The Burrow, 31st of December 1977
“Have you thought of a name for the baby yet?” Gideon asked and nodded towards Molly's belly. The New Year's celebration had quieted down and the sitting room was filled with a cosy warmth and the soft snores of the two boys that had fallen asleep on the couch.
“Not really,” she answered and stroked her hand over her five month pregnant belly, pulling the fabric of her blue dress taunt over the small bulge for a moment. “We have some ideas, but it's hard to know what the right name is before they're born.” She looked over on the couch where Charlie was curled up like a hedgehog on one side of Gideon, thumb almost in his mouth, to Bill halfway draped over the other armrest, his head pillowed on his arms. Percy had been put to bed upstairs hours ago, but the two oldest had insisted on staying up for the fireworks at midnight. At five and seven years old they had still fallen asleep a bit past nine o'clock as Gideon read them a story.
“I know what you should name it – him,” Fabian said and took another swallow of his whisky. He and Robert were lazily lounging on the floor, still idly pushing the toy train back and forth on its tracks. “Archibald!”
“I'm not naming my child Archibald,” Molly objected.
“Come on, it's a respectable name,” Robert answered, doing his best to keep in his laughter. “Little Archie.”
“Or little Baldie!” Fabian said and they both burst out laughing, Robert knocking the train off its tracks with his elbow. The train set had been a Christmas present for Charlie, but it was hard to say if the boys or Fabian and Robert had had more fun as they rearranged the pieces of track into a winding path encircling the Christmas tree earlier in the evening. All of them had whooped with delight as the little train was sent around the track at breakneck speed with the help of magic, toppling as it rounded the sharp corners and spilling its passengers consisting of a plastic flying horse, a chess piece and a figure of Father Christmas.
“You're impossible,” Molly said and aimed a kick at her brother's side from the armchair, but it didn't connect.
“All right, all right, not Archibald,” Fabian said as he collected himself and took another sip of whisky. “What about Lambert?”
“Lamb chop,” Robert replied at once, sending them into gales of laughter again.
“You two shouldn't be allowed to name as much as a goldfish,” Molly said, but couldn't hide her humoured smile.
“I'm great at naming goldfish!” Fabian said. “When was it, sixth year at Hogwarts, we ended up with some spare goldfish after a class? I took one of them, his name was Winston.”
“I'm not naming the child Winston,” Molly said and crossed her arms.
“I didn't say you should,” Fabian retorted. “But you named the last one Percival Ignatius. Archibald isn't that far off.”
“He just looked like a Percival,” Molly said.
“What does that even mean?” Fabian asked.
“From what I remember he looked pink and grumpy,” Robert said.
“All babies do,” Arthur said with a chuckle. “And Ignatius is for my uncle. He looks grumpy, too, but it's mostly wrinkles. He must be part basset hound.”
“Just don't name him after Dad, no child deserves being called Aldrich,” Fabian told Molly.
“But Archibald is acceptable?” Molly said and raised her brows.
“Merlin, no,” Fabian laughed. “It's almost as bad as Bartholomew.”
“That one's also off the table,” Molly told him and took a sip of her lemonade.
“Is anything on the table?” Fabian asked.
“The whisky,” Robert replied and summoned the bottle to refill their glasses. “What about Richard?”
“Rickety-Dick,” Fabian chuckled.
“What about Tom and Harry?” Robert raised an eyebrow at him.
“Too common,” Fabian answered. “Fadrique,” he suggested instead.
“That's certainly not too common,” Robert said. “Faddie the laddie!” he burst out a moment later and fell about in paroxysms of hilarity.
“I'm not having a son named Faddie!” Arthur objected, but was laughing almost as hard as Robert. Molly put a hand on Bill's shoulder to still him, he had given a sleepy “whuff?” and his eyelids fluttered at Robert's exclamation, but he soon lapsed back into sleep.
“You're impossible,” Molly said, but couldn't keep from smiling at their antics.
“We're just trying to help, the boy needs a name,” Fabian defended them with and supported himself on one arm as he leaned back.
“It might be a girl,” Molly pointed out and rubbed her hand over her belly again, getting a slow kick in return.
“You could name her after Mum,” Fabian said quietly and buried his face in his glass. A hush fell over the room, magnifying the sounds of Gideon shifting in his seat and Robert accidentally knocking over a building block next to the toy train.
“It's a good name,” Gideon said at last. They had lost their mother to a drawn-out illness when they were still in school, and the scars ran deep.
“Rhiannon is a good name,” Molly agreed, signing along with her words as she had seen the confusion on Arthur's face. He had followed the conversation so far without problems, but his hearing aids didn't deal well with the sudden drop in volume.
“It's lovely,” Arthur said softly and reached over to squeeze her hand.
“Little Rhi,” Fabian muttered, trying out the name. “Or Nannon.” He furrowed his brow at the thought.
“Too close to Nanny,” Robert said and Molly shook her head in good-humoured exasperation. “But Rhi's good.”
“What about giving her your middle name, Rowena,” Gideon suggested.
“I wouldn't want to put that sort of pressure on a child, what if she's not sorted into Ravenclaw?” Molly said.
