For Katy, with thanks and hugs

The wind whistled softly through the trees as Charlie hoisted Bill up into the tallest. "How'd you find us?" he murmured to his older brother.

Bill grinned and winked, though no one missed the cringe when he moved to sit on a higher branch. "An old man's bones," he said.

"You aren't old," Charlie argued, "you're just…middle-aged."

Percy, as close to the ground as he could get and slightly ashen-faced, laughed. "Yeah. Big difference. But it's alright, Bill, we're pretty damn old ourselves."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "You're in denial," Bill told him, grinning.

"Remember coming up here when we were little?" Percy asked softly after some moments of silence.

"Yeah. Before everyone else was born, and it was just the three of us. We used to sit here and just talk for hours. We used to think we were so cool, with our meeting-place and our kiddie problems," Charlie said, his eyes far away.

"Yeah, I used to tell you guys all these Hogwarts stories, and I acted so old, even though I'd never even been there yet."

Percy smiled at the thought. "We were in such a hurry to grow up."

Charlie nodded. "We hated being kids. We wanted Mum and Dad to tell us things, and we wanted to learn secrets." His face twisted bitterly. "Being an adult is over-rated."

Bill couldn't help but chuckle, even as he grimaced. "But we were so young, we couldn't have known. We just wanted to be involved."

"That's over-rated too," Percy said softly.

"Of course it is," Charlie said, and his older brother nodded.

After a second or two of quiet reminiscing, Charlie swung up without warning and grasped a red apple. "Let's be kids just a bit longer," he offered. "Split an apple, like we used to."

His brothers nodded, both smiling faintly. "To kids," Bill said, toasting with his part of the apple raised high in the air.

"To kids," they echoed, and bit in.