Chapter Text
Severus took a sip of his coffee and turned the page of his newest edition of Potion Masters Monthly feeling content. It was early morning around 9:30am and despite the fact that upstairs 3 very precocious boys were playing, he was unconcerned. He did feel a bit ill at ease but that wasn’t from the children, no it was the fact that his house mates and fellow co parents, Sirius and Remus were out today looking for a house to live in.
Severus could admit to himself and them when they returned that he wasn’t happy with this turn of events. He had no idea why they were leaving anyway and wondered if they forgotten that Harry had an issue with change.
He frowned remembering how Harry had reacted when Sirius had missed tucking him in one night and he couldn’t imagine their little boy understanding (not even counting the regression) why his godfathers suddenly didn’t want to live with them anymore. He would definitely be bringing it up on their daily catch ups once the boys were sleeping.
Severus never thought he would be the kind of person, or rather father really who would enjoy his child and his friends. He gave him a sense of pride and joy he had created such a safe haven for all of his son’s friends. At the moment he was watching Draco, in addition to Ron and of course Harry as the boys now all got along great. He shook the fond thought away and went to turn back to his magazine when he saw the floo flare.
“Severus, I need your help with something, can you floo to my office?” Albus asked carefully.
“Right now? What’s going on Albus?” Severus asked in the same tone, wary at the tone.
“Yes, I need you to come now, urgently,” Albus told him seriously.
“Alright, let me just grab the boys,” Severus said as he snapped his fingers for a elf.
“No, they can’t come,” Albus said quickly.
“What do you mean they can’t come? You’re not making any sense Albus,” Severus said alarmed at this point.
Albus sighed. “I found something in the school that I can’t divulge what it is over the floo. It’s too dangerous for the children to be here with it. Just leave them with Sirius or Remus and come now,” he said tightly.
“They’ve gone out for the day,” Severus said with a sigh, even as he took a few deep breaths to calm his heart down.
“Send them to Molly,” Albus said immediately. “Floo to my office once you’ve done that, I’ll see you soon,” he said before he disappeared from the fireplace.
Severus swore quietly for a moment once the headmaster had disappeared before looking to his house elf. “Please inform the boys that we are leaving now, get them to grab their packs and come downstairs in two minutes,” he told his elf.
“Yes Master Severus,” Twinkle replied before popping away silently to get the three little boys ready to go.
While his elf was taking care of the boys, Severus took that time to throw some floo powder in the fireplace, while yelling out the Burrow.
Molly glanced over in surprise at the fireplace was flaring, hurrying over to it to see who it could be. “Severus what is it? Did something happen with the boys?” She asked, her eyes flickering to the clock where Ron’s hand was pointing at playing.
“No they’re fine, Albus flooed me and said that I was needed urgently at the castle. And that something dangerous is there because I couldn’t take the boys with me. Can I send them over to you as Sirius and Remus are out today?” Severus asked her tightly.
“Of course, send them through,” Molly said quickly, she had been an order member too, if Albus said it was dangerous and needed Severus then she was in agreement that the boys needed to be somewhere safe.
“I have Draco as well, is that alright?” Severus asked, he figured it would be but he didn’t just want to throw his godson at her if it wasn’t.
“Of course it’s alright, send them all,” Molly told him firmly.
“I am, Draco might be a bit wary still of the older boys given what happened earlier in June,” Severus reminded her.
“I’ll make sure he feels safe Severus, not to worry. I’ll take care of your boys,” Molly promised him.
“Your boy is one of my boys too,” Severus said fondly before he pulled back, unsurprised to see the 3 boys in question looking at him worriedly.
Despite the fact that he couldn’t hear. Molly let out a small laugh because he had been right. Ron was as good as his just like Harry was one of hers.
“Why do we have to leave?” Harry said with a pout.
“Just for the day, I need to help the Headmaster with something and your wayward godfather isn’t here,” Severus told him.
“What about Moony? We can stay with him,” Harry said with a pout. This was unfair!
“Remus is gone as well, otherwise you would be fine staying with him,” Severus said with a sigh and it was clear testament to how far he had come regarding that particular man.
“Where did they go? Maybe we can stay here by ourselves just until they come back,” Harry said hopefully.
“If I knew they weren’t going to be out until late afternoon I would allow it, but as they are you cannot stay here alone,” Severus told him regretfully.
“What are they doing that’s going to take all day?” Harry whined.
“They’re looking for a house,” Severus told him tightly.
“They don’t need a house, they live here with us,” Harry said stubbornly.
“That they do,” Severus said his eyes glittering dangerously.
“Maybe they want space for themselves?” Draco asked carefully noting the look in his godfathers eyes.
“And why they need that? Is the manor not big enough?” Severus said quietly.
“The manor is huge is but mummy thinks they may want to live just with each other,” Draco told him truthfully.
“Don’t be ridiculous dragon,” Severus said because he knew that wasn’t it. “Enough about this now, let’s get going to the Burrow,” he said swiftly changing the subject.
“That’s fine, but are you really gonna come back to get us?” Ron asked slowly.
Severus gave the redhead an amused look. “I thought you would be excited to go home,”
Ron gave an idle shrug. “It’s been nice to be somewhere where I’m not forgotten is all,” he said quietly.
Severus gave him a stern look but he knew he couldn’t get into it, Albus was impatiently waiting for him he was sure of it. “We will talk about that later, you first Ronald,”
Ron sighed before he grabbed the powder and walked into the fireplace. “The Burrow,” he said before he disappeared in the flames.
“Are they gonna be okay that I’m there Uncle Sev? What if they’re mean to me?” Draco asked worriedly.
“They won’t be, Harry and Ron won’t allow that. But if someone is you go and tell Molly and she will set them straight,” Severus said grabbing the floo powder even as he bent down to pick up Harry and steered Draco into the fireplace so they could all floo together.
“Okay,” Draco said trusting his godfather before he turned and pressed his face into his side so he wouldn’t get floo powder in his eyes, nose or mouth.
“Face in my shoulder Harry,” Severus said as he threw the powder down. “The Burrow,” he called holding tightly to both Draco and Harry before he smoothly landed in the Weasley’s sitting Room.
Molly was surprised to see Severus floo over with both Harry and Draco but perhaps given what she had been told she shouldn’t have been. “Hi Harry dear,” she said softly.
“Hello Mrs. Weasley,”Harry said politely as his father set him on his feet.
“Hello Draco it’s nice to meet you sweetie,,” Molly said gently as she reached her hand out for the little boy to take.
Draco was a little bit scared but he took her hand, surprised to find it warm as she pulled him close to her, and she smelled like cookies.”it’s nice to meet you too,” he said shyly but he meant it.
“We’re they staying the night?” She asked Severus curiously.
“I don’t think so, I have packed a change of clothes or two, but if you’ve not heard from me by 4, Sirius and Remus will floo you to get them. That’s when they said they’ll be back,” Severus told her as he spelled the boys clothes clean from the soot.
“Of course, not to worry Severus I will take care of them,” Molly promised.
“I know you will Molly,” Severus assured her before he turned to look at Harry and Draco sternly. “Be good,” he said firmly.
“We will,” Draco promised.
“Alright I’ll see you later,” Severus said choosing to floo straight from the Burrow to the castle.
Once his godfather had left, Draco took the time to look around the Burrow. It was everything that Malfoy Manor wasn’t but it was perfect in its own way. He felt a grin come to his face because he felt the love here, it was making him giddy. He glanced around the sitting room curiously before he gently squeezed the hand still holding on his.
“Mrs. Weasley? Where do we put our bags?” Draco asked curiously.
“You can put them in Ron’s room, he’ll show you where it is,” Molly told the little boy sweetly.
“I’ll do that mum, and after, can you unshrink our brooms?” Ron asked his mother as he set his miniaturized Nimbus on the table, gesturing for his friends to the same.
