67an: ok as promised, here is the first chapter of the final part of the long story that I started when I was fifteen and continued on for the past three years!
So this story will just explain what happened to each of the Weasleys and some friends. I will try to be consistent with updating at least every week or every two weeks.
I know in California Bound I mentioned the names of the children but I've changed some a little bit so here is the updated information that you might have to refer back to. If you want I'll put it at the top of every chapter but let me know if you want it there!
The Weasleys and friends:
Ron and Hermione: Willa Elizabeth, Nolan Xavier, Ryen Michael; and Brenna Rose (everyone calls her Bren)
Harry and Ginny: Lily-Lyn, Emmaline Faye (more commonly referred to as Emma), James Sirius, Dane Harry, and Liam Remus (Dane and Liam are twins)
Fred and Angelina: Gabriel Fredrick (Gabe), Jennica Angelina, Henry George and Tyler Ronald (Henry and Tyler are twins)
George and Alicia: Amber Alexandra and Autumn Anne (twins), Lana Marie, Daniel Andrew and Donald Mitchel (twins)
Percy and Penelope: Gregory Phillip; Delaney Agnes; Sophia Hazel
Charlie and Alison: Maxwell Charles, Bennett Gideon, Kaleb Fabian, Antonia Alison
Bill and Fleur: Alexis Arthur (Lex) and Cecilia Molly (Cilley) (twins), Damon Luc
Tonks and Lupin: Penelope Nymphadora (Penny), Felicity Andromeda (Fee), Tabbitha Tonks (Tonks is her middle name…they call her Tabby)
Sasha and Trey: Harlow Katherine, Grier Riley, Trey Michael jr. (TJ)
Neville and Luna: Phineas Xenophilius, Obadiah Frank (Obie), Roman Neville, Leonardo Luno (Leo), Tallulah Alice
Draco and Pansy: Ella Lucinda, Tristan Draco Lucious, Gemma Narcissa, Ava Pansy.
Seamus and Lavender: Lilac, Sean
Dean and Parvati: Maddox, Saffron, Rhiahnon
Zacharis and Susan: Elijah, Evan, Emmett
Hannah and Ernie: Samuel
Hope you like it!
Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else. –Gloria Steinem
Odd how the creative power at once brings the whole universe to order. – Virginia Woolf
Willa Elizabeth Weasley:
-When she was three, a new baby came to visit…and stayed. She didn't know why but this baby lived upstairs in her house in a big room that wasn't there before. Mummy and Daddy called him her little brother among other names. Willa wasn't so sure that she liked him. He stole her attention and cried a lot.
Not until she was four and he was one, did she discover that she, in fact, did like him. When none of her friends and cousins were over, Nolan was there, toddling after his big sister, listening to her explain the game that they would play.
He never quite got it right but he followed directions a little bit better than Mimi.
-When she was four and a half she acquired a scar on her right knee. She found herself lost in a game of dragons, snakes, and giant spiders, not realizing that she wouldn't land on her feet like Midnight and Mimi if she jumped from a platform on the playground.
She cried and cried from the sight of her wounded knee until Ron sat her down to patch her up and told her she now had a battle wound. He lifted the sleeves on his shirt and showed Willa that he too had battle wounds.
From then on, Willa proudly showed off her scar to anyone who hadn't seen it before. "I got this from fighting a dragon," she said. And then she would tell them the whole story about trying to find hidden treasure and getting attacked by a dragon…just like Ron did when he spoke about his adventures.
-When she was five, Mummy and Daddy brought another baby home. This one stayed too. He lived in a crib on one side of Nolan's room. Willa didn't know how he was her little brother if she already had Nolan.
She watched Nolan carefully for days after the new baby's arrival. She was afraid that he might disappear now that there was a new little brother here.
After Hermione told her that neither Nolan nor Ryen were going anywhere, she told Willa it was ok to talk to the baby before he fell asleep. Willa excitedly told the baby about her battle wound as he shut his eyes and fell asleep.
