Chapter 3 ? Brothers Weasley

Hearts Over Dracontias

By Isis and Neit

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters belong to JK Rowling.

Chapter 3 – Brothers Weasley

It takes two men to make one brother. ~Israel Zangwill

The rest of the day passed in a subdued atmosphere and Charlie was only too pleased to Floo back to his flat, even though another confrontation with his brother was inevitable.

Charlie stepped out of the fireplace with a sigh, looking around for Ron. To his relief, or perhaps his dismay, there was no sign of his errant brother other than the trail of dirty clothing that ended near the bathroom and a large pile of dirty dishes. Shaking his head, Charlie stepped into his bedroom, which was the only place that Ron hadn't left his mark.

After arriving home one day to find that Ron had scratched through all his drawers, Charlie had put a locking charm on his door. Brothers shouldn't have to lock their brothers out of their rooms, but Ron had left him little choice. He owned several expensive Magizoology texts and didn't want sticky fingerprints ruining his treasured collection.

Charlie flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling again, trying to decide what would be the best course of action. Obviously he couldn't talk to Ron right now, which was likely a good thing. Honestly, he knew that he had to take the time to carefully word what needed to be said; otherwise the explosion would be too much for him to take in this state of mind.

Getting up again, Charlie decided that a cuppa would be the best way to start what he was guessing would be a very long night. Entering the kitchen made him rethink that plan. It looked like Ron had used every single cup, glass, and plate that Charlie owned. The top of the stove wasn't white anymore, but crusted with whatever Ron had made himself for lunch. A stinking frying pan with a thick layer of hardened fat had Charlie gagging slightly at the rancid smell that was coming from that direction.

Instead of backing out of the kitchen, he whipped out his wand and started cleaning up everything, flicking and jabbing his wand a little more vigorously than the charms strictly called for. Bugger, Ron! How hard is it to pull out your wand and cast a couple of cleaning charms? I know Mum taught you better than this!

Once the kitchen was back to rights, Charlie started the kettle and then rummaged in the cupboards for something to eat. Unsurprisingly, there was very little to choose from as it appeared that Ron had cleaned him out there.

"Would it kill the blighter to even leave me a slice of bread? It's not like he's putting forth anything to contribute to the cause," he grumbled under his breath.

Slamming the cupboard door, Charlie jerked a drawer open and retrieved the take-away menus. He was too tired to deal with going out to shop for food now, and he'd decided to get a proper dinner. I should be spiteful and eat it all too!

The kettle sang out, letting Charlie know he that could now proceed with making his cuppa. He sipped at his tea while flicking through the take-away menus that he'd brought back from London. Settling on Indian, Charlie sent his order for Lamb Vindaloo through the Floo, happy that it wouldn't take long for it to return. I'll deal with everything else once I am not starving.

Five minutes later, the Floo Network flared to life, and a white clad arm waved his dinner order in the air. "Lamb Vindaloo for two," a voice called.

Grateful to have something other than the untidy living room to focus on, Charlie jumped up from the couch and bounded over to the fireplace. He took the parcel and paid for the dinner. The spicy scent reminded him of the war years when some or other form of take-away had been the staple dinner many a night. Indian had always been his favourite though. He reflected that it was great to be a wizard, able to order take-away through the Floo Network from his favourite shop in London without a second thought about the logistics of the issue.

He went into the kitchen and served himself, leaving Ron's portion in the packet for when he deigned to come back home. Charlie had to wonder where Ron was; he didn't seem to have all that many friends in Romania. Well, none that he'd introduced to Charlie. Charlie just hoped he hadn't gone out drinking again. It was starting to become a concerning habit of his younger brother's.

He sat on the couch, eating off his lap, reflecting on the events of the day. The reasons for the dragon killing were beyond him at this stage of the investigation, and something still nagged at the back of his mind about the way that the dragon had been killed, but he still couldn't put his finger on what. Maybe he needed to find some reference material, because he was sure he'd read something somewhere before. The trouble was that Charlie had read so many Care of Magical Creatures books during and since leaving Hogwarts, it was impossible to recall which book it had been, let alone what the book had said. It wasn't in his collection, to be sure; he'd read those over and over when he was bored on night duty at the reservation.

