Title: Fairy Tale Romance
Title: Fairy Tale Romance
Author: Angelica Albina
Fandom: Harry Potter
Genre: Femmeslash
Pairing: Ginny/Gabrielle, past Harry/Ginny and Ginny/Michael.
Rating: G
Summary: Even the truest love's path doesn't always run smoothly!
Warnings: A bit of humour and silliness, slight conflict. Future-fic, Post-Epilogue. Ginny and Gabrielle are adults.
Ginny wished she had never got herself into this. She wasn't in the mood for a party, especially with the bills seeming to have arrived all at once that day and the kids having one drama after another. Being the divorced mother of three children was not much fun at the best of times, and since they were all teenagers, things were more difficult. And their father seemed to be always away on some adventure, so getting hold of him for money or emotional support when things started to turn to custard was well nigh impossible at times! Had the man forgotten that wayside inns' fireplaces had functions other than providing warmth, Ginny asked herself for about the millionth time as she retrieved a pair of discarded socks from the floor and peevishly Transfigured them into potted African violets. That'll teach James to pick up after himself when he's at home, she thought to herself with a stifled giggle. Knowing her firstborn, he'd probably think her actions were hilarious. Ginny sighed and smiled all at once. They were all good kids, although tending towards the thoughtlessness that came with their age.
She shooed the cat off her favourite chair, and sat down to work on her costume. Really, a costume party at her age… the very notion was ridiculous! Even her sons and daughter thought such things were childish. Only Luna Lovegood would think of something so daft… Luna was a dear, but still full of silly notions after all these years. At the moment, Luna had this strange obsession with Muggle fairy tales. The stories weren't about real fairies, the decorative but otherwise rather useless little beasts that the wizarding world knew them to be – most of them seemed to be folk tales along the lines of The Tales of Beedle the Bard and such. Some of them were kind of interesting, in fact – but Ginny still felt rather stupid at the idea of dressing up as some of those characters.
Ginny would normally have refused outright to attend such an affair as this party, if it had not been for Gabrielle. Her beloved adored parties, balls and glittering occasions – any excuse was good enough for the justifiably vain part-Veela to wear something glamorous and loads of expensive jewellery. And Ginny obligingly went along with what her darling wanted most of the time. It wasn't worth putting up with Gabi's pouting and sulking if she refused – and complying did have certain rather exciting rewards… Ginny smiled indulgently as she added the final touches to the outfit she was putting together.
After the break-up of her marriage to Harry, and some time of adjusting to life as a single mother, it had come as somewhat of a shock for Ginny to find herself falling in love with a woman. She had had a crush or two on older girls while at Hogwarts, but her romantic interest had been towards the male sex for the most part. But Gabi – she was something different altogether. She was a far cry from the tiny girl who had mock-flirted with Harry all those years ago at Bill and Fleur's wedding. As an adult, Gabrielle seemed to have the same effect on women (even those with only the slightest inclination towards bisexuality) that her older sister Fleur had on men. Whether it was some kind of Veela magic, or just the incredibly alluring nature of the woman Gabrielle Delacour had grown into, she had stolen Ginny's heart in what felt like a dizzyingly quick amount of time. Any initial reluctance soon faded as Gabrielle seduced her into what first was a whirlwind affair, a romance that soon deepened into more lasting love. It took the children time to adjust to the new status quo, of course – but they seemed to care about their mother's happiness, most of the time.
And dear Gabi fully reciprocated Ginny's affections, lavishly at that. In each other's arms, the two of them would look at each other adoringly, and Gabrielle would whisper how she had loved so many women before, but none was as exciting, as brave and fascinating as Ginny was. For her part, Ginny felt that no man, not even her former husband, had captured her heart the way that Gabrielle had. As soon as the children were old enough to leave home, Ginny fully intended to set up house with Gabrielle. Perhaps the party would be a romantic enough occasion to take Gabi aside and ask her about this – it was almost like a marriage proposal, Ginny thought with a sentimental fluttering of her heart.
With a stitch here, and a little Transfiguration there, Ginny's costume was soon completed. She actually felt her reluctance to attend the fairy tale ball melting away as the outfit was finished at last – Ginny was rather proud of her efforts, in fact. The dress was pale blue and billowing, and would be enhanced by glittering jewels, an imitation gold coronet and a real diamond necklace borrowed from her sister in law, Fleur. The part that really had Ginny grinning from ear to ear, however, was that she would be wearing genuine glass slippers on her feet. They were enlarged from an ornamental pair that usually sat on the mantelpiece, a long-ago Christmas gift from Harry. Yes, Ginny would be attending the party as Cinderella going to the ball. Much as Ginny adored her kids, her daily life of motherhood and housework could occasionally feel like drudgery, so adopting this character for one night seemed somehow fitting.
