Fleur
"And as per the wishes of Lord and Lady..."
Fleur ignored completely what the stout man was saying as she held her sister dearest to her chest. The little angel had fallen asleep and Fleur could not blame her. She would be asleep as well if the event wasn't so somber, and at least one of them was required to be awake. The pig-like man was reading the last will of her parents, tragic victims of a fire that burned down their childhood home.
Her father was a very rich man, he had his own castle and perhaps they would still be alive if the family lived there. No, he never liked the luxurious life, instead, her father had gotten a house by the lake and her parents had no chance of escaping once the fiery debris encircled the two. Only Fleur and her sister, Gabrielle had gotten out alive, and due to no small amount of luck.
Fleur took Gabrielle's, as she called her sister affectionately, left hand on her own and with the right one she caressed the girl's face.
"It will be alright, my little angel, everything will be alright." She whispered sweetly to her sister who couldn't even hear her, but it did not matter as Gabrielle leaned into the touch regardless. Fleur knew it was a lie, she had no clue of how their life would be from now. Maybe she'd be married off to a Lord and he'd take care of the two, it was a sacrifice she was willing to make for Gabrielle's wellbeing.
The oldest of the sisters turned her head to the left and frowned at what she saw. Lord Malfoy was looking satisfied with the situation, the blond man was someone on her list of people to watch out for. Not days before the fire he was in their house yelling at her father, Fleur narrowed her eyes at him but he didn't even bother glancing at her if he noticed.
You are being paranoid again, Fleur She thought to herself, it was crazy to think that a childhood friend of her father would do something as horrible as committing murder, but those eyes had too much satisfaction and too little sadness.
A glance to the right gave her the view of Lord Riddle, the handsome young man noticed her gaze almost immediately and smiled apologetically at Fleur and her sister. He mouthed the words It will all be fine to her and turned his head back to the stout man reading the will. The man must have said something interesting because Lord Riddle straightened his back and smiled softly. Fleur decided it was time to stop ignoring the pig's words and paid close attention.
"...and as their final wish," The man prepared to quote the next words. "Should we meet our inevitable demise, I leave my daughter in the care of Lord Thomas Marvolo Riddle and I end this with a few private words to my dearest daughters."
Fleur heard the distinct sound of various people getting to their feet and exiting the room, leaving the reader of the will to hand the document over to Fleur, smiling sadly as he did so. The eldest of the sisters took it and woke Gabrielle.
"Is it over?" Her little angel asked Fleur. "Can we go now?"
"This is from them, my little flower." Fleur showed her the will and folded the document so they could see only the last words of her father. "To my two beautiful angels, it is with a heavy heart that I write this. We wish you only have to read this by the time you are both grown and have lived wonderful lives, but we know the chances of that are thin. Your mother and I both care deeply for you and ask you to trust our good friend, Lord Riddle, to take care of you if necessary. He is a wonderful man, if a little misunderstood at times. We hope you two live wonderful lives and become women as great as your mother. I bid you goodbye, my sweet daughters."
Gabrielle could not contain herself and grabbed Fleur's black dress by the front and cried on her sister, as she would do with her mother when she was sad or hurt.
Fleur was the strong one for her sister, and forced the tears back into her body with a lone one sliding down her face.
Fleur looked at her sister from the position she was in, the horse-drawn carriage had horses as beautiful as the ones back home, but she cared little for the horses. She was more worried about her sister who was talking to an old man Fleur had never met.
He had dropped a vase by accident and her sister had helped with the broken pieces, collecting them as he did. Fleur could have sworn that Gabrielle had cut herself on one of the pieces and was bleeding lightly. Gabrielle yelped loudly at the sight of blood and Fleur was about to yell at her to leave the old man alone and come already but her eyes widened when the man abruptly grabbed her hand with both his own.
The man driving their carriage noticed as well and grabbed his cane to teach the old man a lesson on manners, only to find that he had already let go of the girl's hand and Gabrielle was running towards the carriage. Fleur grabbed the girl's arm and looked at the injured hand only to see her sister's unblemished skin. She stared questioningly at Gabrielle who just shrugged.
"You should be careful with who you speak to, Gabrielle." Fleur admonished her sister. "A beautiful girl like you shouldn't be talking to strangers."
"That 'stranger' is James, and he seemed really sweet, Fleur." Gabrielle smiled sweetly at her sister, trying to avoid trouble once more.
Fleur ignored completely the smile and tried to spot 'James' once more, where once stood the old man her sister had helped out there was nothing but an empty spot. Fleur narrowed her eyes but assumed he had just went inside his shop. She climbed inside the carriage and motioned for Gabrielle to move since she wanted that spot.
"And don't even think about arguing." Fleur kissed her little sister on the cheek. "We are ready!" She told the driver, ready to go to their new home.
