To Love a Twin

Chapter 22: The Weasley Twins Redux

Kira removed the blankets from the bed and layered a clean sheet and towels on it. Then, she used the small electric hot-plate to boil some of her drinking water and sterilize the sewing scissors and a length of yarn, for cutting and tying off the umbilical cords. She tried to remember what Healer Whitney had told her, about breathing deeply with the pains and not fighting them.

Pulling a drawer from the dresser to act as a cradle, she lined it with a blanket from the bed. Then, she piled two clean towels and a couple of the disposable diapers the whack-job had purchased for her in the drawer. Next to the drawer, she placed a basin and a couple bottles of her drinking water so they would get warm. She would use the water to clean the babies when they came.

She willed herself to stay calm, not to panic, reminding herself of the stories she'd heard of women from the old days and in third world countries giving birth in fields, alone, slinging them on their backs and going right back to work.

She was obviously going to have to deliver the babies herself. She had no choice. Time, officially, was up. She would get through this. She had to. Tomorrow, he would have to actually open the door and come inside the cell to take the babies away. She would attempt to stab him with the scissors.

* * * * *

George, Harry, Luke, and Mrs. Weasley had Disapparated from the police station directly to the Burrow to make the others aware of the developments. Luke told them where the Lockslip house was located, and they all Apparated there, figuring that they would meet him when he arrived home, dose him with Veritaserum, and then go find Kira. They stood, waiting, in the dark.

Finally, they heard a noise at the door. George rushed to open it, grabbing the shadowy figure on the porch and dragging him inside. He was surprised to see that the man he had been ready to pummel in a most Muggle-like manner was actually Jack Townsend.

Once he realized that it wasn't Nathan Lockslip, George let him go.

"What in bloody hell do you think you're going to accomplish here?" Jack asked.

"Gee, I don't know, maybe get my wife back? Perhaps even save her from a psychopathic killer?" said George.

"How did you manage to just vanish from the police station and then get in here without breaking in?" asked Jack.

"Well, Detective," said Arthur, "That's how we manage to get around. Because, you see, we're wizards. Except for the ladies, of course. They are witches, naturally."

"Right," said Jack, wondering how the man could make jokes at a time like this. "And I am Father Christmas. Listen, I'm going to give you all a break here. I know what you've been through. If you all leave now, we can just follow my plan to follow Lockslip until he leads us to Kira."

"Where the hell is he, anyway?" asked Luke. "This place isn't very far from the police station. Did you see him on your way here?"

"No," said Jack. Suddenly realization hit him. Nathan Lockslip was not coming home. He was going to Kira. He had been on his way home when Jack had intercepted him. But now, he'd obviously changed his mind. "The library," he said.

"I searched the library right after Kira was taken," said Harry. "She's not in there."

"What do you mean, you searched the library?" asked Jack.

"I searched the police station too," said Harry. "We started with the public buildings then the shops and then began searching the private homes. By the way, the back basement door to your apartment building doesn't close right. Kids are sneaking in there at night to get drunk."

"When you searched the library, did you check out the bomb shelter?" Jack asked.

"Bomb shelter? I didn't see one," said Harry.

"In the basement," Jack explained. "My mother was raised in this town. She and my grandmother told me stories about how they had bricked off a section of the library basement, the back part, because it had no windows and made a bomb shelter during World War II. The town had never actually been bombed, but the nutty council president had taken it upon himself to hold drills almost every night. He must have her there. I'm going to call for cars to surround the place."

"No," said George, "if he's already there, you'll only create a hostage situation. He has a gun, remember. He may be nutty enough to rather have her dead than with anyone but himself. We're handling this in our own way. Got it, Father Christmas?"

Once more, Jack suddenly found himself alone as Luke, the Weasleys, and their friends vanished from right in front of his eyes. Jack cussed and ran out of Lockslip's house and got into his car. He picked up his radio to call for back-up, but stopped himself. George Weasley might be right. Sending his entire force to the library now would only complicate things. He started his car, turned on his lights, and sped off toward the library.

