A Night To Remember
It was early evening, and cold for November. Charlie was sitting on the couch, reading to the twins. They were all huddled under a blanket, close to the fire. He looked up when an unfamiliar man's head popped up.
"Excuse me, Charles, but are your parents home?"
"Who are you?"
"I work with your father, I don't think we've met. I just wanted to talk him about something we've been working on."
"They aren't home. They just left for the hospital twenty minutes ago, so it might be a while. She's having her baby. You should probably try again tomorrow."
"It's just as well. It can wait. Tell them I called by though, will you?"
"What's your name?"
"Evan Rosier, they'll know who I am." The head popped away and Charlie went back to the book. Not long after, Bill came in.
He walked over to the back of the couch where Charlie sat. He reached over and tickled the twins under the blanket. "Hey Meg, hey Dominic. You don't have to get up, Charlie, I think I'll need a shower. Anything much happen while I was out?"
"Not really. Meg tripped onto the hearth and burned her finger, but I got it wrapped up."
Bill pulled out her arm from under the blanket and inspected it. "It looks all right. I'll be about five minutes, and then will you help me with dinner?"
"Of course. We should just about finish the story before you come back."
"All right." Bill kissed Meg's finger through the cloth, and clomped up the stairs, shedding layers on his way.
Charlie read the last few pages of the familiar book, and set it down on the floor. "All right, you two. I read the story, now you have to be good and play quietly while Bill and I make dinner, all right?"
"Yes Charlie," Dominic shrugged. Charlie scooted out from under the blanket, and, dodging the assortment of toys of the floor, made his way into the kitchen. He was standing on a sliding shelf, with his head buried in the cupboard when Bill got back.
Bill picked him up and put him on the floor. "Come on, you know Mum doesn't like it when you do that."
Charlie responded by sticking his tongue out. "She doesn't like it when you do it either, but that never stops you. What were you doing today?"
Bill pushed the shelf in and started rifling through the cupboards. "Joseph got a sled for his birthday, and we took it all the way up to Stoatshead Hill to ride down." He paused, pulling out a box of instant mashed potatoes with a quizzical look.
"No, those make Dominic sick. Can you actually cook anything?"
"Not without a wand," Bill replied. "Or a real oven."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "How'd you ever become the big brother?" He climbed back onto the counter, pulling out a small cardboard box. "Is pasta all right? I mean, I probably could do something else, but it's all I'm really sure of over the fire."
Bill stared at him for a minute with an odd expression on his face. Then he wrapped an arm around him, lifted him off the counter, and set him back down. "You're such a goof. Of course pasta's great. Where'd you learn how to cook?"
Charlie carried a smaller cauldron from the cupboard and began filling it with water. "I dunno. I just sort of pick things up."
Bill carried the full cauldron to the hook above the kitchen fire. "Hey, want me to go watch the twins?"
"I think they'll be all right. Everything's just been a bit off today. Dad was home all day, but he stayed with Mum. She was in bed all day, and they left about half an hour before you got home. The twins have actually been pretty quiet."
"Let me guess-you are suspicious about the unnatural feel of our house and you have an odd subconscious feeling that something's coming?" Bill asked, lightly poking Charlie.
Charlie glared at him for teasing, then bit his lower lip and nodded silently.
Bill was just beginning to answer something comforting when a loud popping noise erupted in the living room. The boys both ran in, only to see their father's head in the fireplace. "Hey Dad, what's wrong? Is the baby born yet?" Bill asked, relieved.
"Nothing's wrong, Bill. It's just that your mother predicted this one a little early, and we may have to be here overnight. Take care of the others, all right? It's about time for dinner, and don't let the twins stay up later than 8:30."
"Dinner's cooking, we were just about ready to eat, and then we were going to send the twins to bed. Anything else?"
"Be sure to leave a light on in front, lock the door, and don't talk to strangers."
Bill groaned. "I know, Dad! You've only been telling me this for what, five years now? I'll remember."
"Good night. I love you Meg, love you Nick." And with another popping, his head disappeared again.
They all stared at the fireplace for a bit. Charlie broke the silence. "Come on everybody, dinner's ready." The twins raced out from under the blanket into the kitchen. Bill carried the cauldron to the sink and helped Charlie drain it, then they scooped it out onto the plates.
"Do I need to use a fork?" Meg whined at Bill. She had an irrational fear of the silverware that annoyed their mother.
"Nope, tonight you can eat with your fingers. Do whatever you want with it, in fact, because Bill is washing the dishes," Charlie proclaimed, quickly ducking under the table. Bill aimed several sharp kicks underneath. "Ow! That hurt! Anyway, I did dinner, and I was going to wash the kids."
