Title: Since You Been Gone

Author: R. F. Lupin

Rating: PG-13, soft R

Warnings: sex, bad language

Disclaimer: Just borrowing.

Summary: After coming home on holiday, Bill meets the son he never knew he had, and learns that with every choice, there are twice as many consequences. almost AU, BWOC

A/N: So I needed a modern story to compliment my Titanic one, and this is what I came up with. It doesn't have anything to do with the Kelly Clarkson song; I just stole the title.

Reviews are love.

Chapter 1 – Prelude

"And here's the man of the hour now!"

Bill Weasley was beginning to understand why people liked being famous.

His younger brother Charlie had thrown him a going away party at one of the hottest nightclubs in town, and now he was the center of attention. Everyone was excited to hear about his new job as a Curse Breaker in Egypt, and he was only too happy to explain that it was just as cool as it sounded.

"There's my Billy!" said Ava, the georgous dancer who had become his shadow that evening. She had informed Bill that she was next in line for the principal spot in the London Ballet Company, and they had been inseparable ever since.

"I prefer Bill," he said coolly, looping his arm around her waist all the same.

Charlie rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything rude because at that point, his lady friend came back from the bar carrying drinks for all of them. The woman Charlie had been hanging around all night was skinny, blonde, and as far as Bill could tell, devoid of any skills worth mentioning.

Bill accepted a glass from the blonde and handed one to Ava, who waved it away.

"No thanks," she said. "But you go ahead. Drunk people are hilarious."

"All right," he said, eyebrow arched. "Just don't let me embarrass myself too much. I'd like to escape tonight with my reputation intact."

Ava laid her head on his shoulder.

"What reputation?" she asked coyly.

"That I am one of those devilishly charming men who makes women swoon," Bill replied, taking a swig. "It'll be hard to do that if I'm slurring my words and tripping over my feet."

Charlie snorted loudly, no doubt inhaling some of his drink, and said with a laugh,

"You, devilishly charming? When did this happen?"

"Around the same time you were getting your nappy changed," Bill snapped, and his brother quieted.

The music in the background changed to something much faster, and Ava perked up.

"So, Bill," she began, and he eyed her critically. "Are you drunk enough to dance?"

Throwing his usual caution to the wind, the oldest Weasley downed the rest of his ale and said,

"I am now."

Ava led him out on to the dance floor, and was immediately moving with the music. Bill figured that she would be good, considering she was a professional dancer and all, but it didn't really strike him until he was out there in the midst of everyone else. Awkwardly, he put his hands on her hips and tried to keep up.

"Not exactly God's gift to dancers, are we?" Ava said slyly, looping her arms around his neck, her hips still swaying in time with the beat.

"No. Not at this kind of dancing, anyway," Bill obliged, wrapping his arms around Ava's waist.

"What kind of dancing, then?" she asked, toying idly with his hair.

"The horizontal tango," he said, and Ava did the smallest of double takes before she burst out laughing.

"Did you . . did you just say that? I mean, did you actually say the phrase, 'horizontal tango'?" she managed to choke out, somehow managing to keep dancing despite her crippling laughter. Bill indulged in a small smile before he said,

"Yeah, I did."

Ava's eyes were welling up with tears, she was laughing so hard, but she kept moving.

"What? You don't believe me?" Bill said, pulling her close and running his hand down her back. Their mood had gone from amused to aroused rather quickly, and neither one of them was keen on changing it. "Because I could prove it."

"Really?" she challenged, eyes bright with mischief. "And how do you intend to do that?"

"If I need to explain that process," he began, his hand resting on the exposed skin of her hip as he traced small circles there with his thumb. "Then I'm afraid you're too young to know."

"I'm not too young," she whispered slyly, leaving a trail of tantalizing kisses down his neck. "Prove it."

Bill left for Egypt a few days after his party. He left thinking that only his immediate family would miss him, and that nothing he had done that night would come back to bite him in the ass.

He was wrong. Very, very wrong.