George and his family and friends apparated to the front steps to the library. The front door was open and they saw Lockslip's overcoat on the floor inside. Harry pulled his invisibility cloak over himself while the others cast disillusionment charms. Then, they all crept down the stairs to the basement.

* * * * *

After arriving back at the library, Nathan had let himself in. He'd taken off his overcoat and left it on the floor of the lobby. He'd decided to use the stairs to the basement instead of making his way to the lift in the library. He sat on the marble stairs and quickly removed some ice from the tips of his crutches.

Unlocking the basement door, he made his slow, awkward descent, going first to retrieve the gun. He checked to make sure how many bullets were in it. Two. Good, he thought. He did not want her to suffer. In case the first did not hit its mark, he'd have a spare.

He quickly made his way to the door to Shelter and pulled the shelf unit out from the wall. Entering, he could not see Kira through the cell door. He unlocked the door and stepped in, finding her on the bed, obviously in pain. Nathan watched, in horror, as a pain gripped her so badly that she was nearly lifted off the bed. He had come just in time to stop her suffering.

As the pain subsided, Kira opened her eyes and saw him there.

"Please," she begged. "Call me an ambulance. I need help. Just give this up and let me go. It's not too late."

"I am going to help you," he said. "The police pulled me in for questioning tonight. I'm their number one suspect. It's only a matter of time before they find you. But, I've decided to keep you safe forever."

Kira watched in horror as Nathan lifted the gun and pointed it at her.

"No, please. Nate, at least let me live to have my babies. They're so close. Don't kill my babies. Just let me live a little longer. Once I know they're all right, do whatever you want with me."

George and Harry reached the entrance to the bomb shelter first. As they carefully edged closer, trying not to make any noise, they heard Kira asking him for help, then the panic in her voice as she begged for the lives of her babies.

Nathan was frozen with indecision. On the one hand, he wanted to end her suffering now. But, the babies were coming. If he held off, just a few more hours, he could finally have her, just once, before he killed her.

Suddenly, Nathan's crutches went skidding out from under him, as if they had been kicked from behind. Nathan fell and the gun went flying from his hand. Nathan watched, his expression reflecting his shock and confusion as the gun was caught by invisible hands. Once Harry had the gun safely in his possession, he swept off the invisibility cloak.

Nathan recognized him as the one who'd been at the police station with the Weasleys.

Suddenly, Nathan felt a weight on his chest and hands around his throat, choking him. His head began to be repeatedly slammed against the floor. Luke rushed into the cell and tore George off of him. Nathan looked up in disbelief as George suddenly became visible too.

"No," said Luke. "I can't let you kill him. We have to let the Muggle law handle him. Tend to your wife."

"You'd kill him if it was your wife," said George, pushing Luke away from him.

"Probably, but it still wouldn't make it right," said Luke, releasing George. "Let the law deal with him."

Kira began crying tears of relief. "George," she said. "He's right. I need help. Please. I'm in labor."

George jumped over Nathan's prone form in the small cell and gathered Kira into his arms as yet another pain began its ascent. Both were oblivious to the sound of Nathan Lockslip screaming for him to get away from Kira, that she belonged to him.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," said Molly. She pointed her wand at Nathan, saying, "Silencio."

Although Nathan's lips continued to move, he was not able to utter a single sound.

Molly went to the bed and grabbed her son's shoulders. "George, move aside. Kira's in labor. I need to have a look at her. And get this...this...whack-job out of here. If I have to look at him another minute, I'll Avada Kedavra him myself."

Jack arrived at the library and ran down the stairs to the basement, toward the sound of Lockslip's screams to stay away from Kira. Suddenly, he heard the screams stop. Fearing the worst, he ran into the bomb shelter to find the man not dead, but merely mute, his face contorted in a silent scream. He was being floated along by his best officer's...magic wand?

