the baby project — act two
" welcome to parenthood "
﹙ 𝗔 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗜𝗡 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡. ﹚

AS 1995 DREW TO A CLOSE, ADDIE LOOKED BACK ON EVERYTHING THAT had happened in the last three-hundred and sixty-five days. For one, she had a baby. Not on her bingo card or her bucket list, but here we are. She entered her final year at Hogwarts and started thinking about life without her closest friends and her academics. This year, in particular, highlighted for Addie the closing chapter of her childhood. Next year, she would be attending careers meetings and thinking about her future. For now, she wanted to enjoy the final days of the year with her best friends, soaking in their presence as best she could.

The week in between Christmas and New Year's Eve was always a funny one. No one quite knew what to do, and no one knew what day it was. They just kind of existed. And it was even stranger to be in school, still, trying to figure out parenthood while simultaneously trying to juggle boredom.

Fred and George were not struggling to keep themselves occupied, however. They had been in charge of the fireworks display for every occasion necessary since their third year, when they asserted themselves as the school's primary pranksters. November Fifth was a big day for them, their birthdays equally as important, but no firework display was as vital as the New Year's Eve one. They knew they had to nail it ─ everyone was counting on them.

But then George made the mistake of mentioning his and his brother's plan for the display to Addie.

They were sitting in her empty room, as they usually did. Addie was folding laundry and George was tickling their baby's stomach, his whole body stretched out on her bed. They looked like the perfect little family (besides the very tiny detail that they weren't even eighteen yet).

"We think happy new year! is probably too long to write out in fireworks, but do you think an abbreviation would be too weird?"

Addie was not interested in fireworks. She told him as much. She had simply thought he had finally dropped the topic.

"You're not doing fireworks," she told him. "There are babies here."

George was outraged. Addie said this in November, which is why the whole school had a very boring, very quiet Bonfire Night. He would have thought she would warm up to the idea of fireworks by the time the end of December rolled around.

He sat up like there was suddenly a rod down his jumper. "You're kidding, right?"

"Absolutely not," she said, sending him daggers for eyes.

"Addie, but it's New Year's Eve." In other words, it was Fred and George's biggest night of the idea. Guy Fawkes Night without fireworks was bad enough, but at least there were bonfires. But NYE without any fireworks was just criminal. What was the point?

"I am well aware of what day it is," she said, her attention more focused on pairing socks.

George was on his feet now, baby neglected ─ there were more important things at hand. Walking towards her, chin jutted out in confusion, he asked, "So I assume you're also aware that they are robots. They're probably desensitised to fireworks."

"They're meant to replicate actual babies, George," Addie sighed. "Loud noises are babies' biggest fears."

"They're not real babies!" George didn't know how many times he had to say it before his year group started to understand it. Technically, nothing they did here meant anything later on.

Addie had a different perspective. "That's not the point!"

They had reached a standstill, as they often did, and George hated the tense silence that followed any argument without compromise, especially one with Addie.

"Then you have to give me a kiss at midnight."

She couldn't help but scoff. In fact, it was just about the only thing she could do. Was he being serious? Was this just another George Weasley joke? Probably, right?

Addie resumed folding her laundry, taking this all as the big joke she thought it was. "Very funny."

Smoothly, George slid along the floorboards to come to stand in front of her. "I'm dead serious."

"As per usual," she replied sarcastically.

"It's either a kiss or the fireworks, Sweeney." He towered over her and she couldn't help but think he was trying to intimidate her into submission.

She was stronger than that, though, and this was George Weasley we are talking about. She didn't have to give in to him. "You are in no position to be giving me ultimatums, Weasley."

George lay a hand on his chest in mock hurt. "Addie, I am the father of your child. You would think a small peck wasn't a big deal."

Addie discarded her laundry and turned to face him. "No fireworks. No kissing." She didn't feel like she needed to explain herself. Nothing about the last couple of months had given the impression that she would kiss him simply if he asked.

