characters, all written by me. A mix of fluff and angst. Trigger warnings listed at the start of each fic (please let me know if I've missed something). You can...
