A/N- Hi! Thank you for clicking. Well, I've decided that if I want a Bill/Fleur fic, I'll just have to write one myself. There seems to be only one more here that isn't just a viggie, and I'm going to check that out now.
First, the OC character I have Bill talking to here is going to be a recurring character at best. I'm trying to keep the OCs down to a minimum... I get them mixed up sometimes.
Second, I sincerely apologize for not having Fleur and her family speak French. I don't know more than ten words of it myself and I don't want to horribly mangle the language and offend people! So, I will just cut the accent there...
Any suggestions/comments/reviews/flames are welcome. :) Oh, and I plan on updating about once week. My first fic and readers take top priority because they were there first. They get two updates. :P
Chapter One: Departures.
The profession of a cursebreaker was a highly regarded one in the Wizarding world. To a Muggle, it was an organized form of grave robbery… but to Wizards, it was merely recovery of long-lost treasure, which had belonged to great Wizards of long ago.
As most humans, these ancient lords had been extremely greedy, had conjured large amounts of gold and buried it underground in deep, complex sets of catacombs, which contained many traps and pitfalls. So, it had become necessary for the Goblins, the bankers of the Wizarding world, to send in a recon team of sorts.
It was an extremely dangerous and quite demanding job . . . which was exactly why Bill Weasley loved it.
He and his partner had been sent to recover the treasure of a relatively minor… but reportedly powerful Egyptian Wizard, who had died many centuries before and had been buried within a complex system of tombs.
Unfortunately, the ancient lord had been more jealously possessive of his fortune than the Goblins had predicted.
It was because of this oversight that two cursebreakers, one of which was still relatively new at the business, were left to deal with six of the lord's bodyguards, who had been buried with him.
Mummy guards. Very angry mummy guards. They didn't like people waking them up while attempting to steal their lord's treasure. Not at all.
His partner of a few weeks slashed her wand across the chest of one particularly gruesome specimen, shouting an unintelligible spell along with it. It didn't have much effect. Bill grabbed her by the waist and yanked her into the niche he was defending.
"I-I think we may need to call for backup," she gasped, wide-eyed.
"It wasn't supposed to be this bad." Bill swore under his breath. "We need to get out and let them get a bigger team to deal with this."
She nodded, looking slightly disappointed. Bill looked around the corner again. "Try for the far entrance. They seem to be ignoring it. Don't do anything stupid."
Rolling her eyes at him, she started inching her way across the chamber, wand at the ready.
They didn't notice her at first, being wholly occupied with the hexes Bill was sending their way. But they were undead… not stupid.
The young woman made it halfway across before she had to sprint for it, throwing freezing charms in her wake.
Bill cursed again and went after her, kicking one guard out of his way. Sometimes, the only thing that was effective against a mummy was splitting their heads open against a wall… and sometimes not even that.
He quickly dropped to the ground squeezed through the rapidly narrow entry. Once he was sure his partner had made it out before him, he pointed his wand at the opening and shouted, "Reducto!"
It worked. The curse hit the little army of mummies full on. Bits of old linen… and long-dry flesh… flew at the two cursebreakers. Bill quickly sealed off the door completely with a muttered, "Colloportus" They ducked behind a wall, collapsing to the floor.
"Hahaha," his partner laughed gleefully. "Mummy meat! Take that, you badgy old coots!"
Bill lay in the dust for a moment, panting. "I'm not going to miss that."
His partner, a petite young woman named Sam, laughed weakly. "I like it." She had only been out of training a few months. The novelty of it all hadn't quite worn off yet.
Standing up and dusting himself off, Bill helped Sam to her feet. "You just wait until those bruises start showing up."
She waved him off. "Yes, yes…"
They slowly threaded their way through the tombs, not talking much. They had been able to clear out this section, at least. It was safe.
Bill was in no hurry to leave. This was his last job for the Egyptian branch of Gringotts bank… the one that collected treasure and sent it to England. His last job as a cursebreaker.
After the rise of Voldemort at the end of the Tri Wizard Tournament that year, Bill had been asked to join a secret organization called the Order of the Phoenix by his father and had quickly accepted. Unfortunately, the only way he could be of any use meant moving to London.
He wasn't very happy at all about trading in his exciting, interesting occupation for a cushy desk job in London… but everyone had to make sacrifices if the Order was to survive. There might not be any tombs to come back to if the Order failed. A small comfort was knowing that he was going to see his little brothers and sister more often. He missed the little monsters.
Bill shielded his eyes with a hand as they came out into the open.
"What are you going to do at the main office, then? Break into old castles?" Sam asked cheerily, walking quickly in front of him, in a hurry to get out of the heat.
"There aren't any openings for cursebreakers in England. I'll be working as an accountant as far as I can tell," he chuckled. Sam stopped suddenly, nearly causing him to run into her.
"A desk job," she repeated drolly. "You're leaving us for a desk job."
"I believe I said that," Bill said calmly.
"I can't believe this. Have you gone senile?"
Bill looked at her pleadingly. "My parents need me at home, all right? I really can't tell you anything else." He continued walking, looking back to make sure she was keeping up.
