I only own Drey.

"Charlie. Do we have to do this?"

The young man winced as his sister managed to extend his name into a long, and fairly high pitched, whine. The girl was lagging behind her brothers, reluctance visible with every step she made as they headed towards the suite of rooms that housed their family. With what Seamus had termed the one sensible action in the entire mess, Narcissa had put them in rooms in the west wing of the house, far away from the others, and Ginny seemed determined to turn a walk that should have lasted just a few minutes into a half hour meander through corridors. It was the fifteenth time she'd said that, or some variation of the same theme. Bill had given up on her and gone charging ahead, then he waited for them at a corner to keep his brother company, he walked at Charlie's speed for a while, then charged ahead again, mumbling under his breath about annoying little sisters and his legs being too long to walk that slow. Charlie was nearly ready to join him and leave Ginny to get lost wandering around the Manor, but he was more patient than his older brother, and he had absolutely no intention of letting Ginny get out of this meeting.

Narcissa had suggested, in a steel coated in velvet tone, that the three Weasleys should go and get the rest of their family for lunch, give them a bit of quality time together. She had suggested that Harry join them as Molly considered him her eighth child, but through a fabulous piece of fast talking he'd managed to avoid it, saying something about how important family was and how he wouldn't want to intrude etc etc. The brothers were planning on talking with him later that night about a little concept called sticking together in times of crises and uncomfortable reunions.

If it was possible Ginny seemed to be getting even slower (she'd already been going at a snail's pace, at this rate she'd soon be walking backwards) the closer they got to what she referred to as 'the gateway to an awful, hellish Christmas. She had taken the silent treatment from their family the worst, because she was the only girl she'd always been really close to her mother, and as the baby of the family everyone doted on her. Even though she didn't regret her decision at all, and she hated what her family had done to the court, she missed having all her brothers and her parents around her.

Finally, after Charlie had grabbed Ginny and literally pulled her along with him, the door came insight. It seemed innocuous enough, dark wood, oak probably, with three rectangular patterns leading up from the base, and an inset square at the top. Set in a dark green wall, the door looked the same as many of the others in the Manor; it opened with a bronze door handle which formed a loose wave as the tip scrolled under the body of the handle. It seemed simple enough, but behind this door was either happiness, the chance of a family reforming with new members over the Christmas season, or heartache as the Weasley family split further apart.

"Do…do you mind if I join you?"

Percy's head appeared around the door leading into the twins' bedroom. This in itself was quite a rarity, at home he avoided the twins as much as possible, their 'everything is a joke' philosophy was the polar opposite to his 'everything is linked, if I don't tie my shoes properly now I'll never get a promotion when I'm 35'. It never used to be that way, when they were little they had got on well, it was just when Percy got to Hogwarts that he started separating from the rest of the family, the more responsibility he got and the more exams he had, the stiffer he became, especially where the exuberant Fred and George were concerned.

"Come on in."

Again, that was odd. Fred and George disliked Percy's stuffy nature as much as he did theirs. The fact that the three of them were getting along, in a pale imitation of how they used to, was testament to the gravity of the situation.

"Are they still fighting?"

Fred and George were sitting on the floor in the gap between their queen-size beds, they were so close together that nothing of the pale blue wall was visible between them. Narcissa had obviously heard of the exceptionally strong bond between the Weasley twins and borne it in mind when setting up sleeping arrangements. It was a kind touch that they hadn't expected but did appreciate, most people they visited (which wasn't many granted, but there were family and friends from school) split them up, if they even thought about it they would have considered the boys too old to want to still share a bedroom, but Fred and George were strongly of the opinion that they weren't too old and never would be, as far as they were concerned Fred was George, George was Fred and they came as a complete package.

Both of them were feeling the divisions in their family, but possibly not as much as Percy, they were one unit and could function on their own, but Percy had always been close to Ginny. They both considered themselves the odd ones out and so gravitated towards each other, although that bond had been fading since Ginny came to Hogwarts. But despite the fact that they inhabited their own world most of the time, they were close to the rest of their family, Bill especially as he had loved practical jokes as much as they did, and it was Bill who had started them on their road of mischief.

