A/N: It's been a while since I've been on ff, so I'd love any feedback or thoughts you have! Thanks for reading :)

Billy Weasley stood slightly apart from the rest of his siblings, trying to covertly eavesdrop on his parents. His father's head was bowed close to his mother's and the two were whispering furiously with Billy's booklist between them. He watched his father run a hand through his hair anxiously, while his mum shifted the baby from one hip to another. His father caught his eye and inclined his head towards the rest of the children, as if whispering to him, "Keep an eye on the others." Nodding quickly, Billy took inventory of his siblings. Charlie had settled down in a corner with Quidditch Through the Ages stretched across his lap, minding his own business. Ronnie ought to be nearby, he tended to hover around Charlie or anything involving Quidditch. Billy rounded the next row of books and was met with two identical, innocent faces as Fred and George stared back at him, wide-eyed.

"What are you doing?" He questioned, furrowing his brow at their arms clasped firmly behind their backs.

"Nothing, Biwwy," Fred lilted with his high lisp that appeared the charm the witch browsing at the end of the row.

"Yeah, Biwwy, we was just lookin at the books!" George insisted, blinking puppy dog eyes at him.

Billy rolled his eyes just as Percy peered around the row, surveying the stand-off between his brothers. Ever since the twins had started walking and talking and trying to cause as much mayhem as possible, Percy could always be found lurking just on the edge of disaster. He never participated but he certainly never took any steps to stop them and Billy was tired of it. Now that Ronnie and baby Ginny were around Percy was one of the big kids and he ought to start acting like it instead of expecting Billy and Charlie to always be in charge. As the twins turned back to the books, Percy marched up to Billy and whispered conspiratorially in his ear, "I think they're going to do something."

His frustration bubbling, Billy rounded on Percy, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of earshot of the twins who weren't paying them any mind, "If you think they're going to do something, keep an eye on them! Or better yet, stop them." When Percy began to protest, Billy snapped at him harsher than he intended, "If they do something and get in trouble or any of us get in trouble, it'll be your fault." Leaving a blushing and pouting Percy who glared at him with a surprisingly steely glint in his eye, Billy searched the next rows for Ronnie. In all his attention with Percy and the twins, Billy had completely lost track of his youngest brother. Ronnie had a habit of blending into the background or wandering off. Mostly likely it had developed from his avoidance of the twins, who had taken a liking lately to messing with their only little brother. He was the only one they had any sort of power over, as Ginny was still a baby and most often in the arms of a parent, and thus Ronnie was the one most tormented by the twins, who had only just aged out of their own miserable toddler years.

Billy grew more frustrated and now worried about his youngest brother as he ran up and down the rows of books. He emerged near the checkout line where many tall witches and wizards swished their robes around him and clucked at him when he pushed through their legs in pursuit of a flash of red he had caught sight of.

"Ronnie!" He called out, seeing the two-year-old wandering aimlessly looking lost. Ronnie's head whipped around, looking up at the wizard nearest to him. He reached out a hand and tugged on the wizard's robes, inquiring "Daddy?" The wizard looked startled at the toddler and roughly yanked his robes from the child's grip, pushing him away. Ronnie's eyes widened and shock filled his face, threatening to overflow into tears. Billy surged forward and grabbed Ronnie, turning him towards a familiar face. Ronnie's terror at an unfamiliar grasp softened as he saw his oldest brother, crying "Biwwy!" and burying his face into Billy's shins.

"C'mon, Ronnie." Billy gently led him to where Charlie was still curled up, pulling a book from the Quidditch shelf at random.

"Here," He shoved the book at Charlie with one hand, his other clasped around Ronnie's perpetually clammy palm, "let him sit with you and read this to him."

Charlie nodded, understanding his role alongside Billy as older sibling. He looked down at the book he had been handed and scowled, "Blimey Billy, why this? The Cannons are the worst team in the league! At least give him some good players to look at!" But no sooner had he said it the Ronnie had grabbed at the cover with a grubby hand, mesmerized by the bright orange players shooting in and out of the pictures. With plenty of color and movement, Ronnie was transfixed, and Charlie slung an arm around his shoulder and began to read in a resigned voice.

