She had always remembered that face. She had remembered so many other things from that fateful night, but his face still burned strong in her mind.
It was the hair, the striking ginger hair, she thought. That, and the fang earring. No one expected someone like Fleur Delacour, a prim and proper French girl, to fall for someone like Bill Weasley, who had long hair tied in a ponytail and boots made out of dragon hide.
When she first saw him before the maze, she knew at once that she would meet him again, she could just sense it. When she told her sister, Gabrielle, that later, her sister simply replied with, “On peut rêver!” But Fleur knew from the moment she first saw him that there would be something more, something special.
That was part of the reason why she moved to England. Her parents thought that she was simply going there so she wouldn’t lose the English she acquired through the Triwizard Tournament. How could you explain the feeling of new-found love to your parents though? They hadn’t been touched by it in years, and they were bound to dissuade her if they really knew.
Gabrielle knew the real reason and tried to prevent her from going. She said that it would never work out, and that Fleur would return to France within the first few weeks. Gabrielle was also partly saying that because she didn't want her sister to leave. They had grown even closer after the Tournament, and she didn't want their bond to be weakened. Fleur would miss her dearly too, as Gabrielle was the person she was closest to. Owling one another just wasn't the same as talking.
She almost wished that she told them the real reason when she first came here, as she began to doubt that he would ever like her, that he would ever notice her, or if he did, talk to her. She would just be a silly little school girl to him, one who he had briefly encountered. If she had faded from his memory, she wouldn’t have been surprised.
He was the only reason why she dared to think of that night still. The nightmares still appeared, the haunting faces of Krum being cursed, her screams echoing around in the dark, thinking of what Harry and Cedric went through. Then Cedric dying. He had always been nice to her, unlike many of the other boys at Hogwarts.
They all seemed to view her as an object of desire and lust, as if she were a prize that could be won. Not a person, not as a real human being. Cedric was different though; he had made an effort to be nice to her, and helped her out in any of the lessons if she couldn’t understand. She had almost wanted to ask him to the Yule Ball. Even though she had been asked frequently to the ball by the others, she still said no. None of them knew her or had spoken to her, they were just strangers.
Then she found about Cho and that he had asked her. She wasn’t as heartbroken as she expected she would be. Though it was strange to be in that situation, as it was the reverse of what she was used to. After all, Delacour women were usually the ones leaving the trail of broken hearts behind them, not being the broken hearted ones themselves. She quickly moved on and agreed to go with Roger Davies. She was glad that she did; as otherwise, she may have never noticed Bill if she was still in love with Cedric.
Bill was like Cedric in that respect. He didn’t seem to notice her straight away, as much as she tried and wanted him to acknowledge her. He just seemed to think of her as another human, not someone of quarter-Veela blood. It was nice not to be labelled by that for once, as people made so many assumptions about you when they viewed you like that.
When she first saw Bill, she finally realised that her feelings for Cedric were merely platonic, and probably developed due to her loneliness. The other Beauxbatons students quickly integrated into the school. Fleur was always the outsider though, the champion. The superior one in their eyes. She felt she was no different since being chosen, they didn’t seem to agree. Cedric understood her dilemma and made an effort to be friends with her. She got that confused with feelings of love, as she was desperate for any affection. When she saw Bill though, she knew at once where her true feelings lay.
She couldn’t help but stare at him when she first saw him. She tried to be inconspicuous, but she feared that Harry may have noticed her, as he had winked at her when walking out of the room. She did not need to fear about him telling anyone. She knew he was a good person after what he did for Gabrielle.
While grieving for Cedric, it made her realise even more that Bill was the one for her. She was still incredibly saddened by his death, but thinking of Bill distracted her a little.
That was why she couldn’t understand the press’ stupidity after his revelation, about the true cause of Cedric’s death. Nothing like that had ever happened in France, they rallied around people like him and supported them. Then to have his death made out to be an accident, it was just awful, and didn’t show Cedric or Harry as the true heroes they really were.
Harry was another reason why Fleur met Bill again. In fact, it had happened earlier that day. After she had read an article claiming him to be a liar, printed in the Daily Prophet of course, she let out a loud, “C’est au bout du monde,” and banged her fist in anger on her desk at Gringotts.
