Chapter Text
Sirius grabbed the floo powder and tossed it into the fireplace, wincing a bit as he got on his knees.” William Weasley,” he shouted out.
Bill glanced at the floo in confusion because he hadn’t been expecting a call, nonetheless he hurried over to the fireplace. “Hello?” He called back.
“This is Sirius Black; do you have a moment to chat?” Sirius asked.
“Yeah, I’m free, what’s going on?” Bill asked slowly.
“First off do you know who I am?” Sirius asked curiously.
“Is this a secure floo?” Bill asked instead.
“Yes, is yours?” Sirius replied.
“It’s supposed to be,” Bill said with a shrug. “I know who you are, you’re taking care of my little brother who is friends with your godson,” he said still choosing to speak in code just in case.
“That’s correct, your little brother mentioned an incident that happened between him and you a few years ago. I wanted to know if you can shed some light on the situation as he was a bit tight-lipped about it. Although he did say I had his permission to ask you,” Sirius told him honestly.
Bill’s heart sank because he honestly didn’t want to even think about what Sirius was referencing about. “Did something happen similar to the incident?”
“I don’t know what the incident is about, but he did say that he gets worried over the control someone has over him when he needs to go, and that the urgency makes him very anxious. I didn’t press because he said that The Incident whatever that is traumatized him,” Sirius told him truthfully.
“Fuck,” Bill said with a loud sigh.
“Is it that bad?” Sirius asked quietly.
“Worse, where are you?” Bill said a moment later.
“In the states, why?” Sirius asked, a bit confused at the sudden change of topic.
“I know that but which state? I have an international port key to New York,” Bill explained.
“Oh we’re in Salem, Massachusetts, why are you coming here?” Sirius asked flummoxed because nothing was making sense.
“Because this story isn’t one to be told over the floo, it’s awful and I don’t want to tell it on my knees,” Bill said honestly. “What’s the name of the floo connection?”
“Prince cottage and the passcode is Veritaserum, when should I expect you?” Sirius said.
“In about twenty minutes,” Bill said before he pulled his face out of the floo and shook himself off. He turned to quickly grab a bag as he might as well sight see while he was there. He needed to pop over into the American Ministry of Magic to use their public floo, but needs must.
Sirius pulled back from the floo shaking his head as he got to his feet, wondering if he should let Ron know that his brother was visiting. He checked his watch, glancing down to note that it was nearly dinner time, and he could hear Moony so he knew that Sev was back. He headed into the kitchen, not surprised to find their little group sitting at the table, and he noted in frustration how Theo immediately averted his eyes and he sighed, because he needed to fix that; but it would have to be later.
“Hey Sev, how was the conference?” Sirius said conversationally.
“Amazing, there were a lot of discoveries in the potions communities around the world that I had never even heard of,” Severus said with a glint in his eyes. It had been very enlightening today.
“I second that, the Yanks have done miracles over here,” Remus said, he was eager to go tomorrow.
Sirius quirked an eyebrow because that was cryptic, and it made him even more intrigued, but he knew in present company that he would need to wait. “I can’t wait to hear about it, I just wanted to let you guys know that I’m having dinner elsewhere tonight,” he said quietly.
“What do you mean elsewhere?” Lucius said raising a blonde eyebrow in confusion.
“Well there are a few people at this table who have made it clear that they would like a break from my presence and I’m going to make that happen,”Sirius said with a casual shrug.
“Who?” Lucius asked, aware that he sounded like an owl, but who cared at this point. What the hell had happened?
Sirius refrained from looking over at Theo as he knew that Sev would pick it up and he didn’t want the little Slytherin getting even more embarrassed after earlier.
Severus was displeased especially because he could see that the children in question were either his own son, or Theodore and he had no idea what Sirius could have possibly done to upset either of them. No matter he would get it out of someone either when he put Harry to sleep or later on tonight, when they did their daily catch-up. “Alright thanks for letting us know, will you be back for the meeting at 9pm?” He asked, just wanting verbal clarification at this point
“Yes, I definitely will, and I’m also wondering if I could bring a friend?” Sirius asked, feeling like he was asking for permission and in a way he was as this was Severus’s house.
“Whose the friend?” Remus asked carefully. Because other then him, who else was left?
“Bill Weasley,” Sirius said with a shrug, holding in a laugh at the gasp he heard behind him.
“William Weasley?” Lucius replied slowly. “What is he doing over on this side of the world?”
“Padfoot you were supposed to floo him,” Ron interrupted weakly.
“I did kid, but he didn’t want to tell me over the floo, he said it needed to be told in person,” Sirius said with an apologetic shrug. “Do you agree with that?”
“I agree, but I still don’t like it,” Ron said with a grimace on his face.
“Now I’m lost and I spent the whole day with you, what are you and Bill Weasley speaking about?” Lucius asked bluntly.
Sirius chuckled weakly because this hadn’t been how he wanted this go. “I will let you all know what its about tonight,” he promised, sending an apologetic look in Ron’s direction because he knew he had set the child up to get interrogated.
“Alright I guess we’ll see the both of you at 9pm then, enjoy your dinner,” Severus said with a wave of his hand.
Sirius waved before he turned to head back towards the sitting room that he had already been in, knowing that Bill was flooing there but they wouldn’t stay there at least not the entire time. He got back into the room, he had only just sat down before the tall redhead appeared.
“Hey Bill, nice to meet you in person,” Sirius said with a bright smile.
“You as well, wish it was on a bit nicer terms though, are we having the chat here?” Bill asked with a sigh.
“Briefly, I also wanted to let you know that Severus wants to speak with you,” Sirius said with a shrug.
“That sounds ominous,” Bill said with a shudder.
“It’s not, he’s mellowed out,” Sirius said as he sat down and prepared the tea service, gesturing for Bill to do the same.
Bill took a seat in the chair across from Sirius, and fixed his tea the way he liked it before he took a sip of it. “Alright, so let me just set the scene for you and give you some context first. You’ve been to the Burrow, haven’t you?”
