Everything Is Eclipsed by the Shape of Destiny

The smile on Bill’s face widened with each passing second. After a week of searching, he had finally found her. He had gone to Egypt to see if she was there, but found nothing. He had then sought out Everett but he had been indisposed in the Italian countryside with his fiancée. It wasn’t until Everett returned to Egypt that Bill was able to talk to him and find out that Emerson had relocated to Mexico.

News of her relocation genuinely surprised Bill. He had always just assumed that Emerson was going to keep working in Egypt and that he would be able to stop by for a visit whenever he wanted to hang out. Having her move to another country was a bit unsettling, especially since he had never been there and didn’t know what to expect from her grandparents.

It was his fear of the unexpected that kept Bill from visiting sooner. He didn’t know if it would be considered appropriate for a young man to visit her at her grandparent’s home or if his Spanish would be good enough if he found himself forced to converse with them.

After losing himself in thought for three days, Bill decided it best to just show up at the ranch. He thought about sending a letter in which he would ask if it was alright for him to visit but he wanted to surprise her and now that he was standing in the midst of so many flowers, he was glad that it was going to be a surprise.

He was glad to be hearing her horrible singing again.

Bill was so engrossed by her singing that he failed to notice that Pedro had left him standing there. That didn’t matter though, Bill hadn’t gone for Pedro, he had gone for his best friend and she was standing right in from of him so he had no reason whatsoever to complain.

“MARIE!” bellowed Bill.

At the sound of her name she froze, she didn’t know if she was dreaming again. She often dreamt that Bill would find her during one of her walks. She didn’t want to turn around and find no one standing there, her heart, wouldn’t be able to endure another let down.

“Awe come on, Marie. You can’t have forgotten the sound of my voice already!” Bill began making his way towards her.

“Bill?” whispered Emerson as she turned in the direction of the voice.

The moment her eyes landed on his freckly face, she stumbled backwards a few steps, finding it incredibly hard to remain composed with him standing so near. Her eyes scanned his face, making sure that he was really there and that it wasn’t a hallucination or day dream.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “You look like you’ve seen a mummy.”

“A mummy would’ve been more expected than you,” retorted Emerson.

“What a wicked thing to say,” Bill stopped when he reached her.

“It’s the truth.” Emerson scratched her jeans nervously. “The mummies have kept sending me brochures whereas you haven’t sent a piece of parchment my way.”

“Not true, I’ve sent at least two letters.”

“Well I haven’t received any,” Emerson scrunched her nose. “So what are you doing here?”

“You don’t even give me a bloody hug but you demand to know what it is that I'm doing here, great people skills,” teased Bill.

“Gingers shouldn’t be treated like people, they’re soulless creatures.”

“Soulless creatures?” repeated Bill. “I’ll show you soulless!”

Without warning he leapt towards Emerson, wrapping his arms around her midsection so that they could both tumble onto the flowers. Once on the ground he started tickling her, demanding that she apologize for having used such language against gingers.

“Get off!” laughed Emerson as she squirmed underneath.

“Not until you apologize!” he attacked her with more tickles.

“William Arthur Weasley, I'm going to piss my pants if you don’t stop!”

“How’s that my problem? You’re the one that’s going to have pissed pants.”

“But I'm going to throw them at your face,” she threatened.

“Oh, Marie, that’s not very ladylike,” Bill pinned her hands behind her head.

“Since when have I ever been a lady?” she cocked her brow.

“Very true,” Bill let her arms go and plopped down atop her.

Thoughts, inappropriate thoughts, raced through Emerson’s mind as Bill lay atop her. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair, to cup his face in her hands, to claw at his back but instead she remained motionless, staring up at the heavens as he buried his nose in her neck.

“Always so warm,” mumbled Bill.

Emerson closed her eyes at those words, his breathing tickled her neck and she was afraid that if her eyes remained open, she would look over at him and lose whatever control she had.

“Why are you always so warm?” he asked, tilting his head to stare at the side of her face.

“Because,” was her only response.

“Because what?” he pressed.

Because I'm a fucking shifter that imprinted on you, she wanted to say.

“Because . . . just because.” Emerson sighed. “Are you going to get off? I’d like to breathe properly.”

“No, much too comfortable to move,” replied Bill.

“Fucking ginger,” cursed Emerson softly.

“Don’t act like you’re not enjoying this, I know you missed me to.”

“Not really,” Emerson lied.

“Liar,” Bill propped himself up on his elbows.

“Not lying,” Emerson diverted her gaze from his.

“Well if you haven’t missed me then what have you been doing?”

“Working and living,” she responded.

“Any dating?” he asked.

Emerson smiled softly.

“What’s that smile about? Are you dating someone and not telling me?” his eyes narrowed.

“I am. His names Lucas and we’re going to get married next Saturday. Everyone’s telling us that we should slow down, get to know each other better but I’ve always wanted a spicy Latin lover and now that I have him, I want to chain him up. You know?” Emerson remained completely serious as she lied to him.

“You mean to tell me that you’re getting married and you hadn’t told me?”

“Well, yeah, you were busy fighting so I figured that you had more important things to do.” Emerson shrugged.

“I haven’t even met this guy. How old is he? Does he have any kids? How does he treat you? What does he do for a living?” Bill stood up and began pacing about. “Marriage isn’t something people just jump into.”

“Unless the person they’re marrying is a Veela, right?” Emerson stood up, a triumphant smirk playing across her lips.

“It’s not the same,” argued Bill.

“Why not?” asked Emerson.

“Because it’s just not,” Bill scratched his chin. “How do you know that anything this guy has told you is real? How do you know he’s going to treat you right?”

“Well I honestly don’t.”

“And yet you’re going to marry him?” Bill shook his head.

