FIC for: kasche
Title: The One Time that Charlie Weasley (Successfully) Talked His Way Out of Trouble
Recipient: kasche
Fic or Art: Fic
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, a few OCs
Warnings: Language
Summary: A story that begins with a date and ends with a break-up, but has absolutely nothing to do with romance.
Notes: I really hope this fits your prompt because I love the Weasley brothers. I tried my best with the banter and I think it came out really well. Thanks to my beta, H.
Things had been going well. If this had been a cheerful story (or even a love story, perhaps), then you would be reading about Bill Weasley's highly successful date with Winnie Whistleston. However, this is neither a love story nor a particularly cheerful story. This story is about the events that took place directly after Bill Weasley's highly successful date with Winnie Whistleston. This particular story is the tale of the one and only time that Charlie Weasley was successful in tricking his older brother. It is hard to determine, in retrospect, whether they were arguing about the mess, or the girl, or something hidden between the lines. Regardless, one brother came out on top in the situation, and it most certainly was not Bill. The reason this story is being told now is because if you relied on Bill to tell the story, he would certainly twist around the details to make himself sound much more intelligent - and Charlie would most certainly do the same.
However, if you are still about down and out about the lack of cheerfulness, rest assured, because there are at least some nifflers (but those are really only a minor detail).
This highly successful first date with Winnie occurred in Bill's sixth year at Hogwarts during the first Hogsmeade weekend in October. He was walking back into the castle, hand in hand with Winnie, when some first year Gryffindor shot past him shouting, "Have you heard about the Common Room? It's unbelievable!"
Winnie turned to Bill and asked, "Do you know what he's talking about?"
"I don't even know who that is," Bill said to her, rolling his eyes.
She frowned.
"C'mon, then, let's go take a walk or something," he offered, pulling on her arm. It was four in the afternoon and the weather had yet to get too cold. "We'll go 'round the grounds or something. We've had too much fun to end this now."
Winnie was stilled turned in the direction where the boy had run past.
"Shouldn't you go see what's going on? Bill, you're a prefect. If anyone should be on top of things, it should be you!" she told him, fondly. "And besides, Bill, don't you want to be Head Boy? Maybe there's some problem you can solve or something. You like puzzles and problems."
In any other instance, Bill probably would have insisted a walk around the grounds. However, Winnie Whistleston was a leggy blonde that he would have enjoyed a second date with, so in this case, he agreed to see what was going on in the Common Room. Not to mention, Bill had always had a soft spot for problem-solving and puzzles.
Bill was approaching the Fat Lady (alone, unfortunately, as Winnie had run off with a friend to the library) when he caught a glimpse of Annette Nichols, the other sixth year Gryffindor prefect. She stood, arms crossed, and tapped her foot, looking absolutely furious. Annette was a reasonably pretty girl, though Bill found her terrifying, in both her intense stare and short temper.
"I heard about something gone amiss in the Common Room," Bill had barely begun.
"Amiss?" Annette had hissed at him, blue eyes glaring. "I hope you realize that's an understatement."
"What's happened?"
"I won't go in there," she told him, shaking her head franticly. She seemed almost on the verge of tears in sheer frustration. "You go on and have a look for yourself. And then maybe you can have a word with Charlie. I don't think I could even handle a situation like this."
"What does Charlie have to do with this? He's not a prefect!"
Annette slapped him on the back of the head and shouted, "Go in there! See for yourself!"
With the back of his head still aching, Bill delivered the password and stepped into the Common Room.
At most, he admitted that Annette had been correct that 'amiss' had been an understatement. Dung was all over the carpet, the tapestries and curtains were torn at the bottom, and the upholstery on all the furniture appeared to be ruined. In the middle of it all stood his shaggy-haired, younger brother, Charlie Weasley, grinning stupidly.
If you've never the pleasure of meeting Charlie Weasley, it is certainly a shame, as he is now a charming young man who lives in Romania. However, in his times at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he was rather mischievous (in the likes of his younger twin brothers, but they would require a whole other story) and spent far too much time on the grounds - whether it be spent playing Quidditch or helping to feed some of the assorted Care of Magical Creatures beings.
