Fleur and Bill
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter characters and series belong to J.K. Rowling.
The scent of salty lavender filling the air was enough to put a smile on the flawless face of Fleur Weasley, formerly Fleur Delacour. That was in the past though. That was in the past along with the Second Wizarding War. Just a month ago, it had ended. Harry Potter, the Chosen One, the one who was destined to defeat him. . . Voldemort, all along. Now there were so many lost. . . Fleur's brother-in-law was just that for so little time before being taken by the Death Eaters. But she couldn't think of that now. Now, when her sweet Bill was needing her most. She had to be responsible, mature, and everything in between.
Pancakes. Pancakes, butterbeer, raspberry jam spread over buttery toast, and a full omelet of tomatoes, sausage, steak, lettuce, onions and potatoes. Bill's favorite. Taking out her rosewood wand, she muttered a charm and it floated effortlessly to the Elmwood table sitting beside the bay window, where a vase of roses stood tall and bright in the sunlight. "Bill, honey, breakfast is ready!" She said, unwrapping the baby blue apron from around her. "Bill?" She asked again when there was no response. No sound, even.
Of course, he was a heavy sleeper. That's all it was, probably. But with the recent ending of the war, Fleur's throat tightened and she grasped her wand, muttering a French curse under her breath. "Bill?" She walked into the curtained room. "Lumos." With a simple light spell, the room lit up for about four feet ahead. The room was dark, the velvet curtains blocking the sweet, refreshing sun. Perfect. There was no one in the room. Not even Bill. Well if my husband is not here, where is he? Fleur thought angrily. With a mutter and a tap of her wand, the light at the tip of it went out and she was rushing down the halls of Shell Cottage again.
No one in the living room, no one in the two restrooms, no one in the first spare room, where Griphook the goblin had stayed before his betrayal and death. . . and she checked the other room, where Hermione Granger, a friend of another friend, and the savior of the Wizarding World himself, Harry Potter, had stayed when recovering.
Nowhere. Then, suddenly, she saw him relaxing on the terrace, feet propped on the rail, a pipe in his mouth. Fleur smiled, finding Bill at last, and went over to him in the chair beside him.
"Why hello, Bill." Fleur kissed his cheek. "Breakfast is waiting downstairs." She looked at the gorgeous sea in front of us.
"Thanks sweetie. I was just looking, I guess." His voice was airy. His wild blue eyes distant but still strong.
"Looking at what, Bill?"
"The sea." He shrugged, dropping the pipe in his lap. "Fred and George always liked to do all sorts of pranks with water. I remember once, it was Ginny's first birthday, and Mom was so proud that they had at last done something responsible; cooked for their younger sibling. I think she was just so desperate, because I tried to tell her this wouldn't end well, but she was just so happy. And then we ate the cupcakes they made. They were great. Until we were all barfing water for about thirty minutes, and by then, Fred and George had made their escape!" He laughed half-halfheartedly. Fleur pursed her lips and stayed silent. "We were by the beach." He added, as if it was vital to the story.
It was true that Fleur had many fond memories of the brothers together. She enjoyed their little shop of jokes and the gift she received: a peacock feather purse with the inside of white fur. To this day, Fleur used that expensive, fancy purse. She thought upon with bittersweet memory of the prank they once pulled on her. She loved, more than anything, the joy on Bill's face when he was with them. When he was with his entire, giant, happy family on any occasion. Bill was the happiest she had seen him ever, despite the disruption near the end. For how happy his family made him, she was saddened and joyed, because he was happy, but not because of her.
"Bill—" Fleur reached out her hand, but Bill grabbed it and quickly kissed it, standing and walking back inside.
"Just a weird memory, Fleur. I guess I'll see you at the breakfast table?"
"Of course—Bill." Fleur scratched her silver blonde hair and followed him to the breakfast table, where they had a surprisingly dull conversation about the weather, and how nice the new robe Fleur had bought was. Bill refused to speak of any memories. None. When Fleur mentioned Gringotts, he choked on his water. Deeply unamused, Fleur changed the subject. "I was thinking of inviting Hermione, Harry, Luna, Neville. . . uh, Ginny and Ron." His eyes only flashed slightly. Family was a tough subject for now. "And Gabrielle. My sister. Bill, do you remember her?"
"How could I forget her? She was adorable and she reminded me of you! How could I not like her?" And he kissed her after taking the last sip of his butterbeer. "Don't forget Charlie and my parents. George if he feels up to it." Fleur didn't believe it. He had flipped a switch. Completely flipped a switch. He had gone from a distant, avoiding, sad shell of the man she married and now he seemed excited again. Huh. Well, you can't understand everything.
