Author's Note: Thanks for all the great reviews! Here's Bill Weasley, enjoy!
Chapter 11: Scarred
One day, a few weeks after the battle, when life had slowly begun to return to normal (or as normal as it could be, when your little brother was never coming home), Charlie and Bill had noticed their mother staring at their scars, shaking her head and clucking to herself about what beautiful little boys they'd once been. Charlie had remarked to him that perhaps they should stop playing with werewolves and dragons. Their mother had been aghast, but Bill was glad to be able to laugh about it, finally. When George overheard and chimed in about wizards who couldn't aim straight, the three had laughed so hard they almost fell over, as their mother looked on in horror.
His scars were prominent, there for the whole world to see. But he wasn't the only one with scars. Just because you couldn't see them on some people didn't mean they weren't there.
Both Ron and Percy had escaped the war without physical marks. But Bill knew that they both carried heavy scars, eternal shame at abandoning friends and family. Sure, George had a missing ear, but that was not the scar that gave him the most pain, caused him the most grief. Even his beautiful wife, with porcelain skin and silver white hair, bore scars that she would carry with her always. Shortly after the battle, Bill and Fleur went to see her parents in France for a week, as a vacation. They had to leave after only a day. Fleur wept every time she saw a houself. Harry's scar had faded, you could barely see it anymore. But the events that that scar bore witness to cut him deeper than flesh and blood. His baby sister was covered in scars, having to see things she was far too young to see, having to take part in things she was far too young to do. His parents were scarred, scored to the bone by the loss of one of their children. Though they smile now, occasionally; though they have even laughed once or twice, they both carry a mark that will never go away. A wound that might eventually fade, but will never fully heal.
They all carried scars.
Next: Defense