Chapter 11
Every Sunday for the past four and a half years Ron met with the majority of his immediate family for brunch at the Burrow. Not everyone came to every brunch, but at least one Sunday a month they were all there at the same time. On one such day Ron looked at his growing family as they settled around the magical enlarged table. Bill and Fleur had two little girls, Victoire and Dominque, and another on the way. Percy and Oliver had adopted little Molly the year before. George and Katie had their twins, Gideon and Fabian. Fred and Hermione had Rose, and for reason unbeknownst to Ron, Hugo. Harry and Ginny were raising Teddy and had James, and Ginny was carrying their next child. Molly and Arthur doted on their grandchildren.
The first year after the war laughter had been heard, but it was always short lived. Charlie had not gotten to visit home as often as they would have all liked the years that he was in Romania, but his zest for life had been inescapable when he was around. The Twins were down right terrors growing up, but originally they learned everything from Charlie. They just expanded on that. The Twins had worshiped their big brother, and it took a lot for them to regain that passion for life they had learned from him. As the years turned though, it came back with a renewed vigor. It was as if they were trying to honor Charlie by living to the fullest.
That was what cut Ron with like a knife on the days that he couldn't shake the past. Charlie had always been good at pulling a laugh from people that were depressed or moody. Charlie used to make Ron laugh and cheer up when Fred and George went too far. They respected Bill, but it had been Charlie the Dragon Hunter that the youngest three adored. Every time he saw how alive Fred and George were, how beautiful their families were, how well the shop was Ron was reminded that he wasn't allowing himself that. In those times he felt like he was dishonoring Charlie with his lax acceptance of life as he went through the motions.
On the Sundays that the whole family was congregated together though, that was when it was really difficult. He'd stare at the place that had once been Charlie's seat, beside Bill, and smile at little Dominque. Bill would catch him sometimes and smile sadly, because he would know who Ron was thinking about. Ron would return it before looking back at his plate and continuing to eat. Harry would bump his shoulder, on accident, and they'd share a look before he went back to discussing some muggle thing with Arthur. Hermione would kick him under the table in order to get his attention. He'd look up, she'd look at him in question, and he'd just nod. She'd smile knowingly at him, before returning to paying attention to her family.
There were two people missing at that table, Ron felt. When the rest of the family was smiling or teasing after Percy and Oliver shared a kiss over Little Molly's head, Ron was looking away. Sometimes he'd rub his chest and his mother would ask if the food was okay. He'd fallen back on an old standard, and would tell her he'd just eaten too fast. He'd never brought Simon to brunch, but his family had met him at other functions. That had been over for a couple of months though, and he was starting to slowly move back into the dating world. George would see right past his lies though and he'd get his second sympathetic look of the morning. Bill's smile wasn't really sympathy, but understanding and agreement.
Ron was sitting on the back porch, looking over the pond and enjoying the peaceful silence as the rest of the family played with the children. The swing began to rock back and forth. Ron had his back against the arm rest, his legs bent up to his chest, his arms wrapped around his knees as he rested his head against them. He looked up and saw that Bill was kicking the swing into motion. Only Hermione, Molly, and the kids were short enough to get it rocking and relax. The rest were too tall and had to keep kicking it, because if they stopped their feet would bring it to an end. Ron watched Bill as he enjoyed making the swing move back and forth. After a minute Ron returned to his original position and Bill said, "I miss him too."
"I know," Ron breathed, "You probably miss him the most."
"I wish that was true," Bill admited, "I wish that you didn't miss him as much as you do. I wish that you'd really let it go. I know you haven't been to the graveyard except when we all go in years, but you still talk to him, don't you?"
Ron was quiet for a while before he explained, "It's not really him."
Bill nodded, "At least you know that."
"It's just," Ron started, "Nice to think that my big brother is still listening, still willing to listen."
"You have four others, five if you count Oliver and a little brother if you count Harry." Bill reminded.
"I talk to Harry, he's my best friend." Ron reminded. He shook his head, "It's just not the same thing." Bill frowned. Ron added, "Sorry, he was your best friend."
"Fleur is my best friend." Bill argued. Ron closed his eyes tightly as he looked away. Bill nodded, "You talk to Charlie about Draco, because you're convinced he's the only one willing to listen."
"You just called him Draco," Ron pointed out as he turned his head quickly to look at his eldest brother.
"Of course I just called him Draco," Bill replied. He reached out and placed his hand on Ron's shoulder. "I'm talking to you about him. I'm not talking to some reporter wanting to know what a Weasley thinks about his too long disappearance." He stopped and tilted his head, "Do you even read what we all say? You don't bring him up when you're with our family. I don't know if you talk about him to Harry and Hermione, and you have lunch with George and Fred a lot. You may very well breech that subject with them."
