Into Forever

A week had passed since the last broadcast, and things had been more hectic than ever. George was so swamped with keeping track of confirmed killings that we almost never saw him anymore, and Lee was in a frenzied state; we’d moved locations again, and Lee was going through hell trying to set up our transmitter.

“There’s absolutely no signal to pick up out here!” he cried in frustration, dropping his head down onto the plastic card table; his glass of water trembled ominously.

We were in a small shack-like house that was really only one large room with a small inhumanely small bathroom in one corner. The shower didn’t even work. George was off in town picking up the latest copy of the daily prophet and scouting for confirmed deaths, while Fred and I were stretched out on the ground, contemplating something much more important.

“I am not naming our child Squallimer!” I exclaimed, leaning my head back to stare incredulously at Fred. He looked sincerely crest-fallen.

“And why not?!”

“Because that’s absolutely ridiculous!” I informed him, irritably scratching off another of the names on the list he’d made. We had chosen not to know the sex of the baby, and were currently trying to pick suitable names for a boy or girl. Fred was being less than helpful.

“I’ll have you know Squallimer is a highly noted comedian in the wizarding world, my dear.”

“You’d have to be able to laugh at yourself, with a name like that,” I told him, my eyes trailing down to the next name on the list. “Kelso? Really Fred?”

“You said you wanted to name the baby something family-oriented, and I think Kelso would fit for a boy!”

“You know what I meant!” I snapped. “If the next name on the list is something more ridiculous, I’m beating you to a bloody pulp.”

Galbertrose

“That’s it!” I cried, throwing the parchment on the ground and rolling over as well as a 30-week-pregnant girl could do and began wailing on Fred.

“Galbertrose means bright minded!” Fred squawked between my hits. “Just imagine it Kels- Squallimer Galbertrose Weasley!”

I hit him even harder.

“Lee,” he gasped, looking upside down at his best friend. “What’s the policy on hitting a pregnant woman?”

“I’ll beat the sense out of both of you if you don’t shut it,” he snarled, throwing an empty inkbottle at us.

Huffing from exertion, I awkwardly rolled off of Fred and laid on my back, letting my heart rate slow.

“Talk about superhuman pregnant lady strength,” Fred gasped, rubbing his arm where I’d landed a rather hefty blow.

“Do I even want to hear your girl names?” I asked him, rolling my head to the side to stare at him; he handed over the next piece of parchment.

“Fredericka, Georgina, Lee-Anne, Harryella, Ronita,” I read off, earning a surprised snort of amusement from Lee when he heard the third name. “Fred, you’re just begging me to kill you.”

“Well what are your name ideas?” He asked, stretching out beside me and pulling me into a hug.

“Maybe something like Cameron Blake, or Jacob Carson, or-

“Or Average Joe,” he cut in, rolling his eyes. “Those names are so common!”

“How many Cameron’s did you see running around at Hogwarts?”

“None, because their parents knew better than to name them that!”

“I’m not naming my child Squallimer, and that’s final,” I told him, struggling to sit up.

“You look like a turtle stuck on it’s back,” Fred told me affectionately, helping me sit up and planting a kiss on my cheek. He’d grown really good at ignoring my pregnancy mood swings. I narrowed my eyes at him irritably.

“Do you have any real name suggestions?”

“Squallimer Galbertrose and Fredericka Mildred are my final answers,” Fred said with a grin at my expression.

“And you say I’m the one who has trouble naming things,” I sighed, pushing myself to my feet.

“Who wants to play a game of Quidditch?” Fred asked, getting up beside me and patting my stomach. “Kelsey swallowed the quaffle, but we can just toss her back and forth…”

“If she murders you, Fred, I’ll have less than no sympathy,” Lee called after his friend as Fred ran outside to dodge my fist. I shook my head as I waddled to the run-down fridge in the makeshift kitchen.

“You’ll need to help me hide the body,” I told Lee, pulling out some ham and mayonnaise, beginning to make a sandwich. “I can’t carry him by myself.”

“And why will you be murdering my brother?” George asked, stepping into the house, shaking the rain from his hair.

“He called me a quaffle-eater,” I complained, taking a rather unladylike bite out of my sandwich.

“I don’t want to know what you two do at night,” George complained, grimacing.

“You prick,” I muttered, plopping down on the chair beside Lee.

“If the reception here is so bad,” I asked him, resting my chin on my hand, “then why’d you bring us here?”

“I don’t want to risk another run-in with any death eaters,” Lee murmured, only half paying attention to me.

“So why did you pick this place?” I asked, looking around. I shied away from the wall when I saw a spider skitter across the wood.

“It was an old hide out for the Order,” George told me, plopping down beside me and eyeing my sandwich hungrily.

“What did you find out?” Lee asked, turning to George.

