Into Forever

“When I get married, I won’t be bothering with any of this nonsense,” Fred mumbled, tugging irritably at his tuxedo. “You can all wear what you like, and I’ll put a Full Body-Bind Curse on Mum until it’s all over."

“Stop fidgeting,” George complained, shoving Fred over and onto me.

“I know I’m irresistible,” I teased, nudging Fred off my lap. “But try to control your urges long enough for Bill and Fleur to exchange vows.”

Fred rolled his eyes, but gave me a quick peck on the cheek before turning back to harass his brother. Shaking my head at him, I leaned back in my chair and surveyed the room. It was pretty crowded; on the left were all of Fleur’s friends and family; on the left were Bill’s friends and family. Harry was one row ahead of me, seated between Ron and Hermione, as always. I was on the end, with Fred beside me, George next to him, and Angelina beside George. As the music began to play, the guests quieted down; I gave Fred a sharp smack on the leg to shut him up.

Bill and his best man Charlie were the first two to walk down the aisle. The two bridesmaids, Ginny and Fleur’s sister Gabrielle followed Bill and Charlie and took their place at the front. Finally, as the music switched, I got on my feet, pulling Fred up with me as well. Fleur looked absolutely beautiful; her long white dress was simple and elegant, and Muriel’s tiara looked gorgeous in her hair.

As she reached the front and her father gave her away, everyone sat down. The wedding was beautiful; I was glad I wasn’t the only one crying. Hermione was sniffling into her handkerchief, and Mrs. Weasley and Fleur’s mom were both sobbing in the front row. As Bill and Fleur said their vows, the minister waved his wand over their entwined hands, and a shower of stars fell down on them.

Fred and George shot up out of their seats, leading on the applause and giving out wolf whistles as Bill and Fleur kissed. After the wedding was over, the ceremony began. The tent was transformed into a dance floor, and everyone began to get up and move around, grabbing dance partners as they went. Looking for Harry, I saw him disappearing towards a table with an elderly man. Shrugging at Harry’s odd behaviour, I searched for Hermione and Ron.

To my complete surprise, I saw Hermione being led to the dance floor not by Ron, but by the one and only Viktor Krum. Hermione caught my eye, and she looked just as bewildered as I was. Over her shoulder, I saw Ron sitting at a table by himself, scowling at the back of Viktor’s head.

“Excuse me, miss,” Fred said, cutting into my thoughts. I felt his hand slide onto the small of my back. “Would you do me the honor of letting me dance with the most gorgeous woman in this tent?”

Smirking up at him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him pull me close.

“Oh, I might as well.”

Laughing, Fred bent down and gave me a soft kiss as he began to spin me around. As we spun past George and Angelina, George surged forward and bumped Angie into me. Fred narrowed his eyes playfully at his brother and quickly spun me about, and then rushed forward, knocking me into Angelina.

“Hey! No, uh uh!” I said, trying to wriggle from Fred’s grasp. He just held on a bit tighter. “We are not bumper cars!”

Completely ignoring me, Fred spun me about and backed up through the throng of people as he tried to out dance George. I locked eyes with Angie, and gave her a devilish smile. She began to mouth one... two... THREE! On three, I grabbed Fred’s arm and spun him around as Angie did the same with George. Catching them by surprise, we rushed forward and smacked Fred and George into one another.

We hadn’t been dancing for that long before I heard Mrs. Weasley exclaim,

“Is that Kingsley’s patronus?!”

Slowly, all the guests, including Fred and myself, turned to watch as a glowing lynx made its way over the hill and into the tent. The group of guests made a tight circle around the patronus; it opened its mouth, and to my complete surprise, Kingsley’s voice came out of it.

“The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming.”

All my excitement at seeing a patronus talk was quickly pushed aside as I heard the message it delivered.

“What does that-“ Mr. Weasley began, but before he could finish, the black smoke of Death Eaters began to shoot towards the tent.

All hell broke loose; guests were shrieking and pushing each other out of the way to get to safety. All around me, wizards began to disapparate left and right, leaving others behind in their mad panic to escape.

