Chapter Ten

The rest of the day had been uneventful, much to the relief of both Bill and Hermione. They were both too busy juggling work with their whirlwind of thought and emotions to handle anything more demanding. Their interactions with one another were thankfully minimal – Hermione occasionally walking in to drop off or pick up some paper work.

Bill glanced at the clock at the corner of his desk and tsked softly. He was going to be late for dinner at the Burrow. He grimaced at the thought of his mother's reaction to his tardiness and promised himself he'd leave as soon as he finished this last letter.

Hermione quickly filed the last of her parchments, prepared the ones she'd need first thing in the morning, organized the rest of her supplies and leaned back with a tense sigh of relief. She was finally finished for the day, and only twenty minutes after her dinner plans were set to start. She pulled her belongings out of her charmed bag, enlarged them to their normal size and placed them on her desk. Pushing back feelings of dread, she stood and knocked Bill's door softly.

"Come in," he responded quickly. She slide in and stood next to the door.

"I just finished everything," Hermione said when he looked up from his letter. "If there's nothing else you need," She trailed off questioningly. Bill shook his head and smiled tightly.

"You go ahead, I'm almost finished here myself. I guess I'll see you at dinner," he added, suddenly remembering that Ginny'd mentioned that Hermione and Harry were both currently residing at the Burrow at their mother's insistence.

"Dinner!" Hermione gasped looking shocked. She'd forgotten all about that. "I have outstanding plans already. I can't believe I forgot to tell your mom." Hermione winced guiltily knowing the woman would be looking forward to hearing about her day.

"Don't worry about it," Bill assured her. "I'll explain it to her," he promised.

"You too," Bill turned back to his letter as the door clicked shut behind her.

Nearly a half hour later, Bill attached his letter to a regal looking owl and sent it on its way to Switzerland. Glad to have made it through the day, he grabbed his cloak from the closet. Excitement at the prospect of finally having his mother's cooking again, he began to whistle tunelessly.

"Wonder if Ginny told anyone about lunch," he thought idly. He grabbed a bit of floor-powder and within seconds stepped into the Burrow.

"There you are!" Was all her heard before being pulled into a smothering embrace. "Imagine, my son Head of Foreign Affairs!" She continued, releasing him as she eyed the fireplace expectantly. "Hermione didn't leave with you? You better not be over overworking her. Working late together is one thing, but to leave her there to do all the work. You should know better than that!" Mrs. Weasley scolded him, carrying on and on.

"Guess that answers that question," Bill thought dryly. "Relax Mum. Hermione left over half an hour ago. She'd forgotten to write and tell you that she had outstanding plans. She seemed frazzled so I told her I'd explain," Bill said gently. For a moment she seemed put out, but she quickly recovered back to her initial cheer.

"In that case you go on and get cleaned up. Dinner will be in the table in five." She quickly pecked him on the cheek and bustled off to the kitchen.

Within minutes, Bill was dressed in faded old jeans and an old tee shirt left from his last visit a few years ago. Unfortunately, they now both fit rather snug, leaving his shirt stretched tightly over muscular chest and biceps and his jeans molded to his muscular thighs and bottom. Fortunately, the jeans were well worn enough that he need not worry about them ripping, and they cupped his manhood rather comfortably instead of mercilessly compressing it. Making a quick mental not to bring a few changes of clothes from his new flat, he hurried down the stairs lead by his growling stomach.

No sooner did he enter the dining room was he greeted with a wolf whistle and wiggling eyebrows by George. He flushed a little and began to chuckle lightly when a quick slap and squeeze to his rear end sent his skyrocketing. Covering his back end protectively, he whirled around to see Fred leering mischievously at him. Fred gave a small, quick nod and simultaneously wiggled his eyebrows at him once.

"How you doin'" He intoned jokingly. Grinning good-naturedly, Bill grabbed Fred in a headlock and mussed his hair roughly. Uproarious laughter filled the room as the two began to wrestle one another. Quickly, George leapt onto Bill's back to aid his twin. Even outnumbered two to one Bill easily overpowered them just as Mrs. Weasley and Ginny walked in with the last of the dishes.

Instantly, the rest of the Weasley's present filled the table, hugging Bill and congratulating him on his promotion. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were seated at the two head of the table. On one side of the table, Bill sat between Fred and George. He was the only person on earth that the twins not only allowed between them, but they insisted on it. They'd been going back and forth between living part time at home and at the flat they owned above the shop. Directly across from George, next to their father, sat Percy, prim as ever and most likely destined to never leave the nest. Originally, Ron had been sitting across from Bill, having moved in with Harry and Hermione after selling their flat, but Ginny had pushed him to the side, possessive of any attention she could get from the eldest Weasley boy. He began to eat, the long awaited taste of his mother's cooking leaving him in such bliss in took several minutes of occasionally glancing between Ron and Ginny before realizing something was wrong.

"Where's Harry?" he asked suddenly.

"Sirius invited him to a last minute dinner at Grimmauld Place with Lupin," Ginny said between bites.

"They do that every so often… those two are the closest thing to family he has," Mrs. Weasley added. "I insisted Harry bring some of my chocolate truffle cake though."

Small talk ensued throughout the rest of the meal, everyone waiting to catch up with Bill at once. It was nearly two hours before dinner and dessert had been finished and the dishes were done. Fully satisfied, Bill bid everyone good night and apparated to his flat fully intent on a nice hot shower and falling into bed.

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