Charlie and Fleur
Fleur let out a deep sigh as she walked up the walk towards the Burrow as she remembered how long it had been since Bill had owled her. She made a point to owl him at least once a week, but he rarely owled back. Once a month if she was lucky. She felt like she never got to talk to him anymore, with him always in Egypt, or some other exotic place like that cracking curses and her in London. And it was putting a definite strain on the relationship. She liked him alright, but sometimes, when she was lonely like this and allowed herself to dwell on their relationship too much, she thought that she was rather more attracted to him, than his personality. And although she'd told him multiple times she loved him, and always signed her owls, Love, Fleur, she knew that he wasn't the one for her. He wasn't the one she wanted to spend her life with. Her mind drifted against her will, to another tall redheaded man, who also happened to be apart of the Weasley family.Stop it! You cannot zink about 'im today, I forbid you! Today you will see Bill, 'ave fun, and leave 'ere convinced that you really do love 'him. She told herself, as she walked gracefully up the steps and knocked one of her perfectly manicured hands on the door.
The door opened and- "Mrs. Weasley! 'ello," said Fleur as she was engulfed in one of Molly Weasley's infamous hugs. The year she had spent working as an ambassador for the English Ministry in London had served to somewhat diminish her heavy French accent, but nevertheless it was still very noticeable whenever she spoke"It's lovely to see you dear! Just lovely, I'm so excited! So happy you could come! Arthur's just figured out how to make some muggle object work, he's dying to show somebody," she said warmly, pulling back from the embrace so she could get a look at Fleur. "Something called the smallwave, no, tinywave? Oh I know! The microwave! He's out in the shed if you'd like to see it," she shouted over her shoulder as she bustled into the kitchen.
Fleur took off her cloak and hung it on the peg, then surveyed the now-familiar living room of the burrow. She saw Ginny walk out of the kitchen, struggling with two very big bowls.
"'ello Ginny, need some 'elp," she said in greeting as she took one of the bowls and followed Ginny into the dining room, setting the bowl down on the humongous table that filled the whole room and never failed to amaze her when she visited.
"Thanks," said Ginny throwing her a grateful look. Then seeming to remember who she was talking to, launched herself at Fleur and gave her a big hug, "You're here," she yelled happily.
After Bill and Fleur had started dating, right after she moved to London, she'd spent a lot of time at the Burrow. To her surprise, she'd discovered that the lanky, plain looking, carrot-headed girl she'd seen in Hogwarts the year of the Triwizard tournament had grown into a tall, beautiful woman, her hair now auburn.
She certainly 'as filled out. She remembered thinking.
And along with spending so much of her time there, inevitably came the friendship and loving that the Weasley's seemed to pour onto anybody who gave them half a chance. Growing up she'd usually only had her sister Gabrielle for company, her parents being out of town most of the time, and when she wasn't away at school they'd had a slew of different nanny's looking after them, always leaving before they could get close to any of them. It had been a lonely childhood, and so the love and compassion held in the small house sometimes overwhelmed Fleur, though she was always grateful for it. Much to her surprise, the more time she sent there, the closer she became to Ginny, and before she knew it, they had become close friends.
"You just noticed zat," Fleur teased.
"No, it just hit me," Ginny replied laughing.
Following Ginny out into the hall she questioned, "Where is Bill?"
Looking uncomfortable Ginny replied, "Er, he's um, not here."
"Is 'e late," she asked.
"Um, no," Ginny replied running a hand nervously through her hair. "Not exactly. . ."
"Zen where is 'he," Fleur questioned.
"He's um, sort of not coming," she said slowly.
"Why," Fleur asked, her deep blue eyes coming to life in a flash of anger. "'e did not inform me of zis!"
"He said he had some work to catch up on. . . I think," Ginny replied timidly.
"I see," said Fleur icily.
"I'm sorry Fleur, I know how much you were looking forward to see him."
"It's okay," Fleur sighed. "I will 'ave fun anyways," Fleur mustered a smile to reassure Ginny.
Giving her a wide smile, Ginny beckoned her into the living room, "George and Fred have been dying to see you, they've got a new trick they're testing though, so I'd be careful around them." Fleur laughed and said she would. "Oh, and Charlie's visiting from Romania." Fleur's heart started racing when she heard his name.
You are going out wiz Bill. You are going out wiz Bill. She repeated to herself over and over as she made her way into the room.
"Fleur! How-" George yelled, bounding up from the couch.
"Are you? I'm so happy to see you," Fred finished following behind his twin.
"'ello boys, 'ow are you," Fleur asked, swatting George's- or maybe it was Fred's, hand away when they tried to shake her hand. "I don't trust you," she teased.
