By Your Side // Bill Weasley

Chapter I "From Romania to Egypt"

Chapter I From Romania to Egypt"

Avalea finished packing just as her short-eared owl arrived with a letter presumably from Bill who she asked for a place to stay during her time in Egypt. She was still in Romania after finding a dragon in Ukraine and bringing it to the sanctuary where one of her friends worked at. She would leave in the morning just after she checked up on the dragon.

“Azure, back so soon?” Avalea asked her owl, pulling off the parchment from his leg and gave him some treats and water. After all Egypt wasn’t just a mile away.

“Get some rest.” She said sitting down and reading the letter from her friend.

Dear Lea,
I am fine as well, it’s very hot here but I got used to it by now.
Of course, you can stay with me during your time in Egypt. It feels like ages since we’ve seen each other.
I’ll be expecting you tomorrow around midday to afternoon.
It will be fun to have you here. I have taken the afternoon off so I can show you around if you want.

Sincerely yours,
Bill

How sweet of him, she thought. Ava knew he didn’t get off days from work a lot and the few he gets he usually takes for Christmas break and Summer break to see his family. She exited the room she was staying in and joined her friend Charlie on the couch.

“Finished packing?” Charlie asked.

“Yes, I did just as Azure arrived with a letter from your brother.”

“Ah so I guess you can stay with him. I figured as much. How is he?” Charlie replied. She showed him the letter and he smiled.

“I reckon that he still has that crush on you that he had during 5th to 7th year.” Charlie said smirking. Ava blushed and shook her head. They talked for a while longer before they both went to bed.

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Avalea awoke to the screech of an owl and groaned. She looked around for the owl and found her family's snowy owl Jinx waiting at the window. She reluctantly got out of bed and sleepily pulling the parchment attached to the owl’s leg to find her mother’s handwriting.

Dear Avalea,
we hope you’re well and eating correctly dear, we heard about you successfully catching a Wampus cat and fixing it up again. We are all very proud of you.
Your grandfather asked for our help during the summer, sadly we will not be able to take your sister with us so we would like to know if you could let her stay with you this summer.
Your grandfather asked us not to tell you what we are doing so I am going to accept his wishes. We are probably going to be gone for at least three weeks, possibly even more.
She misses you and would be thrilled to spend the summer with you although she doesn’t know about our arrangements yet.
If you could clear it with your work and send us an owl back as soon as you can that would be great.

Love,
your mother Ariana

Avalea sighed, although she really misses her sister too and would love to just accept her mother’s request, she was not sure if she could. She decided to go get ready and drink some coffee first before writing all these letters. She gave the owls some treats and Jinx some fresh water so she could rest up before leaving with her reply again. She changed into some weather and travel appropriate clothes and walked with the letter and some more parchment into the kitchen to make herself a coffee. She found Charlie already in the kitchen drinking a coffee and poured herself a mug full. She took a sip and moaned at the taste.

“Good morning.” Charlie laughed.

“Good morning, I love coffee.” She replied and took another sip. She stood up and got out knives and plates and bread for breakfast.

“After all we can’t face dragons with an empty stomach.” She said and sat down. They ate breakfast and discussed their plans for the day. Avalea told him about the letter from her mother and just as they finished putting all their dishes away Charlie’s family owl flew head first into the window screeching.

“I love that bird.” Avalea laughed and went to open the window and made sure the owl was okay. She saw that Errol was carrying a scarlet red letter, already knowing what kind of letter it was she cursed and backed away towards her parchment on the table.

