Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Written for Hogwarts Assignment 11 - Careers Advice, 2 - Write about Bill Weasley.
Word Count - 1797
Beta'd by the Lovely Liza
Weird? (Definitely Not)
Harry sat by his bed silently, his feet up against the wall, his eyes trained on the window. They sat in silence, and yet Bill felt more comforted than when him mum or Fleur were dithering around him, asking him what he wanted, what he needed, if he was okay?
No he bloody well wasn't okay.
He'd been attacked by a werewolf. Nothing about that was okay, and their kind words and meaningless platitudes did nothing to help his anger.
"Shouldn't you be with Ron and Hermione?" he asked one afternoon, when the sun was high in the air, and Harry was once more at his bedside.
Harry pondered his question for a moment. "You know that saying, 'two heads are better than one'?"
Bill nodded.
"Well, three heads are two noisy. And I… I can't deal with noisy right now. If you don't like me being here, I can be elsewhere though. I don't want to be a bother."
With a sigh, Bill shook his head. "You're not a bother."
...
He'd shouted at her.
It wasn't even about anything particularly bad. She'd been speaking to him, and every time she said his name, her accent grated on him because she pronounced it wrong.
And it was irritating.
And so he shouted at her.
…
The wedding was called off. For all her words of support and caring, Fleur couldn't deal with Bill's anger. Not that he blamed her; he couldn't deal with his new anger either. That's why he was exploding at every little thing.
It wasn't like it was unexpected. He wouldn't marry someone like him if he were her. She deserved better.
And Ron had disappeared. With Harry.
Bill tried not to think about how much calmer he'd been when Harry had been near. It didn't matter now anyway.
They were gone and Bill was angry and alone in the house he'd meant to be for his new family.
…
And then Harry was there. Shell cottage was suddenly bustling with action, and Bill smiled. He'd forgotten how it felt to smile. But Ron was alive and safe, and Harry was there with tenseness running through him, and a permanent stressed look in his green eyes, but he was there.
Bill found him watching the ocean often, and he joined him almost as often, sitting silently beside him, trying to offer the same comfort Harry had offered him.
He didn't know if it worked, but sometimes he felt like Harry looked a little less tense for a few minutes afterwards.
…
It was done. And yet…
Fred.
…
"What're you doin' 'ere?" Bill slurred.
He was seeing two Harry Potter's in front of him.
"Nobody has seen you for days. Wondered what was going on," Harry replied, leaning heavily on his cane.
"I'm here," Bill replied dumbly, focusing on the cane. He hated that cane.
Harry had been okay when it was all done. When Voldemort was dead. He'd been tired, and worn, but he'd been okay.
And then they'd been rounding up the subdued Death Eaters, and one of the Auror's hadn't done their job properly.
The cane wasn't permanent, but Bill hated it anyway.
"You lied to me," he muttered. "You said you wouldn't be here until the weekend."
"Everybody lies. I wouldn't have come early, but people were worried about you," Harry replied, silently summoning the bottle to him. "Can you put yourself to bed, or do I need to levitate your drunk ass?"
Bill scowled. He wasn't that drunk.
Except.
He stood up and fell back down three times in a row.
Harry levitated him with a chuckle, and as he gently set Bill on the bed and pulled the covers back, Bill told himself that he'd have to tell him off for that in the morning.
When morning came, Bill was too hungover to remember.
…
"You know, I thought I'd hit rock bottom, but apparently rock bottom has a basement," Bill said, joining Harry on the porch.
He couldn't look at the younger man, the black eye that stood out so vividly against Harry's pale skin was making bile rise up Bill's throat.
"I'm sorry," he added, his tone quiet but sincere.
Harry shrugged. "You're angry. It's understandable."
"I'm fucking werewolf chow."
"Well I'm a freaking headcase! I have nightmare induced hallucinations and curse my clock on a daily basis," Harry replied, throwing his hands in the air. "Everybody has scars from the war, Bill. Mental and physical. You're allowed to be angry about that, but Merlin stop with the self pity."
Bill stared at him for a moment before he chuckled. "I guess that's me told."
Harry rolled his eyes but looked over at him. "I get it, alright. So if you need to throw a punch every now and then, it's not going to chase me away. Just… we survived. And a lot of people didn't. And sometimes I don't know which is worse. But... you can't just wallow in self pity and give up. You can't. If giving up was an option, I'd have done so a long time ago."
Harry turned back to the ocean view, the wind ruffling through his hair.
Bill shook his head. "You wouldn't. If there's something I know about you, Harry, it's that you'll never give up. It's not who you are."
…
"It's… I never thought you'd get a tattoo."
Harry shrugged. "Hermione said the same thing. She thinks I'd associate it with the Dark Mark, but really, this is about as far away from the Dark Mark as you can get."
"I mean. Yeah."
Harry snorted, buttoning his shirt up.
"Did it hurt?"
Nodding, Harry grinned. "Worth it though."
The red and gold phoenix that ran the length of Harry's ribs with it's head resting on his heart was beautiful, and Bill imitated the nod.
He agreed. It was worth it.
"Why a phoenix?"
"I'd like to say it's about rising from the ashes and all that rot but it's not. I wanted… something for me, that wasn't for anybody else. Does that make me selfish?"
