The Family Feud

Hugs and kisses of thanks go to Alliean for the beta of this chapter. And hugs to WriterMerrin too, for being her awesome self :)

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Chapter 31 - The Family Feud

The walls in Grimmauld Place were actually quite a pleasant shade of mint green in comparison to the awful off-white colour that had been left behind prior to Harry and Ginny's renovations. When Julia finally came to, she sat up abruptly, but instead of finding herself in St. Mungo's as she had expected when she had first heard the Dark curse come from Ron's mouth, she was in Grimmauld Place. She looked around the room and recognized it as the main guest room. She slid out of the bed, realizing that she was wearing a nightgown that was not her own, and walked over to the window, parting the curtains, squinting from the light shining in. It was daylight outside, and she must have been out for quite some time. Her whole body felt a little underused.

There was a knock on the door, and she turned around just in time to see Hermione slip into the room and close the door behind her. She smiled at her and joined her over by the window, drawing open the curtains and opening the window manually like any non-Magical person would. Julia often forgot that Hermione was in fact a Muggle-born witch. Mostly because she was more powerful than the majority of the purebloods in their world.

'How are you feeling?' Hermione asked gently, taking one of her hands in both of hers.

'I am feeling okay,' Julia replied after swallowing. Her throat was a little dry. 'I am a little confused. I can't really remember all that much about what happened with Ron – what day is it?'

'It's Saturday morning, love,' Hermione said, leading her back to the bed and nudging her to sit back down so she could do a check up. 'You passed out last night, so Severus and I brought you upstairs and gave you a little Dreamless Sleep so that you could let your body rest for a little. You must have been tired yesterday.'

Julia nodded, letting Hermione wave her wand over her and cast all of the diagnostic charms she needed to before she nodded and smiled in satisfaction. The older witch left then, and Julia dressed in the clean pair of jeans that had been laid on the bed for her, donning the t-shirt as well. She noticed then that they were in fact her own clothes, and resolved to make sure to find out who she could thank for going to her apartment for them. She left the room and walked back down the stairs and down into the basement kitchen, finding Hermione and Ginny sitting at the table with Remus, Tonks, Lily and Megan.

'Good morning, Aunty Julia!' Megan exclaimed, patting the empty spot at the table beside her with a happy grin on her face. 'Are you feeling better?'

Julia smiled. 'I am much better, thank you, Meg,' Julia replied, taking the seat beside the young witch.

'Let me pour some tea for you!' Megan insisted, wandlessly levitating a cup over from the cupboards and manually pouring steaming hot tea into it before passing the mug over to sit in front of Julia.

'Thank you,' Julia said gratefully, accepting the offered mug.

She took a sip of it and sighed in relief. There was nothing that tea couldn't fix. Like any good British citizen, she loved her tea. Sitting back in her chair, she did not notice that everyone at the table was actually watching her with nervous expressions until she looked around properly. She swallowed a large mouthful of tea quickly before opening her mouth to ask what was with the staring.

'Before you ask, we need to explain a few things to you about what happened yesterday evening,' Tonks said, holding up a hand to silence her. Julia closed her mouth and prepared to listen. 'For starters, Ron did cast Crucio on someone last night, but it was not you. You passed out from being overwhelmed and exhausted. In actual fact, he managed to get Bill, and everyone was so shocked at first that nobody moved, but then Severus jumped in and tackled Ron and took his wand before binding him.'

'Is Bill okay?' she asked, her voice becoming a little panicked.

Remus reached a hand over the table to her and covered her trembling ones. 'Bill is going to live, my dear,' he reassured her calmly. 'He just had to stay overnight at St. Mungo's as a precaution. Harry and Severus stayed there with him. None of us had any idea that Ron had the potential to cast quite so powerful a curse. Bill had tremors for most of the night, but now he's just really tired.'

'And Ron?' she asked, a noticeable hitch in her voice.

'He has been put under arrest and is now residing in the Ministry keep while he is awaiting his trail. I have a feeling he will be going to Azkaban for a while,' Tonks answered, unable to keep a trace of sadness out of her tone. The former Auror looked a little ashamed of herself for it.

Julia reached one of her hands out to Tonks and patted her arm. 'It's okay to be sad about it, Dora,' she said, feeling a little calmer now. 'It is sad to think that Ron could lose it like he has. I feel sad for him too.'

'Would you like to see Bill?' Remus asked her. 'He is being released around noon, so you could go there to bring him back.'

Julia nodded. 'I would like that,' she answered.

Remus nodded. 'Come with me, then. I will take you there to his room. Hermione says that you need to take it easy and not exert yourself too much at the moment,' he explained at her questioning look.

