RP: Two Brothers

[shh_charlie]

Date: May 30, 2005
Characters: Charlie Weasley, Ron Weasley, Slibovitz the Cat
Location: Charlie's House
Status: Private
Summary: Two brothers hang out
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[shh_ron]

Since his talk with Hermione that morning, Ron had tried to keep his current unhappiness out of his mind. He'd vented to Hermione and told her his plans, and he spent the rest of the day doing his job the best he could. He did send Keeper with a very brief note to Charlie at lunch time to ask if he could stay there for a bit. With that squared away, Ron finished work at half-four, returned to his room at the house, shrank all his belongings and packed them in a cardboard box. Once he retrieved Keeper from the mini-owlery behind the house, he took his box and his owl and stepped into the Floo, bound for Charlie's house. When he stepped out into the cider house, he found Charlie waiting for him.

"Oi, Charlie, thanks for having me."

[shh_charlie]

"No problem, mate," Charlie said, clapping his brother on the shoulder. "You're family. Door's always open for you lot, no matter what." The fact that Ron had a box and his owl with him made him think the situation must be pretty dire. "Here, give us those. I'll find a place to store 'em where the furry little bastard doesn't get his nose in 'em."

"Want anything? Drink? Some grub?" he asked, considering where the safest place to put Ron's things would be.

[shh_ron]

"Some grub would be good," Ron said, looking around Charlie's home as his stomach started to rumble. "Been a bit preoccupied today and I've not eaten that much. Booze would be good too, the stronger the better."

Spotting a comfortable looking chair, Ron gave Charlie the box and the owl cage he'd been carrying and plopped down in the chair. Letting out a loud breath, he shoved a hand through his hair and leaned back against the chair. He was finally letting himself feel all the emotions he'd shoved down just to get through the day, and it was exhausting.

[shh_charlie]

"That bad, eh?" Charlie finally put the box of Ron's things on the top of an already groaning bookshelf, making certain it was secure and that Slibovitz wouldn't knock it over very easily. The owl cage went on the mantel for now. It was warm out so there wasn't much use for the fireplace other than the Floo; he didn't want cooked owl if he could help it.

"Right. Booze is there." He pointed to the liquor cabinet. "Help yourself to your poison, baby brother. I recommend the slibovitz. Cures a variety of ills...I'll fetch some glasses and see what's in the 'fridge that won't kill either of us."

[shh_ron]

"Yeah, that bad," Ron said glumly. "l'll tell you about it if you've got a good long while to listen. It's about Bill, in part."

Getting up Ron went over to the liquor cabinet and found a bottle with slibovitz on the label. "You mean this?" He poured himself a small glass and took a sip. "Mmmm....good stuff, Chaz. Thanks. Bring us some food and we can get talking."

[shh_charlie]

"Bill?" Charlie bit back a growl. "Feel free. He's not exactly on my list of favourite people at the mo'." With that, he went into the kitchen, returning with a loaf of bread, some sliced meat, a knife and a pot of mayonnaisse and putting it on the side table.

He nodded as he saw the bottle in Ron's hand. "Yeah, that's the stuff. Just take it slowly or it'll hit you like a tonne of bricks. Brilliant stuff that." Even better if you..." He took out his wand and tapped the glass, "warm it up a bit. Cheers."

[shh_ron]

"He's not one of my favourite people either right now," Ron said, wondering if he and Charlie were both upset by the same thing. "What's your problem with him, if you don't mind my asking? Maybe we're both pissed off at him about the same thing."

Charlie brought in some fixings for sandwiches. Ron made himself at home, slathering mayonnaise on a couple slices of bread then piling meat between them. "Thanks again," he said, taking a sip of the warmed liquor. "You're right, even better warmed up." The liquor tasted like a plum brandy and while it went down smoothly, Charlie was right, it did pack a punch. Not that Ron cared. He was where he was going to spend the night -- possibly several -- and he was in the mood to get stinking drunk.

[shh_charlie]

"Oi, you!" Charlie grabbed Slibovitz (the feline version) by the scruff of the neck and tossed him on the floor before he stuck his nose in the cold cuts. "Sorry -- where was I? Oh, yeah. Big Brother Bill." His upper lip curled up in annoyance.

"Well, he was just all fine and dandy the other night, wasn't he? Like nothing had happened at all. I had no bloody idea he'd been in hospital and still dont know what in Seven Hells put 'im there. Plus I saw Fleur the other night -- she told me they're getting a divorce. Again, no bloody clue as to why and maybe that ain't my business but you'd think that he could've told us that much. Sat there bold as brass lying through his teeth." Charlie picked up a glass, poured himself a healthy dose of booze and then slammed it down. "Last I checked we were still a family."

