Title: Big Sister
Summary: Fleur has a little sister now.
Disclaimer: I own the idea, Fleur's Mama, and Tuwella.
Author's Notes: This was written as a challenge I set down; Why, exactly is Fleur so relieved when Gabrielle is saved by Harry and Ron? Why is she so protective of her little sister...especially when, up until that moment, she seemed quite self-centred? Write a fic explaining it. I'll write one too.
Mama was one of those women who expected their children to fully appreciate Da Vinci and Sophocles at bitth. She wasn't willing to listen to crying all day long, or to have grubby fingers clinging to her silk robes, smearing sticky jam over everything.
As a result, Fleur grew up with the House Elves as caretakers, under the biarre impression that she was an odd looking House Elf, and that 'Mama' was just a pretty woman who cooed at her in garbled French that made absolutely no sense, and, for some reason, thought her name was Fleurie.
By the time she was five, however, she knew this wasn't the case. The realisation came about when she was cruelly yanked from Tuwella's comforting arms, and handed over to Mama, who had decided she was old enough to learn how to become a 'lady'.
For six hours every day Fleur was forced to sit on a hard chair in Mama's rose scented sitting room, reciting the history of their family, learning Greek, Spanish, Latin, Italian, Bulgarian, and, to a lesster extent, English. She learnt how to walk, talk, sit, act, put on make up, dress, and do her hair. She learnt which fork to use for fish, and how to talk to Foreign Dignitaries. She learnt about art, science, philosophy, literature, and how to embroider and play the harp and piano. But, most importantly, she was taught how to use her Veelan Charms to get men. Rich men.
Fleur counted down the minutes to when she could escape to the kitchens and talk to Tuwella about whatever came into her blonde head, learning how to cook pastries and croissants as she did so.
But when she was nine, the lessons suddnely stopped. Fleur was once again exiled to the kitchen. Relieved, but bewildered, Fleur made her way to Mama's rooms by the servant passages, determined to solve the mystery behind her banishment and the whispered mentions of a new bébé around Delacour Manor.
She'd opened the door to Mama's sitting room, and found a cradle in the middle of the pink and grey room. Inside, dressed in shell pink to match the drapes, her light silver-blonde hair already long, was a sleeping little girl.
So this was the reason. She, Fleur, had a little sister.
Most little girls would have been jealous, but Fleur knew Mama would soon lose interest when the novelty of having a new fille had worn off. Then she, Fleur, would be there, to look after Gabrielle (her name was embroidered on the grey silk eiderdown) with the help of Tuwella and the other House Elves. She would be the one to explain Mama's flights and fancies to her petite soeur. She could give Gabrielle the guidance that she, Fleur, had lacked in deciphering Mama's moods.
She'd be the best grande soeur ever.
End Ficlet
bébé: baby
fille: daughter
petite soeur: little sister
grande soeur: big sister