"The top-secret workings of the Weasley family too secret for the likes of us, eh?" Sam teased, running to keep up with his long strides.
"I think that's the whole point of it being secret, Sam," Bill sighed. Respect her, like her as a co-worker though he did, she could be a real pain in the… neck sometimes. "Honestly… it's nothing sinister. My mum is in a fix… my brother is being a prat and upsetting her. I need to transfer home for a while to knock some sense into him. All right?"
"All right then," Sam pouted. "You lie very convincingly, I'll give you that."
"Sam!" Bill blushed hotly as the other workers stared at them. "Just… stop."
Sam was immediately silent and stayed that way for quite awhile. "Which brother is giving your mum trouble?" she asked finally.
"Percy… you remember him… glasses, doesn't like sunlight much?" Bill supplied, glad at the change of subject.
"Ooh," she grinned. "That one. The one that got himself locked in the tombs."
Bill suppressed a laugh at the memory. "Well, he didn't exactly get himself locked in there, but yeah, that's him all right."
Sam looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then said: "Punch him in the nose for me."
Bill mock-saluted. "Yes ma'am."
Sam gave him an arch look. "Very funny. Now go away. Have fun with the paperwork."
"I will," Bill grinned, shaking her hand firmly. "Take care of yourself."
As they parted ways at the entrance to the building, Bill waved to her and walked on in the hot sun, taking his last look around at the harsh Egyptian landscape.
Fleur Delacour frowned at her little sister and said, for what she was sure was the tenth time that morning: "Gabrielle, stop playing with the trunk…. You mustn't … " She let out an exasperated sigh and walked back into her bedroom, where her younger sister, Gabrielle, was attempting to help her pack.
Because she was still five years shy of being allowed to do magic outside of the Academy, Gabrielle had offered to fold clothes before Fleur shrunk them so that they would all fit into her trunk. However, becoming bored with this, Gabrielle had taken to going through Fleur's papers the moment her sister left the room.
She crept up behind her sister, who seemed engrossed in the yellowed piece of parchment she held. Fleur quickly darted out and snatched the parchment away. It was the letter she had received only two days before, informing her that she had been hired to work at Gringotts, the Wizarding bank in London.
"What are you doing, reading this again?" she asked, confused. Gabrielle had seen it before… they had all read it dozens of times.
It was only then that she noticed Gabrielle was crying. Fleur's frown deepened. She sat down on the still-unmade bed. "What is it?"
"You're going to where that horrible, bad wizard is," she sobbed. "I don't want you to!"
Fleur sighed softly and gathered her sister into a hug, letting her cry. "You know I have to," she scolded gently. "You shouldn't cry about it."
She made Gabrielle stand and walked her towards the stairs. If she missed the Portkey, she wouldn't be able to leave until the next day. "And you will come to see me all the time," she soothed, muttering at charm under her breath to make the trunk follow them down the narrow staircase. "Nothing will happen to me."
"You promise?" Gabrielle sniffed, leaning on her sister.
"Of course," Fleur replied firmly, rubbing the girl's back comfortingly.
They came out into the dining room, where their mother was daintily eating a pastry while engrossed in the paper. She waved vaguely, but didn't look up when her girls entered the room. She looked perfectly groomed, as usual, a stark contrast to her daughters, who were rather flustered-looking from the busy morning. "Are you ready, Fleur?" she asked.
Fleur nodded, patting her trunk with her free hand. "We've finished."
"Good." Her mother glanced at them and waved the paper. "It iz all about that… disastrous tournament still. Ah… do not worry, my daughter," she added at Fleur's stricken look—the mere mention of the Tri Wizard Tournament sent shivers down her spine—"Not a mention of you… or of that poor Diggory boy… all about this Harry Potter…"
Gabrielle looked amused now. Their mother did not at all approve of Harry Potter.
Their mother finally noticed Gabrielle's red eyes. "Now Gabrielle," she sighed, "do not make your sister's departure harder, please. Do you have time to eat?" she asked Fleur.
"No, mama," she said quickly. "I've only another few minutes."
"Oh." Her mother blinked. "Very well. Come eat, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle suddenly brightened. "Can I come with you to the Portkey, Fleur?" she asked slyly.
Fleur laughed and gave the girl a hug. "I am afraid not."
Gabrielle pouted, but was stopped from protesting further when their mother shot her a stern look.
"Good bye, mama," she said awkwardly, giving Gabrielle a gentle push towards their mother. "I hope you can visit me soon..." she added hopefully.
For the first time, her mother smiled slightly and kissed her cheek. "Of course we will." She stepped forward and straightened Fleur's robes. "There. Now, off you go… before I start becoming undignified."
Fleur nodded solemnly, knowing that meant her mother wanted her to go before she started crying. She stepped into the center of the room, gave a tiny wave to her family, and envisioned the International Portkey Center in her mind… concentrating on it until her home began to blur into a strange mix of colors…
Within moments, she had successfully apperated to The International Portkey Center, terminal number thirty-six, a mere three minutes before a Portkey was set to take her back to England and her new life.
Edited- Because, as Squashes nices pointed out, Fleur and her family would not have an accent while speaking in French (translated, naturally. :P). Duh, me...