He crawled out the other side, looking scowly but certainly not repentant. They ate quietly for a few minutes, if you ignored Meg's singing to her food and Dominic getting up and racing through the living room once, upsetting his plate onto the floor. "All right kiddos," Charlie said, bussing his plate and fork into the sink. "Bathtime."
Meg didn't mind so much, so she went first. Charlie helped her take off the layers of sweaters, overalls, and turtleneck while the tub filled. He started singing a song from the wireless after Meg jumped in. She splashed around for a few minutes under a thick layer of bubbles while he pushed up his sleeves and cleaned her hair, then she stood under the running water just long enough to rinse off, and he scooped her into a towel, rubbed her dry, and carried her clothes out to the laundry while she got her pajamas on.
After repeating the process with more of a struggle with Dominic, he tucked them both into bed. "Good night, Meg. Good night, Dominic. I love you," and he kissed them both on the forehead and blew out the candles in their room.
Bill had finished the dishes by the time he got down and was sprawled across the couch, listening to the wireless. Charlie sat down by his feet, cuddling under the blanket.
"What's up?" Bill asked. "You looked like there was something you wanted to tell me ever since I got home."
"Someone called. He said he worked with Dad, but I didn't recognize him. I thought we knew all of the people at Dad's work. And besides, they don't usually use fireplaces."
"That's kind of weird. What did he look like?"
"He had really curly dark brown hair, and I think he had a moustache."
"Do you remember anything else? Did he leave his name?"
"Yeah, give me a minute. It was...let me see...Rose something...Rosier! Evan Rosier, that was it!"
"That sounds familiar. I'm sure I know it from somewhere, but I can't remember. I probably just read it in the newspaper." Then he stopped talking and started staring around behind his head.
"Everything all right?"
"Hush. I thought I heard something outside." They both froze and sat still under the blanket, listening.
"I guess it was nothing. C'mon, scoot under the blanket. You're freezing."
They adjusted so that their legs were entangled under the blanket. Bill started rubbing Charlie's feet to warm them up, and they just sat for a few minutes, listening to the music on the wireless. They were both falling asleep when Bill sat up.
"Okay, I'm sure I heard something that time. It sounds like someone is yelling outside."
Charlie sat up, panicked. "We forgot to lock to front door!"
"I'll get it!" Bill tumbled off the couch, pulling Charlie with him, and ran to the door, locking it, pulling the extra latches, and backing away with a quick glance out the window. "Charlie, run! No, don't bother pulling on your stupid snow boots, there is someone outside who shouldn't be there, just get out the back door and run as far as you can into the forest, all right? Don't come out until me, or Mum, or Dad come and get you. Don't talk to anyone. Just go!"
Wide-eyed, Charlie ran around the sofa, and dashed to the back door. Bill heard it open and close, and, though he strained his ears, didn't hear anything more. He turned back to the door. A bright light shone through the keyhole, then the sound of someone turning the knob hard, outside. He squeezed his eyes shut before he remembered the extra bolts he'd drawn.
He hid around a corner, just peeking at the door, when he heard a heavy banging on it. Two more hits and they had broken through. Two large men in black cloaks and hoods stepped in. A third, smaller man followed. He focused on Bill, and began to speak to him in an icy voice.
"Where are they, boy?" He spat, cuffing Bill on the ear.
"What do you want? Who are you?" Bill asked bravely, holding his ear with one hand.
"We, shall we say, work with your father." At this the two large figures started chuckling deeply. "We are here to pick up some papers of his, just a little thing he's been working on." This came with a hard blow to the chest that knocked Bill to the ground. "And I trust you are going to be very cooperative and tell us where we could find what we are looking for." He kicked him sharply in the stomach.
"I don't know," Bill choked out. "He doesn't bring things home from work."
A large foot began applying pressure to his chest. "Search the house. There should be three more. Bring them all in here." He turned back to Bill. "Now, boy, what were you saying?"
Bill started whimpering. "I don't know! I don't know! He doesn't show me when he brings things home anymore, and he doesn't talk about what he does at work."
"My patience wears thin," the voice hissed at him. "Where does your father keep his papers, boy?"
"I'm not sure," he cried.
"Perhaps this will loosen your tongue. Crucio!" He pulled his wand on Bill, after removing his foot. Bill screamed on the floor, and his body began convulsing with sharp jerks at the pain. He cut it short quickly, and Bill continued twitching silently, tears streaming down his face. He was hiccuping back tears when the large figures came down the stairs, holding Dominic and Meg, who had obviously had some magic worked on them, and set them on the couch. "Still quiet? Maybe something else..." He turned his wand on Dominic. "Avada Kedavra!"