“I have,” Sirius replied in the affirmative.
“Great so the Burrow you’re used to seeing didn’t always look like that. When mum and dad first bought the land, the house they built was a simple 2 story home. As they added kids, they added bedrooms as needed, but they couldn’t do that with the toilets as the process of building a new one takes time and more money,” Bill started off.
“That makes sense,” Sirius said, even though he had never had to struggle for money.
“So when I was 17 years old the Burrow I lived in had 9 bedrooms but only 3 bathrooms, now let me tell you the placement of the toilets we had. There was the one in my parents room, one upstairs that belonged to all the children and then we had one downstairs that guests could use.
But as you can imagine with so few toilets, we used all of them interchangeably, as such there was a lot of overlap when it came to someone needing the shower and the toilet, so we just adapted our own type of system to make sure there was no issues. If I was in the shower, someone else would be on the toilet, and someone else at the sink, or different configurations like this. If you were brushing your teeth, chances are there was someone else in there with you using the toilet,” Bill said with a sigh.
“I see,’ Sirius said slowly, and he was starting to, and he didn’t have a good feeling about what he was about to be told.
“I also wanted to add that Ron and I are exactly 10 years apart, so when I was 17 years old, he was 7 years old, his age is important to the story, especially later on down the line when we get to what all I said to him,” Bill explained. “I just want to preface this by saying that 7 year old Ron had a lot of inner opinions on what his worth to the Weasley family was. He believed my words because I’m the firstborn son, as I’m the heir and you know what that entails,” Bill said softly.
“I do, and I’m just now realizing why this might still affect Ron now. Alright, just lay it on me,” Sirius said gravely, his curiosity was peaked but at the same time he now understood just why this story couldn’t be told over the floo.
“Okay, so this was the summer before my 7th year at Hogwarts, specifically right after getting the letter from the headmaster that let me know that I was Head Boy. The letter stated that I would get my own personal bedroom with an en-suite, and I was chuffed,” Bill admitted.
“I would be too,” Sirius replied easily.
“That being said I started to get into my own head, and while I was excited to finally experience this thing called total privacy I didn’t want too wait until school started. I wanted to have that at home too, as all my friends who had smaller families then me had already experienced it,” Bill explained.
“Mhm,” Sirius answered to let him know he was listening.
“So I decided since I was an adult now, that I would set my plan into motion, without consulting with my parents, I don’t know why I didn’t do that. And it just so happened that the day I decided to do it, Ron ended up entangled in that whole mess,” Bill said before he got into the story properly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**
Ron woke up with a grimace on his face, unsure of what was wrong until he rolled off of his bed with one hand holding his crotch tightly. He swallowed but wasn’t overly concerned as he slipped his feet into his slippers and padded out of his room and down the hall. He reached forward with his free hand and attempted to turn the knob only to find it locked. He knocked quickly, feet moving side to side in his desperation.
“What?” Bill asked from where he was brushing his hair.
“Can I come in, I need to use the toilet,” Ron said urgently.
Bill sighed at the request and didn’t answer right away. He was honestly tired of having to share every waking moment of his life with his siblings. He never had any privacy at home, and he was tired of it.
Why should he be punished if his parents were the ones who could not stop having kids? He wanted to be selfish, and he was going to be starting from today. He just felt a little bit bad that it was at expense of his youngest brother, oh well needs must.
“Go to to mum and Dad’s,” Bill said a moment later.
“Why can’t I come in there with you? I’ll be quick Bill,” Ron pleaded.
“Because I said so, go to Mum’s,” Bill repeated.
Ron groaned but obediently turned to head to his parent’s room. He swallowed thickly, letting out a small sigh of relief when he turned the bathroom door and it opened easily. He bit his lip as he turned around the corner only to freeze as he saw that the toilet he was going for was actually occupied.
George looked from where he was sitting on the toilet, giving his younger brother a sheepish look. “Sorry Ronnie, after me it’s Freddie’s turn,” he said as way of greeting.
“I wanna go wee-wee,” Ron said frantically, as he looked at his twin older brothers.
“I know you do, go downstairs and use the toilet by the kitchens. No one should be in there,” Fred said seriously.
“Can I just go after George, please?” Ron pleaded.
“No, I’m busting,” Fred said with a grimace. He felt bad, but he wasn’t giving up his turn.
“Please can I be next? I’ll be so quick,” Ron begged desperately.
Fred shook his head quickly. “Nope not happening, I’m not giving up my spot. Now get out of here and go downstairs Ron,” he repeated, making shooing motions with his hands before he pushed his little brother out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
Ron’s face fell as he was shoved out of his parents toilet, swallowing hard even as he walked towards the stairs. He took the stairs slowly as he wasn’t super confident on them, his face etched in a frown as he hurried towards the toilets just off the kitchens. Due to how his morning seemed to be going, he wasn’t surprised when the door was locked. That didn’t stop him from hitting on it when his free hand.
“Let me in! Let me in!” Ron shouted anxiously.
Charlie groaned from where he was in the shower because this damn house needed more toilets. He stuck his head out to where his younger brother was in front of the toilet.
“Are you almost done Perce?” He asked, even as he grabbed his wand and flicked it at the door to open it.
“No,” Percy said with a frown, he had only just got in here a few seconds before Ron.
“It’s all occupied Ronnie, go back to the first toilet, whoever was in there should be done by now,” Charlie said quickly, taking one glance at his younger brother's stance and knowing he did not have a lot of time left.
“It’s Bill, but he won’t let me in,” Ron sniffled out, he was so close to crying at this point. He couldn’t hold it and all of his siblings didn’t care.
“Of course he’ll let you in, just let him know you’re busting. Now go, before you have an accident,” Charlie told him firmly, the older brother in him barely resisting jumping out the shower to help the younger boy.
Ron gritted his teeth because Charlie didn’t believe what he said about Bill, but he turned and headed back up the stairs anyway knowing he didn’t have any other choice. He hoped his eldest brother was out but he could tell by the way the door was still closed that he was still there. He swallowed thickly, feeling the hand holding himself tightly get warm and wet and he knew he didn’t have a lot of time.
