February of 1996

57

It was a slow day at the shop; not a lot of customers were buying items. Irena was following Alek, who just recently started to crawl. He was a bit slow, but when you least expected, he was already somewhere else.

Because he was small, it was easier for him to move around underneath the customers. At the shop, you could hear a few "sorrys" and "excuse me" from Irena trying to catch up to Alek.

She was getting closer to him, "I caught you," Irena said, picking up Alek.

He only smiled, showing his two small teeth that were barely coming out; he moved around waiting to be put down. Since he started to crawl; he didn't want to be stopped; he wanted to explore every little thing he could see and wanted to touch everything on his way.

"Sorry, hun, but it's time to go home," Irena told him. He stopped moving around, understanding the word home.

He looked at his father and started moving his hands toward him, wanting to be carried by him. Fred got him and kissed him on his cheek.

"I see how it is," Irena said, a bit hurt. Fred was Aleks favorite; he loved being around him, and the reason he started to crawl was to follow him.

Almost three weeks ago, it was when Alek started to crawl.

They were at the flat. It was a Saturday; Irena and Fred were making dinner while George was on the sofa.

Fred and Irena were done cooking. Fred went to the table to start setting the table by adding the plates and utensils. Irena was in the kitchen taking out the cheesecake she had made, letting it out to cool down.

George looked to where Alek was supposed to be, but he was no longer there. He panicked a bit and sat up straight, he looked around, but he could see him. He got up from the sofa to have a better view.

"I don't want to freak you two out, but I don't know where Alek is."

Fred almost dropped the plate. Irena left the cheesecake, not even checking if it was fully cooked.

The door was locked; he couldn't go out; he wasn't in his room either.

Irena started to panic, "I found him," said Fred with a big smile. "What where," she said, walking closer to him.

Alek was under the table, looking up, extending his arms to be carried by Fred. Fred carried him "did you crawl all the way over here," he asked with a big smile looking at Alek.

Irena could not believe it; she gave birth to him went through all that pain during nine months and labor for him to love Fred more.

Since he was a newborn; Alek looked like his father, but now that he was a bit bigger and his features were changing, he was Fred's twin, or in this case, triplet.

She smiled, looking at Fred and Alek; she was happy with her little family even though Alek loved Fred more, maybe their second child would love her more. Realizing what she was thinking about, she shook her head; she was not ready for another baby.

While George was closing the shop and Fred with Irena and Alek were making their way to the flat at Hogwarts, something was happening that no one expected. There it was, hanging in the sky above the school: the blazing green skull with a serpent tongue, the mark Death Eaters.

Alek was sleeping in his crib; she kissed him on top of his forehead. She walked out of his room, walking to where George and Fred were as she was getting closer to them; she knew something was wrong.

"Fred," she said, slowly looking between Fred and his brother. "What's wrong?" Fred looked at her with sadness in his eyes.

"It's Bill, he was attacked by Greyback." Irena's eyes widened, "Is he... alright," Irena asked slowly, looking at Fred.

Bill was in the hospital wing with an unrecognizable face. He won't turn into a full werewolf, but he might have some wolfish characteristics.

"Mum and dad are with him right now. We got a Patronus from them. He is alive; that's what we know so far."

"And what about Ron and Ginny; how are they," Irena asked with concern. "They are alright with some bruises." "That's good," said Irena quietly, looking at the floor.

Fred and George looked at each other. "There's something else," said Fred. Irena looked up, "Dumbledore is dead." "What thats im-impossible," Irena said, not believing what she just heard.

"We still don't know how mum didn't go into much detail," said George.

That night Irena was having trouble sleeping. Hogwarts was supposed to be one of the safest places to be, but Death Eaters were able to attack students and killed Dumbledore.

She was worried for what was to come; she was afraid that something could happen to her son. She was moving around her bed unable to close her eyes and sleep; her mind was going insane, making different horrible scenarios in her head.

"Irena," Fred said quietly, noticing that Irena was still awake.

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up." "Don't worry about that; what's wrong?" It was silent for a few minutes "its nothing," Irena said finally.

"Come here," Fred said, opening his arms. She had a small smile on her face and placed her face on Freds chest; he hugged her resting his chin on top of her head.

"I'm scared," she said after a few moments of enjoying the warmth that Fred gave her.

"I won't let anything happen to you or Alek; Rena, I promise," Fred said, kissing the top of her head.

With that, Irena tried to sleep, not even twenty minutes had passed, and she was asleep. Fred didn't let her go; he fell asleep with Irena in his arms.

He truly meant what he said a war was coming, and he was going to do everything to protect his family.