Chapter Two
Breaking Down
The silver-haired girl walked down the dark country road, finally being able to get back home from work in the early hours of morning. Previously moving to London from France for job purposes, Fleur Delacour had become adjusted easily, perfecting her English almost as faultless as the next person. She was in a rush however, not having been home the previous night, leaving her kid sister to take care of herself. Unfortunately, that was the way things had been lately.
With a wave of her wand, the door unlocked as she went in and headed up the flight of stairs. She cracked open one of the doors to see a small figure, fast asleep in the bed, tightly hugging a pillow against her chest. Carefully, not to wake her too abruptly, Fleur crawled onto her bed, gently shaking the girl's shoulder.
"Gabby."
The young Delacour lazily opened her eyes to see her sister on top of her, looking even more tired than she was. Her long, silver hair was not in any way as elegant as it normally was. The areas around her exhausted eyes were dark from the lack of sleep. She'd been wearing the same jeans and jacket for the last three days. Fleur looked a mess and had appeared the same for what seemed like forever. Sleepless nights had taken their affect on her.
"You didn't get any sleep last night, did you?" Gabrielle glared at her sister. "You know, I'm the thirteen year old so you should be the one looking after me, not the other way around. Ever since we moved here, you've been losing it with this auror stuff."
Fleur lowered her head, knowing it was all true. She was being a terrible sister. In fact, she'd barely seen any of Gabrielle in the past few days due to all the trouble going on with the ministry. Aurors were working to the extremes these days, risking their lives every night of the job. In that one week, four aurors had lost their lives, all rumored to be at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange.
"I'm sorry, Gabs," Fleur apologized. "Today's going to be better though. Alastor gave me the day off, said he couldn't stand to see me like this anymore."
"And neither can I," Gabrielle stared angrily. "So you're going to spend today sleeping."
"I just moved out of dad's, but yet he's coming out through you," Fleur laughed but noticed her sister's look remain serious. "Gabby, I'll be fine. Work's just a little crazy right now, but it'll be back to normal soon."
"Really, Fleur, do you mean soon as in next week or as in when the death eaters stop killing people?" the young Delacour crossed her arms. "Sometimes I just wish..."
Gabrielle's voice trailed off and the small child broke into tears, covering her face with her hands and collapsing down on the bed. Fleur felt heartbroken, knowing all of this was her fault. She lay down over her sister and wrapped her arms tightly around her waist, softly kissing her face several times.
"I just wish you weren't an auror," Gabrielle finished, her voice choking as she spoke. "I have heard about what happened to those aurors, you know. I see those scars that weren't there when I saw you last along with your clothes red from the blood that's not your own, and I get scared. When you don't come home some nights, I can't help but think you might be..."
Fleur took her baby sister in her arms, holding her small form tightly against her chest as she sobbed. She winced at the feeling of Gabrielle's nails in her back, as if the girl was holding on to her for dear life. Gently, she stroked her beautiful, silver hair, feeling like crying herself, but found she had simply no more tears left, all shed the following week for her fellow aurors.
"Things do get a little nasty sometimes, but I'll always comeback, Gabs," Fleur pulled apart from the young girl, locking eyes with her. "There's nothing to worry about. I promise."
"I wish I could believe you," Gabrielle sighed before getting out of bed and heading for the door. She turned around and looked at Fleur before leaving. "I just hope one day, I can see my sister again."
The remark hit Fleur hard like a blow to the head, as she watched Gabrielle leave the room, head lowered. It had just then occurred to Fleur how much of an effect she was having on her Gabrielle and how much she had her frightened. Chasing after her would be pointless since it was obvious the kid didn't want to be followed. Just now realizing exactly how tired she was, Fleur grabbed the pillow her sister had been sleeping with and held it against her, quickly falling asleep for her first time in three days soon after.
Gabrielle sat in a corner of the room downstairs, head buried in her knees, while tears flowed like waterfalls from her eyes. Even when she was awake, the nightmares still haunted her. Every night the same one would replay itself, the one of Fleur and the other aurors in the middle of a foggy field facing the masked devils she'd come to know as death eaters. The image of the raven-haired woman's wand sending out a wave of green light that collided with Fleur's chest. Her sister's eyes would grow lifeless as her body fell to the ground, never to get up again.
If Fleur had ever been there at night, she would know about her sister's nightmares and how she would awake screaming and crying, but Fleur was never there, leaving poor Gabrielle to wake up cold and alone. After staying downstairs long enough, she realized that Fleur was actually home and safe, and thinking of how ridiculous she had acted, went back upstairs. There her older sister lay, asleep in the bed like nothing was wrong. Gabrielle crawled in next to her, burying her face into Fleur's shoulder before falling asleep along with her, hoping tonight that the nightmares wouldn't come.