“Then she'll break expectations. Like mother, like daughter,” Gideon said with a gentle smile. Molly returned it before shaking the sentimentality off.
“Or I could name her something like Gertrude,” she said with a challenging look at Robert and Fabian. She could play the game of coming up with horrible names just as well as they could.
“Christ, what has the baby done to you to deserve that?” Robert said with feigned shock.
“Not much yet, but if she keeps growing like this, she'll be bigger than Charlie was by the time she's due,” Molly said and shifted in her seat.
“I don't want to hear the details!” Fabian said and stuck his fingers in his ears.
“With how much he kicked my kidneys it's a wonder I didn't name him Bartholomew or Artichoke out of spite,” she continued.
“Artichoke!” Robert burst out and looked over at the boy, still curled up on the sofa with his knees tucked under him and his bum in the air. “He sort of looks like one,” Robert added and tilted his head to the left.
“Is that even a real name?” Fabian asked.
“It's not,” Molly said “But Aramis is.”
Fabian gave a theatrical sigh. “Fine, just name the baby something boring like Basil.”
“That's a herb, not a name,” Molly objected.
“It can be both,” Arthur said, the corner of his mouth tucked up in a smile.
“George, then, that's not a herb,” Fabian said and drained his glass.
“Or Howard,” Robert said. “Howie the... lowie.”
“Do you have to make a joke out of every name?” Molly asked him.
“Not every name,” Robert said, “but you are married to Artie.” He grinned at his friend.
“She is, Bobby,” Arthur replied smoothly.
“Just don't name the kid after his Uncle Giddy,” Fabian said and got a piece of chocolate thrown at him by his brother. It bounced off his forehead, but he snatched it from the floor and popped it in his mouth.
“Giddy would be one of the less atrocious nicknames you've come up with tonight,” Molly said.
“It's not,” Gideon disagreed with a shake of his head and refilled his glass with fire-whiskey.
“We're just trying to make sure the boy isn't bullied mercilessly. If we can think of it, so can kids,” Robert said and gave the toy train a push that sent it a third of the way around the tracks.
“Well, whatever his name ends up being, I think he's getting impatient for the fireworks,” Molly said and massaged her belly. The child had been quiet for a while, but now started to come awake with small pokes of knees and elbows to her insides.
“Should we wake Bill and Charlie?” Gideon asked after a glance at his watch, it was past eleven.
“Yes, they were so looking forward to it,” Molly said and reached over to shake Bill's shoulder. “Bill, wake up, we're going outside for the fireworks soon.” He gave a small grunt and buried his face down in his crossed arms, but his mother didn't stop.
Fabian solved the problem by cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting “Fire in the hall!” causing Bill to jerk awake and Charlie to sit straight up, looking bewildered around from beneath half-closed eyelids.
“Whassat?” Bill asked confused and rubbed his eye with his fist.
“Fireworks!” Fabian told him.
“Now?” Bill asked blankly.
“Soon,” Robert told him with a grin. Bill slowly mirrored it while Charlie was still struggling with waking up and Gideon pulled him over on his lap.
“Fireworks?” Charlie repeated as Gideon brushed the curls out of the boy's face.
“That's right,” Fabian confirmed, and Charlie's face lit up.
The boys still needed a few minutes to wake up, aided by a glass each of lemonade, but it didn't take long before they were practically bouncing in their seats.
“Let's go, then, the rockets won't improve with age,” Robert said and hauled himself up from the floor.
“Go get your shoes and coats and we'll help you put them on,” Molly told Bill and Charlie, and they ran off to do just that.
Fabian smiled lazily up at Robert and held out his hand. Robert took it and pulled him to his feet with a grunt. Fabian laughed as he stumbled into his boyfriend and pulled him closer for a quick kiss, but Robert turned his head away.
“Wait until midnight,” Robert told him.
“Tease,” Fabian chuckled, but let him go in favour of following the others into the hallway and getting dressed.
An interlude of chaos ensued as everyone tried locating coats, hats, mittens, scarves, and shoes, got them on, and poured out the door into the cold, clear midwinter air.
“Mum, come on!” Charlie turned in the doorway and shouted before running after his brother, father and uncles into the driveway.
“I'm coming!” Molly answered with a laugh and finished buttoning her coat as she went out the door. She caught up with the five-year-old as he came to a halt watching Arthur and Robert carry a box of fireworks each out of the shed. Charlie gaped open-mouthed at the rockets visible over the rim of the boxes before he ran over to join Bill in swarming around the adults as they proceeded towards the end of the driveway.
“Hold your hippogriffs,” Robert laughed as he put the box down on the ground and the boys instantly peered excitedly inside.
“We don't have any hippogriffs,” Bill pointed out and glanced up at him for a moment, but couldn't take his gaze away from the exciting fireworks for long.
“I do, but he's inside,” Charlie said, meaning one of his toys. “Should I go get him?” he asked Robert who shook his head with a laugh and ruffled Charlie's hair, which mostly just unsettled his knitted hat.
“I think we've got this,” Fabian said and squatted down by the box. He poked around in it for a bit before selecting a long rocket and handed a similar one to Robert with a grin. Robert grinned back and they found a piece of flat ground to set off the fireworks from, being joined by Arthur with a third rocket.