“I will, I’ll have them unshrunk by the time you boys come back down,” Molly told them, as she waited until the little boy let go of her hand first.
Draco smiled shyly as he let go of his friend’s mom’s hand before turning to follow Harry and Ron up the stairs.
Molly gave a fond smile as she watched them go before she pulled out her wand to unshrink the 3 broomsticks. Once that was done, she put the brooms by the backdoor before she went into the kitchen, wanting to bake something sweet for after lunch.
“Your mum smells like biscuits, did you know?” Draco asked Ron as he dropped his bag on the floor next to Harry’s once they were in Ron’s room.
“Oh I know,” Ron said in amusement. “You’ll get to taste some of her treats later on,” he added as he turned to head back down the stairs.
“And they are so good,” Harry added excitedly before following Ron.
Draco couldn’t wait to taste them, his mum didn’t like to be in the kitchen, so he had never had fresh baked anything that was not from a house elf. He was just keen to see if there was any difference in the taste. There must be, especially by Harry’s reaction.
Ron spotted their brooms by the door the moment he finished the stairs, heading towards it easily. Their brooms each had their name on it, as well as being personalized to each individual boy. It was exciting because he had never really had a new broom before and now he did.
“Are any of your siblings here?” Draco asked because it was really quiet in the house.
“The clock says that the twins and Ginny are here, so they’re probably outside flying,” Ron said as pointed at the clock so Draco could see.
“That clock is so cool, I’m gonna ask Daddy if we can get one like it,” Harry said seriously.
“It is, your mum always knows wherever you all are,” Draco said in a an impressed tone.
Ron was staring at both Harry and Draco in surprise because sometimes he hated the clock. It was hard to sneak around or do anything because all one had to do was look at it to see what you were up too. He didn’t dwell on it though as he grabbed his broom in his hand.
“We’re going to go play mum,” Ron yelled back before he led the way to the back door and then towards their quidditch pitch.
Draco followed after Ron, thankful that Mrs. Weasley had unshrunk their brooms, and followed his friends outside. He noted that the Weasley pitch was a bit smaller then his own but he didn’t care, he was just happy to play. He came to a stop just behind Ron as the twin terrors flew down to the ground. His heart thudded painfully in his chest, grabbing the back of Ron’s shirt just in case.
“Why is there a certain blonde Slytherin here?” George said carefully, a mean twinkle in his eye.
“Because Professor Snape had an emergency and as he’s spending the week with us he had to come to,” Ron explained, aware that Draco might be terrified. He knew from personal experience how intense they could be.
“We’ll there’s no snakes allowed on this pitch,” Fred said snidely.
“I wonder if mum will agree with you, Harry go back inside and ask mum about this new rule,” Ron said boldly turning to look at his friend.
“Okay,” Harry said as he moved turn back towards the house only to stop when someone grabbed his arm.
“This is silly Ron, we don’t want to play with a snobby git like Malfoy, you used to be the same way. What happened to you?” George said with a frustrated sigh.
“I grew up, like you need to do, Weasleys used to hate Malfoys and vice versa because of a stupid feud. Draco and I broke that, so now there is no room for the hate. Now we’re gonna play quidditch, you don’t have to play with us,” Ron said boldly before he turned to look at his friends.
“Ginny, do you and Luna wanna play some quidditch with us?” Harry asked curiously.
“Yeah, what positions are we gonna play as?” Ginny asked, running over towards them with Luna.
“Since the twins aren’t playing, we can play teams 3v2, and try to divide up the teams so whichever team has 3 people they aren’t automatically the best players,” Ron said easily.
“Oi, who said we weren’t playing?” Fred said with a frown,
“You did when you called Draco a snake and said he couldn’t play on our pitch,” Ginny retorted.
“Ginny, you know who his dad is and what he did to you. How can you be okay with that?” George asked in disbelief.
“Because Draco isn’t his father, and also I’ve been seeing a mind healer who let me know that while his father shouldn’t have given me that dark artifact I should have known better when it first answered me back. And anyway his dad apologized and made it better,” Ginny said back.
“How did he make it better?” Fred asked in confusion.
“He wrote a formal apology, made an oath and then gave me some compensation for my trauma. Also Draco, your mum is really nice,” Ginny said with a bright smile.
“You’ve met my mum?” Draco asked in surprise.
“Yeah, mum and I have tea with her a couple of times a week. She’s helping with me pureblood etiquette things I should know. And her and mum like to bond over being married,” Ginny said with a laugh.
“Wow so basically our whole family is full of traitors?” George said slowly.
“That’s your opinion, and since you’re thinking like that, we don’t want to play with you,” Harry said finally.
Fred raised in eyebrow in surprise before making a face. “Fine we’ll shut up about it, let’s make the teams,” he grumbled.
“Alright, so it’s going to be 4v3, how should we split the teams Gin?” Ron asked turning to his sister.
“The twins and Luna, against me, you, Draco and Harry,” Ginny decided.
“How is that fair?” Fred asked in dismay.
“You’re both older then us, so you’re skills are better. Luna is a pretty good keeper too. Also I don’t trust that you’ll treat Draco fair if we split the teams any other way,” Ginny said bluntly.
“That’s what I was thinking too,” Ron admitted. “No seekers this game, just chasers, keepers and beaters,”
“Kay,” Harry said happily as he got on his broom and rose in the air. It didn’t take long for Ron to release the quidditch balls before the game started.
Once the game officially started Ron had thought that his brothers were going to play fair, but he found that he was wrong. If it wasn’t for Ginny and Harry running interference, he was sure that the beater balls would have brutally hit Draco. As Ron moved to stop a ball from scoring his head suddenly snapped to the right as he heard a thump before a blood curdling scream was heard.
As he turned he could see to his horror that Draco’s broom was further away from him then it should be and that his friend was falling. “Draco!” He screamed out fearfully.
Ron pressed himself closer to his Nimbus and turned to catch his friend, even knowing that he was too far away. His eyes widened as he caught sight of Harry shooting towards Draco and catching him just before he hit the ground. Ron landed a few moments later, dropping his broom carelessly, his heart in his throat as he threw himself at the little cuddle pile of his friends.
“Are you okay?” He asked, hands frantically patting his friend down as he was just trying to make sure that Draco wasn’t hurt.
“I’m okay but that was so scary,” Draco whimpered, releasing a shuddering breath because he could have died just now. It was also really hard to keep from regressing in that moment. He wanted to be little so badly to receive the care he always did but he knew right now in present company that it wasn’t safe.
“I know,” Harry whispered in the same tone, holding tightly to his god brother. He felt sick because what if he hadn’t be able to catch him in time?
“I don’t wanna play with them anymore,” Draco sniffled tearfully.
“You don’t have too,” Ron promised him as he turned to look back up at his brothers in anger.
He could see Ginny pulling her wand at the twin who had pushed Draco, and he wasn’t surprised to see her signature bat bogey hex hit him, it was no less then they deserved.
“Merlin Gin, chill out,” George replied hotly, as Ginny threw a hex at both him and Fred.
“You just tried to kill the Malfoy heir, have you lost your mind!” Ginny screeched at them.
“Quiet Gin, mum might hear you,” Fred said his face so pale that his freckles stood out even more.
“Good, I hope she does because we’re telling on you,” Ginny said firmly.
“No Gin please,” Fred replied hurriedly, fear coursing through his body at the thought of mum finding out.
“We’ll be grounded for the rest of summer,” George said seriously.
“As you should,” Ginny said with a scoff. “You’d be in jail if you had succeeded you fools,”
“Can we go inside now?” Draco asked, feeling the adrenaline starting to wear off, and realizing that he needed to use the toilet quite urgently.
“Yeah, I’ve have enough of quidditch today,” Ron replied as he slowly stood up, his legs feeling wobbly in his relief that Draco wasn’t hurt. “That was some amazing flying by the way Harry,” he added.
“Thank you so much Harry,” Draco said gratefully.
