Disclaimer: No, you're right, I don't own it, now stop fussing and read.
This probably won't make sense if you haven't read La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John Keats. If you want to read it, it's not in French, don't worry. There is a joke that La Belle Dame Sans Merci really means The beautiful woman who didn't say thank you, of course, it doesn't, but it is an easy mistake to make.
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
The worn-out dusty shoes of an old, balding redheaded man came into the line of vision of his eldest son. "What's wrong, Son? It's a bit nippy out here and the mud doesn't make too pretty a carpet. Your mother's got some dinner on; you're normally the first to the table. You're looking a bit peaky too, and not that cheerful either. What're you doing out here?"
Bill, didn't raise his head out of his hands, but murmured his muffled reply, "I met this girl at the bank; she must have been a Veela. She had this gorgeous hair, as golden as galleons. Her name's Fleur, she's the Flower of the Court.
"All these rotters were crowded around her, but I was the one who brought her a cup of tea. I felt really proud of myself. She smiled at me and kept smiling all day long. She brought me the files, page by page. Every time she went out my door she kept singing this song. I dunno what the words were.
"The next morning she brought me a biscuit with my morning tea – it had chocolate on the top as well. She looked confused as if she was trying to think and gave up. She said something like "J'adore the chocolate biscuits." She's foreign by the way. Then she got all upset and started crying, it was such a little mistake that got her so upset.
"Before I knew what I was doing I was kissing her tears away. Within a few weeks I started walking her home every day. I love the way she used to slip her hand into mind, really subtly so I didn't notice at first.
"One day I came in. We got into the habit of me teaching her lessons instead of just correcting her. They grew into dinner. One night the table was set with candles. Then the wine appeared. Every time I went home she used to bid me goodnight and a safe journey home. One day she didn't.
"I woke up in the middle of the night with my arm around her waist. I'd had a terrible dream. I was in the Ministry with all these dead Aurors around with chains around their ankles and wrists. It was like that time you told me when Death Eaters got tried in court.
"I was in the central chair, held down with heavy metal. But she was the one who held the key. It was on a little locket-chain, hooked around her smallest finger. Those big blue eyes were staring at me like never before, drinking me in. I couldn't take it. I had to get out.
"I emerged ten minutes later in the street. It was a while before I could remember I was a wizard and apparate. She made everything so magical, I thought it was a dream.
"The next day at work, I didn't know what to do. I sat in the staff room facing the back of her bunch of admirers. I saw another guy walk in. He gave her a cup of tea, just like I did. She smiled at him too."
Well, this wasn't the fic I thought it was going to be…
Reviews would be appreciated xXx