Everything Is Eclipsed by the Shape of Destiny

It was late, far too late for him to be knocking on his brother’s door, but Bill couldn’t help it. He had to tell Charlie what was going on. He needed to tell his brother the good news! For years, Charlie had listened to Bill complain about how things were never going to work out with Emerson, about how she wasn’t into relationships and romance. Bill’s complaints had been frequent, lengthy and to be honest, incredibly annoying. Charlie couldn’t understand why his brother wasn’t up front about his feelings. It didn’t make sense to keep those thoughts from Emerson, and on more than one occasion, Charlie had told Bill to just be honest with her, but Bill hadn’t followed his brother’s advice. Bill had followed through with a marriage that should’ve never taken place, and he’d dug a rather deep hole for himself, but now, now Bill was beginning to climb out of that hole.

The ascent would be slow, it would take all his strength and willpower to do what he had to and get his life in order, but Bill was determined. He was going to end his marriage. He was going to finally venture into a serious relationship with Emerson, and one day, in the near future, he would make her his wife, because he’d wasted enough of their time. It was time to start living their lives as it was meant to be lived, and as he stood there, knocking on his brother’s door, he couldn’t help but wonder how Charlie would react to the news. Would he be excited to know that his brother had finally found the courage to do what he should’ve done years ago? Would he reproach him for having waited so long? There were so many possible reactions for Charlie to have, but Bill wasn’t scared, because he knew that no matter what, Charlie was going to have his back. That was how their relationship worked. Even when one of them was doing something incredibly stupid, the other was always there, cheering them on or offering support. That was how it had been since they were little boys and Bill hoped that that would be how their relationship would carry on into their old age.

“Open up!” shouted Bill, growing impatient by how long his brother was taking to answer. “Charlie! Open your fucking door already! I have to tell you something!”

Inside the small house, Charlie’s eyes snapped opened. He remained motionless in bed for a moment, trying to fully rouse himself from his sleep and when he heard Bill’s voice screaming for him to open up, he threw the covers off himself and rushed out the door. He was worried that something had happened to the family. Why else would Bill have been at his doorstep so late at night? He attempted to rub the sleep from his eyes as his bare feet moved across the hardwood flooring. Just a few more steps and he’d reached the door, just a few more steps.

“What’s going on?” asked Charlie, his voice filled with sleep. “Something happen at The Burrow?”

“Huh? Oh . . . oh no! No, nothing happened at The Burrow, everyone’s fine, really. Trust me.”

“Then what the hell are you doing here? Do you know what bloody time it is?”

“Time doesn’t matter, not right now.” Bill’s entire face was engulfed by a brilliant smile. “Let me in, Charlie. I’ll tell you what’s going on. Merlin! I need to tell you what’s going on.”

“If it’s not worth being awake at this bloody hour, I’ll hex you.” Charlie threatened, stifling a yawn.

Bill stepped into the house. “I’ll shove your wand up your arse if you try to hex me!” he chuckled. “But don’t worry mate. It’s worth waking up right now! Merlin’s beard! It’s worth waking up at any hour.”

Charlie shot him a questioning look. “What’s got you in these spirits?”

“Life,” he replied, simply.

“Life?” asked Charlie, cocking his brow slightly. “No offense, Bill, but life’s not all that grand right now, not with the war the way it is.”

“War doesn’t matter. Not right now.”

Charlie turned on the light in the sitting room that doubled as a dining room. “What’s gotten into you? I’ve never seen you so . . . so happy. You on drug or something, bit of the puff?”

“Drugs?” he shook his head. “Hah! Don’t need drugs, Charlie.”

“Then what’s got you like this?” Charlie took a seat. “You’ve been going on and on, but you’ve not told me what has made you a smiling fool!”

“I . . .” he took in a breath, readying himself to say the words that he’d not said to anyone other than Emerson. “I'm leaving Fleur.”

Charlie had no immediate reaction. He just sort of sat there, staring at Bill in the exact same fashion that he’d been looking at him before he’d said that he was leaving Fleur. Charlie wasn’t sure if he’d heard right. Leaving Fleur? No. That couldn’t have been what Bill said. They’d just gotten married! How could they possibly be getting divorced when they hadn’t even been married six months!

“Charlie?” Bill called to him.

“Did y-you just say that you’re leaving Fleur?” he asked.

Bill nodded. “Aye, I am.”

“Well, that was quick.” Charlie said, trying to make light of the situation. “So . . . uh . . . how did she, uh, take the news? Or was it her idea? No. Scratch that couldn’t have been hers or else you wouldn’t be smiling like that.” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “So how was it, then?”

“Can’t say,” replied Bill.

“Why not?” asked Charlie.

