Serenity

The rain was falling with a ferocity he had never seen before. Fred Weasley fought against the wind as he tried to move forward. He didn't know what had possessed him to make him come here. But for some reason, he couldn't fight the impulse to walk alone in the suburbs of Muggle London, at 10:00 at night.

He pushed his red hair out of his eyes with an impatient sigh as the rain seeped through his clothes. His mind went back to a storm four years before, and what had happened to change his safe and comfortable world...

The lightning was so close that it almost hit their roof. Thunder rumbled hard enough to shake the earth. Raindrops felt like shards of glass against his skin as he made his way back from the field near his home. He'd gone out there for peace and quiet and fallen asleep, waking only when the storm broke loose two hours later.

Fred made it back to the Burrow, shaken and completely soaked, and walked up to his and George's room. He opened the door, finding George sound asleep- as usual, he snorted- and was about to shut himself in the room when something began to feel terribly wrong. In a heartbeat he'd covered the distance to his sister's room, and his heat leapt into his throat as he opened the door.

Her bed was rumpled as if she'd had a terrible nightmare, which, he was certain, she had. Her nightstand was knocked over, her mirror shattered, and her entire room was in shambles. But there was no sign of her. A cold breeze blew across the room and rain began to pelt his face once again, and Fred ran for the window.

Ginny was standing on the windowsill, clad in a cotton nightdress, looking lost and tired. One small hand was braced on the window frame, the other reaching out into the storm. The hand that held her up moved to her hair, and she smoothed it back behind her ear, licked her lips, and prepared to jump-

And Fred Weasley moved faster than he had ever moved in his life.

With a start, Fred came back to the present. His eyes scanned the area around him and he wondered why he'd thought of that day, at this time. He'd been through many storms since then, and though he'd always been reminded of that night (and he was sure Ginny was as well), he'd never been brought back to it like that. As his eyes continued to go over the surrounding area, they fell on a baby rocker. 'Who would leave a baby rocker outside in a storm?' he wondered.

A flash of lightning, with a crack similar to that of a Muggle cannon going off, struck a tree to the left of the baby rocker. Fred saw in slow motion as a large branch broke off and began the descent to earth. He dove forward and grabbed the baby rocker, cradling it against himself to protect its contents, and cried out in pain as sparks of fire hit his shoulder and ignited. He dropped into a puddle immediately, effectively putting the flames out, and then shot to his feet and ran from the fire. When he was roughly a mile away, he looked down into the baby rocker.

A little girl with light brown hair looked back at him, her dark brown eyes swimming with unshed tears.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Fred Weasley stood in the hospital wing of Hogwarts, more terrified than he could ever remember being. He held his breath as the nurse examined the little girl, praying to Merlin that she was all right.

"She'll be fine, my boy,' an old, wizened voice said from behind him. "She's pulled through far worse than this."

Fred turned to see Albus Dumbledore standing in the doors of the infirmary, wearing a kind but uncertain smile. "You know her?" he asked, as unshed tears prickled in his eyes. "You know who she is?"

The headmaster sighed. "No, my boy, but I know where she's been. I recognize her, you see. I've seen her, in the midst of a battle, only a baby. Overlooked she was. As her parents fought a stranger hid her, so she would not be harmed. But a Death Eater found her. He tried to curse her, but found, to his dismay, that an odd silver and gold light gleamed around her and his spell rebounded. She was protected by beings you will, no doubt, meet one day."

"What-" Fred began, but Dumbledore shook his head, not even allowing him to finish the question.

"I cannot tell you, my boy. In a year, perhaps, when you've had time to adjust to being a father to this precious little one. You've taken on a great responsibility, Mr. Weasley, are you sure you don't want to back down?"

"Keep in mind, Mr. Weasley," a calm female voice added. Fred started; he hadn't even realized his old Transfiguration professor was in the room. "That none of us will think any less of you if you give the child up for Muggle adoption."

"No." he said immediately. She was his, he had saved her and he would not let her go. The little sprite had captured his heart with one frightened tear.

The old Headmaster's eyes sparkled, and Fred was sure he saw a tear in Professor McGonagall's eyes as they shone with pride. "Well then," Dumbledore stated, "if this young one is to be one of ours, she should have a name."

Fred didn't even need to think about it.

"Serenity." he stated simply. "Serenity Rose Weasley."