Before Ginny knew it, the day of the party had arrived, and she had Apparated off to Luna's home. She was going to be meeting Gabrielle there; knowing that her lover would be fashionably late, Ginny busied herself with greeting her hostess, catching up with a few other old friends and admiring her surroundings.
Luna had really outdone herself with the decorations – instead of her usual eccentric style of strange objects strewn around, the large room where the party was being held actually wore the air of an enchanted palace from a story book. Real fairy lights shimmered from the walls, and the exotically clad guests ate, drank, danced and enjoyed themselves in this environment as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
And at last, across the crowded room, Ginny saw her darling Gabrielle approaching. Her costume was not merely lovely, but breathtaking. Gabrielle was all in purest white, with the faintest hint of silver thread as adornment, and the massive snowy wings she wore seemed to be a part of her, spreading out from her back and making her seem truly celestial. A silver halo on her head and a single white lily in her hand completed the picture of perfection. Ginny couldn't help but smile at how gloriously appropriate Gabrielle's ensemble was. The Bible wasn't technically a fairy story, but Ginny's beloved was exquisite as her namesake, the Archangel Gabriel.
Ginny stepped forward, intending to cross the floor and sweep Gabi into her arms, but she was suddenly intercepted by an old friend who, without actually asking her to dance, seized her hands and whirled her around. Ginny couldn't help but laugh – Michael Corner hadn't changed much in all these years. He was dressed as some sort of Prince Charming, which oddly complemented her Cinderella outfit. It was nice to have a bit of a dance, exchange a few words – his wife was out of the country on some job for the Ministry of Magic, so he was just here with friends. She found herself telling him about Gabrielle, and he was just saying to her that Gabi was very lucky indeed when a lovely, but slightly hard-edged little voice, bearing only a trace of the French accent that had been so pronounced in her childhood, politely but firmly asked to cut in.
"Indeed, I am very lucky, because she's all mine," Gabrielle cooed sweetly over her shoulder at the retreating Michael. She steered Ginny rather forcefully over towards the far wall, and one of Ginny's glass heels chose that moment to snap and shatter.
"Oh, blast it!" Ginny snapped, as she hurriedly found a seat and cast a spell to repair her shoe. She wanted her footwear to make it safely back to the family mantelpiece, and she needed her wits about her as she felt like she was going to have to read a certain jealous French beauty the riot act very soon.
"Let's go outside," Ginny said through gritted teeth. Gabrielle, seeming not to notice the frosty tone in her lover's voice, eagerly followed her. Ginny was very nearly seething – words about immature behaviour, adolescent jealousy, Michael just being an old friend and Gabrielle seriously having to watch herself and her attitude forming on her lips – but out in the garden, with the moonlight shining down on them, it was hard to stay angry with Gabrielle. A prince, however handsome, could not compare to an angel, after all.
A gentle hand brushed Ginny's cheek. "I'm sorry if I was rude in there," Gabrielle said softly. "It's just that I love you so much, I just felt so possessive." She gave Ginny one of her dazzling Veela smiles, and Ginny felt herself beginning to melt.
"You're forgiven, if you go back in there and apologise to Michael right away," Ginny told her, trying to sound stern, but a note of tenderness softened her words and was met with another glorious smile from Gabrielle.
"Of course I will, ma belle, but I've got something to ask you first," Gabrielle purred, wrapping her arms around Ginny's waist. "That big house of mine is so empty – why not move in with me?" Her fragrance was intoxicating, and Ginny felt herself stirring with passion at her nearness.
"I have to think about it – the children…" she began, but Gabrielle's lips were upon hers in a moment, and Ginny found herself only wanting to surrender to the deep, beautiful kiss.
There was so much to talk about – it was hardly going to be a fairy tale romance, with such a lot of messy reality getting in the way. But Ginny and Gabrielle's love was true, and sure to survive just about anything. Perhaps Ginny would be able to persuade the children that living with Gabi would be a good thing – Gabrielle's house was like a palace compared to where Ginny's family lived, after all.