meet the kids - bill weasley
summary: Your coworker Arthur Weasley is sick and tired of slipping his sons' names into conversation in an attempt to grasp your interest in them, so he pulls out photos of them and forms a plan to turn his work daughter into a daughter in law wc: 2.3k+ a/n: thank you to whoever requested this one, i had so much fun writing it! was very much thinking about ted danson in 'a man on the inside' while writing arthur!
The instant Mr. Weasley pulls out his wallet, you know it’s over for you. The clasp is barely holding the wallet shut, printed images stuffed between its leather flaps. You know what’s coming next. Somehow, every time you find yourself working closely Arthur, he manages to slip his children into conversation, particularly the oldest ones. You bet that if you ever meet them in real life, you’d instantly know which is which purely based on their father’s description of them.
“You should come by to dinner one night and meet the family. You’re part of my family now, so it’s only fair that the others get to meet you.” You laugh softly, shifting your weight from foot to foot as Arthur puts his glasses on, pulling the images out of his wallet. All you had done was drop off an artefact found at a crime scene involving both wizards and muggles, but of course a five minute trip would turn into twenty five minute conversation. You've barely even closed the case file and he's already started talking.
“This is a photo from our spring dinner. Bill and Charlie weren’t there, but those are the kids, you know their names.” You purse your lips to hide your amusement at the way Arthur instantly dismisses his younger children, then pulls out a photo of him and another redhead side by side. He glances at you from the corner of his eye, moving the photo closer to you so you can see the details of his son’s skin tight shirt. “That’s Charlie, he works at a dragon sanctuary. Strongest one in the pack.”
You nod slowly, smiling at Arthur. He’s very aware that you know of his intentions, but he keeps his eyes on you as he turns to the next image. “This is Bill, he’s the head of the curse breaking department at a bank in egypt, but he recently got a job at Gringotts, so he’s finally coming home.” You flicker your eyes down to the image and hate yourself for the way your eyes instantly widen in pleasant surprise at the sight of the handsome man in the image. He stands with an arm around his younger sister, both of them carrying brooms in hand and looking sweaty and joyful after what looks like a family game of quidditch. “Well, it’s good to see that they all get along well, right?”
Arthur takes off his glasses, hooking them into the collar of his shirt, and shrugs. “Well, it depends on the day. Bill gets along with all of them, of course. Everyone loves Bill - very sociable guy.” You smile at Arthur, nodding at him. “Don’t worry Arthur, I believe you. Look, I was told to go inspect some artefacts from a new scene down in the lab, but I’ll join you for lunch, okay?”
Arthur spends all his time until lunch thinking about the reaction you had at the sight of Bill. Of course, it helps that he chose the best photo of his son; happy, caring, sweaty, playful. He had a feeling you’d like Bill over Charlie — he assumed you liked taller and older men. Not like Charlie who’s shorter than most of his siblings and a couple of months younger than you. Arthur may be a friendly old man, but he’s not by any means clueless. He knows you keep declining his family dinner invitations because you think it would be awkward or weird, and not because you’ve already made plans in advance. There’s no way you have the energy for your social life to keep you busy every single friday night for the past year. But he’ll find a way. Actually, he has found a way, he just needs to put his plan into action.
He picks a night he knows you’re in the office late, on a day where you’re wearing your nicest outfit. He doesn’t just want you to be impressed by Bill, but he wants you to impress Bill too. It’ll be effortless from your part, of course, because you won’t even know what’s happening. Arthur will say goodbye to you as he walks out of the bullpen and you’ll wave him off before turning back to your work. He knows your workload is heavier than his, and he really shouldn’t be complicating things for you but this is for the greater good, he tells himself. Arthur continues his own night as per usual. He heads home, has dinner with Molly and the kids, and just before dessert, he stages a workplace emergency.
Without telling his family, he pretends to have a personal epiphany, then begins sending a patronus message to his boss. “Sir, I just remembered I’m supposed to submit some signed documents by tonight, but David never sent them my way. I’m not exactly sure what the documents entail and it it’s just my signatures needed - how do you want me to proceed?” When Molly asks what’s wrong and if he needs to return to work, Arthur shakes his head in reassurance, telling her someone will sort things out.
Within ten minutes you’ll be here, Arthur knows that much for sure. This past week you’ve been working on a case that needed Arthur’s help in regards to the muggle artefacts, so whatever he needs, it will have your signature on it too.
You’re glad for the excuse to stretch your legs when you’re called into Richard’s office. He gives you a large file that David forgot to hand you, and tells you to drop it off at Arthur’s once you’ve finished signing in all the right places. It takes you a moment to sign everything, and you decide that the universe sent this to you as a sign to cut your night short after giving Arthur the documents. So you pack your things quickly and make your way to the apparation station at the ground floor. Arthur loves his family dinners, so you don’t think he’s going to be too thrilled about you interrupting with work, but he’s a sweet man. He’s not going to turn you away.
Your sleepiness affects your apparition skills, and you end up at the end of the Weasleys’s driveway instead of at their front door. You can hear joyful laughs coming from behind the house, warm lighting peeking through the open windows. You’ve been here once, but it was during term time with none of the kids at home. Now, the atmosphere is completely transformed. It must be amazing to have a group of friends right there whenever you come home. Family that you can play messy games of quidditch with, and annoy each other even after the lights have come off.
You knock on the front door three times, and instantly, the noise all around you dims. You hear someone call out “Was that the front door?” It takes about five seconds for the front door to swing open, and you instantly rethink the entire situation when Bill Weasley is the one stood facing you. He smiles at you, the slightest confusion hidden behind his irises, and when he finally speaks, you feel your chest grow heavy.
“Hi, Bill Weasley.”
