Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour
Like his younger brother, Bill had an attraction for dangerous jobs. Following his graduation from Hogwarts in the late 80's, he took up a job as a Cursebreaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank, where he was based in Egypt. His mother had worried about him for weeks after his departure. It was a well known fact that a Cursebreaker was one of the most dangerous jobs around in the wizarding world. But Bill relished the challenge. He took great heart in knowing that his work was helping the lives of others.
Following the return of Voldemort in 1995, Bill was recalled to work at the central Gringotts right in England. So his work droned on for another year, along with helping the newly resurrected Order of the Phoenix on the side.
In the summer of '96, Bill was just cracking a complicated curse code one day over a high security vault when the bell rang to signal the start of lunch. Bill hurriedly cracked the curse, then hopped into a waiting mine cart with his colleagues to head up to the mess hall. As he and some buddies were crossing the lobby, a bank goblin came hurrying up to him.
"Mr. Weasley," he panted. "We have a new intern who will be having her first day on the job today. We need someone for her to shadow these first few weeks, and the boss recommended you." He turned and motioned to a lady a few feet behind him. "Ms. Delacour, if you please."
The woman, who was obviously taking in the majestic architecture of the bank, turned to face them. Bill felt his heart almost stop. She was…breathtaking. As a child, he had never believed in that love-at-first-sight stuff from the fairytales his parents had read to them. Apparently, such a concept did, in fact, exist.
"Mr. Weasley, this is Fleur Delacour. She just came over here from France. She is part Veela and fluent in both French and English and a great witch. She was in the Triwizard Tournament a few years ago, as I recall."
Ah, Veela. So that's where she got her ethereal beauty. Fleur smiled warmly at him, and Bill's heart did a jig.
"Pleezed to meet you, Monsieur Weasley," she said, offering her hand.
"Enchanté," Bill cracked, and he kissed her hand. Fleur grinned even more broadly. That's it, Bill. You still got it, you the ladies' man, he thought.
"Now, Monsieur Weasley, I was wanting to ask…"
"Oh no, Bill, please, you've gotta call me Bill. When I hear Mr. Weasley, I look around for my dad – it makes me feel old." Fleur laughed.
"Only eef you call me Fleur," she retorted.
The goblin seemed pleased. "Well, now that you are all acquainted, I'll just leave you be."
Bill and Fleur chatted extensively throughout lunch. Bill recalled how she had been in the Triwizard Tournament, and she was amazed to learn that his youngest brother was best mates with Harry Potter. ("I will always be indebted to your brother and 'Arry Potter. They saved my leetle seester, Gabrielle, from the Black Lake."). Following that, Bill returned to the vaults and gave Fleur a tour of them. He showed her an example of a curse code, also sometimes known as a curse virus, and how to break them. Curse codes are mostly used by hackers and thieves to try and break into vaults.
"They're right little buggers, curse codes, because most of them are programmed to attack anyone who tries to break them," Bill explained, as they strode up to one vault. A red inferno, crackling with electricity, was blocking the door, trying to penetrate it. "Why don't you give this one a go?"
Fleur waved her wand and shouted a countercurse. The curse code turned on her and began to build, ready to explode and thrust its energy on the witch.
"Fleur, try another one! Hit it with everything you've got!" Bill shouted. But Fleur stood rooted to the spot, paralyzed with fear. The curse was about to let fly. Bill rushed forward and knocked Fleur out of the way. A bolt of electricity shot to the floor and zapped the spot where Fleur had been standing seconds before. Bill waved a complicated countercurse and hit the code square in its center, vaporizing it.
Only then did Bill realize his position. He was lying on top of Fleur, inches from her gorgeous face.
"Are you hurt?" he asked her.
"No. Thank you, you saved my life."
Veela and pureblood regarded each other. Without even thinking about it, they closed the gap and gently kissed. They broke apart moments later.
"Whoah," breathed Bill.
"Yeah. Woah," Fleur echoed. They disentangled themselves and got up off the floor. Fleur looked sad.
