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Tepid	By : KohakuShadow Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 2638 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I'd obviously have done it the way I wanted it the first time. That's what makes it FANfiction. And as it is a fanfic--written by the fans, for the fans--it is also obvious that it's not helping me pay any bills.

Chapter List
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IV.
Deidre

"You
are flushed," Viktor observed.

"I,
what? No, no, it's just from the shower. I like them hot," Bill
answered hastily before returning to spreading jam on his toast.

Viktor
didn't seem to be buying it, and Bill couldn't say he blamed him. He
was normally much more suave. Cooler. ...and a better liar because of
those personality traits. He was definitely not the kind of
guy who checked out other men's arses when they were bent over
digging through the fridge and got flustered when they almost caught
him in the act. 'What the hell is going on with me? Just because
he's good looking shouldn't mean I'm going to stare at him like some
hormone-driven sixteen-year-old. He's a guy, for starters.' Which
was the first on a long list of reasons why Bill Weasley was sure he
was inexplicably losing his mind.

Viktor
pressed his hand to Bill's cheek, then his forehead. The older man
found himself leaning back as if the Quidditch player was libel to
bite. 'I might like it if he did,' Bill mused, then cursed
himself for even considering that thought. Just because he'd had one
of the most unique fantasies of his life last night while
wanking didn't mean he had to feel so awkward about it this morning.
It was a fluke--his tired brain getting the best of him. There was
nothing to feel embarrassed about. Really, he just wasn't the type to
get embarrassed easily, so long as his mum--bless her heart--wasn't
pulling out naked baby pictures. He pulled Viktor's hand away,
collecting himself and definitely not thinking about how he'd
fantasized last night about just how that very hand might feel
gliding over his bare back. No, that thought didn't come to mind at
all.

"Viktor,
I'm fine. Don't be such a mum. I have to get to work." He
swallowed down his toast abruptly and focused his mind on apparating.
The last thing he needed was to get splinched because his hormones
were running away with him. As he settled into his desk for the day
he concentrated hard on the most unappealing things he could think
of: soggy carrots, doxies, Mr. Filch. Okay, much better. Right, now
he could think straight. One night of wanking while fantasizing
about another man didn't necessarily mean he was losing his mind. In
fact, it probably didn't mean anything at all other than he needed to
get laid. There was this sweet little thing that worked at the cafe
he usually went to for lunch. Maybe he'd turn on the charm. He knew
she fancied him. She'd been eying him for quite a while, and ever
since she heard about Fleur leaving him, she'd been much more
obvious. What was her name again? Delia? Danah? Something with a D,
he was sure. Didn't matter. She wore a name tag. It would be easy
enough to check.

By
the time lunch rolled around, he was actually rather looking forward
to asking her out. He imagined how surprised she'd look, and how
happy. She'd probably brag about it with her friends once he left.
Sure, he wasn't as pretty as he used to be now that his face was all
scarred up, but he was still mostly considered ruggedly handsome,
damn it. Of course, looks weren't the most important thing, but they
still helped.

***

Bill
slammed the door behind him. What a miserable experience. He'd
thought 'lucky me' when Damia, or was it Deva, Dona? ...whatever, it
turns out she was super easy. He, on the other hand, was apparently
not. By all rights it should have been a good night, but when it
came to foreplay... he'd touched her slim hips, kissed her pert
breasts, felt her tiny little arms barely able to reach around his
back...and couldn't fight the chill that ran through his body and
made him completely unable to perform. It had been mortifying. He
just couldn't get it up. She was cute. Really cute. A sweet little
thing, but he just didn't feel any desire for her whatsoever. Quite
the opposite, in fact--there was this cold knot in the pit of his
stomach that made him feel nauseous.

Dena--or
whatever the hell her name was--had been gracious. She'd brushed it
off to him not being ready to move on just yet, and that it was
perfectly understandable, and sweet that he loved his ex-wife so
much. That didn't do much to save him from the pride-bashing, and
he'd be finding a new cafe to eat lunch in tomorrow, but at least she
hadn't laughed at him.

"You
are very late," Viktor said, looking up from the evening
Prophet.

The
table was set, but the food had gone cold. The spot in front of
Viktor where a plate should have been had been cleared. Bill could
see the nearly bloody steak lying on the other that had obviously
been meant for him. "You cooked?" That was new.

"You
did not look vell this morning. I returned first, so it only made
sense that I vould be the one to cook. You did not say you vould be
late."

"Had
a date," Bill answered with a shrug.

Viktor
gave him a look like he didn't believe him.

"I'm
allowed to date," Bill snapped.