“Bill, I’m busting let me in right now,” Ron said loudly, aware in that very moment how close he was to an accident and how tearful he currently felt.
“No, I want privacy, that’s my right, I’m not letting you in right now little bro,” Bill said firmly, refusing to be swayed.
“But I hafta go wee-wee really bad,” Ron replied tearfully.
“You’re just going to have to wait,” Bill said choosing to ignore the tearful tone. He gritted his teeth because he was not going to feel guilty for asking for a little bit of space.
“I can’t wait, I’m gonna have an accident,” Ron fretted, the realization of the truth in his words making him nearly crack his teeth by how hard he was gritting them.
“That is an exaggeration Ron, you’re not about to have an accident. I know you can wait until I come out,” Bill said with a sigh, choosing to ignore the fact that he knew damn well he wasn’t in his little brother’s body and therefore couldn’t know if he could hold it or not.
“I really can’t hold it anymore, I’m gonna wee my pants,” Ron begged out sadly. Why wasn’t his brother believing him?
Bill was silent for a moment at his little brothers words, before he steeled his resolve. “That’s not my problem kid,” he said lightly.
“If you don’t let me in right now, it’s gonna be your problem cause I’m gonna tell mum on you,” Ron said hurriedly, grasping at straws because his knew his control over his bladder was nearing the end.
“Go on and tell her, she is going to agree with me, I don’t have to let you in if I don’t want too. She won’t punish me for not letting you come in here when I was in here first. The world does not revolve just around you and your needs, especially in this family.
My needs matter the most as I am the eldest, but you’re the 6th Weasley child, not even the baby so I know for a fact mum won’t be on your side. Especially since you are being a selfish little shit, and you’re not going to get any sympathy from me,” Bill scoffed at him, realizing belatedly that Ron was only 7 years old and that this blame did not lay with him. He knew he was angry at his parents and unfortunately his little brother was getting the brunt of his ire.
Ron’s face crumpled at his older brother’s words; mum was going to agree with him? That meant that she would not care that he was bursting for the toilet, he always knew he was the unwanted child, and now Bill just confirmed it. He believed Bill fully because his older brother was the Heir and was the most important sibling.
As Bill had pointed out Ron was the 6th boy, so his wants, thoughts or opinions were never really taken into account or believed for that matter. He swallowed thickly and didn’t say anything else turning to head silently back to his room.
As he did, he could feel his bladder letting go, and starting to run down his legs, but there was nothing he could do. He managed to make it inside his room, shutting the door behind himself and slumping down to the floor, a puddle expanding below him.
He couldn’t even call for mum, she would be so mad at him for this, he had peed all over his clothes and it had gone onto the floor. He had made a huge mess of himself. How was he supposed to clean this up without magic? He didn’t even know where the cleaning products were! He sniffled to himself, his arms coming up to encircle his waist in a self hug as the 7-year-old went through all his options. He didn’t know what else to do at this point, except cry.
~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Unbeknownst to the incident happening upstairs, Molly was putting the finishing touches on breakfast. Once everything was set and plated, she moved to stand in the doorway of the kitchen.
“Breakfast is ready! Come and Eat!” She called at the top of her lungs.
Bill opened the bathroom door at his mother’s call, expecting to see his youngest brother impatiently waiting since he had so desperately need to go, but Ron wasn’t there. He waited a moment but only saw the twins and Ginny make their way downstairs.
He shook his head in annoyance and headed downstairs, figuring he would find the boy at the table, as everyone knew Ron loved his food. He found himself mistaken however when he got down to the kitchen and realized that everyone was seated at the table except for Ron. He swallowed thickly, the guilt starting to set in before he mentally shook it off, this didn’t mean anything.
Molly nodded at her brood as they all took their seat, moving to take her own seat before she froze as she realized something. “Whose missing?” She said softly as she quickly went over the faces of her children. “Where’s Ronnie?” She asked a second later.
Fred glanced at the empty seat next to him where his younger brother should’ve been and bit his lip. “We last saw him in your toilet like 15 minutes ago, he had to go really bad but I was busting too so we told him go downstairs. He might still be in the toilet,” he said hopefully, standing up so he could check for himself.
“Naw, Perce and I were in that one, he came by, but I sent him back up hoping Bill was finished, as he really needed to go. He was convinced that Bill wouldn’t let him in, which was ridiculous, but I told him to mention he was busting just in case, cause he was,” Charlie said remembrance as he turned to look at his oldest brother. “Did he make it okay?”
Bill swallowed thickly the guilt rearing it’s head full forced now because he had fucked up. He should have mentioned his grievances with his parents instead of taking it out on his 7 year old brother. Merlin, what the hell had he done? There was nothing left to do but fess up.
“I don’t know,” he said quietly as he ran his hand through his shaggy hair.
Charlie furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean you don’t know? You were still in the toilet with him, weren’t you?”
“I didn’t let him in,” Bill admitted in a quiet tone, not even thinking about trying to lie. Because he knew that once they saw Ron who was probably hiding and wet at this moment, the truth would all come out as it should.
“What?” Ginny said in a tone that heavy with disbelief because was that even Bill talking to them right now?
Charlie groaned out loud at that admission because what the hell was going on today with everyone. “Why the hell not?”
“Because I wanted privacy for once, and I figured he could wait,” Bill replied quietly, though saying that aloud sounded stupid.
Charlie made a face because seriously. “I wanted privacy too; I was in the bloody shower when my 11-year-old brother frantically knocked on the door. I let him in cause that’s what I’m supposed to do as a big brother. You taught me that, where in the hell did you leave your senses? “He said tightly.
Bill swallowed thickly because he did say that his role as a big brother was to help and care for his younger siblings, not hurt them. Why had he done what he did earlier? “I think I’m having an off day,” he said lightly.
“You are, and you’re taking it out on our baby brother,” Charlie said with grimace before he stood up. “Ronnie didn’t make it mum, I’ll go find him, I need to apologize to him anyway. He told me that Bill wouldn’t open the door and I didn’t believe him,” he sighed.
