The Consequences of Curiosity
Summary: Bill decides to look into his family's finances and holdings to see if he can find a way to assist the family in regaining a more even financial footing. Upon doing so he discovers a plot and manipulations that he must work to undo so that his family can finally find true happiness.
Authors Note: Hello all! I have a new tale for you! This one should be shorter, I'm aiming for around fifteen chapters if all goes well! That being said, yes I do have the story plotted out. That does not mean, however, that what I have plotted will be how the story comes out in the end. Everything tends to change as I write so it's usually a surprise for me too!
Reminder: I have decided to switch my Facebook page into a Facebook profile for ease of use so that I will actually be able to use it and interact! Come friend me on Facebook at Ashton Mason (My pseudonym), or at Facebook dot com /Ashton. mason .5686
Warnings (as of now): Molly, Ginny, Ron, and Dumbledore bashing. Unlawful potions use. Love potions, controlling potions, creature suppression potions. True mates. Creature!Fic. Implied and referenced rape and noncon. Not sure if there will be a detailed scene, if there is I will have a warning at the top, as always.
Disclaimer: This story is in the beloved memory of my darling Muse Master Pika... She's not dead, I just think about her a lot! (I told you that your plane would land safely!)
Chapter 1: It Begins
Bill sighed in frustration as he pulled off his heavy winter cloak and gloves. You would think that with the end of the war things would be simpler.
Flopping down onto the couch of the small flat that he shared with his beloved fiancee Fleur, Bill watched listlessly as the flames in the fireplace died down and settled into barely smoldering embers as the floo powder that he had used to get home faded the rest of the way. Hmm, perhaps he had taken too much from the pot in his office but who could blame him? He was dead tired.
Closing his eyes Bill allowed his head to loll back on the couch as his thoughts once again began to wonder.
The war that they had all been preparing for, fearing, for so long... Was over. Harry had defeated the Dark Lord just months ago in the middle of the Ministry Atrium, in front of the Minister and over a dozen Aurors. There was no more denying what had happened.
Harry had given veritaserum testimony as well as copies of his memories to the DMLE and with hours the remaining Death Eaters were all captured.
Everything should be perfectly fine.
...So why wasn't it?
Things just weren't adding up anymore. There were moments where he could swear that something horrible was about to happen, his magic coiling and winding within him in agitation but it didn't make sense. Even after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was brought back his magic hadn't acted like this, not when his father was lying in a hospital bed close to death or when Harry had a vision right in front of him. Hell, his magic didn't react this badly when he was face to face with a malicious curse!
So why the bloody hell was it doing this!?
For months now the question had plagued him and yet he still could not think of anything for it. It was a warning of course... But for what?
"Are you well mon love?" Fleur's voice washed over him comfortingly as she draped herself across his shoulders. "Somezing 'as been troubling you, I am getting worried."
"I'm fine Fleur," He said smiling softly as he leaned up and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. "Something just... Hasn't felt right and I've been trying to figure out what it is. That's all."
"Somezing with us?" Fleur asked quickly, taking a seat beside him as her brows knit together in confusion.
"No, no! Not with us," Bill assured quickly, enveloping one of her small hands within his own lovingly. "No, just... Something else... I'm not sure, I can't really explain it myself. I just feel like it has to do with my family..."
"Well..." Fleur said slowly, running the fingers of one of her hands along the back of his soothingly as she thought, "What do you theenk you should do to start? I will help in any way!"
"Thanks for coming with me Charlie," Bill said with a grin as he led the way down the corridor towards his office.
Bill had floo called him late last night to see if he would be willing to help look into the family finances for anything that could be setting off Bill's magic. Of course, Bill being the heir of the family could have done this by himself, possibly a lot quicker as well.
No, Charlie was here to do the one thing for Bill that he couldn't do himself, offer support.
Charlie didn't know what Bill was expecting to find, he didn't think that Bill knew either, but he was more than willing to be there for his big brother.
"It's no problem Bill, I've been worried lately too. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but when I stopped by the Burrow a while ago I noticed Mum sneaking a potion into Dad's tea. So, either Dad's not taking care of himself like he should be and Mum's trying to force it, or Mum and Dad are trying to hide how bad Dad's still hurt from everyone. Which... Kinda makes sense considering how bad Harry takes any hint of pain from Dad after what happened. You know, Dad stubbed his toe a while back and I thought Harry was about to cry!"
Bill chuckled in fond amusement as they sat down at his desk. Charlie watched in curiosity as his brother pulled out his wand and prodded a small rune that was carved onto the desktop.
"A courier will be up in a few minutes with anything we could possibly need," He explained as he stowed his wand in its holster once more. "I do agree with you though, Harry blames himself for way too much. Poor kid has enough to deal with. That is odd about the potions though... Well, we'll at least be able to find out what they are! Mum's dreadful at potions, which is ironic given how good she can cook, so she has to buy them all. There'll be a list on the ledger no doubt."
"There's no way that this can possibly be right!" Bill growled as he slammed the ledger down on his desk. "Our family are not thieves dammit! Our mother and siblings would not be actively stealing from the person who has not only become a member of the family but has saved our families' lives multiple times! This has to be wrong!"
"Bill," Charlie's voice is hesitant, his eyes wide with shock. Bill took a deep breath, desperately trying to calm himself down. With a hiss of frustration, he dug into his desk drawer and dug out two vials of calming drought, tossing one to his brother before gulping his own down greedily.
Bill sighed in relief as he felt the forced calm slowly work itself through his body and mind before straightening the ledger and his sheet of parchment that he had been taking notes on.
"Okay," He started, looking Charlie in the eye and seeing his own determination mirrored. They would do what they had to, they would do what was right. They could only pray to Merlin that whatever that was wouldn't serve to be the end of the Weasley family.
"Let's go back over what we've found so far," Bill said slowly watching as Charlie grabbed a fresh sheet of parchment to write on. "Okay. So, there is a marriage contract between House Potter and House Weasley, probably between Harry and Ginny, but I don't think Harry is aware of it... There are statements here for that shady potions shop in Knockturn for a lot of Galleons, I don't know what this first one is but these other ones are love and compulsion potions. And then there are transaction records showing large sums being transferred from the Potter family vaults into our vault then split and sent into three separate vaults for Mum, Ron, and Ginny..."
A heavy silence descended upon the office as the brothers merely sat and stared at each other. Their thoughts clouded and disgruntled as they processed the shocking information that they had discovered.
"I think..." Charlie began hesitantly, his burly body seemingly curling in on itself within the confines of his chair. "I think that we need to talk to Dad and see if he knows anything about this..."
Authors Note: Dun dun duuun! Well, there you have it! The first chapter! What do you think? This chapter was a bit short but I thought that this was the perfect ending point for it! That being said, writing accents without being campy is hard...
Also, how much do you want to HATE Ginny? Because it's going to happen. I'm just trying to decide whether or not I want to include a specific scene that I've got playing around in my head.
*~! Happy Reading !~*