Retreat to Shell Cottage
"Ron? What are you doing here? Has something happened to Harry and Hermione?"
The younger boy gave a hollow laugh, "I like that they're your first thought. No 'Come in Ron, how are you? Would you like a cup of tea?' ?"
"Well get in here then," Bill's eyebrows had contracted as his forehead furrowed, shutting the squeaking front door behind the pair. "Now do you mind telling me what's got you in such a mood? I'm assuming that since you're acting like a petulant child the others haven't been captured by Death Eaters or the like."
Immediately Ron's posture changed; his defensive stance shrivelled away and he seemed to shrink into himself as he adopted a more self-conscious pose. Despite spending most of his younger brother's formative years away at school Bill felt he could read him like a book, and his suspicion gave way to compassion as he wrapped an arm around Ron's shoulders and guided him to the small sofa in the living room, catching his wife's eye on the way as she came downstairs – curious as to who was calling so early in the morning.
It was 10 minutes later, when the mug of tea Fleur had brought in was half empty, that the silence was broken.
"I've done something stupid."
Bill casually raised a questioning eyebrow, propping his feet up on the coffee table in front of him as he slouched in the armchair. "Yeah?"
Realising his brother was to offer no more prompting than that, Ron threw caution to the winds as the events of the past few hours caught up with him, and his speech came out in a rush.
"We've been looking for things, the three of us. Things that'll help us get rid of You-Know-Who. But the thing is, they- they have a bad influence on you. And you've got to keep 'em on you the whole time, you know? And it did my head in; it was bad enough being hungry and cold and getting fucking nowhere for weeks on end, but when you've got all these thoughts – things you know you shouldn't be thinking, that you've gotta ignore, make sure you don't blurt out – I just couldn't do it anymore!
And then we were overhead run-aways talking, and they were acting like it meant everything was okay, but they'd said about Ginny an- Is Ginny alright? I said something stupid to Harry, even though I know he's worried about everyone too. Just because of that bloody hor- I mean, that thing that I'd been looking after. So I couldn't stay, could I?"
As Ron reached the end of his tirade and let out a relieved sigh as his weight was off-loaded, Bill swung his feet off the table and leaned forward on his seat, resting his forehead on his hand, which in turn leaned on his knee, before straightening up again with an entirely relaxed expression on his face.
"Right, I think I got all that. First off, yeah Ginny's fine. She's not going back to school; her friend, Lovegood's daughter – Luna, is it? – got kidnapped off the train on the way back to keep Xenophilius and the Quibbler in line. It was only a matter of time before they went after Ginny, what with our lot so associated with Dumbledore and Harry – and to be honest she and Neville Longbottom damn near got themselves taken when they were trying to help the girl. We're not risking it."
Ron, who had been paying close attention, finally allowed his stare to fall from Bills' face, reassured that his sister was safe and had not been irreversibly damaged by whatever she may have encountered on her detention trip into the Forbidden Forrest of Hogwarts' grounds.
"So, let's get this next bit straight. You and Harry had a stupid argument, and you left?"
Ron rolled his eyes, a hint of humour having returned to them. "If you want to put it simply, yes."
"So why not just go back?"
"Well I would have done but I ran into some Snatchers, didn't I?" At Bill's surprised expression, he continued, "tried to nick my wand, but they weren't the brightest lot. Managed to trick 'em and got away with my wand and the one who was holding mine's."
His elder brother gave an appreciative chuckle, glad that despite the troubles and tension that this conflict had brought, of which his loved ones seemed to be in the midst, the sense of fun and bluntness which so represented his family endured. Yet, at times like these it was important to get the facts, and so on he pushed.
"And then you came here, right?"
"Wrong, actually. I apparated back to where we'd been staying. I was going to go back and apologise. But I couldn't find them anywhere. I guess that's to be expected though, the amount of enchantments we put up-" at Bill's sarcastic eyebrow raise he put up his hands with a laugh, and amended, "Alright, alright- with the amount of enchantments Hermione put up to hide us.
Anyway, I stayed the night near the place I thought we'd set up camp, and waited till morning when I thought they'd have to show themselves. But they must have moved on under the invisibility cloak after we'd nearly been caught by them run-aways the day before, as a precaution, you know? And then I came here."
Bill let out a great lungful of air and sat back in his seat, throwing a chocolate frog from the pile on the near-by cabinet towards Ron, opening one himself.
"You know I can't say I agree with what you've done-"
"I know, I know," Ron cut in hastily. "I'm not asking you to – I don't defend what I did."
Bill nodded with a sympathetic smile, "But the fact remains that you've left Harry and Hermione now, never mind letting them down, and we're going to have to come up with a way of getting you back to them. That is what you want, isn't it?"
At Ron's assured nod, Bill continued his musings.
"I reckon it'll take time though; it's obvious you're not going to be able to search physically if the three of you are being so careful – which is no less than I expected by the way. I think Mum would have a heart attack on the spot if she thought you lot weren't taking at least three hours putting up protective barriers!"
At the mention of his mother, Ron's head snapped up from staring avidly at his chocolate frog card of Albus Dumbledore, as though expecting it to speak to him and explain away the confusion that both he and his two best friends felt at the questions he had left unanswered before his death.
"You won't tell them I'm here will you? Please, Bill."
Bill gave his brother a long, hard stare before nodding shortly.
"Fine. You stay here with us while we work out how you're going to fix this. Now, do you fancy some breakfast? I promised Fleur I'd make her a proper English fry-up. You want the full works?"
"Yeah, and the rest!" Ron laughed, "Didn't I mention I was starving!"
The aftermath of the brothers' conversation seemed uneventful in all. Yet still over the next few days as the brothers caught up, and Fleur got to know Ron more, Bill was able to observe small hints, whenever the younger didn't realise he was being watched, of the brooding displeasure Ron had shown when transfixed with the photo of Albus Dumbledore, which betrayed the fact that returning to Harry and Hermione and continuing on their quest was never far from his mind.
Little did either know that just a few short weeks later - on Christmas Day, no less - Bill would walk into the spare bedroom which Ron inhabited only to find Ron and his belongings gone, and a brief note left behind, explaining his absence and that maybe, just maybe, the silent plea to Albus Dumbledore had not gone unheard. Maybe this falling out was just part of the grand plan towards victory that he had planned.
And that gave comfort to Bill; that this war would not rage for too much longer.
A/N I'd greatly appreciate any comments, so please review! Thanks, Phoenix.