“I’m going with you, he begged to go after George, but I was busting too and didn’t let him go next. I sent him downstairs to you, but I should have let him go first as I’m his big brother,” Fred said with a frown on his face as he too stood up.
Molly had been staring silently at Arthur as the boys had been talking, her heart hurt for her little boy that she knew was somewhere upstairs sobbing his little heart out. She wasn’t even angry at Bill because he had never done anything like this before and he was entitled to his privacy which is why her and Arthur had been renovating again.
“Charlie, Freddy, stay here, I’ll get him,” she said as she headed out the kitchen. “Arthur, can you grab Ronnie’s favorites? He’s gonna need it,” she said as she walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs. The last thing she heard was Percy asking about favorites and she grinned because she was nothing if not thorough.
Molly headed toward the stairs that led to Ron’s room, frowning at the closed door because he never liked it closed. She pressed her ear to the door for a moment, eyebrows furrowed in concern because she couldn’t hear anything in the room. Had he left? She didn’t think he did, and with that last thought she slowly opened the bedroom door, and as the door hit something on the floor, she was grateful that she had opened it slowly as it turned out to be her son’s foot. She also noticed that once she had opened the door, she could finally hear inside.
She mused to herself that it seemed like Ron had a silencing charm over his room and she wondered why his accidental magic had done that. She didn’t have long to ponder as she soon heard the most gut-wrenching sobs she had ever heard from her baby boy and her heart damn near broke to hear her child sound like that, which is why she hurried to her little boy to comfort him.
‘Ronnie,” Molly whispered softly as she bent down to pick him up on the floor.
As she did, she took in the scene in front of her, noting immediately the acrid smell and the puddle that her little boy was laying in. She had to bite her tongue as a flash of anger shot through her, because Bill had caused this hurt, and all to get back at them. She would deal with that later, but for right now she had a little boy to console.
Ron stilled when he has first heard his mother speak, his heart beating frantically in his chest because he just knew he was in the worst trouble he had ever been in.
“I’m sorry mum,” he whispered hoarsely.
“You have nothing to be sorry for love, you have done nothing wrong. I’m not mad at you,” Molly said soothingly as she got her little boy to his feet, before pulling him into a hug wet clothes and all.
“I did do something, I peed all over myself and the floor and I think I was selfish,” Ron whispered tearfully from where his face was pressed into her stomach.
“You had an accident, that was not your fault, and what do you mean you’ve been selfish?” Molly asked in confusion.
Ron swallowed thickly but this was the moment of truth. “I tried to push my way into the toilet with Bill, and he said you would agree with him that I had no right to do that. He said I was selfish,” he whispered sadly.
Molly hugged her little boy even tighter at her words, because she wanted to cry at that moment. “None of that is true, we have a system, and today Bill deviated from it. He’s very mad at Mummy and Daddy and unfortunately today he took it out on you, you’re the furthest thing from selfish Ronnie,” she told him tightly, her heart breaking as the little boy let out another series of sorrowful sobs.
~*~*~*Kitchen~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Favorites? What did mum mean?” Percy asked curiously.
“Molly always makes everyone’s favorites depending on the meal for such an instance when one of you claims you’re too upset to eat,” Arthur explained softly as he went to grab the container.
Bill felt awful at his fathers' words, especially because he was starting to feel a bit to upset to eat thanks to the guilt, but he wasn’t about to ask for his favorite meal. He watched as his father went to the stove, opened it up and grabbed a bowl from it. From there he saw the man pull out a plate of stuffed waffles, swallowing thickly at the sight.
“Mum hasn’t made stuffed waffles in ages,” George murmured.
“Because it takes a long time to make each individual one, and everyone likes different things. Gin, can you can scoot one chair over please?” Arthur said as he set the plate down nearer to Molly’s chair.
“Yup,” Ginny replied as she scooted over into the chair that Ron normally would sit in.
“When breakfast is over Bill and Charlie, I need you both to meet me outside in the shed, your mum and I need to talk to you,” he said quietly.
Charlie gave his father a stricken look. “But I didn’t do anything Dad,” he said quickly. He didn’t want to be in trouble for something he didn’t do.
“I know you didn’t, but this is long overdue,” Arthur said cryptically, as his eyes flicked to the ceiling as the wards shuddered. He flinched before turning to his other children. “Eat up,” he encouraged.
“We’re supposed to wait until everyone is here,” Percy said biting his lip in confusion.
“We can make an exception for today,” Arthur said softly.
“Dad, are the wards okay?” Bill asked worriedly.
“They’re fine,” Arthur said dismissively.
“Then why did you flinch?” Bill pressed, wondering if he should be getting concerned.
“Because the wards are alerting me to the fact that your little brother is in acute distress, and I want nothing more then to be up there with him, but I need to be down here,” Arthur said tightly, his eyes flashing at his oldest before he took a deep breath.
“Oh,” Bill said softly, feeling his heart drop into the bottom of his stomach, he actually felt sick right now.
“What can I do to help?” Charlie asked softly, because his normally calm-mannered father seemed like he was about to lose his shit and honestly, he couldn’t blame him a this point.
“Can you go into the potions cupboard and grab a child dose of a calming draught?” Arthur asked him kindly.
“Yeah, I can do that,” Charlie said as he stood up from the table and went to grab the potion.
Arthur blew out a breath, before forcing himself to take another. It took a lot to get him angry, but right now in this moment he was livid. He remembered being this furious a few months ago when the twins had nearly gotten Ronnie to swear an unbreakable vow. He was shocked and hurt that his eldest boy had decided to take his anger out on his youngest boy. Before he could even think of saying anything to his oldest, Charlie returned.
“I got it dad,” Charlie said as he held out the vial.
“Can you please bring it upstairs to your mum and stay up there with them a bit?” Arthur asked softly.
“Of course,” Charlie told him seriously before he turned and hurried out of the kitchen and headed up the stairs and towards his little brother’s room.
