River Dawson felt nothing more than ecstasy as a new adventure awaited for her. With the world in her hands she was itching to discover more of it and that is what she planned to do.
However, along the way a certain red headed man seemed to crop up...
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"People need trust from a fellow man People need love to make a good living People need faith and a helping hand"
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Arriving at the Imperial War Museum, Bill was astounded at the many artefacts hanging from the tall ceiling. From the planes to the cars he was flabbergasted and his mouth fell open. River, who had visited once before with Alex and his family, smiled at Bill's reaction and carefully pulled him out of the way of a family who was stuck behind the frozen man. Bill stumbled to the side, his eyes not leaving the sights. This certainly was not what he was expecting when he heard the word 'war' in the name of the museum.
The hustle and bustle certainly baffled Bill since he wasn't expecting such a place to be so popular. He didn't really understand why muggles would display memorabilia of their wars since they were not exactly the greatest events in history. He wondered whether the magical world would have the same reaction to a museum holding artefacts and pieces of their wars? He doubted it. Wizarding wars were not celebrated as victories compared to muggle wars, they were remembered, and so were those who lost their lives, but other than that it was all hush-hush on the topic.
Like a fish out of water, his mouth opened and closed as if he was going to say something but the words were lodged in his throat like a lump of phlegm. River snickered, "you okay?" She questioned, "if you don't like it, we can leave."
Bill shook his head, "no, no, we must stay, this is so intriguing, I haven't seen anything like this before." He rushed over to a military car and read the placard in front of it.
The couple remained silent, Bill took in all of the information and tried to compare it to what he knew about the wizarding war. As much as wars were a large issue in the world, it was only a msall part of muggle history that he was learning. It put it into perspective on how hard it must be for River to understand and make light of the wizarding world when that was a completely separate world compared to specific areas in history.
"Why do you guys display all of this like trophies? Aren't wars a bad thing for you all?"
'You guys'.
'You all'.
They were from different worlds and Bill emphasised that without even realising it. It felt like a stab in her chest as she was reminded that there will always be things that they would not understand about each other. It hurt like a ruler to the backside.
"It's not really trophies, it's to tell the story of what happened and teach the future generations on what not to do in order to inhibit any more wars such as world wars. This is our history- m...muggle? history, we obviously celebrate the win but it's more to celebrate the nationwide spirit and those who fought and died for our country. Do...your people... not have museums documenting your history?"
Bill shook his head and wandered over to another exhibit. It baffled River how the magical world didn't have museums like her world. Surely it would make sense for them to have some? Clearly not. She followed after Bill and put her arms around his waist.
"Are you okay?" She asked him.
"I'm fine, River, this is all just very intriguing. There is so much more for me to learn- gosh this must be how you feel."
"Is it okay if we stop bringing up how overwhelming your world is for me? Only, it's kinda making me feel worse." She said pressing her head into his back.
"Oh. Okay. Sure. Sorry."
"No, no, don't apologise, it's fine, just thought I'd say something because you'd only ask my why I didn't if I hadn't."
"I get that, totally I do."
River let go of Bill and the two continued to look around the museum. They shared differences and similarities between their own worlds until they had finished in the building. As they left and began to walk around the streets of London, Bill could only think about her leaving for Scotland. As much as he was relieved it was Scotland and not somewhere like New Zealand which was so far away, he still would have preferred her to stay.
Just as he was about to subtly complain about her go he spotted a man marching towards them with his nose held high and he was staring straight past Bill and River. As Bill got side by side with him he grabbed the mam's wrist stopping him.
"Excuse me! How dare you grab me!"
Bill snarled at the man and dragged him to the side. "I'll do what I like, Percy!" He snapped and River watched silently. "Don't you realise how much you have hurt the family, especially mum?"
"That sounds like a person problem you all have. You should be proud of me for not letting my feeble upbringing hinder my growing success in the ministry. I'm assistant to the minister if you didn't know, unlike father who is wasting away in the muggle item department. Gosh, that man could have done so much better and provided for us better if only he had not-"
"How dare you! Dad did everything he could in order to bring us up as well as he did. He provided as much as he could and even worked himself into the ground at one point. You don't remember because you were only about four but I do remember. I remember him barely being home and when he was he was asleep for the bare minimum before going back out to work! He worked so damn much he got himself ill and only stopped doing so when a healer said he'd work himself into an early grave if he didn't! So shut your pompous, rubber-nosed face and respect our father! No decent person gives up on their family. You're far from making us proud, Percy, you're actually becoming a disappointment!"
"Bill, maybe you should give it a rest-"
"Not now, River, darling, my brother needs to realise the destruction he is causing." He glanced at River who nodded and stepped back. She wasn't going to hold him back, she tried but this was a family problem, nothing to do with her.
Percy glanced at River, his eyes widened as his eyes scanned her body up and down. Even he found her shockingly beautiful. "Who is this?" He demanded, dismissing everything Bill had said.
Bill's eyebrows raised and his jaw tightened. He didn't say a word, he was flabbergasted at just how much Percy clearly didn't care. It was silent so River thought she ought to answer Percy's question.
"Uh, I'm River, River Dawson."
"Percy. Percy Weasley. Dawson you say? You would be related to Eros Dawson would you?"
"Yeah, he's my brother."
"Ah, right. I expect you're just as smart and hardworking as he is. He will do well, he should have taken up the offer the minister gave him, however, he can do so much better than being an auror. Jobs like those and others such as curse-breaking are merely for show. All mouth and no trousers. Jobs in the ministry are the real jobs-"
"Say another word and your teeth will get knocked out!" Bill seethed and this time River took hold of his arm, leading him away from his younger brother who adjusted his tie and sauntered off. "I mean it Percy!"
"Bill, leave it. You've said your words, he clearly doesn't want to hear it. Trust me, he'll come round. Boys like him always do."