“You’d do the same for me,” Harry said shyly, feeling himself flush at the praise.
“Can you show me where the toilet is Ron?” Draco asked as he stood up, stumbling a bit as he stood up because his legs felt like they were sleep.
“Can you go ask my mum to show you Draco? Harry and I need to have few words with the twins,” Ron said tightly as he steadied his friend so he wouldn’t fall.
“Uh huh, I can ask Mrs. Weasley,” Draco said easily, feeling a bit protected that Ron and Harry was going to go yell at Ron’s brothers on his behalf. He smiled a little in spite of what had happened about 10 minutes before, as he turned to head towards the house.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Unaware of what was happening outside Molly had been in the middle of preparing a small 3 layer cake that housed all 3 of the boys favorite flavors. As she was getting ready to start baking she realized that she was a bit low on sugar and chocolate of all things, this wouldn’t do.
She would normally just pop out to the store and back with her children none the wiser but since Harry and Draco was here today she didn’t want to take any chances. She looked at the clock to see Bill’s hand pointed to work but Charlie’s was pointed to bed and she figured given the time of day that he probably wasn’t working. With that last thought she grabbed the floo powder and threw it into the fireplace calling out his name.
Charlie had been enjoying his day off which is he why he was surprised to hear his mum’s voice. He quickly shot off the bed, already thinking the worst. “Mum is everyone okay?”
“Everyone is fine love, I just needed to pop out the shop for a bit and I wondered if you were free to come and stay over,” Molly told him.
“Are the twins not home?” Charlie asked in confusion because they were 15 now and were more then capable to watch over Ginny.
“They are, I just have a full house today, Ron is here with 2 of his friends and Ginny is here with Luna. It’s too much for the twins to handle,” Molly explained.
“Oh yeah that makes sense, sure I’ll floo over, that’ll give me a chance to talk to Ron and see if he was wanting to do our trip soon,” Charlie said as he slipped his feet into his shoes.
“Perfect,” Molly said before she pulled back from the fireplace so her son would have space to come through.
Charlie flooed over a couple of minutes later, just wanting to be sure that his mum was out of the way. He was surprised that his mum didn’t immediately head into the floo and instead stood there waiting for him. “What is it mum?”
“I just wanted to appraise you of the current situation, you know how our blood feud with the Malfoys is over with?” Molly asked slowly.
“Yes I know,” Charlie replied in the affirmative, he had received the missive from Gringotts not to mention he had felt the magic around his core signifying it had dissolved.
“Well Draco Malfoy is one of those two friends I mentioned of Ron’s who is over here today,” Molly told him.
“Okay, are you warning me on how I should treat a friend of Ron’s mum? Because if so I’m gonna be very offended that you think I’ll hurt a child based off a feud I didn’t even want to be a part of,” Charlie said carefully.
“Of course not love, I’m just putting emphasis on who is here and also that Draco has suffered a traumatic experience earlier in the summer. And that because of it he is a afraid of adult men,” Molly said in the same careful tone.
“What happened?” Charlie asked flatly because if she honestly thought he would be placated with that little tidbit she clearly didn’t know him.
“A predator tried to assault both him and Harry at Draco’s birthday party in June. Harry is fine, he bounced back from the ordeal but Draco’s very fragile right now, and I know you love, you want to fix this, but you can’t. So just until I come back, I need you to stay in your room and watch them from your window,” Molly told him gently.
Charlie frowned at his mother's explanation because he didn’t like it this at all. It wasn’t in his nature to sit back and let any child, animal or person for that matter suffer. He knew that if he hadn’t gone to work with dragons, he would have gone to work a healer, because that’s the kind of person he was. He took a breath, because as much as he didn’t agree his mum was right. “As soon as you come back, you’ll introduce me?” He asked quietly. It made him sick to his stomach to know that a child was scared of him, even not having met him yet.
“You know I will, Ron thinks you and Draco will have a lot in common,” Molly said fondly.
“I’m looking forward to meeting him then mum, go out to the shops, I’ll keep watch,” he promised.
“Thank you darling,” Molly said before she stepped into the fireplace and threw the floo down and disappeared in the green flames.
Charlie grabbed an apple and a cookie before he headed up the stairs and to his room, thankful that his room looked over the quidditch pitch. He laid on his bed and opened up one of his dragon novels that he hadn’t read in a while, making a point to look up every once in a while, at the children flying outside.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Draco finally made his way inside the house, kicking off his shoes because they were a bit muddy, and he didn’t want to track mud into Ron’s house. He walked through towards the kitchen but didn’t see Mrs. Weasley, forgetting in his haste to check the clock. He knew it was rude and inappropriate to just open doors in someone’s else house, but he needed to find his friends mum and fast. “Mrs. Weasley?” He called out anxiously before climbing up the steps, maybe she was in her room or something.
Charlie wasn’t deaf he heard a voice that he hadn’t heard before calling for his mum and he could hear it getting closer and more urgent. He wondered what the boy wanted but stayed in his room not wanting to spook the child. At least that was the plan until his room door suddenly opened without warning and a little blonde boy poked it head in.
“Mrs. Weasley? I need..oops,” Draco said quickly, eyes wide in shock because there was an older boy that wasn’t Bill or Percy laying on the bed. He swallowed thickly and shut the door, hurriedly backing away from it, his heartbeat sounding extra loud in his throat.
Charlie sighed as the door closed, standing up and hurrying to open it back up. He wanted to help, because the tone of the boy’s voice was borderline frantic. And the big brother in him just couldn’t sit here and ignore it, not after that intrusion.
“Hey,” Charlie said casually as he came out of his room.
Draco swallowed hard but he had known the moment he had seen the older boy in his room that he would follow him back out and honestly, he knew he would too.
“Sorry about bursting in your room, I was looking for Mrs. Weasley,” he apologized, trying hard to keep the trembling from his tone. He was so scared.
“It’s no big deal kid, you don’t have to apologize. Mum actually popped out to the shop, she should be back soon,” Charlie told him kindly very much aware even without mums warning that the little boy in front of him was frightened.
“Do you know what time she’ll be back?” Draco asked trying to ignore the sudden dread in his stomach.
“I don’t, all I know is that she needed to get some ingredients for a treat she’s making you guys,” Charlie told him honestly.
“Oh, we’ll that’s nice of her,” Draco said with a small smile. It was extremely nice even if he wished she hadn’t left.
“Yeah, it is, was there anything I could help you with?” Charlie asked gently.
Draco swiftly shook his head because there was no way that was happening. “No thank you, I’ll just go get Ron,” he said before he quickly turned around taking that time to grab himself tightly with both of his hands. He shakily took a breath because that had been soo close.
Charlie frowned as the child turned away from him and was going to drop the whole thing that is until he saw the desperate crotch grab. Being a big brother, he had seen quite a lot of potty dances, and he knew the one in front of him was a bit more urgent than he had expected to see.
“We’re you looking for the toilet?” He asked bluntly, the time for beating around the bush was gone with the bathroom urgency.
Draco swallowed thickly because had he’d been that transparent? Well, there was no point to lie at this time. “Yes, that’s why I’m gonna go get Ron,” he said honestly.
“I can show you where it is kid,” Charlie said easily.
“No thank you,” Draco replied, heartbeat thudding almost painfully in his chest now.
“Why not? You know I live here too,” Charlie pointed out.
“Because I don’t know you and you could want to do mean things to me or something,” Draco said hurriedly.
“Naw that’s not my style kid, I’m Charlie Weasley, I’m usually in Romania so that’s why you’ve never seen me before,” Charlie replied easily.
Draco’s eyes bugged out of his head, turning around despite the hand still holding onto his crotch. “You’re the Charlie who works with dragons?” He asked in awe.
Charlie outright grinned at the excitement he could now see in the blonde boy’s face.
“I am that Charlie, you like dragons Draco?” He asked in amusement.
