"Look up regulations? She's a thirteen year old girl and the resident of another country!" Charlie exclaimed.
"Fourteen," Arthur said absently from behind a large book of marriage law stipulations.
"What?"
"I said, she's fourteen. Her birthday was only a couple weeks ago. We were all invited to her party, don't you remember? Molly wasn't really in state to go to a child's birthday party at that point, but I think George and Percy went with Bill." Arthur said, still rooting through the book.
"I never received an invitation," Charlie said, firmly. "Before these engagement parties I didn't exactly have the most active social life, I would remember if I had received an invitation to a fourteen year old witch's birthday party."
"That's ridiculous, why would we all get invitations and you not? Ah, here we go. It seems that you are bound by this law as if you have an underage soul mate from Britain, but Miss Gabrielle is allowed to decline as we cannot reprimand her, however if she does decline then she will not be allowed in Britain until she is wed," paraphrased Arthur. "You may want to hand deliver her notification and explain it to her and her parents."
"Explain it to her parents? They're going to look at me like some sort of cradle robbing loon!" Charlie was quickly becoming exasperated.
"Calm down. You have a point. Why don't you pop round the Burrow and I will owl the Delacour's to come over for dinner? I'll get them an international portkey immediately. Help your mother with dinner preparations to keep you mind off things and we will all calmly discuss this. Worst case scenario, you are treated as if you haven't a soul mate and paired up that way and Fleur has to visit France a bit more." It was times like this that Charlie could see why his father was such a good match for his excitable an hot tempered mother.
"Yes, father. Thank you," Charlie mumbled as he made his way to the floos.
"Apolline, my love," called Francois Delacour.
"In the library," she called back.
"Dearest, we have a problem," Francois said.
"What is it?"
"We've been invited to dine this evening with Arthur, Molly, and Charlie Weasley," he said.
"And you've misplace the translation pendants?" Apolline asked, not seeing the problem. The Weasley's were always most gracious hosts and Molly could cook better than any house elf.
"When I say 'we' I mean you, myself, and Gabrielle have been invited to dine with Arthur, Molly, and Charlie Weasley," he said.
"Oh! Well that simply will not do. Owl them back and say that Gabby has fallen ill and that you and I would be happy to attend. We really should try to bring it up at dinner, Francois. We can't keep being rude to sweet Charlie as we've been. I hope he's not cross with us for neglecting to invite him to Gabby's birthday."
"Maman? Who did you neglect to invite to my birthday?" Gabrielle Delacour asked when she entered the library.
"Charlie Weasley, dear heart," her mother answered.
"You always make me stay away from Charlie! You never made Fleur stay away from anyone and she's just as much veela as I am!" Gabby was suddenly in a rage. Yes, it really was time to tell Charlie.
"Calm down, dear heart," Francois soothed. "Your mother and I are going to the Weasley's tonight and we will explain your mating instincts. Then, depending on his reaction, you may be allowed short, supervised visits."
"Really, papa? Thank you so much! I promise to be good! I just want to get to know him better!"
Francois laughed as his baby girl launched herself into his arms. This is what he got for being mated to a half veela.
"Well it's probably better this way," said Molly Weasley. "We can explain the situation to her parents and then either they, or we all, can sit down and explain it to her. That way we have less upset and drama at the same time."
"I suppose so, Mum," said Charile. "Mum? I don't even know her. And she's so young, we wouldn't be able to marry for years. Shit, I don't think I'd even feel okay kissing her for a couple years."
"Well, not with that mouth anyway," his mother chided.
"What I'm getting at is, if they're very against it, let's not fight too hard. It wouldn't be so bad being paired with someone else. I think that if we decide to go through with this it'll just be so hard on both of us," Charlie explained glumly.
"Oh, Charlie. You always were my sensitive boy. Don't write this off yet, you haven't even talked to her. She's your soul mate and, with this crazy law, she may be your best chance at being truly happy. We'll talk to her parents and you can send her an owl and we'll see how it goes. Now set the table, your father should be arriving with them in a few minutes."
Apolline Delacour was very nervous as she sat for dinner. She remembered when she was Gabrielle's age. Just coming into her veela senses, young and confused, driven half mad with love. Almost every fourteen year old girl is driven half mad with infatuation, but with veela it is much stronger. For one it isn't just infatuation, it is true love. More importantly, that feeling of being fourteen and knowing that if the boy you loved didn't want you back you'd die of heartbreak? Well there was little evidence that it would actually kill you, but it was sure to drive you mad and into a deep deep depression from whence you would never emerge. Luckily for her, Fancois' family understood the veela mating compulsion. As veela are rare in Britain, the chances that the Weasley's would understand without a very long explanation, and accept the facts were, in her opinion, very slim. Especially since Fleur hadn't shown any of the veela mating compulsions at all. They had hoped that Gabby would follow in her sister's path.
"Well we asked you here for a reason," said Arthur, pulling Apolline out of her thoughts. "The British Ministry has enacted a marriage law. Every unattached witch or wizard was subjected to a soul mate test-"
"So you know," said Francois simply.
"Wait, how do you know," interjected Charlie.
"Charlie, dear, there is something we should have told you," Apolline supplied. "As you know, my mother was a veela. Fleur and Gabrielle are one quarter veela and, as such, it is unpredictable what veela traits they will carry. Last year at Fleur and Bill's wedding, when you and Gabrielle saw each other for the first time since she hit puberty, it became apparent that Gabrielle has the veela mating compulsion. She started emitting pheromones very heavily and her father and I had to spend half the wedding with her under the imperious curse to keep her from attaching herself to your side until we could explain. It was lucky for us that she had not yet come fully into her veela traits. If the wedding had been mere weeks later then we wouldn't have been able to keep her away from you. Then with the war and its aftermath we couldn't find a proper time to tell you. Charlie, I am deeply sorry that we didn't invite you to her birthday party."
"So we needn't even discuss the consequences on either side, they'll simply marry!" gushed a very happy Molly.
"I fear that is a bit premature, Molly," said Francois. "This will be very hard on both of them, you haven't even asked Charlie how he feels."
Everyone at the table rounded on Charlie and Apolline couldn't feel much but pity for the boy. This was a very bitter potion for him to swallow on top of the marraige law.
"Well. I don't know. I don't know a lot about the veela mating compulsion, but what I do know makes my opinion kind of moot, doesn't it? If I show her any form of rejection couldn't it hurt her very deeply and irreperably?" ventured Charlie.
"Dear boy, I am so sorry. If you had been born in France you would have been much more prepared for this. Not to mention the age difference. She won't get the compulsion to consummate her mating with you until her seventeenth birthday, but now that she recognizes you, she has a very strong need to know you. I fear that if we'd left it for even a few more months she would have become violent and sought you out," Apolline said.
"Think about it, son," said Francois. "Sleep on it, more than once if you need to. Owl her if you'd like, and you have an open invitation to our home any time. She doesn't start school until the 15th. And know that if you'd like to talk to Apolline or myself about what this means for you and for her you need just to ask."