Chapter 20 Breakfast at Dobby's

Feb. 25th, 1995

I've been excused from lessons today, so Gabie and I could sleep longer than the rest. It was lovely to wake up finding her there next to me, smiling peacefully in her sleep. The pale winter sun was stealing in through the curtains, and where its rays met her hair, cascades of silver encircled her sweet face.

I had been sleeping very deeply; when I woke, I seemed to have a vague memory of dreams, but it faded so soon I cannot remember anything now. It took me a minute or two to recall what had happened yesterday, the horrible lake, the Grindylows, Gabrielle, Harry – and the kiss.

Before I could start thinking about all that, however, Gabie gave a huge yawn, stretched like a kitten, and finally opened her eyes.

"Good morning, sunshine!" I said and she cuddled into my arms, soft and warm.

"Oh, Fleur, I was so frightened it had all been a dream! I didn't dare open my eyes... So all these exciting things really did happen! And I'm here with you, and..."

"I'm happy to have you here, too, cherie, now, what do you want to do today?"

"Hmm - first I want breakfast - a real big fat ENGLISH breakfast!" she grinned at me mischievously. "I've heard so many disgusting stories about it, I want to try for myself!"

Like a weight that I had already been so used to as not to notice it any more, all my worries suddenly disappeared, and I could laugh for the first time in I don't know how long.

"I'll see what I can do for you," I told her, "but you'll have to go hungry if you find it as disgusting as all the stories say."

So we proceeded into the common room, which was deserted, as classes had already started. But now the problem was to get Gabie's wish fulfilled. True enough, as soon as we sat down at one of the tables, the usual petit dejeuner appeared, complete with croissants, coffee, cocoa and so on, but I couldn't tell how we would make the house elves prepare an English breakfast.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be content with the boring French variety," I told her, and couldn't help smiling when she pouted in that adorable way. "Hey, I know what we can do, though – we can go up to the castle next morning, they are sure to have everything there, you know. How about it?"

"All right," she sighed with exaggerated frustration, and finally attacked her croissant.

"Say, how long are you allowed to stay here, anyway?" I asked her when we had finished.

"Oh, maman didn't say," she replied. "And I didn't bother to ask her," she continued with a shrewd grin. "So it may be some days until she notices I'm not there – not to say misses me…"

Her voice faltered. She still has problems coming to terms with our mother's attitude. So I patted her back to show I understood, and it was not long before she was her cheerful self again.

***

After breakfast we went to see the unicorn foals again, and spent most of the morning with the lovely animals.

"Promise me one thing," I said to her. "Never, absolutely never go into that forest."

Of course she couldn't just say yes.

"Why not?"

"Because it's full of all sorts of dangerous creatures. That's why it's called the Forbidden Forest."

I could have kicked myself, her curiosity had, unsurprisingly, been even more aroused by my warning.

"What creatures?"

"Werewolves, vampires, spiders… You name it."

"Unicorns?"

I could not lie to her. "Yes, " I said, knowing it was a mistake even while I was saying it. "But you must not go looking for them!" I said urgently, seeing her eyes light up.

"All right, I won't," she said lightly, but I was not convinced at all.

"Really, it's too dangerous," I insisted. "Harry can tell you…"

"Harry!" she shouted delightedly, the unicorns in the forest apparently forgotten. "When can I talk to him?"

"I' m not sure, - I have no idea what lessons they are having today, but I suppose there'll always be a chance at dinner."

"But I don't want to wait so long!" she pouted, but then gave in.

***

After lunch we went on a walk round the lake, to have a closer look at the scene of yesterday's Task.

Things looked a lot more cheerful today in the mild afternoon sunshine, and I found it hard to recall my feelings of utter panic that had gripped me at the beach.

"How stupid I was to believe you were in any danger," I said to Gabie. "I could kick myself, really! If I had been calm enough, I might have been able to deal with those nasty Grindylows, and wouldn't have made such a complete fool of myself."

"Don't worry," she said, squeezing my hand. "I'm happy to know you love me so much. Also-" she looked up at me with that cute impish grin of hers, "think of the bright side…"

"The bright side? What bright side? That I ran away from some stupid Grindylows, or that I'm last now?"

"No," she interrupted. "Just think of it – what would have happened if you had been successful and had 'saved' me yourself? Or, rather, what would NOT have happened?"

I felt myself blushing.

"I wouldn't have kissed him. But, honestly, I'm not so sure it wouldn't have been better…"

"Nonsense! You don't really mean that, do you?"

