A/N: Right. I have NO clue as to how to do italics. I tried once, but it didn't work. So, if any of you
peeps can tell me, do. There's lots of thinking in this, so I put it in between *'s. Sorry if it's hard
to figure out--I'm trying my best.
Just so ya know, this is another of my famous I-Wrote-The-First-Few-Chapters-Over-Summer-Vacation-And-
There-Is-No-Plotline-As-Of-Now fics. So it may take a bit for me to figure it all out. Bear with me. I
needed a break from Fa A Bhialainn Ann, though, *grins evilly* you WILL see a bit of Fi in this. You
don't have to have read FABA though, so don't worry. *ahem* To the fic, then.
Curse-Breakers
chapter one: The Joys of Being the Eldest
by Veralidaine
Bill sighed loudly to himself, casually waving a wand at the laundry basked full of clothes. They flew
up over his head and into the waiting open suitcase, neatly folding themselves. Usually, he did this
sort of easy chore himself, but he was in a hurry. After all, Ron didn't graduate every day, and he
wanted to be there for it. Who knew how long he might have to stick around afterwards? His Mum was known
for getting the family rooms in the local inn so that they could have a small celebration. She might
this time.
It still hadn't quite registered in Bill's mind that this was it--last Weasley brother at Hogwarts until
one of them had children. And Ginny would be graduating next year...Where had the time gone? Of course,
he was expected to be married by the age of twenty-five, maybe with children; he didn't know. Charlie at
least had a steady girlfriend, who he was considering a proposal to. And Percy was married to Penelope,
and had been for about two years. Fred and George had managed to keep their girlfriends from Hogwarts,
and even though they weren't even close to marriage, they weren't Bill's age.
Bill had no one, really. Granted, there was that secretary at the office that was mooning over him...but
he disliked her. He had gone out with her once, only to discover that there was an empty void under
those lovely honey-colored curls. He had nearly died of boredom, and then nearly killed his friend
Darrel for setting them up.
Bill started, realizing that he'd been standing, staring at the packed and closed suitcase, lost in
thought, for the past ten minutes. He grabbed the handle and Apparated to the gates topped with winged
boars--Hogwarts. He strode in quickly, up the stone steps, through the oak front doors he remembered so
well. The Great Hall was packed with students, audience and graduating, and Dumbledore was just starting
his speech. Cringing at his lateness--this wasn't like him--he managed to sneak into the area of the
audience where his parents and many siblings were seated. He shot a grin and a wave at Ginny, across the
room, and then at a rather pale Ron.
"Where've you been?" Charlie muttered, eyes on their mother, in case she should become angry about their
whispering.
"Woke up late," Bill muttered back. It wasn't entirely a lie; he HAD woken up late. But he probably
could have made it anyway, had he not decided to stare at a suitcase for ten minutes, when he should
have been Apparating.
Charlie gave him a skeptical look. "Usually, you can make it anyway. Must've been really late."
Bill gave him a not-too-serious glare. "Well, I'm here. I've decided to grace everyone with my presence,
as it seems to mean so much. So let's stop hissing at each other and listen to Dumbledore. That witch
sitting behind us is getting really ticked."
Charlie half-smiled and turned to listen to Dumbledore. Bill shook his head and crossed his arms,
looking around the room. Ginny looked pretty sad to be the only Weasley left at Hogwarts. He felt sorry
for her, but knew she'd be fine. Ron, Bill laughed to see, was now looking slightly green under his many
freckles. Usually his youngest brother was thrilled to see the end of the school year, but this time it
involved going up in front of a huge audience and receiving a diploma. Bill watched Harry lean over and
whisper something to Ron and Hermione, and they all suppressed giggles. Bill shook his head. Some things
never change...
Suddenly someone else caught his eye. There was a girl--woman, really--sitting on the other side of the
room, in the other audience section, whispering to a younger girl waiting to graduate. They both giggled
rather loudly, attracting attention, and a woman who could only be their mother promptly swatted the
older girl on the top of her head with the graduation program. But this wasn't that unusual. The thing
that caught Bill's eye was the girls' hair. They both had it cut boyishly short. If the elder hadn't had
an obviously female figure, he might not have realized at first glance that she was a girl. The younger
was more obvious, thanks to make-up. Really short hair like that wasn't common among the British
population of Hogwarts; Bill assumed they were American, or maybe French. He didn't know.
