Author's Note; I apologize guys, it has been a little while since I last updated. Bad Verum bad! I've had some pretty serious real life shit happen and I've been a bit mentally drained. But, without further a due I present chapter 4. As a present to my followers and reviewers and fav-ers chapter 5 will shortly.
Dislcaimer; See Chapter 1.
Sunday, November 7th, 1999
The Burrow
At exactly 12:02 pm Padme apparated to the front step of the Burrow. She'd debated waiting until 12:03 to see what would happen. But at 12:01 she had distinctly remembered being pulled by her hair to the staff party for Gringotts the last time she had been late. She wasn't about to repeat that, Merlin her scalp still hurt from the experience. So she had arrived as late as she possibly could without risking the wrath of Fleur and her devilish grip. Maybe it was the Veela in her that made her such a good cat fighter…
Padme pushed the thoughts from her head as she entered the open door which had a small sign stating that all coming to the wedding should just come in and head out the back to the tents where the wedding was going to take place. Passing through the house she couldn't help but smile at all the pictures that were littered around the walls and on the tables. Just about every available space was taken up by a picture or some family nick knack. Once she made it outside she was nearly smothered by Fleur who was hugging her suddenly.
"I am so glad you came, I was just about to come and get you." Fleur released her only to kiss both of her cheeks. It was very French, and even after all the time that they had been friends, it still bothered her. Generally she wasn't a fan of the French or their food, but Fleur was the exception.
"You very nearly threatened my life in your letter. I wasn't about to risk my scalp again!" She smiled at her friend and hugged her once more. She rarely saw Fleur anymore now that she was married and still – it seemed to Padme anyway – enjoying the honeymoon period of her marriage. The two of them hardly left their cabin as far as she could tell. Often took days sometimes weeks for Fleur to reply to an owl. Which was fine with Padme. Who was she to say anything?
"Oh pish posh you silly dear. I wouldn't have pulled too hard. Come, come now. I have to go back inside and help Molly and Ginny, but I'll be back soon enough. Mingle. Go see Bill, or Ron, or give your congratulations to Harry. Poor dear, looks a fright with nerves!" With a small wave and a flash of blue silk, Fleur was gone. Padme stood there in her yellow and gray sari with a completely dazed look on her face. She stood for a moment before moving towards the tents, shaking her head slightly to shake off the confusion that her friend had left her in.
She bumped into poor Harry and nearly toppled him over. He caught her and was helpful enough to right her on her feet. "You OK?" She smiled kindly at the poor guy who – as Fleur had accurately described – looked terribly fearful. She nodded in answer to his question and turned to the table next to them to grab a glass which she quickly filled with water with a small wave of her wand.
"I'm fine Harry – maybe I should be asking you that. You look as if you are going to faint." He moved to put the glass down but she shook her head and tipped the bottom up a bit towards his face. "No, no. Drink up. If you don't you probably will faint when Ginny walks down the aisle. Everyone would be worried and there I would be shaking my head telling the person sitting next to me that if you had listened to me, none of this would have happened." He grinned and did as told, chugging about half of the glass of water with a single gulp.
"Thanks. I'm sorry, I don't actually know your name. You seem to know mine though – so you have me a bit disadvantaged." Padme shook the extended hand that was offered to her.
"Everyone knows your name dear, you've been on the cover of the Daily Prophet more times than I imagine is proper. I'm Padme Booth. A friend of Fleur's from her days at Gringotts." Letting go of his hand she moved quickly out of the way of a pair of red-heads moving a few tables around in the tent.
"You work at Gringotts? I thought only Goblins worked there." Well at least he hadn't insulted her Goblin co-workers. Perhaps Fleur – or George – had warned everyone about her feelings on the subject. She would admit that they were perfectly unpleasant little beings, but they did have feelings and rights. Even if most of their feelings were about money, gold, jewelry and expensive weapons, as were most of the rights they claimed to have. She nodded, taking a sip of her own water that she'd conjured moments ago.
"Yes. As a Security Witch. There have always been Security Witches and Wizards at Gringotts for the private rooms at Gringotts when depositing larger items or opening new accounts. When Voldemort started his reign of terror, more of us were recruited to try and keep the attack of the Goblins by his forces to a minimum. We were most successful…at least on bank premises." She felt a moment of something akin to sadness at the loss of Griphook. She had stopped being sad a long time ago, but she could still pause in remembrance of the little terror couldn't she? "All in all, we're back in the back rooms again. Some of us are on vault duty though, to stop another break-in like the one you pulled." She gave him a look and he had the grace to blush slightly.