And I had to admit she was right.

She shuddered in spite of the mild weather when she saw the sinister black Durmstrang ship, which, as usual, looked completely deserted and seemed to radiate a menacing coldness.

"I don't like it, let's go."

So we returned to the carriage and had some afternoon coffee and biscuits.

Again it's rather late as I'm writing this, but I've had a relaxing day, so I don't really feel tired. And there's a couple of things that happened at dinner that I should write down.

We went up to the Great Hall as usual and sat down at the Ravenclaw table. At Gabie's insistence we had gone up to the castle a bit early, because she wanted to look at everything and everybody. So we were among the first people at the table, and could watch the others entering and taking their seats.

Presently, Cho came up to us, holding hands with Cedric. The two of them seemed even closer than they had been, and could hardly take their eyes off each other.

"Oh, you two look so happy," I told them, trying to keep a note of envy out of my voice.

"Yes," she said, getting up on her toes for a quick kiss. "My hero…"

"Oh, come," Cedric muttered, blushing profusely, "You know it was just a trick."

"Still – " she stopped, then turned to me and said, "I don't care if it was a trick or not, as long as I am the thing he misses most, I'm perfectly happy!"

(Of course it's stupid and it also would have been quite impossible, but wouldn't it have been lovely if *I * had been the person for Harry to pull out of that lake? What an idiotic thought - on with the report.)

When Harry finally appeared, he was surrounded by a crowd of eagerly chatting people.

"... so I fought them," I could hear an excited voice over the general din. "And I knocked out three of them, no mistake, but there were too many, and the finally subdued me and tied me up..." It was Ron, who apparently was telling HIS version of events. I couldn't help grinning and translated what he was saying to Gabie.

"But it's not true-" she started.

"Of course not, he just wants to make himself interesting. Nobody would listen to him, if he just said he'd been sleeping all the time, not noticing a thing. That's the way he is, Harry told me..."

"Harry! Can I talk to him now?"

"Perhaps we should wait till after dinner. You can't just run over to him and talk to him, you know. You don't speak any English, and he doesn't know any French, so I'll have to interpret for you. And I don't think it's a good idea now before the meal."

She had to admit I was right, and soon she was happily digging into the stuff on her plate, steak and kidney pie, or some other unspeakable horror, and actually liking it! I do fear the worst for our English breakfast expedition tomorrow.

Finally the dessert appeared. Cho told me it was called "trifle". Another example of the absurdities of the English language: As far as I remember learning, "trifle" means something like negligible, unimportant, too small to mention, and here they served this huge bomb of calories, complete with mountains of whipped cream, and called it a "trifle"! I must admit, however, it tasted a lot nicer than the usual English main courses. Gabie enjoyed it and had a second helping.

But as soon as she had finished she grabbed my hand and pulled me from my seat.

"Harry!" she mumbled somewhat indistinctly, her mouth still full.

I felt a bit torn, to say the truth. On the one hand, I was really eager to meet him again, on the other, I felt somewhat uncomfortable going up to him in front of all these people in the Hall. But, I thought, I could always just be the interpreter and remain aloof.

So we went over to the Gryffindor table, just as the first of the students were rising from their seats.

"Harry! Attendez!" Letting go of my hand, Gabie rushed forward through the crowd. For a moment, I lost sight of her, and when I saw her again, she was standing in front of him, beaming at him. He looked a bit bewildered as she offered her had for him to shake. Hermione, the bushy haired girl, was standing next to him, and for once I could see her smile, instead of glowering, like she usually does whenever she sees me.

"Thank you for pulling me out from that awful lake!" Gabie went on, and now that I had finally caught up with her, I translated it to Harry. Hermione looked from Gabie to me and then back to her again, apparently undecided how to deal with the two of us; but at last Gabie's charms seemed to get the better of her, and she relaxed visibly. Ron, in the meantime, had walked off talking animatedly to the Indian girl he had taken to the Ball, probably about his imaginary exploits in the lake.

Harry was very much embarrassed at this praise.

"But it was nothing," he murmured, "I mean anybody would..."

"Cedric and Krum didn't," I told him dryly, and this seemed to increase his awkward feeling even further.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Harry," Hermione said very matter-of-factly. "You just did what you thought had to be done. And it only does you credit, you know."

"Well, I just couldn't leave her down there, you see... Anyway, I'm glad I did, you're such a sweet little girl, Gabrielle," he finished, bending down to her and putting his hands on her shoulders.

