Brave [2]

Chapter 95

June 2008

"Can I go Hogwarts now?" Georgina asks impatiently as she tugs on my shirt hem, and I have to slow down as I head around the kitchen in order to get her lunch ready for school before heading to my job. "I want to go now."

"Honey, you still have to wait five more years," Fred chuckles as he enters the kitchen, and I realise from the twins perched on his hips that the entire house is awake. Oh well, no point in trying to keep quiet anymore.

"But... that's like Marly and Reggie's whole lives," she whines. "I can't wait that long!"

I sigh, leaning against the counter for a moment as I start to get a splitting headache. For a moment, my mind jumps back to Voldemort, but I know it's not. It's been ten years, and he's not back. I have to stop treating every stupid headache as a sign he's back, but the nausea doesn't fade.

Instead I turn my attention to my husband, taking notice of my son. "Don't suck your thumb, Reggie," I say gently.

Marlene turns to her twin. "Yeah, Reg. Don't suck your thumb." She slaps his hand away from his mouth, but before I even have the chance to tell her off Regulus just grins at her instead. They're not identical, although extremely similar in looks. But while Marlene has red hair like her sister, Regulus's isn't quite ready to decide, seeming brown in some lights and red in others. They both have blue eyes, though, like their sister and grandfathers.

"Okay," I shake my head a little, trying to get rid of the black spots in my vision. "Okay, I have about ten minutes before I need to floo to Hogwarts – no, Georgie, you can't come, stop waving your hand around – but I need to send Severus an owl about... What was it about? Something to do with..."

"Love..." Fred sighs for a moment before gently placing the twins down. "Georgie, can you make sure they brush their teeth properly please? I'll be up in a minute." She nods brightly before chasing the screaming kids upstairs, then Fred steps towards me and wraps his arms around me. "You should take a day off. You don't seem so great."

"It's a week till the end of the year," I press, not about to give up so easily. "I've managed to teach kids while suffering from broken ribs. I'm not about to let a headache get the best of me now. Those days are over."

"It's your birthday in a few days," he whispers, lips brushing against my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. "After the year's over, I'm sure Mum and Dad would be more than happy to look after the kids for a few days. We can go on holiday somewhere."

I hum in response, leaning my head against his chest, liking the sound of that. "But you'll have to sort out shop times with George, and I'll have to organise my marking and mark O.W.L.s–"

He silences me by pressing his lips to mine, and while it's meant to be fleeting, me wrapping my arms around his neck doesn't seem to make it so. Having three kids is exhausting, and we barely manage to steal away moments together.

The most we get are Disney weekends, when Georgina insists we watch Disney movies as a family with popcorn and chocolate. I usually end up falling asleep, which is a first for me considering how awake I used to be when I was younger. But the visions have died down so much I barely seem to remember when my last one was. Maybe it's too much to hope things will be good from now on, but I want to try.

"Ew." There's a gag behind us, and it's Marlene, hair braided messily and Oreo snuggled in her arms. "Gross."

I laugh weakly, going over to lead her to the sofa, sitting her on my lap before starting to fix her braid.

"Thanks, Hannah." I manage to give a wan smile, downing the potion she gives me and shaking my hands out, hoping to feel better. The headache's gotten even worse, stretching to nausea, but no matter how many times I've thrown up this morning I refuse to let it get the worst of me. I'm going to soldier on, no matter what. It's what Aiden would tell me, after all.