Bill adjusted his tie once more. He watched as his own nervous face grimaced at himself in the mirror and then let out an uneven lungful of air.

There were butterflies the size of dragons whirring about in his stomach.

After Fred had died, it became abundantly clear to Bill that he had to spend more time with his family in England. His family had begun to grow very quickly indeed after the war finally finished, people were getting married and having babies left right and centre, himself included. He wondered if it was a case of overcompensating, that people were trying to fill gaps left by those that had been lost; he didn't like that thought, no one new could replace someone who was gone, but he couldn't help but think it.

Regardless, people were happier now and that was something he didn't want to miss.

He and Fleur naturally made the decision to move back to the country, at least until the family got a little older and stopped getting so much bigger so steadily. Of course, this move had left Bill in need of a new job, luckily, Gringotts bank was looking for someone with his particular skill set: the ability to break curses, especially seeing that there was now a lot of unattended safes that once belonged to Death Eater's. Getting the job had been a breeze, due to Bill being so qualified and he'd actually worked there for a solid eight months already. However, it was the responsibility of planning the Christmas party that turned Bill's blood cold as it ran through his veins.

It had begun as a simple request, but as the weeks had gone by, Bill realised that there was actually an extremely high expectation on him to make it not only amazing, but the best Christmas party Gringotts had seen since its inception (the inception of the bank of course, not Christmas- although Bill couldn't say for sure which was older). It was the third year after the war and consequently, the first Christmas party, as the bank had only just finished full repairs after a certain dragon incident that may or may not have included his youngest brother and his friends.

Bill let out another worried breath as he finally let go of his tie,

"Ma chère?" Fleur asked softly, waddling into the room with one petit hand over her hugely swollen stomach,

"Yes?" he asked, turning to look at her. He smiled as his eyes fell upon the blonde, her pale blue dress was beautiful, even if it barely fit her.

"Are you okay?" she questioned, putting her hands to his shoulders, and looking up into his eyes,

"Yeah, I'm just a little... nervous" he shrugged trying to play off his worries,

"Zer iz notheeng to be worried about" she assured him, kneading her thumbs into his tense muscles,

"You're probably right, I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

0o0o0

Bill surveyed the buzzing foyer, smiling proudly with his hands held comfortably in his pockets.

The bank looked wonderful, decorated with long twirling golden and white ribbons, and a humongous tree that touched the tall ceiling covered in bulbuls of the same colour, that glistened in the bright candlelight. As he looked over the guests, he caught the eye of a few people he vaguely recognised as patrons of the bank and he waved to them politely. Bill's eyes then trailed across to the buffet table and all at once his new found relief began to evaporate as he witnessed the most unexpected sight:

Red hair tied into a short, and surprisingly smart ponytail. Broad shoulders covered by a black, crisp suit jacket. Blue, amused eyes that were focused entirely on the food laid out before him.

His brother Charlie was standing at the table eating his way through a bowl of olives.

Bill stalked over quickly, trying to hide his building worry and anger as he dodged between other guests,

"Charlie? What are you doing here?!" he hissed in his brother's ear.

Charlie looked at him quickly, and then smiled, "Oh! Bill! How are you?",

Bill rolled his eyes at him, "Fine, now tell me, what are you doing here?" he was getting more and more panicked by the second- the presence of his brother made absolutely no sense, and this was definitely cause for alarm.

"Oh don't worry, I'm not offended that you didn't invite me to your little bank party. I know you didn't invite any of your siblings" the younger replied, nodding as he put his hand to his chest dramatically before quickly returning attention to the spread before him, and lifting his tooth pick like a tiny spear once more, "These olives are amazing, are goblins known for their love of olives?" he mused as he ate another.

"That doesn't answer my question" his elder brother hissed again,

Charlie looked at him closely once more, "Oh sorry" he said finally, putting down the cocktail stick. He wiped his fingers clean on a napkin (rather than his trousers, as Bill was sure he would do) and he coughed softly, "What was the question?",

"What are you doing here!?" Bill's voice rose a little too much as he spoke, and he earned a few worried looks from others at the buffet table. He gave them a very forced smile to try and assure that all was well.

"Oh right! Yeah!" Charlie laughed, "I'm a plus one",

Bill almost couldn't believe his ears, "...what? You're here with someone?"

