Where The Sage Shrubs Grow,

Chapter 135

Epilogue | Seven Years Later.

    "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"
A cool light streamed through the window as three children shook me awake.
"Fred, you're shaking the bed." I groaned rolling onto my back
"It's Christmas morning! Who cares?"
"Momma! Get up we have to go to grandma and grandpas!" Alice cried

    "Cmon! Let's go get you two changed. Momma needs a minute to get up." Fred spoke grabbing her and Gideon 
I could hear the three them in the next room as Fred helped Alice get changed, both of the kids chattering wildly.

    I rolled out of bed listening to my little family.
"Mom! Mom! Mom!" Gideon came rushing in trying to pull me up
"What? What? What's going on?" I asked
"I'm ready to leave!" He complained
His clothes were wrinkled and he hadn't even brushed his hair.

    I always felt like a bad mother when we went over there and everyone else's kids looked like they had gotten dressed and ready and mine looked like they had just rolled out of bed.

    That was until they started a trend and everyone started showing up like they had just rolled out of bed. Made it feel more home like according to everyone.
"I have to get dressed." I laughed

    Fred came out of the kids bedroom carrying Alice who looked equally as rumpled and excited.
"Alright alright, hold on. Just give me a second." I said going to put on actual pants instead of the shorts I was wearing.

    I came back out wearing one of Fred's pajama pants and he cocked an eyebrow at me.
"Stealing? Again?" He teased
"You want to go or not?"

    Fred went first through the flu powder then Alice, then Gideon, to make sure they made it through alright, then me. It was pure Weasley family chaos. Molly was in the kitchen cooking for an army. There were kids everywhere playing with toys and everyone was there. All the Weasley children and their spouses as well as Apollo and serenity with Edmund and Harry who was currently engaged to Ginny. 

    We were a full house to be sure. Fred blended right in. Big family settings were his happy place and he was already off talking. I couldn't pick him out amongst all the redheads including my own children.

    "Aunt Sage is here!" Edmund bellowed
As I had hoped, I was his favorite. Hallie was a close second though. He jumped up, already twelve. He made me feel old. Hugging me.

    "There's my favorite baby sister." Apollo spoke from behind me
I jumped swiveling to face him "I hope so I'm the only one you have." I smiled hugging him tightly

    I looked down to see Alice was already clinging to his leg. She had her four favorite people that she jumped to at these things. Fred, uncle George, uncle Apollo, and Grandpa. She was like her mother, not much of a socializer.

    "I was wondering when you were gonna get here." MC said coming up to me
"Have you seen my husband?" I asked half jokingly "Or my son for that matter?"
"In this sea of red? Good luck. And there's two of our husbands."
"I know."

    In the end I decided to go to the kitchen, my best bet. Everyone knew to leave Molly alone while she was cooking and that I was the only one she would accept help from in the kitchen.
"Hello dear." She smiled
"I came to offer my services." I smiled
"Well, they are always welcome here. Mind setting the table?"

"Breakfast!" Molly called eventually
Somehow we all managed to pile into the dining room, with the help of a few spells.
Molly stood at the head of her table looking at everyone down the table as they continued talking while piling food on their plates.

    "This is what I always hoped for." She said with tears in her eyes
Alice was already stealing potatoes off Fred's plate as she wiggled around in his lap.
"I always wanted to have a large family, I thought my kids alone I had one but seeing all of you and having all of us together, it just makes me so happy. All of you have found happiness and we all get to be a large happy family." She dabbed at her eyes as Arthur laid a hand over hers "All right then, let's eat!" She said sitting down

    "Fred, how is the shop going?" Bill asked "I've been meaning to come visit but I haven't had the chance." He said
"It's going really well, we're supposed to get a new shipment next week." Fred replied as Alice used his fork to jab at more potatoes
"Alice Fabian you have to eat something other than potatoes." I said "You have your own plate hon."
She had Fred wrapped around her tiny finger, no matter how he denied it.

    Once breakfast was over we all pushed the responsibility of dishes away and piled into the living room, passing out presents. There was wrapping paper everywhere as the kids played with their new toys and the adults went around thanking everyone for their gifts. It was exactly how I imagined a family would be like.

    Even now being surrounded by people who called you family and treated you like it was a strange sensation. It wasn't just me and my brother anymore. It was a functional family who, even though they quarreled often enough still held together.

    If you had told me when I was eight and my grandparents had just been killed by my parents that I would one day be apart of a happy family I would have laughed in your face. But even my father was making amends now. This was what I always wanted.

    Even if you had told me when I was twelve that one day I would marry that red headed boy with the softest brown eyes I had ever seen and have eight children with him and grow old with him like what you read about in fairy tales, I probably wouldn't have believed you then either. But that's exactly what happened.

I died in the summer of 2063 at the age of 84 and Fred that fall at the age of 85.

1050 Words