Bill's Bill
Chapter 11: Chocolate Hands or Guilty Hands?
All original Harry Potter brainness is all JK Rowling's and the coffee shop she wrote the original book in. -C
Grimmauld Place Monday, 7:00 PM
Bill was greeted with a loud shriek as soon as he exited the Floo. One quick sweep of his surroundings and he was pleasantly surprised to find that Grimmauld Place was not nearly as dusty and decrepit as he remembered it being. The greying wallpaper in the Floo room had been replaced with white stone and the obsidian stained carpet was pulled up and replaced with dark wooden floors topped with a cream fur rug. The room was sparse with light grey furniture with only one large mirror adorning the wall making the previously dim room, lighter and bigger looking.
Bill made a quick mental note to compliment Ginny on her handiwork before smiling down to see his little Victoire wobbling on her unsteady legs towards her beloved father. She was wearing a fancy set of embroidered robes that Bill knew they did not own nor could they afford to own. Her pale pink bow from the previous morning was still in her hair, which was a miracle in itself. While her bow was in pristine condition, the same could not be said for her new robes. The pale turquoise material was littered with small stains that were a suspicious looking brown.
Bill picked his baby girl up and swung her around, hugging the tot tightly to his chest. He was both pleased and annoyed that the brown stains were chocolate. His vivacious daughter probably hadn't eaten her dinner and was probably going to pitch a fit when it was time to eat. She slapped her sticky fingers onto his cheeks.
"Dada!"
"Yes princess," he murmured into her hair. "Dada is home. Dada loves you."
She giggled and proceeded to smash his cheeks. It was one of her favorite games to play when he came home from work. He vanished the Floo dust off of him just in time to be nearly knocked backward by Fleur. He gripped his wife who was mumbling in a torrent of French as she kissed every visible part of his body.
Victoire giggled at her parents and clapped her hands excitedly. Had it really only been one day without them? He pulled Fleur into his chest squishing a loudly protesting Victoire in the middle of their hug. Fleur gripped his robes tightly murmuring her worry and love into his chest. He held onto his small family tightly, pulling the strength he needed to persevere from them.
"Bill, we should really move from the Floo before-" The chime of the Floo went off just as Charlie smashed into his back. Fleur screeched but Bill caught her and steadied himself before they all came crashing down onto the floor. Victoire was laughing hysterically and clapping her hands demanding, "'GAIN! 'GAIN!"
They moved quickly from the Floo entrance and out of the living room where Charlie was cursing and cradling his head. Fleur held Bill's hand as she led him out into the hallway and into a sitting room across the way. Draco was the only current occupant of the room. He was sitting and sipping tea as if there hadn't been a huge commotion followed by a steady stream of cursing not twenty feet from him.
Fleur summoned a toy for Victoire and pulled her from where she was latched onto his chest. Distracted by the bright yellow squishy broom toy Victoire sat on the floor zooming her broom around with her fingers. Fleur collapsed into the loveseat dragging Bill down with her. She began to prepare the tea with her wand, summoning biscuits and more milk from the kitchen.
"How are you holding up?" Draco asked. His eyes were guarded but his shoulders were taut with concern. Bill hoped that the two would be able to develop a relationship where Draco didn't always feel the need to wear a mask in his presence.
"Okay, better than I expected if I'm being honest. How was your trip back to England?"
"There needs to be a potion for dealing with the after-effects of International Portkeys. I still can't stomach solids."
"Victoire is fine ingesting solids." Fleur snipped. She gave Draco a stern look and he shrugged sheepishly.
"I only have one-" Draco was interrupted by louder and more prolific stream of inventive curse words coming from the room Bill had just left. George, who just came out of the Floo, was yelling at Charlie for being a nutter who crowded the Floo whilst he knew people were coming in behind him. George's personal brand of profanity was as amusing as his joke shop and while it was funny to listen to, it wasn't when his daughter repeated everything.
"LANGUAGE!" Shouted Bill and Fleur simultaneously.