Of course she was flattered, when I told her what he had said. "But I'm not SO little," she said, and Harry, as well as Hermione had to laugh when I told them.

"Ask him if he knows how I can get an ENGLISH breakfast," she ordered me, basking in the attention that everybody was giving her.

"What does she mean - dejeuner anglais?" Hermione, who obviously knows a few French words, asked. It was the first time ever that she was talking to me directly.

So I told them how Gabie wanted to explore all the specialities of English cuisine, which both of them seemed to find great fun.

"And to think French cooking is considered to be the best in the world!" Even patriotic Hermione could not quite deny that English food was not among the healthiest things.

"Simple," Hermione said finally, "Just come up to the castle tomorrow morning at eight, you can get whatever you like, and taste your way through everything, from toast to fried tomatoes on bacon, baked beans to black pudding and sausages..."

"Wait a minute," Harry interrupted, and I saw that familiar mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Why not just go down to the kitchens right now? I ought to go and thank Dobby, anyway..."

I was having rather a hard time trying to translate everything for Gabie. "Dobby?" I asked.

"My friend the house elf," he said. "Without him I'd never have been able to do that Task, you know. It's a long story, perhaps I'll tell you some time."

But of course Gabie wanted to be told at once, and I also didn't feel disinclined to hear it. So he told us that he had not been able to find any way to survive under water, and that only in the very morning of the Task itself, Dobby had woken him up and given him the Gillyweed that had enabled him to complete the Task.

"But isn't it unusual for a human to be friends with a house elf?" I asked, which earned me another glare from Hermione.

"Oh, you think you're superior to them, too?" she said and I was surprised at the anger in her voice.

"That's another long story," Harry said, before I could reply. "And if you want to get that sample of English breakfast now, there is not time enough to tell it. It's almost nine o'clock, and we are not allowed to be outside after ten. Although - " and he grinned again, "it would be interesting to see what old Filch would do if he caught you."

"Who is Filch?" Gabie asked, and so I had to tell her.

"How funny! Why don't we let ourselves be caught? He couldn't really do anything, we don't belong here, it's Madame Maxime's job..."

"Great!" Harry patted her on the back, laughing. "We'll get along fine, it seems we have a lot in common, you and me."

Hermione was less than amused. "Yes, I'm sure you have; only if YOU behave like an eight-year-old, it's not really cute, but something else. And anyway, she ought to be in bed by ten at the latest."

I could only agree.

"Of course; and I do think it will be the best to postpone the expedition to the kitchen, too. - Yes, Gabie, for one thing, you have been eating such a lot already I don't think any more will do you good, and you really should be in bed, too. I'm sure there will be plenty of chances still."

"Hey, I've just remembered," Harry added, "Tomorrow's Friday, and we only have History of Magic at half ten. So why don't we meet here at nine to go to the kitchens together? Just don't eat too much breakfast before you come..."

So, although reluctantly, Gabie finally let me take her back to the carriage, where she fell asleep almost at once, leaving me some time for writing this.

I think I can be quite satisfied; the kiss doesn't seem to have had any effect on Harry (or on Ron, for that matter, which would have been absolutely awful!), he has not changed in any way and behaves just like always. Gabie of course adores him, and I admire the way he treats her. As for myself, I do enjoy his company, perhaps even more than before. Also, it's wonderful that none of us has the slightest idea about the Third Task, so there will be absolutely no feeling of competition at least for the next three months.

I hope Gabie will be allowed to stay for a long time, everything is much more fun with her.

Feb. 26th, 1995

Another laid-back day. Although I have heard a few interesting things from and about Harry Potter, nothing extraordinary has happened.

As we had agreed, we went up to the castle in the morning and were met in the Great Hall by Harry, Hermione and the inevitable Ron. About him, however, I noted something strange: While he had always turned into a misty-eyed, stammering half-wit, unable to utter any coherent sentences, whenever he set eyes on me, he apparently had no difficulty now to enter into a comprehensible conversation. True, he still had a somewhat glazed look, but compared to his previous behaviour it was a fundamental change.

"A good idea to use the Equanimity Charm," I told him, "It makes things a lot easier."

"Equa- what?"

"You mean you haven't – " I was speechless. "But how – "

He looked at me blankly.

"It's true," Hermione said, and for the first time she looked at me in an almost friendly way, "You are actually looking intelligent – or not any less intelligent than usual – and I remember only too well how you behaved with her last time…"

She still couldn't bring herself to say my name it seemed.