"I am very hurt, Fleur, heartbroken," George said in mock sorrow.
"I'm sure," Fleur replied. She lifted her eyes over Fred's shoulder and saw Charlie sitting on the couch, watching her. As she met his eyes she felt her heart begin to beat wildly, and her pulse quicken.
She watched him stand up, unfolding his lean form from his sitting position, I shouldn't notice 'ow zose dragon hide trousers, zey 'ug ees body, but sacre bleu! She thought, and walk over to her.Even with her highest heels on, he towered over her.
"Fleur," he said simply, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Charlie," she replied, trying desperately to resist the urge to throw her arms around him and press her body up against his.
If she had known, Fleur would have been very surprised, for Charlie's thoughts were along much of the same lines.
How does he stay away for so long, Charlie wondered about Bill. If I was lucky enough to be going out with her, I'd never leave the bedroom, he thought, a wicked smile coming over his face. He saw Fleur look a bit taken aback at his look, and unconsciously lick her lips, causing even more thoughts that he definitely should not be thinking about his brother's girlfriend to run through his head.
Fleur reached up and lightly put her arms around his neck in a dainty hug, standing on tiptoe to do so, and causing her to lean heavily against his body for support, soliciting a very unwelcome reaction from his body. She pulled back, and in doing so, her body brushed against his, letting him get a feel for what was under those robes of hers.
Bloody hell, not now! He thought as his body started to react. Must do something, think! It wouldn't do for Fleur, or anybody to see what she was doing to him, so he did the only thing he could think of:
Welsh Green- Native to Wales, eats sheep, nests in high mountains-
She just flipped her hair over her shoulder, crap this is not good.
Ukranian Ironbelly- Lives in Ukraine, largest bre-
She just- Did she just brush her hand against her lips? Does that mean something? What does it mean??
Norwegian Ridgeback, Swedish Short-snout-
Do not think about how long your brother's girlfriend's legs are, or how the shirt strains over her chest, damn!
Hungarian Horntail, Peruvian Vipertooth, Romanian Longhord-
Do not look at her lips. Don't- you fool, I said NOT to look at her lips! Abort, abort, look away!!
Chinese Fierball, Hebridean Blacks, Antipodea Opaleye-
Do not think about how much you want to run your hands over her- stop it man! You're not going to be able to resist if you keep doing this much longer!
"Charlie, are you okay," Fleur asked, shooting him an apprehensive look, jolting him back to reality.
"Yes-" he squeaked. He cleared his throat, "Yes, I'm fine. Just peach." Peachy? You dolt! Who says peachy, of all things? Except Mum that is.
She nodded slowly and gave him a small, uncertain smile, and Charlie tried his best to smile weakly back.
"I'll, erm, be right back, just going for a walk in the cold," he said hurriedly, backing out of the doorway, which led to him tripping over a book lying on the floor and sent him to the ground.
"Charlile," Fleur cried, rushing over to him. "'ere let me 'elp you." She put her hand on his arm and attempted to pull him up.
"No!" Charlie snatched his arm back hurriedly, ignoring the injured look in her eyes at his violent action. "I'm okay," he said in a gentler voice. "But thanks." And with that he got up and walked out the door, leaving Fleur standing alone shivering in the draft from the door.
Later, just before they sat down to dinner Fleur saw Charlie walk in, looking much more composed, despite his hair sticking up haphazardly and his face bright red from the wind. He sat down quietly at the other end of the table and avoided her eyes.
She found herself staring at him all through dinner, despite the warnings she gave herself.
Somebody's going to see. Zey will figure it out. She dragged her eyes down to her plate. Figure what out? I do NOT feel anyzing for 'im zat isn't purely platonic. Her eyes flickered over to him again, of their own will. Tired of fighting herself, she surrendered and allowed herself to look at him.
A few minutes later, as she was contemplating whether his eyes were hazel with a ring of gold along the outside, our brown with gold flecked throughout, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Fleur? Fleur! Hello," Ginny said impatiently, her eyes flickering over to where Fleur had been looking a moment ago, confusion in her eyes.
"Oh, sorry, yes," Fleur asked quickly, hoping to make Ginny forget about who she had just been staring at, putting two and two together and coming to a conclusion that would most likely not have pleasant consequences.
Ginny turned towards Fleur, studying her face, then said slowly, "I was just asking you to pass the mashed potatoes."
"Oh yes, of course!" Fleur passed the mashed potatoes.
"Zat was delicious Mrs. Weasley," Fleur complimented after dinner, while she was helping to clean the table.
"Thank you dear, I'm glad you liked it," Mrs. Weasley replied as she walked past, patting Fleur's cheek as she did so.