George would have thought his sweet talking would have eventually made her cave. He was getting quite good at wearing her down. Apparently not this time.

"You're really not going to kiss me?" He asked. "Not even to show our little girl how happy we are?"

Addie winced, with faux apologeticness. "I'd have to be really drunk."

"I'm not going to kiss you if you're really drunk."

"Exactly." She grinned.

George groaned, "You're no fun," he said, flopping dramatically onto her bed next to Shelley. Holding her tiny little hands, he said, "Thank Merlin you have me, little Shelley. Everyone needs at least one fun parent."

Addie realised then that she never should have doubted George's parenting abilities. Sure, he was a seventeen-year-old boy and was never going to be amazing at it, but he might just have been the right partner for Addie.

He was the fun to her sensible. The chill to her strict. They paired well together. Even if she didn't see it at first.

That didn't mean she was going to kiss him.

༺༻

AND SO IT CAME, THE FINAL DAY OF THE YEAR. December 31st. The last one.

Addie always found it strange waking up on December 31st. She felt as though she had no real purpose, that she had exhausted everything she could possibly do, every possible emotion she could feel in the 364 days that had already passed. Now she felt like she was just sitting around waiting for 1996 to start.

And because she had absolutely nothing, it seemed, to do, she was hit with the overwhelming feeling of homesickness. She had been so busy looking after Shelley, and cramming for exams, all while being swept up in the magic of Christmas, that she had hardly sat down to think about how much she missed her parents and Reid.

She found herself staring up at the ceiling, wondering what they were doing. Wondering what they would be doing if she were there. Would they still do all of their traditions even when she and Laurie weren't there? She wondered what the house looked like and if it was snowing. She wondered what Reid got for Christmas and how she longed for that familiar feeling of hugging her parents as soon as the clock struck midnight.

She didn't even care what Shelley was doing or feeling.

Addie didn't even hear her roommates leave for breakfast. She barely processed the clock ticking on her bedside and was hardly aware of how much time was passing. She was struck with the paralysing feeling of missing home.

It was unlike anything she had felt before. She always had times when she felt homesick. That was natural for a boarding student. But this was different. She would always have respite from those hard times, guaranteed to be going home for Christmas and Easter breaks. It broke up the year and the heaving feeling of grief for people who were still alive.

But now she didn't have that, and she felt rather numb.

The sun was fully up when George burst into her room. She was never going to become accustomed to the fact that they were actually friends, and this was something friends did. She was also never going to become accustomed to the fact that he didn't belong in this part of the castle and yet he was here anyway!

She must have been alone in her room for quite some time, Addie realised, when George made his appearance around eleven. It was no longer dark outside, and the room was indeed empty.

George had grown concerned. Laurie was down for breakfast, so were Tate and Logan, and yet no Addie. He waited a whole hour and all of the seventh years had dispersed from the Great Hall. Laurie didn't seem particularly worried that Addie Sweeney ─ the Addie Sweeney ─ wasn't awake before eight am, as she usually was, like clockwork and so George knew he had to take matters into his own hands.

Addie was indeed awake when he stormed into her room like the castle was on fire. She was showered and dressed but had simply lain back down on her sheets, as if she had no intention of going anywhere in the first place.

"Oh, so you are alive?"

Addie just groaned. He had to pull her by the arms to get her to sit up.

"What's up?" George asked, sitting on the bed next to her.

Addie crossed her legs underneath her and turned to face him. "I miss home."

George pouted sympathetically. "We all do."

"That's not what I wanted to hear," she deadpanned.

"Okay," George drawled. "Well, what would make you feel better?"

Addie just shrugged. "Going home, probably."

He sighed. Of course, that was her response.

"You can't do that."

She narrowed her eyes and wondered why he was here.

"How about this?" George then asked. "What would you be doing right now if you were at home?"

Addie had been thinking this very thing since she had woken up, so it hardly took much time for her to respond. "Playing Muggle card games by the fire and eating a fresh batch of cookies that my mum had just pulled out of the oven."

It was an image not dissimilar to something George was used to back home.

