Chapter Twenty: Memories and Manners
"We're to draw out the memories and set them into the basin," Hermione spoke smartly, whipping out her wand and asking Fleur, "May I?"
The girl nodded her agreement and Hermione placed the tip of her wand to Fleur's temple before slowly drawing it away to reveal a long silvery thread. It started out inches long and quickly grew to be feet long before it was completely removed.
"Now we put it into the Pensieve…" Hermione did so as she narrated, "and now there are two ways of viewing it. We can either be transported into the memory, invisible, intangible, unable to affect things, by dunking our face into the surface or we can tap the surface with a wand and see a three dimensional image…Like so," she tapped the surface.
A three dimensional image of Devlin Levin rose; he was grinning and laughing and it was almost eerie how much of him had clearly passed to his son, "And when I was a rookie—"
Hermione tapped the surface again, making the figure dissipate, saying softly, "It's not our place to see him first…"
"Thank you so much Fleur," Ben said hoarsely, thickly, looking as if he was about to cry or get down and kiss her feet, "you don't know how much this'll mean to him, how much it means to all of us. We-He-will never be able to—"
"No," Fleur spoke firmly, "No repayments, no life debts, no owing anyone anything. You are family. He is family. If I had met him earlier my family would have taken him in. My father owes Monsieur Levin his life; my mother owes Monsieur Levin her life. I owe him my life. I am merely ashamed we did not know what had happened and that we could not intervene in Kevin's life when it began to go downhill."
"Please," Julie spoke, Ben was speechless, "we must do something in return…"
"There is a favor I would like you to do for me, although again I do not need to be paid in any way for my memories…" Fleur admitted.
"Anything, name it, we'll move heaven, Earth and hell," Julie vowed. Ben nodded his agreement.
"I wish to see Monsieur Max again; my grandfathers died before I was born you see and he—"
"Say no more, we understand completely," Ben spoke softly, apparently still going through a tumult of emotions, "and please, you can call him Grandpa. We all do. We'll get him over here as soon as Bill is released."
"Thank you."
"Wait a minute," Hermione spoke quietly, they were valiantly trying to keep the boys out of it all, "I know she said no repayments but if you and Julie are reacting like this how are Gwen and more importantly Kevin going to react…"
"They'll offer their firstborn daughter." Ben replied evenly, "That's the most serious, important, valuable, thing they can do. It'll kill them to give up any kid of theirs but—"
"Why their daughter?" Fleur asked. Trading children to cover serious debts, life debts or similar, was a very common custom between the more prominent magical families of her country, but usually it was sons that were traded. After all, without a male heir a family name was doomed to die out. Daughters, though adored and doted on, were less valuable in such concerns and were thus usually not traded…
"You know of the Plumbers right," Julie started, "So do you know what Anodites are?"
"Oui, Monsieur Max brought his wife Mademoiselle Verdona over once, she was one."
"She's mine and Gwen's grandmother," Ben nodded, "and she is Molly Weasley's aunt and thus that of Bill and his siblings…Gwen's an Anodite too. Only girls are Anodites and you have to have Anodite blood somewhere in your tree to be one. Mrs. Weasley's mother was Grandma Verdona's sister. So Gwen, Mr. Weasley, and Ginny Weasley are Anodites too. Sometimes boys will be born with the latent powers but they'll usually stay dormant, unless very specific circumstances are met…"
"Bill's accident…"
"Yes. But the activation of boys hardly ever happens. Usually they'll just pass on the powers to their daughters…If I have a daughter she'll probably be an Anodite even though I'm not. Mine, Bill's and his brothers' daughters will probably be Anodites…however, because only girls are only Anodites girl children are much more highly valued than boy children…For an Anodite to give up or kill her daughter is a great sacrifice and in the latter's case a crime punishable by death. Do you understand?"
"Oui," Fleur nodded, "Oui, I understand completely. If they offer me their firstborn daughter may I refuse?"
"It would dishonor them greatly," Ben replied, "a refusal such as that would call into question Gwen's ability to bear and birth healthy Anodite daughters. But you can talk them down; you can request to be only the godmother, cite the fact that you wish for the child to be shown to have the powers of an Anodite and to be properly trained in them…"
"I understand."
"Good." Ben grinned happily, "Now, are you guys done eating? We should be getting back to everyone else…besides," he eyed Harry and Draco who were staring to yawn and rub their eyes sleepily, "they could use a nap; I'm sure the Sisters will happily set up a cot for them…"
Everyone else nodded and they piled up the dirty dishes, left a tip, and, with Fleur carrying the Pensieve, they said goodbye to Dympna, thanking her, and headed back to the first floor.
Fleur, after giving Bill a thorough examination and having him swear himself blue in the face that he did not need anything, quietly drew Gwen and Kevin off to an empty private room and explained that she had known Devin Levin and what the basin she carried was.
(After Kevin had watched the memories and they knew this was not a very cruel prank, Ben was proven right as they did offer their firstborn daughter to the quarter Veela. She gently talked them out of that, saying that she much rather be a godmother to their firstborn daughter and merely have the right to give the girl her middle name and possibly steal her over the summers before she began her Hogwarts education. The two Americans easily agreed to this modified arrangement and it was set.)