unedited

the journal

chapter 13

Bill tossed the last of his items in his trunk and slammed it shut, snapping the clips with a sharp pop. The summer was over. Bill didn't think he'd ever had a more absurd summer since the war ended. He had found out so much about the little brother he barely knew. The discoveries were sad, but he knew the change would be positive.

Telling their parents about Percy's confession of not wanting to live was hard. Molly had immediately started sobbing, his dad looked heartbroken, and the twins yelled in shock as they broke in from their hiding spot. Bill had tried to calm the chaos, but everyone was inconsolable. He couldn't say he didn't understand. How do you react when someone you know—a loved one, a family member, a brother—tells you that they don't want to be alive? It wasn't until Percy began apologizing that everyone stopped and noticed the slow, quiet tears dripping down his pale, freckled face.

Then it was all of them telling him all at once that he had nothing to be sorry for, it'd be okay, and they loved him. It was chaos.

The Burrow was always chaos.

Now Charlie had already returned to Romania, and Bill was preparing to leave for Egypt in a few hours while Molly herded children preparing to go to Hogwarts. It was Ron's first year and Percy's first year since everything changed. Bill hoped everything would be happy, peaceful and overall better this year. He couldn't go to the station with them—he was leaving too soon—but he still intended to say goodbye.

Bill stood up from his spot on the ground and bounded downstairs, just in time to see all the kids drop their cases by the door.

"Say goodbye to your brother fast, we have to leave," Molly snapped, clearly frustrated at the clan's inability to do anything promptly.

Bill wished Ron good luck and promised him he'd be fine. He told the twins to stay out of trouble and owl if they needed anything. When he got to Percy he hovered in the hug a moment longer than the others, making his brother promise to keep striving towards his goals, to talk to him and open up to those around him more.

As he watched his siblings and mother pile into the old Angelina Ford, he smiled to himself, missing his own school days and rushed September mornings.

Percy looked nervous—of course he almost always did—biting his nail and fiddling with the frayed end of his sleeve. To be honest, Bill was nervous too. He really would worry for his little brother. But he was confident that Percy would be able to handle it.

He knew Percy would be okay.

He really, really would.

a/n next is the epilogue. i'm sorry this is short but it just felt too drawn out to make it any longer.

-c.v.