Ron shook his head, "Sometime I fall into it, but they kind of shut down and change the topic after they call him by his last name."
"I'll admit," Bill began, "I call him by his last name when I'm talking to reporters. I always tell them the same thing though, "Malfoy needs to come back." They'll press, wanting to know why. They're fishing for information on your heart. The times I give it, I tell them, "So my baby brother can be happy again." I don't understand how you and a Malfoy got together, but that's because you won't talk to any of us about Draco. My advice, Little Brother, fuck them when they want to change the topic and you force them to talk about him. It's not healthy for you to not be able to talk about your soul-mate. I liked Simon, but he wasn't for you. I might like the next guy and the guy after that or I very may well find them extremely annoying, but I'm never gonna love them like I love Oliver and Harry. You want to know why?"
Ron nodded. "Because they aren't for you. I'm never gonna accept anyone with you except Draco. I'm gonna love Draco, once I get used to it, for the same reasons I love Oliver and Harry. I don't care that Harry was the Chosen One, or that he defeated Voldemort. Hell, that wouldn't have happened without you and Hermione. I love Harry, because he loves Ginny. I love Oliver, because he makes Percy so damn happy the boy gets giddy sometimes. I love Hermione because she looks past Fred's prankster shell and actually sees him. I love Katie because she was willing to wait for George to grow up. I'll love Draco for all of the same reasons, when he comes back to you."
"What if he never comes back to me," Ron asked, his voice shaking as he did so.
"You do whatever you think you need to, Ronnie," Bill told him. Ron raised his brow, and Bill vowed, "I'll keep believing for you though. One day, Draco will come back to you."
Bill and Ron slipped into silence again, enjoying the peaceful Sunday afternoon. The laughs of their family could be heard from the inside. A squeal of a little girl had them both laughing, and it was accompanied by an almost maniac laughter of a little boy. They shook their heads both wondering what Teddy could have done to Toire. Ron asked after a while, "What do you think he'd be like now?"
"Draco or Charlie," Bill asked as he continued to look out over the pond.
"Charlie," Ron laughed.
"Thought so," Bill said. He thought for a while and shrugged, "He'd be Charlie. He'd be adventurest and hillarious and a good listener when people needed a strong shoulder. He'd be proud of the Twins, and he'd tease Percy every chance he got for being a "paper pusher"."
"Do you think he'd be married?" Ron wondered. Bill thought for a second before shaking his head and laughing.
"No, no way," Bill finally answered, "He's only thirty, or he'd only be thirty." They had a silent moment at that. Bill shook his head, "Nope, he might be dating all of Romania, but he wouldn't be anywhere near ready to get married."
"Mum would be driving him barmy then," Ron voiced.
Bill nodded, "Yeah, I think she always thought she'd have to push at least one of us towards marriage. She did get the chance to nag George into picking one already."
"That was such a weird situation," Ron grimaced.
Bill shrugged, "I'm surprised he didn't just try to convince Angie and Katie into a poly."
Ron raised his brow, "Do you remember how Mum responded to Percy and Oliver's announcement? I'm pretty sure they are both bi, and she responded like the world was crashing down."
"She just wants grandbabies." Bill defended.
"I'm glad they got her convinced that adoption is an obligation for anyone with the ability," Ron admitted, "She would have really flipped if she'd found out about me before she decided that adoption was such an important part of society."
"Not even the least bit," Bill questioned. "Come on, you didn't even have the slightest crush on Hermione?"
"Maybe a little," Ron shrugged, "but not because I was attracted to her. I was convinced I was going to marry her because of the way the family treated her. Nope, sorry, I am one hundred percent gay. I like men, and I like..."
"Do not finish that sentence," Bill ordered, holding up his hand to silence his brother.
"What," Ron smirked.
"Bad images," Bill grimaced, "No, that conversation I overheard on Thursday is enough talk like that for one week."
"What conversation," Ron wondered.
"It was a logistical conversation about how certain...activities...work." Bill explained. "I just got to say, that sounds painful and I can't believe you three actually partake in it."
"Don't knock something till you've tried it," Ron smirked.
"I'm a married man, I'll never "try it"." Bill reminded.
Ron's smirk grew even wider, "She does have an ass you know."
"No," Bill shouted, flabbergasted. "That's, that's..."
"Says the man that used to have a ponytail and a dragon fang tattoo?" Ron laughed, "You cannot tell me you're missionary all the way."
"Of course not," Bill assured, "But I am not going there." Ron just laughed. Bill shook his head, "How did we get here? We were talking about what Charlie would have been like."
"Charlie would be laughing, at you," Ron told him. Bill glared before his expression melted into a smile and he nodded in agreement. Ron added one last thought, "He was rather adventurest."
"He was also bi," Bill admitted. Ron looked at Bill in shock. Bill shrugged, "He didn't think the whole world needed to know, and that included Mum."