“Looks like you are in trouble, Charlie. Errol has a howler.” She said, took the parchment off the kitchen table and walked back to the room she was staying in to write her letters to her mother and work. She distinctly heard the howler opening itself and Mrs. Weasley's roaring angry voice. Although she couldn’t understand much, she understood a few things, something about her staying with him and keeping it from her. Although Avalea was friends with Charlie and Bill since Charlie started Hogwarts in her third year Mrs. Weasley grew an obvious dislike towards the girl and she still didn’t know completely why. She originally suspected because of Avalea being sorted into Slytherin instead of a different house but it was never confirmed. Every time she asked Bill or Charlie, they claimed they didn’t know and she trusted them so she ignored the matter as best as she could. She summoned her quill and ink and began to write a response to her mother. She wrote that she would love to have her sister for the summer and that she would write an owl to work directly after this one. She wrote about her leaving to Egypt today and staying with Bill to catch a magical creature that has been drawing attention from muggles and was described to be bird like. After she finished the letter, she attached it to Jinx's leg and gave her another treat and instructions. She then proceeded to write her letter to work requesting time off for the summer or if not possible, easy assignments close to London so she could be home with her sister although her sister Arnica would without a doubt be excited to accompany her on an assignment. Arnica loved her sister’s stories about her encounters with the magical creatures, her favourite so far had been a Niffler. But handling a magical creature and a 14-year-old teenage girl wasn’t very easy even if it was Avalea's little sister. After she finished the letter, she attached the parchment to her owl Azure, and stroked him. He screeched in approval.

“Take this to work please. Ms. Gideon will know who you are.” She said and he screeched one last time before he flew away. She saw the time and quickly left the room. Charlie wasn’t in the kitchen anymore, so Avalea guessed he went to get ready. She poured herself the last coffee, sat down at the table and waited for Charlie to come out. Errol was sitting at the window, waiting and cleaning his feathers. She got up with her coffee, gave him some treats and stroked his feathers. He screeched approvingly just as Charlie came out of his room with an indifferent look and gave Errol a letter who hooted and then left.

“Are you okay? What was your mother so angry about that she sent you a howler?” Ava asked and took a sip of her coffee.

He grumbled. “She found out that you’re staying with me and yelled at me for housing you and not telling her and all those stupid reasons. I don’t even know how she found out, I didn’t tell anyone of my family, not even Bill.” He said still a little sour about the howler.

“Merlin’s beard, Charlie, how dare you live with one of your best friends she hates out of wedlock?!” Avalea asked sarcastically faking her shock.

Charlie laughed. “Something like that probably, but she doesn’t hate you.”

“It’s really sweet of you to say but you bloody know she does and she doesn’t like my sister either solely because she is related to me.” Ava replied and Charlie wanted to disagree but he knew she was right.

“Come on let’s check on the Ukrainian Ironbelly so I can leave for my next assignment and cool your mother’s conscience. I just hope she doesn’t find out I’m staying with Bill in Egypt, or he’ll get a howler too.”

“Make sure to warn him when you get there.” Charlie said and they left towards the dragons. They apparated into the healing section of the sanctuary and walked straight to the recently rescued dragon. Ava spent most of her morning checking if the dragon was alright and all healed up and walked a little around the sanctuary, saying goodbye to the people she’d met. When the time came for Charlie’s break, they both apparated to his flat and she got ready to leave. She checked if she had everything and then hugged her friend.

“Thank you for letting me stay with you Charlie, you know whenever you need, I will return the favour. I’ll miss you.” Avalea told him hugging him right.

“Anytime Ave, I’ll miss you too. Give my brother a hug from me. I’ll see you no later than Tonks birthday, will I?”

“Will do. See you in a few weeks.” She said kissing his cheek and then apparated herself and her bags to Egypt. She arrived a few miles from his door and walked up the rest of the way. She checked the time before she knocked and saw that it was half past noon, so Bill would be expecting her by now. Ava knocked on the door and heard a voice calling back and then the door opened. Bill smiled upon seeing his best friend.

“Lea, it’s so good to see you. How have you been? You look great!” He asked and hugged her. Avalea smiled at his use of her other nickname, Bill was the only one to call her Lea. Everyone else used Ava.