“I love Dragons,” Draco gushed out. “That’s my namesake you know,” he added proudly.
“Oh, I know,” Charlie said with a laugh. “Do you have any dragon toys?” He asked curiously, aware that the little boy in front of him was doing a not so discreet potty dance now.
“Uh huh, I just recently got a new dragon teddy, he’s so cool,” Draco told him happily.
“I bet he is, I’ve got nearly the entire set of the dragon figurines. Do you collect those?” Charlie asked him easily.
“Yes, but how did you get the whole set? In the toy shop in Diagon Alley they only have 5 different ones,” Draco said with a pout.
“I’ll tell you how and show you my set here once you go to the toilet,” Charlie told him lightly.
Draco pouted at that, even though he knew he had been shamelessly potty dancing this whole time. “Okay,” he said, his pout still prominent in but he wasn’t going to turn this opportunity down.
Charlie swallowed down a laugh, who knew the way to the kids' heart was dragons. “You were actually really close to finding it on your own. The toilet is right here,” he said opening the door next to his room to reveal the toilet room.
Draco nodded silently, as the sight of the toilet seemed to double his urgency, and he ran right past the older boy and into the bathroom. He didn’t care that Charlie was right there still as he knew the boy wasn’t going to hurt him.
Charlie wasn’t worried, he just took that time to grab the door and moved to close it, as knew most pureblooded children were used to privacy.
As Draco lifted up the seat, he turned to look at the door closing in horror. “Wait, I like it open,” he said worriedly.
“I got it kid,” Charlie said assuming the boy wanted the door to have a crack in it.
“No, leave it all the way open,” Draco fretted anxiously. He couldn’t even make himself go yet because just the thought of the door closing was making him panic.
“Okay,” Charlie said calmly, as he swung the door back the way it had been. “Is that better?”
“Yes, and you can stay right there too,” Draco said seriously.
“Alright I’ll do that, but I’m going to face away,” Charlie told him before he turned around to give the boy privacy he clearly didn’t care about. While standing there, he tried not to make comparisons but honestly, he hadn’t had to guard a bathroom door in about 6 years.
Draco blew out a breath, but it was fine because Charlie was standing guard in front of the open door of the bathroom, he was safe. With that last thought he finally pulled his pants down to relieve himself at the toilet.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Back outside Ron kept looking back to the house, because Draco should have been back by now. He was worried because what if the Slytherin had of been too scared to ask his mum for help, wondering if he should’ve gone with him. He glanced over to see the twins whispering secretly together and while he was still so upset with them, he was happy they were at least outside. With that last thought he turned to go back to the house, just to make sure Draco was okay.
“Ron, where are you going?” Harry asked in confusion.
“To check on Draco,” Ron said noting Harry nodding easily, watching as Harry ran back over to Ginny and Luna to explain where he was going,
Ron jogged back to the house and as he walked inside, he knew even without looking at the clock that his mum wasn’t there, as the house just felt empty.
He looked at the clock anyway and wasn’t surprised to see her hand pointing to shops, but he was shocked and a little bit worried to see that Charlie was pointed to home. He knew his big brother and how protective he was, so Draco was either fine with him or he was hiding somewhere. He bit his lip before he took the steps two at a time, a wide grin appearing on his face as he caught sight of his brother standing guard in front of the open toilet.
Charlie spotted Ron as soon as he came up the stairs. “Hi Ronnie,” he said playfully.
Ron brightened at his brother's words, he was going to miss whenever Charlie stopped calling him that. “Hi big brother, when did you get here?” He asked brightly.
“About 20 minutes ago, mum needed a few things from the shop,” Charlie replied. “And Oi, the twins told me that you hate being called Ronnie now,” he said truthfully.
Ron grimaced at that. “No, I hate that they call me Ronnikins, that’s embarrassing but I like it when you and mum call me Ronnie,” he admitted.
“That’s good to know,” Charlie said fondly, turning his head briefly once he heard the toilet flush. “Wash your hands and then we can go see the figurines,” he said.
“Okay,” Draco chirped happily as he pulled his pants up and headed to the sink.
“How come you haven’t been home?” Ron pouted, feeling a little bit put out.
“What do you mean?” Charlie asked in confusion.
“Bill said that you haven’t come to the Burrow at all this summer. Do you not want to do our yearly trip anymore?” Ron asked as casually as he could, trying to keep the emotion out of his tone.
Charlie rolled his eyes at his little brother, giving him an amused look, “Why are you pointing fingers at me? You haven’t been home since school let out, ask me how I know,” Charlie said pointedly.
“How do you know that?” Ron said with a pout.
“Because every week I floo mum to ask her if you’re back yet and the answer has always been no. So, let me reverse your question, do you not want to do our annual trip this summer? Because it’s okay if you don’t,” Charlie said casually.
He knew this day had been coming when his little brother wouldn’t want to spend time with him in favor of his friends. He had only hoped it would’ve happened in a couple years and not now.
“Of course I want too, I’ve just been spending time with Harry. I spent part of winter break with them, and I went snowboarding for the first time. And since I did so well then Professor Snape didn’t want Harry alone this summer, and so I’ve been with them. And we even went to America a few weeks ago,” Ron said happily.
“Wow sounds like you’ve had a blast,” Charlie said happy for his little brother.
“I have he even put me in chess camp!” Ron gushed excitedly.
Charlie’s eyes lit up at Ron’s admission because chess had been his little brother's obsession since he had been 5. It was crazy to think that each Weasley child had different passions, and he loved that they each found a way to show their skills off. “Tell me more about Chess camp Ronnie,” he requested.
Ron grinned happily at his brother excitement. “It’s a program that every waking moment of it is dedicated to chess. It teaches you different strategies and then at the end of it, we had a tournament, based on skill level rather then age. I ended up being in the final match against a 17-year-old girl, she was pretty good but I beat her. And the grand prize was this scholarship to a school in their world. But since I’m a wizard not a muggle I just traded her for the second prize which was, $25,000 in their money, which Uncle Lucius, helped convert it to galleons and it ended up being almost $4,000 galleons,” Ron said in excitement.
Charlie’s mouth was gaped open wide in excitement, shock and disbelief. “Did you already open a vault?” He managed to ask out in his surprise. His job as a Dragon Handler came with a lot of benefits, especially because the level of danger was high as he was dealing with XXXXX creatures. When he had first gotten the internship as a junior apprentice he only made $250 galleons, but he worked his butt off and. He was now a senior handler and he brought in $2,200 galleons a month now and he was still 4 tiers away from being an International dragon expert(his goal) and the salary from that position was between $5,500-$7,000 galleons a month so Ron getting this much money at his age was a big deal.
“Uncle Lucius had already opened a vault for me, so he told me to add most of it into the account and always keep a couple of galleons on hand at all times,” Ron explained and that was still taking some getting used too. He had his own personal coin purse and as soon as he figured out how he was going to sneak some galleons to his parents.
“Despite all of that I’ve been super excited about seeing you and spending a week together like usual. And I have a request kinda,” Ron said slowly.
“Gimmie one second Ronnie,” Charlie said carefully as he turned to find Draco finished and looking at him expectantly.
“Can I see your dragons now?” Draco asked hopefully.
“Of course you can,” Charlie said as he walked into his bedroom and headed towards the shelves lining one wall. “There you go,” he added.
“Thanks, and don’t worry, I’m only going to look with my eyes,” Draco said seriously, even though he so badly wanted to touch them.
“You can look with your hands too, how will you ever see the different markings and designs between each type of dragon?
“Wow,” Draco said in awe because most purebloods didn’t allow you to touch their most prized possessions. “Thank you,” he added, already reaching for the Welsh dragon even before the older Weasley boy had left the room.
“Of course, kid, I’m going to be chatting with Ron, just give a shout if you need me,” he said before walking out of the room, and gesturing for his brother to follow him to the couch that was apart of what had been their playroom at one point.