Just as he finished his dinner, the Floo flared to life again. Charlie glanced up sharply, wondering who was calling. He hoped to Merlin it wasn't his mother...a rather uncharitable thought, yes, but she'd have a cow if she saw what his flat looked like at the moment.

"Oi, Chaz! You home?"

He breathed a little sigh of relief when he heard that it was Bill. Bill was, and possibly always had been, Charlie's favourite brother. They had always had an easy camaraderie. Both of them were intelligent daredevils, and they shared many of the same life philosophies. But, where Bill had always charming and gregarious, Charlie was slightly more introspective and intense.

When Bill had been attacked by Fenrir Greyback on the evening that Dumbledore had died, Charlie had been enraged. When the bloodthirsty sadist had finally been hunted down and killed by the werewolves loyal to the Order, Charlie had felt immense relief and sadistic satisfaction.

He stood, putting his empty plate on the coffee table, and walked over to the fireplace. His face bore his first broad grin of the day at the sight of Bill's scarred face. Charlie had become accustomed to the scars now, but they'd been a huge shock when he'd first seen the evidence of the savagery.

He settled cross-legged in front of the fireplace, eager for a talk with his older brother. Perhaps Bill would provide insight... into his book problem and perhaps his brother problem. "Bill, how're you doing?"

"Freezing my bollocks off, but otherwise good. You?" Bill's grin was good natured. He'd never let the attack get to him like some would have. Where some would have retreated behind heavily guarded barriers to lick their wounds, Bill had been more active for the Order than ever after his ordeal, perhaps even more determined to see the end of the war and spare others his fate.

Charlie snorted a little, feeling some of his tension from his hellish day bleed away. "Freezing in Egypt? You have got to be kidding! You should try it here for a bit. How's Fleur adjusted to the move, by the way?" he asked.

Now that the war was over, Bill had resumed his work at the Gringotts branch in Cairo. He'd heard that Bill was even more adept at Curse Breaking now than he had been before he'd gone on extended leave to work with the Order. Perhaps it was the slight edge of the wolf in him; who knew?

Whenever Charlie asked after Fleur, Bill would get that look on his face: the one that said that he still couldn't believe that the beautiful witch had wanted to marry him after his attack. "Oh, she's loving it," he said with that dreamy-eyed look of disbelief. "She's teaching 'Eegleesh' at the local wizarding school, if you can believe that one." Bill chuckled.

Bill's expression sobered a little in the next moment though. "Listen, Chaz, why I called... it's about Ron. He Floo'd this morning, wanting to know if he could come to Cairo and live with Fleur and me for a while. What the hell is going on? First Fred and George, now you..."

Charlie scowled. "I haven't kicked him out if that's what you wanted to know," he said sourly. "Well, not yet at any rate." He sighed heavily. "Merlin, Bill, I don't know what's wrong with him. He sleeps all day, drinks all night. Never fucking cleans up after himself. He doesn't even pretend to be looking for a job. I mean, enough is bloody enough, you know?" Charlie threw his hands into the air disgustedly. "I reckon we should just send him back to Mum. She'll sort him out quick enough."

Bill snorted. Charlie had a good idea of what that snort was all about; while their mother had a reputation of being hard-nosed with her children, Bill had always thought that she had a soft spot for Ron because of all that had happened while Ron had been Harry Potter's best mate.

"He's that bad then?" Bill asked. "I though that the twins had just been overreacting. You know how they are." Bill frowned a little. "Nah, let's not send him to her yet. Perhaps some tough love will help him? Too bad Percy's gone. You know he could always get Ron to do things, even if Ron never really respected him. He had scary qualities."

Charlie nodded sadly. During the war, Percy had finally seen the light and rejoined the family, only to be slain by Death Eaters on his first mission for the Order. He thought life was horribly ironic sometimes.

Bill changed the subject, obviously seeing that he'd depressed Charlie a little by talking of their lost brother. "So, little brother, how was work today?"

Charlie's expression became even gloomier at Bill's obvious attempt to turn the subject to lighter matters.

"Oh, Charlie, what happened?"

Charlie sighed and tried to think of the best way to convey his news. While he knew that Bill wouldn't take it nearly as hard as he was, he also knew that Bill was aware of how important the dragons were to him.

