This Train Don't Stop

Fred’s fork clattered to the table as his mouth dropped open. Blinking his eyes as if to wake up from the dream-filled sleep that he must have fallen into, he opened them to the realization that the scene that had just played itself out in his kitchen was, in fact, real. Finding his voice, he finally choked out a response. “You mean, we…”

The mother-to-be smiled broadly and nodded her head. “That’s right, Fred.” She frowned after a moment and glanced around the room. “You’re not upset, are you?”

Fred jumped up from the table, knocking over his chair. “How could I be upset? This is great news! I can’t say that this is what I was expecting, but, I don’t know what to say, I’m just so happy!” He crossed the room and embraced the woman in a tight hug.

“I love you so much, Fred. There’s no one I would rather have as the father of my child than you.” Her eyes sparkled as Fred combed his fingers through her hair.

“I love you.” He patted her stomach. Looking into her face, he grinned and kissed her cheek. “You too, Angelina.”

~*~

Seeing a hand wave in front of his face finally pulled Fred out of his stupor. Breaking the stare that he had let himself slip into, Fred shifted his gaze to the person who owned the offending hand. His eyes locked with GinnyÂ’s, whose grin grew as if she was about to burst out laughing at any minute.

“Fred, I don’t think Mum and Dad meant for you to nearly pass out with the news,” she gasped, unable to contain her amusement for another moment.

He took a quick sweep of his siblings seated around the table. George’s face was slack with disbelief, his mouth hanging open in a ridiculous fashion. Ron had taken a hold of his fork and knife and was furiously attacking a link of sausage on his plate, refusing to let his eyes meet those of anyone else in the room. Percy had already crossed the room and enveloped their mother in a large hug. Undoubtedly giving his congratulations, Fred couldn’t help but roll his eyes. ‘Once a perfect prefect, always a perfect prefect.’ Lastly, his eyes roamed next to him and settled on a beaming Ginny.

She winked at him and leaned over to whisper in his ear. “Don’t worry, Freddikins,” she said smugly. “Your secret’s safe with me. I won’t tell anyone else what you were mumbling about…except maybe Angelina!”

Fred could feel his face flush with embarrassment, even more so when Ginny started giggling uncontrollably. “I trust you’ll be finding another test subject for your new joke products. I think Ron wants to volunteer.” She looked positively triumphant. “I don’t think you would want me to ‘accidentally’ slip!”

Pushing himself away from her, Fred felt as if he needed to get some air. He knew that he could trust Ginny with his secret, or at least he thought he could. As he made his way to the doorway, he couldn’t help but be reminded of the time when Ginny had tried to tattle on Percy and Penelope. But then again Percy had it coming to him. She wouldn’t sell him out, would she? What could she possibly have against him? Groaning, he slapped his forehead. Fred didn’t want to know the answer to that question – the list was so long. He needed to get to his room as quickly as possible, but was stopped before he could leave the kitchen.

“Fred, do you have something to say to your mother?” Arthur said pointedly.

“Dad, I would like to say, and I speak for all of us, when I say, good job, old man!” George cam up from behind his father and slapped him hard on the shoulder. “You still got it in you!”

Fred couldnÂ’t help but laugh when his parents turned red with embarrassment. It was more laughable when PercyÂ’s face got a scandalized look on it and he smacked George upside the head and hissed at him.

It was then that Fred remembered what had caused him to drift off into his daydream in the first place. He could have kicked himself. His mother was having a baby. Walking over to his mother, he joined his siblings in their congratulations and well wishes. With the exception of Ron who remained seated at the table glaring at his mother icily, they had certainly taken less time than he to get over the shock of the news. “When is the baby due, Mum?” he asked quickly so he could get to his room as soon as possible.

Molly grinned and smiled at her son. “The medi-witch says that I’m four and a half months along. Fortunately, I’m not showing much yet, but I’m sure I will be soon. The baby should arrive sometime in the middle of December.”

Ginny clapped her hands together and squealed, grabbing Ron by the arm and jumping around him. “I hope she’ll be born on Christmas!! We’ll have to come home this year!”