On the other side of the village a yellow starburst lit up the sky for a moment, and both Bill and Charlie looked at it with awe. It was still half an hour until midnight, but they were clearly not the only ones starting to set off fireworks.
“Boys, come here,” Molly said and beckoned for them to come stand with her and Gideon at a safe distance. Both boys kept looking at where the starburst had been for another few seconds until Charlie turned and ran over to her. Bill reluctantly followed a moment later, not wanting to turn his back on the village and potentially miss any fireworks. Luckily Robert, Fabian and Arthur were about to set off their rockets.
“Ready?” Robert asked and looked from Fabian on one side of him to Arthur on the other and quickly signed the same as best he could with his wand in one hand. Arthur had taken out his hearing aids in favour of keeping his ears warm with a home-knitted striped cap.
After receiving affirmative nods, he counted down “Three... two... one,” folding down a finger with each word, before all three men put the tip of their wand to the fuses and quickly stepped back. Fabian stumbled a bit going from a squat to moving backwards, but Arthur caught his arm and steadied him.
The cold air was filled with expectant waiting and the low hiss of the burning fuses for a few seconds. Then Arthur's rocket took flight, being followed seconds later by the two others, and they burst into cascades of reds, yellow, and green sparks with bangs that made the boys jump.
“More!” Bill shouted, but it was hardly necessary as his father and uncles were already on their way to pick out more rockets from the boxes. Having familiarised themselves with the first set of rockets, setting up the second round went quicker.
“Oh, nice one!” Fabian said as the rocket Robert had set off exploded in a turning wheel of crimson sparkles before fading after a few seconds. Since the fireworks would be visible for the whole village they couldn't go all out on what the magical world could offer of long-lasting pyrotechnics, but they still had a good assortment of the more innocent-looking sort.
They didn't waste any time on sending up the next round, or the ones after that, and the excited “Ooh!”s and “Aah!”s of the audience mingled with the sharp bangs and smell of spent gunpowder as the sky was lit up with spinning spirals and slow-falling crackles, quick comets that zoomed around for a moment before dying, zigzagging lines and multicoloured spheres that seemed to cover half the sky.
Molly put a hand on Bill's shoulder where he was standing in front of her, the seven-year-old was positively shaking with excitement and adrenaline from the loud explosions, but he shrugged it off, eyes glued to the spectacle of the turquoise stars colliding with a coil of golden sparks. Gideon had picked Charlie up so the boy could see better, and he sat securely on his uncle's arm, mouth agape in awe and one hand fisted hard in the fabric of the jacket on his uncle's shoulder.
The fireworks above the village had picked up, and there was a constant barrage of streamers and balls of red, white, blue and brilliant green, golden crackles they couldn't hear at the distance and whining flares.
Their own fireworks came to a halt as Arthur knelt by the large rocket he had selected, persistently striking the matchstick in his hand against the box. He struck harder and the match broke, and with an annoyed grunt he took out another one, doggedly jabbing it at the box. On the third try it came alight and he gave a satisfied hum only to see the flame be snuffed out by a wayward breeze.
“Move over,” Robert said with a roll of his eyes and took the box of matches before nudging Arthur out of the way and quickly lit one himself. Arthur's fingers were nimble enough, he had no problem doing various card tricks, but he had never mastered the use of matches.
Robert put the lit match to the fuse and held it there, but instead of igniting the rocket, the flame dwindled and went out. Arthur laughed and slapped his friend on the back, glad to see he wasn't the only one who had trouble with the matches. Slightly annoyed, Robert got his wand out of his jacket pocket and had the fuse lit in two seconds. The rocket exploded above them into a dazzling show of slow-falling stars.
Meanwhile Fabian had found a pack of sparklers in one of the boxes and was handing them out while keeping one eye on the light show above the village.
“Hold your arm out straight, we don't want you setting yourself on fire,” he said as he handed one each to Bill and Charlie. Both boys instantly stuck the arm holding the sparkler stiffly out in front of themselves, and Fabian gave them an approving nod before squatting down. With a playful grin he snapped his fingers at the end of Bill's sparkler, which instantly took to spitting glittering sparks.
“Woah!” Bill's eyes darted between his uncle's face and the fizzing evidence of the wandless magic he had just done. Fabian's grin just grew wider before he did the same to Charlie's sparkler, getting the same reaction.
He handed a couple of sparklers to Molly before taking one himself and lit in the middle, resulting in two points of cascading flares going in opposite directions.
“You're having too much fun with this,” Molly said with a laugh as he began waving the burning metal rod back and forth, the path of the bright light being burnt into the vision of the onlookers for a moment.
“We're allowed some fun, aren't we?” Fabian said and looked down at the boys for support, and got it in the form of enthusiastic “Yeah!”s. Molly laughed again, delighted at their joy, and couldn't help herself from drawing a heart in the air with her sparklers as Arthur and Robert joined them. Arthur leaned in to peck her on the cheek and she handed one of the sparklers to him.
Robert relieved Fabian of the pack and refreshed Bill and Charlie's sparkles, lighting the new ones with the last of the old ones, before taking one himself. Despite seeing the adults wave theirs around with hapless abandon, the boys still held their arms rigidly out in front of themselves, their attention flicking back and forth between the jumping sparks and the fireworks above the village.