"Charlie - I - "
"Now, really, Bill, before you get started on - "
"Before I get started?" Bill repeated. "Where I am to even start? Charlie, did you go and shit all over the Common Room or something? What caused you to think whatever happened to the Common Room would be a clever idea?"
Charlie bit his lip at this point. He was still grinning slightly, which infuriated Bill even more.
"I didn't shit all over the Common Room, Bill," Charlie laughed. "I mean, right, so I s'pose that I probably shouldn't have nicked all of those nifflers. It was just so hard to resist. I was just going to keep them up in the dorm and feed them. But then, they sort of ran off, yeah? You understand, don't you?"
Bill pinched the bridge of his nose. This was not how things were supposed to work out today.
"So, let me try and understand your reasoning, Charlie. You nicked some nifflers, I assume, from Professor Kettleburn, and intended on keeping them as pets. But then they managed to escape and then they shit all over the Common Room?"
"Well, obviously, they did it because I certainly didn't. Although you might want to check with that Annette Nichols girl you know; she seems awfully suspicious of - "
"Charlie," Bill sighed. "Stop dodging the question. Is that what happened?"
Charlie hesitated for a moment, but Bill - still caught up in thoughts of leggy blondes - did not notice this. "Yes, that is what happened."
"Right. Okay. Yes. All right, I can fix this," Bill stammered to himself.
"You can? Are you going to tell Dumbledore?"
"No, that'd be worthless. He probably already knows by now, and if he cared that much, he would already be up here. No, I'm writing to Mum and - "
"What?"
"Writing to Mum and then I'm going to take off fifty points from Gryffindor!"
"Come off it! 'S not that bad! I would 'scourgify' it if you weren't telling me off right now!" Charlie moaned. "Besides, 's not like you've ever told on me before! What happened to you?"
"What d'you mean, what happened to me? What happened to you?"
"Bill, c'mon, we've always done stupid stuff before and never said a word about if we got caught. This is easily fixed and you've got to admit, it is a bit funny," Charlie told him. "I mean, really, d'you remember that time that you and I went and Levitated those eggs above the front door and they fell on Dad? We could have easily gone and told on the other, but we stuck to each other and said nothing to Mum. And Fred or George usually got the blame, didn't they? Or at least, in that case, they did." Charlie thought for a moment. "And besides, I don't think you've taken points off of Gryffindor since you became a prefect."
"Are you saying that I wouldn't be able to take points off?"
"I'm mostly trying to help you to understand that telling Mum would be a very wrong idea indeed. The points - honestly, Bill - I could care less about. The first Quidditch match of the season is in about two weeks. I'll just earn the points back then," Charlie explained.
Bill was frustrated at this point. Not only was Charlie immune to punishment, but he was arguing his case well. Bill had neither taken off points nor had he ever told their mum about something Charlie had done. The two had been close since they were little (or at least, closer than Charlie and Percy were) and it seemed foolish to try and convince Charlie that things were different now.
"Look, Charlie, I don't want this to be difficult. I'm going to write to Mum and I'm going to take off the points when we go down for supper. You've gone and ruined my day - which was going excellently, might I add - so I would suggest you get this room cleaned up," he said. Bill nodded, in an awkward, sort of definitive way, that he hoped Charlie would understand his point.
"Right… your excellent day," his brother murmured, "Hang on, weren't you on a date today in Hogsmeade?"
"Are you avoiding cleaning this room up?"
"Yes, and then I intend on jinxing you as soon as you turn around. Maybe a curse, even, if I'm feeling particularly spiteful. Do remember I love you, Bill, as much of a prat as you are."
"I'm telling Mum you said that as well."
"Come off it, I was only joking!" Charlie chuckled, nervously. "Who was your date with and why did I have to hear about it from Nymphadora Tonks? Since when have you ever shown an interest in girls from Hufflepuff anyhow?"
"Don't tell me you've gone and gotten involved with that girl. She's a mess - and I don't even want to know if she helped you nick those nifflers. But I mean, the date was nothing, really, it was just… a good bit of fun," Bill told him, his cheeks flushing. "I went to Hogsmeade with Winnie Whistleston, if you must - "
Charlie groaned audibly.