“What makes you so sure he’ll be a girl?” Ron mumbled back. “Besides, why would you want another sibling at all?”

Fred rolled his eyes. He and George had been through this before. Ron was less than a year old when Ginny was born, so he was unable to revel in the jealousy of being a new big brother at the time. Fred reminded himself to make it a point to talk some sense into Ron later. “I’m going to go upstairs, Mum. If you need me, send George up to get me,” he grinned. “We’re going to take care of you!”

Molly laughed. “I’m not sick, Fred. I don’t need you boys to take care of me, but could deal with you giving up your pranks for awhile.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Fred saw George blanch and shake his head at him. “Of course, Mum. It’s the least we could do.” He smiled inwardly as he watched George harden his gaze. Shaking it off, Fred turned to Percy. “Do you mind if I use Errol to send a letter this afternoon?”

Percy slapped him on the back. “Just be careful with him. I don’t want him coming back to me with flowers sprouting from his ears or anything.”

Nodding quickly, Fred sprinted from the kitchen, taking the stairs two at a time. He was vaguely aware of George asking whether or not their father would still be taking them to get their Apparition licenses later in the day.

Reminding himself to find some clean robes for later, Fred rummaged through the pile of parchment he had stacked next to his nightstand and pulled out a blank sheet. Grabbing a quill and inkpot from George’s desk, he moved to his bed and sat cross-legged in the middle of it. Biting his lip, he dipped the point into the ink and began to write. “Dear Angelina…”

~*~

Angelina grabbed the letter back from Sirius. “Yes, Weasley!” She snapped before stomping into the kitchen where Callisto had prepared lunch.

SiriusÂ’ eyes followed her into the room. He winced as the door slammed behind her. Moving to couch that Angelina had occupied only moments before, Sirius sat down and stared into the fireplace, fighting the tears that threatened to fall.

“Sirius.”

He pulled his head up sharply and looked to his left as Callie emerged from the kitchen and closed the door behind her. He made no protest as she sat down next to him and draped her arms around his shoulder.

“I’m really sorry about all of this.” Callie shook her head. “I really did think it would be safer for her if I had raised her as a Muggle. I had never counted on her believing any of the rumors that have been circulating about you these past years.” She paused, before continuing to speak. “You have to understand that the only thing I was really concerned about at the time was keeping Angelina safe. I couldn’t save Orion, but I could try as hard as I could to save her. You know how important keeping her hidden was. If You-Know-Who…”

Sirius pushed her arm away from him and glared at her. “Call him Voldemort, Callie. He doesn’t deserve our fear.”

She shifted her eyes downward and looked at her hands, folded in her lap. “I wasn’t sorted into Gryffindor like you were, Sirius. I’m not nearly as brave as you…or Jessie. You’re my younger brother, but I still looked up to you. I tried, but no matter how hard, I never could be like you. When Orion was killed, I ran away.” She could feel her eyes begin to water with the memories. “I took Angie and ran. I was a coward.”

Sirius sighed and pulled his sister closer to him. “Don’t think that way, Cal. You did what you thought was right at the time and as much as I hate to admit it, Snape was good to you. He was there when I couldn’t be.” At the mention of his arch nemesis, Sirius’ eyes hardened and his mouth thinned to a line.

Callie stood up to return to the kitchen. “Thank you for asking him to look after us, Sirius. I know that was a hard thing for you to do.” She looked over to the sofa once more before adding, “Come into the kitchen and have some lunch. It’ll take a while for her to get used to everything, but she will. I promise.”

Sirius heard the door click shut behind her. After sitting quietly for a moment, he followed her into the kitchen. His niece would accept him eventually. He had to keep reminding himself that unlike his godson, Angelina had grown up in a household with someone who truly loved her and, because of this, was less eager to fully place her trust in a stranger.

