say no to this [ondina]

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The problem with having so many nieces and nephews was that it was hard to find time to spend with all of them. His newly-graduated niblings – Asa and Fred and Harper and James – were all busy getting situated with their new jobs, and the younger ones were swamped with homework, or at least pretending to be to get out of having to see him. It was frustrating trying to keep a family together when it was so damn big and it seemed like he was the only one truly dedicated to spending time with all chapters of the ever-expanding Weasley clan. It was easiest with Charlie’s kids, though from what Bill had gathered, Xavier was spending the summer with Ron, so it was going to be a bit harder to rip his nephew away. He had finally pestered Ondina into seeing him, though. He had arranged for them to meet at the Three Broomsticks, and was sitting, waiting. Bill wasn’t sure how many more awkward conversations he could have (wasn’t he supposed to be the cool one?) so he hoped ardently that Ondina would be content to sit and just…talk. Like things were normal. Like he was her uncle and she was his niece, and they were enjoying lunch together on a random Thursday afternoon. That would be nice.

Ondina Nell Weasley

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Ondina was surprised to get an invitation to lunch from her Uncle Bill. It wasn't lie she hated him, definitely not! But with his family situation she never really expected him to.... find time to spend with her. Especially with how her own parents were acting. They were still pestering her about disappearing for a week, and she was pretty sure they were starting to consider Veritaserum to get the truth out of her. At least her asthma made them hesitate...

They'd quickly agreed to her going out with Uncle Bill though. She got to the Three Broomsticks only a few minutes after her uncle, and spotted him almost immediately. It was always easy to find her relatives. The red hair gave them away. Putting on a smile she moved quickly, leaning in to put her arms around his shoulders and plant a kiss on his cheek. Because, why not? She could be adorable when she wanted too! In fact, most of her family didn't actually know most of her sweet and adorable nature they always saw happened to be entirely fake. "Uncle Bill! It's been forever!" She then took the seat opposite him, still smiling.

@bill

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Bill hadn’t realized that there was a knot in his chest until he saw Ondina, and the knot loosened. He had wondered if she was going to show up at all; Charlie had mentioned that she disappeared, and wasn’t telling her parents why or wherefore. Bill worried about his family, worried that they were falling apart. Maybe that was what the knot was. And Ondina coming proved that…what? Even if his family was falling apart, he could pretend they were still together, because at least they were all talking to him? It made his head hurt. Bill leaned into the kiss Ondina placed on his unscarred cheek, and smiled at her. “Hi, Ondina.” He answered, giving her a tired smile. “It really has been too long.” He agreed.

“Do you want anything to eat?” Bill asked his niece, hoping that it would be easier to talk with something else to focus on. “And then you can tell your poor uncle all about what you’ve been doing this summer so I can live vicariously through you.” Lord knew that Bill needed a vacation; travelling for work was nice, but that was different from travelling for pleasure, and Bill hadn’t been able to do any of the latter for a long time. If Ondina happened to slip up and mention where she had been for that week, Bill wouldn't complain.

Ondina Nell Weasley

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Her Uncle Bill looked… old. Worry did that to people, worry and exhaustion. She wasn’t surprised that he looked that way though. Most of the adults were freaking out over recent events. Not only that, his daughter was the Minister of Magic, a position that had a nasty reputation for ending in murder. ”It has! How are you?” She responded politely, putting on that well trained smile of hers.

Now seated, she tapped a finger against her chin as she thought. She’d had lunch not too long ago, but she wasn’t totally full. She might have room for something. ”Is dessert an option?” she asked as she looked back at her uncle.

A moment later, and he was, quite cleverly, asking her about her summer thus far. Of course he knew about her week long disappearance. The entire family knew about that. She slowly grinned mischievously. ”Oh, you know me, Uncle Bill. My life isn’t very exciting! Everything is so quiet with Harper working and Xavier at Uncle Ron’s, I spend most of my day’s with Grandma!” She folded her arms on the table between them and leaned against it. ”You’ve probably had more fun this summer then I have! Anything exciting going on at work?”

@bill

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Bill liked it when Ondina smiled. He liked it when anyone in his family smiled, really, but Ondina seemed to have a talent for it, and he appreciated that she was always so free with her happiness. “I’m about as well as can be expected of an old man.” He teased, winking at Ondina. Bill didn’t actually think himself old, though he certainly felt like it some days. He had been lucky to avoid most physical ailments; his joints were still in tip-top shape and the scars on his face were still the most serious injuries on his body. He was lucky, especially for someone in his line of work.

“Dessert is always an option. Merlin, what had your father been teaching you? Should I be worried for your wellbeing?” He asked, blue eyes twinkling with mirth. Despite the joking, though, Bill had been listening carefully for any hint of where Ondina had been on her week-long disappearance. She didn’t bite, though, insisting that her life wasn’t exciting and that she spent most of her days with her grandmother. Oh well. It had been worth a shot. “Nothing more exciting than usual. People are still cursing the strangest things. The other day we had to investigate someone who had put a series of curses on their china dogs.” Bill told his niece. It had been the strangest thing, seeing all of the playful puppies breathing fire and, in one case, toxic soap bubbles. Sometimes Bill wondered how people came up with that sort of thing.

Ondina Nell Weasley

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”Old? Come now, you’re still in your prime!” Ondina quickly countered his tease with her own, feigning shock. She had to admit, the Weasley family did seem to have particularly good health. None of the children or grandchildren were plagued with any sort of genetic problems. The only one that had ‘problems’ was Ondina, though that was because of her asthma. That problem wasn’t genetic though, that came from being premature. In fact, all of Ondina’s health problems stemmed from that one fact. Most people wouldn’t believe it though. Only a few people outside her family knew about her health problems.

”You should always be worried for my wellbeing. I have two parents that follow all the rules, including not permitting deserts at strange hours.” She teased again, grinning. Her eyebrows raised as he explained how people had cursed china dogs. ”China dogs? What kind of curse?” Of course that was her reaction. What were they supposed to do.

@bill

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Bill rolled his eyes when Ondina joked that he was still in his prime. Oh, if only. Still, he appreciated his niece humoring him; a lot of her cousins were not so kind when it came to spending time with him. Maybe he was actually getting through to Ondina. He hoped he was, at least, because he needed at least one of his siblings’ children not to be lost forever in an abyss of…whatever children were into these days. (Ugh. He really was old.)

“Do not ever let your father make you believe that he always follows the rules.” Bill said. The idea was almost laughable. “When we were kids…Well, he’d kill me if I told you anything, but I can say that he used to eat dessert more than any other meal.” Breakfast, lunch, dinner…No one could keep Bill and Charlie from sweets if they wanted sweets. They were the dream team, and they had enough younger brothers to do their bidding. Bill was pulled from his reverie by Ondina asking what kind of curses were on the china dogs. “They breathed fire. Nothing big.” Bill hadn’t even gotten burned…that badly. “One of them breathed toxic bubbles of soap, though. That was slightly less fun.”

Ondina Nell Weasley