Wigtown Wanderers, Beater 2
Prompt: Bill and Charlie Weasley — friendship
Additional Prompts: (dialogue) "I didn't think I'd see you here."; (location) the Burrow
Word Count: 2086
Warnings: mentions of unplanned pregnancy and adoption
Author's Note: We don't really have any indication about how adoption works in the magical world aside from the example we see with Voldemort's childhood. So when I got this idea from the dialogue prompt, I decided to stick with a similar concept. This got a little away from where I initially believed it was headed, but I think I like how it turned out anyway. Hope you enjoy!
Oh Brother!
Charlie Weasley dragged his trunk onto the Hogwarts Express just as the final whistle blew. The train lurched under him, and he began his trek down the corridor in search of an empty compartment. Every compartment was full of upperclassmen who seemed to have no patience or room for the as-of-yet-unsorted First Year. Charlie was resigning himself to spending the entire train ride in the loo when the door of the compartment behind him slid open.
"Hey you!" a voice called.
Charlie turned to see a boy in a Muggle t-shirt grinning at him. He was a redhead like Charlie, but his hair was less tomato-y and more of an auburn, and his eyes were brown instead of blue. He was shrugging on his Hogwarts robes, which were trimmed with Gryffindor red and gold.
"Me?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah, you," the boy said, smiling even wider. "You need somewhere to sit?"
The automatic, defensive "no" caught in Charlie's throat. He was finally going to be around people his own age at Hogwarts, and his father had encouraged him to make some good friends. This was as good a time as any to start.
Marshalling his courage, Charlie nodded. "Yeah, I do. Do you mind?"
The other boy rolled his eyes playfully. "I wouldn't have offered if I did."
With that, Charlie followed him into the compartment he was sharing with two other Gryffindors.
"My name's Bill, by the way," the boy said, "Bill Carruthers."
"Charlie Weasley."
With Bill's help, Charlie hoisted his trunk into the overhead bin and then sat down next to him. Awkward silence filled the compartment, and Charlie fought the urge to run right back out the door.
After a minute or so, the girl sitting across from him flipped her black ponytail over her shoulder, huffed impatiently, and stuck out her hand. "Since Billy can't be arsed to give us a proper introduction, I'll just have to do it myself. Meghan McCormack."
"I've told you, I'm going by Bill this year, not Billy," the boy grumbled under his breath.
Charlie shook her hand. "How do you do?"
Meghan nodded her head at the boy sitting next to her. "This is Myron Wagtail, who thinks he's God's gift to music and magic."
The brown-haired boy next to her just smirked, offering Charlie the faintest hint of a nod. "I haven't had anyone prove me wrong yet."
"Want to settle it over a game of Exploding Snap?" Bill asked, the spark of a challenge gleaming in his eyes.
"You're on, Carruthers."
Charlie was settling back to watch the game when a smirking Bill shoved a handful of cards at him. "Come on, Weasley. We need all hands on deck to take this wanker down."
"Count me in," Charlie said, a wide grin cracking his face.
Charlie Weasley had thanked his lucky stars when he was sorted into Gryffindor with people he already liked, but no manner of luck could explain why the coolest Second Year kept treating him like an old friend. Bill Carruthers had walked him around the castle before lessons began, showing him the quickest path between each class and even where some secret passages were. He saved Charlie a seat at the breakfast table every day, and when Quidditch started, he asked Charlie to sit with Myron and him at every match to cheer on Meghan in her new role as Keeper. Charlie was incredibly grateful for Bill's quick, easy friendship. It just didn't add up.
The only explanation was that maybe Bill felt it too. From the moment they'd met on the train, Charlie had gotten this feeling of comfort, of friendship, of home around Bill. There was no rhyme or reason for it, and he couldn't explain what exactly it was. But as dramatic as it sounded, he felt like his friendship with Bill had been planned out long ago. It was just too perfect.
Charlie had finally talked his mother into letting Bill stay at the Burrow for a few weeks over the summer. He was ecstatic. Not surprisingly, his father was also excited to meet the Muggle-born wizard. His mother was a little less enthused to have yet another person to feed and clean up after.
When the big day arrived, Charlie met Bill and his parents, a kind-looking pair of people, down in the village of Ottery St. Catchpole.
"Don't forget to call us, Billy," Mrs. Carruthers said as she kissed her son's burning cheek.
"Yes, Mum."
"And I know you lot have that tooth spell, but please brush your teeth. It'll make me feel better."
"Yes, Mum."
"And do make sure you eat enough, dear. You were looking awfully thin at the end of this past term."
"Yes, Mum."
Mr. Carruthers clapped Bill on the shoulder, not-so-subtly dragging him from his mother's over-protective embrace. "Now, now, Marianne, he'll be fine. But do call, son. You know how your mother worries."
Charlie could see the man give Bill's shoulder a reassuring squeeze even as the boy nodded up at his father.
"I promise, Dad."
"All right, then you boys have fun," Mr. Carruthers said, leading his wife back to their car. "But not too much fun!"
Bill and Charlie watched them drive away and then began the long hike back up the hill, taking turns pulling Bill's suitcase behind them as they went.
"Sorry about my mum," Bill said, wincing. "She's a bit much sometimes."
Charlie laughed. "Don't worry about it, mate. You'll see, my mum's a bit crazy when it comes to us kids, too."
"Sometimes I forget there are six of you!" Bill said that every time the topic came up in conversation. "I can't even imagine it."
"I can't imagine being an only child myself," Charlie picked back. "But I bet by the end of next week you'll be glad you're the only child again."
