[For Bill] Backdated to early July

[sixthhandlion]

Maybe the worst thing about all of this was that there was no one to talk to about it.

Not that Ron particularly wanted to talk to anyone about the fact that his best mate had walked in on him and his girlfriend naked, but he hadn't been able to shake the feeling that things had gotten bloody weird between all of them since. Even being happy about

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[red_ponytail]

Bill, as it happened, was just getting started on the cleanup after his dinner shift. Everyone had eaten well, and there weren't many leftovers to pack away, but there was, as usual, an absolute tonne of dishes to get washed and put away.

Bill didn't mind it, though, just part of the job, and often he had help in the form of Coraline or someone else. He whistled some Beatles tune idly as he gathered up the dirty things, glancing up briefly when he saw a familiar flash of red. "You're late for dinner, wanker," he said cheerily, and pointed to a fixed up plate without looking. "Good thing I set one aside for you."

[sixthhandlion]

"Thanks," Ron said, and took a seat at the counter, pulling the plate towards himself. He looked down at it and made a face, but not because he didn't think it'd taste amazing. Bill's food was probably his favorite on the island, if only because it reminded him of his Mum's.

"I don't think I'm hungry though."

[red_ponytail]

That statement prompted Bill to completely stop what he was doing and look up in surprise. He might have given Ron shit for it, then, if he'd not seen the expression on his brother's face.

"What's happened?" he asked. "Are you ill or something?"

[sixthhandlion]

Ron's face twisted up into an awkward frown as he looked down at the plate of food, then back up at Bill. If it was possible at all, this was more difficult than he thought it'd be.

"Do you-- do you remember a while back, when... when you gave me that thing just in case me-- erm, me and Hermione ever... you know?" he said, or barely managed to say, really.

[red_ponytail]

It was a bit amusing, if unsurprising, how reluctant Ron seemed to be to talk about shagging. "Yeah, what about it?" Bill asked, wondering how or if Ron had managed to muck things up. Whatever'd happened, Bill was fairly certain Hermione would forgive him. They were mad for each other.

[sixthhandlion]

"Well, we... we did," Ron said, then cleared his throat behind his hand, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening in on the conversation. Maybe the kitchen was near deserted, but that didn't mean he was any less worried about it.

"It just... it just went a bit wrong."

Maybe this was a bad idea.

[red_ponytail]

Bill frowned slightly and leaned his forearms on the counter. 'Went a bit wrong' could have applied to any number of things, really, and he wasn't quite sure whether this was a minor 'wrong' or a catastrophic one. "You've got to be a bit more specific than that, Ron," he said patiently. "Went wrong how?"

[sixthhandlion]

Suddenly, sitting there with his brother leaned over the counter frowning at him seemed like too much. This was a bad idea. Maybe they'd all just be lucky and everything would just work itself out in the end.

"Never mind. Forget I said anything," he replied.

[red_ponytail]

"Like I'm about to do that," Bill said, rolling his eyes. "Look, you know you can tell me anything, yeah? I'm not gonna take the piss. Do you want to go somewhere more private and talk?"

[sixthhandlion]

Bill said that now, but he hadn't exactly heard the story, had he?

"Aren't you supposed to be clearing up, though?" Ron asked, with a look in the direction of the leftover washing up from dinner. He really hoped that mentioning it didn't prompt Bill asking him to help out with it.

[red_ponytail]

Bill sighed and tried very hard not to give Ron a Mum look. "Don't change the subject," he said. "I can be getting on with this later, if you need to talk, let's have a talk."

[sixthhandlion]

"Promise you won't laugh?" Ron said, after looking over his shoulder again to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. It'd be just his luck that Malfoy'd walk in and overhear, then none of them would ever hear the bloody end of it.

[red_ponytail]

"I promise," Bill said seriously, and then silently hoped to Merlin he was going to be able to keep that promise.

[sixthhandlion]

This was mental. He was absolutely mental for telling Bill about any of this. But then again, Bill wasn't Percy or Fred or George, so there was a fair chance that maybe he would find all of it as awful as it actually was.

"Alright so... me and Hermione.... you know," Ron said, a frown creasing his brow, despite the fact that that'd been the brilliant part of the day. He closed his eyes for a second, then pressed on, figuring it was best to just get it all out, "Only, Harry walked in on us. And now it's everything's gone weird because of it."

[red_ponytail]

Bill's eyebrows shot up. Personally, he probably wouldn't have got hung up over that, but very, very little embarrassed Bill. "Right, that must have been fairly awkward," he remarked unhelpfully. "How long ago was this? And you all have been awkward around each other since then, or what?"

[sixthhandlion]

"Yeah, you think?" Ron said, a bit sarcastic for the moment. But of course it was bloody awkward. He imagined it was a lot like if he'd walked in on Harry and Ginny doing the same thing.

...and that was a thought he was never going to allow himself to have again.

"It hasn't been that long, though. Maybe a week?"