TO LORELEI'S DISPLEASURE, GEORGE DIDN'T SHOW UP UNTIL THE NEXT DAY. She had stupidly fallen asleep on the ground, her tail bouncing in the water. She was woken roughly by Uriah who was worried about the cracks and shift in the air. He had come to check on her and saw she was sleeping. Uriah had grown the care for the girl immensely, especially her unborn child. Watching the area, he made her get in the water in case she had to swim away.
Lorelei tried to remind him this was her family's home, but then she remembered her mother's death and shut up.
Fred was the first person she saw. He ran out with a giddy look on his face. Lorelei pushed passed Uriah to hug the wizard as tightly as she could. "Is this George?" Uriah asked bluntly, wanting to know who was going to be around his sister and Lorelei's child.
Florence, Clara, Bethany, Ursula, and Embry rose from the water at the noise from Fred's laughter. He actually laughed at the merman. Grinning he said, "Yes, I'm George."
"Sod off, Fred. Uriah, this is George's twin. Fred, this is--"
"LORELEI AMATHEIA CALYPSO BLACK!" Molly's loud voice appeared causing even Clara to flinch at the tone of her voice. "You promised every week! Then, they tell me you say two weeks. It's been almost three and you--"
"Molly, dear. Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Arthur tried, but Molly shut him up with a glare. It was a surprise to see Arthur since he normally was at work.
Remus appeared with a crack causing Uriah to pull Ursula close in fear. "Lorelei!" he shouted happily, running into the water much like Fred to hug her. "Oh, you've had me so worried! Dumbledore wasn't worried, says he knew you were fine, but I just couldn't--"
"Not that I'm feeling all the love here, but before we speak or introduce each other, where is my fiancé?" Lorelei asked as Remus pulled away.
Fred paled.
"I forgot to wake him up."
Thirty minutes later, after George cursing out his brother and introducing the merfolk to the witches and wizards who were there, Molly decided it was a perfect day to go buy clothing for the beautiful merfolk. Lorelei begged the woman to use the gold in her trunk, glaring at Fred until he went to get it, but Molly said she would see what she had first. Lorelei growled lowly at the woman because she knew Molly couldn't afford clothing for all of them.
"Dumbledore will visit tomorrow or Thursday to meet you all," Bill said when he appeared. "Kingsley informed Tonks who informed Fleur who informed me."
"Thanks for the play-by-play," Lorelei said with a teasing roll of her eyes.
George didn't stay in the water as before, only resting a hand on her tail to reassure himself that she was there. He was upset that she hadn't been there on Friday, but he had no idea what happened in the waters. He was afraid he didn't want to know.
When everyone ran out of excitement, Molly said she would cook for the merfolk, Embry moaning out how happy he was to be getting a cooked meal and Ursula asking what a meal was. Lorelei smiled at her new group of friends, and she was suddenly reminded of Angelina and Lee.
"Hey, Fred?" she asked as Bill, Molly, Fleur, and Arthur left to the Burrow. He motioned for her to go on. "Can Angelina and Lee visit? I miss them."
George grinned despite his awful mood. "Angelina was miffed you didn't tell her of your plan. She was inducted into the Order a week ago. Lee was too, he's been helping at the shop with you gone. They'll both be here one day soon."
When Molly came out with enough food for an army, the fish didn't know how to react except Embry. The boy dug right into the meal, yelling out how delicious it was. Bethany was hesitant at first, but she enjoyed it as well. Clara and Florence tried it to be nice at first, thinking they would hate it, but they ended up liking it. Uriah was assuring Ursula it wasn't poisoned and that she could eat it. Lorelei leaned her head on George's shoulder as she took bites of her own food.
The whole family decided to eat outside to learn more about their guests. Ursula finally began to open up, but she was still quiet in Uriah's shadow. She liked that, however. Everyone got along quite nicely. Lorelei hoped Dumbledore would be happy with the six merfolk she recruited because there was no way she'd ever go in the waters like that again. Her home was with George and Fred and Harry and Remus... and her little peanut in her stomach. Her throat tightened at the thought of it. She couldn't wait to tell George.
"You'll tell me everything that happened?" he asked quietly, bringing his hand to meet her own. No one would admit it, but Lorelei looked awful with bruises everywhere and a gash on her tail that hadn't healed fully because of how much swimming they had been doing. "Please."
"Of course," Lorelei said, loving when Fred joined her other side. She grabbed his hand as well. "I'm so happy to be home."
"Don't ever leave again," Fred said seriously. "I can't take it."
Embry had broke the silence by pleading with Molly for seconds. Remus raised his hand politely and asked for more as well.