Percy stood in front of his fireplace, a handful of Floo powder slipping from between his fingers. This was a bad idea. An awful idea, but if he didn't go, he'd have to make up excuses and that wouldn't be very good at all.

"Three Broomsticks!"

The party was already in full swing, Ron sitting in a decorated chair as guest of honor with a pastel colored crown on his head, surrounded bu male friends and family.

"Finally got here, did you?" Bill cried over the din and there was a roar as Percy approached them.

"Good grief, how much have you had to drink?" Percy chuckled as he scanned the crowd of young men.

"Not enough!" Bill said happily, a sure sign that he had had more than enough.

"Oh dear," Percy said as George pressed a pint into his hand.

"You've got to catch up with the rest of us." George grinned.

Percy glanced around, but he didn't see Harry anywhere. He sipped at his drink nervously.

"Come sit here, Perce," Ron called out. "We can catch up together."

"How'd that happen?" Percy asked as he made his way around the table.

"Last minute raid." Ron wrinkled his nose. "Lucky to be here at all. I wouldn't be if Harry hadn't volunteered to take care of all the paperwork."

"Is he coming later?" Percy asked, trying to sound casual.

"I doubt it." Ron admitted as he downed the rest of his glass. "Said something about having more work to do."

"That's too bad," Percy said feeling relieved.

"I'm sure we'll manage," Bill said as he came over with another pint for Ron. "We'll get him drunk later."

Percy laughed as Ron groaned when he took the pint from Bill. "I'm sure you will. Trying to go for a record, Bill?"

"He has no idea when Fleur will let him do this again." Ron grinned.

"Get used to the idea," Bill warned him. "It'll be you next."

Ron laughed as Percy took a deep drink from his glass.

"Attaboy, Percy. Show him how it's done!" Bill laughed as he looked at his own empty glass. "Time for a refill!"

"I feel sorry for Fleur," Ron said as his eldest brother staggered away. "He's going to make a mess when he gets home."

"Maybe he'll puke before he gets home so she'll be spared at least that," Percy suggested.

"Maybe." Ron shrugged as he took a drink from his glass. "I hope so or she'll blame us."

"God forbid," Percy muttered as he took another drink. Fleur's temper hadn't mellowed out with age, if anything she'd gotten better at making people feel bad about thoughtless things they had done.

In all, it was a good party. Take-away had arrived and they had eaten well; with a round of drunken singing they started drinking again.

Their merry party began thinning out around midnight and by one o'clock, they were being shooed into the Floo by the tired barman.

Ron had his arm slung sloppily around Percy's shoulder, humming a merry tune and trying to keep himself from falling down.

Percy dug into his robes for a generous tip from the barman, who accepted it graciously and didn't remark at all about the mess they had made.

They arrived at Ron's and promptly fell down from the spinning sensation the Floo gave them.

"We fell down," Ron said in a puzzled voice as he ran his hands over the carpet.

"Yes, we did," Percy said with a nod as he pushed himself up. While he had been drinking all night, he had paced himself, making him much more sober than his little brother.

"Baby s'not mine, y'know?" Ron babbled as he found a ridge in the pattern of the carpet and ran his finger along it.

"What?" Percy squawked. His heart began beating faster.

"Well, might be mine, but prob'ly nah," Ron said, wrinkling his nose up.

"If you don't think it's yours why are you doing this?" Percy asked carefully.

"Don' care." Ron started crawling along the floor, tripping himself up with his robes often.

"You don't care?" Percy blinked.

"She 'ain't wi' him now, is she?" Ron said, a smug look on his face. "She wan's me t' be the dad. I'm better 'an 'im!"

Percy found himself chuckling in spite of himself. "I'm sure you are," he said truthfully.

Percy helped Ron to his feet and into his bedroom. He helped undress his brother and set him down gently. After an afterthought, we went to the kitchen and retrieved a giant soup pot to keep near the bed.

Ron snored loudly and Percy snorted. Hermione must really love him to put up with that racket.

He took a deep breath and sighed, taking a moment to brush Ron's hair off his forehead. Like he did when Ron was a baby. This was the right decision. They'd be happy and he'd be able to see his son or daughter all the time. Ron had more time to be a father, anyway and Percy trusted him to raise the baby right.

He tiptoed from the room and over to the fireplace. He looked around before he threw Floo powder in the hearth. "We're going to have to baby-proof this place."