George appeared behind Charlie in the doorway. "This dreamy idiot was blocking the Fuc-"
"George!" Bill cried. Charlie had the good sense to scurry off before Fleur started hurling hexes. George's eyes flitted around the room and he shrugged his shoulders in confusion. Draco, who had resumed sipping his tea, pointed one elegant finger to his feet. George leaned over quizzically. His face paled when he caught sight of Victoire sitting underneath the table, zooming her yellow Quidditch broom in circles around Draco's ankle.
"Sorry… I…. Fleur!" he announced brightly. "How lovely do you look today. I must say you are as radiant-"
"I will hex you, you imbecile!" Bill laughed as George scampered off down the hall in a self-proclaimed hunt for food that had more to do with self-preservation than anything else. Victoire began hitting her broom into Draco's ankle making loud zooming noises, not that Draco changed his calm demeanor or tea-sipping in the slightest.
"Draco is she bothering you?" Bill asked.
"DRAKEE!" Victoire screamed, her head popping up above the coffee table like a hedgehog avoiding hexes from a disgruntled landowner. "DRAKEE! YUM! YUM!"
"What the bloody hell?" Fleur smacked him over the head before he finished his sentence. Bollocks. He had just given George crap for cursing and now he was cursing.
"Bloody. Hell. Drakee! Yum! Yum!" Victoire clapped her hands excitedly at her two new vocabulary words. Draco put his tea down and scooped up his niece pulling her away from her mother's wrath.
"Come on Vicky let's get you out of your Mum's path before she starts hexing your dad."
"Dada! Bloody! Dada Bloody!" Bill hugged his wife tightly rationalizing that she couldn't reach for her wand if he was hugging her in a death grip.
"Bill!" he turned around to see Ron barrelling through the doorway him. He had not had a chance to talk to Ron personally since everything started and if he was quite honest, he was scared of his youngest brothers reaction the most. Despite Ron testifying for him, sending the letter, and being supportive he was still concerned about his baby brother. Ron did not handle change well, not when he was a child and certainly not when he was an adult. Finding out that his brother was his schoolyard bullies half-brother wasn't going to sit well with him.
Bill stood at the same time Fleur did, Fleur was muttering to herself about checking in on Victoire before Draco rotted her tiny teeth with sweets. Ron ran straight into Bill and hugged him tightly. It was a nice brotherly hug really, only Fleur was standing behind Bill and Ron's massive Auror build had accidentally trapped her in the hug as well. The result was Bill being sandwiched between Ron's chest and Fleur's boney back.
"Merlin, I was so worried about you Bill. They wouldn't let me come down to sit with you and Auror Proudfoot has a secret case going on. So naturally, he wanted usinside the office so the rookies wouldn't muck anything up. Also-"
"Ron your 'ands are squeezing my breasts." Ron turned scarlet and backed off immediately, his hands held up in the air and staying there. A chorus of Weasley laughter rang from the hallway and into the sitting room. He could hear every one of his brothers' laughter, including Draco, Harry, and Hermione.
"Alright let's move from the Floo. Andy's coming through with food. We don't want to risk her taking it back home with her!" barked Harry from the other room. Draco who was handing Victoire back to Fleur in the hallway, looked a bit confused so Bill clarified.
"Andromeda Tonks, she was originally a Black. Her daughter Tonks married Remus Lupin and their son, Teddy is Harry's godson."
"Like Professor Lupin? My teacher, the one that was a werewolf?"
"Yes, Draco and before you ask lycanthropy is not genetic so Teddy is not a werewolf. He is a metamorphmagus though, but so was Tonks so no one was especially surprised when his hair changed colors half an hour after he was born. He tends to wear morph into his father, his grandmother, or Harry. Harry is his godfather and they're quite close." Hermione chirped up from behind Harry. Hermione shooed them all into the hallway and then toward what Bill thought was a dining room, just as the Floo activated. A chorus of happy cheers could be heard and chants for food.
