Disclaimer: I have nothing.

A/N: So I actually had a LOT of trouble coming up with something for this round but in the end I noticed there was a serious lack of Bill Weasley on my page, so I decided to rectify that! Hope you all enjoy :)

Written for Quidditch League Round 2, Beater 1 for Caerphilly Catapults - write about someone who has a passion for Ancient Runes. My optional prompts were: 2. (dialogue) "This was the most fun I've ever had.", 14. the Napoleon Hill quote on top, and 15. (dialogue) "It happened again, what do I do?"

The starting point of all achievement is desire. - Napoleon Hill

Passing Runes

The Great Hall was filled with the sight of a stormy sky, the sound of student chatter, and the scent of a piping hot breakfast, but Bill Weasley wasn't paying attention to any of that.

He couldn't help it. Julia Harper was so easy to look at. Her hair was drawn back in a ponytail today, but he knew the ebony curls smelled like lavender because he and Julia were in almost every class together; and he knew he could fall into her bright eyes, because whenever she looked at him he lost his breath a little. She was laughing, too. He rarely saw Julia without a smile on her face. It was one of the reasons he was so drawn to her.

She must've felt his eyes on her, because she looked up just a little and grinned at him. Bill didn't know if she blushed, and her dark skin would hide it anyway, but he turned bright red.

"Who's that?"

The voice was accompanied by a hand blocking his view, the fingers of which snapped directly between his eyes. Bill tried very hard not to roll his eyes; Charlie always needed to butt in. Bill was nudged when he didn't immediately answer.

"A Hufflepuff," Bill deadpanned, meeting his eyes.

Charlie was not so restrained. He gave Bill an exaggerated roll of his eyes, just to make his brother feel stupid. Had they been younger, it might worked, but he was beyond that stuff now. He was fourteen, after all. "Don't play dumb, mate," Charlie said finally.

"You're not my mate."

Charlie put up his hands and grinned, making air quotes as he said, "Fine, bro."

Bill couldn't help the laugh that escaped him."She's a girl. Pretty and funny and in all of my electives. Why do you ask?"

"Just because she probably saw you drooling."

"I was not drooling. And it's none of your business, anyway."

"Whatever. I prefer to act under the assumption that everything is my business. You never know who might be helped from the wisdom that I can provide."

Bill laughed out loud. "And how did that work out for you when you told your best friend she was chasing after the wrong dude? Man, I didn't know Tonks had mastered a Trip Jinx."

Charlie sputtered indignantly. "Well–it–it's true! He's older than us and a total git. And pretty ugly, too. She was just going off about him last week, then it happened again, what do I do? Not say anything? How did you find about that, anyway? Never mind, that's none of your business."

"Exactly!" Bill smirked, knowing his point had been made. Charlie gaped at him like a fish for a moment, then swallowed and shook his head, chuckling a little.

"Fine, you win."

"Get used to it."

"So what are you gonna do? About the girl whose name you still won't tell me?"

Bill looked at his brother, carefully scrutinizing him. They didn't talk about girls a lot. "Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious, I guess. I mean, she is pretty."

"More than pretty," Bill mumbled under his breath, thinking of the way her hips swayed as she walked. Charlie rolled his eyes again.

"Fine, pretty and funny. And a Chaser, right?" Bill chuckled, glad that Charlie wasn't old enough to understand the insinuation yet. It was fun to be the oldest. But Charlie was right: there was so much more to Julia than her looks. She was a Chaser on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and she loved to read. He knew how smart she was, too, because she was always showing off her spellwork, and he loved that she was always laughing or making someone else laugh.

Julia put butterflies in his stomach, and it bothered Bill that Charlie probably knew that he had no idea what to do about it.

"Yeah, she's a Chaser," he said, finally.

"Wow, you're not obvious at all," said Charlie, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Was that a Weasley world record for longest response time? Come on," he changed his tone slightly, "if my big brother fails, that'll be a terrible omen for me."

Bill laughed, trying to voice to Charlie some of the thoughts that were running through his head, but they all sounded like dead ends. "I mean, she's always reading and laughing. And she likes Quidditch, obviously."

"Maybe you guys could go for a fly."

"Maybe," he said thoughtfully, but as he glanced back, the answer came to him. Julia had her Ancient Runes textbook propped up in front of her, and she was practicing pronunciation with another Hufflepuff in their class. It occurred to Bill that some of the books he often saw her reading were covered in runes, too. "I have an idea," he said, and left before Charlie could say something to make Bill second-guess himself.

That evening, Bill tucked himself away in the library. There were two balled-up pieces of parchment scattered across his workspace and one fresh page, ready to start from scratch again. He was using a new quill for the occasion that he was itching to pick back up, but he had already messed up, and he wanted it to be perfect. His rune dictionary lay open in his lap, while next to his parchment was a very advanced text on the subject he had pulled from the shelves. He didn't want his sentences to sound jumbled, and he thought that if he could slide in something fancy that he learned, that would be even more impressive.