Bill screamed again as a jet of green light shot towards his brother's still form. "Upstairs!" he finally managed.
"What was that, boy?"
"Upstairs, under the trunk in the study. If there really is anything, it's there," Bill sobbed.
"So, learned your lesson? Let's just make sure. Crucio!" Bill didn't last the second wave of pain, and passed out on the floor. One of the larger figures left, up the stairs and around the corner. His body continued its freakish convulsions, until the wandholder apparently got bored with it. "Where is the fourth?"
"We looked through the whole house. There were only the three," it muttered, nodding towards the bodies.
"Oh well. We have what we came for." They waited in silence until the third figure came back down the stairs, clutching the papers in his hand. They made a quick search of the rest of the house and left, arms full.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Are you sure you're all right to apparate, Molly?" Arthur Weasley asked his wife, bassinet in hand, when they reached the lobby of St. Mungo's.
"I'm fine, Arthur. I've done this three times before, four if you count the twins. I just want to get Percy home."
He nodded, and a minute later they were both standing in the middle of their front lawn. It was still dark out and Arthur was heading over towards the house when he realized that Molly wasn't behind him. He turned to look at her, silhouetted against the early morning darkness. A look of horror was on her face. He turned back to the house before he saw what she had seen. A wispy green snake and skull floating above the house. The Dark Mark.
Clutching the bassinet in his arms, Arthur ran towards the dark house. Unconsciously he noted that the porch lights had gone out. The front door was blasted open, and the inside of the house was freezing. He set down the baby and used his wand to relight the candles. The first thing he saw when his eyes adjusted to the light was Bill, lying on the floor. Paling, he yelled out to his wife. "Stay out there, Molly. Let me make sure it's safe."
"You're not dealing with this yourself, Arthur," she lectured, stepping through the door. "I am just as capable..." her voice died out as her eyes shot to the small figure on the couch. "Nick? Nicky? Dominic? Ennervate!" She shouted, along with another half-dozen waking spells. Arthur came and wrapped an arm around her.
"Hush, Molly. Leave him be. He's not going to wake up, love." She was just starting to cry when she heard a soft moan from the floor.
"Bill? Merlin, your alive!" She fell to her knees and took him up into her arms.
"Mum?" he whispered.
"Yes, Bill, it's Mum. Where are the others?"
"Charlie!" he cried out.
"Yes, love, where's Charlie?" she spoke, forcing her voice to remain controlled.
"I heard-voices, outside. I told him to-run, out back. Into the woods. And not-to come back-on his own."
She closed her eyes tightly. "Ye gods, he's still out there Arthur!" She hugged Bill tightly while Arthur left out the back.
It took Arthur the better part of an hour to find Charlie where he had fallen into the stream bed. He was a pale shade of blue, and he didn't want to touch him for fear he'd find another son gone. But when he picked him up, Charlie moved loosely, and tried to cling to Arthur's warmth. They trekked back through the woods, only pausing for Arthur to remove the Mark from the sky before they came back in.
The fires were lit again inside. Bill and Molly were in the chair in front of the fireplace, and she was crying heavily. "I've got him, Molly. But he's so cold. I think something's wrong." She stood up and joined him. He was setting the body down on the rug in front of the fire. They knelt on either side of him, whispering heating spells until he began to shiver heavily.
"He'll make it," Molly said, once they paused. "I've seen worse than this."
"And what of Meg?" he asked gently.
Her professional mask cracked, and Molly started crying again, shaking her head violently. He took her into his arms and held her while she cried. Bill was the first to remember the baby, and he walked over to where the bassinet had been left, removing Percy and taking him back to the chair.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Percy had no memory of the house across town, by the hill. They had moved into the Burrow before he was one year old. He knew that they had lived there once, and saw the house many times while in town, but he never knew why they moved. The younger ones didn't know about it at all.
There are some things still not mentioned in their house. No one ever talks about the old house, or how things were when Bill and Charlie were little. And some things faded out. All the pictures of the twins are locked away in the attic, and only Bill and Charlie ever knew them. And only they ever saw their mother weep as she lay flowers on the tiny gravestone in the village cemetery.
A/N: This is my explanation to the legendary Weasley gap. I can't really say much more than that, because this story scared me and I'm starting to cry. I alluded to these events in my sorting story. Just tell me what you thought of it, even if it isn't good.
Disclaimer: I do not own Arthur, Molly, William, Charles, or Percival Weasley, Stoatshead Hill, the Burrow, or the Dark Mark, and have made no monetary profit from their use.