Hermione reappeared in the hallway rolling her eyes but otherwise looking quite happy. Bill was happy that Hermione felt so at ease with their rambunctious family. Fleur had a rough time adjusting to the madness that was the Burrow, but eventually, she learned to love her obstreperous and affectionate in-laws. Hermione had gotten used to the Weasleys fairly quickly, even though she was an only child. Ron said that Hermione always wished she had siblings but her parents never held an interest in having any more children. The Weasleys was likely all the family she was ever going to have, so his parents always made an extra effort for Hermione as they did with Harry. Hermione's controlled voice snapped Bill back to the present.
"Bill I need to borrow you. Did you see the Daily Prophet's Evening edition headlines?"
"No."
"Skeeter's source knew where your Mum was being kept even with all of the precautions we took. By the way, your father went with them to Kingsley's house so he won't be coming tonight. He sends his love though."
Bill tried to organize his jumbled thoughts. His thoughts were distracted when he noticed Draco had managed to sneak out of the dining room and was standing in the hallway feeding Victoire more treats while Fleur helped Mrs. Tonks with dinner. The two witches enjoyed each others cooking and he knew that they met once a week so their children could play and the two could swap recipes.
Consenting that his daughter wasn't going to sleep that night, he returned to his thoughts. Had the door remained opened when Ms. Macmillan was in the room? Pam had shut the door, hadn't she? What if it was leaked before Ms. Macmillan told them the news? What if there was a leak on the actual Wizengamot? A Wizengamot member leaking information about closed Wizengamot proceedings was a prison sentence but Rebecca was not exactly rational and no one knew why.
"Was Rebecca present when they decided where to send them?"
"I just sent an owl to Camilla. I'm waiting to hear a response."
"Who's Camilla and Rebecca?" Draco piped up from behind them. Victoire was happily munching on a bar of chocolate, her face and fingers covered with the offending item. Bill tried not to smile when he noticed that Draco's shirt was covered in chocolate as well as his fingers. Victoire yanked on her bow in her hair covering it with goops of chocolate, Fleur was going to freak out when she saw her treasured bow was ruined.
"Draco," Bill groaned. "She's not going to eat her dinner or go to sleep, you realize that. Also, Fleur loves that bow..."
Draco smiled mischievously, "That's the best part about being an uncle, or so I've heard. You get to fill their tummies with sweets and then hand them back to their waiting parents. I'll buy her a new bow, maybe a green one. What do you think Victoire? How would you look in green and silver?"
"Umm… no to the green and silver. Let's try and buy gifts in neutral colors, okay? Where did you hear that bit about parents and sweets?"
"Astoria. Her sister, Daphne has two kids."
"Greengrass?" Hermione piped up.
"Yes, we're… er… seeing each other." Hermione gushed at Draco's awkwardness.
"I remember Astoria from school, we used to study together. She's such a sweetheart! You be good to her Draco Malfoy or I'll come after you myself." Hermione was smiling but after what Bill witnessed her do today, he wasn't fooled. Draco wasn't either because he grimaced. Regardless, Bill made a mental note to warn Draco later. Speaking of mental notes-
"Hey, Draco. Is it true Hermione punched you in your third year?" Draco and Hermione blushed simultaneously and Bill burst out laughing. "Wow. I don't know which one of you two look more embarrassed."
"Draco, I'm sorry. I really-"
"No. I was being a right foul git."
"I was so tired and I was taking so many classes-"
"I deserved it, but maybe don't-"
"I would NEVER!" Hermione was horrified at the suggestion of violence, it was ironic given the case she was currently defending.
"Okay. We're good then." Draco hoisted Victoire higher on his hip. He turned to the tot and smiled tenderly at her. "Let's go hide from Mummy and then we can eat more treats."
"Yum! Yum! Drakee! Yum! Yum!" Draco tickled Victoire's tummy and scuttled off with his niece.
"You realize why that's not a good idea, right?" Hermione smiled at Bill.
"She's good for him. Draco… he hasn't had it easy and Victoire adores him."
"Malfoy most certainly hasn't had it easy. You know, I'm one of the only people in this house that will agree with you? His Mum came with Andy, I suspect she'll be in here momentarily looking for her son. Do you trust them alone with your daughter, Bill?"