"Yup" his younger brother said running his tongue over his teeth and slipping his thumbs into his belt loops,

"You're telling me, that you know someone in the banking business, who isn't me?" it sounded even more ridiculous when he said it out loud.

"Don't say it like that! It's not that hard to believe is it? I know people" Charlie snorted, "Okay, I know a few people" he corrected with a shrug.

"So who is this person then?" Bill asked,
"My boyfriend" the dragon keeper said casually, eyeing the tower of prawns that sat in the middle of the table,

"No I meant, who are they?" he repeated, starting to get very tired of his brothers now obvious attempts to dodge questions.

"Someone who's put a lot of money into the bank" Charlie shrugged, all of his attention now back on the food,

"Charlie! A name?! Who, are, you, here, with?" Bill paced, exasperated by how totally uncooperative he was being,

"Well if I told you, that would take all the fun out of it, wouldn't it?" his younger brother said, shaking his head as if that were obvious.

"All the fun out of what?"

Charlie let out a short laugh, "Oh Bill", he then looked beyond his brother and beamed widely as he spied Fleur approaching them, "Ahh, Fleur! How are you? You're looking... well... you're looking very pregnant", he grinned, gesturing towards her large stomach.

Fleur gave him an unamused smile, "Oh Charlie, wittee as ever!",

Charlie continued to smile at her, clearly choosing to ignore her sarcasm, "Thank you very much indeed, I will modestly and gladly take that as a compliment" he said with a nod, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get back to my boyfriend and continue to carry out my arm candy duties, such as smiling charmingly and saying little" he then wondered off in a random direction, and before it even occurred to Bill that he could try and follow him, he had lost his brother in the crowd.

Bill sighed, his vocal chords sore. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and Fleur put her hand gently on his shoulder to comfort him again,

"Beel?" she asked, her voice soothing,

"I love my brother, but if there was one thing guaranteed to cause trouble at any function, it's Charlie"

0o0o0

Bill hadn't seen his brother for almost two hours, and that was really starting to worry him.

Actually what worried Bill more, was that during those two hours he'd met most of the people who had put money into the bank, and all of them had been quite old; when he considered the fact that one of these men could have been Charlie's boyfriend, he shivered and felt the need to retch. He was never one to judge, but… eww.

The night was drawing towards its end now, and it was almost time for the closing speech from the bank's manager, in fact Bill was watching him going up the stairs to podium presently. Even though the stairs were made to scale for the goblin, it was taking him an awfully long time to traverse them- Bill wasn't sure whether it was to do with the amount of alcohol he'd consumed, but he hoped beyond hope that it wasn't.

The goblin found his way to the top of the stairs after another minute and he walked over to the standing microphone that was set far too high for him to talk into. He looked up at the mic-head and frowned as if it had offended him, before he instead took out his wand and pressed the tip to his throat,

"Excuse me" he began, and the hall fell silent, "I'd like to thank you for coming tonight, and thank you for another wonderful year, here at Gringotts bank",

There was a brief, soft clap that echoed around the entire hall and he then began to speak again,

Bill adjusted his collar and swallowed, so far so good.

"Of course, none of this would be possible without the most generous of our investors, Mr Draco Malfoy"

The clapping started again, set to stop when the man in question arrived on the stage, but the Slytherin didn't show.

People began to look around with confusion after a moment, and Bill felt a large bead of sweat starting to crawl down his forehead,

"Err... Mr Malfoy? Would you please join me on the stage?" the goblin asked,

There was another minute of awkward silence as Draco went undiscovered,

Bill was about ready to track down the blond himself and drag him to the stage.

Charlie stumbled over to his brother in that moment however, tucking his shirt back into his trousers as he did so, "Sorry bro" he whispered,

The elder glared at him, about to ask the man why he was the one apologising, but he was distracted as a tall, well-dressed man rushed up the stairs and went to the microphone, "Sorry" he said with an awkward sort of chuckle,

"Ah Mr Malfoy-" the goblin began.

