ch 10

I woke quickly, the smell of bacon and the sound of yelling.

So much orange. I thought as I took in the sight of my room on the fifth floor of the Burrow.

Without hesitation my wand fell into my hand and I checked my ring to make sure it was still on my left index finger. Once I confirmed that yes it was, my wand cut through the air.

All of the posters on the wall seemed to shudder before peeling off of the walls and flying towards me before hovering in the air. Another flick and they were all vanished. The only things that still sported the ugly orange color was the sheets and part of the comforter on the bed.

My wand absolutely vibrated in my hands, purring at being used again. Ever since the events at the end of the third task, it had been more eager than ever to channel my magic.

The book was right about Blackthorn, you need to pass through hardship together to truly bond with it. I thought remembering the excerpt from the book I had read earlier in fourth year. Interesting. I concluded returning to my room.

I didn't feel like going through this cleaning process the night before, I was too tired after staying up late catching up with the rest of the family.

I feel lucky I wasn't woken by the smell of a dungbomb, or by some other sticky substance courtesy of the twins pranks. They haven't started yet. Or they're going to torture me by never actually pulling a prank but making me think they would therefore driving me mad.

I shook my head and focused on what I was doing, getting ready for the day. It took me no time and with a few waves of my wand, my mouth was cleaned more efficiently than a toothbrush ever could.

I started my descent down the stairs. The twins were already downstairs, Percy was either downstairs or at work and Ginny's door was closed, telling me everything I needed to know.

Mum was running around the kitchen preparing breakfast for the family and the twins were annoying her from the dinner table in their pajamas. No doubt the yelling from earlier was them apparating in and startling her.

"Goodmorning." I rang out to announce my presence.

"Morning Ron, want a plate? I have some bacon and biscuits ready, Jam? Yeah?" She replied fixing a plate together without hearing a response.

"Sounds wonderful, mum." I replied sitting down next to the twins. "Fred, George." I said with a nod to each of them.

"Ronniekins." They said in unison with a devilish smile on their face.

"Mum, any word on Sirius' trial?" I asked her as she set my plate down in front of me.

"They approved the emergency trial last night, it will be today, sometime in the afternoon, according to the paper, at least." She replied.

Before I could ask about when Harry would be allowed to move in, the sound of apparition met my ears from outside the house. My wand flew into my hand on instinct and I was lucky everyone's head turned to miss the action.

Bill didn't even bother knocking, instead he just walked in, as is his right. I always considered him Molly's favorite son, although the twins might be tied with him.

"Bill!" Mum said as she squeezed his neck. "When did you get in?" She asked.

He's been out of the country most likely. I thought at their interaction.

"Late last night actually, crashed at a mates place. Didn't want to bother you." He said with his roguish smile and his earring dangling from his ear.

"You know it would be no bother young man. You're always welcome in this house." Molly replied, setting a plate down in front of him. "How long are you in?" She asked.

"A long time I imagine, with the order being reformed and all." He said casually.

Molly stopped what she was doing completely, the dish she was cleaning fell into the sink and clanging against another. Another second and she picked it back up, to furiously scrub on it.

I glanced at my eldest brother from the corner of my eye. He kept his gaze on her, testing to see how she would react to the news. Obviously she had been kept out of the decision to include him in the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's band of vigilante's.

"Don't speak of that in front of the children." She replied simply.

He turned to face me and gave me a wink. "And you, I thought you would be taking your summer in France." He said with a laugh.

Traitor. I thought as he brought up the subject I knew Molly would latch on to. He knew it too, to deflect the attention on someone besides himself.

I laughed with him despite the situation, it was kind of funny.

"Ronald. Have you been seeing that Veela!?"

And there it is. I thought getting angry. I quickly shut that lid because my anger wouldn't help in this situation. Occlumency lessons are paying off.

"Yes." I said simply, deciding to tell the truth.

"I thought my letter would have made it clear about my feelings on the subject." She said quickly.

"Mum, to be perfectly honest with you. I couldn't care less what you or anyone else think of my relationship." I said simply, once again being perfectly honest with her.

