Chapter 7 - Brothers In Arms

"You can't catch me!" shrieked five-year-old Ron Weasley.

His big brother Bill could, of course, catch him whenever he wanted, being much bigger and faster, but Ron figured he should take full advantage of the situation, and get a good chase out of Bill. Besides, it seemed like Bill was enjoying himself. He had certainly been eager to do "babysitting" instead of one of the seemingly endless list of chores Mum had for him this morning.

"I'm faster than yooo-ooo, I'm faster than yooo-ooo," mocked Ron in a sing song voice.

"Oh, is that so ickle Ronniekins?" Bill made a fresh dash at his youngest brother. Ron moved quickly, as only a five-year-old could, and made for the kitchen. Bill started off in hot pursuit before he tripped on the edge of a chair.

"Oww!"

"Oh no! Bill!" Ron scampered back to his big brother as fast as his little legs would carry him. "Are you okay?"

"GOTCHA!" Ron quickly realized that Bill had only been faking. He did that a lot, and Ron always seemed to fall for it. It was at times like these that Bill would usually teach Ron "a lesson." But no matter what the lesson was, it always seemed to involve tickling.

"NOOOOOO! Okay, okay, I give up! You win! It tickles, stop Bill, no more!!"

"Oh no you don't, baby brother. You thought you were going to get away, didn't you? Who's the best big brother?"

"No, no!"

"Come on...say it..."

"BILL! RON!"

"Hi mum."

"Hi mum."

"And just what are you two doing?"

"I'm babysitting, mum. We're having loads of fun. Just ask Ron."

"Yeah mum, Bill's the best babysitter ever!"

Ron watched as him mum tried to be stern, but the corners of her mouth twitched upwards ever so slightly. It seemed that even Mum liked having Bill home to babysit. Ron had to admit, it was loads better than being stuck with Fred and George, and little Ginny, who seemed to have become their unofficial mascot. They were inseperable these days. Charlie was supposed to be keeping an eye on them today, but knowing him, he'd be helping them hatch up some new mischief. They always picked on him, and Ron always felt helpless to defend himself. Sure, Bill and Charlie picked on him too, but it was different, and they were even able to pick on the twins to keep things fair.Still, it was better with the older brothers around. Ron still got picked on, but Bill was usually able to keep things from getting to far out of hand.

"Well, Bill, Ron, perhaps you two would like to take a break from "babysitting" and come join me in the kitchen for some biscuits."

"Biscuits!" Ron mad a dash for the kitchen. He didn't make it very far, as Bill grabbed him and carried over his shoulder down to the kitchen, deftly ensuring the older brother got the first of the fresh biccies. Ron started to protest, only to have Bill shove a biscuit in his mouth, effectively silencing the younger Weasley.

"Fanks mum, whassaccashun?"

Mum sighed, and muttered something under her breath about countless lectures and table manners of a rampaging hippogriff. But as she looked back up at the boys, her mood seemed to lighten. "Look on the table."

Bill's hand froze, halfway to his mouth with a second biscuit still in hand. "Is that -"

"Congratulations, dear. I'm so proud of you!"

"Mummy, what's that?" asked Ron, pointing to the badge with a lion's head on it.

"That is Bill's new prefect badge, Ron. Your big brother has worked very hard at school."

Ron's eyes went wide with wonder "You mean Hogwarts?"

"Yes, dear. If you work hard, maybe you can be a prefect like Bill."

"I will! I will! I'm going to be just like Bill when I grow up!"

"Well, Bill is going to have to grow up himself before you can be like him."

The boys' attention was now thoroughly occupied between the biscuits and the new badge. Ron wanted to try it on, and Bill seemed to take great delight in pinning it in odd locations on Ron's clothes, eliciting fresh protests from his younger brother, and a few laughs as well.

Ron thought life couldn't get any better. Everyone was home for the summer, there were fresh biscuits, and he was going to be just like Bill when he grew up.

"Who're you blackmailing?"

This was serious now. Ron knew the twins had been plotting and scheming for the joke shop for months now. It had been fun listening to all their ideas. Ron was deeply impressed with how thorough they had been. They seemed to really want to do this. They had found a purpose, something he had been searching for himself, but he was nowhere near as far along in planning his life as his brothers were. Bill, Charlie and Percy all had good, stable, respectable jobs, and now the twins had a plan. All Ron had was some half-baked fantasies about glamour jobs: Aurors, professional Quidditch player, Wizarding wireless network star. Nothing serious, not like his brothers. It made him a little jealous and a little afraid.

But blackmail? He knew the twins were serious about the shop. All his brothers were serious in their own way. It was hard work coming up with all the products they had together. He knew they had been saving up, and were still in need of some Galleons to keep their fledgling business alive. He had even sat in on some of their planning sessions that summer to decide how to come up with some extra money to keep their hopes alive.

He had overheard all the...umm...exchanges...they had had with mum. Well, there really wasn't much of an exchange. Mum just kind of shrieked and bellowed at them, and they were smart enough to just try and survive the encounter. Ron had endured his fair share of lectures for just being with them while they were inventing. The last thing he wanted was more trouble. Ron Weasley might not have known what he wanted to be when he grew up, but he knew that blackmail probably qualified as trouble.

"You're starting to sound a bit like our dear older brother, you are, Ron. Carry on like this and you'll be made a prefect."

"No, I wont!" said Ron hotly.

Who would want to be a prefect? Besides, Ron knew it wasn't as if he had what it took to be a prefect anyway. He wasn't Bill.