"Not likely," Bill said, his face clouding over.
"Having that many siblings isn't all it's cracked up to be."
"Neither is being alone."
Charlie threw open the screen door of the Burrow with a bang. "Mum, we're here!"
"Come on in!" she called from the kitchen.
Charlie dropped the suitcase just inside the back door and led his friend toward the sound of clanging dishes. His mother had her back to them, busily Charming the ingredients for what looked like chocolate chip cookies.
"Mum, I want you to meet my friend Bill."
"It's so very nice to meet you, Bi—"
As she turned to greet him, her hand flew to her chest, and she leaned hard against the counter. "Fabian?"
Charlie and Bill exchanged a worried glance as her eyes widened even further.
"No. Oh my God, it can't be," she whispered.
Charlie's eyebrows flew toward his hairline. "Mum, are you alright?"
"I never thought…"
"Mum."
"Arthur! Arthur!" she yelled even as she walked slowly toward Bill.
Carefully, she took Bill's face in her hands. "I always hoped I'd see you again. I just… I didn't think I'd see you here."
Charlie didn't understand the sudden look of comprehension that washed away Bill's confusion.
"What is it? What is it?" his father called as he careened around the corner, brandishing his wand. "What's wrong, Molly?"
Molly and Bill both turned to face him at the same time, and Charlie watched as all the blood drained from his father's face.
"It can't be…" he murmured, reaching out to touch the tips of Bill's hair.
"What can't be?" Charlie asked, stomping his foot. He felt foolish, acting like Ronnie when he didn't get any pudding, but he hated being left out of the loop.
Bill ignored him as well, looking back and forth between the two adults. "You're my parents, aren't you?"
The pair shared a look and said, "Yes," just as Charlie cried, "What?"
The Weasley matriarch sank into a chair at the kitchen table, and the three men followed suit.
Charlie's father raised an eyebrow at her. "Shall you explain, or should I?"
She waved dismissively, her eyes busy roaming every inch of Bill's face as if soaking in every detail.
Arthur cleared his throat. "Alright then, I'll just start from the beginning. Charlie, I'm not sure if you're aware, but your mum and I got married right out of Hogwarts. We were young, and we didn't have a lot of money, but we were rich in love—"
"—and that's what matters," Charlie finished the family mantra quickly.
"Right, yes, that is what matters. But you need more than love to care for a child," Arthur said quietly. "When we found out your mum was pregnant for the first time, we were in a tight spot. I was in the middle of an unpaid internship at the Ministry, and we were barely getting by on the money from my weekend job at Zonko's. We just couldn't afford another mouth to feed."
"So we kept you a secret," Molly said to Bill, her voice barely audible. "I stayed home, claimed to have the dragon pox to keep our family away for months. We hired a midwife from Ireland to help with the delivery."
"With what I'd learned during my internship, I had enough knowledge and contacts to see our baby—our son—put up for adoption in the Muggle system."
Molly swallowed visibly. "We knew you'd have magic. We knew that we'd likely run into you someday, in Diagon Alley or in the Ministry. I just never imagined it would be in our own kitchen."
Bill reached across the table and took her hand.
"Did I ever tell you about how Bill and I met?" Charlie blurted out.
His parents' eyes turned to him, waiting for his side of the story. Blushing fiercely, Charlie continued. "I was looking for somewhere to sit on the train. All the other compartments were occupied, but for some reason Bill opened the door and asked me to sit with him and his friends. You know me. Normally I would have said no and found somewhere to sit by myself, but I felt like something was drawing me to him, so I agreed. We hit it off immediately, like we'd been friends forever. It almost felt like…"
"Like coming home," Bill finished. "I thought the same thing when I saw you looking through the window of the compartment. I didn't know who you were, but I felt like I was supposed to."
"I guess now we know why," Charlie said, a small smile gracing his lips. Then he turned to his parents. "But how did you know it was him?"
"He looks just like your Uncle Gideon," Arthur explained.
"Fabian, dear," Molly corrected him absentmindedly.
"Either way, it's impossible to deny the resemblance."
Charlie cut his eyes to Bill. "And how did you know?"
Bill shrugged. "My parents told me I was adopted when I was just a little kid. I never thought that much about it until I saw the way your mum looked at me."
A beat of silence passed, punctuated only by Molly's quiet sniffs as she fought back tears.
"I have so many questions," Bill finally said. "I want to know everything."
Arthur put an arm around his wife. "I promise, we feel the same way, son. And we'll all get our answers. But for now, why don't you two go get Bill settled in your room, Charlie, while your mum and I finish lunch."
With more than a bit of reluctance, Bill followed Charlie out of the kitchen. As the door shut behind them, they heard Molly let out a loud wail, and the two boys began a hasty retreat up to the top floor of the Burrow.
"I told you my mum was a bit of a nutter," Charlie called over his shoulder.
"Our mum," Bill corrected him gently.
Charlie stopped in his tracks. "Huh. Our mum." He scratched his chin. "I quite like that."
Bill grinned. "So do I."
As they resumed their climb, Bill asked, "Charlie, why aren't you more freaked out about this? Aren't you the least bit surprised to find out I'm your brother?"
Charlie flung open the door to his room and flopped on the bed. Bill immediately followed suit.
"I suppose I was a bit shocked at first," Charlie replied, carefully studying the ceiling. "But it's like you said, I almost feel like this is something I've known all along. So then I wasn't surprised, not really. Does that make any sense?"
Bill grinned widely at the beams overhead. "Yeah, Charlie. It makes perfect sense."