The way to the Walpurgisnacht Castle was a beautiful one, the road was well made and the scenery was filled with flowers and trees of various colors. The whole trip in the lands of Lord Riddle was an assault of beauty on her poor mind. Gabrielle would have most certainly agreed with her had she been awake for more than the first hour of five. It was troublesome to Fleur, how Gabrielle would just sleep like a stone even during intense moments. It made Fleur wonder who she got it from.
The various turns on their trip led to the final destination, a single road of stone leading to the front entrance to the grand castle. The entrance had gates reaching as high as her house was before it burned down, to the far right she could see walls that seemed to never end. What really caught the blonde's attention were the two carriages on the road along the castle walls.
The first one she spotted looked like some she had spotted back in the town long hours ago. It was one of those carriages made to deliver food for the restaurants around the town. A castle as grand as this one surely needed as many supplies as at least three restaurants and her suspicions were confirmed when she saw two young boys who couldn't be much older than her sister, they carried on their should a pig the size of a grown man.
Who knew how many families that could feed.
Fleur tried to make out the words coming out of their mouths but only saw who it was directed too. There, leaning on one of the walls next to the second carriage, this one without a cart for people inside and instead just open to the fresh air, was a handsome man only a few years older than herself, she wagered. His hair, as black as night, was cropped and you could only spot the shade of a beard on his face.
The one thing that really got her attention were his eyes, a green so vivid she had only seen in pure gems and it seemed to glow as he finally looked at her.
Fleur was used to getting looks from boys all the time when her mother would take her to the nearest town, it was something she learned to accept. Fleur was a beautiful young lady, so when all she got was a frown from him, one could say Fleur's self esteem dropped a few nods and her ego deflated a little. The young man just ignored her completely after that small exchange of glances and resumed his work.
Fleur could see him grabbing a small pouch, of what she presumed to be gold, and throwing it at the driver of the delivery carriage. He nodded at the two boys helping him and they dropped the carcass of the pig on his own carriage. The two boys hit the side of the carriage and yelled something that made the coachman set the horses forwards, once it was in motion the young man, who knocked her down a few pegs with an exchange he probably wasn't even aware of, climbed on the back and never looked back.
Her sister, she could see, was more interested on the inside. There was another handsome man inside, but this one seemed much humbler. He wore an outfit worthy of a servant not very respected, but he filled it out in all the right places. He was strong from the bulging biceps she could see and perhaps his most marking characteristic was on his head. Waves of reddish orange cascaded down his face, framing it perfectly and going only to the lobe of his ears.
He had a broom on his hand, and was sweeping the ground with a ferocity she'd never seen before. He was a very intense sweeper, only stopping to wipe the sweat off his face with the back of his gloved hand, that was the moment he spotted them. A big smile came to his face and he waved excitedly.
"Our arrival was informed, the gates should already have been opened." The coachman of their carriage apologized profusely for the inconvenience but her sister insisted it was fine, instead of looking at the man again she took a look at the tall trees to their left.
"Look, Fleur, there's something on top of the tree!" Her younger sister exclaimed and grabbed her arm while pointing excitedly at the spot. Fleur saw only the tree itself but Gabrielle insisted on it.
Before Fleur could admonish her sister for the behavior, the gates opened and the carriage followed the path to enter the castle. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside, and the young ginger servant approached the carriage to speak to them.
Unfortunately for the sister's, the doorway behind the man opened revealing Lord Riddle waiting for them. The young man's face immediately closed and he simply opened the door and offered an arm to climb down. Fleur took it and her sister followed suit, but the young servant offered them no words except for a nod of his head.
Fleur saw the lady next to Lord Riddle approaching them and she opened her arms.
"Welcome to Walpurgisnacht Castle, dearies." Her eyes were a bit off and her voice was a pitch too high for Fleur to enjoy. "I am Bella, the personal maid of Lord Riddle. He is very glad to have you here and..."
"Then why can't he come here and say so himself?" Her sister exclaimed and Fleur felt like slapping the girl, except she would never hit her sister so Fleur ended up slapping her own forehead.
"He is not well today, so I advised him to stay inside the castle." Fleur noticed the almost imperceptible narrowing of the maid's eyes. "He will inform you of your duties in this house and go back to rest, now come along."
The two sisters followed the slightly weird maid and got through the giant doors leading to the inside. Lord Riddle, a little paler than usual, was there to greet them.
"I would give you beautiful ladies a hug, but I wish not to pass my sickness along with my love." His handsome features were enough to hide the terrible look on his face. The shadowed eyes, pale complexion and a thin sheet of sweat glistening on his face were sure signs of some sickness. "Nevertheless, I welcome you to my home. I understand that the consequences of this union are quite..." He searched for the word for a moment. " Unfair to you, but trust me when I say that I know how you feel. I lost my parents very early in my life, and now the loss of a good friend pains my heart."
Fleur saw the sadness in his eyes and felt compelled to give him a hug and tell him it would all be fine.
