A Friendly Dinner

Thanks go to the marvelous Alliean for the beta of this chapter.

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Chapter 30 - A Friendly Dinner

Summer had begun on rather a pleasant note for the majority of those in the wizarding world, now that they had the freedom to move around without the threat of a Dark uprising looming in the near future. Bill had successfully taken Julia on three dates and two other informal outings, both of them acting respectfully towards each other. They were both unsure as to when the appropriate time would be for them to let all of the restraints fall away. Bill had held back from kissing her senseless on many occasions, mostly due to the newness of their relationship and out of respect for her. Julia, however, did not try and make any forward moves because she was usually too shy, and she was afraid of making Bill into the black sheep and outsider of the family more so than he was already.

They were treading on fragile ground, keeping their relationship a secret from everyone, save for Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Severus. At work, their conduct was as it had ever been, except perhaps a tad more formal than it had been before to discourage anyone from suspecting, and all of their dates and outings had been conducted in mostly Muggle locations. Julia was actually surprised that they had yet to be caught out by someone. Bill was mostly relieved. He did not want bad press running about all over the place about them--especially--Julia because of him. Somewhere outside of the fog that was her thoughts, she heard her name being called.

'Julia? Hey, are you in there?' asked a cheerful female voice.

She blinked and turned to look over her shoulder at Amanda, the witch who worked in File Storage at Gringotts.

'Ummm, sorry about that,' she said, sitting up a bit straighter and smoothing out her skirt. 'How can I help you?'

'Just wanted to make sure you got the memo about having all your paperwork for this month done by Monday,' she replied in her thick Cockney accent. 'Have a nice weekend, won't you, love?'

Julia smiled at her. Amanda was really a lovely lady. 'Thanks for the reminder. You have a good weekend too,' she replied with a friendly wave as the woman left her office.

She sighed heavily and sat back in her chair, slouching a little and closing her eyes. She reached her hand over to her desk and grabbed for the puzzle box, wrapping her fingers around it, and was just about to open her eyes again when she felt fingers brushing hair out of her eyes, tucking the strays behind her ear tenderly. She sat up and turned to see Bill standing behind her high-backed office chair, smiling down at her. She smiled back at him, standing up so she could throw herself at him in their usual hug. He caught her with ease and embraced her warmly, stroking her back a little.

'Good afternoon to you too,' he said with a chuckle.

Julia let out a deep breath and snuggled closer. 'Bill, I am so exhausted!' she exclaimed softly.

'You should have gone home earlier – there's no need for you to even come in on a Friday, love,' he told her, admonishing her lightly as he gently tilted her face up so he could see her better.

'I can't stay at home alone,' she admitted a little sheepishly. 'I'm so used to someone always being there when I get home – it feels too empty.'

Bill smiled despite the fact that she meant Ron. He was a lazy git, who would stay at home all day when he didn't have Quidditch practice and still expect for her to make his dinner and pander to his every whim. If anything, it should have been the other way around. In his eyes, she deserved to be treated like royalty – not as a housewife. He stroked a finger down her nose and smiled.

'We'll have to remedy that some day,' he said softly, not leaving any room for confusion about what he meant by his statement. 'But for now, please get home and take a nap before dinner tonight. I'll be around to collect you at seven, so you'll get at least three hours if you go now.'

Julia nodded reluctantly, her heart still beating fast in her chest from his murmured comment about her living arrangements. Oddly enough, she hoped he was meaning the near future when he spoke of it. She knew from their times sharing quarters in Egypt that they could live together compatibly. With a spark of hope settling in her chest, she hugged him before leaving and Apparated from the main hall to her little London apartment. She left her briefcase on her office desk and then shrugged off her robes, hanging them on the coat hooks beside the front door. With that done, she went to take a nice cool shower and slipped into a thin dressing gown when she was done. Checking the time and seeing that it was still only half past three, she flopped onto her bed, intending to get in a couple hours of sleep.

She was out like a light immediately and only woke three hours later, leaving her half an hour to get dressed to go to Harry and Ginny's for dinner that night. Hermione and Severus were going to be there after their month in Spain with their adorable adopted daughter Megan, as well as Remus and Tonks, whom she and Bill had decided they could trust. She got dressed in a pretty white skirt that fell to her knees, with a cornflower blue blossom pattern embroidered on it. She pulled on a matching blue blouse and brushed her long blonde hair back before charming it into a loose braid that fell to her waist. She had just finished her make-up when the doorbell rang, and she went to answer, only to find Bill standing there looking dashing in faded blue jeans with a partially unbuttoned black shirt tucked into it, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His hair was tied back as usual, and his cheeky grin spread over his lips. He swept her into a hug, kissing her forehead when he pulled back.

'You look lovely. Shall we go?' he asked, offering her his arm courteously.