Surprised by her question when she was defending the Malfoys in court, he suddenly felt an overwhelming urge not to answer. He was still grossly overwhelmed by his feelings regarding Lucius Malfoy. Until he had time to sort them through he wasn't sure he wanted to answer any questions that could negatively or positively affect a future relationship with him if he wanted one at all. Rather than answer her question he turned the tables on her.
"Would you trust them with your children Hermione?" he watched as she blushed and then furrowed her eyebrows in thought. Bill was still leaning against the doorway to the parlor and Hermione was still in the hallway. She leaned against the walls.
"No, I don't think I would. I feel terrible about it but… Bill, I was tortured in that house. They stood by while..." Hermione's eyes blurred at Bill enveloped her in a hug.
"Why are you representing them, Hermione?"
"Because it isn't right. There are corrupt Witches and Wizards in the government and they have to go! We can't grow as a society when old Purebloods and bigoted supremacists hold onto positions of power forever. We certainly can't grow if we allow certain people to abuse the weak and the minorities." he watched as the younger girl struggled to compose herself.
"It's okay, Hermione. If you need to cry-" she stiffened, her eyes dark and focused.
"No. We have a leak and I need to find out who it is." Hermione took off down the hall and into the Black family dining room. It was small by comparison to their formal dining room but about a quarter of the size of the Great Hall. The walls were adorned in ceiling-to-floor mirrors and all the floors in the house had been replaced with a finished oak wood. Ginny had spent a lot of time changing Grimmauld place into a livable and less depressing house. While, every room wasn't finished Bill was glad the main rooms were.
Hermione was placing protection charms on the floating candles as she simultaneously pulled rolls and rolls of parchment from her pocket. She spelled the mirrors to look like a regular wall and began to apply sticking charms as she arranged the bits of parchments all over the wall. She organized her mess under specific categories, purple question mark, a yellow exclamation point, a red beaker, a blue droplet of water, and a plain green square. There were pictures and string connecting bits of the parchment together and Bill was temporarily stunned at the mass amounts of information displayed in front of him.
The question mark represents general questions and queries I am trying to solve."
"Why do you care about," Bill squinted through her handwriting, "The connection between the court reporter and Camilla Macmillan?"
Hermione shrugged. "I like information. Those two have a personal relationship that no one else has. I have a hunch they live together. Also, why does Rebecca Fowley hate you so much? If we find out what is driving her, then we can find out what her end goal is and if she really is connected to the leaks."
"The yellow and orange exclamation point?"
"The yellow are things we know already and who knows them and the orange are things the opposition knows."
"The red beaker is stuff pertaining to the explosion?" Bill surmised. He was impressed by her thoroughness, but then again did he expect anything less?
"Yes as well as any information on Saint Mungos. Healer names, information, who was where when they were attacked by Aurors..." she stumbled as she pinned several more things in the red beaker area and then moved onto the water pile. This one consisted mostly of names and things. Bill was drawn to this list as it was tracking everyone throughout the last week.
"The water represents information leaked and who was present at the time. I can't find one person who was present at all of the leaks, which leads me to believe that there is more than one person leaking information. The Green is random theories and such."
"Blimey… Hermione… Ummm… are you doing one of your things again?" Ron was standing in the side entryway of that lead into the kitchen. The youngest Weasley was running his hands through his red hair in alarm. Hermione smiled at him adoringly.
"No. I'm fine. It's not the date thing again."
"What date thing? Also, can you blighters move in, we're carrying hot food!" Shouted George from behind Charlie who was behind Ron.
"I can see you levitating it, George." Hermione retorted as Ron shuffled inside the room settling himself into a chair. Charlie walked in after him and summoned dishes and cutlery from the adjoining kitchen.