At that moment, applause filled the hall as Dumbledore called the first name from Gryffindor: "Lavender
Brown!" Bill applauded as well, even though he didn't have a clue who Lavender Brown was. He didn't ever
know anyone at these graduations but his siblings, and maybe their good friends. After a moment--"Harry
Potter!" Bill clapped more enthusiastically than for the other Gryffindors that had graduated so far--he
knew Harry. After quite a wait, as was usual--"Ronald Weasley!"
Bill whooped and Ron's ears turned scarlet. Charlie gave him a reproving grin, and Bill just laughed
even louder. Then Dumbledore let Ron walk offstage before continuing. "And, our Valedictorian this year
is Miss Hermione Granger, who graduated with flying colors. Miss Granger?"
Hermione, looking very nervous and yet incredibly giddy, ascended the stage and received her diploma
amid loud applause. Bill clapped loudly for her, too, as he knew her. Finally the feast commenced and
Bill was first to find Ron, Harry, and Hermione. Ron grinned as he saw Bill come closer. "Hey!"
Bill grinned back. "Nice going! Hi, Harry! Oh, congrats, Hermione. I didn't even know."
She bit her lip to keep from grinning. "Thank you."
Ron snorted. "Kinda obvious, isn't it, though? She's the only person in this universe who's read
'Hogwarts, A History', after all."
Hermione made to smack him but he ducked. She gave up, sighed and went back to eating cake. Harry
grinned and rolled his eyes. "Can you leave the feuding off just for the feast? Please?"
Hermione and Ron's voices answered promptly and at the same time: "No."
Bill laughed. "Good luck, Harry. You're gonna need it."
Just then the younger of the two girls he'd seen earlier plopped herself down next to Hermione. "Well,
if it's not the valedictorian of the century!"
Hermione smiled. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"
"Nope," the girl said, examining a slice of cake from every angle. Looking like she finally had come to
a decision, she stuck her fork in the back of the cake and took a bite.
Hermione snorted. "You can't just be normal, can you?"
The girl gave her a skeptical, green-eyed look. "Think about that question and who you just asked it
of."
Hermione sighed. "You're right. Never mind, then."
The girl grinned and looked up, noticing Bill. "Oh. You'd be Ron's brother, right?"
Bill nodded. "Yep. I'm Bill."
"Ah. I'm Liv. Olivia, really, but if you value your life, you'll call me Liv."
Most definitely American. "I see. Okay, Liv, nice to meet you."
Liv grinned, craning her neck to look up at him. "Yep. You, too. Oh, hey guys--this is my obnoxiously
perfect older sister, Sarah. Let's all pretend not to see her," she said in an overly-loud voice, and
then giggled.
Bill turned and came face to face (well, only if he looked down) with the older girl he'd seen with Liv.
A pale, round face peeked up out of the mop of brown, close-cut hair. Blue eyes almost as intense as her
sister's green ones stared out under messy bangs and thin eyebrows. "'Kay, Liv. Who's your new
boyfriend?"
Bill chuckled. "We just met."
The older girl--Sarah, was it?--grinned lopsidedly. "Yeah, well sometimes it happens like that."
Liv stood and shoved Sarah in the shoulder. "Nah. He's Ron's brother." She jerked her thumb behind her
at Ron, who looked up and smiled a moment before returning to his conversation with Hermione.
Sarah looked Bill up and down, eyes lingering on the ponytail and earring, then glanced at Ron and
smiled lightly. "I see."
Bill smiled sheepishly. This was uncomfortable. Just then, he was saved (or doomed) by the arrival of
Percy. He came over, quickly congratulated Harry and Ron, then pompously gave Hermione a long speech
about how proud she should be. Then he turned to where Bill and Sarah were standing. "Ah, Bill! Glad you
finally made it!"
