by Calypso
She sat alone in the corner, away from the happy, chattering groups gathered around the bar and tables in The Leaky Cauldron. Her head was bent over a letter. Her long, silvery blond hair hung around her face as she re-read the parchment for the umpteenth time, a nervous feeling arising in her stomach. She took a deep breath.
Relax. It's only a job. At the Ministry of Magic...Oh, lots of people work there, there's no reason to be nervous. You will do great. After all, you were a champion and a top student at Beauxbatons. There is no reason to be nervous. It's only a job. In a foreign country. At one of the most important places in the wizarding world... Oh gods, I just hope I don't make a fool of myself...
Fleur closed her eyes and took another deep breath. She was anxious, to say the least, about her upcoming job at the British Ministry of Magic in the Department of International Cooperation. She had just received an owl with the letter informing her that she would start work on Monday. It was already Saturday. Barely two days until she started.
Tom the bartender walked over to her isolated table. "Would you like anything, Miss? You've hardly eaten a thing the whole time you've been staying here--"
"No." Fleur snapped, startled from her thoughts. "If I want somezing, I'll ask for it. Not zat I would consider eeting ze 'eavy food you serve in zis tavairn." She tossed her head disdainfully. Tom shrugged his shoulders and went back to the bar. "Well, you know where to come if you want something to eat..."
Fleur cringed slightly as she watched him walk away. She was really too nervous to eat but her attitude certainly didn't reveal that. Why did she always have to act like that when she was nervous? She supposed it was some sort of defense, a way to hide. She sighed and stood up. Still berating herself she quietly slipped out of the room and started up the dimly lit staircase to the room she was renting in The Leaky Cauldron.
She ascended the stairs slowly and her thoughts turned to her last year as a student. As one of the top students at Beauxbatons she was selected to go to Hogwarts and enter her name in the Goblet of Fire. She hadn't expected to be chosen as a champion and was shocked when her name was announced. But, as always, she covered it up by putting on an act of false confidence and self-assurance that she didn't feel.
She also remembered the great feeling of pride that followed the initial shock. She had been chosen above all the other students in her school to be the champion. The Goblet had picked her as the best champion for Beauxbatons. She was picked because of her abilities, her skills as witch. So rare it was when people saw past her veela beauty that she was ecstatic that she was definitely chosen because of her actual talents.
Being part-veela did have its advantages, though. She had inherited veela magic as well as the beauty and this magic was particularly strong in charms and enchantments. Over the years she had nearly perfected enchantment magic and it made up for what she lacked in Defense Against the Dark Arts skills. During the first task she had almost been able to enchant a dragon! She was proud of this alone although she was thoroughly disappointed with herself when she was foiled by the Grindylow in the second task.
She shook her head bitterly, remembering the second task. She could not even save Gabrielle, the one person that really meant something to her. Perhaps she wasn't special after all if she couldn't even save her little sister. Fleur remembered the panic she felt when she had failed. She had tried desperately to get back to the lake to get Gabrielle but Madam Maxime restrained her. Then there was the immense relief when the youngest champion swum to shore with not only his best friend but with Gabrielle as well. Fleur had managed to escape Madam Maxime's clutches and rushed out to the edge of the lake alongside a tall, red-headed boy to meet the three. She immediately began hugging Gabrielle, nearly blinded by her tears of relief.
Presently Fleur reached her room and pushed open the creaking door. She stopped and tapped her wand on the hinge muttering a word under her breath. She began opening the door again and this time it swung open silently. Fleur sat at a small desk in the back of the room which was positioned in front of a window. She pulled the curtain back a bit and looked out to the darkened street below. Diagon Alley still had a few shoppers strolling up and down the street but it was beginning to empty as the shops closed up.
Fleur drew her hand back from the curtain and let it fall over the window. She felt sick to her stomach and she took yet another deep breath to banish her nerves. She almost regretted having ever applied for a job at the British Ministry but she wanted to improve her English and experience a different culture. Her English had improved slightly over her year at Hogwarts, but she worried about her pronunciation.
" 'Ello, I am ze new employee. I am vairy pleezed to meet you." She said out loud. Fleur sighed and tried again, enunciating every letter slowly and carefully. " 'Ello. I am ze-- no, the new employee. I am very pleezed to meet you. Pleezed... pleased to meet you. 'Ello, I am z--the new employee. I am vairy pleased to meet you."
Nearly an hour later Fleur was still sitting at the desk painstakingly pronouncing English words. Right in the middle of correcting herself again she yawned. She stood up and pushed her long hair away from her face, yawning again. As she walked around around her small room getting ready for bed she continued to practice her English. At long last she dimmed the lights magically and went to bed.