He looked at Angelina sitting down at the table, a piece of toast in one hand, and her letter in the other. She took a bite of the bread and seemed fully engrossed in her mail. Something RonÂ’s brother had written her must have been very interesting. A piece of her dark wavy hair fell into her face and she blew it out her face without interrupting her routine. Sirius couldnÂ’t help but feel that she reminded him so much of his older brother. He, too, had been extremely focused.

Pulling out the chair across from her, Sirius felt as if the burden on his heart became lighter as she looked over at him and smiled tentatively before turning her eyes back to the letter.

~*~

Diagon Alley had never been more crowded, or at least Fred thought that this was the busiest he had even seen it. The Weasleys generally stayed away from the shopping center until it was absolutely necessary that they purchase their school supplies. By August, however, most of the students had finished their shopping and were enjoying the final days of their summer vacations.

Fred had secretly hoped that he would run into one of his old classmates, but saw no one on the walk from the Leaky Cauldron to the Ministry building. Glancing at the post office, he wondered if Errol had already managed to find Angelina. He had written his letter in record time and sent it off just as he, George, and their father were ready to come here.

“Here we are, boys,” Arthur said as they approached the monumental steps that led to the Diagon branch of the British Ministry. “The testing center is the first door on the right. I need to look at some paperwork in my office. I’ll be down when you’re finished.” Giving each of the boys a pat on the shoulder, he turned down a hallway to the right after wishing them luck.

George turned to Fred and grinned. “Well, here goes nothing, right?” He pushed open the door and gave their names to the witch sitting at the receptionist desk.

Fred moved to the far corner of the room and sat down in one of the hard plastic chairs, saving one next to him for his twin. Allowing his eyes to perform a brief sweep of the room, he noticed that most of the waiting room was empty. Two brunette girls sat across from him whispering and giggling loudly. Another blonde girl sat a few seats down, her nose buried in a copy of “A License to Apparate: A Beginner’s Guide.” She occasionally pushed her glasses up on her nose to prevent them from slipping. Fred could help but chuckle. In a few years time, he supposed Hermione Granger would be doing the same exact thing. Picking up a copy of “Quidditch Monthly,” Fred leaned back in his seat when George plopped down next to him.

“She says that we’ll be able to go in about 10 minutes,” he explained as he started to read an article about the Chudley Cannons over Fred’s shoulder. “To be honest, I’m a little nervous about this whole thing. I think maybe I’m not ready for this yet,” he whispered loud enough so that Fred could hear him.

Sighing, Fred put the magazine back on the table. “Why did you harass Dad to bring us here today then? You should have taken more time practicing then!”

“I wanted to try my hand at it. The worst I could do is fail, right? They won’t let me splinch during the test, will they?” George looked almost worried.

“I’ve never taken the test, George. I really couldn’t tell you. But I’ll tell you this – you go first. If you splinch, I’ll splinch. If you fail, I’ll fail and if you pass, then I’ll do my best to pass too, ok?” Fred explained.

George grinned. “You’ve got a deal, Gred.”

Fred looked at George with mock seriousness. “We’re going to be big brothers soon. I think we can start growing out of that now.” Breaking into a smile, he added, “But not too soon.” Looking over at the receptionist, he was about to tell George to ask her how much longer the wait would be when he was tapped on the shoulder.

“Hi, I was just wondering if this seat was taken,” a feminine voice interrupted the silence of the waiting room.

Looking up, Fred nearly fainted with surprise at who was standing in front of him. Risking a glance at George, Fred saw that his twin was equally awestruck, more so if possible. They had hoped to see one of their former classmates at Diagon Alley today, and Fred was surprised that their pleas had been heard and answered.

Brushing her dark hair out of her face, the girl put her hands on her hips. “I’m sure the two of you could come up with a better greeting than that.” She sat down next to George and leaned over so she could talk to the two of them at the same time. “You guys should’ve owled me that you were coming here to get your licenses today. We could’ve gone for an ice cream or a butterbeer or something.”

Fred looked at George who was completely slack-jawed. Elbowing him in the ribs, Fred hissed at him. “Say something, you lousy git!”

George jumped with surprise and nodded. “Hi, Katie…” he stammered.

~*~