"What?" the elder brother asked, surprised. "What's wrong with her?"
"Oh, no, nothing, I s'pose, she's nice enough, and I'll choose to forgive that you tend to take a liking to blonde girls. But I mean, isn't she a little too nice? And I hope you understand what I'm trying to tell you, because I've truly been trying to watch my language but she's a bit of a sl - "
"Charlie!"
"Bill! I'm only trying to protect you!"
"Protect me from what? I'm sixteen; I'm sure I can handle myself and my personal life."
"'S not true, from what I've seen just now! Because it'll be me - not Mum or Dad or Percy - who'll be holding your hand and pouring you more Butterbeer and giving you some Honeydukes chocolate when she's gone off with another bloke. And I wouldn't put that sort of thing past a girl like Winnie Whistleston," Charlie warned, shaking his finger in a manner that was worthy of their mother. "I thought you fancied Mary Beth Murphy. Now there is a girl who is worth telling me off at losing nifflers for. And, yes, I s'pose she is taken right now, but that's no reason to go off with - " and suddenly his eyebrows raised in realization.
"No, Charlie, I don't want to hear about - "
"You're trying to make her jealous, aren't you? Oh, Bill, you have been blessed with some of the worst decision-making skills I have ever seen. Those probably come from Dad's side of the family - along with the Muggle obsessions - "
"Charlie - "
"No, Bill, this is serious. You can't have actually believed all those pathetic stories about blokes making girls jealous and then they go and fall for them and all of that love shit, can you? Mary Beth will come around eventually and she'll see how fantastic you are (with an attractive younger brother who is still sadly single). But really, you can't go on and go off with Winnie Whistleston. That's just stupid."
"Charlie!" Bill burst in, as his brother paused for a breath. "Knock it off. I can make my own decisions and stop worrying about my genes. Get this room cleaned up, now."
"What d'you say we strike up a deal?"
"A what?"
"A deal, Bill, y'know, one of those things - a deal is more like a compromise where you feel like you're winning something, actually, but you really aren't," Charlie explained, rolling his eyes up to think about definitions. "Although, if you haven't learned English by now, I would say that your chances of working in Curse Breaking are slim to none. And now is certainly not the time to argue definitions."
"I - what?"
"Anyhow, I think it's fair for me to clear up this Common Room and get the nifflers back to Professor Kettleburn (though I'll admit, I don't think his one eye has even noticed they're missing). That part is my fault. However, I'm not the only one at fault here. You've attempted to make a very pleasant girl jealous by seeing one who is a bit promiscuous. But I did go out of my way to give you some advice for your romantic life, so I think that deserves something for me in return. Why don't we agree that Mum will never have to hear about this and you take off thirty points?" his brother offered.
"Excuse me?"
Charlie grinned. "Don't fret, Bill, and I'm not always going to give you such good advice for free. So c'mon, lad, shake on it!"
Charlie reached out and grabbed Bill's hand and shook it firmly.
Bill, at this point, was still terribly confused. "So, hang on, you've just gone and given me advice on girls so I don't write to Mum?"
"'S only fair."
"I - fine!" Bill agreed, throwing up his hands, exasperatedly. "Fine, I won't write to Mum - but I swear I'll take off the points!" he added. "Now, please, clean up this Common Room before we cause another sort of disturbance."
Bill stormed off, and out of the Common Room, trusting that Charlie would manage to get the room cleaned properly. Annette Nichols still stood outside with her arms crossed.
"I heard arguing! What's going on?" she yelled to him. "Have you told Charlie off?"
Bill ignored her and tried to remember if Winnie had ended up going to the library or the Great Hall. If there was anyone he didn't have time for, it was most certainly Annette Nichols. He stopped abruptly in the middle of the corridor, taking a quick glance at Mary Beth Murphy (who was now returning from Hogsmeade with that Ravenclaw Seeker), and turned back around towards the Common Room.
He would wait to end it with Winnie for the next morning. And regardless, both he and Charlie knew that Bill had never taken off points (and it wasn't likely he would this time either).
