The second chapter of the secondary pairing, and this will span the entirety of Arien's fifth year, which is set during the goblet of fire. I'm writing this before I actually write the chapter, so I'm not sure if I'll have them together by the end of this chapter or not. I have some plans either way, so never fear.
I don't even know if anyone likes these sections, so for anyone who bothers to read about Arien and Fleur, thank you. Sincerely.
Hogwarts Rumble Alternative! Chapter 2: Arien Carstair and the Lazy school year.
The train ride on the Hogwarts Express began in the typical fashion it did every year: Tearful farewells, excitement, and a form of organized anarchy that Arien still did not fully comprehend. Luckily, he had avoided the usual tearful farewells from his parents this year, as his father had injured himself in one of his crazy trapbuilding experiments, and his mother had decided to stay and laugh at him for the duration of his stay at St. Mungo's. This meant that Arien had arrived with the Zabinis, who were essentially a second family to him. Mrs. Zabini was a beautiful and aristocratic looking witch who was just turning thirty-four, though she didn't look a day older than twenty-five. She chalked it up to natural Zabini superiority whenever asked about it, and Arien was never sure if she was serious or not. Anastasia Zabini was a rather complicated woman, and up until recently, her only discernible flaw was how crummy her taste in men was. That had been rectified with her most recent boyfriend, one Severus Snape. She would often act rather...lovesick whenever the Slytherin head of house was involved, though you could tell Mr. Snape enjoyed the attention from the ever so slight blush on his face whenever she was around. Luckily for Arien and Blaise, Snape was not around to join them in their send off, thus preventing them from having to...discourage any snide remarks about Blaise's mother from the more stupid elements of Hogwarts.
Thus, Arien and Blaise boarded the train with less of a shitlist than usual, and more time for Blaise to plot how to exploit Arien's quidditch prowess for personal gain. They had ended up in a compartment with Blaise's girlfriend Tracey Davis, along with Malfoy. Arien wasn't to happy about that, and while he had made sure that the Malfoy heir was sufficiently terrified of him in previous years, Arien was in no mood to hear the ferret talk about how great he was for approximately two hours. Arien was able to subvert this thanks to two things: a subtle silencing spell and the fact Malfoy's goons were too stupid to stop nodding along.
Yes, Arien was sure this year would be as easy as the previous, with very little annoying or troublesome events to disturb his lazy life-style.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
October 30, 1994...
"God. Damnit." Arien said to himself for the 100th time since the semester had started. Currently, he was sitting in the Great Hall of Hogwarts at the table of Slytherin House. The four great tables were lined to the brim with food from Central Europe, France, and the good ol' UK filling plates as far as the eye can see. The various conversations of the students all blended together across the hall, not that Arien was particularly interesting in any of them. The walls were covered in both the house colors along with the colors of both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, as both schools had arrived as part of a series of annoyances that seemed to be a part of an elaborate conspiracy to annoy Arien immensely.
Annoyance number one: Interschool Tournamenet being held at Hogwarts. At first, Arien had assumed this would not impact him at all. That was until he found out the interhouse quidditch was cancelled. Considering that was literally Arien's only source of exercise during the school year, that meant his father would demand he perform auror workouts in their stead.
Annoyance number two: No Quidditch meant no exposure. While this didn't really annoy Arien directly per se, it annoyed Blaise's master plan for Arien. Blaise had set up a rather convoluted plan for their success when they were around 6. This plan was as follows: turn Arien into a quidditch superstar, profit, then revolutionize the world of medical magic after retiring from quidditch. Blaise would then use his role in Arien's success in quidditch and medicine to launch a bid for Minister of Magic following his tenure as Arien's agent/partner. Due to the complex nature of the plan and Blaise's OCD, Blaise did not take deviations or interference with the plan well. This usually lead to longwinded rants about external variables, which Arien usually just tuned out, though he made sure to nod along as appropriate. Arien had just reached the end of Blaise's first rant of the year, which then leads to the next annoyance.
Annoyance number 3: The presence of Fleur Mother F***cking Delacour at Hogwarts. Arien had just gotten used to the idea of never seeing the troublesome and annoying silver haired girl again! Then suddenly she shows up at his school with a "Oh hey I'm staying here all year, kthxbai". Obviously, she didn't say that verbatim, but considering it was a year long tournament and she had shown up with the Beauxbatons delegation, it looked like Arien was stuck being in the same castle with her.
Annoyance number 4: Fleur's insistence on talking to him. She had, since arriving, attempted to start no less than 19 different conversations with him. This normally wouldn't be a problem, since he could just slink away to some other part of the castle, but he was currently trapped in the Great Hall for the welcome ceremony.
