"Oy! Weasley!"
Bill Weasley, a tall, lanky man with long red hair pulled back in a ponytail, looked up from his parchment to see a stubby goblin hobble into the door of his office at Gringotts bank. As usual, the goblin looked distraught, but somehow his face contorted to make him look even angrier. Bill immediately set down his falcon quill and gave him his full attention.
"Hello Robrick, what can I do you for?" Bill asked the goblin hesitantly. Robrick quickly scuttled over to the front of his desk, which he could barely look over, and he glared at Bill with his black, beady eyes. Bill was used to the workers glaring at him, seeing as he was one of the only wizards who worked here amongst all of the goblins.
"A human female has come to ask for a job here – she said she knew you and, frankly, I don't want to do the interview. So, take her off my hands, will you?" grumbled Robrick, scowling.
"She knows me?" Bill asked puzzled. "What's her name?"
"Dell-a-koor, or something. I don't know, it's hard to pronounce! She's one of those Veelas, I think. She makes my nose itch." Robrick scrunched his nose in dislike.
"Your…nose itch?" Bill questioned confusedly.
"Veelas give off a smell that we goblins find very displeasing to the senses. I can't stand to be around her for very long." Robrick snarled. Bill nodded in understanding.
"Very well. Please send her in." Bill invited. Robrick shuffled out of the office and Bill quickly straightened his desk before he walked back in with a tall, willowy, stunning young lady behind him.
"Here's Miss Dell-a-koor, Weasley." Robrick said nastily, watching the girl with a look of distaste on his crumpled face.
"Thank you, Robrick," Bill said kindly. The goblin mumbled something before he left the room, shutting the door harder than necessary. When the room fell silent, Bill stood up and the girl walked forward. "Hello again, Miss Delacour." He greeted her.
Fleur Delacour smiled brightly and shifted her long curtain of silvery blonde hair to one shoulder as she came forward to shake Bill's hand.
"'Ello again Meester Weezley. Eet ees lovely to see you again." Fleur said in her thick French accent.
"And you as well," Bill said, smiling charmingly. He gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Won't you sit down?"
Fleur obeyed with a pretty smile, sitting down. Bill followed her lead, sitting in his desk chair. He sat up a bit straighter than before.
"So, what do I owe the pleasure, Miss Delacour? I heard you wanted to apply for a job here at Gringotts." Bill said. Fleur nodded eagerly.
"Yes, zis ees true. I would like a job here to eem-prove my Een-glish." Fleur told him with certainty.
"I see. Have you had any jobs before?" Bill asked, taking out a fresh roll of parchment and dipping his quill in the ink before writing down some information for the interview.
"Well, I 'ave 'ad many jobs modeling dress robes for wee-man and I worked in Alonzo's 'Air Solon for two years." Fleur told Bill. He nodded again, writing that down.
"Have you had any training in money before?" he inquired.
"Not really, Meester Weezley, but I am willing to learn." Fleur said eagerly. Bill looked up at her blue eyes for a moment.
"Can you count our currency?"
"Of course! I 'ave been practising all summer." she told him excitedly. Bill nodded for the third time, a little more hesitantly this time. He set down his quill.
"Well, Miss Delacour, can you tell me a bit about yourself?" Bill asked her. Fleur nodded.
"I just graduated from Beauxbattons Academy, I 'ad a total of 13 O. by zee end of zee year and I was promoted to top of zee class." She said proudly. Bill was impressed.
"That is quite an accomplishment, Miss Delacour. Congratulations." He said with a smile. Fleur beamed back. "Now, what do you do on your spare time?"
"Well, depending on wezzur I am working or not, I usually spend a lot of my time researching new zings zat I want to know more about." Fleur told him.
"I see. What kind of things do you research?" Bill asked.
"'Air styles and fashion, mostly. However, I do look up some 'istory about different countries. I even looked up some Egyptian mythology before I came 'ere." She said with a dazzling smile.
"Egyptian mythology? That is impressive!" Bill said, intrigued. "Why does that interest you?"
Fleur's fine cheeks got a little red. "To be perfectly 'onest, Meester Weezley, I was interested because I 'eard you and your family went to Egypt and zat you worked zere a couple years ago."
Bill blinked in surprise, leaning back in his chair.
"You learned it because of me?" he said, shocked.
"Yes," Fleur said. "I wanted to know what kind of person you'd be," Bill looked back at her with his green eyes and Fleur immediately felt awkward. "I am sorry. I must look like an ee-diot." She looked down at her lap in embarrassment.