Confident that all of his siblings were taken care of, Billy edged back to where he saw his parents still standing, now with a few textbooks in hand as they mulled over them. Billy eyed the books greedily. In those books were all the spells he would need to be a great wizard. After he went to Hogwarts and learned everything, he could travel the world and embark on great adventures. Billy had been longing to go to Hogwarts from the moment his uncles Gideon and Fabian told him about all of their adventures when he was five. It was a warm summer night when they all waited for Percy to be born and his uncles stayed up with Billy and Charlie, although Charlie fell asleep pretty quickly. Billy had sat up attentively, wide-eyed, drinking in story after story. It was one of the last times he interacted with his uncles, who died the next year. Some sort of illness, his mum had told him when he asked. He'd been confused when he asked his mum if he would get sick too, that her breath hitched and she pulled him into the tightest hug he'd ever received before or since and she hissed in his ear, "You will never get sick." His uncles' stories and subsequent illness had only solidified Billy's urge to go to school and learn everything about magic.

So now he stood, struggling to overhear his parent's conversation about the spellbooks that Billy needed to go to school and learn.

"But is it worth it to get the new ones now? All of them will be able to use it then, won't they?"

"Yes, but a full set of new spellbooks? We've still got our books and I've got some from my brothers..."

Billy hung back, letting them continue to whisper. Previously, he'd thought it was either a full new set of books or sending him without books and he would be forced to look on with other students. But now a kernel of hope bloomed in Billy's belly: maybe only one or two new books, but if he got the rest from his uncles he could get new robes and all of his books. Now, if only he could convince his dad to help him smuggle a broomstick into his trunk….

"Mum?" Billy rounded the corner quietly, interrupting his parents' hushed whispers, "D-do you think I c-could use some of Uncle F-Fabian's and Uncle Gideon's spellbooks?"

His mum stared at him with wide eyes and mouth agape. His dad looked down at Billy with a furrowed brow and a look that was clearly searching Billy's eyes. Baby Ginny squealed at him from Mum's hip, waving her little fists around.

"Billy, you…you want their books?" His mum breathed in a soft voice, her eyes still locked on his.

Billy shifted uneasily, hoping she wouldn't change her mind. "Well, er, yeah, if it's all right with you. It'd be like having them there with me, helping me and showing me what to do." The words tumbled out of his mouth before the realized what he was saying and he clamped his lips shut, breaking her gaze and staring down at the floor while he scuffed one shoe against the carpet.

Neither of his parents said anything, but they exchanged a significant glance as if speaking to each other through their eyes. Billy's heart sank. His mum looked stricken and he feared that he had overstepped. He supposed he it wouldn't be too bad wearing some of his dad's old robes, Mum could certainly make them smaller for him. The broomstick certainly seemed out of the question at this point. But Billy's internal thoughts were interrupted when he felt the weight of his father's hand on his shoulder and his mother touch her hand to his face.

"Billy, they would have been honored if you used their books." His mother's voice sounded odd and full of emotion. At her words, the kernel of hope in his chest bloomed fully across his face and he broke into a wide smile. He let out a whoop of joy and hugged his mum tightly around the middle, ignoring baby Ginny's foot bumping the side of his head.

When they finally pulled away, Billy saw his mother smile down at him and start to speak when an almighty bang shook the entire bookshop. The shelves rattled, books tumbled off shelves, and multicoloured sparks shot up in the air over a row of books nearby. Billy vaguely recognized the sparks as the kind that he and all of his siblings sometimes produced when they got angry or excited. Before he could process this however, Percy came barreling around the nearest row and ran head-on into Billy.

"Billy!" He wailed, looking terrified, "I'm s-sorry, I know I was s-supposed to watch them but I w-was looking at a b-b-book and then all of a sudden they-they-" He was hiccupping so violently he could barely get the words out.

"What? Who?" Mum demanded, grabbing Percy sharply with her free hand.

"F-Fred a-a-and George" Percy whimpered, looking like a whipped puppy.