Not for the first time, Arien cursed the name of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore for conspiring indirectly to put him in this situation. He glanced over at Fleur. The half-veela had chosen to sit away from her fellow Beauxbaton students, choosing instead to sit at Slytherin table next to Arien. She was currently having a conversation with Blaise and Tracey. Blaise had apparently maintained correspondence with her since the World Cup incident. Suspiciously, the three of them would periodically looked over at him, before resuming their hushed conversation. Judging from the look in Blaise's eyes, he was plotting something annoying. Arien shook his head, before moving to take a sip from his goblet, which he had requested to be filled with muggle soda. That was his small comfort in all this, that Dumbledore had finally taken to adding muggle drinks to the choices at meals. Much to his annoyance, his goblet was empty, and did not seem to interested in giving him more soda.
"Goddamnit." Arien cursed for the second time in about 5 minutes. Unlike his previous outburst, this had gotten the attention of Fleur who was now looking at him with what he assumed was her attempt at concern.
"What eez wrong, Arien?" She asked softly, her blue eyes meeting his green ones. He felt the vaguest twinges of her allure nipping at his mental shields. Unlike their last encounter before the chaos, Arien could tell it was not intentional. He apparently must have been silent a long time because she raised an eyebrow at him before speaking again. "Arien?"
"The one bright spot of my day has run out." He then gestured to his empty goblet. Fleur's brow furrowed in confusion, not understanding the problem.
"Zen why do you not refeell eet?" She kept looking between the goblet and his annoyed visage.
"Because Dumbledore apparently put a limit on it." He ground out in annoyance, realizing now that he had walked into a conversation with her without meaning to. And he had been doing so well before!
Fleur paused a moment, pursing her lips as the wheels in her head turned. "Zen...perhaps we could bypass eet by switching goblets, non?" It was a simple solution, and yet Arien hadn't thought of it. More so, he didn't like the implications of it. Apparently, 'indirect kisses' had something of a romantic connotation, and while he very much would like more Dr. Pepper, he definitely did not want to give Fleur any ideas. Unfortunately for him, she took the choice out of his hands, both literally and metaphorically, by taking his goblet and replacing it with hers. She gave him a small smile, before turning back to Blaise and Tracey and resuming their conversation. Biting back a growl of irritation, he called out for more soda. Taking a sip of the carbonated beverage, he glanced over at the girl who seemed dead set on befriending him. He did not like the fact she had a light blush on her cheeks when she took the first sip from the goblet, and he definitely didn't like how nice her damn smile was when she was happy.
"Troublesome." He muttered, before digging into his food. Kebabs had yet to let him down, and he took comfort in their savoriness.
Xxxxxxxxxx
"So why am I here again?" Arien spoke to Fleur, finally breaking the silence that had pervaded ever since she had cornered him in the dungeons and asked for his assistance with something. Fleur had been almost bouncing on her feet, clearly happy about something or another. In her hands was the golden egg thing she'd recovered during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. While he had done a relatively effective job at avoiding her up to this point, Blaise had practically shoved him at the silver haired girl. Sighing in annoyance, he glanced at Fleur again. Her long silver hair was tied into a messy bun, and she was wearing the typical Beauxbaton uniform of a baby blue tight fitting blouse and skirt. The uniform was disturbingly attractive, a fact that annoyed Arien quiet a bit. Not for perverse reasons, but because Fleur looked better in it than he'd like to admit. Speaking of the girl, she had finally stopped, before she turned to face him, a smile on her face.
"I wish for you to help me with my clue." She held up the egg in a somewhat excited fashion, before she looked away a bit and mumbled in French "It was the only way to get you to spend time with me."
He wasn't about to tell her he actually spoke French, and he definitely wasn't going to comment on what she had said. Shaking his head, he glanced around the hallway they were at, seeing the famous painting of Barnabas the Barmy. "So why did you bring us to the secluded 7th floor then? Wouldn't the library have been a better choice?"
For some reason Fleur began to blush a bit, before she started to fidget with the hem of her skirt. "Blayze told me zere was a room up 'ere zat would 'elp me with ze clue." She paused, and began to walk back and forth in front of the painting, eyes closed in concentration. He was about to ask what she was doing, when suddenly a door appeared out of the wall next to the painting. Arien was surprised that she knew a secret about the castle before he did, which lead him to conclude that this was Blaise's handiwork. "Blayze called eet ze 'come and go room', I zink. Shall we go een?"
She walked to the door, before opening it. The room was rather surprising, and Arien was instantly suspicious. Inside was a giant pool, with towel racks, lounging chairs, and a wooden dummy sitting in a lifeguard stand(complete with sunglasses and trunks). He turned to demand an explanation from her, only to find her holding her hands up defensively.
"A-Arien! I did not know eet would do zis! All I did was zink of a way to solve ze egg clue!" She stammered out, clearly not expecting the turn of events either. Sighing in annoyance, Arien look around the room, before spotting what he was looking for.
