Chapter 3

Bill and Yasmin walked hand in hand, chatting happily and looking very much like a couple in love. It was Sunday night. They had been on a date, and now they were on their way to Bill's place.

In Bill's opinion, the date had gone well. He had taken Yasmin out to dinner, and afterwards they had gone back to the park Yasmin had taken him to after the party at Todd's. There they had spent half an hour kissing, and now Bill hoped for things to become more ... well, intimate.

Soon they were standing in front of his house, and Bill let Yasmin entered before him. Luckily he had cleaned the place up that morning. It consisted of a living room, a small kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom.

While Bill went into the kitchen as Yasmin disappeared into the living room, presumably to have a look around.

"Would you like something to drink?" Bill asked. "I've got water, pumpkin juice and Butterbeer."

"Water please."

Bill filled two glasses and took them with him into the living room. Yasmin was looking at the picture of his family he kept on the bookshelf as he handed her the glass and positioned himself behind her.

"Is this your family?"

"Yup. Mum and Dad, Molly and Arthur. Then there's Percy, Ron, Charlie, Ginny, Fred and George. And me." Bill pointed at each of the family members in turn.

"You can tell from the red hair that you're family."

"That's the Weasley trademark, I'm afraid."

Yasmin turned and faced him. "I definitely like that trademark," she said before wrapping her arms around his waist.

Bill took that as a sign that he permitted to do the same thing. Yasmin put her head on his shoulder, and Bill buried his face in her hair, inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo.

She looked up at him. "You know what?"

"What?" was all he had time to say before she rose on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips.

Bill responded to the kiss. Somewhere at the back of his mind a little voice said that he should take Yasmin to the bedroom, and he obeyed. She didn't protest, and they ended up on his bed. Where quickly removed each other's clothes. A thought that this could turn out to be a very interesting night went through Bill's head before Yasmin suddenly drew back.

"Sorry," she said. "It's not that I don't like you, but I don't want us to rush things."

"It's okay, I understand." Bill had hoped for more, but if Yasmin did not want to go any further he was okay with that.

"I'd still like to stay though."

Bill put his arms around her, holding her close. "You know what? I was hoping that you'd say that."

Yasmin smiled and wrapped her free arm around his waist. "At least there's something we agree on."

Louise had just handed in her weekly report at the main office, and she was approaching the barracks when she saw a light in Charlie's window. Something made her want to go and ask if he felt like taking a walk or something, but she decided against it. He was probably busy.

Still thinking about Charlie, she continued to her room. She liked him. In fact, she liked him a lot. She was not in love, but he was kind, considerate and funny; not to mention good looking. What girl in her right mind wouldn't want such a boyfriend? Louise would have loved such a boyfriend, but she had long since given up on love. It had come her way a number of times, but it had always managed to hurt her in one way or another.

As a result of that, she had promised herself to not become involved with another guy; they only caused trouble. Besides, she didn't think that he was interested in her. A guy like him could, without a doubt, have any girl he wanted, and why then would he want her?

That thought was depressing. It was not fair! Why was she so unlucky in love? Did she deserve it? She answered the question herself; no. Somewhere she still had some self-esteem left, and it told her that she deserved to be much better off than she had been for the better part of her life. Like now. She liked her job, and she had made several good friends. Maybe things would be better from now on.

Charlie was sitting on his bed with his back against the wall. He was accompanied two of his best friends, Evan and Stuart. The topic of discussion for the moment was girls, and Charlie had complained about being single.

"What about Louise?" Evan asked.

"Louise?"

"Yes, Louise. It's obvious that you two fancy each other."

Of course Charlie liked Louise. They were friends, and he enjoyed spending time with her.

"We're friends," was all he could think of saying.

Stuart and Evan looked at Charlie and then at each other as if they both were thinking, 'Yeah, right.'.

"You know that it's amusing when you deny that you have feelings for her, don't you?" Stuart pointed out.

"Well, it just so happens that I don't," Charlie retorted.

"Yes you do."

"No I don't. We're friends."

"If you say so." Evan didn't sound convinced. "But listen, we must go back to what we were talking about. Where do we put the new Swedish Shortsnout? She'll arrive tomorrow, and we don't have any enclosure ready."

