The Mirror of Erised
Chapter Sixteen
By Jewel Little Bird
Fleur slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on a bed in the infirmary, facing the ceiling. She'd been thwarted yet again. Maybe I should wait until it is night, she thought, and then shuddered. The idea terrified her. A tear fell out of the corner of her eye.
"I see you are finally awake," the Headmaster's voice said. She turned towards it and saw Dumbledore sitting on a chair beside the bed. "Severus and Argus have told me that this is the second time you've tried to end your life."
More tears fell from her eyes, making his image blurry. "I 'ave never felt zis terrible," she whimpered. "I keep zinking I could 'ave at least saved Gabrielle. I just can't forgive myself."
He nodded. "Yes, and I can understand that, but that doesn't make it the end of the world." He leaned forward a bit. "I know it hurts, and I also know why it hurts you more than it would if you were a full human. You are part veela, and therefore emotions rarely, if ever, overcome your reason. You've never lost something that meant the world to you, so you've never felt so unhappy. The feeling is alien to you, which is why you feel you must stop it by taking your life. Just remember this: you are not the only one who has lost someone and feels guilt about it, and if they can survive, so can you." With that, he got up and left.
@
Fleur returned to her teaching duties the next day, surprised that the whole school wasn't discussing her attempted suicide. Later I the day, Harry's owl delivered her a note saying that he and his friends had promised they wouldn't speak about it, and that they would've come in person if they hadn't gotten in trouble for hexing Draco Malfoy and his two friends (apparently, the Slytherins would be in the hospital wing for a week as a result).
Although she had mentally promised herself she wouldn't try to kill herself again (she assumed that Dumbledore had been talking about Harry, and he was certainly surviving; if he could do it, so could she), she found she didn't have much of an appetite anymore and ate very little of her meals. After a few weeks of this, she heard students whispering among themselves when they thought she couldn't hear, saying that she was beginning to resemble Remus Lupin when he first arrived at Hogwarts two years before.
She was walking down the hall, feeling a rotten headache coming on. She was due to start her period soon, and she wasn't looking forward to it.
"De'Lacour."
She stopped and turned. Snape stood next to her, having just come out from behind a tapestry. "Professor?"
He held out a vial. "Your potion for your," he turned a bit green, "period."
She took it, surprised. "'Ow did you know I was due to start?"
He shrugged. "You always get a headache two days before you start, and I've become a bit of an expert at seeing if someone is not feeling well."
"Oh." She smiled a bit. "Zank you." She put the vial in her pocket, turned again, and promptly fainted.
@
End of Chapter Sixteen
Fleur slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on a bed in the infirmary, facing the ceiling. She'd been thwarted yet again. Maybe I should wait until it is night, she thought, and then shuddered. The idea terrified her. A tear fell out of the corner of her eye.
"I see you are finally awake," the Headmaster's voice said. She turned towards it and saw Dumbledore sitting on a chair beside the bed. "Severus and Argus have told me that this is the second time you've tried to end your life."
More tears fell from her eyes, making his image blurry. "I 'ave never felt zis terrible," she whimpered. "I keep zinking I could 'ave at least saved Gabrielle. I just can't forgive myself."
He nodded. "Yes, and I can understand that, but that doesn't make it the end of the world." He leaned forward a bit. "I know it hurts, and I also know why it hurts you more than it would if you were a full human. You are part veela, and therefore emotions rarely, if ever, overcome your reason. You've never lost something that meant the world to you, so you've never felt so unhappy. The feeling is alien to you, which is why you feel you must stop it by taking your life. Just remember this: you are not the only one who has lost someone and feels guilt about it, and if they can survive, so can you." With that, he got up and left.
@
Fleur returned to her teaching duties the next day, surprised that the whole school wasn't discussing her attempted suicide. Later I the day, Harry's owl delivered her a note saying that he and his friends had promised they wouldn't speak about it, and that they would've come in person if they hadn't gotten in trouble for hexing Draco Malfoy and his two friends (apparently, the Slytherins would be in the hospital wing for a week as a result).
Although she had mentally promised herself she wouldn't try to kill herself again (she assumed that Dumbledore had been talking about Harry, and he was certainly surviving; if he could do it, so could she), she found she didn't have much of an appetite anymore and ate very little of her meals. After a few weeks of this, she heard students whispering among themselves when they thought she couldn't hear, saying that she was beginning to resemble Remus Lupin when he first arrived at Hogwarts two years before.
She was walking down the hall, feeling a rotten headache coming on. She was due to start her period soon, and she wasn't looking forward to it.
"De'Lacour."
She stopped and turned. Snape stood next to her, having just come out from behind a tapestry. "Professor?"
He held out a vial. "Your potion for your," he turned a bit green, "period."
She took it, surprised. "'Ow did you know I was due to start?"
He shrugged. "You always get a headache two days before you start, and I've become a bit of an expert at seeing if someone is not feeling well."
"Oh." She smiled a bit. "Zank you." She put the vial in her pocket, turned again, and promptly fainted.
@
End of Chapter Sixteen