She decided that she would come up with a new story to tell him the next night before he fell asleep. Soon she was pulling anything from her imagination to tell her little brother before he went to sleep.
Willa figured that it was ok if the baby stayed at her house with her and Nolan. She liked telling him stories and she knew that he liked to listen to them.
-When she was six, she wanted to be an Auror. She wanted to live out all the adventures that she made up and take potions to change her appearance like Penny and Felicity could do on their own.
A week later she wanted to teach at Hogwarts where adventures loomed around every corner and no one knew what kind of enchantment you would meet in the next classroom.
A month later she was convinced that she wanted to play Quidditch professionally like Harry. For fun she signed plenty of papers for Nolan and Ryen to keep for when she got famous.
Another week later she was back on being an Auror.
-When she turned seven, she and her brothers packed their toys to spend a night at Nana's house. While Nana cooked dinner for them when it should have been breakfast time at Willa's home, the three started to play a game of hide and seek. They were having so much fun that while Willa was hiding under a table in the living room Nolan spooked her and she jumped up, knocking down Nana's favorite vase. They knew how mad Nana got when Ron moved something out of place. Willa took Ryen's hand and the three of them ran from the room, looking for another hiding spot.
A minute later the closet door opened and Nana's husband Louis stood outside the door. He let them know that they weren't in trouble, ruffled Nolan's hair and led them back to the living room where Nana was cleaning up pieces of her broken vase. Willa knew she was upset but Nana kept a placid expression on her face.
"If your father didn't let you do magic when you please, this wouldn't of happened," Nana said. Fully aware that Ron and Nana were not on good terms, Willa couldn't stop herself from yelling, "Don't talk about Daddy like that! It was my fault! He's not even here!"
For moments afterward Nana stared at her with her mouth hanging open. Willa didn't know that Nana saw too much of Hermione in her at that moment. What she did know that whenever she was around, Nana was slightly more tolerant of Ron.
Willa was always closer with Hermione than Hermione was with her own mother. Willa knew that she never wanted to have that kind of relationship with her mother like Hermione was with Ann.
-When she was eight, she and Lily made a pact. They promised each other that they wouldn't fall in love with the first or second person they dated, they promised each other that they would travel the world and live out any dreams they had before they finally settled down to get married.
As much as Ron and Hermione assured her that she was a blessing in their life at such a young age, Willa knew that she didn't want that kind of a blessing until she had done everything she wanted to do.
They never told anyone about their pact. It was between them and would stay between them, especially as they got into their teen years.
-When she was nine and ¾, she and her family went to a party at the Burrow for her cousins Cilley, Lex, and Penny. They were eleven and going to Hogwarts the next day. Lex bragged about all the fun he would have and Willa was reminded of her parents Hogwarts' stories and the few times she visited the large castle.
That day she and Lily concocted a plan with Penny and Cilley to stow away in their trunks. They were convinced that their plan would work out and they would all be sorted into Gryffindor before anyone realized they were gone.
They didn't account for Greg's strict behavior guidelines for his cousins and they were stopped by their parents before stage one of their plan could be put into action.
Willa was only a little sad to see Greg go the next year. She knew that there would be plenty of people for him to tattle on at Hogwarts.
-Four months before she turned ten, Ron and Hermione sat her down and told her that in a few months she would have another little brother or a little sister. She protested at first, after all she already had enough on her plate with Nolan and Ryen.
Seven months later, they were taken to the hospital to see their new sister. Secretly, Willa had always wanted a little sister to play with and share her "big sister wisdom" with.
For two whole weeks after Brenna came home, Willa worked diligently on a story book for her little sister. Every night she would sit in the rocking chair next to Bren's bed and read her a new story or retell an old one…unless she was at Lily's, then she did it over the phone because no one was allowed to see her story book but her and Bren.