She linked her arm with his and smiled at him. 'Yes, let's head over there now. The sooner we get questions out of the way with Remus and Dora, the better,' she answered, leaning close to him so that he could Apparate them both.

They Apparated to the park across from Grimmauld Place and walked around the hedges, crossing the road after a few cars had driven past, and then pressed the doorbell. Julia bit her bottom lip nervously as she had so often seen Hermione do before forcing herself to act natural. She didn't need to go around broadcasting that she was having bad feelings about being there that evening. Ginny and Harry had been so kind to her after her divorce from Ron, for which she had been grateful. A pregnant Ginny answered the door looking flushed and happy.

'Come in, you two!' she exclaimed on seeing them. 'Hermione and Severus just Flooed in with Megan, and Remus should be here with Dora any minute now!'

She ushered them inside in traditional Weasley style and led them all into the sitting room to meet with their friends. Julia was immediately surrounded by Hermione's arms, hardly able to breathe until the very pregnant woman released her from the clinch. Megan, who in her completely lovely way, called her 'Aunty Julia' -- and also called Bill 'Uncle' -- hugged her. The girl had amazing manners for one so young.

'It's so good to see you,' Hermione told her once everyone had calmed down and the men had gone off to sit in their own little corner with some drinks while the ladies retired to the comfortable lounges.

'It's great to see you too,' she replied warmly, taking Hermione's offered hand in her own. 'You have a lovely tan and set of freckles there, 'Mione. The pregnancy is going good, yes?'

She nodded. 'I had a check up just two days ago at St. Mungo's, and Poppy also stopped by for a visit at Snape Manor this morning,' she replied with a huge grin. 'Both of them are a little smaller than usual, but are perfectly healthy. She thinks they should start getting a little bigger in a short while.'

'That's really great, Hermione,' Julia said with a smile. 'I am so glad that you are all doing so well.'

'Speaking of which, how are things going between you and Bill?' Hermione asked, looking over to the redhead in question.

Julia blushed a little at the mention of their relationship, and was just about to answer when the doorbell rang again. This time, Harry jumped to his feet and ushered Ginny to sit back down and went to answer the door and let in their guests himself. This lull in the conversation gave Julia the chance to swallow some of her nerves and regroup in order to answer the question. Remus and Harry reappeared in the doorway, and a grinning Tonks, with her hair its normal mousy-brown shade, entered shortly after them.

'You so have some explaining to do, Miss Julia!' Tonks said, plopping herself on the footstool in front of all the ladies seated on the lounge.

Julia had once more opened her mouth to speak when the worst thing that could have possibly happened occurred -- something which explained the niggling sense of unease she had been feeling all day. She turned to see why everyone had suddenly stopped talking, and it was because a very red, angry-looking Ron was dusting himself off over by the fireplace which still had a green glow around it from him Flooing in. He stood stiffly, his arms crossed over his chest, wand in one hand. His eyes wandered over the room, lingering for a moment to glare at her before turning towards Harry and Ginny. From her position, Julia saw Severus quickly tuck Megan behind him.

'I heard there was a dinner party on here tonight,' Ron said a little gruffly, his jaw working furiously. 'I thought that my invitation must have somehow accidentally gotten mixed up in the post and not delivered. But, now I can see that you weren't expecting me...'

Julia looked around and sought out Bill's eyes with her own. He nodded, slipped quietly from behind the other men, and joined her over by the lounge in a silent show of support. Ron saw this from the corner of his eye and looked over properly to see that his own brother had gone to stand with his ex-wife. He did not miss the moment when Julia and Bill linked their hands together as he moved in to sit where Ginny had originally been beside her. The vein in his temple throbbed visibly.

'I had no idea that this was a couples only party,' he said through clenched teeth, his fists balling up. 'I would have brought a date if I had known.'

'Don't be like that, Ron,' Bill said seriously. 'Don't be a sore loser. This whole thing could be a lot easier for you if you would learn to let go and grow up.'

Ron turned his whole body on his brother, whipping his wand out towards Bill as he moved. 'Don't you talk to me, you lying, backstabbing bastard!' he spat, bits of spittle flying out of his mouth.

Just then, Lily began crying from her room upstairs, alerting everyone to the fact that the noise from Ron yelling had woken her up. Tonks waved Ginny off and slipped out of the room to deal with it while everyone else remained still. Ron with a wand when he was angry was a dangerous thing, especially with two pregnant women in the room. Julia could feel her stomach trying to crawl out of her throat as she sat waiting.

'Ron, please put the wand away and let's talk,' Hermione tried to reason.

'Don't you talk either!' he yelled at her, eyes never leaving Bill and Julia. 'I will deal with you later, once I've finished teaching these two cheating liars a lesson!'

Before anyone could stop him, Ron yelled a clear and decisive 'Crucio!' and Julia's world went black.