"Walter told me that one of the dragons on the Spaniards' area died yesterday, and he said that we can move her enclosure to our area," Stuart said.

"Great." Charlie was happy to talk about anything else but Louise. He didn't like when his friends insinuated that he was in love with her, because he was not. She was a friend, nothing else. "When do we do it?"

"Tomorrow. But first we have to decide where to put it."

"We can do that tomorrow too," Charlie suggested. "How about directly after breakfast?"

Evan and Walter nodded.

"Well, that's settled then," Evan said. "I'll ask Louise to join us." He grinned and looked at Charlie, who just pulled a face at him. He liked to spend time with her, there was nothing else to it than that; he just didn'thave the energy to start arguing with Evan and Stuart about it.

Since Bill had asked her out on a date, Nikki had plenty of time to think about what she was getting herself into. What a stupid thing to do really. It was almost like going on a blind date, except she knew what the guy looked like. At least he is good looking, she thought to herself, smiling.

Bill wouldn't be the first guy to date Nikki. She knew that some people at home regarded her as somewhat sluttish, but she was not. She liked to date, but that did not mean that she slept with each and every one of the guys, like some people seemed to think.

That was part of why she had chosen to take Aunt Christine and Mike up on their offer. She was fed up with people talking about her behind her back, and she had known that it would do her good to move somewhere new. Nobody in Cairo, except Aunt Christine, knew her, and Nikki liked it that way even though she attracted attention because of her blond hair and fair skin.

Tuesday, the day when Bill was going on his date with Nikki. At work he was able to keep his thoughts off her, but as time slowly approached eight o'clock he became nervous. He was used to dating, but this was his very first date with a Muggle girl.

At seven fifty-five Bill Apparated to the street where the restaurant was located. He slowly walked towards the familiar sign hanging above the door, and when standing outside the restaurant he looked around to see if he could see Nikki anywhere.

Suddenly she stood right in front of him, smiling.

"Hi. Are you ready to go?"

Bill smiled back. "Yes, I am."

"So, where are we going?"

"I thought I'd leave that for you to decide."

"Oh, what a gentleman. Then I know just the place."

"Let's go there then."

Ten minutes later they stopped in front of a pub.

"You ever been here?" Nikki asked.

"No, never," Bill replied, peering through one of the windows.

"Come on then."

Bill followed her inside, and was greeted by all the familiar sounds of a pub. People who talked and laughed, clinking glasses. People looked at them as they made their way towards a table, and Bill hoped that it was because they were Westerners and not because they sensed that he was different.

"So, what can I get you?" he asked as he pulled out Nikki's chair for her.

"Oh, thank you," she said and sat down. "A beer please."

"One beer coming up."

Bill headed for the bar. Beer... That must be like Butterbeer, he decided, and ordered one for himself as well. It would be something to tell his father. His father loved all things Muggle, and would be delighted if Bill told him that he had tried Muggle beer.

Once back at the table Bill sat down across from Nikki, and he soon found out that Muggle beer did not taste like Butterbeer. He liked it all the same, and ordered one more once he had finished his first glass. Nikki also wanted another one, and after two more beers they decided that they had had enough to drink since they had to work the next day.

It was twelve o'clock when Bill looked at a clock behind the bar.

"I'm so sorry, but I must go. I have to get up early tomorrow."

Nikki glanced at her watch. "You don't have to apologize, but do you think that you see me home before you go? I don't really like to be out by myself at this time of night."

"Of course."

On their way back to Nikki's they didn't talk very much. When they stood outside her house, Nikki was the one to break the silence.

"Thanks for everything. I've had a great time."

"Me too." "I was just wondering, would you like to go out for a beer again? Or just have dinner somewhere?"

Bill was surprised, but happy that she asked. "I'd love to!"

"Great! When?"

"How about Saturday?"

"That'll be fine. I don't think that I can take another night off from work this week, so do you think that we could meet sometime during the day?"

"Of course. How about ten AM? Are you awake then?"

"I should be. So, where do we meet?"

"Outside the restaurant again?" Bill suggested.

