Written By Sada
Chapter Two: A Fourth
Fleur perched herself on the sofa in the large mansion. It was a luxurious sofa stuffed with soft feathers. It sat in the grande library, whose shelves were filled with expensive trinkets and treasures, instead of books.
Veela milled everywhere, chatting and gossiping amongst themselves. They did not gather too often -- thirteen-year-olds birthdays and weddings mostly, unless they were hired to perform at some large event.
Fleur watched Gabrielle with amusement. She seemed to be having a wonderful time as two Veela taught her how to move her hips in small figure eights.
"Not bad, for a fourth," said a contemptuous voice.
Fleur whipped her head around angrily, already knowing its source. A tall Veela stood to her right, idly flicking her hair, a bored expression on her face.
"Brenev," she said, coldly acknowledging her cousin.
"Oh, Fleur," Brenev said, turning to her as if she just saw her. "I was just telling my sister that Gabrielle is a surprisingly fair dancer."
"Oui," chimed in Rusa, idly adjusting her robes to their most flattering position. "Of course, she is only a fourth, so we don't expect too much from her."
Brenev gave Fleur a condescending smile.
"Now Rusa," she said silkily, her green eyes twinkling. "Just because Fleur has chosen to embarrass herself as an 'almighty wizard' doesn't mean that Gabrielle will do the same."
Rusa giggled. "Oui, I think Gabrielle will remember that Veela and wizard contests don't agree. How did you do again Fleur? Last place? And you almost killed Gabrielle, non?"
Fleur took on an expression of aloofness, although she was seething. "Do not lower yourself to their level Fleur," she told herself sternly, holding an internal battle to hold back the worst of the snide remarks that were bubbling to the surface.
"Some of us can see beyond our place as pretty things and guard animals, and some of us cannot," she replied.
"Oh, do you mean the Veela?" asked Brenev innocently, flicking her hair. "Or fourths like yourself that have no real understanding of true Veela power? Fourths who have no choice but to work silly charms and hope some man will notice them so they can breed children their whole life!"
Rusa laughed outloud at this. Fleur's eyes darkened as she struggled to keep her composure.
"Girls!" Rusa's laughter had drawn the attention of their grandmother. Fleur, Brenev, and Rusa immediately snapped themselves to attention. Fleur's hand flew up to make sure her hair was in place while Brenev and Rusa changed their facial expressions from snide to simpering. Iwona surveyed them critically, raising one eyebrow delicately over her lovely eyes.
"How nice to see you all getting along," she said, pursing her lips. Fleur couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.
"Why, yes Grandmother," gushed Brenev. "We were admiring Gabrielle's dancing."
"I see," she said, giving Brenev another incomprehensible look. She turned to Rusa. "Have you not shared your good news?"
Rusa beamed, "Not yet Grandmother. I didn't want to steal the spotlight away from Gabrielle." She lowered her eyes modestly. A small smirk betrayed her true feelings.
"What a disgusting act," Fleur thought angrily.
"Well," Iwona replied. "I believe Gabrielle will be grateful for a true Veela role model." This time she cast a look at Fleur, the meaning of which wasn't vague at all. Fleur's face burned in embarrassment.
"Attention! Attention!" Iwona clapped her hands. "We have an announcement to make."
The room grew quiet as the Veela stopped socializing to look at Iwona. She waited for complete silence, which didn't take long to get. Iwona was one of the most esteemed Veela around. The mansion filled with treasures attested to that.
She placed an arm around Rusa. "I would like to announce the engagement of Rusa Vuks Haakon to Viktor Novak!"
The room erupted into cheers. Fleur looked over to her sister. Gabrielle had a surprised look on her face and was blinking very rapidly.
"Oh no," thought Fleur, her heart wrenching. "Not Viktor Novak! Poor Gabrielle!"
No one but Fleur knew of her sister's crush on Viktor. It was a silly crush, a child's crush on a celebrity, Fleur knew. But it was cruel for Gabrielle to learn of his engagement at her celebration. Gabrielle was so sensitive.
Fleur watched as Gabrielle plastered a fake smile on her face, clapping along with the rest of the Veela. Iwona was continuing her speech.
"Oui! Novak and Rusa! The hero and the Veela! It is just like old times." She smiled grandly at Rusa. "Perhaps you will have a mansion that will rival Harald's here, hmm?"
Rusa batted her eyelashes. "Oh, no one could rival Grandfather! Except you of course!"
