Progressively, Fred began to pull himself out of his silent depression. Whether it was from dyeing his hair and looking strikingly different from his twin or from finally accepting the situation, he seemed to be slowly becoming his old self again. Sophia was relieved from this and even found that she was becoming happier with herself and life in general. The nightmares had limited to at least one every month and weren't nearly as vicious as they used to be. Her father would only stare at her from down the hallway in the dream, but it was still chilling and unpleasant to wake up from.

The shop downstairs was due to reopen in a week and Sophia could see Fred was excited as well as nervous. Diagon Alley definitely needed its joke shop back and a grand reopening will surely ignite its magic again. He had developed lots of new products and buzzed at the thought of people clearing shelves in the first day of its opening. But there was still the worry and dread that he couldn't shake. He felt like he was somehow leaving George out. Was it betrayal to continue the shop without one of its owners? Surely George would have had an input on products and developments for the new store. He was always the mastermind behind how things came together and succeed in their purpose. Fred was the one to think of the idea and George would be one to make it come to life. He had to learn to do both now and wasn't sure if his customers would like his new take on items. He felt less confident without George.

"How do you think your mum's gonna react when she sees your hair?" Sophia questioned as she pulled on her jacket.

"She'll go mental," Fred answered, running a hand through his brown hair. "Is it that bad?"

"No, I love it actually," she reassured and moved to stand in front of him, cupping his jaw with her hands. "You look cute."

"Manly?" he asked hopefully and Sophia giggled.

"Very manly."

Standing on her toes, Sophia connected her lips with his and felt Fred's hands slide to rest on her hips. They kissed for a moment before pulling away slowly and staring at each other lovingly. The past year had been tough and they were glad that they were able to spend it together. They spent every waking moment in each other's company and they wouldn't have it any other way (besides the obvious person Fred longed to have by his side again). They still wore their promise/wedding rings every day and slept in the same bed every night. They cooked in the kitchen and cuddled on the sofa, going to and from The Burrow still with their hands entwined. Things in the Wizarding world still took time to rebuild, but their love hadn't faltered for even a moment during those dark times.

"Shall we then?" Sophia suggested still standing on her toes.

"We shall," Fred held up his wand and beamed down at her, whisking his wand and made them disappear with a soft 'pop!'.

Landing at the fence around The Burrow, Sophia stepped away from Fred and felt a strange sensation in her stomach. It made her look oddly down to her middle section and put her hands to her torso, feeling the skin underneath her shirt and searching for anything out of the ordinary. Fred noticed this immediately and switched his gaze from her face to her stomach where her hands rested.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know I just... it just felt odd for second..." she replied vaguely and looked worriedly up at Fred. "I've never felt something like that when apparating before."

"Maybe you're just tired. You did have a nightmare last night," Fred explained and Sophia hummed, unconvinced. She had gotten used to the uncomfortable stretching and nauseous feeling that comes with apparating, but never had she felt something like this. She could barely explain it.

None the less, the two went through the gate and walked along the path that split the field into two sections. The Burrow had been built again with its old attachments and looked just like how it used to. The loft still had its ghoul and the house still had its homemade and warm esque. And The Burrow wouldn't be complete without Molly Weasley standing in the doorway waiting for her son and daughter-in-law to arrive for their monthly visit. But her jaw dropped and her eyes widened once she caught sight of the brunette that stood next to the girl.

"What in Merlin's name have you done to your hair Frederick Weasley?!" she exclaimed and rushed down the porch steps to stand in front of him. She reached forward and grabbed a fistful of the culprit, yanking Fred down for her to see from her short height.

"Ow Mum!" he cried and hunched over in a wince.

"Is that Muggle dye?! Please say that it is not!" she cried as she observed his scalp before letting him stand up straight, but not without a slap on the shoulder. "You're too much like your father! Dabbling in Muggle solutions!"

"I thought I'd try something different," Fred shrugged bashfully but then became sullen. "I couldn't look at my reflection without seeing him..."

Molly didn't have to have any elaboration on what he meant. Her face immediately dropped any sign of irritation and sunk into a deep frown that pulled her entire face to a point at her chin. Her eyes swam in water before she forced herself to look away from her son that reminded her so much of his brother. She looked to Sophia who stood there with a sympathetic look, lowering her head in a slow nod as if to confirm Fred's words. Even she would mistake Fred for George at times. It was especially heart breaking when he had his back to her, covering the deciding feature of his oval eyes that she used to use to tell them apart. She'd even open her mouth to call out to him, only to stop herself. She couldn't bare to think of how Fred would react at being called his brother's name. At one time, he would turn and answer immediately as if he was George. People would go on for minutes until Fred would crack a grin and say that he wasn't George, laughing at how easily he was able to trick people. But things were so different. So different that the name even brought him to tears.

"Well... if you're happy with it..." Molly attempted and swallowed the lump in her throat, aching to change the subject. "Let's go inside. I've made cottage pie."