"Okay. Well, I don't want to keep you since you have to get up early tomorrow. Goodnight, see you on Saturday."

Nikki gave him a hug, and Bill hugged her back.

"Goodnight, see you," he said before letting go.

He watched her as she walked towards the house. He hadn't really planned on going on another date with her, but without hesitation he agreed to when she asked if he wanted to see her again. In fact he wanted to see her again, and he ignored the guilt he suddenly felt. He had stronger feelings for Yasmin, so it was unnecessary to tell her about Nikki.

Saturday arrived. Nikki was looking forward to the date with Bill, and smiled to herself as she caught sight of him standing outside the restaurant.

"Hi, have you been waiting long?" she asked, hugging him.

"No, just a couple of minutes."

"So, what do you want to do?"

"Well, since I'm not that familiar with... Cairo. Why don't you give me a tour?" Bill had almost said 'Muggle Cairo' but stopped himself just in time.

"I'm new to the city as well," Nikki confessed. "We can play tourists. I don't have a map, but we can explore the city anyway."

Bill agreed, and before lunch they had a look at a couple of churches and squares and other cultural things. When they were tired of being cultural, they had a late lunch at a small restaurant in the outskirts of Cairo, and when they had left the restaurant Nikki heard a strange sound from above. Looking up she saw a brown owl flying towards them, and she frowned. She didn't know whether owls were supposed to exist in Egypt, but she did know that they were nocturnal animals. She pointed at the owl.

"Look!"

"Bloody hell! Not now! I'll kill him!" Bill silently cursed.

The owl landed beside him, and held out one of its legs. Bill hastily bent down and untied something attached to it before the animal took off again.

Nikki watched all this, confused. What was this? Owls delivering pieces of paper? Bill, who looked as if this happened on a daily basis, unfolded the paper and read the writing on it.

"And this couldn't wait?" he muttered, clearly annoyed.

Nikki was by now feeling very confused. "What was that?"

Bill stood motionless and silent for a few moments. Then he sat down under a tree and patted the ground beside him. "Sit down, this might take a while."

Nikki sat down, not knowing what to expect. Bill seemed almost scared, not sure of what to say. What was he going to tell her? As she prepared for the worst Bill took a deep breath.

"Just let me finish before you say something. Okay?"

"Okay."

"I don't really know how to tell you this ..."

Say it already! a little voice inside Nikki screamed. Whatever it was she wanted to get it over with.

"The thing is..." Bill was now talking to his hands, "that apart from the world you and most people know, there is another."

"What? What do you mean?" What was he talking about? Another world? There was only earth, no one had found life on other planets yet.

"I'm part of this world, or community, or whatever you want to call it. I'm ... I'm a wizard."

Nikki stared at him, not knowing what to think. Wizard? "What are you talking about? Is this some kind of joke, or what?"

Bill shook his head. "No, it's not," he said calmly.

Nikki's first thought was that this couldn't be true. There was no such thing as witches and wizards. It was impossible!

"I'm sorry, I hadn't planned on telling you like this," Bill continued. "I hope you're not angry at me..."

Angry? No, why should she be? All this was too unreal, she couldn't make up her mind if it was something to be angry about.

"No, but surprised. First I thought it was a joke." Nikki looked around, waiting for someone to jump out of a bush and shout, "Smile, you're on candid camera!" But no one did.

"It's not a joke."

"Can you show me? Do some magic?"

"No, we're not allowed to do magic in front of Muggles."

"Muggles?"

"Non-magic people."

"Oh, so we've got a name?"

"Yes, in fact you do."

Nikki shook her head in disbelief. "So, what you say is, there actually are such things as wizards and witches?"

"Yes."

"Then how come I've never seen or heard about any?"

"Because we don't want any Muggles apart from Muggle relatives to know about us."

"Muggle relatives?"

"Yeah. Non-magic people can give birth to magic people, and magic people can give birth to non-magic people. Often witches and wizards marry Muggles, so there are quite a few Muggles who know that we exist."

This was too much for one evening. Nikki had read about them in storybooks, but never had she imagined that it was for real. If they were for real, of course; Bill might just fool around with her.