"Oh, no, you don't," Bill said quickly. "I'm just surprised you were so thorough."
Fleur let herself smile again. "Zat eez zee kind of person I am, Meester Weezley. Eef I get a job 'ere, I promise to work 'arder zen anyone." she vowed. Bill smiled back at her.
"I don't doubt your work ethic, Miss Delacour. I saw how hard you worked in the Triwizard tournament. You did amazingly, by the way." Bill told her. Fleur looked at him in shock.
"But I lost." She muttered, ashamed.
"Yes, but you got further than I thought you would," Bill admitted to her. "There were so many votes against you. I saw the polls the students took. But you showed them all up."
Fleur looked slightly displeased at that. She raised a silvery eyebrow.
"I see. And I am guessing you voted for Krum or 'Arry Potter, am I right?" Fleur said distraughtly. Bill smirked.
"No. I voted for you." he said simply. Fleur's mouth hung open. She quickly recovered herself and crossed her thin arms.
"Oh, really? Why would you do zat? Was eet because I am attractive?" Fleur asked him with a certain distasteful air to her voice.
"No. I don't look at the looks of someone before getting to know them," Bill explained. "I saw a fire in you, a willingness to win. You were up against three guys and you were determined to win not only for your school but for your sex as well. There have not been many girls that have been chosen for the Triwizard Tournament." He told her.
"So, you're saying zat I failed my school and my sex and ze only reason you voted for me was because you saw a 'fire' in me? That seems offensive and not flattering at all." Fleur said.
"I didn't say that – you may feel like you failed them, but you didn't. Just by being there and representing your school and girls all over, you have been inspirational. I didn't mean to offend you whatsoever. I just don't think you deserved to be looked at like some prize to be won. I assume most men look at you like that." Bill said. Fleur's cheeks went pink.
"Well, yes, of course. I am half Veela. Men can't help but look at me." Fleur said to him with ease. Bill gave her a look.
"If you think that men can't, Miss Delacour, then you haven't been hanging around the right kind of men." Bill said honestly. Fleur watched him with the curiosity of a child.
"So, you don't look at me zat way?" Fleur said, shocked.
"You're a very attractive woman, Miss Delacour. However, I do not think of you as some kind of object of attraction and don't look at you that way either. My mother raised me better than that." Bill told her firmly, pride painted all over his face. Fleur was completely gobsmacked by the very idea a man might like her for something other than her looks.
"Well, Meester Weezley, you are a charming young man and I would like to meet your muzzur." Fleur told him with a slight laugh. Bill gave her a smile.
"That can be arranged, if…" Bill said, hesitating on saying his next thought. Fleur looked at him expectantly.
"Yes?" she said. Bill coughed, shook his head and straightened his papers again, realizing how off-track he was getting.
"Well, you see, we could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak," he said. "You want this job, correct?"
"Yes, I do." Fleur said, straightening up. Bill shifted uncomfortably.
"Well, if I give you the job, we would be spending a lot of time together, and I could introduce you to my family if you wish." Bill said shyly. Fleur felt a smile form on her gorgeous face.
"Zat would be lovely, Meester Weezley." She said sweetly. Bill smiled.
"Then, it's settled," he stood up, holding out his long hand. "I look forward to working with you, Miss Delacour." Fleur beamed, stood and shook his hand as well.
"I look forward to eet also." Fleur said brightly. Bill grinned at her and led her to the door. He opened it for her and just before she was about to step out, he stopped her again.
"Miss Delacour?"
Fleur turned to face him.
"Call me Fleur." Fleur told him kindly. Bill smiled nervously.
"Fleur – I have a proposition for you." he said awkwardly.
"Yes?" she said expectantly. Bill shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
"Uh…well, I was wondering whether you would be open to discussing the criteria of learning better English over dinner tomorrow night." Bill said to her. Fleur felt her stomach flicker with butterflies as she stared at the handsome redhead in front of her.
"Are you asking me out on a date, Meester Weezley?" Fleur asked him flirtatiously. Bill grinned nervously.
"Call me Bill. And, yes, I believe I am." Bill said. Fleur smiled dazzlingly.
"Very well, Bill. Eet ees a date. 7:00 sharp. Meet me outside ze bank. We'll leave after work." Fleur said.
"Alright. I'll be there." Bill joked.
"You'd better be." Fleur said, and with one last beautiful smile, she left the young Weasley boy stunned by her as she walked out of Gringotts and Disapperated back home.