“See, it’s sort of hard to tell you how she took the news, when . . . well, she’s not been given it.”

“Then why are ya saying that you’re –”

“Because I am,” Bill interjected. “And don’t worry. I’ve not been running my mouth about it. The only one I’ve told is you, and that’s because, well, I had to so that I could say this next bit.”

“There’s more?”

“Course there’s more.” Bill feigned offense. “I think you’ll like this next bit. In fact, I'm sure you will. Probably tell me off for having taken as long as it has, but uh . . . I told her. I finally told her.”

There was no need to elaborate on whom, her was. Charlie knew very well that there was only one woman that made his brother’s face light up that way. And the moment he heard the news, a bright grin swept across his face and he found himself taking his brother into a tight embrace, patting his back strongly as he did so.

“About bloody time!” he exclaimed. “So what she say then? Bloody hell! Why am I even asking for? Ya leaving Fleur and you’re smiling like that, must have been a fair response. Bloody hell, Bill! Told ya she was into ya. Merlin’s beard! Ya should’ve said something sooner to her. Avoided all this mess, you’ve got to sort out now.”

“Not that much of a mess,” said Bill, nonchalantly. “Just got to figure out how to break the news to Fleur, probably take a little while to get something decent planned out.”

“Aren’t you just gonna tell her the truth?”

“Well, yeah, but not the truth, truth. You know? I mean. I can’t very well tell her that I was shagging Emerson behind her back. Not that that’s continued. It hasn’t! Stopped when I got married, but I just, I don’t think that’ll go over well with Fleur. So I’ll just have to, uh, change a few things around. Still be honest, just not massively honest.”

“And how ya gonna do that?”

“I, uh, well . . . don’t know. Not at the moment, at least, but I’ll figure something out. Won’t be too hard to string a few lines together,” replied Bill.

Charlie shook his head. “Don’t have a clue as to how hard this is gonna be, do ya?”

“I know it’s not gonna be smooth, if that’s what ya mean. But it’ll be alright. Fleur will understand. Just have to find the right way to break it to her.”

“William,” he leant forward in his seat. “Don’t want to be a downer, ya know how much I’ve always wanted you and Emerson to be together, but I feel that you’re not – not thinking about the repercussions this might have. Have you thought about how Fleur’s gonna react to this?”

“Suppose she might be a bit taken by it, sad and all that, but I think she knows this is sort of where we were headed. We’ve been fighting about everything. There’s not one thing I can do right. She’s always on me about habits I’ve got and I'm on her about hers, so she knows things aren’t perfect between us.”

“Maybe she thinks that’s normal? That you’ll work through it?” proposed Charlie.

“Hmm, maybe she does, but we’re not.” Bill declared.

“And do ya think she’ll just be a bit sad and upset? Or do you think she might, well, I don’t know, be so distraught that she’ll feel betrayed by you and want to get revenge?”

“I don’t . . . I'm not following.”

Charlie leant forwards and lowered his voice. “She’s in the order, Bill. She knows things, thing that could get a lot of people hurt. And if she were to have her heartbroken by some bloke that she relocated to England and joined the Order, for, then I think there’s a real possibility that she might feel inclined to make you hurt, for making her hurt.”

“What? No! That’s – that’s mental! Fleur’s not like that.”

“She’s got a temper on her.” Charlie reminded. “Her and mum are always knocking heads. And Fleur’s not one to just get over things when she’s been hurt.”

“I know that, but I don’t think she’d do something as horrible as sell us out. That’s not like her. She’s got too much integrity and honor for that.”

“All I'm saying is you’ve got to be careful. Yes, you deserve to be happy with Emerson. Merlin knows that. But you’ve got to be mindful of what’ll happen if – I mean when, you leave Fleur. Maybe it’ll be best to wait out the war?”

“Wait out the war? Hah! Like I’ll wait out this bleeding war,” mumbled Bill angrily. “No telling when it’s gonna end or if it’ll end at all!”

“Don’t be daft. Course it’s gonna end, just a question of when.”

“Well, I don’t have time to wait until it ends. What if something happens to one of us and I don’t even get to kiss her again?”

“Ya haven’t kissed her? Not even after ya told her how you felt.”

Bill shook his head. “Claims she doesn’t want to have a physical affair while I'm married, only emotional,” grumbled Bill, petulantly.

“HAH! No wonder you’re in such a hurry to get divorced.”

“Oi!” he punched Charlie in the shoulder. “Not like that. Alright, maybe that’s got a bit to do with it, but it’s mostly just that I want to be with Emerson, like proper be with her. I want to take her over to the Burrow for dinner so she can see us at our worst. And I want to be able to walk around holding hands with her. Yes, I know, that makes me a ninny, but I want to do normal things with her. Last time around it was just shagging and lounging around the apartment, not that I'm complaining. Enjoyed it, I did. But there’s so much more to do than just that. Ah. I'm frustrating myself. I didn’t think any of this was gonna happen. Not today or tomorrow or anywhere in the future, really,” he mumbled, more to himself than Charlie.