"I've said too much," Bill went on. "I should put the Memory Charm on you and never see you again, but I don't want to. Can I trust you not to tell anyone about this? I'm serious. You cannot tell a living soul."

"Look... If this is a joke it's not a very funy one. You actaully expect met to believe that there are such things like witches and wizards?"

"Okay... tell you what, why don't you follow me to my place and I'll show you." Bill knew that he should just oblivate her, but for somer eason he couldn't. Instead he suddenly wanted to show her his home, so she would believe him.

"Whatever for?"

"So I can show you that I'm telling the truth."

Nikki looked at him as if he was crazy. "I don't know why I'm doing this, but okay."

Bill rose. "Thanks. Come on then."

They walked to his house, and during the way Bill had time to regret his decision several times. What was he thinking? Why exactly did he want to show Nikki what he was? What if he would get in trouble for it?

When they arrived at his place Bill almost held his breath when showing her through the frontdoor. He didn't have too many magical objects lying around, but there were the moving pictures of him and his family.

Bill looked at her as if to try to see if she was telling the truth. Apparently he decided that he could trust her, because he put his wand away. "Good. I hope you still want to see me again."

"Of course. If you want to see me again, that is. But I just need to know... were you going to tell me about this, or did you do it just because of that owl? By the way, what was it doing

here?"

"The owl was delivering a letter from Charlie. That is how wizards and witches send letters to each other, by owl-post. And I was going to tell you, but before I did, I had to know if you wanted to see me again."

"Of course I want to see you again. Didn't I just tell you that?"

"Yes, you did. If you think that you can get used to the thought that I'm a wizard. And you know what?"

"No."

"I was scared that to tell you. I didn't know how you'd react."

"You don't have to worry," Nikki ensured him.

Bill rose. "I understand if you need some time to think this through, but I hope you still want to be my friend."

"Yes silly. You're still Bill Weasley, and I happen to enjoy your company."

Bill smiled, and Nikki could tell that he was relieved. "I hoped so. How about I walk you to work now, so you won't be late?"

Nikki looked at her watch. "Oh, yes. Let's go." She wanted to find out more about this Wizarding World, but she could not bring herself to ask Bill more about it. Not yet. She was still too confused about all this and had a hard time just comprehending what he had told her.

As they reached the restaurant Bill put a hand on her shoulder before she went inside.

"As I said, I understand if you need some time to think about all this."

"And I think I'm going to need that time. I mean, you've just told me that there actually is magic and stuff."

"I'll be in touch," Bill promised. "You take care until then, all right?"

"I will. You too."

They hugged, and Nikki watched Bill walk down the crowded street before she opened the door to the restaurant and walked inside.

"Hi!" greeted her Christine. "How was your date?"

"Good. We did some sight seeing."

"And is there something special going on between you?"

"I don't know. We've established that we're friends."

"Good. Then you'll have someone else apart from me and Mike to spend time with."

"The problem is that he works when I'm free and I work when he's free."

"What a shame. I guess we could give you a couple of nights of each week," Christine said.

"Maybe he can introduce you to some of his friends as well."

"I don't know, maybe. We haven't really discussed that yet."

"You did what! Merlin Bill, don't you know that we're supposed to keep the Wizarding World a secret? Muggles that do not have wizard relatives cannot know about us!"

Bill had just told Tim about his date with Nikki, the owl and that he had told her that he was a wizard.

"I know, but what was I supposed to do? She saw Charlie's owl, and it brought a letter."

"Yeah, you're right. Still, you could've performed the Memory Charm on her."

"I guess, but I- I know how this must sound, but I want her to know what I am."

Tim looked at Bill as if he was out of his mind. "And why exactly is that?"

"I don't know, it's ... I want her to be my friend, and it wouldn't feel right not to tell her what I am."

"So, you would have told her later on anyway, even if that owl hadn't turned up?"

"Yes."

"You must really have a thing for her."

A thing? No, no, they were just friends. "I like to be with her, as a friend. Besides, I've got Yasmin."

"Yeah, you do. Let's hope this Nikki won't tell anyone about us. You did tell her to keep quiet, didn't you?"

"Of course I did! And she said that she wouldn't tell anybody." Bill did not dare to think about what would happen if she told anybody about the Wizarding World.

