It was the day. She would see him again, Bill Weasley. It was the first day of her summer work placement in Gringotts, and she hoped it would help introduce her to the British wizarding world.
She'd be able to confront him on what he had said to her before he left, "competing against boys? That does not mean anything!" She imagined herself saying to him, standing up for herself, and her gender in the same sentence.
She truly believed it too, and more than she'd like to admit it, it bothered her that the man she found so attractive would truly believe a girl would achieve less because she was a girl. Maybe she was blowing his words out of proportion, but they were basically the only words he had said to her.
He had also accused her of being nosy, and looking back that wasn't the best outcome for a conversation either. More than she would like to admit, she wanted to smooth things over with him too. She'd see him again!
Her train of thoughts went like that, as she went through her daily morning ritual. She put a bit too much effort into her makeup, going over her eyeliner with a bit of silver glitter and wearing a particularly deep shade of red on her lips. It wasn't for him, though. Just to make a good impression on her first day.
That thin lie carried her through the doors of Gringotts, where she strutted over to the place her letter of acceptance had said to go- down the hall to the third door on the last, and through that corridor to the last door where she'd meet the person in charge of her assignments for the summer.
She knocked on the door, and she was greeted with a gruff, "come in." She brushed herself down once, surveyed her simple, but cute outfit of a brown skirt with a button down blouse and walked in with all the confidence she could muster.
Behind the desk sat a short woman with frizzy orange hair, and a wide face. "I'm Maddy, you'll be working under me for the summer. You know you won't have an exact job, right? Some days you'll be working with me, trying to assign dates and meetings, some days you'll just be working on paperwork, and some days you'll be taking on one of the more speaky roles, like the goblins do."
Fleur nodded, quickly trying to figure out what she would be best at, and what she would need help with (and who she could ask, as 'Maddy' didn't see like the most approachable woman). She thought she'd be alright at speaking to people, but paperwork was just boring!
"I understand, I will try to do my best," Fleur tried to make herself sound even more sincere, giving her a smile which wasn't exactly tight lipped, or professional. Maddy looked like she was going to break from the pressure of keeping a stern, businesslike persona in front of the girl. So she went to her next point:
"Your English doesn't sound very good, does it?" Maddy tried not to insult her, but realised that posing it as a question didn't make it less insulting. Fleur took it with grace, even though she definitely was insulted.
"Well, I 'ave lived een France for most ov my life," she didn't attempt to smile at the sour woman, "I will try to improve." She nodded at the floor, and Maddy felt guilt rising from her stomach into her throat.
"I'm only saying this because you won't be able to work at the counters until you're understandable," Maddy tried to justify, and Fleur met the woman's eyes, and she felt even worse.
"I understand," Fleur tried to move on, leaving the embarrassment in the past, "what will I be doing today?"
"I'm not..." It seemed Maddy didn't have any plan, "you can shadow me for today, and we can figure out what you're good at through that." Fleur nodded, and looked around, wondering where to set her things down and what to do next.
Soon enough, Maddy called her over to have a look at her books, and go through the records with her to find a certain important client's information to cross out of the books because they had requested complete privacy and secrecy of what was in their vaults.
All Fleur was allowed to know was their name, and she got to work quickly, scanning through every page and wondering if there was a charm to do what she spent hours doing (in the end, Maddy had found them).
Before she knew it, it was lunchtime, and she was sure she would bump into Bill and she would be able to give him a taste of her mind. Or, at least talk to him again.
She was lead to the lunchroom, and made awkward conversation with Maddy while they grabbed a sandwich each. The awkward conversation didn't end there, and because of the fact she didn't know anyone else, Fleur had unknowingly opted to sit with her kind of boss.
"So, do you, uh, like Gringotts?" Maddy had gotten to the worst conversation starter she could think of- a bank.
"Em, yes. It is quite nice. Very spacious. I like the marble." Fleur tried to reply with enthusiam, but she worried she just sounded a bit too eager. She didn't even like Gringotts that much.
Maddy, however, decided to roll with it, "it was created in the 1470's, so it's withstood the great test of time." She tried to make it sound informative, but it just sounded a bit sad, and desperate to talk.
"Oh, 'as it always been run by goblins, or do they just work here?" Fleur asked, genuinely interested in the answer, because she had been greeted by a goblin but she worked under a wizard, just like her.
"I don't know, I think it was put in their hands in the 1850's?" Maddy tried to answer, but before Fleur could reply or ask more, a goblin with an especially crooked nose jumped into the conversation.
"It was a goblin's to begin with, Gringott, and the ministry got it's grubby little paws on it, and decided to give it back in 1965! Lovely lot, they are!" Fleur couldn't help but think the paws comment applied more to the person talking, but decided wisely not to voice her opinion.
Five minutes later, Maddy and their new goblin friend were in a heated debate about the usefulness of the ministry, and Fleur was gazing longingly at the other tables, wondering when Bill was going to show up.
Maybe Fleur was just being a bit sad. Or desperate. By the time lunchtime ended, she realised she was being a bit sad and desperate. She became to anxious to leave that when Maddy had had enough, and began to storm out of the room, she was excited at the chance to escape and trailed after her.
"After all the ministry has done for goblins! Especially after their conflict!" Maddy had ranted on and on at Fleur, and being the kind girl that she was, she listened to Maddy with the utmost attention (maybe just to take her mind off Bill), "the nerve of him! Telling us we don't know how to manage our money!"
Unbeknown to Fleur, as she walked through the corridor, up from the lunchroom back to her new, angry, co-worker/boss's room (she really wasn't sure which one she was, after that argument), she walked past the person who had been on her mind most of the day.
When her attention had been on the freckled woman's non-stop talking, Bill's attention had been on her. She was completely clueless.
He noticed her from a couple meters away, and he fruitlessly wished that she would turn away to see him, but he ended up staring at her the entire time she walked past, with not even a look in his direction.
He couldn't believe she was there, and if he was being honest, he really liked her face.
I don't know how to write men's emotions! Do they feel? Who knows! I think my chapters are going to get longer from here, too, so that might be good news! I'm actually not too sure on how I want Maddy to be characterised because she's just an OC, I'm probably just gonna write her as strong and opinionated, and quite judgmental, but I'm going to try and write it in a positive light. This is literally just where I write my notes, not even an author's signing off anymore, oops.
-sunkissedbubbletea