[shh_ron]

A cat suddenly began nosing around, black with a white chest, and Charlie shooed it away from the food, for which Ron was very glad

[shh_charlie]

Charlie thought about what little Fleur had told him but the story didn't quite match what Ron was telling him now. "A row? I don't--blimey, I don't know. I saw Fleur a few days ago at the Five Alarms. She was--" He stopped, realising that telling Ron he'd seen her with Wood would probably sound wrong.

"She was there and I went to talk to her. Just to say hello, as you do. She told me they were splitting up, that they'd decided their lives were going in seperate directions and..." He drew in a sharp breath, hoping he wasn't betraying confidences. "Well, there were problems with babies too. She had a miscarriage and things went pear-shaped from there. However, if I find out Bill hit her, I'll break his bloody neck."

Charlie gulped down his drink at that thought, then poured himself another.

[shh_ron]

Ron took in what Charlie had learned from Fleur. "I didn't know about the miscarriage. That's too bad." No wonder Fleur had seemed sad and tired when Ron saw her. Still, that didn't explain her bruises. "Lives going in separate directions. That's...sad too." Not to mention it sounded all too familiar.

Charlie was drinking hard and fast, but Ron took just a sip of his own drink, as he was going to see Percy soon for dinner and didn't want to arrive there drunk. "I don't know what went on between Fleur and Bill. I do know that somehow -- might've been a different time, maybe later -- Bill ended up in hospital and was there for several days. Somehow Harry found out about it and went to see Bill while he was recovering." Ron bit his lip, bile rising in his throat at what he would say next. "Charlie, Harry knew Bill was in hospital, he knew Bill was sick or injured, but he didn't tell anyone. Not even me."

[shh_charlie]

Shrugging, Charlie nodded. "Well, I don't think anyone knew she was preggers. It's not like they sent out announcement owls or anythin'. She seemed...sad. Can't blame her. But sod Billy-boy for not tellin' us or about their splittin' up. I mean for fuck's sake, Ron, we're his brothers."

He scowled further. "Can't believe Harry couldn't be arsed to tell you anything about Bill. What's all that about, then? Harry's your best mate. You'd think he'd reckon it was important!"

[shh_ron]

"That was my reaction too," Ron said. "We're his brothers. We have a right to know what's going on with him, don't we?" He scowled, biting his lip. "I reckon he's embarrassed about it, but Merlin, it's not the end of the world."

At Charlie's next comment, Ron shook his head. "Yeah, you'd reckon he would think it was important for me to know something that important about my own brother. I can't believe he walked around the house for a couple of weeks, knowing that about Bill, and didn't tell me. I can't believe he didn't tell me right when he'd seen Bill in hospital. I mean, what the fuck?" He shoved a hand impatiently through his hair then took another long sip of his drink.

[shh_charlie]

"What's he got to be embarrassed about?" Charlie asked, taking another swallow of slibovitz in annoyance. "S'not his fault if Fleur lost the baby. S'no one's fault. Shite happens. And relationships split all the time. Alright, p'raps Mum and Ginny'll give him an I told you so but...no, it's not the end of the bloody world. He should be turning to us for support, shouldn't he?"

"As for Harry, I dunno what that's all about, mate. Honestly. Did someone hit him with a Confundus or somethin'?" Charlie shook his head in disbelief. "Too right that he should've told you. You're his mate, Bill's brother. What's he keepin' secrets for? What was Bill in hospital for, anyroad?"

[shh_ron]

Ron shrugged. "Dunno what Bill could be embarrassed about. Like you said, relationships split up all the time." Though, to be honest, Ron didn't want to think about that. Fleur and Bill had seemed really happy for a long time. She'd stuck by him after Greyback attacked him, which had certainly surprised Ginny and Mum.

He barely resisted a snort. "Who knows? Maybe Harry is a bit Confunded. I've no idea why Bill was in hospital. Might've been something to do with the full moon. I mean, I know Professor -- Remus has to hide away then so he won't accidentally hurt someone. Bill's not really a werewolf but I bet the full moon isn't much fun for him either. Maybe something happened during the last one. Or else he caught dragon pox or scrofulungus. And where'd he get dragon pox from anyway? That's more up your alley." Taking a bigger gulp of his drink, he winked at Charlie over the edge of his glass.

[shh_charlie]

"Dragon pox?" Charlie nearly snorted his drink out his nose. It went down the wrong way and he started to cough and laugh at the same time. "No, he hasn't got dragon pox. If he did, he's be covered in green spots. Which would only improve his looks..."

He finally stopped coughing, drinking a bit more to make certain. "Don't think the full moon is much fun for 'im but he's never gone into hospital before. Something must've happened but obviously, it's nuffin' you or me are gonna know about. We're clearly not amongst the chosen few." Charlie rolled his eyes. "Dragon pox...blimey, what I wouldn't do to hear about a few more cases of that. It'd mean we actually had ruddy dragons in the vicinity."