Gunpowder & Cinnamon {Fred Weasley}

Chapter Seventy Two

After Molly found Nixie, Tonks and Eleanor out snacking while they were supposed to be at the dress fitting, the women were dragged back but only after Tonks and Nixie insisted on finishing their meals. Eleanor placed the dress on one more time, the next time she would wear it would be the day of her wedding. She stood in the center of the room, smoothing out the part of the dress that slightly bunched near the upper part of her torso.

Anora came in for the fitting along with Ginny and Hermione while holding Stella and Eliza.

"Aww Ellie, you look beautiful." Anora told her. "Fred's going to piss himself when he sees you-"

"Anora!" Molly said as everyone in the room laughed.

"Sorry." the woman grinned before winking at Eleanor.

"You do look very lovely, dear." Molly said straightening a piece of the dress for her. Eleanor could sense the Weasley waterworks on the horizon as Molly sniffed.

"There she goes.." Ginny sighed. "I told her she was going to get emotional." she whispered to Hermione. "She insisted that she wouldn't but here we are."

"Oh hush, Ginny." Molly said to her. "Is it a crime to be happy? Fred is getting married in a couple of days and Eleanor...oh.."

Eleanor stood awkwardly in place as Molly began to tear up before the Weasley matriarch wrapped her arms tightly around Eleanor.

"She did not make this much of a deal when Bill and I were married." Fleur whispered to Anora.

Anora placed a hand on the woman's shoulder with a sympathetic smile but before she could answer, Ginny explained why.

"It's because Eleanor knits." she joked.

Eleanor enjoyed her day among the Weasley family and the other women, but she was even happier to arrive home and find Fred already there. He sat at the kitchen table with a mug in hand, swirling the liquid contents around gently, his mind focused on something else besides her entry. She walked over and seeing the flat empty besides him, she sat beside him at the table.

He still hadn't acknowledged her presence as he continued to stare off in the distance, which slightly worried Eleanor. Enough so that she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead to see if he was running a fever or something of the sort. As soon as her cool hand touched his forehead, he stirred from his thoughts, blinking several times. His eyes met hers and he smiled.

"You're home." he said.

"Yes." she grinned. "I've been home for a short while, you've kinda just been lost in your own world."

"Sorry," he said setting down his mug, " it's just been a long day."

"Tell me about it." Eleanor replied resting her chin on the table. "Is that hot chocolate?" she asked suddenly.

He chuckled. "It was hot chocolate." he answered, " but I'm afraid I let it get cold."

She gasped. "Fred, that's considered a sin in this household."

"I know, I know. I can heat it up, I meant to heat it up a little while ago but I got distracted."

"How long have you been sitting here?" she asked him.

"Long enough."

"Is everything alright, Fred? You're starting to worry me. Did everything go alright with my dad today?"

"Yeah..well...for the most part I think."

Eleanor took his hand after setting the mug away from him and looked up at him. "What happened, Fred?"

"It's nothing-"

"Fred." she gave him a stern look.

"Alright,alright. If you're going to give me that face...everything was actually going fine like I said, we were sitting around talking for the most part until Sirius opened his mouth."

"Oh goodie, what did Professor Black have to say?"

"Well, he brought up the topic of...you and I.."

"Us? What about us?"

"He and Lyall decided to bring up the topic of you and I having children."

Fred watched as Eleanor's face went through a series of emotion before she looked down at the table.

"Oh." she said. "Leave it to Grandpa Lyall and Sirius to bring that up. I'm sure my dad had a heart attack."

"He wasn't the only one."

She glanced up at him and Fred suddenly felt a stabbing guilt in his chest.

"I..what I mean is..." he sighed. "I'm not ready to have kids, Ellie."

"And you think I am?" Eleanor laughed.

"Wha-what?"

"Come on, Fred. I don't honestly believe that you and I are ready to be parents." she said. "Perhaps one day in the future, but now right away. I mean, we're just getting started in life. You're running a business, I'm...knitting a business together..."

The two exchanged grins with one another.

"I don't see why we have to rush to have children. We have our whole lives ahead of us and a lot of years to have children if we choose to have them. But for now, I just want to focus on you and I." Eleanor told him. "Is that okay with you?"

Fred pulled her up out of her seat by her hand gently and brought her over to sit in his lap.

"That sounds perfect to me." he said before kissing her forehead. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug, resting her head on his shoulder for a minute. "You know, it only a couple of days left now."

"I know," Eleanor said softly. "I'm pretty excited, even though your mother is probably going to kill us." She giggled.

"I think she'll be so caught off guard in the beginning that she won't even be able to react in time. If things get a little crazy, we can always just apparate and go into hiding for several years. I'll grow a beard-"

"What if I want to grow the beard?" Eleanor challenged him.

"We can both grow beards then, live on the countryside as kneazle breeders, and it'll all be worth it because we'll still be together and we did what we wanted to do at our wedding."

"I like that backup plan. But instead of kneazles how about crup pups?"

"We'll see, love, we'll see. Now how about I heat you up some hot chocolate?"

"Yes please!"