“En garde!” Fabian said when getting himself a new sparkler and pointed it at Gideon, who still hadn't got one of his own. Gideon raised an eyebrow at him, then pulled his wand out of his pocket and Fabian's sparkler went up all at once in a sudden flash.
“Oy!” Fabian had dropped the sparkler and jumped back a step in surprise before giving Gideon, who was chuckling to himself, an annoyed look.
“Sorry, couldn't resist,” Gideon said and extracted the last two sparklers from the pack and offered one to his brother. Fabian accepted the peace offering with a crooked smile, he probably had been quite the sight, and Gideon wasn't the only one laughing at his reaction.
“It's almost midnight!” Arthur announced after checking his watch. “Two minutes left!” He kept one eye on his watch as the family fell silent and the sparklers sputtered out as they waited. The fireworks above the village kept going, but the more distant ones were half-hidden by accumulated smoke. “Ten! Nine! Eight!”
The others joined in on the countdown, and as the clock struck midnight, they erupted in cheers of “Happy New Year!” Arthur wrapped his arms around Molly and almost lifted her off her feet as they kissed, and Robert grabbed Fabian by the ears to deliver a wet smooch to his lips.
“You kissed!” Bill said with a giggle and looked from his parents to his uncles and back again.
“That's what you do when the new year comes, you kiss,” Robert said with a laugh and disentangled himself from Fabian. It was hardly the first time the boys had seen either couple kiss, but this time it seemed to have taken them unaware. Charlie was looking just as gobsmacked as his brother.
“But your poor Uncle Gideon didn't get any kisses,” Fabian said. “We better fix that!” He quickly hoisted both boys into his arms and they descended on Gideon.
“Hey! Stop! That's enough!” Gideon objected and tried pushing them away as all three of them showered wet smacks onto his cheeks, forehead, and even some on his ears. “Stop it, I said!” It still went on for a minute, the boys grabbing onto his jacket to pull him close and preventing his shoves against Fabian's body from being very effective. With a last lick up his brother's cheek, eliciting a sound of disgust, Fabian stepped back, everyone but Gideon laughing their heads off.
“I think that'll do,” Fabian said as he let the boys down again.
“Bloody hell, I said I was sorry about the sparkler!” Gideon said and grimaced as he wiped his face with his sleeve.
“Sure you did,” Fabian said, but noticed Gideon couldn't keep from smiling at the boys' laughter.
“Go play with your fireworks if you have any left,” he told Fabian.
“Oh, we do,” Fabian assured him and took hold of Robert's arm to pull him along to the boxes where a few rockets were still peeking above the rim.
They had enough for another ten minutes of glittery explosions in all the colours of the rainbow. There were slow-falling cascades of light, coloured balls that chased each other and wide bursts of sparkles, all accompanied by very off-key singing of Auld Lang Syne by Fabian and Robert as they sent up rocket after rocket.
Fabian stumbled back after lighting the fuse on the last one and fell over. Only the occasional flare was visible in the haze now blanketing the village below and he followed his rocket's ascent with his eyes.
“Uncle Fabian! Are you all right?” Charlie had ran over to where his uncle was lying on the ground.
“I'm fine,” Fabian assured him and sat up before pointing to where the rocket burst into a blue and silver sphere that hung in the sky for several seconds before fading.
“That's a big one,” Charlie said in an awed tone and Fabian nodded.
“You all right?” Robert asked as he came over to them and hauled Fabian to his feet.
“Never better,” Fabian answered, the smell of burnt gunpowder burning in his nose, and clapped a hand to Robert's shoulder as the others congregated around them.
“Was that the last one?” Bill asked.
“It was,” Robert told him. “But it was fun, right?”
“It was brilliant!” Bill said. He hadn't stopped grinning since the fireworks began, and his eyes were still wide with amazement.
“It was wonderful,” Molly agreed and hugged Robert and Fabian in thanks. They clumsily patted her back in return. “Why don't we go in and have a cup of hot chocolate before we call it a night.” Bill and Charlie beamed at her and if possible smiled even wider before they took off towards the house.
“Wait!” Robert shouted after them, but the boys were through the front door without a backwards glance in a matter of seconds. “There goes your good luck for the year,” he told Molly.
“Maybe they don't count, they're just children,” she replied. He gave her a look indicating he didn't think the forces governing the first-footing, the first person to cross the threshold of a house in the new year, cared about what age the person was. It did care about what colour their hair was, and while his dark frizz would bring good luck, Bill and Charlie's brilliant red was the worst omen of bad luck.
“Well, let's see if we can turn it around anyway,” he said and the others followed him towards the front door. He had introduced them to the Scottish tradition of first-footing years ago and was probably the only one present who took it somewhat seriously, but at least Arthur and Molly humoured him.
He picked up the glass of whisky he had left on the ground near the door while Molly and Arthur took their places on the front step. Their hair was just as red as the boys' and it would do no good having them enter the house first either, but they had figured out a way for them to welcome the first-footer as the home owners without having to cross the threshold. The other option would be to have one of them wait inside as one year turned to a new one and miss out on the celebration under the stars.