Charlie poked his head in the door, his heart thudding in his chest painfully because he had caught the tailwind of his mum and Ron’s conversation, and he was fuming. He wanted to punch his older brother in the stomach so badly for what he had caused. “Mum, dad said to give Ronnie this,” he said as held out the potion.
“Thank you, Charlie,” Molly said softly as she grabbed the vial, uncorked it before gently prodding her little boy to calm down so he could drink it. “You can go back down to breakfast,” she added quietly.
“Dad said stay up here,” Charlie said quickly as he pulled out his wand. “Can I clean it up?” He asked gesturing to the floor.
“Yes,” Molly said simply, normally she didn’t like them to use magic over the summer but honestly, they were all magical beings, and she couldn’t clean it and comfort Ron like she wanted too.
Charlie nodded, murmuring the cleaning spell, before he turned his wand to his little brother. “Why is his hair wet?” He asked in confusion.
Molly made sure Ron had swallowed the entire vial of potion before she looked up at Charlie. “Because he was lying in a puddle of his own waste, when I walked into the room,” she said quietly.
Charlie damn near bit his tongue, and he was sure he cracked a tooth for how angry that sentence made him. He didn’t say anything as he waved his wand gently over his little brother and cleaned him up, and then added a freshening charm to him and his room.
“I’m so sorry Ronnie,” he said sadly as he put his wand away and fell to his knees so he could look his little brother in the eye.
Thanks to the potion Ron was no longer hysterically sobbing, but the tears still ran freely down his face. He forced himself to pull back from his mother to look at his older brother. “It’s okay,” he said quietly.
“It’s not okay, I should have believed you,” Charlie told him seriously.
“Mum said that if Bill had been his normal self this wouldn’t have happened, so it’s really just Bill’s fault, not mine or yours or Freds’,” Ron said softly.
“That might be true, but I still feel terrible,” Charlie told him honestly.
“Me too,” Ron said sadly before he turned and threw himself into his brother’s arms.
Charlie held him tightly, pressing his face into his brother’s hair, blinking back the tears as he stood up so he could comfortably hold his brother in his arms.
Molly smoothed down her apron, dabbing it at her eyes a moment later as she walked her two boys. She sighed softly before nodding to Charlie. “Shall we go down now? I hope there’s still food left,” she said joking lightly.
“There’s loads of food left, no one ate anything,” Charlie told her seriously.
“Really?” Molly asked in surprise.
“Yeah, it’s hard to eat when one your siblings hurts another one of your siblings,” Charlie said hugging Ron tighter at his own words.
“Well then, Dad and I want to speak to you and Bill after breakfast,” Molly said choosing not to touch that subject especially with Ron still in hearing distance.
“Dad said that downstairs but I don’t think it’s fair, I shouldn’t be in trouble, I didn’t do a thing,” Charlie said bitterly.
“This has nothing to with anyone being in trouble its just something that Dad and I have been working on for the last few weeks,” Molly said softly.
“Okay, then I guess that’s okay, let’s go down and get this little monkey some food. I know he’s starving,” Charlie said gently tickling his little brother’s sides.
“I’m not a monkey,” Ron said with a small giggle, despite his wretched morning at least one of his siblings still loved him.
Molly sniffled again smiling fondly at her two boys before she headed downstairs and to the kitchen. As she walked in, she noted that the table was still full of food just like Charlie had said, and the conversation, as minuscule as it was was very quiet.
“Okay Ronnie, you’re going to be sitting next to mum,” Charlie easily as he followed his mother and moved to set his brother down, confused a bit when the boy didn’t let go.
“And you,” Ron said quietly, the air felt very tensed in the kitchen and he just knew that all his siblings were on Bill’s side, except for Charlie of course.
“I’m sitting next to Bill,” Charlie explained, wincing a bit at the flinch his little brother gave at their oldest’s brother name.
“I don’t want to sit next to him,” Ron said taking a shuddering breath, even with the calming draught in system.
“And you don’t have too, I’ll just sit next to you,” Charlie said quickly before he turned to look at his little sister apologetically.” Hey Gin,” he said slowly.
“I don’t mind moving, I wanted to ask Bill why he was being so mean to my best friend anyway,” Ginny said with a pout as she stood up knowing that her brothers would pass their plates along accordingly.
Charlie grinned ruefully as he sat down in the newly vacated chair, carefully transferring his brother into the chair in between him and their mother.
“Look Ronnie, I made you your favorite stuffed waffles,” Molly said in a cheerful tone.
“Thanks mum,” Ron said feeling terrible because he knew how long these took to cook, he had heard his mother complaining more then once about it.
“She only made them for you, so it didn’t take her long at all,” Charlie told him softly, able to read the expression on his brother’s face. Had Ron always been this easy to read, or was it his vulnerability that had put it all on display?
“And they’re made with so much love, I’m jealous that I don’t have any,” Fred said playfully.
“You can have some of mine,” Ron said softly, hoping that his twin brothers didn’t hate him as well.
“Thanks for sharing Ronnie, but those are all yours,” Fred told him easily, not wanting to take his little brother’s food, as he felt bad enough as it was.
Ron’s face fell at his brother’s words, looking down at his waffles silently, he supposed he had his answer then. He didn’t look up again, choosing to eat his waffles, despite his churning stomach, he just didn’t want to come off as ungrateful on-top of being selfish.
“If you can’t eat them all, don’t force yourself Ronnie,” Molly said softly before she turned to eat her own breakfast, despite not having an appetite herself.
Bill ate his breakfast quietly, he could count one hand how many times his family had been this tensed and quiet at the breakfast table and it was entirely his fault. He somehow managed to choke down his food, not even trying to meet Ron’s eye as his little brother had yet to look up from his plate.
It wasn’t all that dissimilar to how he normally was, only this time Ron wasn’t really eating, he had done that. Thankfully the fraught filled breakfast soon came to an end and Bill stood up, hoping he might be able to get a moment with Ron to apologize to him, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“Bill and Charlie please go to the shed, Dad and I will be there in a moment,” Molly said as she stood up, not surprised to see that Ron was holding onto Charlie again.