"I'm sorry," she managed.
"For what?" Bill asked incredulously, hoping to God it wasn't because she kissed him.
"For putting you in danger like that. I'm just being the stupid French girl again. I never really 'ad a chance in the Tournament: not against 'Arry Potter or Victor Krum…"
"I don't think you're stupid," Bill said instantly. "Only a really powerful sorcerer could have been picked for that tournament. And Harry's not invincible, trust me. Why, Ron can kick his arse in a game of Wizard's Chess any day of the week." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think you're an amazing witch, and I really admire how you tried everything to save your sister in the Second Task. Not many people can be beautiful and great with magic."
Fleur looked up at him adoringly. "You really think I'm beautiful?"
Bill blushed. "Well, yeah. In fact, I was just going to ask you if you wanted to grab dinner after work."
Fleur stared at him for a moment before saying "Pick me up at seven." The bell rang, signaling five and the end of the work day. Fleur slipped away towards the mine cart. Bill watched her go, mesmerized.
For the next month, Bill and Fleur dated. The couple fell more and more in love with each other. Bill quickly got an engagement ring, only telling his closest friends at work of his intent. Many of them thought he was nuts, saying Fleur's Veela blood was bewitching him, but the eldest Weasley son didn't care. He was certain he wanted to be with Fleur.
Nevertheless, he was nervous when he popped the question, and half expected Fleur to turn him down, on the grounds that it was too soon. So, he was overjoyed when she accepted. The next order of business was to introduce her to the family.
When Bill brought Fleur to the Burrow for a visit in the middle of that summer, he was disappointed when the women in his family did not immediately take a liking to her. The men did not mind one way or the other, but maybe that was because of how Fleur's beauty seemed to captivate everything in its path. Molly clearly felt Fleur was taking her oldest son away from her (a feeling Fleur seemed oblivious, too) and Ginny did not like how admonishing she was. The only Weasley daughter complained that Fleur talked to her like she was about three and nicknamed her "Phlegm." Hermione did not help, either, as she was sympathetic to both Ginny and Molly's feelings. Harry just rolled with it. He had always been kind to Fleur, given their experience in the Tournament together.
All through that year, Bill tried to help Ginny and Molly warm up to Fleur. Nothing seemed to help. Bill thought that nothing could bring them together.
Then, something did. It happened the night of Dumbledore's death, when the Order of the Phoenix answered the distress call and descended on Hogwarts. The Astronomy Tower and corridor below it had exploded into violence. Bill was shooting curses left and right when, suddenly, something came careening out of the haze and tackled him.
Bill struggled, until he felt claws scratch his face. He screamed in pain. He looked up to see Fenrir Greyback close in for a bite. Thinking fast, Bill managed to reach his wand and curse the werewolf, throwing him off. The sounds of battle faded away as Bill went into shock. Then, everything went black.
When Bill came to, he was relieved to find Fleur by his bedside. His family, Harry, Hermione and some Order members were present as well. The scratch from Greyback had not made him a true werewolf, according to Lupin, but he would develop some wolf-like tendencies. Molly said something sarcastic about how Fleur wouldn't stay now that Bill was injured. That's when everything snapped.
In an uncharacteristic move, Fleur got right into Molly's face and gave her what-for, hurt that she did not believe in Fleur's ability to remain loyal to Bill. Molly was so gobsmacked that she apologized on the spot, and mother and daughter-in-law-to-be reconciled. Ginny was also forgiven. Wedding preparations than began in earnest.
That next summer, Bill and Fleur were married in a lavish ceremony at the Burrow. Everything was wonderful until the Death Eaters crashed the reception looking for Harry, after the fall of the Ministry. The dangers of warfare led the couple to cancel their honeymoon and retreat to their new home at Shell Cottage. The following spring, Harry defeated Voldemort. Two years to the day later, Fleur had Victoire, a darling baby girl. She and Bill would go on to have two more children, beginning the ever-growing Weasley grandchildren line. Even in the face of evil, life and love had indeed prevailed and triumphed.