"Well it was for a good reason." He spoke sheepishly and began to rub the back of his neck. Poor boy looked as if he was beginning to sweat all over again. She gave him a kind smile, hoping to calm him down a bit.
"I completely agree with you Harry – don't worry. But your break-in made the Goblins realize just how ill-equipped the lower vaults are from break-ins should someone make their way past all the other pitfalls, which as you proved is obviously possible. Difficult, but possible none the less." They stood in silence for a moment, her sipping her water and Harry finishing the last half of his water in another large gulp.
"So which vault are you guarding? Or are you not in the vaults?" She shook her head, swallowing the sip of water she'd just taken. Timing, the boy had timing.
"No, no it is okay to ask. I'm able to talk about what vaults I guard, just not how I guard them or how they are opened."
"Able? You mean you can't talk about everything else?" She shook her head again.
"All of us are paired with another witch or wizard that works top-level and we, by Gringotts contract, have to cast a spell on each other. No one outside of one Goblin knows which employee is paired with another, and he doesn't know any other pair then our own. We cast a spell that will make it physically impossible to tell anyone where the vault is located, how it is guarded or how it is opened, and one to stop us from revealing our partner. They cast one on me, I cast one on them which limits their ability to tell anyone what the spell they cast on me is or where I am posted. Even my name, they can't speak." Harry looked completely perplexed and interested. As if she was teaching him some complex transfiguration or something of the sort. "The Goblin that paired us is the only one that knows we were paired together and never works with us."
"Sounds complicated."
"It is, but it is a better system then we had in place before. Besides, it takes a special kind of person to not mind being underground for 8 hours at a time. Not everyone can do it. Hence why we have top-level security personnel, and why we have vault-level security personnel. As for me, I'm down at the bottom, guarding a few business vaults. Can't tell you their names though."
"Really? So you physically can't say the words?" She nodded affirmatively.
"Or spell them. Listen." She opened her mouth and attempted to say the name 'Ollivander's' but all that came out was some messed up sound that made her seem like a simpleton really. "See? I really lower my perceived intelligence level when I do that…" She paused, her brows furrowing for a moment as she thought about that. Harry laughed, putting a hand on her shoulder with a grin.
"Don't worry Padme, no one will hear that from me!"
"Better not!" She looked him over fully now. He looked quite handsome behind his glasses, with his suit on. Although she had to admit she had never mooned over him as other girls had, but she found him quite handsome in that moment. Ginny was a lucky girl. "Alright Harry, get to your place. I think we are starting soon." She shooed him with a hand towards the end of the aisle where Kingsley Shacklebolt had indeed taken his place. Seating herself on the groom's side in support of Harry especially she gave him a thumbs up.
Moments later the music started and people scrambled to sit down in time. Ginny appeared at the entrance of the tent, a vision in her dress. Her hair was done up in a way that left about half of it down, and it shone a beautiful auburn color. As Ginny was walking down the aisle, Padme turned to look at Harry. He looked so happy. The wedding proceeded without a hitch and the vows each other said were beautiful. Padme was almost in tears during their vows, but she managed to hold herself back. After the wedding, the reception began and they all moved to a much larger tent.
Everyone was seating themselves according to their name tags on their plates, and Padme was at a loss. She wasn't family, so she wasn't sure where she was going to be seated. She hoped it wouldn't be the kids table. She was quickly saved, and just as quickly ushered over to a table to sit between Fleur – Bill being on the other side of Fleur – and Merlin's beard…George. She had managed to avoid him through most of the wedding, only having to endure his presence for a few moments here and there. Which was probably his good fortune seeing as she was still fairly unhappy with him. It was also not her good fortune, it was her bad karma, bad joo-joo. Whatever you wanted to call it, she was being punished for something she'd done.
She just wasn't sure what it was she had done to offend the universe. Luckily it seemed that despite sitting side by side and occasionally bumping elbows or touching hands as they ate their lunch, he was in no mood to talk to her either. So she was safe. Although she did begin to get into the spirit a little and started to drink some champagne. While it was better than Fire Whiskey – it was still going to get her drunk. Which she knew, but she was really getting into the festive and happy spirit. "So Padme, when are you going to come by the cabin again?" Padme grimaced at the thought.
"When are you two going to start wearing clothes at the cabin again?" Fleur sighed, rolling her eyes at her friend. Bill felt it was only right of him to speak up, considering his nudity was in question at the moment.