“Too many muggles to name,” he said grimly, pulling out a thick piece of rolled up parchment and smoothing it out on the table. “And several more half-blood families. I recognize a few…” George trailed off, his baby blue eyes glazing over as he stared at the list of names.

It hurt me to see George upset. So, being the good friend I was, I was willing to sacrifice the cleanliness and well-being of my boyfriend to cheer him up.

“I’ll give you the rest of the sandwich if you tackle Fred into the mud,” I said mischievously, grinning at George, who immediately grinned back. Snatching my sandwich and shoving it in his mouth, he leapt out of the chair and all but dove through the front door.

From outside, Lee and I could hear,

“Oh, I didn’t even see you come home, Georgie. Wait, what are you-BLOODY HELL GEORGE!”

There was a satisfactory squishing sound from outside, and a few choice words from Fred, and almost maniacal laughter from George. Lee and I slapped each other high fives.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The ‘cabin’ had no furniture, and once again we were put into the dilemma of not knowing a bed conjuring spell. ‘Accio bed’ worked just as well as me running to the nearest town and shoplifting a king sized bed did, which was not well at all.

This time I shared my blanket; the four of us huddled in the very middle of the cabin, Fred and George sprawled at awkward angles, me resting my head on Fred’s stomach, and Lee curled up in the middle of the group. My insanely toasty blanket was draped over us and managed to keep us from slipping into an icy coma.

As I lay there, falling asleep to the relaxing sound of the storm, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was why Dumbledore had left me the blanket. Or, had he originally intended for me to use it when I went off with Harry, Ron, and Hermione?

No, I decided, stretching my legs out over Lee. Somehow, I know that Dumbledore knew I’d be doing something else. He knew I’d need the blanket for the other places I went.

With that thought in mind, I began to drift into a very cozy sleep, listening to the thunder outside…. the rain pattering over the roof… Fred’s steady heartbeat… scratching on the front door…

Wait.

Immediately I was scrambling to sit up (an image of a turtle trying to right itself popped into my head); my wand was in my hand in an instant and I was shaking Fred awake while nudging George and Lee into consciousness with my feet. After the last death eater episode in Wales, it took us less than ten seconds to be up and alert.

Fred was on his feet; I stayed on the ground, with Lee at my side as George cautiously followed his brother to the door. They stood on either side of it and motioned for Lee and I to move out of the immediate path of the door; when the death eaters burst in, the two of us would be right in their line of fire. Lee helped me scoot off to the side and crouched in front of me, his wand aimed at the door.

The second the door burst open, the four of us shouted stupefy, but the attackers were ready. One of them cast a non-verbal shield charm while the other, catching sight of Lee and I first, aimed a spell at me and yelled,

“Expelliarmus!”

Lee deflected it the second I recognized the voice. Fred had thrown himself in front of my attacker and had begun a rather vicious duel, but I scrambled to my feet and yelled,

“Wait! Stop! They’re not death eaters!”

Fred and George, who were dueling our attackers, paid no attention to me, but Lee turned to frown at me, asking,

“What the bloody hell has gotten into you?!”

“I know that voice!” I exclaimed, hurrying past Lee so my face was cast in the moonlight. “Uncle Remus!”

The two attackers and Fred and George paused at the exact same moment in their duel, all turning to look at me. Just as Fred was opening his mouth to ask me if I’d lost my mind, one of the attackers pulled off his hood and gasped,

“Kelsey! You’re alive!”

Immediately, before I could rush into a hug, Fred and George stepped in front of my uncle shoulder-to-shoulder, blocking his path to me. Lee took my arm and pulled me back.

“What are you-“ I began, but Fred lifted is wand and said,

“They could be imposters! Ask him something, Kels. Something only the real Lupin would know.”

I furrowed my brow, doing my best to think of something only my real Uncle would know. As I thought popped into my head, I grinned at my Uncle and asked,

“What was the nickname my dad had for you when you two were at school?”

Uncle Remus rolled his eyes at me, grinning, and said,

“Moon Child. Leave it to you, Kelsey, to bring up that hideously embarrassing nickname.”

Grinning at my Uncle so happily my face hurt, I rushed forward and threw my arms around him. It was a little harder than it used to be; in the end I had to turn sideways and give him a one-armed squeeze as he hugged me to him. Clearing his throat, Kingsley herded the boys over towards the kitchen. My Uncle and I hugged for a long moment; finally, he cleared his throat and said softly,

“The last we heard, you and the twins were in the flat above the joke shop. We went looking for you and-“ my Uncle broke off in an uncharacteristic sob. He was one of the strongest men I knew; to look up and see tears streaming from his eyes…

“The flat was torn to pieces,” he breathed, just barely understandable between his choked sobs. “No one had heard from any of you.. It was just like with your father…”

“I’m so sorry, Uncle Remus,” I said quietly, holding on tighter to him. “But we’re okay, really. Fred and George, and Lee of course,” I added, noticing the wounded frown he gave me (even though he wasn’t supposed to be listening). “They’ve taken care of me.”