*That's right, Perce, flaunt it. You keep track of my punctuality record, after all.* "Yep. Alarm clock
didn't go off in time."
Percy gave him the same slightly skeptical look Charlie had, then shrugged it off and noticed Sarah.
Bill could see him stare for a moment at her hair. "Who's this?"
Bill sighed. "I've not been properly introduced myself."
Sarah smiled. "Neither have I, Ron's brother."
Bill could have kicked himself. "Oh, sorry! I'm Bill Weasley, and this is my brother Percy."
Sarah shook hands with both of them. "Sarah Connelly. Jeez, how many of you are there?"
Glancing at Percy, who was getting ready to launch into the whole family tree, Bill said quickly, "Too
many."
Sarah laughed. "Well, consider yourselves lucky. I've only got one, so there's nothing to distract her."
Percy offered a polite smile and excused himself to find their parents, obviously not impressed with
Sarah. But before he had gone two feet, Charlie arrived. Bill laughed quietly and ran a hand over his
eyes. He had never been more aware of having so much family. Charlie grinned and yanked on Bill's
ponytail, snapping his head back. Brushing stray hair out of his eyes, he turned and gave Charlie a
look. Charlie grinned back. "So, who's this then?"
Sarah smiled in that slight way. "Should I just paint a banner and hang it over my head? We can have an
arrow pointing down that says, 'Sarah Connelly Found Here!'"
Charlie grinned. "I take it Perce's been here."
Sarah smiled at him and counted on her fingers. "I've met Ron, him," --she jerked her head at Bill--
"Percy, and now you, if you'll introduce yourself."
"Oh, yeah!" Charlie said, offering a burnt and callused hand. "Charlie Weasley, at your service."
Bill snorted. *'At your service'? Oh, God, he must have learned that one from Percy.*
Sarah shook Charlie's hand. "Right. Nice to meet ya."
Charlie looked around and offered a sad grin to Bill. "Don't look now, but here comes the double
terror."
Fred and George bounced over, congratulated Ron and the rest, and then saw Bill. Fred gave him a very
obvious wink and nudged him in the ribs. George was busy kissing Sarah's hand. Sarah had suppressed
laughter on her face. Charlie caught Bill's eye, grinned broadly, and went to sit with Ron. Bill rolled
his eyes. What was it with his family? They were so anxious to see him paired off with someone that
whenever he was even talking to a girl, they automatically assumed he was trying for a date.
After Fred had bumped George out of the way and kissed Sarah's hand, she laughed. "Well, you can't say
I've not had an interesting past fifteen minutes. I don't think I've ever seen so many redheads in all
my life."
Fred nodded. "Yeah. On our planet, red hair is very common."
Bill was trying as hard as he could to refrain from hiding his face in his hands. Or slapping everyone
in his family. Either would have been adequate.
Sarah grinned. "Yeah, I could've guessed. Well, if you'll excuse me, Weasley clan, I've got to go find
my parents. They're probably getting their hopes up that I've found a boyfriend."
George brightened. "Hey, anytime you want, just gimme a call!"
Bill groaned inwardly. Sarah smiled lopsidedly again. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. How old are you;
twenty?"
George grinned. "Nineteen."
Sarah nodded. "Ah. Well, I'm afraid I'm a bit old for you, then. Twenty-three to be exact. Besides, your
little friend over there doesn't seem too impressed."
Bill and George turned to see Katie Bell glaring at their little group. George gave a nervous laugh and
promptly excused himself. Fred saw the chaos forming and, grinning, excused himself as well. Sarah, who
was smiling lightly again, turned to Bill. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Bill." She shook his hand.
"I'll see you, then."
"Right. Nice meeting you, too." *Dolt! That sounded stupid!*
She smiled and headed off into the crowd. Bill let out a long, deep breath. The embarrassment was over--
for the time being. No more could his family publicly humiliate him in front of a girl. Well, for today.
He had to take a few steps back as a short, redheaded missile shot itself at him and wrapped her arms
around his middle-she couldn't quite reach around his neck. He chuckled. "Nice to see you, too, Gin."
