Ch2 Family Matters

The fireplace roared to life, and a stocky red-head of obvious Weasley descent stepped out, scattering little bits of ash and dragon dung on the hearth rug. "Charlie!" Ginny squealed, as she launched herself at her older brother.

"Oohff!" Charlie exhaled loudly as his sister hit him. Harry merely eyed the scene. Harry hadn't minded Charlie very much, growing up. He was a quiet sort, and had a special way of scratching right behind the left ear that made Harry convinced the Weasley brother was gifted by Isis herself. He was also the least likely to pick on Ginny, which was always a plus.

"Hey, half-pint," Charlie murmured as soon as he had caught his breath and had set his favourite sister on the floor.

"Charlie! I've missed you; you haven't come home for ages, and you can't call me half-pint anymore. I've grown."

"You came to the reserve not two years ago, and you're still a Half-pint of Firewhisky," he retorted.

"Wasn't the same. You never write anymore either," Ginny pouted. If asked, she would say that apart from Ron she loved all her brothers equally. Each had taught her something special. Bill had taught her the Bat-Bogey Hex, Percy had actually been the one to teach her to plait her hair one summer (her mum never could). Fred and George gave her a love of mischief and a healthy disregard for the rules, and Ron was always something special. They had played together and competed like real siblings. They were also the unit that stood up to their older brothers when things got rough. She had Harry for protection, but Ron had taken blame for her on several occasions and it created a special bond that neither would admit under the direst of circumstances

Charlie, though, was her favourite. She tried not to let it show, but Harry knew. He was the one who taught her to ride a broom and would leave the broom shed suspiciously unlocked in the evening. Out of all her brothers, he took her seriously. From her childhood fantasy of marriage to Harry Potter, or her dream of playing Quidditch professionally, he would listen to her and give her encouragement, even when everyone else (Harry excluded of course) would laugh. He was also the only one that seemed to truly understand her need for freedom and the urge to explore the outdoors. That's why it hurt so much when his letters became less and less frequent and after a time it seemed as though she was forgotten. He'd send sketches, of course. Charlie had loved to draw and though his sketches would never end up in the Louvre, she treasured them because it meant he hadn't forgotten about her. She was always a bit jealous of her Mum, though, because with any sketch there was always a note. Nothing particularly long, just the typical 'I'm still alive, your son', but it made Ginny green with envy that he took the time to write their mother when Ginny knew for a fact it had been Mum that Charlie had left for Romania to escape. He'd had several offers closer, even one in Wales, but he told everyone he wanted the best. He'd told Ginny he was tired of being treated like a baby and he felt the only way to prove he wasn't was to move across Europe. She was only grateful he'd already accepted that job when the one in America was offered.

A large part of the reason she detested the dragon reserve so much was the unreasonable feeling that it was that ruddy place that had driven her favourite brother into forgetting his family and most especially her. She supposed she could blame Mum, too, but that wouldn't do any good and it wasn't like Mum had singled him out, was it? So she settled on blaming the place instead. What she didn't know was the envy her mother felt every time Ginny would receive a patiently sketched dragon or scenic view of the reserve. They were a piece of her baby boy's soul and to be so terribly shut out from that hurt the woman more than she could ever say. He tried to appease her, of course, but a simply 'I'm fine Mum' could never do.

Molly didn't think about it too often, but she sometimes had the nagging sensation that the reason her boy left was in no small part because of her. When the feeling hit, she would begin baking something and it would pass in time, because it was never something she wanted to dwell on.

A moment later, Bill exited the Floo as well. Both older brothers had taken a few days off prior to the World Cup to spend time with the family.

"Oh, Bill dear. So nice t see you!" Molly began. "I do wish you'd let me trim that frightful pony tail, though. What do the goblins think about such a cavalier style of dress?"

Bill sighed deeply. "Mum, as long as I bring treasure home, they don't give a rip how I dress. I'm a field man, not stuck behind a desk. With any luck, that's where I'll stay."

Charlie leaned over to his older brother and whispered conspiratorially, "Don't worry, mate, she tried the same thing with me. Tried to explain that I'm perfectly capable of cutting the singed bits out myself."

Bill rolled his eyes. "Except that my style has the witches going mad, and your screams… layabout."