Fleur put the dishes by the sink and walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch beside Ginny.
"I'm bored, do you want to go for a walk," Ginny asked.
"Why not," Fleur said smiling. "I will go get ze cloaks."
"Anybody else want to come," Ginny asked, addressing the whole room.
"I will," volunteered Charlie jumping up from the couch. He made his way over to the cloak rack and grabbed his cloak, brushing against Fleur's arm as he did so. He suddenly became very aware of their close proximity.
"Hurry up, what's taking so long," Ginny yelled impatiently from by the door.
Fleur brushed past him without saying a word, and he grabbed his cloak and strode to the door.
The night air provided some much needed coldness to Charlie's body, and the stars and moon were bright overhead. The three walked in silence until they came to the crest of the hill just beyond the garden.
"Oh, I've just remembered, I was supposed to be meeting somebody tonight, I've gotta go," Ginny said apologetically, saying quick good-bye's and running down the path in the direction they had come.
"That was weird," stated Charlie.
"Yes, it was," said Fleur nervously, wondering if she should say something more, but not knowing what. A heavy silence fell over the pair as they walked along the path, each wanting to say something, but not daring to break the invisible barrier between them.
Several times Charlie opened his mouth, ready to say something, but closed his mouth at the last second and lost his nerve.
They'd been walking for close to half an hour, and were walking through a small patch of woods, with the large trees hanging over the path, their branches reaching down and brushing the ground. The holes in the leaves allowed a little light to filter through, leaving Charlie and Fleur in a faint semi-darkness. Suddenly the clouds moved over the moon, sending them into complete darkness.
"What 'appened," Fleur cried frantically. "Where are you?"
"Fleur, don't worry I'm right here," he said taking her hand. When their skin touched he felt the familiar fever flushing through his body, and he concentrated, or tried to, on the path ahead.
An owl hooted in the distance, and Fleur pressed her body flush against Charlie's, throwing her arms around him and burying her head in his chest.
Deciding he had to do something quick, before his body had time to solicit another unwelcome reaction, he teased, "Why Fleur, are you afraid of the dark?"
"So what if I am," she challenged, though it came out more like a whimper.
"Well if you were, I was thinking that we should maybe do something about it, to take your mind off it, to keep ourselves occupied," he suggested, hoping she caught his hidden meaning, because he didn't think he had the guts to explain it plainly. Her gasp told him she had understood perfectly.
He felt her raise her head, and sensed in the darkness her gaze on him.
"What would you suggest," she asked.
"This."
And with that he lowered his lips toward hers, or where he thought they would be anyway. He found them after searching for a few seconds, and covered her mouth with his, sending electricity coursing through both their bodies.
Charlie broke away, panting heavily. "This is wrong."
"I do not care," said Fleur haughtily, "because it feels so right."
A/N: Ok, some thanks are in order, or credit, or w/e. First of all, thanks to Kerichi, for the 'I shouldn't notice 'ow zose dragon hide trousers, zey 'ug ees body, but sacre bleu!' line, which she told me I could use, and the part where Charlie is reciting Dragons in between thinking endearing comments about Fleur, which she gave, too. And then, she gave me six of the names of the dragons, and I got four of the other names and all the info I used about them from here:
And also, thanks to all my reviewers! (who reviewed ch. 1)
So thanks to:
Dibby, khamsin, ThinkingOfaName, Jen Sue, The Gossip Queen, Miss Court A Doo, and RonandHerm4eva- Thanks so much for reviewing, I hope you liked this chap as much as the other ones!
Jenna1980- I feel honored that yours is the first Harry Potter story that I ever read. May I suggest some more to you? Remember Cedric Diggory has an LJ/ story, though theres only two chapters out cough cough (HINT CEDRIC!!), then Kerichi has some other really good stories (a D/g one, and one w/ Snape, that are really good if you are into that stuff), then eyeshadow5746 has a couple really good L/J ones, too!
OneDayFamous- Lol I love the warm, fuzzy feeling. Thanks for reviewing, I hope you liked this chap, too!
Alternativeluna- I love your name, Luna is way too misrepresented. She hardly ever gets talked about, go Luna! And yes, I was happy, : P lol.
Trixie-Chan- I love one shot pieces, too, especially fluffly ones. I hope you like all the other chapters that are coming your way for this story!
Remember Cedric Diggory: My bestest Cedric friend, I must beg of you TO UPDATE YOUR LJ FIC SOON BEFORE IM FORCED TO COME AND HOLD A CHAINSAW OVER YOUR HEAD!!!!
MoonyHPgirl- Thanks so much! If you read any of my other stories, tell me if you like 'em!