"Where the hell have you been?" Bill hissed at his brother, calming down just a little now that Draco had made an appearance, even if the general tinge of anger he felt towards his brother remained,

"Huh?" Charlie asked, looking away from the stage, his expression vacant and his hands on his hips,

"Where have you been?" he repeated,

"Oh, the loos" he shrugged, looking back to the stage as he buttoned his blazer as an afterthought,

"For two hours? What have you been doing in there?",

"Oh, you don't want to know either way" Charlie laughed,

He stared plainly at him for a moment before shaking his head, "You know that half the time I don't understand a single thing you're saying?"

"I know" he chuckled, looking to the stage once more, a broad smile on his face,

Bill rolled his eyes at his brother, but huffed a small sigh of relief.

0o0o0

Draco Malfoy gave a very short speech, one which he clearly would rather not have given.

He now stood by the drinks table with a glass of punch, having been cornered by another guest who was talking at him excitedly.

Bill approached the ex-Slytherin slowly, watching as the blond nodded at the small man he was locked in conversation with, smiling awkwardly as he did so,

"-and of course, you understand the importance of that" the wizard concluded,

"Yes, I do" he agreed, now nodding in a manner that suggested that he had no idea what he was agreeing to.

The elderly wizard nodded back and went to open his mouth again, but Bill stepped in and offered his hand to Draco,

"Mr Malfoy, Bill Weasley",

The blond shot the redhead a thankful look and took his hand, shaking it firmly, "Pleasure to meet you"

The wizard who had been talking took his leave, clearly becoming bored as no one was listening to him anymore.

Bill released the man's hand and put his own into his pockets, getting ready for a little small talk with the Malfoy,

But Charlie appeared before a single word left his mouth, sliding in on the marble floor in his smart shoes, making them squeak as he stopped next to Draco,

His older brother shot him an angered look, about ready to tackle him to the ground if necessary, but Charlie either didn't see it or was ignoring it.

"My brother throws a good party, don't you think?" the dragon tamer said, throwing a casual arm over Draco's shoulders.

Bill was absolutely mortified, his brother was acting like an idiot right in front of the banks most important benefactor,

"I must say I am enjoying myself" Mr Malfoy nodded, taking a sip of his drink and looking quite comfortable despite the situation,

"How's the punch?" Charlie asked,

"Good" the blond nodded.

At his brother's next action, Bill was about ready to strangle him to death right there and then, forget the killing curse, he wanted the satisfaction of ending his sibling's life with his own two hands.

Charlie stooped down and put his lips to the edge of Draco's punch glass, sipping from it as the man tipped the cup, letting the liquid pour into his mouth,

The eldest Weasley didn't know what was worse, the fact that his brother was doing this, or the fact that Draco was allowing it.

"You're right, that is good" the redhead nodded as he swallowed the punch, he then stood at his full height and gingerly took the cup right out of the man's hand, draining it entirely of the contents,

"Hey!" the Slytherin complained lamely, suppressing a laugh,

"Now I taste of punch" Charlie teased, winking at him playfully,

The blond smiled at him and turned to face him head on, "I suppose you do" he chuckled, grabbing the man by his lapels and pulled him down so that their lips met in a firm kiss.

"You're right" he nodded, pulling away after a few seconds, "You do taste of punch", a large smirk was plastered across his face,

"What did I tell you?" Charlie said, shaking his head and curling his arm around the other man's waist,

They then both looked back to Bill, who had gone very quiet.

"Good punch" Draco repeated, his smile falling and a blush spreading over his face; he then coughed awkwardly as if just realising what he'd done and he excused himself to the loo with a mumbled,

"Ooh, can I come with?" the younger Weasley teased, watching as he walked away,

"Charlie!" Bill hissed, whacking his brother on arm,

"Oww! What? He's cute when he blushes",

"It's inappropriate!" the elder grimaced,

Charlie shook his head, "Err excuse me, I thought you would've guessed!"

"Guessed what?!" his brother yelped,

"He's my boyfriend!"

There was a pause, "Oh" Bill drew out the syllable. He had almost forgotten why his brother as there at all.

"I told you my boyfriend was here. Look around! Did you really think I'd stoop as low as to date a guy twice, if not three times my age?" the younger laughed. He then looked over his shoulder, to see an extremely aged wizard collecting many morsels of food onto a sagging paper plate, "No offence" he assured the old man, "I bet you're dynamite in the sack",

Bill suddenly reconsidered fratricide.

A.N- This is a reedit and reupload, because I was working on the final chapter, don't worry if it seems familiar!