She grinned and stood back. "Well, how are you? I've not seen you since you left for Cairo last summer!"
He shrugged. "Ah, well enough."
She nodded. "Still no...?"
Bill dropped his arms to his sides. "What is it with you people? Has it occurred to you that maybe I
might not end up married? God..."
Ginny smiled sympathetically. "Okay, I'm sorry. Fred and George put me up to it."
Bill shot a glare towards the twins, one of whom was still trying to coax an angry Katie Bell into
forgiveness. "Gee, thanks a bunch."
Ginny patted his hand. "Trust me, I don't expect anything of you like that. Go at your own pace.
Whatever works."
Bill raised an eyebrow. "When did you become a psychiatrist?"
Ginny grinned. "Ron needs it occasionally."
Bill nodded. "Ah. I see. Well. I'd best find Mum and Dad."
Ginny nodded. "Right. See you later, then."
Bill stalked to the other side of the room, where his parents were deeply in discussion with Harry's
godfather, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, who had come for the Graduation. With Lupin was a pretty woman
with long, wavy red-brown hair, and skin paler than Sarah's (A/N: Heh...Yeah, it's Fi...I'll explain it
in the note at the end...). Bill's Mum, Molly, turned and saw him, and left the conversation. "Bill,
dear! How come you were late this morning?"
*I hate being oldest.* "Oh, the alarm clock went off about ten minutes before I was supposed to leave."
Okay, that was a lie. But at least he wouldn't have to go deeply into an explanation.
"Oh. Well, we were thinking of getting a few rooms at one of the inns down in Hogsmeade for the
weekend. Most parents are."
*Great. Crowds of just-graduated seventeen-year-olds looking for a good time.* "Sure. I've got clothes
and stuff packed.
"Oh, good! Well, if you want to head down to the village and get us a few rooms, I'd appreciate it."
"Sure, Mum. See you in a bit." He sighed and walked out of the castle, leaving the chattering crowd
behind. Off the grounds, onto the road...He looked around for Muggles, then Disapparated. He appeared in
front of a large, fancy-looking hotel on a hill overlooking the town of Hogsmeade. He strode inside and
to the front desk.
A pretty woman with chin-length, treacle-colored hair came out from the back room. "What can I do yeh
for, sir?" she asked in a painfully strong Cockney accent.
"Uhm, gimme a sec' to count." *Charlie and I can share a room, Fred and George, Percy and Ron, Mum and
Dad, Ginny and Hermione, Harry and Sirius. That makes six rooms...Ergh...I have too much family...* "Six
rooms, please."
The woman raised an eyebrow, and Bill realized how strange it must look for one man to order six
rooms. The woman shrugged it off. "Six, eh? Hm. Right, we've got it. Rooms 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, and
122. Just so yeh know, the pub down the hill, The Three Broomsticks, is having a live band tonight.
Dancing and such, yeh know. Might be fun, and they've got good food."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Bill said, turning and leaving. Even if no one wants to join me, I
might go check out The Three Broomsticks tonight...Might be interesting, anyway.
A/N: I've got the explanation for Fi already planned, but you won't get it here. Just accept it for now,
'kay? This is stressing me out...
Okay. So. As for Bill's character, I know he's a really minor character, and I know people have
complained that we shouldn't do minor characters in fics 'cause we don't know enough about them. You
know, like the various Lucius-Angst fics. Well, this is my interpretation of Bill. He seemed like a
responsible sort, as he was head boy and so on, but he also seemed like a fun person. And, as always,
being the oldest sibling makes you a tad insecure. I would know...
And, as always, I am an adament R/H and H/G person. I'll mostly make references to R/H stuff, though.
ANYWAY, my point is, no, Bill and Hermione don't end up together. Tempting, I know, but Ron and Hermione
totally belong together. Period. I do think, though, that H/H people will be able to STAND this, to a
certain EXTENT, anyway.
Righty then. I'm rambling. I won't beg...Nope...I won't...OH, all right: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE,
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE,
P L E A S E review. Please? Heck, flame me if you want. Let me know if people actually read this!