"I'm sure we can find it in ourselves to overcome this terrible moment that passes through our lives." He told them all the while keeping the soft smile on his face. "You both are still quite young, and your studies need to be kept firm. Today is a day of mourning still, but tomorrow your studies will return firmly. Professor Minerva taught myself when I was young, and even my father when he was just a boy. She is quite friendly once you get past the strong exterior."
A coughing fit had Lord Riddle stop talking and Bella rushed to help him. She motioned for a nearby maid to attend to the sisters and had Lord Riddle follow her up a flight of stairs. The maid who approached them was quite pretty, and had hair a similar shade of the man outside making Fleur wonder if they were related. Noticing the look on her face, the maid entertained the older sister.
"He is my brother." She told the two beautiful girls. "I'm the youngest of seven, and my entire family serves Lord Riddle."
A look of understanding passed through both Fleur and Gabrielle, and Fleur took the opportunity to ask another question.
"The man outside, with the green eyes..." Fleur started asking, making Gabrielle curious but the maid interrupted her as she motioned for the two to follow her.
"That is Harry." A red tinge was very noticeable on the maid's face as she talked about him. "He is quite wonderful isn't he? Especially with the long dark hair."
Long? Fleur thought to herself I'm pretty sure his hair is anything but long, maybe he cut it just today?
"He is the chef in here, makes the best food in all the islands." She sounded very sure of herself now, maybe it was more than just a small crush that she had on the man.
"What man are you two talking about?" Gabrielle questioned them, angry that she missed a handsome man.
"I'm sure you'll meet him, he can explain who he is better than I ever could." The maid finally stopped in front of a room, she extended her arms and guided them inside. "This is your room Lady Fleur, Lady Gabrielle's is right around..."
"If it's fine, we'd like to share." Fleur interrupted the maid whose eyes went wide at the surprise request. "Ever since the accident we have grown used to each others company and..."
"Say no more Milady, we'll get another bed in here immediately." The maid shuffled around and rang a small bell that sat upon a small desk near the door. "George! Fred! Go grab Lady Gabrielle bed and get it inside Lady Fleur's chambers. Oh! Where are my manners, my name is Ginevra, but you may call me Ginny ." She finally introduced herself as two identical men made their way inside the room.
"Why of course-" the one on the left started.
"It would be our pleasure to-" The second one followed up
"Move the bed to suit the Lady's needs" They finished together this time making the Fleur's eyes widen and Gabrielle eyebrows go disappear on her hairline.
The two left the room and they could hear their footsteps as they entered a new room.
"Quite a handful those two are." Ginny the maid tried to ease the situation, being introduced to her twin brother for the first time was always an unique experience. "They will never give you any trouble, and anything you need they will fetch." She assured them.
Fleur sat on the bed to take it all in. Their personalities were quite strong and she was sure they'd give Gabrielle a run for her gold should she ever get in one of her arguments with them.
"The beds will be here shortly, I'm sure dinner should be served-" She was interrupted as another of the various bells on the room rang softly but loud enough for them to hear. "Correction, dinner IS served. Your bed will be here when you come back Lady Gabrielle." Ginny assured her with a smile gracing her pretty face.
"You can call me Gabby while in private, Ginny." Gabrielle told her in hopes of having her stop with the 'Lady' thing that she always disliked.
"Of course Lady Gabby." Ginny just smiled innocently and excused herself, but Fleur could tell she was purposely teasing her sister.
"Can you believe the nerve of-" Gabrielle started throwing a tantrum but was stopped by Fleur covering her mouth.
"Dinner is served, Lady Gabby." And at that moment, Gabrielle stomach rumbled loudly getting her a tinge of red on her cheeks.
Fleur took a moment to appreciate the castle as the two made their way to the dining room. Another one of the gingers was guiding them, this time a tall and thin one who looked constipated the whole way. He opened the doors leading to the dining room and the two saw Lord Riddle sitting on the table. Two spots were prepared , one to his left and another to his right as he sat on the head of the table, the blonde sisters gracefully guided themselves to the seats prepared for them and a servant on each side pulled their chairs for them.
As they were all prepared, Lord Riddle stopped staring at them and smiled. He raised his glass filled with a red liquid Fleur assumed was a very expensive wine and proposed a toast.
"To your mother and father, my good friends." All the servants bowed their heads as his strong voice resonated throughout the room even if it was strained from the unknown sickness. "And to new beginnings, my dear girls. May we all grow and live wonderful lives!" He proposed to them and the two girls complied, raising their glasses that had the same liquid. As the servants clapped at the toast, the two girl emptied the glasses at the prospect of a new life.
Once they had finished their wine, more was served to them, but they only bothered with the food now. A single bite was all it took for both girls.
A single bite to fall in love with the food prepared by the handsome man Fleur had seen.
AN : I hope everyone enjoys it. Leave a review if you can!