“Alright Ron, can you please go to Fred for a bit while I go talk to mum and dad?” Charlie asked, he wasn’t about to forcefully removed his little brother from his person as this little boy had already suffered enough.
Ron shook his head, which was pressed into his brother’s side. “Fred hates me,” he mumbled out.
“No I don’t!” Fred replied before anyone could say anything else. “I don’t hate you Ron,” he added vehemently.
“Yes you do, you kicked me out of the toilet today,” Ron said bravely. It was easy to be brave now with Charlie and Mum standing beside him.
“I did, and I’m so fricken sorry about that,” Fred said with a tight smile. “Believe me, in the future I will be doing no such thing, I’m your big brother and I’m supposed to take care of you, not push you away,” Fred said quietly, glancing back at where Bill had been sitting but his oldest brother and dad were gone.
“See. Fred doesn’t hate you,” Charlie told him softly.
Ron wasn’t super sure about that, and he knew that Fred could say one thing while Charlie was here and do another when he was gone. He didn’t want to risk it, but his big brother needed to go. “I don’t need to go to anyone, I’ll just go back to my room,” he said quietly.
“No,” Molly said firmly. “I don’t want you in your room right now,” she added at his affronted look. She didn’t want him hiding away and crying again, she honestly didn’t think she would ever forget her little boy sobbing while lying in that puddle of urine. Just thinking about it was making her angry.
Ron didn’t understand why his mother didn’t want him to hide away, when it was clear he and everyone else did. He did however let go of Charlie, so the older boy would know he was free to go, but for some reason Charlie didn’t move.
Percy chewed his lip because he could see how protective Charlie was over Ron and maybe he needed to take a page out of his book. He sighed softly before he stood up. “Do you want to play Chess Ron?”
“Thanks Perce, that’s perfect Ronnie,” Charlie said easily.
“No I’m okay, thank you though,” Ron said quietly to the shock of nearly everyone still in the kitchen.
“But you love Chess, since when are you turning a match down?” George asked quietly.
“Since I found out that Percy doesn’t like me, today has shown me that I don’t need to push myself onto any of my brothers because most of them don’t even want me around,” Ron said tiredly.
“Did he say that?” Charlie asked softly, not about to deny or rebuttal Ron again, because look how that had turned out.
“Yeah he did, he said he didn’t like the twins, me or Ginny. He also said he wished we weren’t…,” here Ron trailed off because he wasn’t trying to get anyone else in trouble especially not his mum’s favorite child of them all.
“Finish the sentence please,” Charlie said carefully even as he could figure out the last word himself.
“I’d rather not if it’s all the same to you,” Ron said shaking his head firmly.
“That’s fine, I can read between the lines easy enough, but I wanted you to clarify something for me. What did you mean when you said most of your brothers didn’t like you?” Charlie asked softly.
Ron gave his brother a confused look because didn’t the older boy know this already? He thought it was common knowledge, but he guessed not. “4 out of 6 of my siblings hate my guts, they wish that I lived somewhere else other then with them, or they wish that that there was no 6th Weasley boy at all,” he told him bitterly.
“Name them,” Charlie said tightly, and he’d be damn if he was on that list.
“Bill, Percy, Fred and George,” Ron replied without any hesitation. He truly believed that those particular big brothers hated him.
“That’s a lie! We don’t hate you! After George you’re my favorite,” Fred blurted out before the 9-year-old burst into tears.
“Oh dear, come here Freddie,” Molly fretted as she reached for one of her twins before pulling him into her chest.
“I promise we don’t hate you Ron, we don’t!” George repeated tearfully.
“Merlin, everyone just take a deep breath, tensions are a bit high right now. Charlie can you grab two vials of the children’s calming draught?” Molly said even as she reached for her other twin.
“On it,” Charlie said as he headed back to the potion’s cupboard to grab the vials. He was also choosing to ignore the fact that Percy hadn’t said anything in defense of himself from Ron’s words. His younger brother’s silence was very telling.
Ron was looking at the twins with wide eyes, they were crying because he said that they hated him and turns out they really didn’t. He didn’t know how to feel, and Fred said he was his favorite not counting George? Had he been mistaken? He glanced across the table to find Ginny watching the whole thing silently.
Ginny was 6 years old but after growing up with so many older brothers and with various ages she was a bit advanced for her age. She couldn’t understand how her favorite brother had hurt her best friend? Why would he do that? She didn’t know to feel about Bill, except she was very angry with him. If the twins hadn’t been named she would have asked them for help to prank Bill. But they were the enemy now and she needed to talk to Ron. She had to make sure her best friend was okay.
She glanced over to see Charlie feeding one vial to George while mum was doing the same thing to Fred. She raised an eyebrow when she caught Ron’s eyes, jerking her head towards the window to signal they should go outside. She gave a mental cheer when he easily caught on.
Ron was already contemplating a way out of his current situation. He wasn’t really trying to spill all his secrets, but he knew he would especially if Charlie was the one asking it. He was actually happy for the break in conversation especially when he made eye contact with his sister.
“Ginny, wanna go throw some gnomes?” Ron asked already moving towards her before she could even speak. Normally he hated this task but today he wanted nothing more then to take his frustration out on some gnomes.
“Yeah, and then you can tell me what the heck Bill said to you so I can go kick his butt,” Ginny said impatiently, waiting until her older brother was close enough to grab his hand before they raced out of the kitchen and outside.
Charlie pursed his lips as his youngest siblings ran out of the kitchen, turning to look at Percy in disgust, now that the twins seemed to be a bit calmer. “Now imagine if I treated you how Bill treated Ron today, all in the name of privacy. How would you feel?” He said lightly.
Percy flinched when Charlie had addressed him. He had been standing there silently hoping his accidental magic would apparate him away from here ever since Ron had said what he said. He had remembered saying how he wished his younger siblings had never been born but how had Ron known that? He found himself swallowing thickly because hadn’t been aware that Ron had even been in hearing distance not to mention his little brother had been holding in that hurt for months and never said anything to him. Merlin, he was no worse than Bill. “I’m sorry,” he whispered shamefully.