Fred and I had been separated; desperately, I tried to find him, but he was lost in the throng of red haired Weasley’s rushing to and fro. I caught sight of my Uncle Remus and Tonks casting shield charms left and right; George and Angelina were just a few steps away, doing the same.

It was then that I spotted Harry rushing towards Hermione; his eyes locked on mine. We’re leaving, he mouthed, grabbing a hold of Hermione’s hand. A jolt of realization shot through me; I would be leaving behind every single thing I loved and knew to run off with Harry, Ron, and Hermione to search for horcruxes.

Would I ever see Fred again?

Would he ever see our child?

Would I ever see our child?

Would I even be alive to have my baby?

I rushed towards Harry and Hermione, catching up to them as they searched desperately for Ron.

“Hermione,” I breathed, matching her pace. “I’m not going.”

“What?”Hermione gasped, jerking herself and Harry to a stop. “Why not?”

“I can’t leave Fred behind,” I said softly. “I thought I could do it, but I can’t.”

Hermione and Harry stared at me for a long time; without warning, Hermione flung her arms around me.

“We may never see you again, Kelsey,” she whispered, tightening her hold. I could barely manage a nod.

“I wish I could go with you,” I breathed, hugging her back. As Hermione reluctantly let go of me, Harry immediately took her place.

“I’m so glad I met you, Kelsey. You’ve changed my life. I’ll always remember you.”

“Good luck, Harry. I’ll do as much as I can to help you.”

“I love you, Kelsey,” Harry said quietly. “I really do. Not in a romantic way, but you’re my best friend. You’ll always be a part of me.”

“You’ll come back, Harry,” I said firmly, giving him a tight squeeze. “And when you do, you’ll be a hero.”

As he pulled away, Harry gave me a huge smile.

“Till we meet again, Ms. Werner.”

“The same to you, Mr. Potter,” I said, giving a soft laugh.

With that, Harry pulled away from me, took Hermione’s hand and rushed off towards Ron. I watched them as they reached him; Ron began to look around. Harry shook his head, and nodded towards where I was standing. I caught Ron’s eye as he looked over, and gave him a sad smile.

Bye Kelsey, he mouthed, holding up his hand as he took Hermione’s arm.

Bye Ron, I mouthed back, waving back.

And then Hermione disapparated, taking Ron and Harry with her. I was left staring at empty space, feeling as if they’d taken a part of my heart with them.

Would I ever see my best friends again?

Was that the last time I’d get to hug Hermione, joke with Harry, share a smile with Ron?

My sad thoughts were interrupted as a bright green jet of light shot past my face, narrowly missing me.

I jerked back, stumbling out of the way. I reached down to pull my wand out of my pocket.

My wand!

I’d left it in my handbag, which was on a table across the tent! Damn!

Spinning around to retrieve my wand, I ran smack-dab into a dark-haired Death Eater. We were both a little stunned from the impact as we stumbled away from each other. He recovered a second before I did, and as he lifted his wand to shout a curse, Fred’s body slipped between us and he blasted the Death Eater off his feet.

Turning towards me, Fred gave me a tight smile.

“That’s becoming a habit for you, isn’t it?” he teased, handing me my bag as he continued to talk. “We need to get out of here. The rest of the family, except my dad, have disapparated to Diagon Alley. We need to go before they catch us.”

“But what about your dad?”

“He’s staying behind. He’s a ministry man, so he’ll be fine. They won’t hurt him or take him away. They’d come after us, though. We can’t risk that.”

Taking my hand, Fred closed his eyes, and I felt myself being yanked violently in every direction.

A moment later, my feet met the solid cobble-stoned ground of Diagon Alley. I let out a shaky breath, trying to steady myself as I opened my eyes. The street lamps gave off an eery glow, and I looked around.

“Oh, and I have a surprise for you as well,” Fred said, giving me a grin and taking my hand.

“What?” I asked, blinking in surprise as I was led down the street.

“Look up,” Fred said, pausing at the intersection, his eyes twinkling in the dim lighting.

In front of me was a huge, light-purple building. On top of one of the windows was a giant, red-haired sculpture of a man with a rabbit on his head. As the hand brought a hat down onto the head, I watched as the hat was lifted up and the rabbit disappeared .

The sign beneath the sculpture was a large, colorful sign.

Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.