~ Veralidaine
peeps can tell me, do. There's lots of thinking in this, so I put it in between *'s. Sorry if it's hard
to figure out--I'm trying my best.
Just so ya know, this is another of my famous I-Wrote-The-First-Few-Chapters-Over-Summer-Vacation-And-
There-Is-No-Plotline-As-Of-Now fics. So it may take a bit for me to figure it all out. Bear with me. I
needed a break from Fa A Bhialainn Ann, though, *grins evilly* you WILL see a bit of Fi in this. You
don't have to have read FABA though, so don't worry. *ahem* To the fic, then.
Curse-Breakers
chapter one: The Joys of Being the Eldest
by Veralidaine
Bill sighed loudly to himself, casually waving a wand at the laundry basked full of clothes. They flew
up over his head and into the waiting open suitcase, neatly folding themselves. Usually, he did this
sort of easy chore himself, but he was in a hurry. After all, Ron didn't graduate every day, and he
wanted to be there for it. Who knew how long he might have to stick around afterwards? His Mum was known
for getting the family rooms in the local inn so that they could have a small celebration. She might
this time.
It still hadn't quite registered in Bill's mind that this was it--last Weasley brother at Hogwarts until
one of them had children. And Ginny would be graduating next year...Where had the time gone? Of course,
he was expected to be married by the age of twenty-five, maybe with children; he didn't know. Charlie at
least had a steady girlfriend, who he was considering a proposal to. And Percy was married to Penelope,
and had been for about two years. Fred and George had managed to keep their girlfriends from Hogwarts,
and even though they weren't even close to marriage, they weren't Bill's age.
Bill had no one, really. Granted, there was that secretary at the office that was mooning over him...but
he disliked her. He had gone out with her once, only to discover that there was an empty void under
those lovely honey-colored curls. He had nearly died of boredom, and then nearly killed his friend
Darrel for setting them up.
Bill started, realizing that he'd been standing, staring at the packed and closed suitcase, lost in
thought, for the past ten minutes. He grabbed the handle and Apparated to the gates topped with winged
boars--Hogwarts. He strode in quickly, up the stone steps, through the oak front doors he remembered so
well. The Great Hall was packed with students, audience and graduating, and Dumbledore was just starting
his speech. Cringing at his lateness--this wasn't like him--he managed to sneak into the area of the
audience where his parents and many siblings were seated. He shot a grin and a wave at Ginny, across the
room, and then at a rather pale Ron.
"Where've you been?" Charlie muttered, eyes on their mother, in case she should become angry about their
whispering.
"Woke up late," Bill muttered back. It wasn't entirely a lie; he HAD woken up late. But he probably
could have made it anyway, had he not decided to stare at a suitcase for ten minutes, when he should
have been Apparating.
Charlie gave him a skeptical look. "Usually, you can make it anyway. Must've been really late."
Bill gave him a not-too-serious glare. "Well, I'm here. I've decided to grace everyone with my presence,
as it seems to mean so much. So let's stop hissing at each other and listen to Dumbledore. That witch
sitting behind us is getting really ticked."
Charlie half-smiled and turned to listen to Dumbledore. Bill shook his head and crossed his arms,
looking around the room. Ginny looked pretty sad to be the only Weasley left at Hogwarts. He felt sorry
for her, but knew she'd be fine. Ron, Bill laughed to see, was now looking slightly green under his many
freckles. Usually his youngest brother was thrilled to see the end of the school year, but this time it
involved going up in front of a huge audience and receiving a diploma. Bill watched Harry lean over and
whisper something to Ron and Hermione, and they all suppressed giggles. Bill shook his head. Some things
never change...
Suddenly someone else caught his eye. There was a girl--woman, really--sitting on the other side of the
room, in the other audience section, whispering to a younger girl waiting to graduate. They both giggled
rather loudly, attracting attention, and a woman who could only be their mother promptly swatted the
older girl on the top of her head with the graduation program. But this wasn't that unusual. The thing
that caught Bill's eye was the girls' hair. They both had it cut boyishly short. If the elder hadn't had
an obviously female figure, he might not have realized at first glance that she was a girl. The younger
was more obvious, thanks to make-up. Really short hair like that wasn't common among the British
population of Hogwarts; Bill assumed they were American, or maybe French. He didn't know.
