The Story of Arthur's Brothers

The Story of Arthur's Brothers

For all the spells that Hermione Granger knew, there simply was not a charm or an Arithmantic equation that could satisfactorily arrange a seating chart for a large wedding. To make matters worse, the post-war Weasley family seemed to have expanded greatly.

“I don’t recognize half of these names from Bill’s wedding. Who is Percival Greengrass, anyway?” Hermione looked between her fiancé and his mother, who both managed to look insulted at the question.

Ron, it his typical fashion, tried to ignore the question. “We need two more people at Auntie Muriel’s table. Who should be the lucky victims?”

Molly’s answer was only slightly less vague. “Well, now that Arthur is on the Wizengamot and the location doesn’t have to be a secret, we are able to invite some that would not have been in our close circle back then.”

“But aren’t the Greengrasses Slytherin?” Hermione asked, recalling the recent Malfoy-Greengrass wedding that she had not been invited to.

“Well, the recent generation was, certainly, but with your political aspirations, it won’t do to insult relatives just because of house rivalry.”

Hermione glared at Ron until he relented. “Uncle Perce doesn’t feel the same sense of family that Mum does.”

“Uncle? How is he--?”

Molly waved her wand, stacking the parchments on one side of the table and Summoning the teapot, which effectively silenced Hermione.

“I guess it’s time to tell you the whole story. Arthur had three brothers.”

“I thought there were just two?” Ron queried.

“He had two older brothers and one younger, but we never spoke of--let me start from the beginning:

“Bilius Weasley was the eldest brother. During the first rise of He-Who--Voldemort, Bilius was a member of the Wizengamot, working up the ranks and on his way to becoming Minister of Magic. Some of the other purebloods were trying to apply political pressure to keep him from promoting pro-Muggle legislation. The night the Dark Mark appeared above his home, we all feared the worst, but the next day we found out that his wife and five children were safe. They changed their names and moved to France.”

“And they named me after him,” Ron interjected.

“I guess Percival changed his name, too?” Hermione asked.

“Well, it wasn’t really like that. Faun was an only child, and the Greengrass family name would have died out if Percival hadn’t agreed to take her name. That he wanted to distance himself from this brothers was a bonus.”

Hermione nodded silently while Ron piped up. “Percy lived up to that family tradition. So, Dad has a younger brother, too?”

“Yes. He’s been all but forgotten, but that was what he wanted.”

“Past tense?”

“Well, the last letter we sent by owl was the news that Voldemort had returned. We haven‘t heard from him since. As far as we know, Geoffrey felt it would be safer to have no contact. He has lived like a Muggle for the last twenty years.”

“Why?” This was Hermione again.

“The Daily Prophet reported that he had disappeared while experimenting with invisibility.” Molly frowned at Ron’s snort and continued. “In reality, he had fallen in love with a Muggle and felt it would be safer for everyone if no one in our community knew about it. In a way, experimenting with spells to the extent that it works too well may have made the Weasley name laughable for a time, but it was much better than exposing his family.”

Hermione’s tea sat untouched on the table in front of her. “Wouldn’t his children have had to go to Hogwarts?”

“Undoubtedly that would have been the case, but they never had children. They never shared the particulars, and we weren’t close enough to ask, but there you have it.”

Ron had a dark look on his face. “Why didn’t you ever tell me this?”

“You have to understand that we didn’t tell any of you. Bill and Charlie were old enough to remember him, but as long as the Death Eaters had power, it had to remain secret.”

“I’m good at keeping secrets, you know.” Ron was almost pouting.

“Perhaps we thought it would be easier with one fewer to keep. Now,” Molly said, changing the subject, “let’s find victims for Auntie Muriel. You know, it has been such a long time since Percival and Faun have seen her…”

Original prompt from Silverdoe: Arthur Weasley has three brothers. Who are they and what do they do?

Thanks to Lyn and Karelia for technical support.