‘It’s not me who needs that apology, I just want to say that you are also very lucky to be alive. Ponder on this, what if mum and Dad only stuck to the pureblood ideology, where there is only an heir and a spare. You would also not be here, something to think about especially if you’re wishing all the siblings below you weren’t born,” Charlie said grimly before he turned to head out of the kitchen and towards the shed. He hoped his father hadn’t killed Bill, but even if he had he didn’t think he would be too upset.
Percy turned and ran up the stairs, wondering what he could do to make it up to his little brother.
Molly gently pulled her twins away from her so she could look at then. “Why don’t you boys go upstairs and set up a few pranks for everyone?” She asked, forcing excitement into her voice for their benefit. She didn’t like this version of her twins, they didn’t need to look like this.
“Mum, you actually want us to play pranks?” George asked slowly.
“Are you really mum?” Fred asked warily.
“Yes I’m mum, I just think that the whole family could use a little cheer after the morning we’ve all had. And if you can, see if you can set something special up for Percy and Bill, they need the most cheer,” Molly said as she winked at them before she turned to head out the house.
“Did mum really say that we could play pranks on the family?” George said, mouth agape in shock.
“She did and she said we can do our worst with Bill and Percy! Those are her favorites,” Fred said with a laugh.
“Let’s go, we have no time to waste, especially when she can change her mind,” George said excitedly before he ran up the stairs with his twin to their rooms.
~*~*~*~***~*
In the shed, Bill was getting the longest lecture of his life, honestly, he didn’t even know his father could monologue like this, but he had no one else to blame. He didn’t know what was taking mum and Charlie so long either, he knew his brother was upset with him and had every right to be. Finally though mum and Charlie appeared and he straightened up a bit as they did.
“I’m not going to lecture you, as Dad has already done that, just in the future if either of you feels like you’re at your breaking point tell one of us before you decide to take it out on your siblings,” Molly said with a sigh.
“You don’t have to worry about me, If I get to a breaking point I’ll go for a fly before I decide to go and hurt my brothers and sister,” Charlie said with a shake of his head.
Bill made a face and gave a silent nod but honestly, this had been his first and last act of teenage rebellion so his parents had nothing to worry about.
“Now the reason we’re meeting in the shed is because dad and I have been renovating again. We are very aware of lack of toilets in the house and we were trying to rectify this. Initially we had hoped to unveil this to you in about 3 weeks time, however due to what happened this morning we’ll tell you now,”Molly said before she opened one of the side doors in the shed to reveal a bathroom.
“We’ve done all the necessary plumbing, so you can use the toilets, sinks and showers immediately. The walls and floors still need tiles and paint which we will finish in the upcoming weeks. This toilet out here is for strictly just you and Charlie,” Arthur told him.
“Why just us?” Charlie asked curiously.
“Because I was a teenage boy once, and I know you boys desire and deserve privacy. Also there are a lot of unsafe tools and things your father is dabbling with and we don’t want the younger children getting hurt. You can tell Percy when he turns 13,” Arthur replied.
“I can get privacy at school but thank you mum and dad this is appreciated but it’s basically going to be Bill’s toilet, so congrats big bro,” Charlie said blandly.
Bill groaned loudly. ‘I didn’t want this to happen,” he retorted back.
“What did you think was going to happen when you denied a 7-year-old the toilet? We’re you setting up the competition for Worst Big brother ever? You might have pushed ahead of Percy with this stunt today,” Charlie said sarcastically, but inside he was still reeling from Ron’s words.
“What are you talking about? What does Percy have to do with anything?” Bill said in confusion.
“He’s just following in your footsteps, by letting us know that he wishes all the siblings below him were never born,” Charlie said pointedly, ignoring both Bill and Dad’s gasp of shock.
Bill was going to be sick, he was sure of it. He didn’t want that at all, and he would need to speak to Percy about this, because what the hell? “I don’t want that, I love all my younger siblings. I made a mistake,” he said tightly.
“A big one. I can’t talk to you right now, because I’m fighting the urge to punch you in your stomach repeatedly because I cannot get the thought of our little brother lying in a puddle of piss out of my mind. And all of that because you wanted some damn privacy,” Charlie said dangerously.
“What?” Bill asked, swallowing the nausea down hard.
“You heard me,” Charlie said as he blew out a breath because he was not repeating himself. “I’m gonna go check Ron and Ginny,” he told his parents before he walked out of the shed and didn’t look back.
Bill sighed loudly running his hand through his hair, he had done it so often in the last hour that he knew it was all messed up.
“Other then telling Ronald he was selfish what else did you say to him? I want to know so I can go correct it,” Molly said directly.
“I honestly don’t know mum, it was in the heat of the moment, I didn’t mean anything of what I even said,” Bill said ruefully.
“We’ll take a trip today to Aunt Muriel to use her pensieve to revisit the memory,” Molly told him seriously. She meant what she said, her little Ron was so insecure that she knew he would believe everything Bill said to him.
“Of course mum,” Bill said feeling more guilty then he had ever felt. He had remembered some of what he had said but he felt downright horrible because his mum was going to hear what he had said too.
“Maybe in a few days you can also apologize to Ron,” Molly said gently.
“I want to do it now, today. Why do I need wait a few days?” Bill asked quietly, why did they want to drag this out.
“Because he seems to be terrified of you, when he came into the kitchen he flinched every time we said your name,” Arthur told him truthfully.
Bill rubbed his chest feeling like someone had taken his heart and was stomping on it over and over again. This was the worst feeling ever.
“I’ve really made a mess of things,” He said softly. “Does Ron really think that Perce and I hate him?” Bill asked worriedly.
Molly nodded before she answered. “He does, as well as Fred and George,”
“They love him,” Bill said in disbelief.
“That they do,” Molly said softly. “I’m going to clean up and check on the twins,”
“I’m going to check on Ron, he might want Daddy’s cuddle,” Arthur said as he left the shed with his wife.