“You bring gifts for the new year?” Arthur asked loudly with a grin once Robert was standing before them.
“I do,” Robert said with a nod and dug in his pocket, coming up with a couple of small packets of salt and pepper he had grabbed from a pub and a wrapped piece of chocolate before depositing them in Arthur's waiting hand. It wasn't the traditional offering to ensure a household had plenty of food during the coming year, but it would do. Next he reached into the pocket of his coat and extracted a box of matchsticks.
“Those are my matches!” Arthur exclaimed as they were put in his hand. Robert just shrugged, they symbolised firewood just as well, even if he had put them in his pocket after Arthur was done trying to light the fireworks with them.
“And lastly, a dram,” Robert said and handed over the glass of whisky. Arthur raised it to him before taking a sip.
“Happy New Year,” Arthur said again as Molly relieved him of the glass and took the tiniest drop herself, just enough to get the taste on the tip of the tongue.
“Let's hope so,” Robert said as Molly handed the glass back to him, the first-footer should also be offered a drink, and he nodded thanks before taking a swallow. The gift exchange complete, he made his way past the married couple, opened the door and confidently placed one foot over the threshold before continuing inside. If the forces of the first-footing only considered adults, he had done his best to assure the Weasleys had a good year.
He put the whisky glass down on the kitchen table and since the entrance was filling up with the others taking off their coats, threw his jacket over a chair before following the sound of Bill and Charlie's voices into the sitting room. The boys were playing with the train again and Bill gave it a good push to send it hurdling around the track, swinging in between stacks of building blocks, books balanced on their ends, plastic hedges, and figures of animals in varying sizes.
“Uncle Robert!” Charlie exclaimed when he spotted him and bounced to his feet. “Make it go fast again!”
“How fast?” Robert said with a laugh as he sat down cross-legged between the boys and took out his wand.
“Super fast!” Bill said and grabbed the train from the track to give it to Robert, knocking over a stuffed toy niffler in the process. He quickly righted it again as Robert put the train down on the track in front of them.
“Super fast, you say?” Robert pulled up his sleeves and wriggled the fingers of one hand at the train for the theatrics while pointing his wand at it with the other. “I think I can do that.” He sent the train hurtling off, narrowly making the turns; the wheels on one side lifted off the rails before it spun off into a flock of sheep.
The boys were whooping with joy and Charlie snatched up the train before pushing it into Robert's hand again for another round, grinning from ear to ear.
“You call that fast?” Fabian said as he came to sit down next to Robert. Robert shrugged and handed the train over to let his boyfriend have a go. Fabian put the train down and scowled at it in concentration. Bill quickly put the passengers back in the wagons and righted the whole thing on the tracks while Fabian took out his wand. He looked first to his right, then to his left to make sure his audience were paying rapt attention. They were.
Fabian flicked his wrist and the train took off, making it through two corners before it leapt off the rails and collided with a book of fairytales standing halfway open on its side. The book promptly collapsed to shrieks of joy as one of the wagons disconnected from the rest of the train, and the chess piece that had been sitting in it shouted obscenities as it rolled away.
“You made it fly!” Charlie exclaimed and clapped in excitement.
“Not for long, though,” Robert said and summoned the pieces of the train to reassemble it. “Oh, shut it,” he told the chess bishop as he dropped it into the wagon before trying to attach it to the rest of the train. The small connectors didn't want to attach to each other, and when Bill stuck his hand into it to help he handed the problem over to the boy who fixed it in a few seconds.
“Let's see you do it, then,” Fabian said with a laugh and leaned back on his hands. Robert flexed his fingers before making the train shoot off, barely making it around one corner before it tipped, took out a tower of building blocks and crashed into the wall. The laughter and whooping rang through the room, and Robert stuck out his tongue at Fabian. In response Fabian wound his arms around Robert's waist from where he was halfway lying on the floor, still laughing, and gave him a consolatory hug. “Try again,” he got out between snorts.
“You bet I will,” Robert answered and nudged Fabian to let go of him. He obliged and sat back up as the boys got the train ready again. “You think I can make it fly?” Robert asked them.
“You can!” Charlie said and bounced where he was sitting. Robert grinned back at him and stuck the tip of his tongue out as he raised his wand, ready to outdo Fabian. The train began moving at a fair speed, but quickly picked up pace as it rounded the Christmas tree, and as it passed a sea serpent and griffin overlooking the track, it started lifting from the track.
It skimmed the underside of the lowest branches as it took off into the air and was accompanied by eager shouts as it gained height, the wagons tilting back and forth as it swerved around the room and narrowly missed Molly as she came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of cups with hot chocolate.
“Robert!” she exclaimed in surprise as she ducked, but only got laughter in reply as the train started twisting in mid-air and hurtled into the wall as Robert lost control of it, sending pieces flying everywhere. Bill and Charlie were beside themselves with joy, and Fabian and Robert weren't much better with all of them laughing and shouting with excitement.
“One more time!” Bill demanded once he got control of himself enough to speak.
“If you insist,” Robert chuckled and went to pick up the pieces. The locomotive had a small scratch on the front but was otherwise intact, and he popped the wheel back on one of the wagons once he found it after a minute of searching. The chess bishop was swearing fluently in a thin voice and he silenced it with a quick spell before dropping it into a wagon. The winged horse was also found halfway under the bookshelf, but the figure of Father Christmas seemed to have disappeared.
