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l'esprit de l'escalier
Bill is always speechless when Fleur goes on the warpath.
When they have one of their rare arguments, he'll be quickly reminded that a) His wife was the Triwizard Champion for Beauxbatons, b) She's a quarter-Veela and c) -
It's not that he has nothing to say, it's just that he can never articulate himself well enough to say it, and he'll forget whatever point it was he wanted to make while she talks in a rapid stream of accented English with the occasional French obscenity thrown in. It used to surprise him – but he should have expected it. She could be a delicate bloom - all petals and smiles and softness, but only when she wants to be. But really, she's got no qualms about swearing - in French or in English.
He can never construct sentences properly when she turns on him, eyes glittering with anger and long blonde hair whipping around so fast it slaps his cheek hard enough to leave red marks if he's standing close enough (to kiss her). A nod of agreement and quiet noises of assent are all he can manage when she gets angry like this.
She doesn't look particularly Harpy-like when she's like this, so he knows it's not a Veela thing - just a Fleur thing, which is far more frightening in Bill's book. She's quick-witted, sarcastic and damned sharp when she's angry, and he's all thumbs in comparison.
His counter-arguments come back to him hours later, sometimes in slow drips while he's in bed, and sometimes in floods over his afternoon cup of tea, but by then it's far too late to say anything, so she ends up getting her way anyway. That's actually a good thing – considering that she's usually right.
Once, he tells Fleur this, over dinner. Her eyes meet his across the table, and as Bill mumbles strings of words, they develop a glint of amusement. It spreads across her face, and eventually, she decides to put him out of his misery.
"L'espirit de l'escalier?" Bill's French is generally abominable, but his pronunciation is excellent. He frowns, the phrase not making sense to him. He is missing something. "Staircases? Why staircases?"
Fleur shrugs, and carries on eating. Bill can see her collarbones shifting with her movements, and forces himself to focus his eyes on her fingers. The simple wedding band on her finger catches what is left of the evening's light.