Ron followed after his brother, scooting close to him once they had sat down. He swallowed hard, trying to figure out how to phrase his request.
Unaware of what Ron was thinking, Charlie wanted to ask more questions about what he just learned, but he was stuck on something, or rather someone that is. “Whose Uncle Lucius?” He asked slowly, because he only knew one man with that name and last, he had heard the man had done some truly awful things.
“Oh, Draco’s dad, we know him as Lord Malfoy,” Ron said slowly. “He may or may not have been a death eater once, but he’s not one now and anyways that has nothing to do with me. So, I dissolved the blood feud with Draco’s help and then I treated Draco with a big brother kindness like you taught me and then Mr. Malfoy gifted me a trust vault,” Ron told his brother seriously.
Charlie nodded slowly like he understood all of his brother’s ramblings, but he was confused and wanted clarification on a lot of things, but he knew he had already sidetracked the conversation as it was. “How many galleons do you have on you now?” He asked, extremely curious at what ‘keep a little’ on hand meant to an aristocrat such as Malfoy.
“1000,” Ron answered, a grin over taking his face whenever he remembered that no one would ever look down on him again.
Charlie dropped his head into his hands and took a couple of deep breaths, because when he was 13 he could only dream about that amount of money. “Wow,” he whispered.
“I know, I’ve been trying to figure out how to sneak mum and dad some money but I’m having no luck,” Ron said with a pout.
Charlie managed a weak grin at that before he nodded. “Good luck with that, Bill and I were able to wing that by adding money to a vault for each of you so when you each turn 17, you have a little money to help you get started,” he told him truthfully.
“Will you please add my portion to the twins vault?” Ron asked seriously. He knew that they only had the one vault but they were two people so they should have double the money.
“I will definitely do that, how much allowance do you get?” Charlie asked playfully, even though he was genuinely curious.
“Draco says since he turned 13, he’s been getting 325 galleons a week, so it’ll total 1300 galleons a month, so that same amount,” Ron said honestly.
“Wow Ronnie, you get more money then I made when I was a level 1 dragon handler,” Charlie said proudly.
Ron flushed, feeling his ears burning at the impressed expression currently on his brother's face. He was just glad that Charlie wasn’t upset at who was giving him the money. “Mr. Malfoy said that I was a prodigy at chess and he didn’t want my lack of wealth holding me back,” he said shyly.
Charlie was in full agreement with the aristocrat, and honestly couldn’t believe that he was. He reached forward to pull his younger brother to his chest, hugging him tightly. “He was right, you are a prodigy and I’m just glad someone else has been able to see it and help you,” he said softly.
Ron melted into his brother's arms, a pleased feeling exploding in his chest. He just loved the unconditional love his brother had always given him.
“Okay, now let’s go back to the original conversation before I diverted it. What was your request?” Charlie asked, still hugging his brother tightly.
“I wanted to know if I could bring a friend or two with me on our trip,” Ron said softly, breathing in the earthy scent that could only ever be Charlie.
“Harry and Draco?” Charlie asked in the same quiet tone.
“Yes, cause Harry is my best mate, and I’m always spending time and doing adventures with his family. And Draco is just as obsessed with dragons as you are, like he tried to buy a whole dragon once. I just want to carry my weight in our friendship and let them go on an adventure with me for once,” Ron explained in a quiet voice. He felt extremely vulnerable after having asked and would have run away if he wasn’t still cuddled up to his older brother.
Charlie blew out a slow breath at Ron’s answer because he hadn’t seen this fore-coming. While a part of him was terribly pleased that Ron looked forward to their trips and even wanted to include his friends, he had to think about this properly.
The boys were all 12 or 13, and he knew that Harry would behave and what he knew of Draco he knew the pureblood could, but did he want them to spend his solo week with him and his brother? He liked it being just them, it allowed their brotherly bond to grow stronger. It was a selfish thought, and as much as he wanted to show Draco real life dragons in person he didn’t want it to come at the expense of his trip with Ron.
Ron stilled the longer his brother remained silent, dread appearing in his stomach because living with Slytherins for so long had allowed him to pick up a few subtle cues. He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat before he carefully started pulling out of the hug.
Charlie was jolted back to the present when he felt Ron starting to pull away and he only tightened his hold. “What are you doing Ronnie? I’m not done with the hug,” he said lightly.
“You’re going to say no, I shouldn’t have asked this,” Ron fretted, as he started pulling away from his brother’s grasp in earnest.
“We talked about this Ronnie, you can only know your own thoughts. What makes you think I’m going to say no?” Charlie asked calmly.
Ron shrugged, not trusting his voice just yet to be able to explain without crying. He was glad that he hadn’t talked about this with Draco or Harry yet, because he didn’t think he would’ve been able to take their reaction to this rejection well, as he was barely holding it together. He shrugged a moment later as it was plain that Charlie was expecting an answer. He hated that no matter how much he pulled away he was still not stronger then his big brother.
“I was just thinking about the logistics of it all, where they would stay, what we would eat, and things like that,” Charlie explained, mentally pinching himself because he hadn’t meant to bring on his little brothers anxiety.
“Just forget about it, can you please let me go?” Ron said quietly.
“I haven’t answered your question yet Ronnie,” Charlie reminded him, his hold staying firm. His little brother tended to run and hide away whenever he was upset
“You don’t have to answer it, I already know your answer,” Ron mumbled, he shouldn’t have even asked.
“What’s my answer then since you think you know my brain more than I do,” Charlie said lightly, trying to break the sudden somber mood.
“You want to say no, because it wasn’t in your summer plans to have to watch over 2 more boys. You’re probably also worried about the cost of two more mouths to feed, and the costs of souvenirs and added extras but I can take away that worry and pay for them,” Ron told him pleadingly.
Charlie bit his lip in amusement, because leave it to Ron to think it was monetary that had him balking at the idea of having 2 additional boys to come to their trip. “You know I get a discount on everything there, the price isn’t an issue. That wasn’t the reason for my hesitation,” he said candidly.
“Then why did you?” Ron asked, unable to stop the little sniffle from coming out.
Charlie’s heart broke at the sound because he never liked reducing his siblings to tears, it actually tore him up on the inside. “Because while I’m extremely flattered that you love our annual trip so much that you want to share it with your friends, I just wanted to point out this trip is my week with just you, I selfishly enjoy it being just us and no one else. I don’t want to invite anyone else, it’s the same reasons our siblings have stopped asking to come,” he said gently.
Ron squeezed his eyes tightly to block the tears that were trying to slip out at his brother’s answer. He actually hadn’t known that was the reason why Ginny or the twins had only gone to visit Charlie once for the summer. He honestly thought they hadn’t liked it, but had he just been so stupid to not read between the lines?
A part of him knew he should probably be thrilled that Charlie still wanted him to be around but at that moment all he could think about was that one of his favorite people on this earth had shot down his idea. He always had an issue when someone told him no, he always took it as a personal attack. Which is why Ron swallowed thickly, before he cleared his throat once, then twice.
“Oh okay, I’m glad I know now, thanks for telling me,” He whispered, trying hard to keep the hurt out of his tone. He was never going to ask Charlie, or anyone (who wasn’t his mum and dad) for that matter, for anything ever again. Had rejection always been this painful, or was it only hurting because Charlie rarely told him no?
Charlie gritted his teeth at his brothers reply because he could always read in between the lines when it came to his siblings and he hated being the cause of that pain. Perhaps he could make a deal with his brother, since it was clear that in order to take away the hurt he had caused he needed to fix this. “But I might have a solution to that, do you want to hear it?” He asked a beat later.
“No, it’s alright,” Ron replied hoarsely, quickly wiping the tears that were trying to leak out of the corner of his eyes.
“We’ll I’m gonna tell you anyway, I promise you’re gonna like it kid,” Charlie told him with a casual smile.