At that, Charlie punched his brother and the two began wrestling. Harry moved slightly in front of Ginny, ready to push her out of danger. The last time her brothers had carried on like this, they ended up breaking the table and blaming it on a bout of accidental magic from Ginny. With as close as she was standing to them, he didn't want them to break his human, too.

A moment later, both men straightened up and seemed to notice Harry for the first time. "Oh, hello then. You must be Harry," Charlie said, somewhat surprised.

Harry nodded and relaxed slightly. He was glad Charlie didn't make a big deal about it. Some people seemed to still think that spanking Voldemort as a kitten should give him accolades beyond measure. Harry couldn't understand it. If they were praising him for his dashing good looks, or hunting prowess, that would be one thing, but holding him aloft for something he didn't remember doing was ludicrous.

"Ginny's told me all about you, of course. I do appreciate you looking out for her, as the rest of our brothers seem wholly incapable," Charlie finished with a mock-sigh.

"Oi, I resent that!" Ron called from the kitchen.

Charlie merely smirked. "Just winding you up a bit, little brother."

"Truth be told, that isn't fair. I couldn't have saved Ginny from Lestrange without Ron's help. I never thought snogging a girl would be such a good distraction, you know?"

"Wait, what's all this, then?" Bill interrupted. Harry turned and locked eyes with the older brother. He had forgotten that Bill was the only one who hadn't known about the incident at the end of last term. He had been in a particularly troublesome tomb for nearly two weeks and both Molly and Arthur had thought it best that he keep his mind on the job. After that, it simply seemed to have slipped their minds. Charlie, on the other hand, had been informed as instantly as capable by Ginny who'd spelled the whole thing out in great detail. It had the two fold effect of guilting Charlie into thinking about moving closer to home to keep a better eye on his siblings (he still remembered the Chamber incident from the previous year) and causing him to disregard any negative opinions he'd ever formed about the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry had saved his favourite sister, and in his eyes, the boy could do no wrong.

"Well… you see," Harry began, but Charlie cut him off.

"I'll explain in a bit, Bill. Come on, we need to get our things upstairs, yeah?"

"You'll explain alright," Bill growled, as he followed his younger brother up the stairs.

The 'thunk… thunk… thunk…' of Ron's brace was the only noise in the house, very suddenly as he joined his sister and friend. "You think Bill's going to melt his cauldron?"

"He'll get over it," Harry replied evenly. Ginny on the other hand wasn't so sure.

"Maybe, Paws, but remember, Bill's used to taking care of things. I think we better all clear out for a bit until we're sure he isn't going to row with Mum and Dad." With that agreed upon, Ron headed out back with Merlin in tow, as Ginny and Harry sped towards the broom shed.

"Blast, it's locked!" Ginny cried as they got there. Harry merely smirked.

"Stand back a bit, Sparkplug," and with that he gave the aging lock a prodigious kick. The rusted metal snapped very suddenly and in another few seconds they had absconded with two brooms and were both airborne.

Upstairs, Bill was fuming. It was bad enough that no one had bothered to tell him when it happened, but he supposed he could understand that. What galled him, however, was that several months later, no one had bothered to inform him of what happened. He had to find out about it through a slip of the tongue. He stared out the window petulantly, when he noticed the same boy they had just been discussing and his baby sister flying about, in a rather complex pattern.

Ginny was laughing and Bill was willing to bet her cheeks were flushed and there was a twinkle in her eye. Bill's sudden suspicion of the whole matter went into overdrive. He'd used the same 'let's go for a fly' bit, himself in his pursuit of multiple members of the fairer sex, and most of the time he'd been rather successful. He let out another involuntary growl.

"Everything okay, Bill?" Charlie asked. He had lived with his older brother long enough to know the signs of an impending volcanic explosion of William Weasley proportions. Of all of them, Bill was the best at shouting after his Mum. As the oldest, he was often put in charge of corralling his younger siblings.

"He fancies her," Bill bluntly stated.

"Who?"

"Harry Potter. Ginny needs to be careful."

"Maybe he does, but I don't think you have to worry about our Half-pint. She can take care of herself when it comes to blokes."

"She shouldn't have to yet. It's our job to look after her, and we haven't been doing a very good job of it."