He wasted no time getting off the bed and heading for the door. The only explanation he gave as to where he was going or what he was doing was: "Give me twenty minutes."

༺༻

NINETEEN MINUTES LATER, GEORGE RETURNED TO HER ROOM. He had stolen a packet of cards from Ron's room (who had stolen them from their dad) and slipped them into his pocket for his journey to the Kitchens.

Over the years, George Weasley had built a relationship with the Hogwarts kitchen elves and often popped in for a sweet treat every now and then. But this time, the food wasn't for him; it was for Addie. It had to be perfect.

After promising several of the elves that he would give them freebies from his and Fred's joke business, they agreed to bake a fresh batch of cookies. He was offered some that had already been made, but they were from yesterday's dessert spread, and George wanted them to be nice and fresh for Addie.

They took only fifteen minutes to bake and he took the whole batch with him back to the Hufflepuff dorms. After running around the castle for who knows how long, he returned to Addie with the game in hand and cookies warm from the oven.

"What is this?" She asked him with a shy smile as he laid the plate of chocolate-chip cookies on the bedspread. She could figure out quite easily what it was but she wanted to hear him say it.

George then moved to the middle of the room where the boiler resided. The pipes were warm but could be hotter, so he turned the nozzle by the floor a little to the right to warm the room up a little more. It wasn't a fire, but it was as close to that as he could get.

He then returned to the bed, taking up a seat opposite her, where he started shuffling the cards. "Your New Year's Eve tradition."

Addie soaked in the smell of the fresh biscuits. Her insides felt warm and not just from the excitement of eating them for breakfast.

"This is lovely and all, but why did you need twenty minutes?" She asked with a chuckle.

George shrugged as he started dealing. "You said you liked your mum's cookies best." She nodded. "Well, I couldn't get them, but I guessed it would be better if they were freshly cooked."

That would mean he managed to convince the already very busy elves to cook him a dozen chocolate-chip cookies just because she was a little bit homesick.

She cocked a brow, and he read her thoughts. "I'm very persuasive," he offered as an explanation.

George popped a cookie in his mouth and it prompted Addie to do the same. She let the gooey dough and melting chocolate fill her up. It oozed down her throat. They weren't her mum's cookies, but they were pretty damn good.

George finished dealing and picked up his deck, encouraging Addie to do the same.

Addie thought about all of the things George could be doing right now instead of cheering her up. She supposed that was something the two of them just did now ─ make the other feel better. Addie thought about how not even her own sister had done this for her and if anyone knew how Addie felt, it was Laurie. And yet it was George who had noticed she was missing at breakfast and he knew her so well that her absence had to mean she wasn't feeling her best.

George was there. And this was now their New Year's Eve tradition.

"Thank you, George," she said, not even looking at her cards. "This means a lo─"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm amazing and everything," he waved her off. His eyes slid over to hers. He wore a great big smirk. There was a dot of melted chocolate stuck on the corner of his mouth. It filled her with such adoration for the boy.

"Just hurry up and play the game so I can beat you already," he said. "There is plenty of time for you to sing my praises later."

༺༻

WITH HER SPIRITS RAISED, ADDIE DID HER BEST TO ENJOY THE remainder of the day. As they all ate lunch together in the mostly empty Great Hall, Addie was reminded that, although she missed her family, they weren't going anywhere. And once her final year at Hogwarts was done, she wouldn't be seeing her friends as much. Cherrising moments with them was at the top of her agenda. Even if it was eating sandwiches in a very cold lunch hall.

"Did you hear, everyone is kissing their project partner at midnight tonight?" Jazz asked suggestively.

Considering they had just been talking about the party happening later in the Great Hall, Addie should not have been shocked by this topic of conversation. But she couldn't contain how aghast this left her.

"What?" Addie asked incredulously. It was strange how George had just suggested to her yesterday that they do this very thing but now everyone was talking about it? Maybe he had heard something yesterday before any of her friends had.