-The day she turned eleven, she cried her eyes out because she missed Hogwarts by two months. No one understood what it was like to be in her shoes. She needed her freedom desperately. Nolan was no longer the playmate he once was, instead he worked on ways to annoy her and plant pranks when she wasn't expecting it; Ryen was learning to read more and more so he spent his time in the shade with a book in his hands; Bren was too little to do anything more than crawl around the back yard and find strange animals; Anna was already off at her school in northern California; and Lily was grounded for two months for trying to sneak onto the Hogwarts Express and almost making it.
That day she ran away from home for the first time in her life. She ran to the only place she knew how to get to, the beach. It only took Hermione five minutes to find out where she'd gone. Hermione cleaned Willa's face free of tears. "It's your birthday, and frowns are an unacceptable thing on a birthday," Hermione told her with a smile. She took Willa's hand and brought her to the car where she drove to Willa's favorite restaurant and then took her shopping.
Although she was still upset about Hogwarts, Willa was glad to come home after lunch to find Ron, Nolan, Ryen, and Bren around a birthday cake with eleven candles. She even let each of them help her rip open a present.
-A month after Willa got her Hogwarts letter she stood in front of her mirror and wondered aloud whether or not she was good enough to get into Gryffindor. The girl that stared back at her was eleven, almost twelve with pin straight light brown hair that fell to her shoulders. She was on the tall side for her age with a fit figure from all the Quidditch she played and the healthy food she ate. Her blue eyes sparkled back as she contemplated her placement in Hogwarts.
No one had ever questioned it before. It was always been "when you get into Gryffindor". It was something expected of her that she had never bothered to think too much about…until now.
"Of course you are!" a voice answered her and entered the room. Lily smiled back at her. "And if you don't, then we'll both get stuck in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff…together." Willa felt lucky to have a friend and cousin like Lily. It wasn't just anyone who could reassure her that she would not be alone in Hogwarts….
…no matter what house she got into.
-At King's Cross Station, two months before Willa turned twelve, Hermione cried. She held onto Willa tightly and part of Willa never wanted her to let go. The only thing that released her from her mother's comforting arms was knowing that Hogwarts was at the other end of the train tracks.
Ron squinted in the sun…Willa noted that it was a cloudy day. She squinted right back when she thought of her life at home that she would miss until summer came around. The only thing that prevented her from crying was knowing that the castle she's dreamed about was at the other end of the train tracks.
Nolan shuffled his feet and looked down at the ground. He tried to pretend like he didn't care but Willa knew that he would miss her just as much as she would miss him. Even though they had grown into a mutual agreement to annoy the hell out of each other, she had always been there in his life and she had always looked out for him. The only thing that made her move on after their goodbye was knowing that her independence waited at the end of the train tracks.
Ryen sniffled. He threw his arms around her and told how sorry he was for every prank her ever helped Nolan pull on her. She hugged him back and said that she knew he never meant it. She would miss him, even if he sometimes corrected her with knowledge he found in books. He would miss her even if she sometimes stopped listening to him when he told her about a book he read, and started listening to her music. The only thing that let her continue on was the source for her magic knowledge at the end of the train tracks.
Bren didn't cry, or squint, or shuffle her feet, or sniffle. With a happy smile on her face Bren hugged Willa back as she always did before Willa went anywhere. Willa was almost convinced that the two-year-old didn't know that she wouldn't be back until break but then Bren handed her a flower from her pocket and said, "fun time Wil-a!" and kissed her on the nose. The only thing that kept her feet moving from the safety of her family was Lily's shaking arm lopped through hers and knowing that many adventures for the two of them, lie at the end of the train tracks.
-When she was thirteen, she got into her first fight...with Ella Malfoy. It began when they crossed paths in the hallway after class. Ella made a comment and Willa retorted as usual. This time as they walked away, Ella bumped her shoulder. They turned around and glared at each other with a mutual hatred in their eyes. Gryffindor vs. Slytherin.
