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"Revenge is a dish best served with sprinkles."
"What?" said Bill. He was convinced he'd heard it wrong. Such a silly thing wasn't something he expected to ever hear Percy say. Though… "Have you been hexed?" asked Bill.
"No." Percy scowled. His eyes were narrowed behind his horn-rimmed glasses. "I thought it up to try and get through to George."
Fred's death had hit them all hard; though, of course, George was the one who felt it most keenly.
"And how did that go?"
Percy's scowl grew deeper. "As good as you could expect. He looked at me with dead eyes. Unlike you, he didn't even question my sanity. What I mean by it is that revenge should not be sought in the heat of the moment, nor later in cold calculation. The best revenge you can take on people trying to bring you down, trying to hurt you, is to live happily. Sprinkles are happy and colourful and George likes them. They also work with the saying as you eat them, so a dish-"
"Thank you! You know, a joke dies when you over-explain it. This is the same."
"Right." Percy's neck was gaining colour, growing a contrasting red shade to their hair. "Well, I'm telling you this too, because you need to try for happiness. This cunning plan of yours won't do it. It won't get you Fleur back and it might lose Victoire her father."
Fleur, Bill's wife, had only lived long enough to give birth to their daughter. A curse she had been hit with early during the war had been slow-working, and had not been discovered until it was too late. It had been a hard blow to Bill, who had never imagined that something like that could happen. Not when the war was supposed to be over.
"You love being a Curse Breaker," continued Percy. "While the Aurors would welcome you with open arms, you shouldn't join them. Recklessly hunting after Death Eaters isn't what you need."
Bill didn't agree. Joining the Aurors seemed like a very good idea indeed. The Ministry needed new people. Too many good people had died in the war, and many more were compromised because they'd gone along with Voldemort's regime, without resisting.
Bill knew that he was a wizard with the skills needed. Of course, there were some parts of the trade he would need to learn, but he still had more experience than any young witch or wizard coming straight out of Hogwarts. He wouldn't be reckless. He would still come home to Victoire every night. He just wouldn't be so high-strung when caring for her.
Percy looked at him imploringly. In that moment, he looked scarily like their father. It wasn't the over-protection or high-temper of their mother that Bill saw mirrored in his brother's eyes; it was the steady wisdom that their father would sometimes show. Yet, he could not accept it, and turned to mockery.
"Oh, almighty, what do I need?" he asked, hands in the air, voice loud.
Percy continued to scowl. "Mum won't be happy with me if I manage to convince you, but I think you should return to Egypt. I know you have good friends there; you had routines, You could return to what is familiar, and at the same time you wouldn't have to be reminded of what you've lost." He gestured around the room, and Bill followed with this gaze.
Traces of Fleur were everywhere. Here a plant pot she had cultivated from seedling, there a French candelabra. Here a photograph of a smiling Fleur, there an unopened letter from Madame Delacour.
Seeing all of it, what defiance Bill had managed to build up ebbed out. Seeing everything that should have been his and Fleur's and now only belonged to him made Bill feel empty inside. Perhaps Percy's idea wasn't so bad.
"I'll think about it," said Bill.
o.o.O.o.o
Bill walked into Gringotts. He had decided that he would ask the Goblins for his old job back, after all. He'd been corresponding with his colleagues and friends who were still in Egypt, and they'd continued where Percy started, managing to convince him that he should come home.
For a place that was often filled with a small crowd, Gringotts was usually quiet. Not so today. A loud argument echoed in the marble hall.
"I did what I had to do!"
"The Goblin Nation acknowledge this, but retain our right for compensation."
Bill saw Harry Potter standing by one of the reception desks; agitation was rolling off him in waves.
The goblin on the other side of the desk was equally indignant; he was bearing his many small, sharp teeth.
"Harry, Gargrast," Bill addressed both wizard and goblin, walking up to them.
"Weasley," said the Goblin, giving Bill a short nod, before looking back at Harry.
"Bill!" Harry said. The smile he gave was small, but in contrast to his previous look, it was striking. "I-" He hesitated. "I don't suppose you could help us settle this disagreement?"
"Disagreement!" said Gargrast, spittle flying from his mouth.
"We can't seem to agree on how the damage caused to Gringotts during the war should be handled."
"It is very clear, Mr Potter," said the goblin. "You caused destruction to goblin property, and following our laws, the perpetrator is responsible for compensation."
"If I hadn't done it, Voldemort," the flinches weren't as acute as they would have been a year before, but they were noticeable all around, "would have been in command and you would still have wizards interfering in how you do your jobs."
"You had no right to decide over our part in the war!"
Bill cleared his throat. "Gargrast, what are you demanding of Mr Potter?"
"Equal recompense."
"They've been demanding that I hand over every coin I have."
"As I said: equal recompense."