Charlie shook his head. "She doesn't want us to look after her. She's got friends and things of her own now, Bill. She and Harry have been friends for a couple years now. He saved Fred and George, too, don't forget. Even if he does fancy her, which I very much doubt, there's not guarantee she fancies him. I wouldn't worry too much. "

"Charlie, I love you, mate, but how can you be so dense? Why would a bloke his age hang around a girl a year younger, unless he fancied her? He doesn't spend nearly so much time with Ron, I've noticed."

"There are plenty of reasons. They have been through a lot. That sort of thing tends to firm up friendships. Let's not forget I was friends with Tonks all through school."

"You were friends with her because you thought she'd put in a good word for you with Anna Fletcher and you might get a chance to shag her."

"Not entirely…" Charlie protested weakly.

"Did it work?"

Charlie grinned broadly. "Every horizontal surface, Bill. That's all I'm saying about that."

"Surely not everyone. I mean Snape's desk for example…"

Charlie interrupted. "Did you hear about the first Howler the Twins got? They'd blown up several suits of armour and set off a series of Dungbombs in the ground floor corridor. Snape was distracted for quite a while."

Bill's jaw dropped. "That's… impossible."

"Ah, Anna… she was an adventurous one. I'll have to write Tonks one day and find out what happened to her after we broke up. And nothing is impossible, Bill. Remember that."

All of a sudden, Bill's brain seemed to come to a screeching halt. "Exactly… I'm going to have to have a talk with him then."

"Who?"

"Harry."

"Why?"

"Charlie, if you can shag Anna Fletcher on Snape's desk without getting expelled, then there is every possibility of disturbing things happening between our baby sister and her savior. I aim to ensure he understands the consequences if anything should happen."

"You have possibly the most random brain, brother. I can't say she'll be terribly pleased with your meddling."

"If it keeps her from getting messed about, then I can live with that," Bill finished as he strode purposefully out of the room.

Charlie snorted, and conjured himself a stool. Pulling it close to the window, he sat down to observe his older brother make a complete arse of himself.

Bill had the walk of a man with a purpose. All of his younger siblings recognized his 'big brother' mode and instinctively cleared out of the way. A moment later he was staring at the forms of his baby sister and her potential suitor flying about as though they had no cares in the world. Despite himself, Bill had to admit that Harry was pretty good on his broom. "Harry!" Bill called out. "Could you come down for a moment?"

A second later, Harry had dismounted his broom and was staring at the older man. Ginny was only a moment behind.

"What is it, Bill?" Ginny asked.

"Harry, I was wondering if I could have a word?"

"You seem to be doing just fine," Harry responded. "Does it have to be now? We're a bit busy."

Bill's eyes narrowed in a manner that Harry, in his eagerness to return to the sky, completely missed. "It will only take a minute, Harry."

"Well then, get talking," came the Kneazle-boy's reply.

"Follow me," Bill demanded tersely.

"Now just a second, Bill…" Ginny began, before being cut off.

"Ginny, I'll bring him back in just a minute. It won't take long. If you would, please, Mr. Potter?" Bill finished in a manner that reminded everyone of McGonagall. Harry shrugged and followed Bill as they headed around the side of The Burrow.

Bill abruptly stopped, and only Harry's cat-like reflexes prevented him from ploughing into the man's back. Executing a perfect military about face the Royal Marines would have been proud of, William Weasley, older brother, curse-breaker, and protector of his sister's virtue faced the young challenger.

"What is it you'd like to talk about, then?" Harry asked politely. He'd been working on being polite to things that were bigger than him, after Arabella pointed out that antagonizing dogs, while fun, can often have deleterious effects on one's health, not to mention her sanity.

"Don't mess her about, Harry. Better yet, I'd prefer if you'd not mess with her at all."

Harry's face scrunched up into a picture of confusion. Ginny's brother was speaking in riddles. Sensing his confusion, Bill continued. "I know what blokes your age want from a girl, and let me tell you, laddie buck, that if you've the slightest intention of that, I'll hex your bollix off?"

"Bill, what in Isis' good name are you talking about?" Then, it suddenly hit him. Facing down the intense glare of an irate older brother, Harry fought the irrational fear that Bill did indeed know exactly what he wanted from Ginny. It was a darkly kept fantasy, which he hadn't even told her about.

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't pretend with me. A bloke, in a girl's room…" Bill trailed off menacingly and Harry blanched. Bill knew. He didn't know how, or how obvious he'd been, but Bill knew.

