One-hundred and seventy-four

                                    

                                          
May 1st of 1998
                          
I stood in the garden, staring up at the sky while drinking out of a mug full of tea. Another few weeks in hiding and I started feeling more numb than anxious.
                          
I woke up this morning and for the first time in a while, I decided to make myself look pretty. I was wearing a white spaghetti strap top and some light blue denim overalls which were reaching to my thighs.
                          
My hair was brushed and simply sat around my shoulders. It may not me what most people find attractive, but the outfit made me feel pretty.
                          
"Oi!" I heard Blake shout and I turned around to see her in the door, Fred basically hanging over her, arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders. "You know what you look like? A middle-aged woman who's going through a divorce and has decided that her life is too tough."
                          
Fred snickered against her neck while I laughed, taking a sip of my tea.
                          
"She's not going anywhere, you know." I teased, causing Fred to look at me while resting his chin on her shoulder. "You're acting like she's about to leave you."
                          
He tilted his head a little, pouting at me while I lifted the mug to drink some more tea.
                          
"At least I didn't finger her while you and George were in the room."
                          
I choked on the tea while Blake burst out laughing. I ended up spitting the tea out into the grass, joining Blake at laughing.
                          
"Hey, did you know Lupin gave birth last month?"
                          
What...
                          
Blake let out a laugh as she turned her head to look at him in confusion while I frowned, waiting for Fred to realise what he just said.
                          
"Wait—" he said. "...no... Tonks gave birth but Lupin's the father."
                          
I chuckled.
                          
"Yeah, I know." I nodded. "Edward, right?"
                          
"Heard they call him Teddy as a nickname." Fred smiled before he looked at Blake. "We should make a baby."
                          
Blake's expression dropped and she grabbed his arm, forcefully removing them from around her shoulders.
                          
She turned towards him, pointing a finger at him.
                          
"You're insane. I am not about to make a baby with you." She laughed. "We're twenty years old and we just got back together last year."
                          
Fred simply smirked, pushing his hands into the pockets of his trousers.
                          
"You don't want a small ginger running around?" He asked. "We can name him after papa Aidan. We both know he wants you to name your first baby after him."
                          
Blake held up a hand, signalling for him to stop talking.
                          
"I do not want children... at least not for a lot of time. You know this." She laughed again and pushed past him to enter the house.
                          
Fred then looked at me.
                          
"You know, I'd be willing to donate my sperm so that you and George can have a child."
                          
As I was in the middle of drinking my tea, I paused, looking at him while slowly lowering the mug, swallowing what I already had in my mouth.
                          
"Freddie... that's not quite what we need if we want to have a baby." I said. "You see— I don't have any eggs, but George's sperm is perfectly fine. Though thank you for the offer."
                          
I forced a smile but in reality I wanted to just laugh. I lifted the mug again and Fred went to walk inside again when Arthur showed up in the garden, looking awfully pale.