Willa made the first move. Ella had pushed her one too many times with her half-blood comments and "I'm better than you are" attitude. Ella stared in shock while Willa gaped at the red hand print she left on Ella's cheek. It spun out of control from there. Lex and Max had to pull her away from Ella while Tristan held Ella back.
She got detention for two weeks for the fight but she never regretted slapping Ella and showing her that you don't mess with Weasleys.
They taunted each other from a distance after that.
-At thirteen and ¾, Willa tried out for the Quidditch team now that the original Keeper had graduated. She practiced for weeks before tryouts, terrified that she wouldn't make the team after Lily had the year before.
She was nervous the whole time, but her Keeper skills held strong as she saved, one...two...three...four...five goals from coming in, and two were from her cousin Max, a fifth year...who did not go easy on her.
That night, she wrote to Ron proudly explaining how she made the team. She knew he had been waiting for this day even before she had.
-On her Christmas break when she was fourteen she let Ryen in on why everyone referred to him and Felicity as "Ron and Hermione all over again".
"You two fight about every little thing. You both try to act smarter than the other one." Willa said.
"So," Ryen replied.
"Mum and Dad fought like that when they were little."
"So."
Willa left it alone after that. She figured that one day when he found himself in love with the girl he constantly fought with he would know…and then she could say "I told ya so!"
-On her fifteenth birthday she had her first kiss. It was late and she was finishing off a book in the abandoned common room with Mimi in her lap. The portrait swung open, frightening her (after all it was Halloween where there had been spooks all day) and in walked Dempsey Wood who she had beaten out for Keeper. He didn't mind because, although his father was a famous Keeper, Chasing was the position he preferred. Willa had a feeling he missed that last one on purpose because he preferred Chasing.
He seemed just as surprised to see her up so late. She teased him about brushing up on his Quidditch skills while she gathered her stuff to head to the dormitory. He teased her about her muggle novel and she playfully shoved him. "Be nice, it's my birthday," she joked. She turned to go and nearly tripped, trying to avoid stepping on Mimi's tail. Dempsey caught her. "Easy there, you're gunna kill your cat," he said. She laughed nervously and straightened herself out. This was the most physical contact she's had with a person of the opposite sex. He looked nervous too.
Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned in and pressed her lips against his and he kissed her back. Many thoughts rushed through her head and even though she knew she felt nothing for Dempsey, she had, on a whim, decided that since she was fifteen she would have her first kiss with the first guy who "swept her off her feet".
After a few moments they backed away avoiding each other's gazes.
"Night," Willa said, hurrying to her dormitory. She stopped at the top and caught her breath, smiling. Something about the fact that no one knew or would know about her midnight kiss made it more exciting. She vowed that she would never tell a soul and hoped that Dempsey would do the same.
Two weeks later when Lily confessed her interest in Dempsey because they had so much in common (like that their fathers were both famous Quidditch players) and was planning on making a move, Willa felt slightly guilty but relieved that he had kept quiet.
-During her sixteenth year, and fifth at Hogwarts, Willa was subject to the cruel and unusual punishment of taking her O.W.L.s. The testing meant that she had to meet with Professor McGonagall and discuss her future, a topic she knew nothing about. Unfortunately she had grown out of her Auror phase when she was seven, teacher phase when she was eight, and her Quidditch phase when eleven. There were no more options for her.
She was told she would need to figure it out and pass all of her O.W.L.s. That year she considered starting up the D.A. again, not only because it would help her with the exams but because she couldn't think of anything else to help clear her mind from the stress this career search was putting on her.
Because it was too much work she decided against reforming the DA.
Hermione wanted her to find something to do, any career...any respectable career where she would be able to make enough money to support herself and save for her future.
Ron wanted her to work at the Gazette. He offered her any position available if she wanted to work in the family business.
Willa wanted to figure out her future on her own terms and in her own time not because her parents wanted her to do something or because she had a deadline for her O.W.L.s. So she skipped her meetings with McGonagall and ended up with all A's and one P on her exams.