Recipient: kasche
Fic or Art: Fic
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, a few OCs
Warnings: Language
Summary: A story that begins with a date and ends with a break-up, but has absolutely nothing to do with romance.
Notes: I really hope this fits your prompt because I love the Weasley brothers. I tried my best with the banter and I think it came out really well. Thanks to my beta, H.
Things had been going well. If this had been a cheerful story (or even a love story, perhaps), then you would be reading about Bill Weasley's highly successful date with Winnie Whistleston. However, this is neither a love story nor a particularly cheerful story. This story is about the events that took place directly after Bill Weasley's highly successful date with Winnie Whistleston. This particular story is the tale of the one and only time that Charlie Weasley was successful in tricking his older brother. It is hard to determine, in retrospect, whether they were arguing about the mess, or the girl, or something hidden between the lines. Regardless, one brother came out on top in the situation, and it most certainly was not Bill. The reason this story is being told now is because if you relied on Bill to tell the story, he would certainly twist around the details to make himself sound much more intelligent - and Charlie would most certainly do the same.
However, if you are still about down and out about the lack of cheerfulness, rest assured, because there are at least some nifflers (but those are really only a minor detail).
This highly successful first date with Winnie occurred in Bill's sixth year at Hogwarts during the first Hogsmeade weekend in October. He was walking back into the castle, hand in hand with Winnie, when some first year Gryffindor shot past him shouting, "Have you heard about the Common Room? It's unbelievable!"
Winnie turned to Bill and asked, "Do you know what he's talking about?"
"I don't even know who that is," Bill said to her, rolling his eyes.
She frowned.
"C'mon, then, let's go take a walk or something," he offered, pulling on her arm. It was four in the afternoon and the weather had yet to get too cold. "We'll go 'round the grounds or something. We've had too much fun to end this now."
Winnie was stilled turned in the direction where the boy had run past.
"Shouldn't you go see what's going on? Bill, you're a prefect. If anyone should be on top of things, it should be you!" she told him, fondly. "And besides, Bill, don't you want to be Head Boy? Maybe there's some problem you can solve or something. You like puzzles and problems."
In any other instance, Bill probably would have insisted a walk around the grounds. However, Winnie Whistleston was a leggy blonde that he would have enjoyed a second date with, so in this case, he agreed to see what was going on in the Common Room. Not to mention, Bill had always had a soft spot for problem-solving and puzzles.
Bill was approaching the Fat Lady (alone, unfortunately, as Winnie had run off with a friend to the library) when he caught a glimpse of Annette Nichols, the other sixth year Gryffindor prefect. She stood, arms crossed, and tapped her foot, looking absolutely furious. Annette was a reasonably pretty girl, though Bill found her terrifying, in both her intense stare and short temper.
"I heard about something gone amiss in the Common Room," Bill had barely begun.
"Amiss?" Annette had hissed at him, blue eyes glaring. "I hope you realize that's an understatement."
"What's happened?"
"I won't go in there," she told him, shaking her head franticly. She seemed almost on the verge of tears in sheer frustration. "You go on and have a look for yourself. And then maybe you can have a word with Charlie. I don't think I could even handle a situation like this."
"What does Charlie have to do with this? He's not a prefect!"
Annette slapped him on the back of the head and shouted, "Go in there! See for yourself!"
With the back of his head still aching, Bill delivered the password and stepped into the Common Room.
At most, he admitted that Annette had been correct that 'amiss' had been an understatement. Dung was all over the carpet, the tapestries and curtains were torn at the bottom, and the upholstery on all the furniture appeared to be ruined. In the middle of it all stood his shaggy-haired, younger brother, Charlie Weasley, grinning stupidly.
If you've never the pleasure of meeting Charlie Weasley, it is certainly a shame, as he is now a charming young man who lives in Romania. However, in his times at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he was rather mischievous (in the likes of his younger twin brothers, but they would require a whole other story) and spent far too much time on the grounds - whether it be spent playing Quidditch or helping to feed some of the assorted Care of Magical Creatures beings.