The large textbook was open to a section about grammar. In third year, they had started with basic pronunciation at the beginning of the year, but even now, well into the second term, they were still only reading and writing very simple sentences. He needed to know how to properly phrase his sentences if he was going to write this letter without making a fool of himself.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on the way you looked at it, Bill found himself getting sidetracked quite frequently. A poem early on had piqued his interest, as well as the description of where runes were spotted all over the world. He was learning a lot, but he still didn't know what to write to Julia.

Bill wanted it to be easy enough for her to translate, but difficult enough that she had to go through her dictionary to see how much effort he had put in. That seemed simple enough, since he was going to use the whole dictionary and not just the runes they had covered so far, but he wasn't sure what to write about. Eventually, he decided to compliment her goals against Ravenclaw in the last match. He quickly flipped to a section he had seen before about Quidditch.

Once again, he found himself sidetracked. Who knew that there were ceremonial rune inscriptions on every World Cup Snitch? After about ten more minutes of reading, he finally found the runes and structure he was looking for, picked up his quill, and translated:

I saw you play in the last Quidditch match. You have great aim. When did you decide to play Chaser?

Slowly but surely, he managed to work his way through a few other things he liked about her, trying to compliment and seem interested. He asked her about her favorite novel, and told his to her, using the section of the book where he learned even some famous, historic Muggle novels had been translated into runes for wizards of the old ages to read. He threw in a line about her beautiful amber eyes, using the actual rune for the stone, stopping to learn how gemstones and their runes had special meanings. He managed to find a joke he could tell her from the advanced text, as well. Finally, he mustered up his Gryffindor courage and carefully translated a final sentence:

Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?

Pleased with his work, Bill carefully put the letter aside, making plans to see Professor Babbling for her to proofread it. It would be embarrassing, but at least the letter would be perfect. Then, he pulled the fascinating textbook toward him once again, his eyes focused on one headline: Careers in the Field. Beneath the line were pictures from all over the world, places that ancient civilizations used runes to protect or worship, and the many opportunities that came with translating those runes. He didn't know how long he was reading, but he woke up to the sound of Madam Pince angrily barking that it was well past curfew, and how dare he pretend to be sleeping to avoid reprimanding?

"Mr. Weasley, this is quite impressive."

Bill looked up in surprise. Professor Babbling looked very sincere, and even a little surprised. Bill tried not to blush. "Well…it was really interesting, once I got reading. And there were so many things I wanted to include. I just tried to do a good job."

She smiled at him. "That you did. This is what I would expect of my O.W.L. students. Miss Harper will be very flattered by the gesture, I assure you. You translated it perfectly. However, Mr. Weasley…might I discuss something with you?"

Bill fidgeted a bit nervously, but he smiled back. "Of course, Professor."

"What, exactly, piqued your interest in the subject? Did you see anything that caught your eye? I'd love to discuss anything you read that you were confused on, or would like to know more about. You have quite the talent."

Bill couldn't help the shock: he was writing at the level of an O.W.L. student, and Professor Babbling thought he was talented. All year it had been one of his favorite subjects, and just last night, nothing had fascinated him more than the idea of unlocking ancient cultures. Bill found himself engaged in a conversation about anything and everything he had learned and wanted to know, and did not stop until lunchtime.

The following Monday, Bill was eating breakfast with Charlie again when he felt a sharp kick in his ankle. Ready to tell off his brother and kick him right back, he looked across the table and the words dried up in his mouth.

Julia Harper was standing there, her smile wide. She looked at him excitedly and handed him a piece of parchment, one he could see with a quick glance was covered in runes. He spoke before he could stop himself. "Did…did you like it?"

She grinned wider. "This was the most fun I've ever had. Have fun with yours. And this weekend is perfect," she said simply, then turned around to giggle with the Hufflepuff girls surrounding her and walked off.

Charlie winked at him.

Years later, Bill was eating lunch at the office of the Gringotts Cairo branch when Percy's owl arrived. Bill took the letter eagerly; Percy hadn't written to him all year, and he knew his brother hadn't exactly been sociable lately. He liked the idea that his brothers would still confide in him.

Percy's letter went on and on about prefect duties, meddlesome Fred and George, and Ron's new friendship with Harry Potter and an intelligent girl, which Percy made clear he thought was good for the boy. There were some notes about classes, and his meeting with McGonagall about career selection, but it was the very last section that really captured Bill's attention. He could tell, just from the informal nature of the writing, that Percy had put it out there on a complete limb, and that it had taken a lot of nerve to send it.

By the way, there's this girl I've been…fancying? I don't know, could be rubbish. Anyway, if I were to tell her I liked her, how would I go about that? She's in my Runes and Arithmancy classes, and she's very pretty, and I'm pretty sure she's going to laugh at me if I tell her straight out, so...let me know if you have any ideas, I guess.

Love,

Perce

Bill grinned, thinking fondly of a first love at Hogwarts who had shaped his career, and knowing he had just the thing.