Anything for Love

Chapter 18

I lean back against the tree
trunk, feeling the wind blow through my hair. I look down from the branch I am
perched on and can see Candace chasing a butterfly. She is so young, she
doesn’t understand anything that’s happening. I wish I was like her where I
didn’t have to worry about anything. Where I wouldn’t have to wonder if I will
make someone angry. Where I’m not afraid to speak my mind.

I know what’s going on. They think
I’m too young to understand. I just wish they would tell me. I can see it in
Mum’s eyes. She’s got that, I don’t know. They call it a glow, but she really
isn’t glowing. Now, if I gave her one of Uncle Fred and Uncle George’s newest
creations, yeah, she’d be glowing. But no, there’s just something different
about her, a certain presence, I guess.

I can see it in Uncle Harry, too.
I really shouldn’t be calling him ‘Uncle’ anymore, should I? Not if what I
think is going on, is actually going on. I saw this all almost four years ago.
I was five then. Mum was sick all the time, throwing up almost every morning,
just like she has been for over a month now. When she wasn’t getting sick, she
would have this sparkle in her eye and a smile on her face. She was always
smiling, kind of like she has been lately. She and Dad would talk sweetly to
each other and they would rub her stomach and giggle. Just like she and Harry
have been doing for a few weeks.

I know what’s happening. It
happened this way before Candace was born. I’m going to be a big brother again.
I’m not sure how to feel about this. I know that Unc… Harry is the baby’s dad.
What am I then? We have the same mum but different dads. Will it still be my
brother? Yeah, I know it’s a boy. I have this talent, if you want to call it
that. I somehow, just know what a baby will be. I was right with Candace and
have been right with every one my cousins, and that’s a lot!

Mum doesn’t know that I know. I
think she’s afraid to tell me. I can understand why, looking back at the way
I’ve acted since I caught Harry and Mum kissing in the kitchen. I don’t hate
him. I really don’t. I love him. I like living here with him. I like the way he
makes Mum laugh. I like the way he treats Candi and me like we belong here. It
took me a while to get used to this, and I’m still not completely accepting of
the situation, but I know I can’t change it.

Honestly, I don’t think I would
change it. We have been living here for almost two months now, and I don’t
think that Mum has yelled at us or cried at all in those two months. Well,
except when I was being a spoiled brat. Yeah, I admit it. I was being a spoiled
brat. I always thought that Mum and Dad would just work everything out like
they always did before. But when I met her, Lavender, I knew that Dad
had told me the truth and that they weren’t going to get back together.

I fought it tooth and nail. For a
few weeks I made that woman’s life hell. Oops, I shouldn’t have said that word.
But that’s what it was. I was mean and nasty and awful. I had raided my Uncles’
experiment closet whestaystayed with them a few nights and used most of my
arsenal on her. I think she had pink hair for four days and was spitting out
yellow feathers for two. It was so much fun.

But Dad made me pay. I was
grounded for two weeks at both houses, no television, no wireless, nothing but
homework, eating and sleeping. But honestly, it was all worth it. Harry came up
to give me a lecture the night Dad sent me home. He tried to yell at me, he
really did. He just couldn’t do it. He told me how he wished he could have done
some of those things to his cousin when he was my age.

Harry and I have come pretty far
in the past few weeks. He loves my mum, and makes her happy. So, for that, I am
happy. He takes me flying all the time. He even bought me a broom last week so
we could fly together. Mum’s old broom was so slow that I could never keep up
with him. But now we can race and I have almost beat him a couple times. He’s
helping me learn to be a seeker, but I think I might be a better beater, like
Uncle Fred and Uncle George. Maybe I can be a keeper like Dad. I’ve got a while
to decide, but Harry says if I keep it up, I might be able to make the team in
my first year at Hogwarts like he did.

I always knew that Harry was ‘THE Harry
Potter.’ Mum had told us all the stories when we were little. She would tell us
about how Voldemort tried to kill him as a baby, and about all their adventures
at school. She told us how they finally killed Voldemort and stuff like that.
She also told us about Harry. How he grew up in a cupboard at his Aunt and
Uncle’s house. How he was beaten up at school and made fun of. How he had lost
so many people in his life. I used to wonder how anyone who had gone through so
many bad things could smile at all. But looking back, I never really did see
him smile that much until he got with Mum.

