Take These Broken Wings and Learn to Fly

I’d been working for Gringotts almost four months when Simon told the group we’d have a break for the holidays. The weather had gotten better in Egypt, almost becoming bearable by November. Bill and I became best friends, seeing that Damien left the job to work back in London. The two of us were unstoppable, bringing gold in left and right. I’d been able to support myself financially as Gringotts kept giving us bonuses for our finds. I was living on top of the world. I began saving for future vacations I wanted to take, places I wanted to visit, things I wanted to see.

Bill thought I was stupid, thinking about planning trips when I could just as easily apparated to the places I wanted. But I wasn’t that kind of vacationer. I liked to stay in places for a while, to take in the culture and feel like I’m really a part of it.

Bill and I were walking back to the apartment complex late one night after getting dinner together when he brought up Christmas. “So, you haven’t mentioned your family to me yet. You going to stay with them for the holidays?” he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. The night had cooled off considerably.

I grunted and shook my head, “No. I don’t have any family, hence the reason I don’t mention them.”

“I thought you said you lived with your aunt when your parents died,” he commented.

“Yeah, but you couldn’t pay me to go back to that old woman,” I laughed and he grimaced.

“And…no siblings? Cousins? Grandparents?” he questioned. I shook my head.

“Nope,” I replied, emphasizing the ‘p.’ “My parents were both only children and I’ve never met my grandparents. Right now it’s just me, myself, and I. We make a pretty good team,” I said with a shrug. Bill was quiet for a moment as we headed up the stairs to our apartments.

“You never talk about your family,” Bill commented.

I groaned. “I don’t want to talk about it, Bill.”

We stopped in front of my door before he brought up the subject. “Come home with me for the holidays,” was all he said.

I stared at him for a minute before shaking my head. “No, that’s strange,” was my reply. I took my keys out of my pocket and began to unlock my door.

“How is that strange? You’re my friend, and you know all about my family. It’s like you’re already a part of it!” he stated. I laughed.

“I’ve never even met your family, Bill. Isn’t is a bit strange for you to be bringing home a girl?” I asked as I turned back to him.

“Perhaps, but my family will love you, nonetheless. Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?” he begged, grabbing my hand from my side and turning me around.

“I believe you have the cherry on top,” I retorted, reaching up to brush my fingers through his long, ginger hair. Bill immediately slapped my hand away.

“Don’t ever touch my hair…” he warned playfully. I grinned.

“But it’s just so sexy, Bill,” I said in a sultry tone. He rolled his eyes.

“Don’t think that trying to turn me on is getting you out of this conversation. I’m bringing you home this Christmas, because you are my best friend and I am not allowing you to sit here alone for two weeks when you could be having adventures with me.”

“I turn you on?” I teased. He groaned and placed his hands on his hips.

“Is that really all you got from that sentence?” he scolded. I grinned and stepped closer to him, never breaking eye contact. I pressed my body up against his and got up on my tip-toes to whisper in his ear.

“You win. Goodnight, Bill,” I whispered against his ear, before stepping back with a grin and opening the door to my apartment.

“Tease!” he exclaimed as I shut the door, leaving him standing on the landing with a very red face.

---

After that night, I’d spent the next two weeks with the Weasleys. I grew to adore his family, even if I did only see them for that short amount of time. Bill and I worked together for another year until Gringotts asked me to transfer sites at the end of 1992. I was supposed to be leaving for an undisclosed site in Italy at the beginning of December. It was November 29, Bill’s birthday. We were sitting in his apartment, listening to his ACDC record, drinking bottles of beer. The apartment was trashed with icing, seeing as I’d decided to start a cake fight with Bill earlier when other members of the work site were there.

It was around eleven, and the two of us were sitting on the couch in a comfortable silence. “How does it feel to be twenty-two, you old man?” I joked. He smirked and laughed my favorite chuckle of his.

“If I’m an old man, you’re going through menopause. You’re turning twenty in March, remember?” he teased. I rolled my eyes before taking another swig of the bottle in my hand.

I kicked my bare feet up onto his coffee table as I sank lower into the couch. “At least I’ve still got my strikingly good looks for being a bitch going through menopause. I must’ve had some midlife crisis where I lost a ton of weight,” I joked. He smiled.

“I’m going to miss your twisted humor, Li,” he said. I frowned and reached over to put the bottle on the coffee table.

“Yeah, well, I’m going to miss your old grunge clothes and smelly sweat,” I replied. He grunted.

“Ouch, you can leave, you know,” he mocked hurt, placing one hand over his heart and the other in the direction of the door. I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head off, by this time tomorrow I’ll be hundreds of miles away.” He sighed and put his own bottle down before taking his legs off the couch and patting the spot next to him. I scooted over into his arm and placed my head on his shoulder.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. Who’s going to sit here with me on Saturday nights listening to records? Huh? And who’s gonna eat my terrible Sunday cooking, or beat up the guys with me?” he mumbled. I giggled, patting his knee.

“You’ll be just fine, hun. They’ve got these things called owls now…they’re pretty great. They can deliver letters and such,” I joked. He poked my side before kissing my forehead.

“I guess I’ll have to suck it up. I’ve just never had a best friend like you, you know?” he muttered sadly. I nodded, trying to keep back the tears that were forming in my eyes. I sighed, letting out the deep breath I was holding in.

Bill was always more than a best friend to me, but nothing happened between us. Of course we sometimes teased and flirted, but it was a harmless game we liked to play. Part of me tried to convince myself that we’d end up together. We were both getting older, neither of us being in a relationship the whole time we knew each other. But at the same time, I had to face the fact that we weren’t together. It made sense that if Bill wanted to be with me, he would’ve jumped at the chance within those three years of knowing me. Gringotts offered me a position in Italy, so I took it. It was an opportunity to see more of the world while still working. The only thing keeping me from going was Bill…but at the same time, he was the reason I knew that I had to leave.