"No."
Bill didn't think he'd ever met anyone who was less selfish than Harry.
…
Lightning flashed through the sky. Rain pounded down outside Shell cottage. Bill didn't care. He was too busy watching the embers of the fire burn, while Harry stood by the window, watching the thunderstorm.
"You've been quiet tonight," Bill commented, his eyes leaving the fireplace to concentrate more firmly on Harry.
"They're trying to give me a title," Harry replied, twisting the glass in his hand to watch the whisky swirl, the ice long since melted in the warm room. "I don't want a title. I just… I just want to be left alone to get on with my life."
"You could refuse it?"
"They expect me to defend them forever, Bill. Against all threats. Become an Auror, be the Ministry poster boy. I'm tired. I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of the public looking at me with fear in the eyes one minutes, and adoration the next."
Harry shook his head, pressing it against the window. He'd been fighting back tears for months, trying to stay strong for his friends because they needed him, but he'd known since the meeting with Kingsley that afternoon that he was on the verge of breaking.
The tears fell with a splash against the windowsill, leaving his cheeks wet.
Bill approached him from behind, wrapping him in a strong hug that broke through whatever barriers Harry was still holding on to. The pain flowed out of him like a waterfall cascading from a cliff.
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Bill murmured. "You have freedom now, Harry. Freedom to choose what you want to do and when you want to do it. Don't let them take that away."
Harry buried his face against Bill's black t-shirt and didn't reply for a while. He cried out the mountain of pain he'd been barely holding onto, and just let it all go.
It felt amazing.
When he finally stepped back, it was to find Bill looking down at him with kind eyes and an understanding smile.
"I've been waiting for that," the redhead murmured. "I knew it had to happen at some point."
Harry nodded. "I just… everyone else needed me, you know?"
Bill led him to the sofa, seating them both in front of the fire. "I know. But you have to look after yourself too. Learn how to enjoy your freedom. Embrace it! It's your to do with it what you will."
Harry nodded. "Freedom… I guess it's just an odd concept to get used to."
Bill grinned. "That's the beauty of it though. You have time."
…
Autumn flowed into deep winter, and Harry had more or less moved into Shell Cottage. Not that Bill minded. He very much didn't mind, as it were.
Except.
Harry was… affectionate.
Bill thought it stemmed from the lack of touch he had as a child, and in normal circumstances, he wouldn't mind it at all. He liked a hug as much as the next guy.
But…
He didn't see Harry as his little brother's best friend anymore.
He saw him as a man, a very handsome man who liked to stroll around topless when the fire was lit.
Again, not that Bill minded.
Except.
It was affecting him in very… visible ways, and he was determined not to try and take advantage of their friendship.
Because their friendship was pretty much the most valuable relationship in Bill's life. Except with his family. Maybe even more so than his family, who all had their own lives to lead.
Harry was currently sitting beside him, cuddled into his side. Bill had a pillow in his lap.
"Bill?"
"Hmm?"
"How long are we going to dance around the fact that we both really want to kiss each other?"
Bill's choked on a cough.
"What?"
"Was that weird?"
"I, erm. Well."
Harry sat up right, and Bill immediately felt the loss of his skin pressed against him. Looking up to meet Harry's gaze, he could see that Harry was trying not to fidget too much with nerves.
"Come ere," he murmured, guiding Harry forward.
He pressed their lips together gently, chastely, holding the position for a moment before he pulled back.
"Weird?" Bill asked, his lips tilting up in a small smile.
Harry shook his head. "Definitely not weird."
"Good."
With his hands taking a firmer grasp of Harry, he pulled him over so he was practically draped across Bill's lap, and pressed their lips together again, harder this time, nipping at Harry's bottom lip.
When they parted again, Harry smiled shyly.
"Weird?" he asked.
Bill laughed. "No, Harry. Definitely not weird."
Written for;
Writing Club
Disney - C9. Someone getting irritated when their name is mispronounced
Creature Feature - Hydra : "Two heads are better than one." / Chimera : Ember
Book Club - Dante - Tattoo / Heart / Black
Showtime - 6. "Embrace it."
Amber's Attic - 3. Getting Drunk
Buttons - D4. "Well I'm a freaking headcase!" / W2. Title
Em's Emporium - C5. A Fanon Pairing
Lo's Lowdown - C8. Green
Seasonal; Summer
Days Of The Month - World Gin Day - Someone getting drunk
Summer - Ocean
Colour - Gold
Birthstone - Alexandrite - "I thought I'd hit rock bottom, but apparently rock bottom has a basement."
Flowers - Foxglove - Heart
Fire Element - Embers
Shays Musicals - 2. Someone who won't give up.
Gryffindor - Bill Weasley
Astronomy - Mars at Opposition - Anger
Other
Film Festival - 20. Freedom
Hot Air Balloon - 15. Lightning
Eagle - 25. Defend / Fear
TV Addicts - 3. House - "Everybody lies." / Cane / Hallucinations.
Debate - Major Character - Harry Potter
Faeries - Water - Ice / Rain / Swirl / Tears / / Splash / Wet / Cascade / Waterfall
Insane House - 54. HarryBill