“Come drink your hot chocolate now,” Molly said, having distributed the cups on the coffee table. Bill and Charlie didn't need telling twice and scrambled up on the couch. Robert gave up looking for the last passenger and put the train down by the tracks before he and Fabian joined the others.
“Why are you putting that in your chocolate?” Bill asked and wrinkled his nose as Fabian poured a generous helping of whisky into his hot chocolate.
“Because it's good,” Fabian answered and passed the bottle to Robert, who took a smaller dollop in his.
“You have no taste,” Gideon said and sipped his own chocolate.
“I have great taste,” Fabian objected.
“You've put butterbeer in coffee,” Gideon pointed out.
“Yeah, I have great taste,” Fabian said and took a sip from his cup as Gideon rolled his eyes.
“Suit yourself,” he muttered and scratched at the ragged scar on his wrist.
“Let me see that, Gideon,” Molly said and held out her hand for his.
“It's nothing,” he said but reached his hand across the table so she could take a look at the scar. It wasn't deep, but still wide and ragged, and currently red and irritated from being scratched. “It just itches sometimes.”
His sister had furrowed her brow as she peered closely at the scar while running her thumb over it. The original injury had been caused by two unidentified spells hitting his wrist at the same time, leaving a bleeding gash that hadn't been easily healed by magic. Six months later the scar was still fresh, but didn't seem to be infected by magic in any way.
“I think all I can do is put some lotion on it, but I'll at least do that,” Molly decided and nipped into the hallway to get a small bottle from her bag. Gideon almost rolled his eyes, but let her apply a dab of lotion and rub it into his wrist. He didn't need her to nurse every little scratch he got, but he still appreciated that she would.
“What do you think we should name your new brother or sister?” Fabian asked the boys as Molly rubbed lotion onto Gideon's wrist. Both boys furrowed their brows in thought.
“Pinky,” Charlie said with a nod at last.
“Pinky,” Fabian repeated and raised his cup to Molly and Arthur. “To Pinky!” Arthur raised his own cups in answer.
“Pinky isn't a real name,” Bill objected.
“It is, too!” Charlie argued, getting up on his knees on the couch. “Nick's rabbit is named Pinky.”
“That's a rabbit, not a baby,” Bill pointed out.
“It's still better than Bartholomew,” Molly said with a chuckle as she let go of Gideon's wrist and rubbed the left-over lotion over her own hands. Bill looked confused at his mother for a moment, then dismissed it.
“Who's Nick?” Fabian asked Charlie.
“A boy a few houses down, he and Charlie have been playing together a lot lately,” Arthur answered and took a swallow of his hot chocolate.
“And he has a rabbit?” Fabian said, and Charlie nodded importantly.
“Do you think you'll get a brother or sister?” Gideon asked Bill as Charlie began excitedly telling Fabian and Robert about the rabbit. Bill thought for a few seconds, then shrugged.
“I don't know what it's like to have a sister,” he said.
“It could be a nice change,” Gideon said.
“But I'll still have two brothers,” Bill pointed out.
“Yeah, but some variety is nice. Having a sister isn't that bad,” Gideon said and rubbed at his wrist before glancing at Molly. She smiled warmly back at him, her arms resting on her pregnant belly.
“It's just a baby, though,” Bill said. “It doesn't matter if it's a brother or sister.”
“What do you mean?” Gideon asked.
“Babies don't do much. You can't play with them or anything,” Bill answered.
“They grow faster than you'd think. You'll be roped into pretend tea parties before you know it,” Gideon said. Bill looked aghast at him and he chuckled before leaning closer. “Tell you a secret, it can be quite fun,” he said quietly, but still loud enough for Molly to hear.
“I always knew you didn't mind,” Molly said with a small laugh. “You didn't try juggling the tea cups or make my dolls dance like Fabian did.”
“Oh, I think he had fun with it, too,” Gideon said and leaned back comfortably.
“We took Pinky with us to the forest,” Charlie was telling Fabian and Robert. He was by now standing in his seat in his excitement, which was fuelled further by his uncle's rapt attention. “She sniffed around on the ground, her nose going like this!” He wriggled his finger fast in the air to demonstrate.
“Like this?” Robert asked and wriggled the tip of his nose, making Charlie gasp.
“Like that!” he said, his finger shooting out to touch Robert's nose in his eagerness to point at it. “But her nose is pink.”
“Is that why she's called Pinky?” Fabian asked and made to put his own finger to Robert's nose as Charlie's hand dropped. He misjudged slightly and his finger slid off the side of the nose, making Robert laugh before he snatched it between his teeth. “Hey, don't bite me!” Fabian jerked his finger back.
“Oh, you like it,” Robert muttered.
“I don't know why she's called Pinky,” Charlie said and furrowed his brows. “Her fur is white and black.”
“What else did she do in the forest?” Robert asked.
“She chewed on a stick. That also made her nose go like this.” He tried copying Robert's nose-wriggling, but instead moved his whole head up and down. “But we have to be careful so she doesn't jump away.”