This aroused the room’s attention, as the goblins were quiet folk. They never raised their voices, so to have an outburst like this raised suspicion. After all, everyone always remained at their desks, and never conversed while working. They simply sat there and went about their work with no complaints or outbursts.
Bill Weasley just so happened to walk in at that exact moment as well. His eyes scanned the room to find the source of the commotion, and was greatly surprised to see it come from a gentile looking woman with long silver hair, who he faintly recognised.
“I am sorree,” Fleur apologised, in a heavy French accent, still unable to mask her native tongue or prevent angry outbursts in it. He still looked as good as she remembered. As he was at work he had taken out the fang earring, but she could still the dragon hide boots peeking out from under his robes.
“It’s no problem at all.” Bill replied, now remembering who she was, due to her accent. “You’re Fleur Delacour, aren’t you? The Triwizard contestant? I don’t know if you remember me, but I was one of Harry’s guests.” He said nervously. He didn’t know why his nerves had set it; he had dealt with beautiful women before, but he had had never been reduced to the nervous wreck he was now with them.
“Yes zat is me,” Fleur blushed. “I am sorree about my Eenglish, eet is not very good.”
“It’s erm, very good actually.” He replied timidly. He could sense the goblins were observing what was going on before them. He quickly glanced to the side and they looked down when they saw him staring at them.
“No eet is not. I do not know where to find lessons, so eet will not improve,” Fleur said unabashed about her situation.
“I could give you some lessons. If you wanted that is,” Bill rushed out, almost as is if he didn’t say it now, he would be too scared to do it later. The goblins had given up on their pretence of pretending they weren't listening and they were now gawping at the pair of them.
“Really? Zat would be wonderful! You must not do it for nothing though; I will buy you dinner, oui?” Fleur asked excitedly.
“That would be great. Are you sure it won’t be too expensive though?” Bill asked timidly. He didn't want her to go to all of that effort just to pay him back. She seemed like a charming girl, so spending time in company didn’t seem like much of a burden to him, so she needn’t even do this.
“Eet is no problem! ‘Ow about ze Leaky Cauldron, tonight at seven?” It was the only place she knew where you could eat, as she hadn’t really explored much of Diagon Alley or the rest of muggle London. She felt a flutter of nervousness and was hoping very much that he would say yes.
“That would be great; I’ll look forward to it then! I’d best be off though, I’ve got to do these hieroglyph translations, and they look like they’ll take an age. I’ll see you tonight at seven then,” Bill said blushing slightly at the thought, that he, of all people, had ended up on a date with Fleur Delacour, and he didn’t even know how or why it had happened.
“Yes, I look forward to it too,” Fleur replied confidently, and watched him shuffle towards the door. The goblins are all returned to their work, so the French girl wouldn't notice their stares.
She was in a daze like state for a while after it had happened; she had never anticipated that it would ever come to this. So many times she had dreamt about it, thinking of every possible outcome, though she always knew they were dreams which probably would never come to fruition.
She had nearly given up, as she never saw him in Gringotts during her first few weeks there. Then one day he appeared, and he seemed to keep on popping up from then on. They never spoke, she was too scared. It was a strange concept for the girl who was blunt in her manner and unafraid of saying anything. Those little glances at him were enough to keep her going. Each time they made her heart flutter, and lead to her wishing desperately that he would appear again.
Then talking him to today, and now she was going to have dinner with him, she still couldn’t believe it had happened so fast. She quickly scribbled a note to Gabrielle, telling her all about today’s miraculous events; after all, she was the one who told her to dream on. Now that dream had finally become a reality, she just hoped it wouldn’t turn out to be a nightmare.
Author Note’s: Hello there people! I’ve always had a soft spot for Bill and Fleur, as I’ve always liked that couple, so I felt the need to write some sort of fluff about them! I hope you liked it, as I had a lot of fun writing it. I’m sorry if my French was bad; I had to rely on my bad French skills, as my mum (who’s usually my translator!) is away.
As always review, would be really appreciated, as I want to know whether you felt I did Fleur proud, as I hope I did it, as I’ve always loved her as a character.
Here are some translations!
La Deuxième Rencontre – the second meeting On peut rêver – dream on C’est au bout du monde – litreally means it’s halfway around the world, or that’s rubbish! Oui - yes
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