I drew the gaze of everyone that time, and once again Molly stopped cleaning the dishes at the disrespect.

I wince a little. I could have said that better. I realized.

Bill's eyes flickered from mine to the stairs behind me, where our father, Arthur stood.

Great, here it comes.

No one said anything. He walked forward, obviously smoldering inside. "Outside." He said simply to me.

I wasted absolutely no time in standing up, completely cool and following him. I may have been a little disrespectful, but I stand by what I said. The worst thing about all of this is that it will be viewed as teenage rebellion. I thought as we finally breached the door.

He was still facing away from me when his wand flipped up and I tried my best not to react but mine flew into my hand also. I knew he was only casting the silencing spell he always cast whenever we were in trouble and were about to get a tongue lashing, but my wand was just so eager to unleash my will.

The spell took hold around us and almost immediately I could feel it drop. I turned to look at why that was and I could see Bill had moved closer to the window and tapped his earring with his wand.

Fucking curebreakers. I couldn't help but think. Arthur didn't even seem to notice it drop. Dad can't feel magic?

My wand whipped and I set up my own privacy spell, a fairly powerful one if I do say so myself. I kept my eye on Bill and I saw his eyes widen before locking eyes with me. I sent him a wink just as he had to me earlier. He smiled before he turned back towards the house, hopefully to mind his own business.

Arthur still hadn't begun to speak or even turn around, so I decided to speak first.

"I agree." I said simply.

He turned to me at that. "Agree to what?" He responded.

"That was fairly disrespectful. I could have said it better." I told him.

"Yes, you could have. Don't think I didn't hear what she said either, I told her it wouldn't go like she wanted. I'll talk to her later." He said getting his thoughts in the air.

Oh so he is mad at the situation in general, not just what was said.

"I don't need the hostility father, I need your support. Once it becomes public knowledge, everyone else will handle the hostility." I told him.

"We just want what's best for you, I'm not sure if I agree with your mother but she has a point." He responded.

"I know, and if I make a mistake then that's fine. But it's my mistake to make." I continued. "I am fairly certain that I am not making a mistake by the way." I added in there at the end when I finished rambling.

He looked me up and down then, and his eyes softened. "My boy is becoming a man." He said as he embraced me in a hug.

I'm almost as tall as him. I thought in the middle of the hug.

"I have something to show you dad." I said letting him go. "It's at Gringotts." I finished.

"Well I am off today and tomorrow. We could go after breakfast yea?"

"Sure."

"Name!"

"Ronald Weasley." I answered the yelling goblin in front of me.

"Key."

I handed it over like the good little wizard the goblin thought I was.

"Follow me."

I went first and then Molly and Arthur. We were led into a cart and I realized that it was the first time I had been to the vault now belonging to Harry and I.

Soon we were led to the vault and the goblin stayed at the cart as I led them to the vault door. The key was accepted and the vault doors slid open.

I stepped back to let them get a good view of the pile of galleons that lay in the middle of the floor.

"What is this Ron?" They asked me.

"This is a vault that Harry and I share." I told them. "The total is two hundered thousand galleons, split in half between the two of us." I paused letting them take in the amount.

"In second year, Harry killed the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. That is where it stayed until we went back down there last year. I had an idea, what if we tried to harvest it and sell the materials. Well it turns out that Gringotts is more than willing to be the middleman between the sellers and buyers. I earned my half by actually doing the harvesting of the basilisk, I skinned it and I collected the venom, gringotts sold it all for us. Now we are two-hundred thousand galleons richer. Well a little less than that." I finished.

Neither said anything for a while. Eventually it was Arthur that spoke up.

"We will give it back." He said after he digested it all.

"You have no say in it. Neither of you do." I told them.

I hated doing it to them but I knew they would react this way.

"We aren't a charity case Ron, we are giving it back!" He shouted.

It was one of the only times I have heard him actually raise his voice. A year ago I would have cowed before him but ...well, things have changed.

"He didn't give me the money, I earned it. He was going to have it destroyed, and then no one would have benefitted from it at all." I answered his raised voice with one of my own.