At that moment, applause filled the hall as Dumbledore called the first name from Gryffindor: "Lavender
Brown!" Bill applauded as well, even though he didn't have a clue who Lavender Brown was. He didn't ever
know anyone at these graduations but his siblings, and maybe their good friends. After a moment--"Harry
Potter!" Bill clapped more enthusiastically than for the other Gryffindors that had graduated so far--he
knew Harry. After quite a wait, as was usual--"Ronald Weasley!"
Bill whooped and Ron's ears turned scarlet. Charlie gave him a reproving grin, and Bill just laughed
even louder. Then Dumbledore let Ron walk offstage before continuing. "And, our Valedictorian this year
is Miss Hermione Granger, who graduated with flying colors. Miss Granger?"
Hermione, looking very nervous and yet incredibly giddy, ascended the stage and received her diploma
amid loud applause. Bill clapped loudly for her, too, as he knew her. Finally the feast commenced and
Bill was first to find Ron, Harry, and Hermione. Ron grinned as he saw Bill come closer. "Hey!"
Bill grinned back. "Nice going! Hi, Harry! Oh, congrats, Hermione. I didn't even know."
She bit her lip to keep from grinning. "Thank you."
Ron snorted. "Kinda obvious, isn't it, though? She's the only person in this universe who's read
'Hogwarts, A History', after all."
Hermione made to smack him but he ducked. She gave up, sighed and went back to eating cake. Harry
grinned and rolled his eyes. "Can you leave the feuding off just for the feast? Please?"
Hermione and Ron's voices answered promptly and at the same time: "No."
Bill laughed. "Good luck, Harry. You're gonna need it."
Just then the younger of the two girls he'd seen earlier plopped herself down next to Hermione. "Well,
if it's not the valedictorian of the century!"
Hermione smiled. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"
"Nope," the girl said, examining a slice of cake from every angle. Looking like she finally had come to
a decision, she stuck her fork in the back of the cake and took a bite.
Hermione snorted. "You can't just be normal, can you?"
The girl gave her a skeptical, green-eyed look. "Think about that question and who you just asked it
of."
Hermione sighed. "You're right. Never mind, then."
The girl grinned and looked up, noticing Bill. "Oh. You'd be Ron's brother, right?"
Bill nodded. "Yep. I'm Bill."
"Ah. I'm Liv. Olivia, really, but if you value your life, you'll call me Liv."
Most definitely American. "I see. Okay, Liv, nice to meet you."
Liv grinned, craning her neck to look up at him. "Yep. You, too. Oh, hey guys--this is my obnoxiously
perfect older sister, Sarah. Let's all pretend not to see her," she said in an overly-loud voice, and
then giggled.
Bill turned and came face to face (well, only if he looked down) with the older girl he'd seen with Liv.
A pale, round face peeked up out of the mop of brown, close-cut hair. Blue eyes almost as intense as her
sister's green ones stared out under messy bangs and thin eyebrows. "'Kay, Liv. Who's your new
boyfriend?"
Bill chuckled. "We just met."
The older girl--Sarah, was it?--grinned lopsidedly. "Yeah, well sometimes it happens like that."
Liv stood and shoved Sarah in the shoulder. "Nah. He's Ron's brother." She jerked her thumb behind her
at Ron, who looked up and smiled a moment before returning to his conversation with Hermione.
Sarah looked Bill up and down, eyes lingering on the ponytail and earring, then glanced at Ron and
smiled lightly. "I see."
Bill smiled sheepishly. This was uncomfortable. Just then, he was saved (or doomed) by the arrival of
Percy. He came over, quickly congratulated Harry and Ron, then pompously gave Hermione a long speech
about how proud she should be. Then he turned to where Bill and Sarah were standing. "Ah, Bill! Glad you
finally made it!"
