Disclaimer: My dear reader. I am not now nor have I ever been J.K. Rowling. I just write fan fiction.

A/N: I wrote this for the Snakes and Ladders Challenge on HPFC. I also may have gotten Bill's age wrong by 1 year. I couldn't remember if he was two years older than Charlie or three, so I made him two in this. I'll correct it if I'm wrong.

Family Vacation

Bill paced his flat nervously. His family was due to arrive any minute. His father had won the thousand galleon drawing that the Daily Prophet held. He was excited to see his younger brothers and sister. He hadn't seen them since he had left for Egypt four years earlier.

He had been working as a curse breaker for Gringotts for the last four years and he loved it. He was only 22 years old, but he had seen things in the tombs that other wizards could only dream of. The Egyptian wizards were kind of sadistic. Some of the curses were things that had been banned for hundreds of years. Some wizards were studying the history of the ancient Egyptian wizards and thought that these wizards may have invented the curses.

Of course there was a downside to his job too. Besides being away from his family, sometimes the curses would kill wizards if they were caught unawares. He had lost a couple of friends. One hadn't checked before continuing on in the tomb he was searching. Another had let his shield drop briefly and hadn't brought it back up in time.

Bill himself had almost been stupid enough to lose focus. He was not going to tell that story to his brothers with his mother around. She would kill him herself if she ever found out.

Before apparating to meet his family, Bill looked in the mirror and grinned. They would certainly be surprised by his appearance. He had let his hair grow out. He liked his look, but was certain his mother would not approve of the length of his hair. He was even thinking of getting his ear pierced.

He took one more deep breath before apparating to where his family would be arriving by port key. It was easier to travel by port key since no one had been to visit him yet. A few seconds after he arrived, the rest of the Weasley clan appeared in front of him. A huge grin instantly lit his face as he was surrounded on all sides by red hair and hugs.

Once all of his family members had stopped trying to talk over each other, Bill asked, "Where are you staying, Dad? I rented two cars for us to use this trip, since apparition isn't feasible."

"Oh, well, um…" Arthur Weasley was trying and failing to stall.

Molly Weasley looked at her husband. "Arthur, what did you do?"

Arthur looked at the ground and muttered something unintelligible. "Excuse me, Arthur? I didn't quite catch that," said Molly.

Arthur looked at his irate wife and said a little sheepishly, "I haven't booked us anywhere. I was hoping to stay in a Muggle hotel."

Molly's look softened slightly while the children laughed silently behind her. Bill didn't tell his mother this. He was standing behind his father patiently awaiting his instructions, but his eyes were dancing with amusement. Some things never changed and his father's love of Muggles was one.

"I took the liberty of booking us a wizard hotel. I thought you might try something like this. Bill, lead us to this address," Molly said, handing Bill a piece of paper with the address written on it.

Bill looked at the address and said, "Sure. That's just a few blocks away from my flat."

As they walked to the cars that Bill had reserved, Molly started fussing over the length of Bill's hair. "Really, Bill, dear. It's a little…long…don't you think? I mean I could just do a quick hair cut at the hotel."

"No, Mum. I like it like this and believe it or not it keeps the sun off my neck and keeps me cool. I've done it for practical reasons and it helps that I think it's a good look for me."

Molly sighed in resignation as Arthur led her to the second car. Bill looked at Charlie and said, "It also doesn't hurt that the witches love it."

They both laughed. Molly was giving directions to the rest of her brood. "Fred, George, you two ride with Bill and Charlie. Percy, Ron and Ginny will ride with me and your father." At the look on Ron's face she added, "No arguments!"

Ron wisely kept his mouth shut and got in the car. Bill asked his mother if she wanted to go directly to the hotel or if he could show them some of the highlights of Wizarding Egypt. Molly thought showing them around a bit was a good idea, thinking it would be a good opportunity for the younger children to learn something. All of the kids got souvenirs and Ron even managed to get a birthday present for Harry Potter, one of his best friends.

"Ron, why are you getting that?" Bill asked when he saw what Ron had bought for Harry. "Those sneakoscopes are just something to sell to gullible tourists. They don't even work."

Ron looked a little disappointed. "I just thought Harry might like it for his birthday. His aunt and uncle probably won't even acknowledge it and I wanted him to get something."

Bill was a little surprised that Harry's relatives would treat him like that. "Just make sure you tell him it doesn't work. I wouldn't want him to be disappointed."

"No problem," said Ron.

Bill finally got his family to the hotel and they settled the sleeping arrangements. Bill offered his couch to Charlie who eagerly accepted. Since Charlie was sleeping on Bill's couch, Ron no longer had to share a room with Ginny. Ginny got a room to herself and Percy, Fred, George and Ron shared a room.

They ate dinner together at the hotel. The sneakoscope Ron bought kept going off and Bill reiterated that it didn't work. Bill didn't know that Fred and George had slipped some beetles into his soup.

Bill and Charlie walked the few blocks to his flat and talked the whole way about their jobs and the witches they had met. When they got to Bill's flat, Bill gave Charlie the grand tour, showing him the bathroom, and got him some extra blankets. They decided to go to bed earlier than they normally would, so they wouldn't have to face the wrath of their mother the next morning by being late.

The time passed much too quickly for Bill's liking. Soon it was time for Charlie to return to the dragons in Romania and the rest of the Weasley children to return to school. Molly informed Bill and Charlie that they would be staying at the Leaky Cauldron in London.

As Bill returned to his empty flat, he realized how much he missed his family. He hoped that he would get to spend time with his family again soon. He couldn't wait until that time came.