“You look like you’re more than fine,” Uncle Remus laughed, giving a watery chuckle as he pulled back and patted my stomach. “How far along are you?”

“Seven and a half months,” I told him proudly, smiling over at Fred, who grinned back. Reaching into his pocket, Uncle Remus produced a folded picture and handed it over. Unfolding it, I beamed down at the gorgeous little baby boy. In the picture, he was in Tonks’s arms, and his little tuft of hair was a vivid teal color. I laughed, grinning at the baby boy.

“Teddy Lupin,” my Uncle said proudly, smiling down at his son. “His hair is a natural black, but he’s got his mother’s skills; he’s preferring teal at the moment.”

“My cousin is adorable,” I laughed, unable to tear my eyes from the picture.

“You can keep that one,” Uncle said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two more. “I’ve got plenty.”

“If anyone’s hungry,” Kingsley spoke up from the background; I’d been so drawn into Teddy that I’d actually forgotten other people were in the cabin. “Remus and I have enough to feed half the ministry.”

George and Fred were staring at him so hungrily I could’ve sworn they hadn’t eaten in a month. With a half-smile, Kingsley undid the pack from his back and turned it over on the table. Can upon can of delicious looking food spilled out over the card table, making the twins’ jaws drop. Lee dove in first, snagging a bag of beef jerky. Fred and George each took heaping handfuls of the cans of soup, not even bothering to heat it up before they poured them into their mouths.

I grabbed a can of pears off the top of the pile, managing to curse the top off and ungraciously pour the contents into my mouth, resembling a half-starved wolf.

“What’re you two doing here?” Lee asked them once he’d polished off the jerky and had moved on to the bag of pretzels. “George said the Order hadn’t used this place in a while.”

“We haven’t,” Kingsley agreed, beginning to pace back and forth across the kitchen. “Remus and I were out on a mission, and we were attacked by a group of Death Eaters. This was the first place I’d thought to apparate to.”

“Imagine our surprise when we break in the door and find my niece and a few runaways stashed inside,” Uncle Remus joked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “By the way, we’re avid PotterWatch listeners,” he added, smiling at Fred and George. “And I agree, Kelsey isn’t one for naming things. I still remember her first gerbil… decided to name the poor thing Chair.”

“No, uh-uh,” I immediately defended, grabbing a bagel from the food pile. “No one is allowed to criticize my naming abilities anymore. Not when this tosser comes up with the most ridiculous names for our child.”

Turning to Uncle Remus, Fred exclaimed,

“She hates the name Squallimer, no matter how many times I push it on her. Not a fan of Galbertrose either…”

Giving Fred a quizzical frown, Uncle Remus turned to me and said,

“Don’t let him near the birth certificate.”

This, paired with my lack of sleep and unbalanced pregnancy emotions, caused me to burst into a laughing fit so fierce I nearly fell out of my chair.

“Alright,” Fred chuckled, getting to his feet. “Time for preggers to get some sleep.”

Uncle Remus glanced around as Fred pulled me from the chair and into a hug, asking,

“You don’t have any cots?”

“Nah, we forgot about those,” George said regrettably. “That and decent food. Let me tell you, ketchup and cheese slices grow old after a while.”

“We’ve got nearly a dozen,” Kingsley said, reaching into a different pouch of the rucksack and producing, one at a time, six decent-sized cots.

Fred and I pushed our cots right beside each other, and I settled down, nearly ready to drift into sleep right then. Fred covered me with my blanket, leaning down and kissing me on my cheek.

“Goodnight, beautiful. I love you, even if you do have a nasty habit of eating my quaffles.” This time I laughed at his joke, kissing him back and murmuring,

“I love you too, you pompous git.”

Grinning, Fred pulled back and joined Remus, Kingsley, and Lee around the table. George was already snoring heartily a few feet to my right.

“Why don’t you two stick with us for a while?” Lee asked, the chair creaking as I imagined him leaning back and stretching out.

“We don’t want to impose-“ Kingsley began, but Fred cut him off.

“You two have got the food and the beds; technically, we’d be imposing on the pair of you.”

Uncle Remus laughed, and then said,

“If you all are fine with it, I think it’d be the best idea. Now that I know Kelsey is alive…”

“Well, we’ll have to come up with nicknames for you two,” Lee said. “Because I’m sure our listeners would love to hear from the pair of you.”

“As long as it’s more appealing than Rape-her, you’ve got a deal.”

Fred groaned, and I grinned.