A/N: Thank you again for the reviews! Sorry for the delay, I got sidetracked with the Potters *grins* Enjoy this next chapter!

Warnings: Please do not read on if you are underage, if you dislike chan and/or incest, or if you like them, but cannot differentiate between what is fan fiction and what is real life. My stories are strictly for entertainment only and not to be copied or followed or taken as the truth in any which way. Got all that? Please proceed ONLY if you agree with the above.

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William Arthur Weasley was a good boy and a great older brother. He loved his parents and his younger brothers and was more than happy to help his mother take care of them. He also didn't mind sharing a small room with Charlie and Percy every night even though the latter's snoring - small as he was - inevitably drove him up the wall. The twins had their own tiny room, the lucky devils; no one wanted to share such a confined space with them.

Every night, Bill would pray very hard that he would get his own room very soon and that until he did, he would fall asleep before Percy did. Neither wish came true tonight since his younger brother started snoring as soon as their father had left their room after tucking them up.

After five minutes of suffering through those nasal, droning sounds - how Charlie could fall asleep to that was a miracle - Bill sighed in frustration and sat up, swinging his legs to the floor. He wasn't thirsty, but getting a drink of water sounded like a much better option than shoving Percy onto the floor. Bill made his way down the winding stairs and past the living room where the door was slightly ajar. He heard his parents' voices coming from inside and after a moment's hesitation, paused to listen, hoping to hear discussions on future extensions to their home.

He heard something else entirely.

Bill learned that his father could only have sons while he himself could only have daughters. That didn't seem very fair to him, but getting married and having a family were adult stuff that were still a long way off so he wasn't too worried about those. It was the other things they said that made him frown.

Being the eldest child, Bill was a very matured nine year old. He had to be, with so many younger brothers to care for and a pair of mischievous twins amongst them. He knew his family was poor and money was tight. He also knew how much his parents longed for a daughter and the helpless tears his mother shed whenever she thought she was alone (no thanks to Percy who also snored during his afternoon naps).

Well, Bill wanted a baby sister too, one he could cherish and protect from bullies when she was small, and from overeager suitors when she grew up. The talk about strange sounding Muggle procedures had gone right over his head but he listened intently when his father proposed something that involved him. He wasn't sure what it was exactly since his parents weren't explicit about it. All he knew was that they wanted something from him, something that would help them get their much longed for baby girl and they were willing to Imperio him to get it.

Bill froze behind the door, feeling stunned and betrayed as if someone had stabbed him in the back. Arthur and Molly Weasley were his parents! Why would they want to Imperio him, their own child? Wasn't that illegal? More importantly, why? Did they think he would refuse his help?

Of course he wouldn't! He loved them, he was willing to help in any way he could!

As he stood there with his eyes wide, mouth agape and heart pounding away in his chest, his parents' conversation got even more mind boggling. Before he could wrap his mind around the fact that he, and not his dad, would be the father of that longed for baby girl - he still had no idea about the 'how' - he learned that not only would he be Imperio'd, he would also be Obliviated to keep what they intended to do a secret.

Bill peeped around the door just in time to see his father taking something from his work bag and giving it to his mother to read. His mind was spinning. He didn't know which part he should be more shocked over, that they wanted to cast those two spells on him, or that they wanted to do something that would necessitate the use of those spells in the first place. Bill knew there was something not quite right about fathering a child at his age so it made sense that they would want to keep this secret, but - but his parents were good people. They were hardworking, generous and loving and kind... they wouldn't do something like this! And even if for some strange reason they did, they need only ask for his help instead of taking it against his will.

Surely... surely they knew that?

Bill bit into his lower lip until it bled, torn between wanting to march in there and confront his parents, and wanting to go back upstairs and pretend he hadn't heard a word. The huge sum of Wizarding gold that was mentioned after that barely made an imprint in his reeling mind. Shaking his head in helpless and confused denial, he was just about to turn around and leave... when he saw his mother lift her hands to hold his father's face. Their soft, but heartfelt declarations of love made his eyes sting, blurring the vision of his parents sitting in a tight embrace on the sofa.

Blinking hard, he saw his father's thin face facing him, eyes squeezed shut behind their glasses. Then something slid down one cheek, something that glinted in the lamplight.

"You are the best husband in the world, Arthur... I love you so much..." Molly's voice was broken by sobs.

"I would do anything for you, Molly, you know that. If you are willing to go through with this, then so am I."

Bill stared at his parents, struck by the sight of that single tear and the painful grimace on his father's face. Then he took a deep and shaky breath, feeling a strange calm settle over him. He still didn't understand most of what they had said and he still didn't know why they had to use those spells on him, particularly the Imperio, but he did feel a bit better now.

Yes, his parents were good people who loved each other. Perhaps it was he who had misunderstood things; he was only nine years old after all.

Well, there was only one way to find out. Bill knew he wasn't supposed to interrupt an emotional moment between two adults or worse, let on that he had eavesdropped on their private conversation, but his name had been mentioned and that meant he was somehow involved in this. Added to the series of shocks he had just received, one after the other, and he now felt justified in confronting them.

The impulsive streak that would land him in Gryffindor House two years from now made Bill Weasley square his shoulders, pull open the door and walk into the living room.

"Mum? Dad?"

To be continued...

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