Ron had a feeling that Charlie might be feeling guilty about saying no, but that was his right. True he didn’t want the older boy to reject his idea but mum said he had to respect other people’s boundaries, like they respected his. And speaking of which, he was going to exert one now to get away from all of this pain.
“I need to use the toilet,” Ron said a moment later, pulling at the arms that still held him.
“One minute Ronnie, this isn’t going to take that long,” Charlie told him aware that he was losing him.
“I need to go bad Charlie,” Ron persisted as he tugged again at the arms holding him before they released him a second after.
He didn’t really have to go, but he knew those words would get him free as they always did. After the Incident with Bill, those had been the magic words to get out of a lot of things and whether they believed him or not, no one had ever called his bluff not wanting them to remind him of how Bill had treated him.
“Alright go,” Charlie told him a moment later watching as his little brother quickly walked away from him. “This conversation isn’t over Ronnie,” he warned him.
Ron didn’t answer, instead choosing to go to his parents' bathroom rather than the one closest to Charlie’s room. He needed to wash his face and calm down, before he could go back out to face his brother again.
Charlie sighed softly as his little brother’s non answer before he got up and headed back to his room, not surprised to find Draco exactly where he left him. “Do you see any of them you like?” He asked curiously.
“I love them all, where did you get them? And how do you have so many? I thought there was only 10 species of dragons in the whole world?” Draco asked confused and elated at the same time.
“Our ministry of magic doesn’t like the public to know the real truth. There are dragons found in nearly every country in the world, some dragons are so rare that there have been only a few sightings of them. It laughable to say there are only 10 kinds of dragons in the entire world. In Romania alone there are 15 different sub species of dragons, and in fact our sanctuary has every single one of those 15 in addition to a Norwegian one that Ron and Harry help save,” Charlie explained.
“Wow,” Draco said in awe. “What’s the name of your sanctuary? I’ll ask Daddy if I and Harry and Ron can do a tour there,” Draco said seriously.
Charlie chuckled and shook his head. “That’ll probably be impossible even for your dad kid,” he said honestly.
“Why do you say that?” Draco asked in confusion because his Daddy had connections everywhere.
“My sanctuary isn’t government funded, we get our funds internally from investors and sponsors, so we don’t have a need to do tours to make money ,” Charlie explained.
“But..but what if my Daddy wanted to donate money to your sanctuary then could we do a tour?” Draco asked seriously.
“He can donate sure but he wouldn’t be guaranteed a tour. In this instance it’s not how much money you have, it’s who you know. Dragon handlers can request tours for their friends and families,” Charlie said.
“Oh,” Draco said quietly, feeling super bummed out now. He didn’t say anything else as he turned to look back at the dragons.
Charlie frowned because from what he heard of the Malfoy child, he was supposed to be this spoiled child. Where was the whining? Perhaps he could pitch Ron’s idea to the little Slytherin and see what he had to say. “You don’t want me to request a tour for you 3?” He asked curiously.
“Of course I do but, I didn’t want to try my luck. Weasleys hate Malfoys remember?” Draco said glumly.
“Because of a blood feud that no one currently alive was present for when it first started,” Charlie pointed out. “And anyway, you and Ron dissolved that so majority of us don’t hate you at all,” he said carefully. He made no mention of the boys father because that was a different matter on its own.
“That’s good I guess, but a couple of your siblings don’t care that the feud is over,” Draco admitted softly.
Charlie gritted his teeth, because as always he could read more into what was being said. Truly sometimes he wondered how he hadn’t been sorted into Slytherin. “What happened?” He asked blandly.
“The twins tried to knock me off my broom when we played quidditch earlier, they were so mean to me that Ginny hexed one of them.” Draco said softly, swallowing thickly because he had been sure he was going to die right then.
“I’ll take care of it,” Charlie promised him before he took a breath and then another. He needed to fix the current expression on the child’s face. “Would your father allow you to spend maybe 3 days at the Sanctuary with me and Ron and potentially Harry?” Charlie asked kindly.
Draco gasped in surprise because when had that been an option? “Yes, especially if you allow another adult like Cousin Sirius to come along to help you. That is Sirius Black, he’s Harry’s godfather and he knows how to take care of us, especially cause two of us don’t always stay our normal age,” Draco said with a little giggle.
“What do you mean by that Draco?” Charlie asked curiously.
Draco shrugged but didn’t verbally answer as he had turned back to the dragons. “Did you know the muggles had dragons a long time ago too?” He said proudly.
“I did not, what happened to them?” Charlie asked, eyebrows raising up high in his shock.
“A giant rock from space hit the earth and they’ve all died now but they dug up all the bones and teeth and put them back together,” Draco said truthfully.
“Did they really?” Charlie asked in disbelief.
“Yes and in the muggle world they built places called museums that you can go and see them. It’s really cool, and later this week we’re supposed to go to one over here. You might be able to come too if you want,” Draco said shyly. He didn’t know why he had just invited Charlie but really, really wanted to know the older boy’s opinion on the muggle dinosaurs.
“I might do that, whose all going?” Charlie asked him.
“Cousin Sirius, who you have to meet anyway, Moony, and then me, Harry and Ron,” Draco told him easily.
“Whose Moony?” Charlie asked curiously.
“His real name is Remus and he’s Sirius’s best friend, but mummy thinks that him and Cousin Sirius are seeing each other,” Draco said with a little giggle.
“Does she now?” Charlie asked in amusement.
“She does, and she’s right, because they see each other everyday,” Draco told him proudly.
Charlie snorted and choked on his laughter, because to be this innocent again. “You’re 13 right?” He asked just to make sure.
“Yeah, I turned 13 in June,” Draco told him happily.
“Aww Happy belated birthday,” Charlie said fondly.
“Thank you,” Draco said preening happily at the older boy.
“I’ll be back kiddo, I gotta go check on Ron,” Charlie said as he reached over and ruffled the blonde hair.
“Kay, I’ll be in here playing,” Draco told him, as he was planning on having an epic battle between the dragons.
Charlie nodded and walked out of the room grinning. He really needed to get the entire story from Ron about how him and the Malfoy heir became friends. He went to make his way towards the direction Ron had been in when he heard the voice of his brother and his mum coming from downstairs. He hadn’t even realized that his mum was even back yet. With that, he took the steps two at a time and made his way down the stairs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~
Ron had heard the floo flare about 10 minutes prior and he knew his mother was back, which is why he quietly crept out of the bedroom and then down the stairs and into the kitchen. He smiled softly when he saw her as she was unpacking the shopping onto the table.
“Can I help you with anything mum?” Ron asked quietly.
“No thank you love, why don’t you go and play? I’ll have lunch and a little surprise for you kids ready in about a half hour,” Molly told him easily.
“I’ll go play in a bit, but first I wanted to ask you something,” Ron said truthfully.
“Go ahead love,” Molly said turning around to give her youngest son her full attention.
“I wanted to know if later on this week if we can go on an adventure,” Ron started off carefully.
“What kind of adventure?” Molly asked him slowly.
“To the magical play place, we went to when the twins turned 11,” Ron told her seriously.
“That was a special occasion Ronnie, your father and I had been saving up for a while to make that happen,” Molly told him gently.
“I know, and I understand, it’s just recently I’ve come into a lot of money and I’ve been trying to figure out how I can help pull my weight around here and help you and dad out,” Ron told her honestly.
Molly smiled softly as her youngest son, because here he was again yet again, selfless. “I appreciate that Ronnie, but I can’t and won’t take your money,” she said firmly.
“Uncle Severus says that its not considered charity between family, so you’re not taking anything from me. I get a weekly allowance of 325 galleons to do whatever I want with it. And I want to treat my friends and my family to a day of fun,” Ron said seriously.