"I don't give a damn! Give me the key." He demanded.

"You don't have the authority, Harry was emancipated for the duration of the tournament. My name is on this vault, legally. Even if you tried to take this to court, Harry is no longer an adult. You would never win, at least not in time for it to matter. Mine and Ginny's tuition has been paid for in full for the rest of our years at Hogwarts." I said holding up a piece of paper.

"I received confirmation from Hogwarts yesterday." I continued as I handed him the piece of paper.

He took it and read it, he had to have read it twenty times beginning to finish before he let it fall between his fingers. The whole time Molly had been watching us interact, a dumbstruck look on her face.

"You always were good at chess." My father said not looking at me. Instead he was trying to calm himself down, pacing all over the room.

"I didn't want to do it this way. But I knew how you would react dad." I pleaded to him. "You would have never agreed to it."

He started laughing, he laughed for a good minute before he abruptly stopped. He turned and walked up to me, for a second, it looked like we were about to scrap it out, like muggles. He just put his hand on my head looked me in the eyes, and then walked past me. He continued until he got into the cart, Molly right on his heels.

She was oddly quiet this whole time. This is going to take forever to get over. I thought as I looked back on how events played out.

That could have gone better.

"Had he spoken to you yet?" The elegant writing of Fleur read in my journal.

"Not yet, mum barely speaks to me, only when it's necessary." I wrote to her. "He'll come around eventually, he's just mad how I did it, behind his back, without his consent. He's not actually mad about the act, in fact I'm sure he's happy about it."

Fleur had been my confidant through this whole debacle with my family. I am slowly becoming the black sheep, or maybe I am already the black sheep. I thought.

Bill and the twins were the only two of my siblings who would speak to me. Ginny was determined to follow our parents instructions, Percy never talked to me much anyway.

"I think you're right, It'll get better. Papa doesn't like me being this far from home. I think he is just missing me. Maman understands and keeps him in check." Fleur replied.

I could hear her laughing at the end of the sentence. I glanced at the clock on the wall.

"I have to go, I am meeting with Sirius and Harry today. And you have to get back to work." I told her.

":("

She had been going crazy with the smiley faces and winking faces since I showed her. Now it looks like the sad face will be her signature.

"I'll talk to you later." I told her.

":)"

I rolled my eyes at that and put the journal in my robes before heading downstairs.

"I'm heading over to Sirius'." I told my mother.

I didn't get an answer. Instead I just grabbed the floo powder.

"12 Grimmauld Place."

I stepped out of the green flame without stumbling at all.

"I hate you." I heard Harry say as he let his jealousy at my superior floo traveling skills.

"Good to see you too mate."

"Don't forget about me." A shaggy haired man said as he rounded the corner into the family room of the house.

"It's good to see you too Sirius." I told him. "Thanks for letting me come over."

"After everything you've done for me. You're welcome here anytime kid." He said with a wink. "Now if you don't mind, I have a date with a pretty witch."

"The mind healer doesn't count as a date, Sirius." Harry said stopping him in his tracks.

"That's what you think." He said with a grin as he threw in some floo powder. "St. Mungo's." Then he was gone.

I stood there for a moment looking around at the state of the house, it seemed better taken care of than described in the books and movies.

"How did you really capture Pettigrew?" Harry asked.

I turned to look at him with a confused look, not confused at the question, just confused he would lead with that.

"Oh shit. It's time for that conversation already." The words flew out of my mouth. "How did you figure it out?" I asked him.

"I saw you, right before I grabbed the cup." He answered. "I thought it was a hallucination at first. Then you showed up with Dumbledore and his body was on the ground."

"Why didn't you say something then?" I asked him curious.

"I'm not sure, you had to have a reason right?"

"Oh I have one for sure." I said as I drew my wand. I cast the most overpowered privacy spell in the history of privacy spells. We are in the place that was the Order of the Phoenix's headquarters, Dumbledore might have bugged the place for all I knew.

"But I can't tell you yet." I told him.

"What do you mean you can't tell me, I'm your best mate!" He exclaimed.