"I
did not say you veren't. You are allowed to do many things that vill
make you unhappy. But that does not mean I vould suggest doing
them."

"Are
you trying to piss me off?"

Viktor
didn't answer right away, but put the Prophet aside. "I
vent to the trouble of browning nearly raw meat for you and you did
not feel the need to show up vhile it vas varm enough to eat. So I
think, yes, probably."

Bill
looked a bit perplexed, then grinned. "Were you worried?"
he asked, leaning over the dark-haired man.

"Of
course I vas vorried! You arrive back here every day at same time.
Every day. Exactly same time. You have a ritual that you do not break
from. You vake up at 2:15 every morning, stay up until 3:10, then
vake up again and start getting ready for vork at 6:05. You eat a
piece of toast and drink half a cup of plain tea. You return at
5:20. Except for today. Vhat if something had happened?"

"Like
what, Vik?" Bill asked seriously, taking the seat next to him.
Honestly, he was such a good guy, always worrying about other people.
"There's no more Voldemort. No more war. And even if there
was, I doubt I'd be at the top of the hit list."

"Not
all the bad things in the vorld are about war. People are killed all
the time, in times of peace too."

Bill
chuckled and put a hand on Viktor's shoulder. "You worry too
much," he said. 'Merlin, he really is handsome. And sweet.
He's like a human teddy bear, really.' He fought the urge to
suddenly embrace him. What the hell was up with him? 'I'm
seriously losing my mind.'

"You
do not vorry enough," Viktor complained, and stood up. "I
vill retire for the night. It is late. If you do not eat your dinner,
then dispose of it properly."

"I'll
eat. Promise!" Bill grinned and gave Viktor a playful salute.
"Since you went to the trouble of cooking for me, darling."
He threw in that darling as a joke. Viktor really could act like a
cranky housewife sometimes, but it was kind of cute. Bill caught
himself ogling the man's arse again as he trudged up the stairs. To
his surprise, he found himself starting to grow aroused again. He
scoffed at his own rotten luck and mumbled, "and where the hell
were you when I needed you tonight, huh?" Why was it a cranky
Viktor Krum could induce an erection just by sitting in the same room
with Bill, but a perfectly adorable naked woman couldn't even make
him...oh, wait. No. That couldn't be, could it? He would have noticed
before now, wouldn't he have? This was the sort of thing you figured
out in high school, not at his age, for pity's sake!

It
was something he didn't think any amount of writing in a journal was
going to help him think through--which only left one possible
solution.

(The
Burrow, fireplace)

"Hello?
Anybody there?"

"Bill,
what's up?" Ginny asked, kneeling before the flame.

"Charlie
hasn't gone back to Romania yet, right?"

"Not
until tomorrow. What's up?" Charlie asked from across the room,
strolling over. He'd been doing some last minute packing, but if
Bill was trying to get his attention at 11:30 at night, he knew it
must be something important.

Bill
looked slightly relieved. "Oh, good. You're still up. I'm
going to pop by. I need to talk to you about something. It's nothing
big, but I'd rather talk it out in person. Don't go to bed yet."

"Yeah,
sure," Charlie replied. "I'll meet you out back. Mum's
been griping about the gnomes again. We can do a midnight de-gnoming
as a nice surprise. Don't see why the little buggers don't even let
up in the winter though."

"See
you in a few."

(The
Burrow, Garden)

Charlie
was tossing the first snow-capped gnome far into the distance when
Bill arrived. He was still dressed from work, but a little rumpled,
and looked highly agitated.

"What's
up?" Charlie asked.

Bill
looked to the side the way he always did when they were about to have
a serious conversation about something that was on his mind and
couldn't stand the fact he couldn't figure it all out on his own.
They'd only had three others. The first had been Bill's second year
at Hogwarts, when he thought he was flunking potions, and he couldn't
figure out how to break it to their parents. It turned out to be a
false alarm--Snape had that effect on people. The second had been
when he was trying to figure out how to tell their mum that he was
going to be a charm-breaker and got a job all the way in Egypt--he
couldn't figure out how to tell her without her bursting into
tears--and the third...the third had been when he'd made up his mind
to propose to Fleur even though he damn well knew he wasn't in love
with her.

Bill
grabbed a gnome and chucked it a record distance. That told Charlie
something had gotten his older brother really worked up. Bill was
usually pretty gentle with the gnomes--much to their mother's
disdain. Charlie wasn't much better.

"This
is going to sound crazy," Bill started. "I'm probably just
losing my mind." He tossed another gnome, this one farther than
the first, and shoved his hands into his pockets. He started to pace.
"Charlie, ...don't you dare laugh, okay?"