Molly’s mouth dropped open in shock because she hadn’t known that Ron had received that much per week too? This was unbelievable to her; she grew up with money of course but it had been a long time since she had gotten an allowance and even then, she didn’t think that it was as much as Ronald was getting. With that being said, she could see how passionate he was about this, and who was she ruin her child’s fun. “Alright Ronnie, we can do it. Do we need to go to the bank?” She asked curiously.
“No, I have my coin bag here and how much do you think it’ll cost?” Ron asked curiously.
“With a group our size, maybe 20 galleons if we pack our lunch and don’t get any souvenirs,” Molly said slowly.
“I will give you 80 galleons, because I want the full experience. I don’t know how much things cost and I don’t want you or dad to be embarrassed if you need more and we’re there already. I want everyone to enjoy what I’ve been experiencing this past month and half,” Ron said as he started dumping out the galleons. “And if there is money left over, I don’t want it back, you can do with it what you will mum. If you want to buy new robes, get new shoes, get your hair done or anything you can, because that money is yours mum,” he added.
Molly covered her mouth in her hands as she watched her youngest son drop coin, after coin onto the table. She had to sit down after a moment because she actually felt faint at that moment.
“And I have one more request mum, could you ask Charlie if he can set you up with a tour of his dragon sanctuary? I know Dragon Handler families get a discount and his sanctuary is one of the best and it’s really hard to get a tour,” Ron said honestly.
“I will ask him honey, but you would have an even greater chance of him saying yes and possibly giving you a behind the scenes experience if you asked himself instead,” Molly told him truthfully.
“I asked him something similar earlier and he told me no, so I don’t think I’ll have any luck,” Ron said still bitter about the whole thing.
“Charlie told you no?” Molly asked in surprise, because she could count on one hand how often that happened.
“He did, I laid my heart on the line and he said he didn’t want to do it, and that’s okay. That’s his right,” Ron said with a sigh, swallowing the tears he could feel in his throat.
“Oh honey,” Molly said, aware that it was far from okay, but she wasn’t going to push her youngest son.
“But enough about that, where is your coin purse mum?” Ron asked after he had counted and stacked the galleons he was giving his mother.
“It’s behind you darling,” Molly said watching in amusement as her little boy opened up her coin purse and started filling it with the galleons he had given her.
She turned around and grinned because Ron had essentially forced her to take the money and wouldn’t allow her to argue back. It was funny to her because Bill and Charlie still couldn’t figure out how to give her money and her clever little boy had done it.
Charlie frowned from where he had been hiding by the wall that led into the kitchen, he had heard the last bit of his brother and mum’s conversation and felt a little upset at himself for having caused it. He cleared his throat as he stepped into the kitchen.
“Our conversation wasn’t finished yet Ron, why didn’t you come find me like I told you too?” Charlie asked in a put-out tone.
Ron sighed softly, not moving from where he was still filling up his mum’s purse. “Because I know you, you’ll feel guilty about exercising your right to say no and then you’ll pitch my idea back to me but with stipulations,” he said softly.
“Am I that transparent?” Charlie asked in amusement.
“Just when it comes to disappointing Ronnie,” Molly interjected gently.
“Oh, well that’s fair. Anyway, I can do 7 days with your friends and then you have to stay an additional 7 more days,” Charlie told him.
“I can stay longer then a week now?” Ron asked in surprise, because this was news to him.
“Yes, remember when I was 15/16 it was 3 days because I was a junior apprentice, when I turned 17, it turned into a week. Now that I’m 18 and I hit Senior handler, my guests can stay up to a month. And it’ll only get longer as I continue up the tiers,” Charlie told him honestly.
Ron chewed his lip at that because this was great news. “Could I do the whole month then Charlie?” He asked softly.
“1 week and half for your friends, and 2 1/2 weeks for you?” Charlie said amending his original idea.
“Yes,” Ron whispered, heart beating frantic in his chest.
“We’ve got ourselves a Deal little bro,” Charlie said quickly before Ron could change his mind.
Ron’s mouth fell open in his shock because he hadn’t thought his brother would have agreed. He opened his mouth to ask his brother what would they all do for the month when he heard the backdoor behind opened.
“I called a timeout!” Harry shouted back as he danced in place frantically in front of the door obviously having a conversation with someone. “Because I have to wee-wee,” he replied back before he ran fully into the house.
He held his breath, even as he hurriedly pulled up his shirt and headed to the closest toilet, which was through the kitchen, and unfortunately Charlie was standing in the middle of the way. “Scuse me, I gotta come through,” he whined desperately.
Charlie jumped to the side. “Sorry little man,” he said apologetically as he watched the little boy run past him and to presumably the toilet. He glanced over to find Ron half out of his chair, his head cocked to the side as if he was listening for something.
“Harry you, okay? “ Ron called out worriedly, frowning and standing up properly when he didn’t get an answer.
Molly frowned as well, moving a bit towards the bathroom. “Harry dear, did you need help?” She called out gently.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief from where he was sitting on the toilet, startling a bit as he realized that someone was talking to him. “I’m okay, I made it,” he called back.
“Alright thank you,” Molly replied fondly as she moved back to where she was making lunch for the kids.
Charlie looked at Ron in bemusement, watching as his little brother continued to place galleon after galleon into his mum’s coin purse. He was singularly impressed because here he and Bill had to be devious, and Ron just point blank said this was what was happening, and mum had relented. He would have to ask his little brother what he said and then try his way out.
“Ronnie, Draco said something upstairs that I need some clarification on,” Charlie said carefully.
Ron turned to look at his brother curiously. “What did he say?”
“He said that Sirius Black will have to come and stay with us, because 2 of you don’t always stay your normal age. What did he mean by that?” Charlie asked, watching his brother’s face carefully.
Ron sighed briefly looking up at his mum who had let out a soft laugh in amusement before he turned to look back at his brother. He was saved from answering in that moment as Harry suddenly appeared around the corner, his trousers completely crooked and didn’t look done up properly. Before he could make his way over to his friend, Charlie had already moved.
“Your pants are a little crooked little man, let me fix that for you,” Charlie said as bent down to fix the little boy’s pants.
Harry nodded used to this from the grown ups around him and even Ron and Theo that he turned to look at his friend’s mum. “Aunt Molly, I’m hungry,” he told her seriously.
He figured it was okay to call her this as Ron called his father Uncle. Harry was very enthused as he was gaining so much family after not having any a few years ago.
Molly let out a little sniffle at the name, turning around to look at the little boy fondly. “I know you are love, but lunch will be served in about 20 minutes,” she promised.
Harry nodded silently at that answer, looking over as Charlie had finished helping him. His tummy gave a growl but didn’t say anything else. If he was at home, he would have gotten a snack at least.
“Mum, can Harry get a cookie? His tummy is growling,” Ron said after a moment because he knew his friend wasn’t going to speak up.
Molly’s eyes flashed over to Ron’s before she glanced at Harry who was frowning at Ron but what was also very telling was that the little boy hadn’t disputed the claims.
“Of course you can love, here you go,” Molly said pulling a cookie from the jar that was charmed to keep them warm and fresh and holding it out to the small boy.
Harry’s eyes lit up and eagerly grabbed the cookie. “Thank you,” he said happily before he took a big bite of it. It was so yummy!
Charlie was watching the scene quietly, because he was a little surprised that Ron hadn’t asked for one himself.
Harry wasn’t annoyed that Ron had done that anymore, because he had a cookie now and he was very happy. It was a big cookie too! He was curious about one thing though. “Ron, where did Draco go? He never came back outside,” he said seriously.
“He’s upstairs in Charlie’s room, playing with his dragons,” Ron told him.
Harry’s eyes went wide because he had seen some of Draco’s dragons at the manor but he had only a small collection. “Can I go play with them too Charlie?” He asked hopefully.
Charlie grinned at the excitement on Harry’s face because he was going to enjoy showing him around his sanctuary. “Of course you can, go right up,” he said easily.