-A year later, when she was seventeen, she became overwhelmed by the stress of life and chose to take the day off. She followed the usual route to the humpback witch statue which would lead her to Hogsmede but found that the passageway was blocked.
Stuck in a small dark area, she tried to feel her way back out or at least find her wand. Instead she ran into someone else in the room. His hand clamped around her mouth to keep her from screaming and he illuminated his wand. Willa was slightly relieved to see Elijah Smith who wasn't exactly her friend but he wasn't a teacher trying to get her in trouble either. He stood taller than her, smiling goofily, with a Chudley Cannons cap covering his blond hair and his light green eyes stared back at her as he explained that Nolan got caught in here and they closed the entrance up.
"Follow me, I know an alternative route but it's a little trickier," he said. Bemused, she followed and questioned him on why he wasn't in class. When he turned the question on her, she changed the topic and followed him to the Herald office. She was surprised to find that in the editor's office, behind a painting there was a secret passage that led to the England Gazette office in Hogsmede. After escaping before they were caught by Susan Bones-Smith in the lobby they hurried around to the alley and laughed when they realized they were free.
He almost walked away but something made her call to him...and that something made her invite him to wander through London with her. It was that same feeling that made her feel giggly all day and for some reason let her open up when Eli asked her why she was stressed. She couldn't help but smile inwardly when he told her that he too was fed up with choosing a future because his father wanted to choose his for him; he felt like he could open up to her.
Something happened that day, she didn't know what at the time but she was starting to feel something that she had never felt before.
-Two weeks later, she was stuck in detention for skipping school and lucky for her Eli was serving his sentence as well. It was a Friday night and Willa was overly distracted by the peculiar behavior that Nolan had just displayed in the hallway. He had slipped off to meet someone and by the looks of his combed hair and kempt appearance it was a girl.
"Ppsst! Weasley!" Eli said loudly. Alarmed she looked at Flitwick who had fallen asleep on the papers he was grading. She hoped that he wasn't drooling on her paper and turned to look at Eli's smiling face. "What are you in here for?" he joked. She laughed and smiled as he asked her how her career search was going.
For their two hours of detention they talked. Willa learned that Eli preferred broadcast journalism over print journalism but if his father had any say he would be working at the Gazette where he had the safety of a job. Willa confessed that she had never really enjoyed doing anything enough to pursue it as a career except reading.
That night he took the letter she was writing to Bren and claimed that she was born to be a novelist because no one else could have come up with such an interesting occurrence at Hogwarts that never really happened. She took what he said into consideration while she convinced him that he needed to do something that would make him happy, not his dad.
Two days later she began her first story.
Three days later she began helping him fill out an application for the London Wizard Entertainment station as an intern.
Neither of them told their parents in fear of their responses. To Hermione and Ron, Willa was going to college to figure it out. To Susan and Zacharis, Eli was following the plan.
-A month later Gryffindor was scheduled to play Hufflepuff. Competition was in the air, almost as much as when they played Slytherin. Willa flew around her goals, watching for the blur of yellow that was sure to come. And it did.
He flew for her and chucked the Quaffle. She caught it and threw it into the game again, giving him a sassy smile in return. Even the commentator, Lynn Jordan, noticed the "hot competition between Smith and Weasley". Gryffindor won only after Lily caught the snitch.
When she left the locker rooms that day, he was waiting for her. "Good game?" she asked with one eyebrow raised, waiting for his response. "Good game," he replied. And she couldn't help herself. She leaned in and pressed her lips against his. His arms snaked around her waist and she had never before experienced such bliss.
-Six months later she was caught by Max and Greg and knew that she had to come clean to her family before they came clean for her. They were going to have to tell someone besides Lily and Samuel Macmillan.
Susan Bones-Smith was overly ecstatic that her son was involved with Willa Weasley. Zacharis Smith was pleased that he was dating someone with a good head on her shoulders but was still unaware that after Eli graduated, he was not going to be an intern at the England Gazette, instead he would start as an intern at the London Wizard Entertainment station.