“Hi, uh, I have some documents for your dad?”
Bill doesn’t get the chance to respond before Arthur is calling your name and entering the frame. “Come inside, dear, come in! What a pleasant surprise, I thought Richard would be sending David or some other unpleasant company.” You laugh softly at Arthur’s words, offering him the thick file. Bill moves out of the way when his dad puts a hand on your shoulder, guiding you into the house, and he takes a moment to fully take you in.
He should have known.
His dad has never been slick with his moves, but Bill thought that since you work with him so closely, the mentions of your name weren’t slipped in conversation for Bill’s sake. As Arthur walks to the spotless dining table, he says “We work together! Albeit she works as an agent for inter-magiciary crimes and has a much more important job than I do.”
“Oh come on, half my cases I couldn’t solve without you, Arthur. You’re my forensic expert, as the muggles say.” Bill sees the way his dad’s eyes completely light up at your words, and despite not knowing what the meaning of your words are, he chuckles quietly. “Wouldn’t have taken you for an agent.” He says, eyeing your cinching button up and the patterned skirt you’re wearing. He likes your boots and jewellery too — they’re cool for such an intimidating job.
“I know,” Arthur begins as he flips open the file, “Too stylish for an agent, especially if you take a look at everyone else we were with.” You turn to Bill, smiling softly at him. “Arthur tells me you’re a curse breaker. Gringotts is a difficult place to get a position in, you know? Congratulations on that.”
Bill laughs nervous, bringing a hand up to rub his forehead. “Oh he told you about that? It’s not even finalised yet, but thank you.”
“Oh, he’s just thrilled to have you back home. Counts down the days at work every morning.”
“It’s true! What’s wrong in wanting to have my family reunited again?” You and Bill both laugh softly at Arthur’s words, and Bill rolls his eyes. “Yeah, well, one might think you’re one of his kids with the way he speaks about you too.”
You smile widely, nudging Arthur softly and teasing “Oh Arthur you softie, do you really?”
Fully serious, Arthur straightens up and nods. “Yes, I worry about you sometimes. You never mention your family to me and I don’t want you to be lonely and sad all on your own.” Your expression softens at your coworker’s words and you tilt your head to the side, telling him “Hey, don’t you worry about me, I’ve got plenty of friends.”
“Friends that will bring you soup when you’re ill?” He questions, and you freeze, tilting your head even further as you think his question through. “Good question, I haven’t been ill recently enough to test that.”
“You have a healthy lifestyle, don’t you? Bill, she plays quidditch! A fan of the Chudley Canons too.” Bill smiles, placing his hands on his hips. “Ron would be thrilled to hear that. What position do you play?” He asks, and you shrug, “I’ve played as chaser and seeker for the team at hogwarts, but whenever I play now I just play chaser. What about you?”
“I’m a keeper. You played at hogwarts, you say? What house?” At his question, you turn to Arthur protection, but only find slight panic in his eyes. He instantly turns away from you, flipping to another page and quickly scribbling his signature, and you hear Bill’s teasing “Oh no.”
“Well, it doesn’t really matter, does it?” You joke, pulling your hair out of your face. Bill carefully takes in the newly exposed slivers of your face, eyeing the earrings that decorate your ears. “It’s been just about centuries since I’ve graduated, so I guess not.”
A flick of paper as Arthur shuts the file averts your attention from Bill, and you reach over to take the files from him. He shakes his head, saying “I’ll owl it back, don’t you worry.” You raise an eyebrow at the older man, clarifying “You’re going to owl classified documents?” Arthur nods — a response that tells you he’ll drop it off early in the morning tomorrow. “Come on, Weasley, give me the file or I’ll tell your wife.”
Bill cackles loudly at your friendly threat. Never in a million years would he have imagined a woman even younger than him to call his dad ‘Weasley’ in friendly banter. He finds it endearing that you’re both so comfortable with each other despite the obvious age gap between you. “But look at you, you’re all ready to go home.” Arthur complains, huffing as snatch the files from him again.
“It’s not like there’s anyone waiting for me other than a cat who’s probably already asleep. Enjoy your night with your family, Arthur.”
“That upsets me.” The man says as you begin walking away, and you look back to shoot him an amused smile as you leave. Bill follows you to the front door, and you both linger there, waiting for the other to say something. “What year did you graduate?” He asks, and you hug the file to your chest as you say “1990.”
“Oh, you probably shared classes with my brother.” His eyebrows furrow as he thinks deeply, adding “We probably played quidditch games against each other.”
“Did you play that game where that slytherin girl got hit with a bludger by someone from her own team and she fell out of the sky and people said that she did it purposefully to skip Snape’s classes?”
Bill laughs with a nod of his head, leaning against the doorway. “Yeah, yeah I remember that. Charlie was the one who told me about that rumour.” You open your arms to gesture to yourself, announcing “The one and only.” Bill’s eyes widen, his jaw going slack. “You’re fucking with me.”
“No, and I can also confirm that the rumours were true. I hadn’t done any of my potions essays and didn’t fancy a detention that week.”
You and Bill both go silent, and you keep your eyes on the tall man in front of you despite noticing the way his dad lingers in the living room behind him. “We should definitely have a drink and discuss all of these crossovers. I can’t believe my dad’s coworker went to school with me.”
You shrug your shoulders, arguing “Well technically we don’t even work in the same departments, so… Yeah, send me an owl and we’ll sort something. Bye Arthur!”
From the living room, Arthur makes a surprised noise, shy to have been caught spying on you. He wishes you farewell as you leave, keeping his eyes on Bill as his oldest son shuts the door. As Bill spins around slowly, he mumbles “I hate to say this, but you’re actually onto something.”
