Note: An Interlude on Fleur Delacour with a little bit of Tonks at the side.
The idea for this chapter came from a fb post I saw in the morning. I don't remember where I saw it, but the credit goes to the author of that post. Unfortunately, I am lacking in friends who can write French and the idea of translating and copying didn't sit well. I also failed to write it in a manner a French person would speak English as I have no experience in that. So either imagine Fleur has learned English or that she is speaking in French accent where you want it.
Fleur Delacour was wandering aimlessly in the garden when her father called her in. The revelations and memories she had seen the day before had left her confused and scared. The mask she had built to handle unknown people had been completely destroyed, and her emotions were going everywhere. She couldn't concentrate on a single thing she had learned as her thoughts kept going back to the memory of her future self sacrificing her life. So when her father met her in the hall dressed up, it took her some time to form a question.
"Papa, where are you going? You said we would be leaving in the evening.
"We would be leaving along with Mr. Black and Mr. Potters in the evening, Fleur. I just thought that maybe one more person should join us on the trip."
"Who?"
Her father looked nervous as he avoided looking at her.
"Mr. Potter and others have permitted me to share everything with your mother, provided she gives an oath not to share it. From what I have learned from being with her, I am sure it would be better if William Weasley is there for her to interrogate, or she might just..you know."
She couldn't help but nod. Her Maman had always been overcritical of her friends; there was no idea what she would do to the man her daughter would marry one day. That thought brought another question up.
"But Papa, I am not sure about Bill..."
Her father gave her a sad smile as he rubbed her cheek.
"Fleur, I am your father. I have seen you making decisions since you were a tiny sparkler. I know you have already decided to give William a chance, and after seeing the memories, I have no problem with that choice."
She blushed at her childhood name her father gave her.
"That's not to say that he will escape a talk from me...or Gabrielle. I wonder what your sister will think of William."
She couldn't hold back the groan as she thought about her sister. Gabrielle, who already believed in shining knights despite being just seven years old, was going to make her life hell.
"So I am going to the Burrow to invite William. Would you like to join me?"
While there were a lot of reservations she held about the Weasley family, there was no hesitation in her decision.
"Yes, I will."
Half an hour later, her father side apprated her to an empty field surrounded by crops and trees on three sides. Before she could enquire about the location, a familiar man appeared in front of them with a pop.
Arthur Weasley's eyes widened for a moment at seeing Sebastian Delacour's companion, which did not escape unnoticed.
"Is there a problem, Mr. Weasly?"
"No, No, Mr. Delacour. It's just that I had not expected Ms. Delcaour to arrive with you."
"Call me Fleur, Mr. Weasley. I mean..."
Seeing the girl blush brought a smile to his face as he calmed himself.
"I understand, Fleur. Come on; I would have to permit you to enter the wards."
As he went along the steps his eldest son had explained to him, Fleur and her father's intrigued expression caught his attention.
"That are some powerful wards, Mr. Weasley. May In know which enterprise set them up."
He shook his head as his wand slipped back in the holster.
"No enterprise did it. They were added just a few hours ago by Bill, Charlie, Percy, and Ginny."
"isn't Ginny your youngest child, Mr. Weasley? How did she help?" Sebastian Delacour enquired.
"Yes, but she is also the first girl to be born in the Weasley Family after 700 years..."
His words were completed by the young woman walking next to him.
"7th child after seven generations."
He smiled at her as she repeated exactly what his son had said to convince them to let Ginny participate.
"I can why you chose to become an enchanter in the future, Fleur. It took Percy some time to understand why Ginny was helping, and he has been scoring the highest grades in Arithmancy in his year at Hogwarts."
The young woman blushed once again, but that confused him this time. The Fleur he was seeing right now was far too different from the one he had seen in the memories of his youngest son's fourth year. Chalking it up to the revelations from the day before, he guided them towards the Burrow.
If she had not already seen the house in the memories, Fleur would have scoffed at the structure that was the Weasley family house. Even a non-magical would see that something other than a standard construction was holding the place together. She suppressed the urge to identify the charms and followed her father inside the house. At first glance, the living room of the house was a mess. Cushions were thrown around randomly, books and parchment was spread on the table, there was no color combination of the quilts, chairs, and drapes, and the cupboard was stacked without any manner. But as she stood back and observed as Mr. Weasley called for his family, she could see why Harry Potter considered this place like home. There was a feeling of warmth and comfortableness all around; the cushions and quilts were placed that a large family could sit easily. The items on the cupboard were what she imagined all the members used regularly, the table looked like someone was helping someone else study, and finally, a clock that was too interesting to be ignored. Her thoughts were interrupted by a thundering sound that shook the house. She looked around to see a mass of people moving down the stairs. Somehow, her eyes immediately found the staring face of Bill Weasley. She bristled a little at the judging stare of the sole Weasley daughter but ignored her and took a seat. Once the introductions were done, her father stopped glaring at Bill, who was sitting next to her, and spoke up, inviting Bill to their home. Surprisingly, Mrs. Weasley immediately agreed with her father's invitation. Her thoughts must have shown on her face as Mrs. Weasley smiled in her direction.
"I have a daughter too, Ms. Delacour, and I have seen enough."
Flustering a little, she started looking around and blushed a little at the suggestive eyebrows of the twins. But the Bill, who was ignoring her till now, spoke up, and coldness spread inside her.
"Thank you for the invitation, Sir, but I think it is necessary..."
Before she could feel anything else other than anger, Charlie Weasley stood up and grabbed Bill.
"Excuse me; I need to talk to my brother for a moment."
