Weasley Family Fallout

Chapter 14: The Aftermath

"Ok...And?"

"You aren't going to start looking yourself in here again, are you?" Ginny asked, genuinely concerned.

George shrugged.

"You are not," his little sister stated matter-of-factly.

"Ginny -" George began to protest.

"No, George. There is no reason for you to regress. You've even said you're going to reopen the shop next weekend."

"I do to have a good reason."

"Mum leaving Dad again is not a good reason."

"I didn't say that was my reason."

"Ok. Fine. What is it then?" Ginny stared at her brother, waiting on an acceptable answer.

"...I just thought Dad would let me go with him."

"If you hadn't noticed, he didn't let anyone go with him."

"Yeah, but...he opened up to me a couple times when he wouldn't talk to anyone else."

"What about?"

"That's just it. He told me, in complete confidence, things that no one else knows. I just thought...Well I don't know...I thought maybe he trusted me more than everyone else or that there was a stronger bond between us or...I don't know. It's stupid."

"Dad is having a really tough time right now. Maybe if we give him some space he'll come around. But for the time being we should put out those flyers for the grand reopening."

"Okay," George conceded.

"Come on." Ginny led George downstairs and out the front door in order to avoid their mum.

oOoOo

Bill was sitting at his desk at Gringott's when he received an owl from Charlie. It requested that he take his lunch break as soon as possible and meet his brother at Shell Cottage.

"Charlie!" Bill called as he entered his house.

"In here!" Charlie called back from the kitchen.

"Is everything alright?" Bill asked worriedly.

"That depends on your definition of 'alright'." Charlie paused as he began pulling out the take away he brought. "Mum left him again. This time for good, I think."

"What happened? Bill asked quietly as he took a seat at the table.

"Yesterday I saw that her wrist was bruised again. When I asked her about it she told me everything. How he's been drinking again, more than he ever has. How he's been mistreating her, physically and emotionally." Charlie looked his older brother in the eye. "Bill, our Father is a brute." He wasn't going to beat around the bush.

"That's not our Father, Charlie."

"No, Bill, he is. He hasn't been imperio'd, or possessed, or anything else. Physically and biologically he is our Father."

Bill thought for a moment. "I can't argue there," Bill said. And he really couldn't argue that point. No matter what they said or what excuses they tried to make, Arthur was the same person. He was their dad. The man who raised them.

A few moments passed in silence as they both ate before Charlie spoke up again.

"You know what really gets me, Bill, is that it's my fault all this happened again."

"That's not true. Why would you even think that?"

"The day we all went into the village, I was the first up, and when I passed Dad on the couch he reeked of alcohol. I didn't do anything because Mum didn't want anything to happen to the family. Apparently, since the whole thing with Conner, Dad has been treating Mum horribly. I didn't even notice something was wrong until last night. It's been going on for days."

"Charlie, you couldn't have known, especially if they were trying to keep it a secret."

A few more minutes passed in silence. Charlie was only picking at his food now.

"Did you know that we were supposed to have another sister?" Charlie asked quietly.

Bill was taken aback. He had no clue where this was coming from. Then it all rushed back to him.

"Mummy is having another baby!" Molly announced excitedly to little Billy.

"You're going to have a little sister! Isn't that exciting, Billy?" Arthur asked his firstborn.

"Apparently she was still born," Charlie stated.

"Did Mummy have Gracie yet?" an excited three and a half year old Bill asked as his dad came in through Grandma and Grandpa Weasley's kitchen.

A redfaced, exhausted looking Arthur picked his oldest son up and carried him to the couch.

"Son...Billy, something happened, and you aren't going to have a little sister anymore," Arthur said gently.

"Oh." Little Billy adopted his dad's somber mood. "Daddy? Are you sad?"

Arthur nodded.

"Is Mummy sad?"

Arthur nodded again.

Little Billy hugged his dad as tightly as he could. Sobs racked Arthur's body as he held on to his son for dear life.

"I completely forgot about that," Bill said as he came out of his reverie. "Mum and Dad were so excited, but then..." Bill trailed off. "They never talked about her in front of me again, so naturally I forgot...How did you find out about her? You can't have remembered that. You were just one and a half."

"When Mum confronted Dad last night he brought it up and blamed her."

"Did he mean it?"

Charlie shrugged. "Sounded like it but after he sobered up he said that he didn't."

Silence fell again, each brother thinking about their forgotten sister.

"I hear the castle will be fully repaired within the next day or two," Bill broke the silence.

"Yeah. There are just a few minor details left."

"What are you going to do when it's finished?"

"Well, I was gonna go back to Romania, but with everything that's happened..." Charlie trailed off.

"Don't let this keep you from doing what you love. Mum will be fine. She has all of us here."

"I know. It just doesn't seem right. I feel like I need to be here now."

"It's up to you, Charlie."

A/N: Alright, y'all. Chapter 14 finally. It's not the best written chapter, but I think it says what it needs to. I know I had said within a week, but I am so sporadic with my writing and then school started back. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. There's more to come. The next chapter will have Percy and Arthur, and hopefully I won't take as long getting it posted.

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