"Yeah," Laurie said with a sad expression. "Ardale organised it."

"Of course he did," Addie scoffed.

Josh Ardale, apparently sexually frustrated, would do anything to get in the pants of anyone offering. How he got everyone else on board, Addie didn't know. She just felt bad for her sister, who was stuck with the guy who had arranged this mass smooching at midnight.

"At least we got off easy," Gia then said to Addie.

None of this properly computed in Addie's mind. What was Gia suggesting? Why had she accepted that she was going to kiss Fred Weasley at midnight because Josh Ardale said so? What about the people already in relationships? Or just, straight up, the people who didn't want to kiss their project partner because Josh Ardale said so?

"Did we?" Addie chuckled nervously in her best friend's direction.

"Um, yeah," Jazz said like it was obvious. "Fred and George aren't exactly ugly, Addie."

Addie felt like a deer caught in headlights. Her friends were probably expecting her to say something in agreement. And she could easily admit that Fred and George weren't ugly, but that didn't mean she wanted to kiss George. He clearly wanted to kiss her and Gia was going to do it with Fred anyway, so now all eyes were on her.

"I know that," Addie said timidly, tearing apart a slice of bread.

"So?" Jazz said, sticking her neck out. "Are you gonna do it?"

Now this just made it seem like they were going to shag. Which Addie was certainly not going to do.

"No," Addie laughed nervously.

No one was buying it. So she tried a different tactic.

"I don't need to feed into any of Josh Ardale's bullshit," she said. "And neither do any of you."

Laurie could tell her sister was avoiding saying how she really felt, but Addie did have a point. None of them should do something Josh Ardale came up with. Laurie wondered if Addie would have a different opinion if it were one of their ideas.

When no one responded and instead ate their food very slowly and very quietly, Addie asked, "So you're all just going to do it?"

"We are not," Clayton pointed out, swinging a finger between him and Jazz. "For obvious reasons."

"Yeah, I'm gonna try my luck on someone else," Jazz said. She was clearly perturbed that she was stuck with the gay guy on the one night of the year that their entire year group had agreed to kiss at the same time, according to project partners. But she was also trying to hide her smirk. This told Addie that Jazz was definitely going to try her luck on Lance Erwin.

Quinn had not noticed. "I think it will be a laugh."

Addie was astounded that these words had just come out of Quinn Erwin's mouth. But, she supposed it was a fair enough assessment when Quinn's kiss target was Felix Kiyama.

"Yeah, come on, Ad," Gia laughed into her goblet.

"I, for one, will not be participating," Laurie then announced.

"Yeah, if you can help it," Jazz cackled, earning her a shove.

"Just because it was Josh's idea does not mean he should expect me to go along with it."

"That's exactly what he's expecting," Clayton said.

Quinn sympathetically rubbed Laurie's back. Jazz couldn't stop laughing.

Addie wasn't going to change her mind on her decision not to kiss George, but at least she wasn't in her sister's position. George Weasley was certainly not the worst person to kiss. In fact, he wasn't bad at all.

But Addie couldn't think like that. She'd give him the wrong idea.

No kiss meant no kiss; co-parents or not.

༺༻

THE NEW YEAR'S CELEBRATIONS WERE IN FULL SWING, AND ADDIE STILL couldn't believe that her friends were going to kiss people at midnight and she wasn't. Part of her wanted to agree to kiss George just to feel a part of something, but it still didn't feel right. Not genuine and not natural, but instead orchestrated and forced. George would get over it.

The celebrations were organised by the teachers, mostly for the benefit of the seventh-year students. It was way past their babies' bedtimes, and so they had all been put down for the night under an enchantment Dumbledore had granted the seventh years for this one night. So they could all enjoy the year change and enjoy themselves.

The Great Hall was beautifully lit by a mystical galaxy hanging above their heads, with floating candles and sparkling balloons. The tables were pushed to the side and people danced to a live band on the shiny dance floor. Addie appreciated that the professors had done this for them (plus any straggler students who didn't go home for the holidays) and it was unlike anything she had experienced in all of her Hogwarts years.

