Chapter Text
Molly had been pacing through the kitchen for ages when Arthur finally came into the house. Carrying her 5-years-old son around, she had been anxiously waiting all day for her husband to be back. She therefore had to control herself not to jump on him when finally, he came home.
Walking as softly as possible to not wake her sleeping child, the young woman made her way to the living area, staring worriedly at her husband:
“Oh Arthur, finally you’re home!”
“What happened Molly, is he alright?” Asked her husband as he got closer to her and his child.
Arthur pushed away the red streak of hair that was sticking to the boy’s fevered brow, making his son turn around fitfully in his mother’s arms. The movement revealed the birth mark on Fred’s neck, the only difference between him and his twin brother.
“He’s been feverish since mid-day, so has George, though at least that one managed to fall asleep. Fred woke up about two hours ago and didn’t manage to get back to sleep until just now. Arthur I’m scared, they are both really warm, and with the pandemic of magic fever…. If that’s what the boys have, we need to be careful, especially with the rest of the kids. “
Arthur passed a hand through his wife’s hair and kissed her, a smile on his face:
“Molly, dearest, they are five years old. For all we know, it might just be a basic childhood illness, nothing more. Have you been giving them fever reducing potion? “
“What do you think Arthur? Of course! Yet their fever is still not coming down “ she said as she attempted to shift Fred in her arms, his weight becoming heavy on her.
Arthur slowly took his son in his arms, making sure not to wake him, though Fred simply turned around and fell back asleep on his dad’s shoulders:
“How about we get this little wizard to bed first, then we can assess the situation. Are any of the other kids sick? “
“No, at least, but Percy has been acting very weird; and with Charlie and Bill that are supposed to come home for Christmas… And Ginny and Ron are still so little, Magic fever is known to be very dangerous to little kids” she said as she went over Fred and pet his head before starting to climb up the stairs.
With a flick of her wand, she closed the lights of the kitchen, not without enchanting her dishes to clean themselves up during the night.
Indeed, thought Arthur, magic fever was one of the most dangerous illness a wizard could catch, even more ravaging when it hit young children.
The fever was not attacking only the body, it was targeting the magical core within the child, that energy in each wizard that allowed them to use magic. Lots of children could lose their magic to that sickness, meaning they could become a squib.
Molly had every right to worry. Of course, if either of their kids were squibs, they would still love them, but things would be so difficult for them… thought the man as he slowly laid Fred down on the bed he shared with his twin.
The parents had tried to make them sleep in separate beds, but the kids still ended up sleeping with each other every night, hence why they had opted to give them one larger bed. They would try later, when they would be older, to make them sleep separately again.
George, despite seemingly sleeping more soundly than his brother, still looked extremely sick. Just like his twin, fever was sticking to his skin, and he had chills all over his arms.
As Fred was laid next to him though, he couldn’t help but get closer to him, hugging him to his chest, feeling safer now that he was not alone:
“I’ll stay with them tonight” said Molly as she sat on the floor next to the twin’s beds, petting George’s cheek.
Arthur bent down, passing a delicate hand on his wife’s neck.
“You’ll do no such thing love. You’ve been up all night and all day, you need rest. Just let me watch over them for the night. For all we know, they could wake up tomorrow and be all fine, you know how it goes with these two. One moment they can be really sick and the next they can be pranking their siblings mercilessly” whispered the proud father, a point of humor in his voice.
It took Molly a good minute before agreeing to let her husband watch the twins. She was indeed extremely tired, and despite her worries, she trusted the accomplish wizard to look out for them.
“Alright darling, just, wake me up if there is anything you need, or well, anything they need. They really do need you to be there for them. If their fever rises, I’ve brewed another fever reducing potion and sleeping potion, they’re downstairs. And, if ever they start showing signs of buttons you wake me immediately. Buttons, mostly on the belly are the principal symptom of Magic Fever, so check often, okay? It would mean we need to take them to St-Mungos and…”
“Molly, relax! “ Hushed the tall man as he lifted George sweaty shirt, making sure there was no rash on his belly.
“You see honey, nothing. I’m telling you, you need sleep, you’re no help to them when you get this worked up. Remember when Bill broke his leg? You didn’t rest and what happened? You went in pre-term labor with Percy”
“Well, I’m not pregnant now!”
“No, but you’re still a panicked mother so please, just go rest. I’ll look after our two little pranksters”
At that, Mrs. Weasley sighed and decided to go rest. She rose, taking the time to kiss the boys’ heads before finally exciting the room, in need of proper rest.
Arthur grabbed the chair that was next to the desk and sat on it, looking over his two boys. Seeing that their clothes were drenched with sweat, he decided to change them, hoping not to wake them up as he did so.
Honestly, he also needed to do that in order to make sure that neither of the boys was developing a rash. Magic fever or not, he wouldn’t put his sons’ lives in jeopardy.
Taking his time, the delicate man removed Fred and George shirts, taking his time to wash their backs at the same time and putting a clean shirt on them. After doing the same with the pants, he laid both down once more and covered them with the blanket.
Just a fever. A high one, but it was just a fever. They would be fine… they had to be fine.
That sentence kept echoing in his ears as he slowly closed his eyes, sleep catching up to him. The boys were going to be fine; they were going to be better tomorrow, and maybe Arthur could even buy them pumpkin ice cream. They always loved that stuff…