More sparks exploded into the air and there was the sound of books crashing down. Dad swore and bolted in the direction of the sparks. A scream cut through the air that could only have been Ronnie's and upon hearing it, Percy looked beside himself and on the verge of tears.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Mum snapped. She turned to Billy and unceremoniously thrust baby Ginny into his startled arms before drawing her wand and hastening after Dad. Baby Ginny seemed surprisingly calm given all the chaos surrounding her and merely began babbling incoherently, grinning at Billy with all of her tiny teeth. Billy was fairly accustomed to babies at this point, but when it was so unexpected like this he was taken a little off guard. He smiled at the baby as he shifted her to onto his hip, where she settled easily. Once she got over her change of situation, she broke Billy's gaze and began twisting around to see Percy.

Percy looked stricken to see Billy with the baby and his tears threatened to overflow, "Y-you're so good with them, Billy, not like m-m-me. Why c-can't you just be in ch-charge of them, they're s-s-so-" But exactly what the twins were, Percy was never able to say as he completely surrendered to his hiccups and shuddering sobs. Baby Ginny's eyes widened at seeing her brother blubber uselessly and her brow furrowed. Watching Percy's shoulders begin shaking as his meltdown grew, her own bottom lip protruded out and began quivering.

"Oh, c'mon, Percy!" Billy cried, seeing the baby approaching empathy tears, "Stop crying and pull yourself together, I swear, if you get her started-" But sure enough, in keeping with the theme of the afternoon, Billy got nowhere close to finishing his sentence as baby Ginny's head whipped between her brother's emotional faces and she began whimpering.

"I'm s-s-sorry, Billy, I didn't mean to b-but F-Fred a-a-and George, they-"

"Merlin, Percy!" Billy snapped, now bouncing the baby to try and soothe her and, frankly, having no patience for Percy's sniveling, "All you had to do was watch them! Is that so hard? They're only four, they can barely walk in a straight line! Percy, you need to GROW UP!" Baby Ginny looked at Billy in horror at his raised voice, which neither she nor Percy had ever heard before. Even Billy was surprised at the power he heard in his voice. But whereas his tone caused Percy's crying to cease instantly and he stood there, head hanging and trying to hide his hiccups, the baby was completely set off again and she arched her body back and let out a wail so loud and piercing someone just walking into the shop would have thought Billy had set her on fire. The sparks were still flying in the bookshelves and Billy could hear his mother yelling incoherently at the twins amidst the din.

Throwing one last scathing look at Percy, Billy headed towards the opposite rows of books away from all the commotion. When he finally came upon the row against the far wall, he rested his back against the wall to catch his breath. After a moment he sank down the floor, cradling the baby against his chest as she settled down. Curling towards the warmth of his heart, she laid her downy head against his shoulder with soft cooing sounds.

"I know I shouldn't have yelled at Percy," Billy whispered to the baby, knowing she couldn't really understand him but most likely enjoyed the sound of his voice. "I didn't mean to, not really. But he's just so whiny, you know? Charlie and I weren't like that when we were younger. And Percy's one of the big kids now, he needs to start acting like it. I can't look out for him, too. He needs to start taking care of himself."

Baby Ginny sat up from his chest and put her tiny hands on his face, patting his cheeks and smiling widely at him before wiggling and fussing to be let out of his arms. Billy lifted her up and set her on the floor beside him where she was more than happy to wobbly stand up and attempt to toddle about, one hand gripping the lowest shelf of books and occasionally falling back on her bum with a high giggle. Billy wasn't sure how long he sat there but eventually he heard all the commotion die down around the time the baby had tired herself out pacing back and forth and returned to his lap. She'd also started pulling books off the shelf at random and babbled excitedly about one. Before she succeeded in ripping the pages from the binding as she was so earnestly trying to do, Billy took the book from her and began "reading" it to her. It was a book similar to the Cannons book he'd set Charlie to read to Ronnie, except with the Scottish National Team from about a decade ago. Baby Ginny was still trying to grasp the concept of moving photographs and kept trying to grab at the players on the pages with her pudgy hands and was thoroughly perplexed when they flew in an out of frame but she seemed to thoroughly enjoy it nonetheless.

"Billy?"