"Clothes? Wait, Padme. You were in the house when I was naked?" While normally it wouldn't bother him, his scars extended a lot further than just his face. So he was somewhat nervous to know that a woman that he was only just getting to know had seen him naked.
"You've got quite the cute bottom sir." She grinned at his shocked look before reaching for his hand with a comforting smile. "I'm kidding Bill. No, it was Fleur's bottom I spotted in the kitchen that day when I showed up outside. While attractive dear, not quite by taste. Which reminds me, for your birthday this year Bill – I'm sending you guys curtains." She said it with a smile and a large amount of mirth in her eyes, but it was extremely clear that she was not kidding.
"They had best not be hideous!" Padme swatted at her friend good-naturedly.
"Just because you don't like my curtains, does not mean that they are hideous!" She began to laugh – probably a bit more than was needed, but she was drunk so what the hell! – and leaned back into George Weasley, who it seemed was also a bit drunk. Point in fact, all of the Weasley men were getting themselves rather wasted on all manner of alcoholic beverages. Seemed that Ginny getting married was having a bigger impact on the men than they would have liked to have admitted.
"So sorry George!" Fleur began to reach for Padme, but George was there first helping sit the poor girl upright as she giggled a bit.
"Hello again Romeo. In a better mood this time?" Fleur and Bill looked at George as if he had grown another head, or perhaps another ear would've been a better description. Both of them proceeded to ask – which went unanswered – who Romeo was.
"I do rightly believe I am sir!" She by now had spun in her seat to face him now and waved her half full flute of champagne at him with a decidedly lopsided and drunken grin. "Champagne!" She said in way of answer to the look on his face.
"Champagne." He was a slightly less chipper drunk then she was, but still fairly upbeat. She on the other hand, was putting her glass down and was now tugging at his arm to try and get him to stand up and dance with her. Something she had refused to do – even when Harry asked her to dance – but was now adamant that she wanted to do. "Alright, I'm coming. Bloody pushy woman!" She hauled him onto the dance floor with a grin and a small twirl. She was surprisingly graceful for being drunk off her ass.
It was nearing midnight and Fleur and Bill were seated at their table simply watching the last few couples on the dance floor. Bill was drunk and Fleur was exhausted. Ron and Hermione were dancing together, Ginny and Harry had left hours ago for their honeymoon, Molly and Arthur were dancing together like they were young again, Charlie and his date had left only moments previous, Percy was dancing with one of the women Ginny had invited from her team. Fleur thought her name might have been Annabeth or something of the like. She couldn't quite remember at that point. Glancing around the room, she looked for Padme and George who had been the best of friends all night it seemed.
"Bill, where is George? And Padme?" Fleur was fairly concerned that Padme was pummeling George into a shallow grave somewhere for how he had pissed her off the other day, and also for how he had pissed her off that night. The two had, had three fights in the span of a couple hours. Although calling them a couple was not quite the right term for it. They had just been dancing together right? Fleur quickly closed her eyes, putting a hand to her forehead. She was too tired for this right now. "Bill, please tell me I did not just see what I think I saw?"
Bill looked and began to laugh loudly until his wife smacked his arm. He was then able to quiet it down to a muffled chuckle that sounded half like a cough. "Sorry dear, you saw what you saw. George and Padme sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" He didn't get to finish as Fleur smacked him upside the head with a fair amount of strength. She hissed at him and he could see he'd pushed her a little too far. Even in his inebriated state, he was not stupid enough to think that pushing a part Veela that was also his wife over the edge was a good idea. "Sorry."
Padme and George were pressed impossibly close against each other in a corner, with the folds of fabric from the tent surrounding them so they were in their own little world. Only their feet and the bottom of her sari were visible from their hide-out. Besides, most of the party was either gone or too drunk to realize what was going on in their little corner. Padme had begun to sober up a little bit, but only a little bit. It seemed to be the same with George. They had enough coordination to stand pressed against each other in very small quarters, but they lacked much more than that.
Somewhere in the back of her mind Padme knew she was doing something she shouldn't be doing, but the forefront of her mind couldn't be bothered to care. She pulled away from George for air, and it was long enough for her very drunken, very impulsive and possibly stupid brain to speak. "My place?" One nod from George and the two were gone. Their apparition wasn't very well done, but neither one of them got splinched in the process, so it all seemed okay. As they left, Padme was sure she heard Fleur yelling at her, but she couldn't be sure. Moments later, they were in her locked apartment. With no one except that cat to bother them.