With that, the man quickly dragged a protesting Bill outside the house, leaving a confused group of people behind. While Ginny began angrily inquiring about the matter, she felt the raising of a silencing bubble. Everyone could see Charlie Weasley's aggressive shouting accompanied with a lot of hand movements at Bill. After a moment of not knowing what was happening, her hands started moving on their own. Her wand came out from her sleeves, and a nonverbal charm left it towards the two eldest Weasley sons. Immediately, Charlie Weasley's shouting voice reached them.
"...out of your mind? What does it matter?
"It matters to me, charlie. I am already in a relationship..."
"Break up with her, dump her; I don't care, but you have to marry her. Do you know how many proposals she will get if the other dragon handlers know what I know? Do you even understand what you are missing you.. you dunderhead? She can calm down a Common Welsh Green on her own. Do you even realize how difficult it is. It takes a group of eight Wizards to do the same at the reserve, and we rarely succeed. She did it all alone. Even you will fail in something like that, you idiot. The dragon will eat you along with your curse-breaking knowledge and poop you back before you can think."
"What does it have to do with me? And I mean, have you seen her."
"Yes, I have seen her, she is sitting in our house, and you are ignoring her, you absolute ass. I can't even imagine why she would choose you, idiot. I am telling you, Bill, If you don't marry her, I will."
"Charlie, you are not even into women or.."
"What the fuck does it have to do with her dragon handling skills. She even gave her..."
Silence once again spread in the room as she saw Mr. Weasley bringing down her wand.
"That is enough for us to hear, I think."
The sheer wave of embarrassment that felt was enough to shake her control over her charm. The result was immediate as every person except her father had their eyes glazed. She was trying to wrestle control back when the Weasley family surprised her. Mr. Weasley was the first to snap out of it, followed soon by his wife and Percy. The twins were the next when Percy poked them. By the time she had established a firm control, even Ginny was out of the trance. Only youngest Ronald had not snapped out, but that was expected. What was not expected was the lack of disgust and lust on Weasley men's faces, even Ronald. Ginny Weasley was staring at her, but it was more of anger than anything else.
"What was that charm? And was it nonverbal?" Percy Weasley enquired. She didn't see any problem in answering.
"It's a self-developed non-verbal charm and can break through small magical constructions."
"Yes, one she used successfully to prank my minister's secretary when he insulted her." Her father added.
"Pranks?" The twins crowed together; their eyes lit up in glee. Her father continued on, not noticing the disturbed expression on other members of the Weasley family.
"Yes. Fleur had quite a record of it. She had an entire drawer in Beauxbatons recording her punishments. They even suspended her once when burst a large number of dung bombs in the boy's locker room. One of them fainted, and the school had to punish her."
By now, her father had noticed the twins too, but it was too late. Both of them sprung up from their seats and started talking to her.
"Our brother is empty-headed..."
"Ignore him..."
"Teach us..."
"We have never been suspended despite trying..."
"How did you..."
She couldn't help but giggle as Mrs. Weasley thumped her head, and the others groaned around her.
Some two hundred miles away from them, another woman's life was changing, but unlike Fleur Delacour, the changes hit Nymphadora hard. It had started when she escorted a flustered Harry Potter along with his betrothed Daphne Greengrass to Gringotts. The Greengrass heiress had ignored the line and marched straight to the center of the room. Harry had not struggled with the pulling to his credit, easily falling along as if it was normal. Tonks had stayed behind as Daphne talked to the Goblin sitting there and then accompanied the couple as they were led inside the bank. They were led to a room that held a familiar sign on the door. This time Daphne let Harry take the lead as he pushed inside. They were introduced to Garclaw, the account manager of House Black. This time she was not allowed to stay back but asked to sit next to Harry. She got bored soon as Daphne and Harry began discussing the finances of his houses. At Harry's behest, the Goblin took a request for a comprehensive report about all the houses Harry was heir to. She couldn't help but smile when the Goblin twitched at the name of Houses that appeared after a blood test. Things changed after Harry had requested new keys for all his vaults.
"There is one more matter, Garclaw. I need the proxy ring for House Black today."
The Goblin leaned back on his chair, his eyes moving to stare at her after a few moments.
"Lucius Malfoy holds the seat for House Black in the Wizengamot, Mr. Potter."
"I know, but he does not wear the ring."
"And yet he sits on the Winzengamot. What a surprise." Daphne observed snidely.
The Goblin didn't reply for some time; his eyes still fixed on her.
"I believe you have a choice for the regent, Mr. Potter."
"Yes, I do."
"Very well."
The Goblin withdrew a box from a drawer but passed it to her instead of Harry.
"What? Harry..."
"I will explain it later, Tonks. Just take it."
She looked at the box once before refusing once again, but Harry kept on insisting. Finally, Daphne spoke up.
"Nymphadora Tonks, you are the eldest of a powerful generation of Blacks. That ring means more than you understand right now; take it, and we will discuss everything later."
She didn't feel the usual irritation that came when someone spoke her full name. It might be because of her state of mind, but she couldn't deny it was because of the emphasis Daphne had placed on her name. Throwing caution to the wind, she reached over and pulled the ring out. Glancing once more at the young couple, she pushed it on her finger.
The cold was all she felt.
REVIEW REPLIES
Thunderofdeath97:- Harry is stepping down for a good reason, he doesn't want to deprive junior of inheritance. I have no idea why you think I am making Ron the heir, because I haven't written it so.
HANK1967: There won't be much of gringotts scene. That part has been done in too many fics so I am going to skip it. The finances will be discussed at home.
Bookivore: I am not going to pause this and start a rewrite. These fics will go on, the rewrites will come as a new story. I have four beta's helping me on the rewrite and the first chapters is still not done. So the rewreites will take time. I would be going into detail about what happened between Astoria and Draco. The malfoy family will not have a good time in this fic. They will be facing more than just legal issues.
Flame55: Thank You.
Toodles.