"Yes. It doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon either. Ron's going strong, Mum's getting angrier, and Dad's just collapsed in the armchair. He looks exhausted."

In a very un-percylike display he collapsed on the floor infront of the twins and leaned against Fred's bed.

"They'll have to stop fairly soon, it'll be time for 'luncheon' in a minute and some House Elf'll be coming to fetch us, I bet you."

There was a definite slur on luncheon, and the look on Fred's face said exactly what he thought of people who said 'luncheon'.

The doorknob started pulsating with a pale green light, and a hollow knock reverberated through the room, the creepy sound made the three boys jump and look around wildly to see what the hell was going on. A second later the tired and ragged face of Arthur Weasley appeared around the door.

"Someone's here boys, it's time for lunch."

Percy suddenly found the thick, cream carpet incredibly interesting. He and Arthur hadn't been getting on all that well recently; it had nothing to do with Ginny, Bill and Charlie. Percy had got a job at the Ministry to make his father proud; he'd wanted to do everything as best as he possibly could so his Dad would be proud of him. But his efforts just seemed to distance him from the rest of his family until it became hard to look at any of them for a long period of time, never mind hold a conversation with them the way he used to, and the way the rest of the family could with each other.

"We're coming Dad."

The three of them stood up together, and Percy hung back as he let the twins walk in front.

In the main room Ron was standing by a window, sulking, Molly was standing by an armchair, twisting her hands together nervously, occasionally stopping to tug at her cardigan; the three brothers took up their positions by the wall, while Arthur went to open the door.

But when he pulled back the heavy wooden door, the family didn't see the house elf they expected, or one of the human staff it was rumoured that the Malfoy family had cursed into serving them, instead he found Bill, Charlie and Ginny standing in a row in the corridor.

"Hi Dad."

"Hey."

"Hello."

Ginny's greeting was muffled as she was practically speaking to the floor, it had taken a nudge from Bill to get her to utter even that much.

"Narcissa sent us to get you for lunch."

Bill was speaking, as he was the eldest brother he had been voted in (by Charlie and Ginny) to do the speaking, while Charlie was the more laidback brother, Bill was more responsible, forceful, and the big brother so it was his job to protect his younger siblings from things they didn't want to do.

But he didn't look so laid back when a snort resounded from the window, and something that sounded like 'Weasleys obeying Malfoys', and then another, dismissive/disgusted snort.

Charlie watched as his three other brothers flinched, almost in unison, he watched as his mother groaned, almost whimpered, and his father seemed to swell up and then deflate. He watched as his brother walked over to Ron, stood looming over him and said, in a low voice that was one hell of a lot scarier than his usual shouting fits.

"We came because Narcissa asked us to, she didn't order us to do anything. We did what she asked because she is a nice woman and we respect her, she's the mother of my girlfriend, she's the mother of one of my best friends. We came because of that, not because we wanted anything to do with you."

Ron sputtered for a moment while Bill turned around and went to walk away, but before he took one step Ron found his voice.

"Bill have you lost your mind you…"

"Ron for Gods sake shut up!"

Surprisingly enough the outburst came from Percy, and that was just a shock to shut Ron up.

In the ensuing silence Fred and George attempted what they usually did so well.

"Someone mention lunch."

"We're starving, aren't we Perce."

Charlie and Bill looked at them, and Ginny flicked her eyes towards them before staring at the floor again.

It wasn't much, in fact it was miniscule but it was a start at least, and with that thought in mind Bill led them down to lunch. And what a wonderful lunch it was going to be.

Sorry it's been a while, but everything got really busy and then I had revision and exams and everything. Anyway, please review the chapter, and I will try to get the next chapter up sooner, honest.

Sarah: sorry it's been a while, hope you like this chapter.

Draeconin: Not that I don't appreciate your review because all reviews are good, but where in this story has Voldemort been mentioned. Not all Harry Potter stories have to focus on him, and Harry isn't one of the most insignificant characters I just haven't got to his part yet. As you won't be 'back for more' this is probably pointless, I just felt like saying it.