After George shuffled in, came Ginny and Draco arguing about Quidditch, Fleur holding a crying Victoire, and Narcissa Malfoy, Andromeda Tonks, Percy, and finally Harry tickling a very happy Teddy Lupin. They all settled into seats as Andromeda and Narcissa laid the food down onto the table. Percy looked stressed as he was seated in between George and Charlie. Honestly, Bill couldn't blame him. Charlie and George got up to a quite a bit of mischief these days. Ron was pulling Hermione away from her mass of parchments on the wall, while Harry was trying and failing to get Ginny's attention away from Draco and back to her boyfriend.
Dinner was the usual Weasley boisterous affair where no one mentioned Bill's case and no one drew unnecessary attention to the two additional guests sitting at the table. The Malfoy's were treated like they had been sitting at their table for years and both the Malfoy matriarch and heir looked grateful for it. The closest thing anyone got to mentioning the stressful events of the day was teasing Charlie for ducking out before dessert with an extra plate of food.
"What? Tracey is watching Mum and she's probably hungry, besides Kings said I could stay over if I wanted." George and Ron cheered that he was staying the night and followed him to the Floo chanting, "Charlie's gonna get some! Charlie's gonna get some!"
When they returned arm in arm and still chanting, Hermione silenced both of them with a well-aimed hex before Fleur served trifle and tea. All in all,l it was a tragically typical Weasley dinner. The only thing missing was their doting Weasley parents but no one brought it up. They were all aware of their Mum's medical chart and how she was doing. They all knew exactly where their dad was and that he was taking care of their Mum. Bill savored their moments together but knowing that his family was not wholly made the meal heavy and him thoughtful.
When Fleur passed him a sleeping Victoire to him, he bid his family good night and made for the stairs. It had been a long day and his small family was exhausted. Fleur walked directly behind him her wand lighting the darkened staircase. On the landing, they made a left and went into the second room. It was not one of the renovated rooms but Bill knew it was larger than most of the guest rooms.
Fleur skipped ahead of him and struggled for a bit before she pushed open the door. She spelled the heavy window curtains open and light flooded into the room from the street lamps outside as she lit the fireplace. The room was still dark but at least he could see, not that it was an improvement. There was an unsettling mixture of dark blue and black, from the curtains and linen to the actual furniture. The room was large and boasted a four-poster that was so big it took up the center of the room. The actual wood on the bed and nightstands were black but the curtains that hung from the tops of the imposing four poster was a dark blue, several shades darker than the linen.
He looked around the room for somewhere to put Victoire down. Ginny mentioned that this room had a cot, which was why they had claimed it after Andromeda announced that she was going home with a sleeping Teddy. On Bill's left were two doors, Fleur had just opened the first that led into a black and white marble bathroom and the second, he assumed, led to a closet. On his right was a small desk and a bookshelf that had been piled in the corner opposite one of the two windows.
Directly in front of the window was a small white cot. He strode over to the cot and after inspecting the cot and spelling it clean, he tucked Victoire in. He murmured goodnight and kissed her small fingers and then her forehead.
When Bill turned around, he found Fleur charming the room a dusty pink. He smiled as he watched his wife work. The floors were made a pale grey and the ostentatious four posters was transfigured into a contemporary paneled headboard with streaks of grey and subtle blues. The linen were charmed ivory like the bookshelves and desk that had been righted. Fleur used the Bookshelves themselves to wall off the desk and Bill set a permanent sticking charm so that when Victoire eventually tried to climb the shelves, it wouldn't come crashing down on her.
Bill settled himself onto the bed. The room was given an all-around softer feel. Fleur had just taken the doors off of the closet and was in the midst of recoloring and reorganizing it when Bill got up. He wanted to spend as much time with his wife as possible. He stepped behind her as she reached into the shelf to banish all the old clothes to the basement. So softly that she barely noticed, he lifted her collar back and kissed her neck.
"Bill." she moaned.
"You can finish the room tomorrow, love."
"Tomorrow?"
He peppered soft kisses up her neck pausing below her ear to suck gently. He set his hands on delicate hips and turned her to face him.
"The tub is very big in there." she murmured pointing to the bathroom. Her dark blue eyes twinkled and he set a monitoring charm on Victoire's cot. Threading his fingers in hers, he tugged her into the bathroom closing the door behind him.