“Wait a moment Harry, give this to Draco please,” Molly said as she pulled another cookie out of the jar and held it out to Harry. She knew better then to send the little boy up there with only his cookie, as she didn’t want Draco to think she was playing favorites and get upset.
“Kay,” Harry said happily before running out of the kitchen and upstairs to Charlie’s room.
Charlie waited until Harry was upstairs before he turned back to his brother. “So back to what I was saying earlier, what did Draco mean?” He asked, just for confirmation at this point because Harry had unknowingly confirmed it.
Ron rolled his eyes, because now his brother was just being obtuse. “He meant that Sirius knows how to deal with regression in case you didn’t. Draco and Harry both regress, Harry, you just saw him regressed a moment ago. Or Did you think 13-year-old Harry acted like that?” He said with a huff.
Charlie smiled at his brother's tone, before shaking his head in amusement. “What age was the Harry we just saw?” He wondered out loud.
“7 years old, the youngest he’s goes is 5; and Draco is always a year older then him. He’s been feeling extra little since the trip to America where he got basically babied the whole time. He loved it,” Ron said with a fond tone.
Charlie nodded slowly, understanding now why Sirius Black would be needed and ever grateful he was going to have some help. “That’s good to know,” he said before he refocused his attention on his brother who was still putting coins into his mother’s coin purse. He had a feeling that his little brother was putting in more then the amount that he told his mum, but he wasn’t going to draw attention to it.
“Draco said something else upstairs, he said the twins tried to knock him off his broom?” He said questioningly.
Ron scowled at the memory turning to look at his older brother seriously. “They didn’t just try, one of them knocked him completely off. His broom went one way, and he went another,” he said tightly.
“What?” Molly asked in horror turning around to look at Ron sternly. “Was he hurt?”
“No, Harry managed to catch him in time, but it was terrifying,” Ron said angrily.
Charlie was furious because he could only imagine the backlash if the twins had hurt Draco. The blood feud had only just ended for Merlin’s sake. “Who did it?” He asked quietly, he was seething.
“We can’t agree, Ginny swears it was George, but I know for a fact that it was Fred,” Ron said honestly, and he meant that.
“What makes you say that?” Molly asked in a hushed tone.
“Fred is the crueler one of the twins, the more vindictive one, especially if someone has hurt me. You don’t know half the things he did to Bill for the sake of me when I was little. He’s very mean when he’s feeling protective,” Ron said as he slowly blew out a breath.
“Well your father and I will talk to them tonight about their behavior, “Molly told him.
“Ginny cursed the twin who pushed him, and then curse the other one because he could’ve stopped his twin but didn’t,” Ron said, face pinched because how dare they do that to Draco.
“If Harry hadn’t caught him, they could’ve gone to jail,” Charlie whispered, the gravity of that what they had did sinking into him. This was a different situation then say playing quidditch at school, and every Weasley would have been affected by it.
“They would’ve deserved everything that happened to them after that point,” Ron said with a scowl. “I don’t trust them anymore, especially not around Draco. I hated him at one point, and he hated me. But not once did we ever think, let’s try and kill each other. This is madness,” he said quietly.
“I’ll…I’m going to go and have words with them now,” Molly said, unable to stand here and hear this. She was horrified, and fearful especially because of her tentative friendship with Narcissa. Her thoughts had gone where Charlie’s had, the Weasley family would have been ruined if they had succeeded. The twins would come to regret the error of their ways, she would make sure of it.
“Merlin,” Charlie said in a hushed tone as he watched their mother head out of the house, before turning to look back at his brother who was still counting out the galleons. “Are you going to tell his dad?” He asked softly. He wanted to tell Ron not to, but knew he couldn’t because Lord Malfoy deserved to know.
Ron frowned heavily at that before he gave a curt nod. “I’m going to have too, because if I don’t, then Harry will,” he said with a sigh. There was no way he could keep this a secret, even if he wanted too which he didn’t.
“Won’t Draco tell?” Charlie asked in confusion.
“No, he won’t tell because he’ll feel like he has to protect me because it’s my family that’ll be affected by all of this if Uncle Lucius decides to press charges,” Ron said feeling like the scowl might as well be a permanent fixation on his face at this point.
“And he’s has every right to do so if he does go that route,” Charlie said, face pale because this could go a number of ways.
“I know, they really mucked everything up letting their hatred get the better of them,” Ron said with a shake of his head.
“They did,” Charlie said in agreement, his eyes flickering outside but he couldn’t hear what was being said. He shook his head and focused back on his brother who had gone to shaking out his own coin bag into his mum’s coin purse now that she wasn’t in the room anymore. He grinned despite the seriousness of the situation. “How many galleons did mum agree to let you share with her?”
Ron looked up and grinned at his brother. “I told her I would put 80 galleons and that whatever was left over was for her to do whatever she wanted with,” he said slowly.
“How much have you put in so far?” Charlie asked curious to know.
“I lost count around 500 galleons,” Ron said before he let out a hysterical giggle.
“Ronnie!’ Charlie said before he broke out into his own laughter. “What are you going to do when she asks you about it?”
“Tell her the same thing I told her already, it’s not charity when it’s family so there’s no need to be proud or upset over it. This money is going to help everyone even me,” Ron said shamelessly.
“I like that, I’m going to use that line and I’ll tell Bill to use it too,” Charlie said thoughtfully.
“You can use that line, but Bill can do something more, something better. He works at the bank and as Heir Weasley he is on the account for the loans and payment plans for The Burrow. He can have the payments transferred to him, without alerting mum and dad and then pay it all off and surprise them with no more debt and even send them on a holiday with just the two of them,” Ron said smartly.
Charlie’s mouth dropped open in surprise because that was genius and also how hadn’t he or Bill thought of that beforehand. “That is a great plan Ron, seriously I’m going to talk to him tonight and let him know your idea,” Charlie said with a proud tone. His younger brother really was very clever.
Ron grinned finally closing his mother’s coin purse and setting it back on the counter. “When are you free to host us for our dragon trip?”
“I’ve got the next 4 weeks off for vacation, so maybe next week if Lord Malfoy doesn’t renew the blood feud,” Charlie said lightly.
“Naw he won’t do that, he’ll want the twins punished in some way though. It’ll be something that’s helpful and educational because he’s a Slytherin and despite the fact they tried to kill his kid, they are pureblooded children as well,” Ron said slowly as he thought about a potential punishment.
“That’s true,” Charlie said carefully. He was just going to have to trust his younger brother and, floo Bill tonight to see if his older brother might be of some assistance. “When did you get so wise Ronnie?”
Ron shrugged because he didn’t actually know. “No idea, I’ve just been following after you and being a big brother,” he said proudly.
“Aww,” Charlie said in a soft tone before pulling his little brother to his chest and hugging him tight.
Ron pulled out the hug a moment later, checking the contents of his coin purse. “Charlie, how much did the toilet in my room cost?” He asked lightly.
“$200 galleons, but it was worth it,” Charlie told him honestly.
Ron nodded and scooted the 200 gold coins he had counted and pushed them towards his brother. “Here you go, I wanted to pay you back,” he said seriously.
Charlie glanced at the stack of coins before looking at his brother. “I don’t accept Ronnie, put your money away,” he said refusing to even touch the coins.
Ron frowned at his older brother before he crossed his arms. “What do you mean you don’t accept?”
“I’m not taking your money, I was proud and still am for being able to offer you a safe haven in the house when I left for the sanctuary. I have never regretted that purchase and if I was to take your money now, it would cheapen it, and I don’t want to do that,” Charlie said bluntly.
“Okay,” Ron said with a shrug. “When we go to Romania, you have to tell something that you really want so I can get it for you for Christmas. And you can’t say no, we are a generous family Charlie, I want to do this for you and you’re going to allow me too,” Ron said firmly.
“Alright Ronnie,” Charlie said with a slight chuckle. “I‘ll think of something,”
Ron nodded happily, looks like being firm worked not only with mum but Charlie as well.