“Wait. If you didn’t think any of this was gonna happen, then why’d you tell Emerson, ya loved her?”

“You know Marceau? Fleur’s brother?”

Charlie nodded. “What’s he got to do with it?”

“He and Emerson used to be a thing, back when they were teenagers. Nearly got married when they graduated, apparently they ran off to Paris to elope, but had a massive fight and went their separate ways. But he’s still got feelings for her. Kept asking me if she’d give him a chance, seemed genuinely keen on knowing if she would or wouldn’t. And when I saw that look on that French face of his, I couldn’t take it. I realized I couldn’t have her be off with him, with anyone really, but mostly him, because he’s so bloody perfect. Don’t think he’d be that handsome without the Veela blood, but whatever. Back to what I was saying, I couldn’t have her be with him, so I went to tell her that she couldn’t and then we got in a fight, and she said that she wasn’t gonna be with him but that it wasn’t any of my fucking business.”

“What’d you say?” asked Charlie, growing more curious.

“Told her it was, and then she got mad and asked me how it was that it was my business, and I was so worked up over everything that I sort of blurted it out.”

“Just like that?” he asked.

Bill nodded. “Wasn’t the most romantic . . . no. Fuck it. It was romantic. That’s the sort of shit that they put in those muggle films. It was romantic. Not planned, but romantic as hell. When mum asks how I told Emerson how I felt, I’ll tell her the story and she’ll think its top notch.”

“Wouldn’t be to sure about that,” Charlie leant back in the couch.

“Why not?” asked Bill.

“Because mum might fixate on the fact that you were married when it happened,” Charlie reminded.

“Bah. Minor detail, minor detail,” Bill shrugged it off as if it weren’t that important. “Just you wait, mum’s going to be thrilled about the divorce. Because she’ll be able to say that she was right about us rushing in and then when I tell her, a few months later of course, that I'm with Emerson, she’s gonna be so bloody happy, that she might even throw a party. Loves Emerson, she does.”

Charlie nodded in agreement. “Whenever I go over, she tells me I should ask Emerson out on a date. Keeps saying how lovely that’d be. Think it’s mostly because she can’t stand Fleur.”

“Neither can Ginny.” Bill added. “Did you know they call Fleur, Phlegm?”

“NO!”

“They do!” laughed Bill. “Heard them call her that in the summer. Kept whispering about how Phlegm was such a snob. Which she is, but when you look like that, you’re sort of allowed to be a snob. The world makes special accommodations for people that are that good looking.”

“It does.” Charlie agreed. “It makes them get used to always getting what they want and who they want. Bloody hell! How do ya think Fleur’s gonna take it when she finds out you picked Emerson over her? No offense to Emerson, she’s fit and all that, but Fleur’s a Veela.”

“Hmm, don’t know. Reckon it won’t be well though. But she’ll rally. She’s still young, real young. She’ll be able to move on with her life and when she’s older, maybe around my age, she’ll settle down with someone that’ll proper love her.”

“Hopefully that’s how it is.”

“And if not, I’ll try to offer her Ron.” Bill joked. “Maybe she’ll accept one Weasley for another. And Merlin knows he fancies her.”

“Should try Fred,” said Charlie. “Ron’s already taken.”

“By who?” he asked, surprised by the information.

“It’s not official, but he says he’s sort of with Hermione. Told him that he needs to make that sort of into something more concrete,” Charlie ran a hand through his short hair. “Don’t want him and Hermione turning into you and Emerson.”

“Hermione wouldn’t put up with nonsense. She’s loads more sensible than Emerson.”

“She’s more sensible than anyone I know.” Charlie added. “Those two will be happy though, whenever it is that they get around to it.” A yawn escaped his lips. “You gonna spend the night or are ya fixing to go home?”

“Throwing me out so soon?”

“Well, I’ve got work at seven, so . . . yeah.” Charlie chuckled. “If ya wanna stay, the guest bedrooms empty. Linens and all that are clean. And you’ve got some clothes in there from the last time you stayed over.”

“So that’s where I left those clothes. Was wondering where I’d left them. Should probably grab them, but no, wait till next time.”

“Not spending the night then?”

“No, think it’s best if I go home. Fleur’s probably already pissed that I’ve not been to bed.” Bill stood up. “Thanks for listening, mate. Was nice to you know, talk and stuff.”

“It was. And I, uh, I'm here if you ever need to talk or need anything; you or Emerson. Here for you both.”