A few hours later, Bill was reading the Daily Prophet while Fleur drank tea beside the ocean. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy has suffered greatly following the loss of not one, but two of the last headmasters, both killed by Voldemort or followers of he. We also must say that the building took a monstrous beating during the Battle of Hogwarts, where Voldemort and his Death Eaters raided and mostly destroyed the iconic school, followed by giants and other creatures. Among the dead: Lavender Brown, 18, Colin Creevy, 16, Nymphadora Lupin, 25, Remus Lupin, 38, Severus Snape, 38, Fred Weasley, 20, Macy Arks, 24, Vivian Woodley, 16, Tyler Woodley, 16, and many, many more. Bill read page fifteen with watery eyes. They all seemed too young. His brother. His brother had left too many behind.
When Bill had finished the paper, he cheerfully went to Fleur, who was almost asleep in a sweet chair made by her father, Monsieur, back in France. Bill poked her and saw her wide blue eyes flash open in mixed enragement and amusement. "Oh, Bill. . . I had fallen asleep."
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I was just reading the Daily Prophet and it seems at Hogwarts they need a new Defense against the Dark Arts professor. Since the passing of Professor Snape." Tired, Fleur looked over at him.
"Were you good at Defense against the Dark Arts? At Beauxbatons, the education was the finest. I excelled at charms and dueling. . . in fact, there was an entire club and class on it that I was the top student in! Oh, we should visit France, Bill!" The conversation had taken an unexpected turn.
"Oh, sure, but uh, should I take the job, Fleur? I mean, I don't have a job, so, my other options are working for the Improper Use of Magic as a spell registrar. It's less pay and I work 16 hours, and then the other two is a bartender or dishwasher at Leaky Cauldron, and those are even worse. Ugh, I don't have time! It's so—"
Fleur leaned over and kissed him plain out flat, both tired of him complaining and tired of him talking. His arm fell on the back of her neck, laying on a blanket of soft, silky silver hair. Pushing herself away, Fleur smiled at Bill up-close at his kind green eyes. "Take whatever job you want Bill. I married you because I'd go anywhere with you. Through anything. So just have fun." She kissed his forehead and lazily, but very poised still, pulled down her robe and walked inside, swinging her head back to Bill before leaving completely. "Speaking of the Leaky Cauldron, want a drink? We could invite Hermione and Ron."
"That'd be great. Why can't Harry and Ginny come?"
"Harry's trying to get a job as an auror, and Ginny is um, with George, and your Mum and Dad, and the rest of the family." Fleur scratched her chin. Bill's brow furrowed.
He didn't want to go see them. He was angry that they didn't protect his little brother, and he was never someone to work in groups to fix problems. He worked in duos, or alone. And he had a partner now: Fleur. Fleur was going to help him through this, and more importantly, he was going to help himself. "That's fine, Fleur. Tell them I send my love. I-We-I'll see you in twenty then? For Leaky Cauldron?" He leaped from the chair, shrugging off Fleur's ashamed look.
"Yes. Hermione and Ron will be there when we get there, so, wear something nice." She smirked, brushing the hair from her shoulder and prancing down the hall to her room. Bill kept himself upright by reminding himself that his brother was also out in the town as well. Bill needed to be at peace.
Fleur wore a button-tab sleeved shirt, the color of a blond almond with a Puritan collar and a Byzantium colored trumpet skirt flouncing around her knees. A pearly necklace and pearl earrings made beautifully, and a delicate cerise pink beaded bracelet wrapped around her wrist. She was stunning, and her Veela charm made Bill feel like his heart had stopped.
Bill was handsome in a slim black button-down sport shirt and navy blue round cut biker pants. His flaming hair was in a bun low on his head. Bill stuffed his hands in his pockets, but seeing Fleur coming down the hall, he wrapped an arm around her and whispered in her ear, "You ready?"
"Of course, darling."
And in an instant, they had vanished with the swirl of a wand.
A second later, they were in the middle of a spicy smelling bar, loud and overcrowding with people. Beams everywhere holding up the bird infested wooden ceiling. People laughed and cried and puked and talked and shouted and screamed from every corner of the room, and while Bill, caught by surprise, expected this, the charming Fleur was horrified.
Finally, after a few seconds of shouting and grumbling, they were able to force their way to the bar. And then there Ron and Hermione were, not even noticing anyone else. Smiling and holding hands together, drinking one butterbeer with two separate straws. Ron said something and Hermione giggled. Then, she kissed him, and Bill hiccupped. His little brother had a girlfriend. Wow. Well, so did his little sister, which was worse. But still, Bill didn't have anyone to take care of anymore. . . Fleur basically took care of him.
Maybe, he thought, he needed to speak with Fleur about getting a new little person in the family to care for. Maybe.