"Let's hope she keeps her word," Tim said.

Bill nodded. Somehow had taken for granted that Nikki would keep her promise, but now when Tim brought it up, he mentally smacked himself. How stupid to trust someone he hardly knew with a big secret like that. At this very moment Nikki could have told everybody she knew about the Wizarding World. However, he doubted that she would be believed since she did not have any proof. That calmed him down a little, but the thought lingered at the back of his head.

He had to write to Charlie. Whenever there was something bothering him, Bill wrote to his brother. It did not matter how many good friends Bill had in Egypt, Charlie was still the one he always confided in when he had a problem.

Charlie folded the piece of parchment together. He had just received a letter from Bill. Apparently he had been on a couple of dates with a Muggle girl, who he claimed was just a friend, even though he was going out with a witch with whom he worked. The problem was that he had received an owl, from Charlie, in the middle of his last date with the Muggle girl, and Bill had to tell her about the Wizarding World. Charlie regretted that Snitch, his owl, had arrived at such a bad time, but how could he have known that Bill, at that very moment, was on a date? And with a Muggle girl?

He felt a little sting of envy. While Bill had two girls to choose from, he had none. It was not that he did not want a girlfriend. Almost two years had passed since his last relationship, and he had dated just a few times in that time. He simply could not seem to meet someone he was really interested in, and he had figured that it was better to wait for a witch he really loved instead of getting into a relationship with the first witch that came along.

Charlie knew that his parents, especially his mother, looked forward to having grandchildren, but he also knew that he would not be the first one to make her happy. Bill probably would. He had always been lucky when it came to girls. He obviously had something Charlie did not, and as much as Charlie wanted to he doubted that he would ever be as successful with girls as Bill.

Nikki had a hard time comprehending what Bill had told her about him being a wizard. She could not believe that such 'things' existed. They were supposed to be part of fairytales and bedtime stories, not real life.

Almost a week had gone by since that day when she had found out about the Wizarding World, and she had not told a living soul about it. She had promised Bill to keep quiet, and she was going to keep her word. She understood that it was important to him to keep it as secret as possible, and doubted that anybody would believe her since she lacked proof.

She could not imagine what living in this Wizarding World was like. Was it like the real world? And where did they live? She would like to know, and she would ask Bill when he decided to contact her again. If he wanted to tell her, that was. She did not know how secretive he had to be, but hoped that he could tell her at least bits and pieces of what it was like being a wizard.

He had promised her that he would keep in touch, but there had been no sign of him whatsoever. Nikki had begun to suspect that he would not contact her at all. Maybe he was embarrassed or ashamed, even though she had said that she was okay with him being a wizard.

"Just let me finish before you say something. Okay?"

"Okay."

"I don't really know how to tell you this ..."

Say it already! a little voice inside Nikki screamed. Whatever it was she wanted to get it over with.

"The thing is..." Bill was now talking to his hands, "that apart from the world you and most people know, there is another."

"What? What do you mean?" What was he talking about? Another world? There was only earth, no one had found life on other planets yet.

"I'm part of this world, or community, or whatever you want to call it. I'm ... I'm a wizard."

Nikki stared at him, not knowing what to think. Wizard? "What are you talking about? Is this some kind of joke, or what?"

Bill shook his head. "No, it's not," he said calmly.

Nikki's first thought was that this couldn't be true. There was no such thing as witches and wizards. It was impossible!

"Look... If this is a joke it's not a very funny one. You actaully expect met to believe that there are such things like witches and wizards?"

"Okay... tell you what, why don't you follow me to my place and I'll show you." Bill knew that he should just oblivate her, but for somer eason he couldn't. Instead he suddenly wanted to show her his home, so she would believe him.

"Whatever for?"

"So I can show you that I'm telling the truth."

Nikki fought a quick battle with herself. She could get in serious trouble if she followed Bill to his place. And what did she really know about him? Nothing. For all she knew he could plan to rape her or kill her. But curiosity finally got the better of her. "I don't know why I'm doing this, but okay."

Bill rose. "Come on then."

