Written for the I Love You Mommy Challenge on HPFC.
Blue Blowing Gum
Chapter 1: I Love You Mommy
Fleur knew it was childish, but at the moment, she didn't really care.
"Please, mum," she begged, tugging at the silky sleeve of Apolline Delacour.
"No, darling, and that's final. Imported English chewing gum simply is not ladylike."
Fleur scowled slightly, her youthful face still beautiful despite the frown. Instead of helping her mother with the purchases, she went and sat near the exit by the Droobles machine. She purposefully slouched, only giving her mother yet another reason to gripe.
She was too caught up in her own petty wallowing to notice the man approaching her before he was right in front of her face.
Startled, Fleur looked up from the candy wrapper she had been staring at to face a man who had seemingly come out of nowhere. He was middle-aged, she decided, with balding brown hair, and wrinkled gray eyes, smiling an odd little smile that Fleur didn't immediately return.
"Such a pretty young thing, aren't you?" The man murmured. Fleur sat in paralysis for a moment, too frozen to protest as he extended his arm towards her, stroking the bit of hair that had escaped her ponytail. "Here's some change. Go buy yourself some blowing gum, babydoll." He pressed several knuts into her palm.
Fleur nodded a little dazedly, but took the money after a quick glance at her mother, who was still at the counter. The man was a little odd, but he had only given her money, not food, so it was safe to take it, right? She got those sorts of reactions all the time, albeit from friends of her parents, but it didn't really matter, did it? After all, Fleur secretly liked the attention it brought her.
More encouraged, she stood up and approached the Droobles machine, sticking the knuts, one after another, in the small opening. She watched with a smile as her candy changed all sorts of colors and sizes and shapes before settling into a small, blue, perfect gumball.
She quickly grabbed it and placed it between pretty pink lips, the colors contrasting in a way that her mother immediately noticed. "Where'd you get that?" her mother questioned a bit sharply.
Fleur bit into the candy, hard, her jaw cracking slightly as she pointed to the man still standing by the bench. Her mum looked upset, and began leading her outside to leave.
Just inside the doorway, Fleur turned around abruptly and waved goodbye to the man. "Thanks!" she chirped, obliviously happy, her mother glaring as the man blew her a kiss.
"We're leaving. Now." Her mother's voice was cold and hard and left no room for questions. Fleur savored her gumball, vaguely confused as to why her mother was so upset.
Still levitating their groceries, Apolline Delacour grabbed her daughter's hand and Disapparated from La Rue Magique to their sprawling home in the countryside.
Fleur observed her mother's silence as she put away the purchases briskly. When she was done, she turned to Fleur. "Ma belle fille, I need to talk to you. Perhaps we should go to the parlor?"
Following her mother's footsteps, Fleur entered the parlor with a sickly sense of unease. This room was hardly ever used, except for the rare important visitor or family gathering. "Sit down, please."
Fleur did so, her stomach still a tangled knot of butterflies, the gumball in her mouth quite intact.
With a concerned look on her flawless features, her mother began. "We are witches, you know, of pureblood lineage, though that is not of the most importance. There is, however, something else in our bloodline that you may have guessed at.
We are Veela, daughter, though not fully. My mother was the first; she and Papa fell in love, and against regular customs, she had me and your aunties, and had you and baby Gabrielle with your father, whom I love very much." Apolline looked up to see Fleur's eyes shining an earnest blue. She continued. "The first quality of a Veela is their beauty; it's what most wizards recognize. It shows up in you, in your long, pale hair, your delicate features, and your sea blue eyes."
"Mum! That's amazing! It sounds so wonderful!" She paused a minute, and came up with a question. "This whole thing makes total sense, mum, but what does it have to do with today?"
Madame Delacour sighed. "Firstly, it is not something to lord over people, and you should be appreciative, not boastful."
Fleur's cheeks tinged slightly, supposing she shouldn't enjoy compliments so much. Her mother continued, "Veela have certain other powers, which you'll learn more about when you're older. The one that you saw today was compulsion. Because of their looks, Veela have a certain … allure, which attracts men to them, makes them do what you want. It's just another attribute that I expect you to control."
"So that's why the man in the shop gave me some Knuts for my gumball? Right?" Her mother nodded, and Fleur tried to act mature about it. "Okay. Veela powers don't sound so terrible; I think I can handle it. Thanks for explaining it to me, mum."
"Thanks for reminding me that I needed to, darling, otherwise I mightn't have gotten around to it. There's still a bit more to it, but we'll get to it later. Do you have any remaining questions?"
Fleur shook her head. She understood it, but wasn't fully to terms with it quite yet. Apolline looked at Fleur and reached out, kissing her eldest daughter and wrapping her in a tight embrace. Fleur complied, whispering in her ear, "I love you mommy."
"I love you, too, darling, and don't ever forget it." They didn't move for a few moments before they broke apart. Fleur quietly placed her gum in a tissue, and then in the rubbish, before leaving the parlor. Her mother followed right behind.
Ma belle fille – My beautiful daughter
A/N: Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you thought in a review, it would make my day! Thank you :)