"I promise, I won't take it without permission!" Harry yelped. For some odd reason this didn't seem to appease his inquisitor.

"You won't take anything, boy…" Bill snarled. The nerve of this kid, Bill thought. Talking about his sister's virtue like it was a nick-knack or one of his mother's off-colour discarded yarn balls from knitting.

"I swear, she wouldn't even notice it was gone, but if you're that insistent I promise to ask first," Harry tried again. This attempt was no more successful than the first, and Harry couldn't understand it. He knew Ginny must be saving it, possibly for just the right occasion, otherwise why would she keep that delicious mustard coloured yarn ball beneath her bed? He'd seen it once, last summer, and had been making plans to abscond with it ever since, but how could her brother know? He didn't think the ball had been under there that long and Bill had been gone for quite some time. To top it all off, he never thought he'd meet a human quite so infatuated with yarn as he was. Not even Cousin McGonagall could be distracted with it for more than a few seconds (the last time he'd tried, he'd ended up in detention for a weekend and she'd confiscated the yarn to boot). He was going on about this bit of string like it was his sister's virtue! Perhaps the problem was that Bill wanted the yarn, too. After all, it was a magnificent specimen. It had the purrfect texture and just the right thickness. Harry would have to move fast, but he was sure he could appease the man before hexing broke out.

"Fine, I tell you what, if it means that much to you, you can have it first."

"WHAT?" Bill bellowed, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

"Fine, umm… we can share? I'm not sure it's big enough," Harry tried again weakly.

"You… sick… son-of-a…" Bill trailed off, his wand was in hand without his brain realising it. A curse was forming on his lips, and he very well might have, had the voice of his baby sister not broken in.

"Bill! What on earth are you two doing? You're bellowing like a wounded giant."

"Ginny, get in the house," Bill barked.

"No, Bill. What's going on? What are you doing with my friend?"

"Ginny, get in the house. He's no friend of yours! I can understand why Mum didn't want him hanging about. This is undoubtedly the sickest bastard I've ever met."

"Bill, don't talk about Harry like that. He's my friend! I didn't make comments about any of the tarts you were seeing at Hogwarts."

"Ginevra, watch you language."

"You're not Mum, Bill. Stop trying to act like it. You're not Daddy either." Ginny stamped her foot impatiently.

Turning slightly to face her, his wand hand moving off his target for only a moment, Bill's words carried the tone of command. "Ginny, get in the house!"

Harry's mind went from confused at Bill's inquisition, to anger at his treatment of Ginny, to sudden irrational fear as Bill pointed his wand at Harry's human. Visions of a cackling man in front of a campfire flooded his consciousness and Harry leapt forward, his knife coming to the ready. Only luck saved Bill's life as the vicious blade missed his neck by an inch.

"What the…?" Bill yelped.

"You'll not touch her, Lestrange," Harry growled and he charged again. Luckily, part of being a curse-breaker required a certain amount of agility and Bill narrowly avoided another slash.

"Harry!" Ginny screamed, and with that he was back at The Burrow. Harry looked around wildly trying to figure out what had just happened, when a strong red jet of light hit him. He crumpled to the ground, not even hearing the 'Stupefy' that had been bellowed.

A second later, it seemed, Harry was staring up at the ceiling of Arabella's house while lying on her sofa. "Ughhh…" he moaned.

"That's certainly one way to describe it," came Sebastian's voice. Turning his head ever so slowly, Harry finally could see both Arthur and Sebastian sitting in stools next to the sofa.

"You have some explaining to do, son," Arthur began. Harry was surprised at the lack of heat in his voice. In retrospect, he had tried to kill the man's oldest son, though at the time he was sure the red-head was Lestrange. Odd how that works, Harry thought.

"I dunno. Bill was interrogating me about a yarn ball, and I thought it might be best if we shared, so I suggested it. Then for no reason, his wand was in his hand and I thought he might be getting ready to hex Ginny when she wouldn't go in the house. Then it gets a bit muddled. Seems like I thought Lestrange was there, but I don't remember him arriving or leaving. Maybe I thought Bill was, but that doesn't make any sense, does it?" Harry's head was pounding and the increasing brain activity wasn't helping matters.

"Harry," Arthur began gently, "What were you and Bill arguing about?"