Fortyfive minutes later they were standing outside a small house. It looked normal enough, Nikki thought, as she walked through the front door. And the inside looked normal too. No brooms or cauldrons or strange stuff were in sight at least.

She walked through the whole house, and ended up in the living room. Everything looked normal there too, despite the fact that there was no TV or stereo. It was then she caught sight of the portraits standing in a bookshelf.

She stepped closer, as if to convince herself that she had been mistaken. But the people in the pictures still moved. She stared at them and then at Bill, who was standing behind her.

"They're..."

"Moving," Bill finished for her. "I know."

"But... How..."

"You use a special kind of developing fluid," Bill said, realising that it probably didn't make any sense to Nikki at all. "They're magical photos."

Nikki walked over to the couch and sat down. Afraid that she would faint Bill hurriedly sat down beside her, but she simply looked at him in disbelief.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a wizard. Like I told you."

"But..."

"We're not supposed to exist?"

"Exactly."

"Well, we do. And I'm sorry for telling you like this, but when Snitch came with Charlies letter... I hope you're not angry at me."

Angry? No, why should she be? All this was so unreal, she couldn't make up her mind if it was something to be angry about.

"No, I'm not. It's just... I thought it was a joke."

"Well, I'm afraid it's not."

"Can you show me? Do some magic?"

"No, we're not allowed to do magic in front of Muggles."

"Muggles?"

"Non-magic people."

"Oh, so we've got a name?"

"Yes, in fact you do."

Nikki shook her head in disbelief. "So, what you say is, there actually are such things as wizards and witches?"

"Yes."

"Then how come I've never seen or heard about any?" Answer that question if you can, Mr Weasley.

"Because we don't want any Muggles apart from Muggle relatives to know about us."

"Muggle relatives?"

"Yeah. Non-magic people can give birth to magic people, and magic people can give birth to non-magic people. Often witches and wizards marry Muggles, so there are quite a few Muggles who know that we exist."

This was too much for one evening. Nikki had read about them in storybooks, but never had she imagined that it was for real. If they were for real, of course; Bill might just fool around with her. But then again, what about the pictures? There was no way there could exist moving pictures if there wasn't something strange going on, and suddenly finding out that there were witches and Wizards was clearly classified as strange according to Nikki.

"I've said too much," Bill went on. "I should put the Memory Charm on you and never see you again, but I don't want to. Can I trust you not to tell anyone about this? I'm serious. You cannot tell a living soul."

"Memory charm?"

"Yeah, I can make you forget that you ever met me."

That sounded dangerous. "There's no need fort that. I won't tell anybody."

Bill looked at her as if to try to see if she was telling the truth. Apparently he decided that he could trust her, because he nodded. "Good. And I hope you still want to see me again."

"If you want to see me again. But I just need to know... were you going to tell me about this, or did you do it just because of that owl? By the way, what was it doing here?"

"He was delivering a letter from Charlie. That is how wizards and witches send letters to each other, by owl-post. And I was going to tell you, once we got to know each other better. And I was worried how you'd react."

"Yeah. Talk about shock treatment."

They laughed, but Bill quickly got serious. "But, did you want to see me again or not?"

"Yes, I want to see you again. Didn't I just tell you that?"

"Yes, you did. If you think that you can get used to the thought that I'm a wizard. And you know what?"

"No."

"I was scared that to tell you. I didn't know how you'd react." Bill rose. "I understand if you need some time to think, but I hope you still want to be my friend."

"Yes silly. You're still Bill Weasley, and I happen to enjoy your company."

Bill smiled, and Nikki could tell that he was relieved. "I hoped so. How about I walk you to work now, so you won't be late?"

Nikki looked at her watch. "Yeah, we should be going." She wanted to find out more about this Wizarding World, but she couldn't bring herself to ask Bill more about it. Not yet. She was still too confused about all this and had a hard time just comprehending what he had told her.

They walked in silence, and as they reached the restaurant Bill cleared his throat. "I understand if you want some time to think about all this."

"And I think I'm going to need that time. I mean, you've just told me that there actually is magic and stuff."

"I'll be in touch," Bill promised. "You take care until then, all right?"

"I will. You too."

They hugged, and as Bill walked away Nikki opened the door to the restaurant and walked inside.