She's beautiful.
Her silver hair lightly danced around her face as she scrubbed the dishes; sparkling bubbles tickled her ears as he studied Fleur. Bill Weasley was content in that moment, forgetting for a small second of the constant danger that occupied the world they lived in. And he was reminded suddenly, by a scream.
Bill's heart filled with panic as his eyes widened to his wife, wondering if something had happened to her. She stared back with large eyes, worried for whoever had let out such a wretched noise. Relief lifted off his heart as he realized this person was not his beautiful wife. Pulling himself back to reality, the man grabbed his wand, holding it in front of himself. Death eaters was his first thought. He prepared to protect Fleur when he had a second thought; No. They wouldn't have screamed. He also remembered distantly that Kinsley had visited their cottage earlier that day, confirming that the protection enchantments layered around the house were still working. He was torn from his memories as another scream pierced the air.
This time, it was a man's, though he didn't recognize it. he rushed out of the house, and his breath caught in his throat as he absorbed the scene in front of him. Ron, his youngest brother, sat on his knees, holding a long bundle of what seemed to be bloody blankets, blood caked on his face and smeared on his hands, small scratches and bruises stood out against his pale skin, but that wasn't what caused Bill's heart to stumble.
Ron had changed immensely in the four month gap that he had disappeared. After the disaster at the wedding, Ron had been god-knows-where doing god-knows-what, though Bill had been worried for his brother, he was equally worried about the rest of his family and being the youngest brother and the oldest brother, the two were never quite close.
In this period of Ron's disappearance, Ron had become older, much, much older. His lips were raw and frowning, and there was stubble around his chin, there was dirt on his face, only parting for the scratches that appeared around his cheeks. His hair was overgrown and seemed to Bill as if it had dimmed. It used to be a bright, Weasley orange, now it was dull and shabby. A color that had once meant happiness and family had turned into the odd coloring of a stranger. He had been lanky when he had left the wedding and now he saw muscles tensing under his light sweatshirt. All of Bill's observations suddenly seemed useless and unnecessary as Ron's eyes rested on his. They were blue and piercing, where they used to sparkle was now empty. The place refilled by sorrow, grief, death, and... worry. Bill knew what else was there, truth. The truth that the world was no longer safe, that the world was not longer fair. His eyes held all that he had been through in the past 8 years, all the chaos and despair that came with being Harry Potter's best mate.
As he stared into those lifeless eyes, Ron's lips parted and his now-old voice broke through the silence. "Help." His voice was quiet,croaky and deep, as though he had been yelling. Bill now realized that what he had mistaken for a bloody bunch of blankets was actually a girl. No, a women. Hermione Granger lay in his little brother's (though could he call him that?) arm's.
She was frail and deathly pale. Bill wished he hadn't thought that word. Deathly. She looked broken, the life had been drained from her and she looked as though she had been tortured terribly multiple times. He shuddered and looked to Fleur for help. She nodded and rushed inside, preparing a place for Ron's know-it-all friend. He decided to speak. "R-Ron, what-" But he was instantly cut off by Ron's deep voice saying "Not right now." He stood up and Bill instantly realized that he was about 2 inches taller than himself. However, the younger of the the two brothers took no notice. He was too consumed in Hermione's... left arm?... fire came to life in Ron's eyes and Bill felt a stab of pain toward his small brother.
It was as if Hermione's life was the only thing that mattered to Ron and, he knew, that at the moment it was. Thinking he needed to hurry Hermione into the cottage, Bill held out his hands, "Let me carry her back, she needs to be taken inside" "No." was Ron's instant reply his solidity on the subject dripped off the word with care. The passionate fire sparked in Ron's eyes again and Bill raised his hands in surrender. "okay, okay." he mumbled as he followed Ron to the house. He carried his friend's fragile body close to his own with surprising strength. Bill suddenly had a disturbing thought; If Ron and Hermione were here, where was Harry? Where was the Boy Who Lived? As if on queue, Harry appeared with a pop, supporting what seemed to be a house elf.
Bill could tell Harry was okay, and he followed Ron into the house anyway, his brother needed him more than Harry did. Ron rested Hermione on their light pink sofa with such tender care and as Bill watched, he could swear he saw a tear sink down his little brother's face as he lightly brushed his lips to her hand.
Love.
Thought Bill, Ron loves her. No, more than that. Ron is in love with her. A smile quickly passed over his lips, however it was completely demolished by the worried look on Fleur's face as she checked Hermione's pulse. He spoke with his eyes, 'How is she?' Fleur looked troubled. ''Er pulse iz very veak i am avraid' Her eyes replied. Bill sighed. If Ron lost her, he would lose himself. He would be a shell , thought Bill with a shudder.
Fleur gracefully walked over to her husband. "He must move, Bill, I have to vix 'er." Bill nodded blankly. He approached with wary eyes, knowing his brother would not approve of this order. "Ron?" Bill's throat was scratchy. "Uh, Fleur needs you to move, uh, to check on her." Bill avoided saying Hermione's name in order to avoid the triggering some sort of panic. Ron's head snapped up as he said these words, apparently he hadn't noticed that there was still a world outside of Hermione. Bill had the feeling that he didn't trust anyone with her but himself and he felt as though Ron wouldn't ever leave her side if he had his way. He slowly shook his head in response to Bill's instructions.