"There was a dragon slaying last night, Bill. It was really bad; I've never seen anything like it before." Charlie's voice broke over the last sentence as the memories of the morning hit him hard.

Bill's face creased into a concerned frown. "Aw, I'm sorry to hear that. You've seen dragon poaching before though, Chaz. What was so different about this one?"

Charlie ran a hand over his face and through his hair, exhaling an exhausted breath. "Thing is, they didn't take any thing they could sell." He bit his lip and rolled his eyes. "I can't really talk about it over the Floo, though. The Aurors are still investigating. Tonks, if you can believe that one."

Bill nodded. "I understand. Gringotts won't let us near the bloody Floo for business calls. I have to Portkey in for every bloody meeting." Bill laughed, amusement creasing the parallel scars that marred his cheek. "What did she trip over this time?" he asked sardonically. A hint of amusement sparkled in his eyes.

Charlie had witnessed that she was still as clumsy as ever. If anything, being head over heels for Remus had only made it worse. "Just about everything," Charlie said, snickering slightly.

He frowned again, returning to his dilemma. "I dunno, there's just... something niggling about the case, though. I read something somewhere and now I can't remember where." He tapped the wooden floor with his boot, annoyed at himself.

"Typical," Bill said, rolling his eyes. "Well, if you want a good collection of old tomes, you should try the wizarding library in Alexandria. They have books that they've even forgotten about. Way cool place. If you're going to find any obscure fact, you'll find it there. And the librarians are usually way helpful too," Bill said helpfully. "And, that way, you can stop in for a visit." He flashed a roguish grin at Charlie, which might have actually scared somebody that didn't know him.

Charlie returned the grin. "Thanks, Bill. I think I'll do that." He grimaced. "What the fuck are we going to do about Ron, though? I'm not bloody leaving him here while I'm gone." If this was what his flat looked like while he was here, he didn't want to imagine what Ron would get up to with him gone.

"Fleur is probably going to whip my arse, but it's fine to send him this way," Bill said. His little smirk indicated that he probably didn't think that was a bad idea, being tied up by a half-Veela. "I'll try and see if I can get him to see a little sense."

Charlie nodded. "Thanks, Bill," he said, feeling relieved that his elder brother had solved both of the nagging questions that he'd had since arriving home from work. "I'll probably head down to Egypt tomorrow, if I ever get this place cleaned up," he said, shuddering at what must have been a week-old piece of toast lurking under the coffee table. "I'll see you then."

"Later." Bill disappeared and the emerald-green flames receded, leaving Charlie staring at an empty fireplace.

He glanced up when he heard the door squeak open. The prodigal brother had finally returned, it seemed. Probably because he's hungry, Charlie thought uncharitably.

"Ron." He kept his voice neutral, a constant struggle for him lately.

"What's for dinner?" Ron asked without preamble as he dropped his jacket to the floor, ignoring the coat rack that stood less than two feet away from him.

Charlie rolled his eyes and stood. "Good to see you too, Ron," he said sardonically. "Indian take-away in the kitchen. And you're welcome," he said, without waiting for the thank-you that would likely not be forthcoming.

He picked up the pile of plates off the coffee table. "I have to go to Alexandria tomorrow. You're going to stay with Bill for a while, so you'd better pack up after dinner."

Ron gave a non-committal grunt as he disappeared into the kitchen, although Charlie knew he'd contacted Bill about staying there. Ungrateful little brat. You'd think he'd at least be pleased he's getting his own way.

Two hours later, Charlie had showered, cleaned the flat, cleared his trip via Floo-call to the reservation, moaned at Ron for leaving his dinner plate on the coffee table, packed a bag for the trip to Egypt, and nagged Ron until he'd done the same.

Exhausted, he lay on his back in the dark, watching the shadows dance on the ceiling as clouds danced across the moon. He hoped that he'd be able to find the answers he sought in Egypt, and he hoped that Bill would find a way to get through to Ron.

He sighed and closed his eyes. It's no use agonising over that now, he thought. Finally, he drifted off to sleep after what seemed like the longest day of his life.

Thank you to WickedlyWanton...her suggestions and encouragement are invaluable.