"Charlie - I - "
"Now, really, Bill, before you get started on - "
"Before I get started?" Bill repeated. "Where I am to even start? Charlie, did you go and shit all over the Common Room or something? What caused you to think whatever happened to the Common Room would be a clever idea?"
Charlie bit his lip at this point. He was still grinning slightly, which infuriated Bill even more.
"I didn't shit all over the Common Room, Bill," Charlie laughed. "I mean, right, so I s'pose that I probably shouldn't have nicked all of those nifflers. It was just so hard to resist. I was just going to keep them up in the dorm and feed them. But then, they sort of ran off, yeah? You understand, don't you?"
Bill pinched the bridge of his nose. This was not how things were supposed to work out today.
"So, let me try and understand your reasoning, Charlie. You nicked some nifflers, I assume, from Professor Kettleburn, and intended on keeping them as pets. But then they managed to escape and then they shit all over the Common Room?"
"Well, obviously, they did it because I certainly didn't. Although you might want to check with that Annette Nichols girl you know; she seems awfully suspicious of - "
"Charlie," Bill sighed. "Stop dodging the question. Is that what happened?"
Charlie hesitated for a moment, but Bill - still caught up in thoughts of leggy blondes - did not notice this. "Yes, that is what happened."
"Right. Okay. Yes. All right, I can fix this," Bill stammered to himself.
"You can? Are you going to tell Dumbledore?"
"No, that'd be worthless. He probably already knows by now, and if he cared that much, he would already be up here. No, I'm writing to Mum and - "
"What?"
"Writing to Mum and then I'm going to take off fifty points from Gryffindor!"
"Come off it! 'S not that bad! I would 'scourgify' it if you weren't telling me off right now!" Charlie moaned. "Besides, 's not like you've ever told on me before! What happened to you?"
"What d'you mean, what happened to me? What happened to you?"
"Bill, c'mon, we've always done stupid stuff before and never said a word about if we got caught. This is easily fixed and you've got to admit, it is a bit funny," Charlie told him. "I mean, really, d'you remember that time that you and I went and Levitated those eggs above the front door and they fell on Dad? We could have easily gone and told on the other, but we stuck to each other and said nothing to Mum. And Fred or George usually got the blame, didn't they? Or at least, in that case, they did." Charlie thought for a moment. "And besides, I don't think you've taken points off of Gryffindor since you became a prefect."
"Are you saying that I wouldn't be able to take points off?"
"I'm mostly trying to help you to understand that telling Mum would be a very wrong idea indeed. The points - honestly, Bill - I could care less about. The first Quidditch match of the season is in about two weeks. I'll just earn the points back then," Charlie explained.
Bill was frustrated at this point. Not only was Charlie immune to punishment, but he was arguing his case well. Bill had neither taken off points nor had he ever told their mum about something Charlie had done. The two had been close since they were little (or at least, closer than Charlie and Percy were) and it seemed foolish to try and convince Charlie that things were different now.
"Look, Charlie, I don't want this to be difficult. I'm going to write to Mum and I'm going to take off the points when we go down for supper. You've gone and ruined my day - which was going excellently, might I add - so I would suggest you get this room cleaned up," he said. Bill nodded, in an awkward, sort of definitive way, that he hoped Charlie would understand his point.
"Right… your excellent day," his brother murmured, "Hang on, weren't you on a date today in Hogsmeade?"
"Are you avoiding cleaning this room up?"
"Yes, and then I intend on jinxing you as soon as you turn around. Maybe a curse, even, if I'm feeling particularly spiteful. Do remember I love you, Bill, as much of a prat as you are."
"I'm telling Mum you said that as well."
"Come off it, I was only joking!" Charlie chuckled, nervously. "Who was your date with and why did I have to hear about it from Nymphadora Tonks? Since when have you ever shown an interest in girls from Hufflepuff anyhow?"
"Don't tell me you've gone and gotten involved with that girl. She's a mess - and I don't even want to know if she helped you nick those nifflers. But I mean, the date was nothing, really, it was just… a good bit of fun," Bill told him, his cheeks flushing. "I went to Hogsmeade with Winnie Whistleston, if you must - "
Charlie groaned audibly.