The three walked into the house and all agreed to not continue the subject of Fred's hair. Molly had to admit that it was a form of relief to turn and not see her dead son sitting on the sofa. It had been hard to have Fred walk out of the field surrounding The Burrow and for one liberating moment, Molly thought she had her son back. But then reality would settle in and she'd remember he wasn't coming back, no matter how much she longed for it. The only way to cope, was to think of all her other children she still had. She still had her husband, and her five boys and girl who she loved with all her heart. She still had Sophia who she loved more than just a daughter-in-law and she still had a chaotic household that her family called home. She was grateful for what she had.

"Well how have you two been then?" Molly asked as she brought cups of tea into the living room and sitting next to Sophia on the sofa.

"Better," Fred answered. "The shop's opening on Tuesday. Sophia's had an interview at that Muggle Planetry place in London-"

"Planetarium," Sophia corrected but Fred continued as if he hadn't in spite of her.

"-and they want to take her on for a trial on Monday."

"Oh Sophia that's wonderful!" Molly cheered and turned to the girl next to her. "What will you do there?"

"Its where Muggles go to look at the night sky. There's a lot of what they call light pollution and it's hard for them to see anything other than couple of dots on most nights," Sophia explained. "Their electricity thing is awful. I'll only be the tour guide for the interactive display. That's if I get it anyway."

"Sounds amazing dear. And you're sure that you still want to continue the astronomy thing? There is no pressure to do it if you don't want to. You know that right?" the Weasley Mother took hold of her hand and patted it softly, looking at her with speculating eyes.

"I do. It's something that I still find fascinating. But... I wouldn't do anything in the Wizarding world with it. Too dangerous and I think it's better to stay out of the lime light now. No more readings. It's a waste of time and stress," Sophia looked to her hands. "At least Muggles have got that bit right. They find the sheer sight of stars fascinating."

"Tell Mum about before, love," Fred butted in at the sound of the ending conversation. "What you felt after apparating."

"Oh it was nothing Freddie, it was just-" Sophia tried to play the feeling off as no big deal but Molly immediately pounced, whipping her head to her with wide eyes.

"What was it? Was it just now?" she rushed and Sophia was confused. Molly's odd reaction made her think that Fred had maybe set her up for something purposely. But when she looked to him from across the room, he looked just as confused. But what she didn't know was that Fred was good at hiding his expressions. He knew he had set her up for Molly's pushing, and he had only done it because he knew she would have some sort of idea of what was wrong. He didn't want to say he was worried for Sophia as he did that enough of the time, but he was uneasy at the idea of her feeling something odd after apparating. Could there be an injury from the battle that hadn't started to affect her until now?

"E-Er it was just when we apparated here," Sophia explained while shuffling uncomfortably in her seat. "I just felt a little odd. It's really nothing-"

"No no no dear go on! What did it feel like? Did you feel sick?" Molly pushed, even leaning closer as if she could suck the answers out of her. "Was it in your stomach?"

"Y-Yeah. It was uncomfortable. I don't think I'd want to feel it again," Sophia admitted. "Do you know what it is? Am I okay?"

"Oh dear I think you're just fine," Molly grew the largest of grins and Sophia panicked at the sight of her teary eyes.

"Molly what's wrong?! Am I dying?!" she gasped and Molly chuckled softly, dabbing at the corners of her eyes. Now she and Fred were thoroughly confused and worried. They certainly hadn't expected Molly to cry and grin at the same time. There was even the thought that she had maybe lost it completely. The news of Sophia's sudden terminal illness had driven her mad enough to smile through her tears.

"Certainly not dying, no dear," the woman shook her ginger head and stood from her seat on the sofa. She said nothing as she merrily made her way around the coffee table and towards her knitting supplies that sat next to the fireplace. Fred and Sophia looked to each other with deeply concerned looks and watched Molly straighten up while holding a knitted piece of clothing. Molly's tears had now soaked her cheeks and she looked at Sophia with her wrinkly smile, holding the clothing and taking the shoulders of it to show its full form.

"I remember feeling the exact same after apparating," she sobbed and their eyes zeroed in on the romper in Molly's hands.

The room was silent as Fred's jaw dropped to the floor and Sophia's eyes enlarged as if an enlarging charm had been cast on them. The romper was bright pink with an orange stripe going around the middle, and it was tiny enough for the smallest of humans. The box of wool and knitting needles behind Molly was filled to the brim with similar items in every colour of the rainbow. Even hats and tiny gloves could be seen among the pile of clearly baby clothes.

"No way, is she really-" Fred cut himself off and turned his head to Sophia with raised eyebrows. He stared at Sophia's tiny frame and looked to her stomach, wondering how on earth a person could be growing inside of it.

"I knew this day would come. Oh dear, I'm a mess!" Molly whimpered and used the romper to wipe her tears. "Who would have thought MY Freddie would be the one to- oh Arthur will be so pleased!"

Shortly after the war, Sophia and Fred had finally decided to move to the next step in their relationship. Sophia had admitted that she wanted to try intimate things with Fred and they had easily started to incorporate it into their bedroom life. Fred was always open for whatever pace she wanted to go at and they had even agreed to start thinking about a baby. But it had never gotten further than there. They were careful with protection and the thought never crossed their minds that they could be starting a family in their early twenties.

"Sophia. I think you're pregnant," Molly exclaimed through her cries.