Telling her family took more time. She chose Easter break to get it out in the open. Her mother and father were in the kitchen, making breakfast when she slid into a seat, trying to look as innocent as possible.
"Dad you know Zacharis Smith's son right?" she asked, trying to start out as casually as possible.
"Yeah Elijah." Ron answered. "I've read his work in the Herald. He's a decent reporter. Why do you ask?"
Willa took a deep breath. "Because we've been hanging out a lot." She watched Ron's muscles tense and Hermione look questioningly at her. "In fact, Mrs. Smith invited us over for brunch on Saturday which would be like early, early breakfast for us." She took another deep breath as she watched Ron react.
"Why?" Ron asked although it appeared to look like he already knew the reason. He needed the confirmation.
"Well, we've sort of been dating and his mum thought that we should all get together." Willa waited, preparing to flinch when Ron started yelling. After all he made it clear that she wasn't dating until she was thirty.
He paced around the kitchen for a few minutes. Hermione and Willa watched and waited. Soon Nolan, Ryen, and Bren were watching too. Then it came…just not how she thought it would.
"I need to meet this kid," he informed her. "I mean, again. I need to approve of him before we have any brunch. And I'm not sure he'll meet my standards." Willa knew this was hard on Ron but she appreciated that he didn't flip out on her.
At Friday night dinner, Eli passed everyone's approval but Nolan and Ryen's who didn't think he was good enough for their sister. At Saturday morning brunch, Ron and Zacharis got into an argument about whether or not this would have ever happened if Zacharis hadn't stuck with the Gazette and chose the Prophet.
Surprisingly it felt normal…and that felt good.
-When she was eighteen she became confused about love. Lily and Emma had just set Phinny up with Claire and he claimed to be in love already. Was it possible that he knew right away? Nolan had secretly been dating Gemma Malfoy and they recently broke up for reasons unknown. As surprised as she was by the news, what confused her more was the look that was gone in Nolan's eyes. Had he been in love even though he was only fifteen? The most important questions that plagued her were if she was in love and if this was love that she felt, was she breaking the pact?
It scared her but she couldn't help when the words spilled out of her mouth as they walked through a snowy Hogsmede. When he responded with the same way, she felt warmth flood through her stomach.
Lily was in an off and on relationship with Dempsey that had lasted three years already and it wasn't like she was getting married to Eli…this was her justification in continuing this relationship and not breaking the pact that she made when she was eight.
She still was convinced that she wouldn't settle down right away. This part of the pact she knew she wouldn't break.
-She graduated when she was eighteen, almost nineteen. The morning before she stared at herself in the mirror, noticing how much she had changed in seven years. Her light brown hair rested just above her shoulders, pin straight as ever although she had tried to curl it to look like her mother's graduation picture. Her face had grown more mature through the years and lately she had been smiling more, content with life the way it was. Her body had developed as well. She didn't look like an awkward eleven year old instead she looked like the adult she was. She wore a white sundress with white flats. She stared back into her Weasley Blues, trying to find the answer to the question she had been struggling with even before she found out what she would do with her life.
Was she ready for the real world?
Lily danced into the room laughing. It was a good day for her, she and Dempsey were back together after a three month split, she was finally getting out of Hogwarts and on to her job at Witch Chic magazine in London, and she was ready. Willa and Lily had been looking for an apartment somewhere in London. They had both been working for the past two summers to save up enough.
"We are graduating!" Lily sang. "And I am going to intern at a fashion magazine and you my dear are going to be a writer while working for a publishing company. We'll have an apartment in London. We are going to be livin' the good life!" Willa smiled, unable to help herself although she still had doubts. That's the kind of thing that being around Lily did, because Lily knew her, she was her best friend, and no matter what she would be there to help her deal with the real world.
-When she was twenty, she published her first book. It was unlike her mother's books and she made sure that people were aware. She wrote from her imagination not her memory.
