Percy was heading up the stairs when he first heard the screaming. And then Bill was coming down the stairs, fuming, and Percy was pushed to the side, just as he had always been, only this time he was pushed through the open bedroom door.
Charlie had his trunk open on the bed that was once his, the bed closer to the door on the room that was once his. And the trunk was packed, and Percy knew that Charlie had unpacked the second he came home.
"Charlie?" Percy whispered, because he had seen tears in his older brother's eyes, and you couldn't possibly talk at a normal volume in a world where up was down and down was up and Bill yelled and Charlie cried.
"Go away, Perce," Charlie muttered, as he always did, but this time he sat down on the bed and left a space between him and the trunk that was conveniently Percy-sized.
Percy claimed his seat and looked sideways at Charlie. "Are you leaving?"
The silence was defeaning and stretched over years, years of Charlie kicking Percy when he was already down, and the years brought them to right now, when Charlie was down and Percy was helping him up.
"So that's it, then? It's only been an hour."
"Bill's not the same."
"Neither are you, Charlie! You thought it would only take an hour to rebuild a relationship that took a lifetime to perfect. You thought that because once, a thousand lifetimes ago, all you had was Bill and all Bill had was you, that you'd hug him and it would be the same as it was. You thought it'd be easy, Charlie, and now that you can see it's gonna be hard you're running away. Well, you can run, but the Bill you remember won't be waiting at the finish line, and he won't be following one step behind you."
Percy left when Charlie's breath began to catch in his throat. Bill had been listening outside the door, and he stared at Percy with a stunned expression as he exited the room that was once his. And this time, Percy pushed Bill to the side.
A/N: This is set during GOF, before Harry arrives at the Weasley's. I just can't imagine that it wouldn't have been a bit awkward for Bill and Charlie at first, because they were both expecting the same person they left behind, but they had both been living entirely different lives. Hope you enjoyed!