Frowning, Bill thought of possible solutions that would be agreeable to both parties. His musings brought him to his own reasons for visiting the bank.
"I have a suggestion," he said.
"Go ahead, Weasley," said the goblin.
"I came here today to enquire if I might return to my previous position at the Luxor branch. I propose to have Harry come with me as an apprentice. The work he does for Gringotts will serve to repay for the damage caused to the bank."
"It would take years for him to earn enough to pay for the reconstruction of the lower levels."
"Not if we manage to access Queen Nefertiti's tomb."
o.o.O.o.o
Upon arrival in Luxor, Bill's ears were still ringing from the dressing down he had been given by his mother. She had not been pleased with him for quitting the country, taking an infant girl with him to a strange land, and drawing Harry along with him. Bill could only thank his lucky star that his plan of accessing the as of yet unbreached tomb of Queen Nefertiti, the most well-protected of all known Egyptian graves, had not reached her.
He was lucky that his plans had not reached Percy either. He would be far from pleased with Bill's plans, and would probably go on another rant about cunning plans, in truth, being stupid. Trying to enter the queen's grave made joining the Aurors seem about as dangerous as tending to the needs of a flobberworm.
Truthfully, Bill hadn't disclosed the full danger to Harry either. After realizing that Percy had been correct about a change of scenery being a good thing, Bill had thought that the same might apply to other people who had faced loss during the war. While Ron didn't exactly gossip, he had mentioned Harry's dark moods once or twice in conversations.
Besides, it wasn't as if Bill had outright lied to Harry. He'd just not been completely open, only letting his passion for Curse Breaking speak for him.
It was autumn, but the day was still hot, the rays of the desert sun beating down on them.
"Bill Weasley! It has been too long!" said Mehmet Awhad, a stocky Egyptian man in sea green robes. He gave them a large smile, the white of his teeth standing out against his tanned skin. "And these are, of course, Harry Potter and little Victorie. Nasira, my wife," he added for Harry's benefit, "will delight in helping you care for her. Ah, she's a beauty. Just like her mother." Feeling the mood grow sombre, Mehmet straightened up and placed his hand on Bill's shoulder. "May she have been found worthy at the weighting and escorted to the eternal lands."
"Thank you," said Bill.
"The goblins say that you intend to enter the Grave of Nefertiti. I must caution you against this, my friend. If you try this endeavour, you will join your wife well before your due."
"What do you mean?" said Harry.
"Ah, has he not told you?" said Mehmet, glancing at Bill with darkened eyes. "Queen Nefertiti is one of our most famous rulers. Her magic was strong, and she went to great effort to assure that her eternal rest would not be disturbed. We've added our own protections to keep the Muggles from finding it. Since Anas Nejem went mad, trying to enter the tomb in the eighteenth century, it had been deemed unsafe to try, and no one who has tried has lived long."
"When you say mad?"
"In a fit he killed his wife, while-" Mehmet drew in a breath. "It's better not said. He degraded her in the worst way imaginable, and killed her. He killed their children, and he killed himself."
"This is what we have to look forward to?" said Harry.
Bill shook his head. "I wouldn't have suggested this if I didn't think it was possible."
"Ah!" said Mehmet. "You think the solution is in the Akhenaten Scrolls. They're illegible, my friend. I fear you will have to disappoint the goblins. I know you never have before, but must always be a first."
Smirking, Bill refuted the Egyptian wizard's claim. "I have a suspicion that they won't be illegible for much longer."
o.o.O.o.o
The following day Bill took Harry to the Egyptian Magical Archives in Luxor, a building housed next to one of the temple complexes that because if it's many remaining magical artefacts was kept hidden from the Muggles. There Bill showed Harry the Akhenaten Scrolls. They were written on Papyrus that were in perfect condition even though they had been written in the 14th century BC. They'd been kept thus by both preservation spells, and because the arid climate of the region had helped preserve the material. Unlike other scrolls they had found, what was written on it was not hieroglyphs. Instead there were strange squiggly lines that appeared to be moving if you stared at them for long.
"This is," said Harry, his breath hitching as he narrowed his eyes to peer closely at the scroll. "It's..." he said, apparently unable to finish.
"Can you read it?" asked Bill.
Harry put the scroll back down on the table, smoothing it out with hands covered in thin, white gloves. "What is this?"
"I believe it to be a written form of parseltongue."
"Oh." Harry looked at the papyrus again. "Yes. It might be. I've not tried to speak with a snake since… since you know. I don't know if I can speak to them anymore. My connection with Voldemort is gone. At any rate, when I look at this, I feel like it is English, but overlaid with something else. I can almost make out parts. Maybe even a word here and there, but I can't tell you what it says. I'm sorry."
Bill sighed. "Well, we aren't in a hurry per see. There are always other tombs to explore around here, and we can come back to this. If you try it one word at a time, you might get through it all one day."