Billy started at hearing his father's voice. He looked up and saw his dad leaning out the end of the row, looking worn and haggard. Ronnie peeked around from Dad's leg, one fist bunching his trouser leg. Baby Ginny let out a stream of excited babble with something that sounded like it could be a possible "da" sandwiched in the middle. Billy took advantage of the distraction to sneak the Quiddich book out of sight before she realized it couldn't come home with them.

"Sorry, Dad," Billy stood up, still holding the baby, "I didn't mean to leave, I just got mad at Percy and-"

Dad put up a hand and waved him off, "Nonsense. You were wonderful today, Billy."

Billy's brow furrowed, "But, Dad, Fred and George-"

"-are hardly your responsibility." He smiled gentle and brushed a hand through his son's hair, "You aren't a parent, Billy, and I'm afraid your mum and I have been taking advantage of you far too much this past year. You've just been too good of a big brother, especially with the baby."

Billy blushed, looking down at the baby he was still holding.

"And you were wonderful today, son. You hardly could have prevented Fred and George from doing…. whatever it was they thought they were going to accomplish. But Ronnie told me all about how you found him when he wandered off, didn't you?" Dad smiled down at Ronnie, whose ears turned bright red and he nodded quickly, staring up at Billy, wide-eyed.

"Where's Mum?" As much as Billy appreciated his father's words, he was growing embarrassed with his complements and was worried his face was as red as Ronnie's ears.

"She took the rest of the boys home. The twins needed some tending to, they somehow managed to vanish all of their clothing but I have no idea where all the sparks came from. Also, don't be surprised if you get home and they've still got magenta hair, it might take a while for Mum to set them straight."

Billy laughed at his father's words, imaging that's what his mum had been yelling about so fiercely. "Is it time to go home, Dad?"

"Not just yet, son, we still have one more thing to do." He reached out for Billy's hand and led him back to the first row of books they had seen when they'd entered. The pile of spellbooks his parents had been pouring over lay scattered on the ground, but Dad ignored them and pulled a brand new book off the shelf. He inspected it for a moment before handing it to Billy and taking the baby from him. Billy looked at the book in his hands. It was a new, shiny copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade One. He almost couldn't bring himself to open the cover, lest he damage it somehow. He looked up at his father, confused.

"Don't worry, you'll still get your Uncle Fabian's potion books and Uncle Gideon's charms and transfiguration books. Mum still has her entire astronomy kit in the attic, barely touched the thing to begin with, and Merlin knows I've got plenty of books for History of Magic and Muggle Studies, but you won't have to worry about that for a while. But you deserve to have something new, Billy, a brand-new book that you can take with you to school and make your own."

Billy stared at the book, hardly able to fathom his fortune. Most of his clothes and toys had been passed on from cousins recently, as he and Charlie had stopped getting as many new things once Percy and the twins came along. But this….a brand-new spellbook at he could take to Hogwarts and use to learn how to be a great wizard and travel the world going on fantastic adventures? Billy would have gone to Hogwarts in muggle clothes to have this book.

"And when you go to Hogwarts, Billy?" His father looked down at him seriously, "Don't worry about us. When you go to school, you won't be the oldest, you won't have to look out for anyone other than yourself. My only wish for you is to go to school, make friends, learn loads, and have fun. Just focus on that when you get there and have the best time. Besides," He threw a smirk back at Billy as they walked to the cash register, "You've only got two years before Charlie comes along and then before you know it, it'll be Percy and the twins and then you'll never get a wink of sleep."

Billy laughed at the thought and hurried along after his father to get a place in the queue, clutching his spellbook tightly and secretly breathing in the scent of the fresh pages of a new book. This was his. He wouldn't have to share it with Charlie or Percy or any of the others. He wouldn't have to relinquish it if little hands made a grab for it or littler faces started crying. He could stay up until the wee hours of the morning reading to his heart's content, and he would be able to do all that and more at Hogwarts. He felt his father's hand ruffle his hair and vaguely registered the sounds of coins being exchanged but he could barely tear his eyes away from the book in his hands.

"Ready to go, Billy?" His father turned to him with an indulgent smile, baby Ginny watching him intently from over their father's shoulder and Ronnie trailing along still gripping the leg of Dad's trousers.

Billy felt his face break into a wide grin, "Yeah, Dad, I'm ready to go."