Bill stood there for a long time, falling into the chair with a loud sigh. What was he going to do to fix all of this.
~*~*~*~**~*~*~
Sirius was sitting in the chair with his jaw wide open unable to believe what Bill had just sat down and told him. He now understood why Ron didn’t want to explain this story, hell he hated that he had to listen to it. He took a sip of his tea, eyes flickering over to Bill as he did so. “What happened in the pensieve?” He asked softly.
“Mum managed to get Ron’s memory of that morning, and then her, Charlie and I went to Muriel’s house to view my memory, Ron’s and Mum’s,” Bill said with a slow breath out. “It was horrific, especially Ron and mum’s point of view. I understand now when Charlie said he couldn’t get the image of Ron lying on the floor out of his mind. That memory tormented for a long time, and sometimes it still creeps up. Anyway once we got out of the pensieve and had taken the floo back home, Charlie punched me repeatedly in the stomach until I was sick all over the floor,” he said said with a frown.
“It was deserved,” Sirius said lightly, not wanting to add insult to injury.
“It was, its why mum didn’t say anything. Normally she hates us fighting but she let that slide. And the twins pranked me and Percy non-stop for the next month and she turned a blind eye too,” Bill said quietly. He had made peace with it, as he had no right to feel betrayed not after what he had done.
Sirius could understand the hurt he could hear in Bill’s tone but it was hard to sympathize especially after knowing what happened to Ron, because of his actions.
“Was there any long term effects from that day?” He asked softly.
Bill chuckled humorlessly. “Of course there was, but I wasn’t around to see it. Most of what I know is what Percy told me, in his letters to me,” he said with a shake of his head.
“Why didn’t you know it, where were you?” Sirius asked in confusion.
“I was at Hogwarts, because you have to remember that when the Incident happened, I had 4 weeks left of summer holidays. And those 4 weeks were the worst I had ever experienced; the family dynamics was in tatters after that stunt I pulled. I could remember Ron having nightmares the remaining month I was there. He regressed and he started wetting the bed, he had never done that before. I used to proudly proclaim that him and I were the only Weasley siblings to never have wet the bed, but I fucked that up for him,” Bill explained. “I was so happy to go to Hogwarts to get away from that, the guilt was eating me alive,” he added.
“I bet it was, and what about Charlie and your relationship with him? Did it get fixed once you were back at school?” Sirius questioned.
“Not while we were at school, we kept up a united front as we didn’t want anyone to know there was any discord in the Weasley family. But we never really spoke to each other like we did, and it also didn’t help that I was feeling isolated from the family. Because of what I did to Ron, Ginny and the twins in a show of solidarity refused to write me letters, and mum let them. I went from getting 3 letters per Weasley kid a week, to only 2 letters total a week. Percy was sending me letters letting me know how everyone was doing or suffering,” Bill said with grimace on his face.
“And Charlie?” Sirius pressed.
“He was getting all the letters from the siblings I wasn’t, and I grew angry with him. It felt like I was getting punished, which looking back I was, and it was well deserved. And before you ask no, I didn’t go home for Christmas that year,” Bill said dryly.
“Why not? Didn’t you want to fix your relationship with your family?” Sirius asked in confusion.
“I did, but at that time no one was ready for it to be fixed because they didn’t know how to go about doing that. It also didn’t help that Percy wrote me a letter letting me know how Mum thought me staying at Hogwarts that Christmas was for the best,” Bill said tightly, remembering that hurt.
“Damn,” Sirius replied softly.
“Yeah, it wasn’t until March when I finally received a letter from Ron,” Bill said with a small smile.
“Really, what did he say?” Sirius asked in surprise.
“It said, I hope you’re having a good time at school, and congrats on Head Boy,” Bill said quietly.
“Wow, what changed then?” Sirius asked curiously.
“He ended up having to see a mind healer twice a week, and the lady in question said that he could start repairing our relationship by just writing a little letter to me,” Bill said with a small smile. “I had to go to a couple of sessions with Ron and her, and Percy as well,” he added.
“That’s good, I’m glad that everyone was able to move past that,” Sirius said truthfully before he realized something. “And when did you and Charlie fix your relationship?”
“Once Ron was fully okay in my presence again, and that wasn’t for about a year if I’m being honest. We had to continue the sessions with the mind healer and then he slowly started talking to me again, and he stop flinching whenever I touched him.
Charlie was the proper big brother then and he never really trusted me with kid Ron again, not that ever did anything like that again. We did fix our relationship, but he changed towards me after that day. Because Charlie used to look up to me so much, he had me on a big brother pedestal and after that day it was no longer what would Bill do in this situation? It was, what can I do as my role as a big brother,” Bill explained. He was happy that his brother had growth but also still kicking his own butt for forcefully doing that.
“Wow,” Sirius said quietly.
“After that mum was very intentional with her words and her actions to make up for what I did. She made sure to let Ron know that he was so loved, and that he was wanted. That he wasn’t a mistake and that even though they stopped with Ginny, that 7 was always going to be their number. That took a long time for him to believe it and sometimes he still has trouble.
She also tried to spare my feelings, as she constantly told me that I hadn’t traumatized Ron, but Charlie let me know that was a lie because he was affected by that day and I wasn’t even mean to him,” Bill said softly. “And I wanted to thank you for confirming my thoughts about 40 minutes ago when you flooed me,” he said with a light chuckle.
“Those were Ron’s words not mine,” Sirius said with a casual shrug.
“I know,” Bill said with a sigh. “Alright, was there anymore questions?”
“I have a lot actually, but I think we could use some food and some drinks,” Sirius said as he stood up and dusted himself off. “You want to go to the magical or muggle side?”
“Magical, I need some fire whisky after that,” Bill said with a dry chuckle.
“The name of the floo there is Whimsical Alley,” Sirius said as he took a handful of powder and stepped into the fireplace.
“Great, see you there,” Bill said, watching impassively as Sirius disappeared in the green flames before he stepped in and did the same.