“It’s so good to see you too. It feels like ages since we last saw each other. Look at your hair, you’re really letting it grow out, aren’t you? Your brother told me to give you a hug from him.” She replied, immediately accepting his hug. After a short moment they parted and he helped carry her bags inside.

“Where is Azure?” He asked, wondering where her owl was.

“Oh, I sent him out with a letter this morning to work, but he’ll know where to find me. I hope you aren’t angry that I didn’t send a reply with him after your last letter. I knew I would get here earlier than him.” She said. He set down her bags at the edge of the living room where they wouldn’t be in the way.

“That’s no problem, I didn’t really expect a reply anyways. Can I offer you a tea or a coffee?”

“If I ever say no to coffee, and I’m not pregnant or under the imperius curse, you should be suspicious and put me right into Azkaban.” Ava laughed and Bill grinned. “I really appreciate it that you’re letting me stay with you. I don’t want you to get in trouble with your mother. Charlie got a howler this morning because of me.” She said sighing, while he prepared his tea and Avalea's coffee.

“Why did you stay with Charlie anyways? Last I heard you were in South America fixing up a Wampus Cat.” He asked. “I know my mother for some reason doesn’t like you. I don’t know why, maybe because of-" He spoke but stopped himself midway, “She is big on tradition as well I guess, living with a woman we're not married to is just against her upbringing.” He shrugged.

“Who knows maybe she’ll accept me at some point, my dad did with you two and Leo after all. He grew more of a dislike to the twins. After I fixed up the Wampus Cat I got a new assignment in Ukraine, catching a Ukrainian Ironbelly. I found out she was wounded so I arranged the transportation to the Romanian sanctuary. She is so comfortable there and already found some friends so she’s probably going to stay there and your brother being the great friend that he is, offered me to stay with him.” Avalea replied smiling.

“Well after all we were raised to be gentlemen.” He replied smirking. “Why does your dad dislike the twins?” Bill asked her confused.

“They’re friends with my sister and he heard Arnica telling me their prank stories on Snape and Filch and Peeves, but he also dislikes her other two boyfriends.” She laughed.

“They are really daring and brave pranking Snape. I never would have had the guts.” He replied. “It’s probably just a father-daughter thing. Mom had the same when we dated girls in Hogwarts.”

“Well you didn’t really pick very nice ones. I still remember Katherine and Abigail threatening Tonks and I to stay away from you and Charlie. We still have laughing fits about it.” She said chuckling at the memory.

“So what creature are you actually looking for here?” Bill asked to avoid talking about his past girlfriend.

“The muggle village nearby complained about annoying singing sounds. I assume it’s either a sick Phoenix or probably a Fwooper.” Ava said.

“What was a Fwooper again?” Bill asked.

“It’s a bird that’s either orange, lime green, yellow or pink. Their singing, although first enjoyable, drives people to insanity after a while. I’ve never seen one before so I really hope it is one. Hopefully not pink though, I would love to keep it.” She told him.

“A Phoenix would be really awesome as well though. I heard Dumbledore has one but I never saw it. I would love to though.” Bill said. Avalea bit her lip and sipped her coffee.

“They’re very beautiful creatures, I bet you will see one someday.” Avalea said feeling guilty and sad. She was keeping a secret from her friends, a very big one which she and her sister promised not to tell their best friends until their grandfather deemed it the right time. He was very wise, so they believed and trusted him in those matters, even if it was heart-breaking not being able to share her biggest secret with her friends. Sometimes she wondered if her grandfather could see the future, because he seemed to know more than he cared to admit.

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A/N
Hey guys, I hope you like the first chapter of my new story. As I've said this is part of a trial run. I wanted to go in a different direction with this story, that's why it's written in third person. Also most Bill stories (which there are not a lot of here) always describes Molly as the lovely, inviting person and always instantly likes anyone her boys bring home but I wanted to do something different and oriented myself at the GoF book where she has a grudge on Hermione for no reason so this here is a story where she doesn't like the girl her sons like.