*That's right, Perce, flaunt it. You keep track of my punctuality record, after all.* "Yep. Alarm clock
didn't go off in time."
Percy gave him the same slightly skeptical look Charlie had, then shrugged it off and noticed Sarah.
Bill could see him stare for a moment at her hair. "Who's this?"
Bill sighed. "I've not been properly introduced myself."
Sarah smiled. "Neither have I, Ron's brother."
Bill could have kicked himself. "Oh, sorry! I'm Bill Weasley, and this is my brother Percy."
Sarah shook hands with both of them. "Sarah Connelly. Jeez, how many of you are there?"
Glancing at Percy, who was getting ready to launch into the whole family tree, Bill said quickly, "Too
many."
Sarah laughed. "Well, consider yourselves lucky. I've only got one, so there's nothing to distract her."
Percy offered a polite smile and excused himself to find their parents, obviously not impressed with
Sarah. But before he had gone two feet, Charlie arrived. Bill laughed quietly and ran a hand over his
eyes. He had never been more aware of having so much family. Charlie grinned and yanked on Bill's
ponytail, snapping his head back. Brushing stray hair out of his eyes, he turned and gave Charlie a
look. Charlie grinned back. "So, who's this then?"
Sarah smiled in that slight way. "Should I just paint a banner and hang it over my head? We can have an
arrow pointing down that says, 'Sarah Connelly Found Here!'"
Charlie grinned. "I take it Perce's been here."
Sarah smiled at him and counted on her fingers. "I've met Ron, him," --she jerked her head at Bill--
"Percy, and now you, if you'll introduce yourself."
"Oh, yeah!" Charlie said, offering a burnt and callused hand. "Charlie Weasley, at your service."
Bill snorted. *'At your service'? Oh, God, he must have learned that one from Percy.*
Sarah shook Charlie's hand. "Right. Nice to meet ya."
Charlie looked around and offered a sad grin to Bill. "Don't look now, but here comes the double
terror."
Fred and George bounced over, congratulated Ron and the rest, and then saw Bill. Fred gave him a very
obvious wink and nudged him in the ribs. George was busy kissing Sarah's hand. Sarah had suppressed
laughter on her face. Charlie caught Bill's eye, grinned broadly, and went to sit with Ron. Bill rolled
his eyes. What was it with his family? They were so anxious to see him paired off with someone that
whenever he was even talking to a girl, they automatically assumed he was trying for a date.
After Fred had bumped George out of the way and kissed Sarah's hand, she laughed. "Well, you can't say
I've not had an interesting past fifteen minutes. I don't think I've ever seen so many redheads in all
my life."
Fred nodded. "Yeah. On our planet, red hair is very common."
Bill was trying as hard as he could to refrain from hiding his face in his hands. Or slapping everyone
in his family. Either would have been adequate.
Sarah grinned. "Yeah, I could've guessed. Well, if you'll excuse me, Weasley clan, I've got to go find
my parents. They're probably getting their hopes up that I've found a boyfriend."
George brightened. "Hey, anytime you want, just gimme a call!"
Bill groaned inwardly. Sarah smiled lopsidedly again. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. How old are you;
twenty?"
George grinned. "Nineteen."
Sarah nodded. "Ah. Well, I'm afraid I'm a bit old for you, then. Twenty-three to be exact. Besides, your
little friend over there doesn't seem too impressed."
Bill and George turned to see Katie Bell glaring at their little group. George gave a nervous laugh and
promptly excused himself. Fred saw the chaos forming and, grinning, excused himself as well. Sarah, who
was smiling lightly again, turned to Bill. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Bill." She shook his hand.
"I'll see you, then."
"Right. Nice meeting you, too." *Dolt! That sounded stupid!*
She smiled and headed off into the crowd. Bill let out a long, deep breath. The embarrassment was over--
for the time being. No more could his family publicly humiliate him in front of a girl. Well, for today.
He had to take a few steps back as a short, redheaded missile shot itself at him and wrapped her arms
around his middle-she couldn't quite reach around his neck. He chuckled. "Nice to see you, too, Gin."
