"All right, everybody, tuck in!" Mum said cheerily as she came into the dining room and placed a steaming dish of roast beef on the table before sitting down opposite her husband's empty chair. "Dear me. It's so nice to have everybody around the table again."
I just looked at her. This was anything but nice. Especially because I was sitting across from Bill, the living ghost.
"Yes, it is, mother." Charlie replied, smiling. Since when did he stop calling her 'mum'?
"Oh, and of course, it is always wonderful to have a friend of Charlie's joining us." Mum went on.
Cornelia gave her a crisp smile that had virtually no emotion behind it.
"Everything looks delicious, mother. Really it does." Charlie said.
"Yes. It looks very nice, Mrs. Weasley." Cornelia added.
The conversation was so strained I wanted to scream. In fact, it was almost a relief when silence fell over the table.
"So, Percy, your piano playing is getting along quite nicely. Was that Bach you were playing last? It was beautiful." Mum said after several minutes of unbearable quietude.
"Mother, that was Chopin." He said in a patronizing tone. "Now please pass the potatoes, you know I only have half an hour."
Mum's arm twitched toward the bowl of mashed potatoes, but then resumed its position by her side. "Uh, dear, you could always take a little more time to enjoy dinner with your family. We can listen to your playing after dinner."
Percy just stared at her, unresponsive, still waiting for the potatoes. Finally, I passed them over. I could have sworn my mother was about to give me a disapproving look.
"Mmm, these potatoes are so good! Bill, try some." Fleur said in an exaggerated, hopeful tone as she looked up at her unresponsive husband. Bill slowly picked up his fork and put some food in his mouth as though it revolted him. He slipped it down his throat before giving a small nod. Fleur looked as though she was about to cry, but all she did was rub his back affectionately.
"Mum's potatoes," Ron started in an obnoxious voice. "Were always...over-salted. BUT, I missed them over the past year. I did."
Well, at least he wasn't slurring.
Mum just looked at him. I could tell by the expression in her eyes that she was angry as hell. Not only was he drunk at the dinner table, but he insulted her cooking too.
Everybody except Bill looked back and forth from mum to Ron, not knowing what to expect next. Even Percy took a break from shoveling food into his mouth to gaze at his mother.
"I-uh" She cleared her throat "I'll put less salt in next time."
"You know," Cornelia started after a long pause, "it could use a bit of pepper too."
"My husband is allergic to pepper." Mum snapped, the smile still on her face. Nobody commented on the lie, or that her husband hadn't been to dinner in weeks.
"Well. Thank you for dinner. I'm going to get some practice in-" Percy started before Charlie discreetly pulled him back into his seat.
"You know what you need, lady?" Ron asked Cornelia suddenly after several moment of staring blankly at his plate as though deep in thought.
Cornelia frowned and looked at him.
"You are too damn uptight. All right?"
"Excuse me!" Charlie said.
"It's all right, it's all right." Cornelia said, then murmured under her breath, "He doesn't understand our rules anyway..."
Mum put her fork down, though she still had traces of a smile on her face. "What rules are these, then?"
"Um, it's not important right now-" Charlie stuttered.
"Not important!?" Cornelia exclaimed.
"What rules?" Now she was really frowning and I was torn between fear and relief.
"What, you don't know? We're part of the Ethetistical Wizard Society of Britain."
"Cornelia, that was too soon-" Charlie started to mutter.
"YOU WHAT?!" She rose out of her chair
Percy looked like he was about to choke, Fleur was glancing wide-eyed back and forth between Bill and Charlie, and Bill just looked with empty eyes at his mother.
I have to admit, I was just happy to see something happening.
"Can't we wait until after dinner...?" Charlie sounded desperate.
"Yes. Please, after dinner, maybe in private?" I interjected in a small voice. I never liked playing the scared, innocent little girl, but Charlie needed my help, even though I still couldn't stand the thought of him being part of any of that Ethetistical stuff.
Mum looked over at me, slightly surprised, as though only noticing my existence at that very moment. Her expression softened and she sat back down. "Of course, dear."
As though waiting for the worst possible moment to arrive, dad's patronus leaped onto the table not five minutes later, his voice shattering the hard, fragile silence.
"Hello, everybody. Listen, I'm sorry about not making it to dinner. I really am swamped here. Molly, please send hellos to everybody. I love you dear. Er, also, I have a ton to catch up on tonight so...don't wait up."
Great. Because mum really needed to be in a worse mood right then.
Fleur sniffed softly as she grabbed hold of Bill's arm and stroked it softly.
"Fleur, relax. He's not going anywhere." Ron said bitterly.
"How do you know?" Her voice cracked along with her calm exterior. "You don't know what it's like. 'E-e 'asn't spoken in w-weeks."
"Oh, would you calm down?! What, you want your family to go back to its perfect bubble again. Well, there are worse things than depressed husbands, all right?"
"I am so sick of everybody in this family assuming I don't feel any pain. At least your father says 'I love you' once in a while." A tear fell down her cheek and her hands were shaking violently. "I'm pregnant! And he doesn't care!" She threw her napkin onto the table and stormed out, the tears streaming down her face.
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