"For some reason the Veela charm doesn't work on you any more, mate." Harry was first to realise what this obviously meant.

"I wonder why?" Hermione murmured thoughtfully.

"No matter!" It was, of course, Harry, who interrupted our thoughts. And in fact, Gabie had already become a bit impatient. "Let's start on our expedition!"

He led us down some flights of stairs into a corridor that was lit with many torches. On the walls there were several paintings, all of them showing various kinds of food. We stopped in front of a picture of a silver bowl of fruit.

"Watch this," Harry said, and he started tickling a green pear in the picture. It was funny to watch, and Gabie gasped in surprise, as the pear squirmed, chuckling, and finally became a door handle, which Harry grabbed. A door opened, and we found ourselves in the kitchens.

Now I have never been in the Beauxbatons kitchens, so I have no idea what they look like; at any rate, the Hogwarts kitchens are enormous, they must be exactly under the Great Hall, and are also the same size, which means HUGE. There were loads of brass pots and pans everywhere, and a large number of house elves were scuttling all over the place, obviously clearing away the remains of the breakfast.

Harry stopped at the top of the few steps scanning the room, looking for something. He didn't have to look for a long time, with a scream of "Harry Potter, sir!" an elf came dashing towards him.

I've hardly ever seen any house elves before. I've come across our own house elves at Delacour Manor occasionally, but I always had the impression they preferred not to be seen. The creature that was now hugging Harry around the knees was, therefore, the first one that I actually noticed. And the thing that struck me as remarkable was that it - or he, I suppose I should rather say - was dressed in a very strange way. Of course I know that house elves, as a sign of their servitude, can't wear clothes. Our own ones at home get tea towels or napkins embroidered with the Delacour monogram, and all the elves here were clothed in a similar way. This particular elf, however, was wearing clothes, - not anything that could be considered proper attire, but definitely clothing: kids' football shorts a T-shirt of violent purple, horribly mismatching socks and a tea cosy as a hat.

"This is Dobby," Harry said to Gabie and me, gently loosening the elf's grip round his knees. "Here, Dobby," he said to the elf, crouching down so his own face was level with his. "I wanted to thank you for your help, and I've got you these-" And he pulled a parcel from his robes and handed it to the elf, who took it, beaming at Harry with his enormous eyes.

"Harry Potter is too kind to Dobby," he said in his high pitched voice. "Harry Potter is always giving Dobby presents, and has given Dobby the greatest present already…"

While he was saying this, he had opened his parcel, which contained a pair of socks, and it struck me as strange that they were of completely different design and colour. Harry must have seen my expression, because he turned to me with a huge grin.

"Dobby thinks socks must be different, the more the better, so I'm giving him these – I have another pair, of course, and I'll give him that on the next occasion."

I duly translated for Gabie, and she also thought it was very funny.

"But now to business," Harry said briskly. "Dobby, these are my friends from Beauxbatons, do you think you can get them some breakfast, you know, all the stuff, black pudding, white pudding, beans on toast…"

"Yes, Harry Potter, sir, Dobby is delighted , he is seeing to it at once!" And after a deep bow to Gabie and me he zoomed off into the depth of the kitchens.

"Let's find seats somewhere," Ron spoke for the first time since we had arrived. "If I know the little blighters, they'll be back with their trays in no time."

"Don't call them little blighters!" Hermione hissed angrily. I could not understand why, but was relieved her anger was not directed against me for once.

Ron, who seemed familiar with the reason of her anger, shrugged and steered us towards a large rough oak table, where we sat down. And indeed, in an astonishingly short time Dobby was there again, together with four other elves, each of them carrying an enormous tray full of food.

"Ah, just the thing!" Ron grabbed knife and fork and turned his attention to the tray in front of him.

"Ron!" Hermione's voice was reproachful. "It's just about an hour and a half since breakfast!"

"So what?" his reply was indistinct, as he had just filled his mouth with an enormous piece of what I believed was black pudding. Then he went on more clearly, "You know, I'm actually doing them a favour, they love doing all this…"

Hermione scowled at him but said nothing.

Gabie, who had been clever enough not to eat anything in the carriage, attacked her tray heartily, and I was surprised that she didn't seem to be bothered by the strange taste of the dishes. I thought it wise not to tell her exactly what black or white pudding consists of, though. The only thing she didn't like were the sausages, so there is still some hope that her good taste has not been completely ruined yet.

All the wile, Dobby was dashing around our table, pouring tea for us, beaming at Harry and making small delighted noises, rather like a bird.

