A/N: Bill Weasley adopts a strange habit after having Victoire.
Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling, so I don't own the characters or anything related to Harry Potter.
As the first one of Molly Weasley's children to have a baby himself, Bill experienced everything first. The supreme joy of having a child, the sleep deprivation that resulted from it, the newfound love and respect for all parents (particularly his own), the reborn empathy, the reduction of care for material wealth or physical appearance…
Other than that, Bill found himself doing many more daily chores that he had never done before: changing diapers, running baths, cradling Victoire, playing with her, and, most importantly, calming her whenever she got upset.
As it turned out, Bill Weasley was a natural at calming babies. He'd never thought of himself as a "baby person" until he and Fleur had had Victoire, but now he did. Whenever Victoire began to wail, her little pink face contorting and her lungs screeching in protest, he simply scooped her up, bouncing up and down in his arms as he sang her favorite song. It was a Muggle song from an album his father had been obsessed with as Bill grew up, so Bill had inherited the obsession: A Hard Day's Night by the Bugs or the Beetles or something equally Muggle-like. It was the only one he knew all the words to, and Vic went crazy for it.
It didn't matter if she was hungry or fussy or tired or needed changing; as soon as the baby heard Bill singing that song, she began to clap her hands together, giggling happily to the sound.
Bill soon learned that most "Beatles" songs had a similar effect on her. He had a feeling it was the fault of his father, who always played that Muggle music when they visited, but he was just happy it worked. No matter what, the Beatles could always calm Victoire.
And as Victoire was quite a moody infant, Bill found himself humming or singing the Beatles quite often, specifically A Hard Day's Night. Any time Victoire started to cry, he started to hum. Unfortunately, this habit began to rear its head in his daily life, and he failed to notice until Percy mentioned it when Vic was a few months old.
They were having their weekly family dinner, and everyone was there: the parents, Arthur and Molly; all of their children, Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, Ron, and Ginny; and the spouses (or almost spouses), Harry, Hermione, Fleur, and Audrey. Ephraim, Charlie's Romani boyfriend, had recently joined the dinners, as Charlie had permanently moved back to England to stay until everything was back to normal. It would be years, Bill knew, before that would happen.
George was still a complete wreck. It had been over a year since Fred… Since Fred had gone. Still, he spoke through cold sentences and dry humor, just a husk of his former self. He hadn't had a genuine relationship since the Battle of Hogwarts, lived at home with his parents… After he went mental, attacking some of his family members whenever they mentioned his twin brother, they got him an official psychiatrist at St. Mungo's. Now, he saw her twice a week for his depression and PTSD, but he was still sensitive to people talking about his dead brother. So when Hermione brought up a funny story about Fred, George stood up, his anger ice-cold. "Shut up," he said, his voice deadly quiet.
Hermione's smile faltered, and she glanced nervously at Ron, her fiancé. "George, I'm just—"
"Just nothing," he snapped. "You don't get to talk about him."
"It's okay to talk about Fred," Hermione continued, trying to ease the situation. Bill knew, however, that she was only making everything worse. The tension in the room sloshed between each person like split pea soup, sticky and thick. "The memories of him that we share—"
Whipping his wand from his pocket, George thrust it at Hermione's throat. "If you don't shut your mouth right now—"
Ron stood faster than ever in response, his wand in the air as well. "Point your wand somewhere else, George!"
But George wasn't listening. "You think you can throw his name around like he's yours?" Arthur, instead of standing to confront his son, was in his chair, crying softly now as Molly rubbed his back. "Like he belonged to you?"
"George, dear, please—" Molly began. All of the Weasleys were standing now, in addition to Hermione.
"No!" he snarled. "She can't talk about him like that! She can't!"
That's when everyone turned to stare at Bill. Even George stopped talking. A few awkward seconds passed before finally Percy said, "Bill?"
Although Victoire, safely nestled in her mother's arms, wasn't making a sound, Bill was humming loudly, emphatic enough to stop the entire conversation. And he had no idea.
Fleur nudged him with her free hand. "Bill, mon amour, the song…"
Bill startled a bit, halting in his song. He hadn't even noticed he was humming. A Hard Day's Night, now that he thought about it. His knee was bouncing up and down incessantly as though bouncing Victoire on his knee, and he stilled it with his hand; as soon as he did so, he felt the urge to move it again, like if he wasn't bouncing, then he couldn't keep the situation calm. Bill flushed with embarrassment. "Er…"
Before Bill could apologize, however, he heard his father start to laugh, chuckling through his tears. After Arthur, Harry and Hermione fell victim to the humor of the situation as well; as they'd both been raised by Muggles, they knew the song better than anyone. And after them, Fleur and Molly laughed, too. Then Charlie and Ephraim, cackling harder than the others, followed by Percy, Audrey, Ron, and Ginny.
And finally… George. His laugh was quiet, but it seemed to overpower the rest, for no one had heard him laugh like that in ages.
After that incident, Bill guessed his bad habit wasn't so bad after all.
A/N: Thanks for reading!
Challenges used:
Are You Crazy Enough To Do It Challenge - #690 (object) wand
If You Dare Challenge - #81 (It Will Be Years)
Your Favorite House Boot Camp - #15 (dear), Gryffindor
The Golden Snitch - Through The Universe - #72 (Gamma-ray) - (word) bouncing
The Golden Snitch - Ollivander's Wand Shop - Gilderoy Lockhart - 9 inch - Write about a Gryffindor character.
Writing Club - Character Appreciation - (family) eldest son, Bill used
Writing Club - Lizzy's Loft - #3 (Daniel Howell) - Write about someone with depression.
Writing Club - Bex's Basement- Thor - Write about problems between siblings.
Hogwarts - Arts & Crafts: Crafting 101 - Task 3 (Glitter) Write about something/someone that's hard to get rid of (I interpreted it as a habit that's hard to get rid of)
Fanfiction Writing Month: November [980]