She wrote a story about a witch who saw things that no other wizard could. She was different and the world through her eyes was quite the interesting tale to tell. Willa could spend hours living through this girl in her words and never get bored.
Eli supported her through her book. He was there for her and had been for the past three years…she avoided thinking about how much she cared for him and loved him, although she couldn't help herself when she sometimes wondered if she could spend the rest of her life with him. She cared too much for him and it scared her.
Sometimes she thought of Lily and herself as eight-year-olds, holding out their hands and promising that they wouldn't marry the first guy they dated.
And then she looked over at Eli as he made her dinner in his apartment while she talked through her writer's block with him.
She couldn't picture herself living without this man.
-When she was twenty-one she watched Dempsey Wood get down on one knee and propose to her cousin after an on and off relationship of six years. The only one she could bring herself to look at as Lily turned him down was Eli. He watched Dempsey, who had become a good friend, with pity. Lily ran from the room and Willa tore her eyes away to follow, wondering just how long it would be before she had to make a choice like this.
Unable to bear the thought of running into Dempsey, Lily fled to Paris after she turned him down. She left Willa with an empty bedroom and a head full of questions.
It didn't help when Eli asked her about Lily's response. "She wasn't ready for it." Willa answered. She turned around to face him as she paced the apartment and he sat on the couch. "Our parents, our aunts and uncles, and our grandparents got married so young and Lily and I always knew that we didn't want to be the same. We didn't want to be burdened with a family when we had lives to live." She stared at him, waiting for his response.
"I understand." Eli replied. "I've always thought that I wouldn't settle down too early. It's just, they were so in love. They always went back to each other even after the ninth and tenth break-up." He still looked confused but all Willa heard was the first half of the sentence. She felt relieved.
It was a compromise until she would have to face reality.
-During her twenty-second and twenty-third year, she took a lot of trips. Some were with Eli, others with Lily, one she even took Bren but every time she always found herself missing home.
Finally, as she returned from the latest trip to Australia, she came to realize that traveling wasn't her thing. Right in her apartment in London with Mimi and Eli or at the house she grew up in, in California with her family, those were the places she belonged. After that last trip, she never traveled for the purpose to travel again.
Her next book was about a witch, searching for a home, the place where she belonged and felt comfortable. It turned out to be right where she started.
-As she turned twenty-four she came face to face with something she had been struggling with since she first discovered she was in love.
"Where is this going?" Eli asked. She was caught off guard and dropped the stack of papers she held.
"G-going?" she questioned.
"Yes." Eli stared at her with his intense green eyes and explained himself. "I love you Willa. But what are we doing? Are we taking this somewhere or have we just been passing the time with each other. I'm not asking you to marry me, but I'd like to know that eventually we could end up there."
Willa looked at him, her eyes already forming tears. "Why do we have to talk about this now?" she turned her head but he brought her eyes back to his.
"Tell me that you love me." Eli said. "…and that we're going somewhere."
"I love you." Willa said, telling the truth. "But can't we keep things as they are? Why do we have to define what we will be in the future if we're in the present?"
"Because I don't want to look like Dempsey a few years from now." Eli said coldly. "I don't want to be the fool who proposed because he's in love and come to find out that I was just someone to fool around with who can be replaced just like that."
"I love you," she said again. A fountain of tears poured from her eyes. His green eyes glistened as if he were on the verge of crying.
"I know you do but you never answered my question," he said. She didn't answer. She couldn't. She didn't know what to say to that. Her silence spoke louder than her words. He shut his eyes, nodded his head and leaned down to kiss her once again.
She found herself frozen in place as she watched him get his jacket and leave. As the door closed shut she fell to her knees and sobbed harder than she ever had in her life.
-Four weeks later a healer at St. Mungo's confirmed that she was eight weeks along. With her face frozen in a surprised look, she left the healer's office, not wanting to hear anymore.