Sighing in resignation, she nodded and stood, following Remus up the stairs to the sitting room. They left the house and went to the hedges of the park, Apparating in tandem and reappearing in the main lobby of the Hospital. Remus led her to the lift and pressed the button for the third floor minor injuries ward. They stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall until they reached the last door at the end of the corridor. It was a private room, and on walking into it, Julia saw Harry asleep in the chair beside the window, and saw Severus standing and staring out the window with his hands tucked into his pockets.

'I've brought a visitor,' Remus announced, making Severus turn around to face them.

He jerked his head in the direction of the bed where Julia turned to see a sleeping Bill resting upon it, wearing the flannel pajamas she had given to him in Egypt while they had been sharing living space. She walked over to his bedside and sat down on the edge of the bed. Severus, meanwhile, walked over to Harry and gave his shoulder a shake, waking him from his slumber with a snort. He sat up abruptly, pulling off his glasses to rub his eyes.

'Come on, Scarhead; we're leaving,' he said gruffly, crossing his arms and leading the way out of the room while Remus waited for Harry.

Harry followed, looking a little dazed. 'Did he just call me Scarhead?' he asked a chuckling Remus as they left the room, closing the door behind them.

Julia smiled as all the other men left her alone with Bill in the room. Likely they wanted to give the couple some space to talk about everything that had happened. She really appreciated Severus taking the initiative of getting the other two out of the room. She felt as though she really would need that time to speak with him. Gently, she brushed some of his long auburn red hair out of his face, which made his features twitch. Letting her warm palm press fully against his cheek made him stir, and then when she rested her other hand on his chest, his eyes flickered open slowly, indicating that he was waking.

He rubbed his eyes to rid them of sleep, pushed himself up to prop his back against the pillows, and smiled warmly at her, taking one of her hands in his own and bringing it to his lips to kiss her knuckles. Julia blushed and scooted closer, leaning her head against his chest and wrapping her arms around him tightly. His strong arms came around her, not quite as firmly as they usually would have because his body was still a little weak from the strength of Ron's curse. Surely, it was an accident that he had managed to curse his own brother so cruelly?

'I am so glad that you are alright,' she whispered quietly against his neck, unable to keep the tears from falling from her eyes and wetting his pajamas.

Bill chuckled huskily and cuddled her closer to him. 'I am relieved that you are well also,' he murmured, kissing the top of her head. 'I was worried about you even when I knew that Ron hadn't cursed you.'

Bill simply held her while she cried until her soft sobs became sniffles, and eventually became nothing at all. When she was ready, she finally sat back up and faced him, and he passed her some tissues to blow her nose, which she did gratefully, turning her back to do so and jumping down from the bed to go and toss them manually into the bin before returning and resuming her seat. He smiled at her, and she grinned back sheepishly, a little embarrassed at having just cried all over the front of his shirt. He captured her chin with one hand, and before she could protest or even think, he pressed his lips to her own in the kiss he had wanted to give her for so long.

A few moments later when he broke it off and pulled back, he moved away a little so that he could admire her cheeks, flushed from crying, watery, sparkling eyes, and the slight plumpness of her bottom lip. He grinned at her before leaning in and kissing her again soundly; however, this time she reacted accordingly and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him right back. They shared a deep, tongue-tangling kiss that seemed to last for hours instead of just minutes before they pulled back at the sound of a knock on the door.

'Come on in!' Bill said chuckling, drawing her right up beside him on the hospital bed, intending to hold on to her no matter what.

Arthur Weasley walked into the room and closed the door behind him, moving to stand a lot closer to the bed than Bill would have imagined. 'Hello, Bill, Julia. I am glad to see that the both of you are not adversely injured,' he said warmly with a look of relief in his eyes.

'Hi, Dad,' Bill welcomed, pleased that his father had taken the time to visit. After all, Arthur had not done anything to him – it had been Ron and his mother.

'I'm very sorry about everything that has happened in the past few months with Ronald and Molly,' Arthur told Julia, who nodded and smiled at the man. It was true he had been a bit of a pushover, but she could tell he was sincere. 'I am also very sorry that the events of yesterday have made the two of you have to come out into the public eye. I imagine that you were not intending to make this known quite so soon.'

'It was not our intention to make anyone uncomfortable,' Bill said softly. 'I especially didn't want Julia to be cast in a negative light to the public. We never had a relationship, or even considered one, until after the divorce. I was the one who asked first.'

Arthur shook his head and smiled. 'I do not doubt that the both of you have been honorable in every respect, which is why I have put a team in charge of media control and coverage of your story. I don't want any false press about either of you,' he said seriously. 'I am also not going to let Ronald get off easily with this one. He did the worst possible thing he could have ever done to a member of his family more than once, and for that he shall suffer the consequences. I am having your mother receive psychiatric help here at St. Mungo's, starting Monday.'

Bill nodded. It looked like Arthur Weasley was stepping back up to take charge.