The room erupted into laughter, Rusa and Iwona looked very pleased with themselves. Fleur was the only person to notice Gabrielle slip away and head outside the back of the mansion. All but forgotten herself, Fleur followed her.
Once outside the mansion, Fleur was unsure of which direction to take. To the right lay the magnificent gardens, filled with magically enhanced fauna that actually followed the person around, blooming and twisting its stems and vines as if performing a floral dance. To the left lay the pond, surrounded by tall trees. Water fairies captured and played with the moonlight, casting delightful patterns over the gentle waves.
Fleur chose left. She walked along the stone path towards the pond. Soon, she could hear someone crying softly.
"Gabrielle," she called quietly. "Gabrielle?"
She heard sniffing sounds. She turned around the trunk of a tree and found Gabrielle, desperately trying to wipe her eyes dry before Fleur could see her tears.
"Oh, hello," she said brightly. "I I just wanted some air. It was stuffy in there. I was hot from all the dancing."
"Gabrielle," admonished Fleur. "Do not lie to me."
Gabrielle looked up, her lip quivering.
"Come here," said Fleur, holding out her arms for a hug. Gabrielle leapt into them.
"Oh, Fleur. Why? Why I am being so silly?" she started sobbing again. "I know it's wrong, but," she looked up tearfully, her mouth forming a grim line. "But, I hate her!"
Fleur was a bit taken aback by Gabrielle's choice of words, but she kept silent.
"She is all wrong for him!" Gabrielle was practically yelling now. "Not that I know her that well, but, he - he is too wonderful to be caught by Veela powers."
Fleur raised an eyebrow at her.
"Not that Veela powers are bad," explained Gabrielle hastily. "It's just that a man like Novak deserves more. He's so brave, and smart, and kind, and, well, he just deserves better. He deserves someone that is equally brave and smart and kind. Not just a Veela, but a witch-Veela," she finished, not even blushing as she spoke with true conviction.
"Like you?" asked Fleur.
"Well," Gabrielle bit her lip and looked down. "I know I'm still twelve, but yes! Like me. Or like you," she gave Fleur a meaningful look.
Fleur smiled at her. "I'm not the least bit interested in Novak Gabrielle," she said.
"I know," Gabrielle replied. "But if you were, you'd have made a much better match than Rusa. She doesn't even do anything, does she?"
"Non," answered Fleur slowly.
"Then what does he see in her?" asked Gabrielle indigently.
When Fleur didn't answer Gabrielle looked at her sharply.
"You know something," she accused. "You know something and you're not telling me!" Gabrielle looked like she was going to burst into fresh tears.
"Gabrielle," started Fleur.
"Non! Tell me!" ordered Gabrielle. "Tell me right now!"
Fleur remained quiet. "Non Gabrielle," she thought. "We don't want to get into this right now. It'll only make you feel worse."
But her thoughts could not contain Gabrielle's churning mind. Her eyes widened as she began to guess.
"He, he's Metai isn't he?" she whispered.
"Yes, he is," the voice came out from the shadows, "He is full-blooded Metai in fact."
Fleur jumped, gathering Gabrielle closer to her. They looked towards the direction of the voice. The man chuckled.
"How rude of me," he said, stepping out into a stream of moonlight. "I didn't mean to startle you."
He was tall and had a craggy face. But instead of making him ugly, the lines and scars gave him the look of a wizened outdoorsman. His dark eyes showed his true age - not too young and not too old. Black hair hung down one side of his face, long bangs reaching his red mouth. He lifted half of it in a sneer. But instead of making him unfriendly, the half-smile gave him the look of a very intriguing man. They had never seen anything like him before.
"My name's Marko," He lengthened the words as he spoke. "If I'm not mistaken, I'm speaking to Ms Delacour and Ms Delacour, daughters of Lisbeth and Philippe?" he inquired.
"Gabrielle and Fleur," Gabrielle answered, quickly detaching herself from her sister. She was unable to take her eyes off the man. "How do you do?"
He nodded to Gabrielle and raised an eyebrow at Fleur, who was starting to glare at him. "I do very well," he said.
"Can we help you?" asked Fleur haughtily. "You seem to be lost. This is private property, and there is a private celebration going on." She eyed him suspiciously. "You were not invited."
Marko laughed dryly, much to her dismay. "Oh no," thought Fleur. "If this is the Marko I think it is, then I want him as far away as possible."