For the second time in her life she "ran away from home". She found herself, wandering the beach a whole ocean away, barefoot. This time Hermione hadn't come to take her to lunch and make things better. She was an adult and alone…all because of her fears and insecurities.
For as long as she could, she put her life on pause and hid at the beach. At one a.m., England time, she stood outside the door to Eli and Sam Macmillan's apartment. Twice already she had lifted her fist to knock but chickened out both times. With a deep breath she knocked and waited.
He proposed to her after she told him. She said no automatically without having to think about it. Just because she was thrown into this situation, did not mean she was getting married. Feeling like "the fool" he promised that he would be a part of his unborn child's life.
Hermione wanted her to reconsider Eli's offer, "he loves you and you love him. You guys are good together and you're having a child." To Willa, it wasn't that simple and thankfully Hermione didn't push it.
Susan gave Eli her grandmother's ring and begged him to ask again. "You're having a child together, you should be together." It wasn't that simple either but Susan pushed it whenever she could.
Ron respected Willa's decisions and respected Eli for doing everything he could to help. His unborn grandchild was going to be in good hands with two capable parents.
Zacharis went out and bought his unborn grandchild a set of soft Quidditch toys for his unborn grandchild. He couldn't wait for a baby to be back in the house again.
The lingering feelings were hard to overcome but the expanding bump was a reminder of the life changing event that would soon occur…and she didn't need to add more drama to that…too much was happening in Willa's changing life.
Eli was there for every step. He was overjoyed as the months went on. He was really starting to get used to the idea of becoming a father.
She never really felt anything for the life growing inside of her. It was always "the baby" or "it". She didn't really want to feel anything towards this thing that was causing such commotion and disruption in her normally calm life.
-When she was twenty-five she fell in love for the second time. Finley Faith Smith-Weasley was the most beautiful little girl in the world with big blue eyes and her father's blond hair. When Willa looked into the blue eyes of the little person she helped make and held inside her for nine months, she couldn't help but feel love for this child, and wanting to give her all of her love.
Eli was brought to tears by the sight of his daughter. As he held her, Willa watched him and smiled while he held Finley Faith and promised her the world because he loved her so much.
Ron was brought to tears by the sight of his granddaughter. He told Finley Faith that he would spoil her like crazy.
Hermione was brought to tears by the sight of her baby's baby that she had loved for the past seven months. She had been there the entire birth, holding Willa's hand (the one that Eli wasn't holding).
Lily was brought to tears by the sight of her goddaughter. She came with a selection of dresses for Finley Faith's return home, promising that she would always be there for her.
Nolan, her proud twenty-two year old brother, was brought to tears by the sight of his godchild and niece. He cracked some jokes to her, trying to get her to smile or laugh for the first time.
Ryen was brought to tears by the sight of his little niece. He said that she would be able to work at the Gazette with Uncle Ryen and Grandpa when she got older and he would teach her anything worth knowing.
Bren was brought to tears at the sight of Finley Faith, the niece she would be babysitting, any chance she got. She claimed that she was already working on trying to get Finley her own hippogriff.
Zacharis and Susan were brought to tears by their first grandchild. They would be the slightly stricter set of Grandparents, but they loved Finley Faith just as much.
What Finley Faith did to people was amazing. Everyone who saw her and held her was a different person with her. Even Dempsey Wood, the Quidditch player who rarely showed emotion anymore, was moved after holding his friends' daughter. Finley Faith helped bring Lily and Dempsey back together that day.
When the room cleared after Finley went down for her nap and it was just Willa and Eli left, they stared at each other for a while, not saying anything. There was so much to say but they didn't really know where to start. She moved over on the bed and let him lay next to her. They fell asleep like that.
-Three years one month and eleven days later Willa and Eli were married, not because they had a child together, not because of any childhood pact or because her fears and insecurities were gone but because she loved him, she loved her daughter and she was going to spend the rest of her life with him.
What did you think? Review PLEASE! Nolan's chapter is next!