I look down at my sister chasing
the butterflies; there are now three. She is so happy, laughing and running
around. Something catches my eye and I look to see Mum coming out of the back
door. She walks over to Candi, kisses her and Candi runs inside. I know she’s
coming for me now. She knows my hiding place. I look down to the base of the
tree and Mum is starting to climb the small ladder steps that Harry added a few
weeks ago. She can’t climb the tree. What if she falls? What about the baby?

“Mum, no!” I scream down at her.
She looks up at me confused. “You can’t climb up here. I’ll come down.”

“Arthur, I have climbed this tree
many times, why am I not allowed now? Are you hiding something up there, young
man?”

I started climbing down two steps
at a time. “No Mum. It’s only a plain branch. I’m not hiding anything. You just
don’t need to be climbing up the tree.”

“And why not?” I know where I get
my stubbornness from.

I can’t tell her that I know about
the baby. Can I? “You just can’t Mum. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

She cocks her head and looks at me
funny. “Are you all right, Arthur?”

“Yeah, Mum, I’m OK.” I’m out of
breath from climbing down so fast. “You wanted me?”

Her eyes are still looking at me,
trying to figure out what I’m trying to hide. “I wanted to talk to you and
Candace. Come inside.” She wraps her arm around me and pushes me toward the
house. I can’t help but smile as she looks back up the tree, ng tng to see if I
am hiding something up there.

I know what she wants to talk
about. I look over at her, her belly has gotten a little bit bigger. I know
she’s not fat. I know it’s the baby. I close my eyes and see the blue haze
behind my eyelids in the shape of her silhouette. That’s how I know if it’s a
boy or girl. That’s how I am sure that she is pregnant. I knew my teacher was
pregnant before she did. It took me a while to see Mum’s color because all of
my emotions about what was happening blocked it. I never took the time to just
close my eyes while I was looking at her. If I did, I would have noticed it.

I open my eyes and she is staring
at me, here eyes are huge. “You know what I want to talk you about, don’t you?”

I nod and look at my feet. “How
long have you known, Arthur?” she asks as she looks down at me. She doesn’t
have to look too far down, I’m almost as tall as her already. I look up at her
and try to remember when I first noticed the change in her.

“Almost three weeks.”

She lets out a sigh. I’m not sure
if she is relieved or if she is frustrated. Probably both. “Three weeks?”

I nod. “Why didn’t you tell me?
Why didn’t you ask me?” she asks me. I can see tears forming in her eyes. She
doesn’t need to be sad. I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?

“I already knew. I wanted to hear
it from you. I know Harry’s his dad. I’m not upset. I kind of like the idea of
having a little brother. He will be my little brother right? I mean with Harry
being his dad and all…”

She is looking at me like a
codfish. Her mouth is gaping open, and she looks rather funny. I chuckle at her
lightly. “Br- brother?” she asks.

“Yeah, it’s a boy Mum. I hope you
didn’t want to be surprised. I’m sorry if you did, I didn’t mean to let it
slip.”

She hugs me hard. Its almost
painful, but I love it when Mum hugs me like this. The back door opens and I
see Harry carrying Candace on his hip. “Is everything all right out here?”

Mum look at him. He looks at me
when he sees the tears rolling down her cheeks. “Harry, he knows. He can see
it.”

Harry looks back and forth between
Mum and I. I can see the shocked look in his eyes. “I forgot he could do that,”
he says. I remember when I told Aunt Ginny and Uncle Draco that they were going
to have a girl. Harry didn’t believe me, but when Annie was born, I was proven
right. He had heard from everyone else about my predictions of their babies. I
am at 100% correct, so far and I have no doubt that I am right with this one
too.

Mum nods at Harry. I’m not sure
why at first, but when Harry looks at me, I can see quesquestion in his eyes.
Before I can say anything though, Candace yells, “It’s a boy!”