"Sure,"
Charlie answered, not sure what Bill was about to say that might be
laughable.

"I
think I might be gay."

Charlie
laughed. He couldn't help it. "You're a little early for a
mid-life crisis, Bill."

"This
has nothing to do with that! I had a date tonight."

"Uh-huh?"
Charlie asked blandly. He knew there was more Bill had to say, but
he was waiting to make sure Charlie was finished laughing at him
first.

"...I...couldn't,
you know...perform."

Charlie
coughed. "So you think, just because you had, er, one bad
night..."

"Let
me finish!" Bill insisted irritably. "I couldn't, you
know. But I get home, and Viktor's sitting at the kitchen table. Uh,
long story short, I...well, you know."

"You
got excited? Over Krum?!" Charlie was doing his best not to
laugh at his older brother. He really was. It wasn't easy though.

"...yesterday
too. And...kind of a little this morning."

Charlie
waved his hands. Okay, this was too much information, even between
brothers. "Okay, okay, so...what of it, then?" Charlie
knew what Bill wanted was just someone to bounce his thoughts of. He
never really needed Charlie's opinion of anything. He always just
talked at him until he'd managed to get his mind around whatever was
bothering him.

"So...he's
really attractive," Bill started, his voice growing quiet. "And
he's a good guy. Real sweet. Worries too much, but that's sort
of...you know, it's kind of cute. But even if I fancy him a little,
that doesn't mean I don't fancy girls, except, I sort of didn't
tonight. I was actually...she was cute, Charlie. Not Fleur, I mean,
but real cute, tiny little thing...can't remember her damn name,
Dana, or something. Anyway, I just felt kind of...repulsed."

Repulsed.
It was an interesting choice of words, but Charlie kept his mouth
shut and let Bill chuck gnomes to work some of the agitation out of
his system before continuing. "It's stupid, isn't it?
Sexuality just isn't something that ever crossed my mind before. But
now it matters. A lot. What if?" He swallowed and chucked
another gnome, but this one didn't gain the distance of the other
two. "...what if this is the root of my other
problem?"

Charlie
startled, and the gnome he'd been throwing barely made it past the
garden fence. "You think you're in love with him?"

"No.
Merlin, no. At least, probably not. I don't know." The longer
Bill talked the less decisive he sounded. "I like him," he
said. "It's not like I can do anything about it, even if I do
fall for him, right? I mean, he's Fleur's friend. And if the
gossip about him being a total player is true, then he's strait as an
ironwood wand. And..."

"And?"
Charlie prodded.

"I've
already inquired about the possibility of getting my old job back, in
Egypt. It's practically a done deal."

Charlie
tilted his head and quirked a brow. "Don't give me that look,"
Bill complained. "You think I'm just running away from my
problems. Well, so what if I am."

"Dad
told me you're giving Shell Cottage to Ron," Charlie said. "So,
technically, I suppose that means you're free to go wherever you
please. Egypt, Bulgaria, you know, wherever," Charlie pointed
out.

Bill
tensed. Bulgaria indeed. "I don't know if falling for one guy
makes me gay though."

So,
Bill had just admitted he'd fallen for Viktor--or was in the process
of falling. Charlie figured that was real progress for Bill, no
matter who was involved. "Does it matter? Listen, Bill, we
both know you're a smart guy and generally I just let you talk until
you're blue in the face, and you thank me for just sitting here while
you pace and abuse garden gnomes, but we've talked about the whole
'love' thing before, and if I've said it once, I've said it a million
times: there are no rules. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. See
what happens. We've been out of Hogwarts for ages. Stop thinking you
need to have all the answers."

Bill
subdued almost instantly, though Charlie observed that he was moping
a bit. "I don't know how to seduce a guy," he said at
last. "Girls are easy. Flirt, compliment 'em, make 'em feel like
they're the most beautiful thing you've ever seen and make 'em think
that you hang on their every word. Public displays of affection help
too. But guys..." he sighed heavily. "This is going to be
a disaster."

Charlie
shrugged. "One more disaster probably won't kill you."

"It
might," Bill answered bitterly. He shook his head and Charlie
watched as he bit his lower lip in thought. When he released it after
a pregnant pause Bill declared, "alright, I've got it. Thanks
Charlie."

Got
it? Charlie decided not to ask what conclusion his brother had come
to. They'd all know soon enough. That's just how Bill was once he
made up his mind about something.

"Yeah,
no problem," Charlie answered, but Bill had already apparated by
the time he finished the sentence.
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