"A ball of yarn," Harry said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, why wouldn't I be? I mean, he told me he knew what boys my age wanted from a girl. I don't know how he figured it out. I'm not quite sure she remembers it's there."

"What's there?"

"The most glorious ball of yarn. It's mustard coloured and so soft. I can tell just by the look of it. I haven't even touched it yet, but I want to."

Arthur began to frown and he leaned close to his uncle-in-law. "Is this some sort of innuendo these kids are using and I just don't understand?"

Sebastian ceased biting his hand long enough to mutter, "No, Arthur, he really is talking about a ball of yarn." At which point the hand went right back into his mouth to prevent a window shattering guffaw.

"And Bill wanted this yarn?" Arthur continued.

"Well, I suppose he must. He wasn't very pleased when I told him I'd ask first, so I suggested that he could have it first or perhaps we could share. That's when the wand came out," Harry finished.

Arthur stared dumbfounded at the boy in front of him. Molly was in town shopping for dinner, which was why Arthur had come. Now he had the unenviable task of smoothing the whole thing over. It seemed rather like a giant misunderstanding. One thing was for sure, it seemed Bill still hadn't grown out of his protective big brother phase, and, unless Arthur was very much mistaken, Bill owed the young Potter a sincere apology.

"I must be off then, Sebastian. I imagine the whole house is in an uproar at this point. I need to calm things down before Molly gets back."

Sebastian nodded. "Yes, yes, I quite understand. "

After Arthur left, Sebastian's laughter could be contained no longer. He let loose with rib shaking guffaws that had Harry rather confused about the whole thing. "What's so funny?"

"Harry, dear William wasn't trying to get a hand on your yarn, he was trying to warn you off shagging his sister."

"That doesn't make any sense, Uncle."

"Harry, it makes perfect sense to a boy, whom I remember was quite the ball of hormones at your age. He just was looking out for his sister. The more worrisome bit is your flashback."

"How is me thinking that the red-headed git is Lestrange more worrisome than the fact that he thinks I want to shag my human?"

"Harry, I'm willing to bet you do want to shag her."

"Uncle!" Harry scoffed. "It doesn't matter whether I want to or not, I'm not worthy."

"You're the defeater of Voldemort, you rescued her and two of her brothers and you seem to be a darn good friend. What else is there?" Sebastian stared intently at his not-nephew. The boy's hormones would be kicking in any time now, and if they were already in force then it was his duty to make sure Harry kept his trousers on.

Harry stared intently into his adoptive uncle's eyes, willing him to understand. "She's a lion, uncle. A clumsy one, I'll grant you, but I'll never be her equal until I grow up."

"You're right, I suppose. Now, back to this business of you flashback. I'm concerned about you."

Harry waved his hand dismissively. "I'm fine, Uncle, but can we do this later? I'm awfully tired."

Sebastian stared intently at his young charge and then nodded once. "Fine, but make no mistake, we will be discussing this, Harry."

"Whatever you say," came Harry's drowsy reply. One more question suddenly popped into the scattered Kneazle brain. "Uncle, who brought me over here?"

"Charlie did. He stopped Bill from hexing the daylights out of you, too. He just dropped you off and stormed out. Didn't even wait for his dad to follow him in. I'd imagine he and Bill are having a bit of a row right about now. Hopefully there is something for Arthur to go back to. Only so much that magic can repair."

Harry nodded seriously. "Did Bill really think that I want to shag his sister?"

"I'm sure the thought has crossed his mind, but your little mix-up certainly didn't help anything. If you want my advice, I would just try and steer clear of him. I think Arthur can get through, but he's still going to be a bit suspicious. Try to remember, he does want what's best for Ginny, same as you."

Harry nodded glumly. "I suppose so. I don't think she'll thank me very much for trying to kill her oldest brother."

"You let me worry about that."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked. He didn't like having other people having to explain his mistakes.

"Least I can do, m'boy. That was the best laugh I've had in ages. I'll just nip along and smooth things out quietly for you."

"Thanks, Sebastian."

"Think nothing of it."

AN: Chapter 2, and we have a Weasley dust up! This was mostly comedy, but fear not the World Cup is coming soon. I hope you enjoy this and I want to thank everyone for the monumental response to this story. You, my dear readers, are fantastic. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review. I'm working on Chapter 3 and hopefully will have that out sooner rather than later. To These Things You Must Return- Manatoc Fox