"I'm merely offering my assistance," he said, looking again to Gabrielle. "I was out for a stroll and I couldn't help but overhear this charming young woman, Gabrielle. She seemed upset. I didn't want to interrupt, but I wanted to make sure she was taken care of."
Gabrielle looked embarrassed and pleased all at the same time. She gave Marko a shy smile.
"She is fine," snapped Fleur, no longer trying to be polite. "I assure you, you can go."
"Wait!" Gabrielle didn't want him to go. She spared Fleur a quick glare before turning her attentions back to Marko.
"Please excuse my sister," she said sweetly. "It's been a long evening and I'm sure Fleur is just tired."
Marko strengthened his half-smile.
"It's perfectly alright," he said smoothly. Fleur scowled harder at him.
"Gabrielle," she told her sister. "We have to leave."
Gabrielle artfully darted Fleur's arm, stepping closer to Marko.
"Do you know Novak?" she asked him, ignoring her sister.
"Yes, I do," answered Marko. "He's a good man, an ambitious man, but too preoccupied with purity to notice that it's always the interesting people that gain the most out of life." He finally lifted the other half of his mouth. "People like you Gabrielle, and Fleur, and people like me."
Gabrielle looked at him, still avoiding Fleur's angry gaze. "Are you Matai as well?" she asked.
"I am," he answered. "I am also half-human. I've found that it gives me the best of both worlds." He gave Gabrielle a glance that Fleur didn't like one bit.
"Now Gabrielle!" said Fleur, forcefully grabbing her.
Marko chuckled as Fleur began to lead Gabrielle away. "Until we meet again," he called, retreating back into the shadows. Fleur hastened her step, eager to get away from him.
"Fleur!" hissed Gabrielle as soon as they were out of earshot. "Let me go!"
Fleur loosened her grip and Gabrielle squirmed away, rubbing her arm where Fleur had grabbed it.
"What were you doing back there?" Fleur asked her angrily.
"What was I doing back there?" asked Gabrielle in surprise. "What were you doing back there? I know you can be rude, but that was amazing even for you!"
Fleur shot her an icy look. "You are too young to understand," she snapped, before she realized it was entirely the wrong thing to say.
Gabrielle looked as if she had been stung. "Too young?" she yelled. "What do I have to do to prove to you that I am able to understand? I understand all about it. You were just jealous because he was paying more attention to me!"
Fleur opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted by yet another voice further up the path.
"Fleur! Gabrielle! There you are," their mother's voice floated down to them. "Where have you been? Fleur, how could you take away your sister from her own party?"
Gabrielle ran up to her mother and linked arms with her. Lisbeth smiled at her. "Oh mere," she said. "I think Fleur was a little upset to hear that Rusa was engaged." She shot a look back at Fleur, cementing the fact that she was still angry with her.
Before Fleur could protest Lisbeth was lecturing her.
"Honestly Fleur," she sighed. "Are you that jealous of Rusa? I didn't think you cared much about things like engagements at all, with all your wizard things going on, not that you have been doing much lately," she added meaningfully. Lisbeth was a witch too, but not a very good one. She was always very proud of her daughters for embracing their wizarding heritage.
"I don't" answered Fleur sullenly, giving up on hiding her emotions for the evening. "It was Gabrielle who was upset."
"Oh hush," said Lisbeth. "Jealousy is not becoming on you."
"Mere," said Gabrielle, starting to feel a little guilty about being mean to Fleur. "I have a question. If Veela can only have girl babies with Metai, then where do the Metai come from?
"Oh," said Lisbeth, "Metai are both men and women. They have babies with each other. But it's still rare, and becoming rarer, to find full-blooded Metai. Not that it really matters. Any male with at least a fourth Metai heritage can mate with Veela to have Veela children."
"Is Pere Matai?" asked Gabrielle.
"Non," Lisbeth answered. "You and Fleur would have been full-Veela! He is all wizard."
"And noble," added Gabrielle.
As they returned to the mansion, Fleur listened to her sister and mother chatter away. "I do not like this," she thought. "This Marko, he is not a nice man. There are many stories, all of them suspicious." She puzzled further. "And what was he doing here? How did he know Gabrielle and I?"
She was unable to shake the feeling that something strange was going to happen.
End Chapter 2
AN: Coming up in Chapter 3 - What
has Fleur been doing all this time since the Tri-Wizard Tournament? Who is Marko
and what does he want with the Delacour family? And how much does Gabrielle
like him? Is it a crush or something more?
As always, any and all suggestions are welcome!