It was like a fancy gala, with chandeliers and tablecloths and alcohol-free champagne. There were sparklers to go around, and silver tinsel decorating the intricate carvings of the walls. There was more food than anyone could eat, and masses of brightly-coloured drinks that sparkled too. Fred and George (since they weren't allowed fireworks) spiked the punch bowl at the first opportunity, of course, and no one was complaining. It was enough to add a bit of a buzz and the festivities were certainly livening everyone's spirits.

The dress code was upheld by people Addie didn't think had it in them. Everyone was dressed smartly, in shirts and shiny shoes. The girls wore dresses and skirts and Addie was even wearing a bit more makeup than usual.

"You look nice," George had told her when he met her outside of the Hufflepuff basement earlier that evening.

It had almost made her want to kiss him.

She was wearing a knee-length navy dress. It twinkled when she walked, and the star details brought out the hazel flecks in her eyes.

He offered his arm for her to loop hers through as they walked towards the Great Hall. It was like they were going to a formal dance as each other's dates. That's what everyone else had said when they arrived together.

But the answer was still no to a kiss. Not that George had pestered her (he hadn't brought it up again), but her friends had certainly teased her relentlessly all day.

"Can you believe the year is over?" Gia asked Addie, Fred, and George.

They were huddled around one of the many bowls of soda because the twins said they needed to "stand guard". The others were off dancing somewhere, and Addie told Gia she needed a break from her heels. So they had ended up here, waiting for a professor to question their boozy punch.

Fred hummed into his cup. "Time moves fast, huh?"

"We must have had fun," George said with a raise of his glass.

"Speak for yourself," Addie scoffed. "I never would have thought that I would be voluntarily speaking to George Weasley."

George pretended he had been struck by a spell. "I'm wounded."

"Oh, shut up."

George turned to face Addie, his back now to his brother. Gia and Fred felt like they had disappeared, and that the bickering pair were back and better than ever. They silently sipped their drinks as Addie and George had their daily spat.

"Your New Year's resolution should be to be nicer," George suggested.

"I am nice," Addie shrugged. "Just not to you."

"See, that's just the problem, Sweeney," he said, poking her shoulder with a flare.

Addie's eyes pinned him to the spot challengingly and he did the same. Quickly, both of them descended into laughter. A couple of months ago, back-and-forth ping-pong like this would leave the two of them grumpy, and unable to look at each other. But now they stared at each other with big smiles and untensed shoulders.

Neither Addie nor George even realised Fred and Gia had sluethed into the background.

༺༻

ADDIE DIDN'T QUITE KNOW WHAT SHE WAS DOING WHEN MIDNIGHT rolled around. Jazz was off with someone in the year below (clearly her plan to seduce Lance Erwin had failed). Gia and Fred apparently liked the alt-rock turn the band had taken and so were dancing in the middle of a mosh pit. Tate was stuffing her face by the food table with Lee Jordan. Laurie was still trying to shake Josh but every time Addie went over there, her sister assured her she was fine. Laurie was doing this because she wanted her sister to find George wherever he had got to. But Addie was still searching for her friends, hoping not to be alone by the time twelve o'clock hit.

The minutes ticked by and even Quinn was preoccupied with Felix. They looked to be having a good time so Addie didn't disturb them. Everywhere she turned there were couples, all no doubt preparing for the chime of the clock. Even Atticus Castellan had found a girl in the year below to flirt with since the kiss your partner at midnight plan left him kissing Lance Erwin. And while half of the girls in the school would love to kiss Lance, Atticus did not.

With five minutes to go, Addie finally located Logan, Clayton, and Laurie, all huddled together on the dance floor, none of them particularly keen on kissing their project partners. She bee-lined for them, considering the time constraint, but ran right into George Weasley in the process.

In her defence, the crowd was bashing about, and she had knocked into many people on her way to the dance floor. A quick trip and a shove from behind, and she was falling onto his arms.