Bill suddenly felt a rush of pride for Ron's intimate loyalty and protection to his childhood friend. Fleur unexpectedly appeared at Bill's side. "Othervise she vill not heal." She said, sadness coloring her tone. Ron squeezed Hermione's hand and drank in her beauty for what seemed like hours for Fleur and Bill, but only seconds to Ron. He slowly stood and dropped Hermione's hand, which landed on the side of the couch with a thud. Ron winced. Fleur began flitting around the unconscious girl, attempting to heal her. Ron slowly walked to the chair across from the pink sofa, never taking his eyes off Hermione. Bill made his way to the boy. He isn't a boy, not anymore. He reminded himself sadly.
As Bill cautiously sat himself next to Ron, he noticed something else about him. Ronald Weasley looked exhausted. Not just physically, but mentally. His little brother looked as though the weight of the world was pressed upon his shoulders and, he realized, it was. For the second time that night, he felt a wave of pride for him, not just for his love for Hermione this time, but for his pure bravery and his loyalty to Harry. Bill concluded, at this moment, that Ron was an incredibly simple person. He was bold, truthful, and constantly devoted to those he loved. He had never been interested in fame, fortune, or power, not really. Bill was incredibly jealous of this, too. How could one person live his life with pure love, nothing else? It was incredibly wholesome and intimidating for the older of the two. Ron was such a kind hearted man and his brother respected that trait more than anything.
At the moment, however, he was looking quite disheveled. Bill and Ron sat there in silence for a moment, watching the two women, and the latter of the two decided to break the silent air.
"Thank you." He muttered, his voice uncannily worn and rough.
"Of course, but, Ron, i need to know what happened. You show up here after months, Hermione looks like she's been tortured,"-Ron winces at this-"Harry's acting all depressed and you just... look..." He took a shuddering breath. "Heartbroken."
Ron's eyes tore away from Hermione's unconscious figure at as the last word passed through his brother's lips. As he gazed up at his older brother, Bill saw his face crumble, dropping his strong persona. His deep blue eyes brimmed with tears and he opened his mouth to speak. "I-" He began, however, he clamped his mouth down after the first word. He seemed to become lost in thought, trying to find the right words. "We-" he started again, but was instantly cut of as shrieks filled the night air.
They were the most terrible noise Bill had ever heard, filled with pain and anguish and hurt and sorrow and fright and madness and he knew that whatever caused them had to be the worst thing imaginable. Terrible. Just terrible. Bill's head snapped up to see Hermione thrashing around, the source of the screaming.
"RON! RON.. NOOOO. NO! DON'T HURT HIM. RON."
The moment the screams had rang out, Ron had been by her side, cupping her face in his hands, rocking her back and forth.
"Shh, Hermione, shh. I'm right here, right here. I won't ever leave again. You're safe."
His tone was dripping with heartbreak, Bill watched as Hermione's eyes fluttered open and sobs replaced the screams. Ron was crying with her too, both of them rocking back and forth with their fingers intertwined. An awful realization hit Bill as he thought about what sort of a thing could create a reaction like this. He stormed out of the cottage, suddenly raging at the mystery.
He needed to know what had happened to his brother. He needed to know now. He marched through the once-peaceful back yard of his cottage and found Harry, who was digging a grave for the house elf. Though he felt sadness for Harry, outrage had overcome him and he pointed and accusing finger at the man.
"What happened?" Bill's voice boomed.
Harry looked like he would argue or deny something but instantly gave up with a sigh of defeat. "They.. they found us. Snatcher's did. We were somewhere... on the run.. and Hermione tried to disguise me, but they found my scar. So they took us to.. to.. Malfoy Manor"-he said the last words quieter-" And they wanted to know who we were but we couldn't tell them, and then they found the sword, the sword of Gryffindor" He clarified " and Bellatrix"- Bill gasped at the name-" wanted to know if it was real so she kept Hermione upstairs and sent me and Ron into the dungeon.. and.. and.. w-we could hear her s-screaming"-Harry was sobbing by now-"and R-Ron was yelling and yelling and y-yelling and he was so upset and he ran upstairs and D-Dobby saved us and we came h-here." Harry finished, covering his face with his hands.
Bill was horrified. Poor Harry ,he thought ,poor Hermione, poor Ron. He couldn't believe it, he just couldn't. These kids, his little baby brother, all of them had seen so much pain, so much horror. Bill nodded at Harry and turned to the cottage, determined to see how Hermione was after this painful ordeal. He saw Fleur at the entrance and met her halfway across the yard. "How is she?" Bill asked his gorgeous wife. "She vill be fine, she vent through something terrible though, tortured so many times." She gazed up at her husband and rested her head against his chest. He held her close. "She vill be fine." Fleur repeated, mostly to herself. They would be fine. And Bill breathed a sigh of relief.