"I know. But your thoughts are unprotected, any decent wizard could take this information from your mind. That's why, if you want to know what really happened that night, you'll have to learn occlumency." I told him.

"Occlumency?" He asked.

"Technically it's the art of organizing your mind. It lets you do much more than that though." I told him.

"How do you do it? Is it a spell?" He asked.

"No, there are a few ways you can do it. We will do it a few ways, first we will get you to where you can clear your mind, this requires meditation, then we will try to breach each others defenses with spell, this will allow us to master occlumency much faster." I explained to him.

"And then you'll tell me everything?" He asked.

"And then I'll tell you everything." I confirmed.

He got this look on his face then. "I need your help." He said seriously.

I was actually confused to what he meant. "With what?" I asked.

"You've become powerful Ron, I want that. Against Voldemort, he ...he toyed with me Ron. I stood no chance, I accepted I was going to die. Then by some fluke of magic, I was saved. Never again, I never want to be weak again." He answered.

He was obviously still traumatized by the event and I could understand it, he saw Cedric get killed. My fault.

I met his eyes and I could tell he was serious. "Ok. It'll be hard, and you'll have to work your ass off, but we can do that." I told him.

"Deal."

*Bill POV*

I looked at the latest item the Goblins wanted him to figure out, the ring will become something mundane by the time I am done with it.

A flash of silver caught my eye.

The new girl? I thought to myself, watching her walk back to her desk. .

I stood up on a whim. I need some entertainment.

"I don't think management would be too happy about that." I said noticing her attention on the journal in front of her.

She didn't jump as I expected, instead she replied almost automatically. "Yes, I know. I'm already done with my daily assignments." She said in defense.

"Relax, I won't tell Mrs….?" I asked extending my hand.

"Fleur Delacour." She said shaking my hand.

The girl Ron took to the ball, and is now seeing. Well done little brother. I couldn't help but admire his tastes. Well that ruins my fun now doesn't it.

"Bill Weasley." I said back.

Her eyes brightened at the revelation. "I know a Weasley." She said playfully.

"Intimately, if the family rumors are to be believed." I couldn't help but tease her a little.

"Oh he talks about me?" She said suddenly much more interested in the conversation.

"Something like that. So when are you going to come see the family." I asked.

Her eyes turned a little fiery then. "When a veela is allowed in the house I suppose." She replied sharply.

Feisty. Mum is going to love this one.

"Heard about that did you?" I asked.

"He didn't want to tell me. I practically forced it out of him." She said as she calmed down.

"I'm surprised you're even talking to me then." I said honestly.

"Only because you still talk to him." She said as she turned away.

No secrets between these two huh.

"I'll talk to the others. It's about time this was all resolved." I told her.

Honestly I've let it go on for too long.

She didn't respond, instead she stood up and left.

*Ron POV*

I smiled as I read the very very long essay of Fleur rambling about my family and the audacity of my brother to bring up when she was going to meet the family. I didn't have the time to send a full response so instead I wrote a simple note.

"Let me respond to this in a little while. I am a little busy."

I am currently in the dueling room of Grimmauld place, a room that was previously very dusty, until I got a hold of it. It's a simply designed room, mats covered the floor and in the corners stood some old dummy's.

This might be the place where Bellatrix learned and practiced all of her deadly spells.

I shook my head to focus and my wand flicked as I cast a rennervate on Harry.

Sweat ran down his body after our succession of duels that all ended the same way, him stunned on the ground.

He sat up and looked around, then he hung his head. "Again?" He asked.

"Don't get down on yourself, I've been practicing nearly every day for the last year, it's only natural that I would win these duels." I told him.

His expression changed. "But why? Why have you been practicing?"

"Have you mastered Occlumency?" I asked him not needing an answer. "Because if you have then I can tell you."

He didn't answer at all, instead he changed the subject. "Are we going again?" He asked.

"No, now we will study. And you get to start with this." I told him handing him a small leather book, one without a title and author on the cover.

He opened the front page and read the title.

A Beginners Guide to Casting For the Learned.