Entry Eight
I found out why Bill and Fleur needed a babysitter. They had an appointment at St. Mungo's. Fleur is pregnant again. Mum is ecstatic.
Fleur invited us all over for Sunday brunch. She told us that her family was staying with her and Bill. Gabrielle appeared early to help Fleur and Bill prepare for the massive family gathering. Her relatives from France and ours all came to eat. It was about halfway through, accompanied by Mum's sneezing, that the announcement was made. Mum swore that Fleur looked different. She said that her cold must have thrown off her "baby sense." No one dared argue with her.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in awkward socialization with Fleur's Veela relatives. At least, awkward on my part. I swear, it's not my fault. Their genetics make me stammer like an idiot. I finally quite fumbling around Fleur and Gabrielle. Those full-blooded Veela knock me on my butt.
I'll start from the beginning. Charlie and I had a strict rule stating that we do not consume any type of alcohol around Veela. It only ends up badly when we do. The two of us stuck with teaching Teddy how to throw Quaffle. It was almost half his size and he tended to fall down when he threw it. He thought it was funny, though. Anyways, one of the Veela cousins, Antoinette, appeared, asking about the game. Whether she was trying or not, her Veela charms were full-force.
Antoinette asked Charlie was he did for a living. He said, "I-um-I, uh work with dragons."
She then said how fascinating the work was and asked if he had any scars or burns. Instead of backing up Charlie and making him sound great, I tried to one-up him with Hermione standing less than four meters away. Now, in my defense, there is no way I would do anything at all. I kept asking myself what I was doing. This is a combination of male stupidity and Veela genetics.
Well, I tried to make it sound like being an Auror training was greater than working with dragons. It came out like a bunch of blubbering.
This is just how amazing Hermione is. Instead of coming over and hexing me, she started laughing. She thought the whole thing was funny! I'd rather have her think I'm an idiot than something else. She let me have it when we arrived back at her flat, though. It wasn't that bad. She just asked me what I was thinking and why I was doing it. She didn't want to have the status of our relationship discussion, something I am grateful for. If you think I'm an idiot around Veelas, you should hear me during that conversation. One time I told Hermione that I thought she cleaned the potions cauldrons better than anyone else did. Stupid me thought it was a compliment. She took it as I liked that she can clean up after me, which wasn't what I was thinking at all. See? I am a horrible conversationalist.
Which brings me back to brunch. After rushing away from the Veela, claiming Teddy needed to use the look, I hid for the next 20 minutes from the rest of the family (except Hermione and Harry who, of course, followed me. This was also when I learned she was laughing).
According to Harry, I wasn't actually flirting. I was just standing there talking about falling in the dirt, blowing up spiders and racing a dementor. Yeah, utter nonsense. It's not as I was even trying to flirt. I meant to make Charlie sound great.
Antoinette and Charlie found us by the hedges opposite of Dobby's grave. His stone still rests there. Fleur and Bill make sure it stays safe. Charlie was standing awfully close to her as she said that she was glad to see us again. The two then left.
I received a short note from Charlie saying Thanks, Ron.
Apparently I did something right.
Ron Weasley,
Unusual matchmaker