“Yeah, it's dangerous for rabbits to be all alone,” Fabian said and Charlie nodded. “It sounds like you and Nick take good care of her.”
“We do,” Charlie agreed with a nod. “We hold her and pet her, and her fur is really soft.”
“I bet it is,” Robert agreed.
“I've been helping Mum with the chickens, but they don't have soft fur,” Charlie added thoughtfully.
“Yeah?” Fabian said and took a swallow of his hot chocolate.
“I help feed them and sometimes catch them when they don't want to go into the coop,” Charlie told them.
“Why don't they want to go into their coop?” Fabian asked.
“Probably because they're bird-brains,” Robert offered.
“Well, they are birds,” Fabian said with a chuckle.
“But they can't fly,” Charlie put in. “I tried to make them, but they just flap their wings and fall down.” He waved his arms in demonstration and almost lost his balance, but Robert grabbed his arm and pulled him down to sit on the couch again.
“I don't know why they keep letting you pick them up when you throw them into the air like that,” Molly said and Charlie's face contorted in displeasure.
“It's not hurting them. Maybe they like being airborne for a few seconds,” Arthur said and took a sip of his cup.
“They like it,” Charlie insisted. “Dippy likes it a lot, and Toast can almost fly.”
“One of the chickens is named Toast?” The corner of Fabian's mouth was twitching dangerously as he tried to keep from laughing.
“She's friends with Frank and Tattie,” Charlie said with a nod. Despite doing his best not to, Fabian let out a snort of laughter. He couldn't wait to tell Frank Longbottom he shared name with a chicken.
“Good names,” Robert said, his voice choked with suppressed mirth.
“Charlie's named all the chickens,” Arthur filled in.
“They're very good names,” Fabian agreed. “Much better than I could come up with.”
“That's true,” Molly said from across the table.
“Sounds like you've got them well fettered,” Robert told Charlie. “You'll be a regular magizoologist before we know it.”
“But they're not my chickens, they're Mum's,” Charlie said.
“Maybe you could get a rabbit of your own,” Robert suggested, and Charlie's face lit up.
“Mum! Dad! Can I have a rabbit? I'll feed it and play with it!” He looked at his parents with a mixture of pleading and eagerness.
“A pet is a lot of responsibility, Charlie,” Arthur answered. “We've talked about this before.”
“But Dad,” Charlie answered, his shoulders dropping in disappointment. “I'll look after it! I've looked after the chickens!”
“And you're very good at it, but a pet of your own is still a lot of responsibility,” Arthur said. He didn't doubt his son's intentions, but he was also aware Charlie was only five and the excitement of feeding and looking after a rabbit every day could quickly wane.
Charlie looked dejected from his father to his mother. “You're having a baby, why can't I have a rabbit?” he asked.
The adults burst out laughing and he looked confused around at them. Fabian and Robert were clutching their bellies in unhinged hilarity, Gideon was shaking with unsuccessfully suppressed laughter, and his parents were doing their best to pull themselves together as quickly as possible.
“You're right, we are having a baby,” Molly said and pressed her knuckles to her mouth for a moment to not break out laughing again at the comparison of having a baby with owning a rabbit. “Maybe we can see about a rabbit after the baby comes. You've been very good at helping me with the chickens, after all,” she said. It would give them a few more months to consider it, and to see if Charlie was still interested or if it was a passing fancy. “But now I think it's time to call it a night and go to bed.”
“No!” Bill exclaimed and sat up straight as a poker. “I'm not tired!”
“Not tired!” Charlie echoed, his eyes springing wide.
“But I am,” Molly said as she stood up and rubbed the small of her back.
“What, have you gotten too old for all-night parties?” Robert teased her.
“Yes, I have,” she answered, not rising to his bait. “And if you don't leave on your own, I'll kick you out.”
“You can't do that, not after I was your first-footer and everything,” Robert argued good-humouredly.
“Watch me,” Molly answered, but the corner of her mouth turned up in a smile.
“All right, I can tell when I'm not wanted,” Robert said and headed for the kitchen to get his coat, but Molly captured him in a hug as he passed her and kissed his cheek.
“It was great having you,” she told him as she released him.
“And it was great being here,” he answered with a soft smile. “Happy New Year.”
Gideon followed Robert into the kitchen and once he had got his coat from the hallway, Molly wrapped her arms around him in a good-bye hug.
“Take care,” she told him, looking up at him.
“Of course,” he answered mildly. “You do, too. And Happy New Year.” He gave her arm a short squeeze before letting her go.
“We'll come back another day,” Fabian told Charlie as the two of them ambled towards the kitchen.
“Promise?” Charlie asked, tilting his head back to look up at him.
“Of course,” Fabian answered with a grin. “New Year's kiss good-bye?” He bent down to pick up the boy, but the extra weight caused him to overbalance as he straightened up. Charlie gave a shout of surprise as he was pulled along as his uncle fell flat on his arse, and they both broke into laughter.
“You're silly,” Charlie laughed, wrapped tight in Fabian's arms.
“You have no idea,” Fabian chuckled back. “Now where's my kiss?” Charlie obliged by smacking his lips on his uncle's cheek, accompanied by a loud “Mwah!” Fabian chuckled to himself before returning the favour.
