Bill Weasley knocked briskly on the front door to the Burrow before he walked in, calling a cheery hello as he did. His father was already at the head of the breakfast table, the twins on one side of the table whispering furiously; Percy was on the other, a sleepy looking Ginny beside him, and beside her…Charlie grinned and stood up to hug Bill in a brotherly manly fashion as their mother bustled in from the kitchen.
"Bill!" His mother's face lit up with surprise. "I wasn't expecting you until lunch! Here, sit and have some breakfast."
"Don't mind if I do." Bill said, sliding into the chair beside Fred opposite Charlie. He snagged a plate and loaded it with the full Monty; sausages, bacon, eggs, baked beans, fried tomatoes and mushrooms…and two pieces of toast loaded with butter.
"Ginny," Molly nudged her as she set down another platter, "go wake your brother!"
Ginny cast a 'why me' look at Bill who winked at her. She sighed, got to her feet and made her way up the stairs.
"Hungry?" Charlie asked Bill, amused at the amount of food on his plate.
"Starving," Bill said, waving a fork at his brother, "sorry I wasn't here last night; I met up with some of the old Hogwarts' crowd to catch-up. How was your portkey?"
"I hate the international ones." Charlie admitted, helping himself to a second helping of bacon. "Too much spinning."
"I know," Bill said with feeling, "you'd think they'd have worked the kinks out by now."
"Apparently there's European legislation stopping all improvements." Percy chimed in. "The restrictions they're putting on British law are ridiculous."
"Well, if you don't like the travel perhaps you should consider staying here, Charlie." Molly slid into her chair and gestured for the teapot to pour her a mug as the serving spoons began to fill her plate. "I'm sure if you spoke with Amos he would be able to find you a position in his department."
"I'm happy working at the reserve, Mum." Charlie said calmly. He met Bill's amused gaze and rolled his eyes.
"Nonsense, just look at you! You've been injured!" She pointed a knife at the shiny skin on his forearm.
"Burns are part of the job." Charlie said good-naturedly. "I knew that when I signed on."
"'Sides," Fred waggled his eyebrows, "everyone knows…"
"…scars are sexy!" George grinned.
Bill tried not to choke as a chuckle bubbled up at his mother's disapproving expression.
"How much longer before you get your Mastery?" Arthur asked, placing the Prophet down beside him.
Charlie shrugged. "Probably next year. I have the practical credits but I need to sit the theory exams."
Molly cleared her throat. "Well, I still say you should consider a job at the Ministry."
Bill kept his gaze on his plate. He had to hand it to his mother; she never gave up.
"Just look at how well Percy's done!" Molly beamed at him. "And your father!"
"I meant to say congrats on the new positions last night, Dad." Charlie admitted with a little chagrin. "It's good to see they're finally recognising you!"
"I think Sirius might have had something to do with it." Arthur said humbly.
Molly harrumphed. "It was the Minister who appointed you to the Wizengamot seat and the Committee, Arthur."
"Well, even if Lord Black recommended you, Dad, it's still a credit to you." Charlie commented diplomatically.
His father dropped the subject rather than argue about it but Bill knew and he knew his father knew that Fudge had been influenced by Sirius.
Bill couldn't understand his mother's antipathy toward Sirius – well, he could but he could see it was all going to end in tears if she wasn't careful. She had a valid complaint that he'd hurt Ron but there were extenuating circumstances and that incident alone shouldn't have led her to the conclusion that Sirius couldn't be trusted to raise Harry, which was clearly what she did believe if anyone paid attention to her comments. But she was becoming increasingly obvious and Bill had seen a small frown on Harry's face the last time she'd made a dig about something Sirius had decided over the regular weekly dinner. If she ended up making Harry choose, Bill didn't think she'd like the result because it was very obvious the kid adored his adoptive father.
And who could blame him, mused Bill as he chewed enthusiastically on a spicy pork sausage. From what he'd gleaned from the twins and Ron, Harry had been neglected and unloved by his previous guardians. Sirius had broken out of jail to protect him, and then had gone to some trouble to secure guardianship of Harry to give him a better life. There was no doubt in Bill's mind that Harry considered Sirius his hero. Maybe his mother had done a few things to fuss over Harry since he became Ron's friend but Bill figured knitting him a Christmas jumper just couldn't compete with Sirius giving him a proper home and a loving parent.
Ginny returned to the table and a moment later a half-bedraggled Ron slumped into the remaining chair beside George; he nodded absently at his brothers.
"It's so nice to have the whole family under one roof again." Molly proclaimed, smiling warmly at them all. "We're going to have such a wonderful day and…"
Bill winced and raised his toast to interrupt his mother. "Sorry, Mum, but the reason I'm here now is because I've been called in."
"Called in where?" She asked, confused.
"Work." Bill said succinctly. "Croaker sent me an owl last night."
"But our day…" Molly protested. "Surely you can floo call Harry and ask him to give you the day off?"
"My immediate boss is Croaker," Bill pointed out patiently, "and I'm not going to run to Harry or Sirius and ask for special favours."
"Hmnpf." Molly said, setting her mug down with a thump. "It's probably Sirius's fault that you have to work today." She sighed. "What work could you possibly be doing on a Saturday?"
"My work's confidential, Mum." Bill reminded her. "And it's not exactly a nine-to-five job." He could feel the sharp edge of his encroaching irritation in his words and took a deep breath. Since Sirius had arranged his leave of absence and he'd taken the oath of service, his mother hadn't stopped pestering him about his work. He deliberately turned to Percy so he could change the subject. "How was the play? You were going last night, right?"
"Penelope enjoyed it," Percy said, "although some people remarked it was quite blasphemous having Merlin talk to the dragons. The illusions were very good though."
"Who wants to go and see a silly old play?" asked Ron grumpily.
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