She grinned and stood back. "Well, how are you? I've not seen you since you left for Cairo last summer!"
He shrugged. "Ah, well enough."
She nodded. "Still no...?"
Bill dropped his arms to his sides. "What is it with you people? Has it occurred to you that maybe I
might not end up married? God..."
Ginny smiled sympathetically. "Okay, I'm sorry. Fred and George put me up to it."
Bill shot a glare towards the twins, one of whom was still trying to coax an angry Katie Bell into
forgiveness. "Gee, thanks a bunch."
Ginny patted his hand. "Trust me, I don't expect anything of you like that. Go at your own pace.
Whatever works."
Bill raised an eyebrow. "When did you become a psychiatrist?"
Ginny grinned. "Ron needs it occasionally."
Bill nodded. "Ah. I see. Well. I'd best find Mum and Dad."
Ginny nodded. "Right. See you later, then."
Bill stalked to the other side of the room, where his parents were deeply in discussion with Harry's
godfather, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, who had come for the Graduation. With Lupin was a pretty woman
with long, wavy red-brown hair, and skin paler than Sarah's (A/N: Heh...Yeah, it's Fi...I'll explain it
in the note at the end...). Bill's Mum, Molly, turned and saw him, and left the conversation. "Bill,
dear! How come you were late this morning?"
*I hate being oldest.* "Oh, the alarm clock went off about ten minutes before I was supposed to leave."
Okay, that was a lie. But at least he wouldn't have to go deeply into an explanation.
"Oh. Well, we were thinking of getting a few rooms at one of the inns down in Hogsmeade for the
weekend. Most parents are."
*Great. Crowds of just-graduated seventeen-year-olds looking for a good time.* "Sure. I've got clothes
and stuff packed.
"Oh, good! Well, if you want to head down to the village and get us a few rooms, I'd appreciate it."
"Sure, Mum. See you in a bit." He sighed and walked out of the castle, leaving the chattering crowd
behind. Off the grounds, onto the road...He looked around for Muggles, then Disapparated. He appeared in
front of a large, fancy-looking hotel on a hill overlooking the town of Hogsmeade. He strode inside and
to the front desk.
A pretty woman with chin-length, treacle-colored hair came out from the back room. "What can I do yeh
for, sir?" she asked in a painfully strong Cockney accent.
"Uhm, gimme a sec' to count." *Charlie and I can share a room, Fred and George, Percy and Ron, Mum and
Dad, Ginny and Hermione, Harry and Sirius. That makes six rooms...Ergh...I have too much family...* "Six
rooms, please."
The woman raised an eyebrow, and Bill realized how strange it must look for one man to order six
rooms. The woman shrugged it off. "Six, eh? Hm. Right, we've got it. Rooms 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, and
122. Just so yeh know, the pub down the hill, The Three Broomsticks, is having a live band tonight.
Dancing and such, yeh know. Might be fun, and they've got good food."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Bill said, turning and leaving. Even if no one wants to join me, I
might go check out The Three Broomsticks tonight...Might be interesting, anyway.
A/N: I've got the explanation for Fi already planned, but you won't get it here. Just accept it for now,
'kay? This is stressing me out...
Okay. So. As for Bill's character, I know he's a really minor character, and I know people have
complained that we shouldn't do minor characters in fics 'cause we don't know enough about them. You
know, like the various Lucius-Angst fics. Well, this is my interpretation of Bill. He seemed like a
responsible sort, as he was head boy and so on, but he also seemed like a fun person. And, as always,
being the oldest sibling makes you a tad insecure. I would know...
And, as always, I am an adament R/H and H/G person. I'll mostly make references to R/H stuff, though.
ANYWAY, my point is, no, Bill and Hermione don't end up together. Tempting, I know, but Ron and Hermione
totally belong together. Period. I do think, though, that H/H people will be able to STAND this, to a
certain EXTENT, anyway.
Righty then. I'm rambling. I won't beg...Nope...I won't...OH, all right: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE,
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE,
P L E A S E review. Please? Heck, flame me if you want. Let me know if people actually read this!
~ Veralidaine