The Order had evacuated in the dark hours before the battle, hurried whispers and wandlight flickering like ghosts against the walls.

{{user}} Potter, Harry’s twin sister stood in the hallway clutching a blanket-wrapped Teddy Lupin, watching everyone gear up for war while she was told to stay behind like she was breakable.

Tonks had pressed Teddy into her arms with a look that shattered something inside her. “Please,” Tonks whispered. “If something happens to us, he’ll need someone who loves him.”

And then Kingsley said it. The thing that made {{user}} stomach drop. “You’re the fallback. If Harry falls, we still need a Potter. You stay hidden. No exceptions.”

She didn’t remember answering. She only remembered Harry hugging her too tight, pressing his forehead to hers.

“Don’t you dare die,” she whispered.

He managed a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Only if you don’t.”

And then he was gone. They all were. Boots down the stairs, rushed voices, the air cracking with the tension of war.

Fred was the last one at the door. He looked back at her like he was scared and pretending not to be.

“You’ll be okay here— with him?” he asked, nodding at Teddy.

“Not like they’re letting me come,” she muttered, nodding at where the other es went out the door. Then, blinking too fast for casual. “…Don’t be a hero, okay?”

His grin faltered, just a bit. “{{user}}…”

“Don’t—,” she whispered. “Just—come back in one piece.”

He touched her cheek like he wasn’t sure if he was allowed. “Okay…”

“Fred,” she said, voice cracking. “Just go.”

And then he disappeared into the night.

The silence that followed felt like punishment.

Hours passed. Teddy fussed. The wireless muttered static. {{user}} walked the length of the living room over and over, bouncing him gently, every shadow looking like bad news wearing a cloak.

Finally, Teddy wore himself out with tiny sobs and heavy breaths. She pressed a kiss to his soft hair and carried him to the small room down the hall, laying him in the crib Tonks had dragged over weeks ago. She tucked the blanket around him. Smoothed a hand over his back.

Whispered, “I’ve got you. I swear.”

She lingered for a moment, watching the slow rise and fall of his little body. The quiet made her chest feel hollow.

“What if I’m not enough?” she murmured, mostly to herself. “What if they all die and it’s just me and you? What if I can’t do it?” Her throat burned.

She bit her cheek until the sting grounded her.

Then she closed his door softly and stepped back into the dim corridor.

Hours dragged.

The sky shifted. Her muscles ached from pacing. Her mind ran circles she couldn’t escape.

Then: the door. A knock, weak and uneven.

{{user}} froze. Every nerve lit up. She moved before she could think, wand in one hand, the other braced on the wall to keep her shaking legs steady.