“Of course I am, there’s nothing like marrying an imaginary man to make my weekend more exciting,” Emerson held back her laughter.

“Imaginary?” he repeated. “That was all a . . .”

“A lie, a very well constructed lie at that,” a few giggles escaped her lips. “You should’ve seen the look on your face. It was quite epic.”

“Sometimes you are so infuriating,” mumbled Bill.

“Awe, come on Bill, the opportunity was there, it had to be taken, plus I wanted you to get off me and you’re a lazy ass that wouldn’t have gotten off.”

“There is truth in that statement.”

“There is,” Emerson exhaled deeply. “So now that we’ve acted like a couple of five year olds do you mind telling me what you’re doing here?”

“Just wanted to see you,” Bill took a seat on the fertile earth. “Why? Is that not allowed?”

“Of course it’s allowed, but you’ve never truly been the type that just goes to see someone to see them.”

“That’s not true,” Bill pulled some grass.

Emerson sat beside him. “Yes, it is. So what’s wrong? What do you need Mr. Weasley?”

“You’re company,” he looked over at her hand and after a few seconds of hesitation he took it in his. “I just want to hang out for awhile, forget that there’s a war raging. I just want to sit here with you, in silence if you want, but just being next to you is enough. There’s something incredibly soothing about your presence.”

His words, so simple yet so powerful caused tears to spring into her eyes but she held them back, she wasn’t going to cry in front of him. She wasn’t going to weird him out. They were just friends, just friends and nothing more.

“We can stay out here until six, but then we have to go inside for dinner,” Emerson stared at their hands. “My grandma is very strict about everyone eating together.”

“She seems nice, both your grandparents seem really nice,” Bill chuckled. “They’re very friendly.”

“They are. I'm really lucky to have them.” Emerson turned to Bill. “So are you going to lay down so I can play with your hair?”

“When you say it like that we sound like a couple of teenage girls,” Bill commented as he lay down in between Emerson’s legs, resting his head against her chest.

“We act like them most of the time, so it’s fitting,” Emerson began running her fingers through his hair. “So how’s the wife?”

“Good,” Bill groaned softly. “Most of the time she’s good, sometimes she gets really upset because of how we’re living but it’s expected. We’re both constantly in danger and that stresses people a lot but as soon as this war’s over, things will go back to normal. Then I can talk to her about the things she wants.”

“What does she want?” Emerson was afraid to know the answer.

“Babies, lots of babies,” he covered his eyes. “She wants to have kids already. She wants to have them running around the cottage but I'm not ready for kids.”

“How are you not ready? You’re almost thirty and you’re married. Doesn’t that make you ready?”

“It should but I just can’t have kids with her right now. Our marriage is barely starting and we’re barely getting to know each other. I thought I knew her when I got married but it turns out that I didn’t know about her little habits, some of which are absolutely annoying so I want me and her to get situated before we bring anyone into this world and not to mention, the war. I can’t have kids while there’s a war. What if something happens to me or to her?”

“She’s a tough girl. She can take care of herself.” Emerson reassured.

“She’s tough but she’s so stubborn! It’ll get her killed that’s why I don’t let her participate in official Order business anymore. I don’t want to have to be worried about both our safeties.”

“And she just agreed to stay home while you’re out endangering yourself?” asked Emerson.

Bill nodded.

“That’s fucking horrible! How can she just sit at home while you’re in grave peril? How could she agree to that? If I were your wife, I would’ve told you to go fuck yourself for trying to keep me locked up.”

“If you were my wife, I wouldn’t have to worry.” Bill stared at the fields. “You’re tough, but you’re smart, you know when to back up and when to attack. With you, I wouldn’t have reason to worry. In fact, sometimes I wish that you were in the Order. We could take on the bad guys together.”

“We’d be like Batman and Robin but you’d be Robin because I am an attention whore that needs the spotlight,” joked Emerson.

“The Robin costume would clash horribly with my hair.”

“That’s on you; I was made for the Batman outfit.”

They remained out in the fields until the clock struck six and then they began the journey back to the house. Dinner went by uneventfully, they ate, they laughed and everyone got along really well.

At the end of the night, Bill said that he had to go home. Emerson had almost allowed herself to believe that he was going to spend the night, but he couldn’t, he had a wife that he had vowed to love and protect.

“Is it going to be another month before I see you?” asked Bill as they stood on the front porch.

“That’s up to you.”

“Why not you?” he stared into her eyes.

“Because I'm not the one that’s fighting the bad guys,” Emerson stood against the wooden railing.

“True,” Bill smiled softly. “If it’s alright can I come by this weekend? I mean, I don’t have any missions to run and I like . . . I miss you, a lot. It’s weird going from seeing you everyday to not seeing you at all. Don’t you think?”

“It is,” admitted Emerson.

“Sometimes when I'm listening to music in my den, I always think that you’re the one that’s opening the door and not Fleur.” Bill scoffed. “So bloody strange, are you sure you haven’t put a spell on me?”

“Not at all, I only put spells on brunettes.” Emerson touched his hair. “And this is definitely not the mane of a brunette. Um, I should let you go, Fleur must be worried.”

“Oh . . . right, well, I’ll see you soon,” Bill hugged her tightly, placing a soft kiss on her hair when he pulled away. “Farewell Marie.”

“Always have to call me that, don’t you?”

“I do,” he shot her a cheeky grin before stepping off the porch so he could apparate.

Emerson stood on the porch, her eyes firmly fixed on the spot where he had last stood. As she stared she came to the realization that she had to go to England, she had to join the Order and fight, it would be the only way that she’d be able to be close to him, that she’d be able to keep him safe because after hearing him utter such beautiful words, there was no way that she could be apart from him.