"Careful, you," he smirked.

She wondered if this looked like, to him, that she had deliberately bumped into him at two minutes to midnight just as everyone was eating mints and applying lip balm. He probably thought it was convenient.

Before she got the chance to explain that it was an accident, the crowd around her began chanting. The whole room seemed to come alive with the chorus of people all counting down from ten like some kind of group incantation. Addie was stuck in a very compact swarm of people, all with one purpose.

Ignoring Fred, George wasted no time joining in. Addie did the same a moment later. Each second crept them closer and closer to 1996. Addie realised, as time ran from her fingers, that it was just her and George. Sure, they were surrounded by everyone else on the dance floor but her friends were lost in the throng and George was the only face she could clearly see. Everyone else had their backs to her but he was directly facing her, an anchor in a strong current.

She wasn't going to kiss him but she was glad he was there when it finally struck midnight.

The room erupted in a carol of Happy New Year! There was applause and the tinkling of glasses as people cheered the arrival of a new year. And then, of course, came the kissing. The seventh-year students weren't playing around with the agreement to kiss their project partners come midnight.

Everywhere around them, people were pecking and making out, all different lengths and with differing levels of passion. But the sound was unmistakable and the fact that Addie and George weren't leaning in to kiss was a very loud fact that neither of them missed.

It was awkward for a moment, but Addie liked to think that they had reached the point in their friendship when things were comfortable between them.

And anyway, she was saved by the fireworks.

Not real fireworks, but enchanted ones, exploding above their heads. The galaxy that had once hung over them was now replaced with a dark night sky. Fireworks, on a smaller scale, began to pop from all corners. Every shade imaginable lit up the sky in bursts of fizzing spirals. They cracked and sizzled, just like real fireworks would. Everyone's necks craned backwards to look up at the high ceiling of the Great Hall that had now been transformed to replicate a very Weasley firework display.

Addie found herself laughing out loud at it all. At how beautifully unexpected they were. She was mesmerised.

"Did you do this?" Addie then asked the boy to her right. Her neck remained tilted backwards and her eyes were wide and dazzled.

George leaned in a little closer towards her ear. He had to shout so she could hear him over the crowd. "We arranged it with Dumbledore. It's not the real thing, but it'll do."

Addie playfully knocked his side. "It's beautiful, George. Of course it'll do."

"Yeah, yeah," George chuckled, doing his best to be humble. Addie didn't think he was even capable of that.

Addie turned to face him. He forgot everyone else in the room in an instant. "Well, happy new year, Weasley," she grinned up at him, holding out her glass to his.

"Happy New Year, Sweeney," he responded.

The glass clinked, and they each took a sip.

Addie waited for the ice-cold bubbles to settle in her stomach and some time to pass before she said, very plainly, "George."

"Yes, Addie?"

"I'm glad we became friends."

George eyed her skeptically, "How much have you had to drink?"

"Nothing," she said honestly.

"Nothing?"

"Not a drop."

"So," George drawled, looking around the room and over people's heads, "is the world off its axis or something?"

Addie did the same, lifting her shoulders casually. "Seems perfectly normal to me."

"Weird," he replied, "because what you just said is anything but perfectly normal."

"I know," she chuckled. "But I mean it. I'm glad to call you my friend, George." Now seemed like the perfect time, if an,y to tell him. She might as well kick off the new year with a little bit of honesty.

And then she pecked him on the cheek. It wasn't the midnight kiss everyone else had in mind but George was pleasantly surprised anyway. He even felt his cheeks blush.

"Me too, Addie," George sighed with a smile, tucking her under his arm. Her arms snaked around his waist, and she relaxed into his touch, melting into his side. It felt familiar, normal, right. "Me too."

And so, George had got what he wanted. Addie Sweeney finally liked him. She finally considered him a friend, and it had only taken seven years.

They were friends. Her words.

So why wasn't that enough?

𝗔𝗗𝗗𝗜𝗘'𝗦 𝗧𝗜𝗣 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬 ━━

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