“Eww!” Charlie laughed and wiped the wetness from his cheek, and Fabian ruffled his hair.
“Bill?” Fabian gave Bill a mischievous look, but the boy didn't need convincing to come wrap his arms around his neck. Fabian blew a loud raspberry on Bill's neck, eliciting giggles from both boys.
“I have to meet Tattie and Toastie and all the other chickens,” he told Charlie with a grin, who instantly mirrored it.
“Fabian.” Molly gave him a look and raised one eyebrow, clearly wanting him to hurry up.
“I'm coming, I'm coming,” he muttered and let go of the boys before pulling himself to his feet with the help of the bookcase.
“You're taking the Floo, if you try Apparating now you'll probably leave a leg behind,” Molly told him.
“Pfft, I wouldn't,” Fabian said and staggered half a step to the right.
“You would, and I'd be the one left trying to put you back together,” she told him.
“Fine,” he said and rolled his eyes.
“You're hopeless,” she said as she opened her arms for a hug.
“But you love me,” he answered as he sank into her embrace and leaned his cheek on her shoulder despite her being a lot shorter than him. “You love me, you love me, you do,” he continued in a sing-song voice as he rocked back and forth.
“I do,” she admitted with a chuckle as he planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek. “But it's late.”
“It's not,” he argued as Robert slapped a hand holding his coat on his shoulder, but he didn't pay it any mind and it dropped to the floor. Releasing Molly, he instead went for Gideon, whose eyes widened in apprehension.
“I don't need you licking my face again,” Gideon said as he put one hand on Fabian's shoulder and met the hand Fabian was raising with his own to hold him at a respectable distance.
“Killjoy,” Fabian said, but gave his brother's hand a squeeze. “Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year,” Gideon answered and let go of his brother's shoulder to ruffle his hair, making Fabian pull a face and eliciting some laughs. “Take care, all right?”
“Of course,” Fabian said confidently as his eyes wandered over to Arthur. He let go of Gideon in favour of making his way over to wrap his arms tightly around him.
“Was nice hav-- Argh!” Arthur let out a sound of disgust as Fabian ran his tongue up his cheek.
“You should shave,” Fabian said and stuck out his tongue to wipe away the feeling of stubble with his hand.
“You're not a dog,” Arthur said.
“You sure?” Fabian asked.
“No,” Arthur admitted with a chuckle and rubbed his hand over his wet cheek.
“I'd be a good dog,” Fabian mused. “A setter, I think. Or a spaniel.” He was distracted from further thought of it by Robert taking hold of his shoulder and turning him around.
“Are you going to kiss everyone but me?” Robert teased before leaning in and placing his lips to Fabian's.
“I'll kiss you when we get home, yeah?” Fabian murmured, and the corner of Robert's mouth tucked up in anticipation.
“Then I guess we'd better go home,” Robert said softly. Fabian nodded, but didn't move from the spot. It ended with Robert taking hold of his hand and pulling him along to the fireplace once Gideon had disappeared in the green flames.
“Try not to get out at the wrong grate and end up in some stranger's house,” Molly said as she held out the flower pot holding the Floo powder to them.
“Don't you have any faith in us?” Robert asked as he grabbed a pinch of powder. Molly just raised her brows, indicating she did not at the current moment. Robert rolled his eyes in response before flicking the powder into the fire and pulled Fabian along with him.
The house was dark and quiet when they exited their own fireplace and they stumbled their way up to the bedroom. After kicking off their shoes, Fabian careened into Robert and threw his arms around him with a drunken “Happy New Year,” causing Robert to fall over onto the bed with Fabian on top of him.
“You're heavy,” Robert grunted, partly flattened under his boyfriend, but still smiling.
“So are you,” Fabian murmured and nuzzled his face into the crook of Robert's neck.
“I can't breathe,” Robert said with the hint of a strangled laugh, and Fabian slowly shifted over so they could lie on their sides facing each other. Neither were able to bring the other's face into focus in the close proximity, and Fabian gave a heavy sigh.
“Happy New Year,” Robert murmured and reached an uncoordinated hand up to comb his fingers through Fabian's copper hair. Fabian gave a small agreeable sound at the back of his throat, not unlike a content dog. “Should we get undressed?” Robert asked after a moment. Apart from their shoes and coats, they were still fully clothed.
“No,” Fabian slurred and clumsily put his arms around Robert. He had had more than enough to drink and Robert knew why. Both of them as well as Gideon had to varying degrees, and for the same reason. The fireworks were too reminiscent of curses flying too close for comfort, the bright lights blinding them as they ducked aside, the sounds too similar to explosions going off around their ears and sending debris and splinters flying in all directions.
Still, it was just one night, and they could put up with it for the sake of seeing Bill and Charlie's ecstatic faces. The boys' joy at seeing their father and uncles turn the night sky into an ever-changing show of sparks and lights was more than worth it.
Fabian butted his head under Robert's chin to bury his face in the front of his shirt and Robert didn't say anything, just adjusted his head to ease his neck and held around Fabian in return.
“I love you,” Fabian murmured after a minute, his voice muffled and almost inaudible.
“I love you, too,” Robert replied while he continued stroking Fabian's hair with one hand.