"Why is Harry friends with a house elf?" Gabie inquired in between two mouthfuls. "And why don't we even see them at home?"

"Why you don't see them?" Hermione said grimly, having understood that part without my translation. "I'll tell you. Because they are slaves, and who wants to be irritated by the uncomfortable aspect of slaves? Disturbs your conscience doesn't it? Wizards think they are something better, but just imagine where you'd be without the house elves!"

"Oh dear," Ron groaned between two bites of bacon, "now you've set her going again! Hermione – they LIKE working!"

"Yes, because they've been brainwashed for centuries –"

"Anyway," Harry interrupted her, "in our second year, Dobby here tried to protect me – well actually he almost killed me in the process – against the strict orders of his master. And I could trick old Malfoy into setting him free – that's why he is so attached to me."

"And now he's working here, and I hope he'll set an example and the others will develop a taste for freedom, too," Hermione added, looking at Ron stubbornly.

"Fat chance!" Ron retorted.

Finally Gabie had finished stuffing herself with an enormous variety of all the unwholesome stuff on her tray.

"I like English food!" she told Harry in what she thought was English, but it was near enough for him to understand what she meant.

"I'd never have thought a small girl could eat that much," he said, grinning at her. "But you have hardly eaten anything, Fleur."

"I'm sorry, I just can't – and these puddings give me the shivers. I don't understand her myself. I just hope she's not going to be sick."

(Which, of course, is exactly what she was an hour and a half later, and still is now, at lunchtime.)

We said our goodbyes to Dobby, who kept telling Harry to come as often as he felt like it, and that it was always an honour to serve Harry Potter, sir, and his friends, which made Hermione scowl again.

On our way through the corridors, we met a group of students. Only after they had passed I realized what had been strange: The boys among them, although they had looked at me interestedly, had not shown any of the symptoms of the Veela charm, no dazed looks, no open drooling mouths, no bumping into pillars with turned heads! I mentioned my impression to Hermione.

"I've noticed too," she told me. "Something must have happened to that Veela charm of yours. I wonder what it may have been… Shall we do some research in the library?" She added with an eager tone in her voice.

I was surprised at her sudden cooperativeness.

"I'd love to; I don't understand it in the least, but it's a relief, I can tell you… I do hope it will last."

And we agreed to meet tomorrow morning to start our research.

***

"Are you using the Equanimity charm?" I asked Cedric when we met at dinner.

"Yes, of course," he replied. "It's become something like second nature to me by now."

"Although I sometimes have to remind him to take it off when he is with me," Cho said wickedly, and Cedric turned an interesting shade of red. "Why are you asking?"

"It's just that there is something strangely different. Can you just take it off for a moment - for an experiment?"

"All right," Cho consented, "but I'll keep an eye on you..." I think she was only half joking.

"Finite Incantatem!" Cedric said, pointing his wand at himself.

"And? Do you notice anything?" I asked.

He looked at me in a puzzled way.

"Not really. I mean, I see you are a good looking girl and all, but there's no difference in the way I feel - no, there's definitely no charm about you - I mean, no magic charm..." he trailed off, sounding confused.

"That's what I wanted to test," I told them. Something seems to have happened to that stupid Veela charm. It doesn't seem to work any more - not that I miss it," I added hastily.

"Indeed," Cho said. "Now that you mention it... of course, most of the guys are still ogling you, but there's nothing of the mental deficiency in theose looks any more. I wonder why?"

"You can imagine that's what I've been wondering about ever since I realised it. Hermione Granger promised she'd do some research about it with me..."

"Good idea. If anybody can find out about this, it's her."

***

Gabie has recovered from being sick, and she has promised not to eat so much ever again. I'm quite sure, however, that she'll have for gotten about this promise by tomorrow. And she insists on spending as much time with Harry Potter as she can, while she is here. There has been no message about her having to go back yet, which is wonderful. I wonder how long it will take Maman to realise she wants her to come back.

And of course I'm eager to find out what happened to the Veela charm...

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thanks to all the reviewers. Sorry I overlooked that tiny detail of Moody/Crouch confessing to Harry that it was HIM who told Cedric about the second task. Even if I suppose it happened after Fleur told him, Cedric would still have mentioned it. Naturally, this is getting more and more of an AU story, even if I intend not to contradict book 4 if I can help it. The next few chapters will be more or less my own invention, because there are still four months to cover until the third task.

I'm also thinking of doing a sequel to this, which, of course, will have to be completely AU. Tell me if you think it's a good idea.