Luke looked at Jack and smiled. "Well, about time you got here, Boss," he said.

Jack pulled his handcuffs out of his pocket and got them on Nathan as he hung, suspended, in mid-air. Once the cuffs were on, Luke grasped Nathan under one arm while Jack got him under the other. Then, Luke took the levitation spell off of him.

Harry came over and handed Jack the gun. "You'll probably find that this is the gun used to kill Kira's mother," he said.

"Thanks. You wouldn't be interested in a career in law enforcement, would you?" asked Jack, taking the gun.

Harry smiled at Jack, knowing that the man would soon have to be obliviated. "Nah, that would be a little too much excitement for my blood," he said.

Jack and Luke began to drag Nathan out of the bomb shelter. Merkel and Sam followed, carrying the crutches. They would cast the memory charm on Jack as soon as he got Lockslip into the back of his car.

"Hermione, Ginny," called Mrs. Weasley from the cell. "Get in here. I need help. The rest of you, out. Not you, George, dear. You stay."

George looked more than a little sick, and the expression on his face clearly said, "Do I have to?" But, he took a deep, steadying breath and stayed, sitting behind Kira on the bed and pushing her up to better let gravity assist with the delivery as she and his mother brought forth the first of the babies.

Mrs. Weasley handed the first to Hermione and quickly delivered the second within a couple minutes. She used the scissors and yarn Kira had sterilized earlier to cut and tie their cords and then let Ginny and Hermione get them cleaned up while she attended to Kira.

"You can't use the water in the bathroom to bathe them," said Kira weakly. "Lead pipes. The water comes out discolored."

"Don't worry," said Hermione. "We can use the Aguamenti spell."

Soon they heard the sound of an ambulance siren approaching. Jack had called for one once he'd gotten his prisoner secured in his car. Merkel and Sam had brought the crutches out of the basement and handed them over to Jack, who stowed them in the trunk and turned to the men, intending to get to the bottom of their little tricks. He saw that Luke had his wand out again.

Before he could say a word, Luke pointed his wand at Jack and said, "Obliviate."

The spell hit Jack square in the chest, momentarily stunning him. It did not hurt; he merely felt as if his head had fallen asleep due to lack of blood supply.

"Congratulations on solving the Benning murders and Kira's kidnapping, Jack," said Luke as the ambulance pulled up in front of the library. "Following him until he led you to the girl was a great idea. I'll come back to the station with you."

"Oh, Luke, it's you," said Jack. "I...uh, what did you say?"

"I'll ride to the station with you and explain it on the way. Maybe I should drive."

Back in the cell, the babies were being cleaned, wrapped, and handed over to Kira and George. George looked down at the one in his arms. "These two are going to make fine Beaters for the Chudley Cannons. Once they get a little bigger, of course," he said.

Ginny came by and flicked George behind his remaining ear. "More like the Holyhead Harpies, George," she said in a mocking voice. "They're girls, you know."

"Girls?" asked George in disbelief. "Both of 'em?"

"Yes, George, girls," said Molly.

"Are you sure, Mum?" he asked. "I mean, look at 'em; they've got no hair!"

"That's not how you tell the difference, George. I've had a lot of practice telling the difference, you know. Come here, Arthur; we have two granddaughters."

Arthur came in and looked down at the two tiny infants in Kira's and George's arms. He reached out to touch one of the older baby's tiny hands and chuckled as she grasped his finger and turned her head toward it. "I think this one is hungry," he said.

George sat a moment in stunned disbelief. His mother had repeated the story of the scarcity of girls in the Weasley family so often, he'd never even considered they may not be boys. "Bloody hell," he said. "Good thing we'll be living in Hogsmeade. Maybe I can get them special permission to come home after classes each day. There's no way I want them living in Hogwarts; I know what the boys are like in that place."