The War left many grieving, those who would never get the chance to tell their loved ones that they loved them one last time. Iris Brown was one of them, her twin sister ripped away from her at just 18, she never got the chance to do the things with...
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With the weeks which passed, at a much slower rate than either Iris nor George anticipated, the couple continued to grow in strength. There was a mutual hope festering of which neither wanted to speak loud about. They had chosen to not speak much about the new path they were heading down. Mainly out of fear, fear that things would repeat themselves once again and they would be back where they started so long ago. They had chosen to keep it between themselves, their parents and the closest of friends prior to the ending of the first trimester. Even after the confirmation appointment, neither of the pair had rushed to tell anyone who had not been told previously, the fear of a repeat of last time weighing heavily down on what many expected to be a happy household. A fear that they would have to explain that things had gone wrong, again. The first time was hard enough this time would break them. That much they both knew.
Even as the 12 week mark passed and they ventured towards the sixteen week point that comfort was not developing as fast as Iris had expected. She still felt weary regarding the entire event, the strong fear of things going wrong and it being her fault didn't seem to leave. Not even when things didn't seem to be going in the same route as last time. They had already passed the point that they had made it to last time around. She had only made it to 15 weeks last time, and despite waking on the morning of the start of the sixteenth week with a small knowledge that things were better than the previous time, it had no effect on the 22 year old.
George was probably in the same boat if not worse than Iris was. If she was being honest, he was more anxious than she was. And his anxiety was amounting with every day which passed. And as his wife, she did not know how he was going to cope as they got further and further along. Not knowing how he would be if they made it close to the time that they would meet the littlest Weasley. Not sure if he would ever enjoy any moment of the journey. It was evident in the way he was becoming more and more protective.
If there was one thing that Iris had noticed over the years was that George wasn't as 'half glass full' as people expected him to be. Rather he was often under the belief that something bad was going to happen most of the time. He did not like when things were out of his control. And a pregnancy, was the most out of control thing which had happened to him since the war. Therefore, he had started to take actions, some of which were pretty ridiculous in Iris' own opinion, to bring some control back into the situation.
One of these actions included following Iris to work when he could make the free time. He would never miss work at the shop. But he would pop his head in a few times during the shifts she worked at the pub. It was easy enough to do, he would come in get some form of drink, or have his lunch break there, and then try to convince Iris that she shouldn't charge him. A routine of which she did not mind, but her boss wasn't overly happy about how often she gave in to George. And how much he got for free.
It was another night of which Iris was working at the pub, where she had many patrons as another quidditch game played out on the large TV screen and the two sets of supporters got a little bit rowdy with one another. Rather familiar events of which Iris had started to get used to as her experience in the pub grew over the years. Iris' shift was due to finish at midnight as someone else would be coming on to close and she was only helping out with staffing numbers. However, despite knowing that Iris would be home in only a few hours, George was once again sat in the corner of the pub working on some of his paperwork waiting for Iris to finish. He had a heavier instinct than normal that things were going to go wrong that day than normal. And as long as he didn't turn customers away Iris couldn't really chuck him out of the pub. He was also, for once, paying for the drinks he was having as well.
Perhaps Iris should have listened to George that something was likely to go wrong. Everyone who worked, or even frequently visited the leaky cauldron, knew that it needed some structural work. As of recent part of the wall had become unstable, though it had been temporarily fixed with some magic the pub intended to close for six weeks in order to fix the arising issues. The staff had gone to close of the section of seating by the unstable wall, just incase and there was big signs showing that the area was shut for safety reasons.
Yet this had not been any use for the patrons who had a few too many to drink whilst watching the match. And as the match came to an end, and there was a few disgruntled people from the score not going the way they wanted, as what used to be an infrequent occurrence a fight broke out. And as one of the most senior members of staff currently on, it was most likely going to be Iris' job to deal with it. Many of the usual patrons listened to her considering how long she had worked there and how fair she usually was to them.
But as the fight continued on, and wands were drawn Iris realised that she couldn't control it from the sidelines, and she would have to get much closer to break them up. And as she approached, neither of the men involved seemed to be listening and the first spell was thrown. It missed the opponent and collided right with the unsteady wall. Iris powered her way over, taking larger steps than normal aware that if one more spell hit the unstable wall that any protective charms they had put on it would most likely crumble and with it so would the wall. She was partially aware that George remained behind her moving far enough away that it would not look like he was trying to get involved in the fight but so that he would be close enough to Iris if the wall was to go.
"That's enough both of you, there will be no spell drawing in this pub." Iris shouted as the two continued to go at one another. Both using their hands more than their wands but neither continued to listen. And as she feared a second spell hit the unsteady wall and a large bang was heard. The two fighting men jumped apart at the sound both turning their attention to the wall as the first brick shifted and headed downwards in the direction both Iris and the pair were standing.
Iris froze as she watched the bricks begin to fall, wrapping her arms around herself knowing it wouldn't do much to help but not knowing what else to do. She felt herself being pulled in a direction away from the wall and into something much softer. A familiar aftershave overtook her senses and Iris knew that she had been pulled away from potentially being crushed by her husband. And as she opened her eyes she looked into his frantic own.
The initial shock cleared off immediately and her senses began to return she could hear voices as people worked to stabilise the wall and the pub and as people were being ushered outside. She could feel shaking but it wasn't her.
"Are you okay, did anything hit you?" George's voice was frantic as he almost shouted the question at her. Iris took a moment to respond, checking that she did feel okay, and she did.
"I'm fine Georgie." She returned moving her arms of which were still wrapped around her towards his shoulders.
"Are you sure? Are you 100% that nothing hit you?" George did not seem calmed at all by Iris' words.
"I am fine my love. You got to me in time." Iris continued to attempt to soothe him but with no luck. George seemed to be getting more and more panicked the longer they stood there his eyes trained on her own looking for deceit. And that was when it came to her attention what could potentially be going through his own head at that moment in time. That last time a wall had fallen around someone he loved the person was crushed.
"George. Breathe with me. In. And out." Iris gently coaxed him watching as his breathing reduced as the anxiety slowly lowered. She dared turn her head away from him for a few seconds to see that they were no longer in danger from the rest of the pub collapsing considering they were still inside. Noting that the wall had been temporarily repaired she returned to looking at George. He seemed better but only just, and she knew that they would need to take their time around this. Aware that even if he had not been present at the time of Fred's passing that it did not matter. This had brought forward more than either of them could ever imagine.
"You promise everyone is okay?" George's breathing may have reduced but his brain had not moved on.
"My love I am fine. The baby is okay. You got to us in enough time." Iris promised her voice low as to not bring unwanted attention, as she clued on that he could have been focused on the little one as well as her. "We will call in the morning to see if a check up could be organised if that will make you feel better?" She offered waiting for him to agree or not.
"We can go now."
"I promise you George that we don't need to head there now."