"What?" the elder brother asked, surprised. "What's wrong with her?"
"Oh, no, nothing, I s'pose, she's nice enough, and I'll choose to forgive that you tend to take a liking to blonde girls. But I mean, isn't she a little too nice? And I hope you understand what I'm trying to tell you, because I've truly been trying to watch my language but she's a bit of a sl - "
"Charlie!"
"Bill! I'm only trying to protect you!"
"Protect me from what? I'm sixteen; I'm sure I can handle myself and my personal life."
"'S not true, from what I've seen just now! Because it'll be me - not Mum or Dad or Percy - who'll be holding your hand and pouring you more Butterbeer and giving you some Honeydukes chocolate when she's gone off with another bloke. And I wouldn't put that sort of thing past a girl like Winnie Whistleston," Charlie warned, shaking his finger in a manner that was worthy of their mother. "I thought you fancied Mary Beth Murphy. Now there is a girl who is worth telling me off at losing nifflers for. And, yes, I s'pose she is taken right now, but that's no reason to go off with - " and suddenly his eyebrows raised in realization.
"No, Charlie, I don't want to hear about - "
"You're trying to make her jealous, aren't you? Oh, Bill, you have been blessed with some of the worst decision-making skills I have ever seen. Those probably come from Dad's side of the family - along with the Muggle obsessions - "
"Charlie - "
"No, Bill, this is serious. You can't have actually believed all those pathetic stories about blokes making girls jealous and then they go and fall for them and all of that love shit, can you? Mary Beth will come around eventually and she'll see how fantastic you are (with an attractive younger brother who is still sadly single). But really, you can't go on and go off with Winnie Whistleston. That's just stupid."
"Charlie!" Bill burst in, as his brother paused for a breath. "Knock it off. I can make my own decisions and stop worrying about my genes. Get this room cleaned up, now."
"What d'you say we strike up a deal?"
"A what?"
"A deal, Bill, y'know, one of those things - a deal is more like a compromise where you feel like you're winning something, actually, but you really aren't," Charlie explained, rolling his eyes up to think about definitions. "Although, if you haven't learned English by now, I would say that your chances of working in Curse Breaking are slim to none. And now is certainly not the time to argue definitions."
"I - what?"
"Anyhow, I think it's fair for me to clear up this Common Room and get the nifflers back to Professor Kettleburn (though I'll admit, I don't think his one eye has even noticed they're missing). That part is my fault. However, I'm not the only one at fault here. You've attempted to make a very pleasant girl jealous by seeing one who is a bit promiscuous. But I did go out of my way to give you some advice for your romantic life, so I think that deserves something for me in return. Why don't we agree that Mum will never have to hear about this and you take off thirty points?" his brother offered.
"Excuse me?"
Charlie grinned. "Don't fret, Bill, and I'm not always going to give you such good advice for free. So c'mon, lad, shake on it!"
Charlie reached out and grabbed Bill's hand and shook it firmly.
Bill, at this point, was still terribly confused. "So, hang on, you've just gone and given me advice on girls so I don't write to Mum?"
"'S only fair."
"I - fine!" Bill agreed, throwing up his hands, exasperatedly. "Fine, I won't write to Mum - but I swear I'll take off the points!" he added. "Now, please, clean up this Common Room before we cause another sort of disturbance."
Bill stormed off, and out of the Common Room, trusting that Charlie would manage to get the room cleaned properly. Annette Nichols still stood outside with her arms crossed.
"I heard arguing! What's going on?" she yelled to him. "Have you told Charlie off?"
Bill ignored her and tried to remember if Winnie had ended up going to the library or the Great Hall. If there was anyone he didn't have time for, it was most certainly Annette Nichols. He stopped abruptly in the middle of the corridor, taking a quick glance at Mary Beth Murphy (who was now returning from Hogsmeade with that Ravenclaw Seeker), and turned back around towards the Common Room.
He would wait to end it with Winnie for the next morning. And regardless, both he and Charlie knew that Bill had never taken off points (and it wasn't likely he would this time either).