"I suppose I won't be getting back to England any time soon," said Harry.
"Yeah. Sorry about that."
"It's okay. I think I needed to get away. If I tire of you I can always just give the goblins my gold."
"Do you think you'll tire of me?" Bill didn't know what made him say that, but he could feel heat rising in his cheeks, responding to the blush Harry was sporting.
"We'll see."
o.o.O.o.o
It took Harry well over a year to translate most of what was written in the parsel scrolls, but he did manage it through diligence, and in the meantime, he and Bill had begun to heal from the war. Being away from England had been good for them. The pressures of the nation and family were lessened. Work and leisure mingled effortlessly. There was always something to do if desired, and there was always time to relax if need be.
They had also gotten a lot closer. It was bound to happen as Harry was apprenticed to Bill and they spent most of their time together. They also found that they shared many opinions and had the same dry sense of humour. Both wizards were very pleased with that things had ended up.
A day in the beginning of March they were standing in the tomb of Tutankhamun, from where Nefertiti's grave could be entered. The great Queen was the mother of the boy Pharaoh and so, their final resting places were close together.
"Are you completely sure that we should do this before I've translated every last bit of the scroll?" asked Harry.
"We're not going to enter," said Bill. "We'll only try to see if we can open the tomb. It ought to be safe enough. We'll be careful."
"If you say so. You're my senior in this. Go ahead."
"If this goes wrong, I'll be certain to say: I told you so," said Mehmet, who along with a few other Curse Breakers and a goblin were with them.
"No gain without a little risk," said Bill.
"My wife will be pleased when you die, Weasley," said the Egyptian Curse Breaker. "She'll at last get to adopt your daughter for her own."
"Not today." Bill began to cast a spell that he'd painfully had to memorise from the scroll. The hissing it required him to do was difficult to manage, and Harry had gone quite frustrated with him because it took him so long to get right. It might have been more practical to let Harry cast it, yet the apprenticeship contract would not allow Harry to act in delicate and dangerous operations outside of emergencies.
Bill managed to say the words correctly, and previously unseen hieroglyphs began to light up on the wall. They glowed light blue against the sand coloured stone.
Mehmet hurried forward and began to scan the carvings, fingers trailing over the glowing symbols. "It details the curse," he said. "It is truly…"
"What?" the goblin yelled.
"It's abominable. It is a curse of passion. Mad infatuation. It is a twisted version of the love Nefertiti held for her husband and for her children. It…" he fell silent as the blue light went out. The light of their wands and torches went out as well, leaving them in complete darkness.
"What is going on?" demanded the goblin.
"The curse." Mehmet sounded defeated. "We activated it."
"You never finished saying what its effects were," said Bill.
"You already know, because you know the story of Nejem. Unless the Curse is broken we shall all hurt the ones we most love, through forcing our love upon them. Passion turned for the worst."
Bill couldn't see Harry in the dark, and his wand would not light up, but he could feel his apprentice's gaze lying heavy on him.
"What is it, Harry?"
"I might I know how to break the curse," said Harry.
"Then do it boy!" shouted the goblin.
"I said I might!" Harry's tone was short and harsh.
"Well!" The goblin would not relent.
Harry shuffled through the dark, and Bill felt a hand fumbling, touching him. Harry was nearly as tall as Bill, and he felt his apprentice close to him. He felt puffs of warm air against his ear. Harry whispered: "This was not how I wanted to tell you, but to save our lives I will. Bill, I love you."
The words didn't make light explode inside of Bill's head. His emotions did not surge uncontrollably. Steady warmth was, however, spreading in his stomach, and there was a hitch to his breath. He had come to care dearly for Harry since getting to know him. Bill had not let his feelings run away with him. He was a young widower and Harry was his very young apprentice. It was not proper. Presently, faced with his emotions in the dark of the tomb he forced to admit that what they had was more than friendship or brotherly affection. "I love you too," he whispered.
The hieroglyphs that had for a few moments glowed blue, now glowed a warm orange, and their torches and wands lit back up.
"What did you do?" asked the goblin.
Mehmet meanwhile looked at the hireogplyhes. "They've changed!" he said in amazement. "The curse is broken."
"How?"
Mehmet rolled his eyes at the goblin. "Never you mind that, just be pleased that Mr Potter has done his job. We'll be able to enter the tomb shortly. Gringotts is sure to make a substantial profit."
The goblin huffed.
"And Gringotts will surely get to keep one of its best Curse Breakers while getting a new addition. But this had been enough excitement for me today. Come on, boys."
Bill and Harry were left alone.
"So…" said Harry, rocking back and forwards on his feet.
"So," said Bill.
"What now?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Harry shook his head.
"Tomorrow, we enter Nefertiti's tomb. Today, we celebrate." With a smile, Bill sealed their lips in a kiss.