"Whatever. We're here, so we might as well experiment." Fleur went red in the face at his statement, her mouth covered by her hand. "WITH THE EGG, FLEUR! Get your mind out of the gutter!" His response had apparently made her mad, because she walked angrily over to him, and started to jab him in the chest with a slender finger.
" 'Ow am I supposed to know what you meant! Eet was very ambiguous!" Her blue eyes were alight with defiance and righteous feminine fury, something Arien did NOT want to be on the receiving end of. "I do not know why you hate me, so if you 'ave something to say, zen say eet!"
Arien got in her face, anger getting the better of him. " I told you when we met that I detested veela trying to control me with their allure, and you did it intentionally to me." At his words, she had the decency to look ashamed, looking away from him. "You acted like you were better than me when we first met, and never once had the decency to apologize for either of those things. I told you I don't like acts of lust without attachment, and you still hit me with your allure." His tone was cold and biting. "So you if you have an explanation, I'd love to hear it."
Fleur had gone quiet, her bangs covering her eyes as she refused to meet his eyes. He was about to demand a response when she shot her gaze up at him, her sky blue eyes welling with angry tears.
"I 'it you wizz my allure because I wanted to see eef you were truly immune, or eef you were just trying to impress me with empty words. Men always do so, and I assumed you were no different." Her old mask of haughty arrogance had returned, replacing the nervous and awkward girl who had been annoying him for the past weeks.
"Did I seem like I was trying to impress you? For God's sake I ignored you for most of the game!" He grit out through his teeth, anger still running through his system. Was this girl truly so arrogant to think he was fawning over her?
"You were kind to my seester. I assumed you were using her to try to get to me. Eet 'as 'appened before." Her tone was cold and accusatory, and every bit as hostile as his was. He idly wondered if she would attack him, and he was even less sure who would win.
"I was nice to your sister because she seems like a good kid! I don't do things with ulterior motives, Fleur! At least not something like that! Gabby was so nervous she wasn't enjoying something because a bunch of strangers had shown up! I figured if I showed her I wasn't someone to be scared of, she would open up a bit and enjoy the match!" Their noses were almost touching at this point, their anger almost palpable.
" 'Ow was I supposed to know zat?! You were a stranger!"
"Fleur, I had zero interest in you then and I have even less interest now. You're stubborn, stuck up, arrogant, and you think just because you're beautiful I should be automatically trying to win your favor." His words were vicious, but they didn't have the effect he expected. Her expression shifted from one of hurt, to anger, to shock, then to a mixture of anger and sadness. Before he could react, she grabbed his face and slammed her lips to his, causing his eyes to widen in shock. Without meaning to, he'd sent a legillimency probe into her mind when they'd locked eyes, and he reeled in shock at the feelings of desperation in the kiss, the isolation she felt on a daily basis, the warm curiosity she felt around him, and the hurt he'd inflicted when he'd insulted her. Closing her eyes and thus severing the connection, she pulled away, looking ever more like she was miserable.
"Do not prezume you know, Arien. Otherwise, you would be no different zan ze others at Beauxbatons." That statement brought Arien pause. Now that he thought about it, he had never seen her around other students from Beauxbatons. In fact, the females of the delegation seemed to glare at her, and the males seemed ogle her. It would explain the isolation he'd glimpsed in her mind.
"Fleur, I-" He tried to say, before she held up a hand to cut him off.
"I do not wish to 'ear it, Arien. Please, leave me be." Her tone was soft, but firm, and certainly left no room for questions. "I cannot help but be drawn to you, because you saved the lives of my sister and I." He managed to hide his shock at her words, before he remembered a tidbit about veelas he'd read last year in Professor Lupin's class. Veelas, while usually beings of physical affection, often formed bonds with people who went out of their way to help them, more so when they viewed the person as something of a savior. It then clicked in his head that this was why she insisted on approaching him, and why she acted so differently and insecure. She was in new territories, and was not used to having to be the instigator.
Arien sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He wouldn't voice his epiphany to her today. It would only serve to upset her more. Instead, he walked to the exit and put a hand on the door. Before he left however, he cast a glance back towards Fleur, and whispered,"I'm sorry, Fleur."
She didn't try to stop him, and he didn't expect her to either. As he made his way back towards the Slytherin common room, all he could think about was just how wrong he had been about who Fleur Delacour was.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
One week Later...
Arien found himself sitting alone in the Great Hall for lunch, something that become frequent over the past week. Well, alone in the sense that none of his friends would sit near him. Fleur hadn't spoken to him in a week, Arien noted with somewhat mixed feelings. He also realized that from the annoyed looks that Blaise and Tracey shot him during meals and when they passed him in the corridors, they knew what an asshole he had been as well. With a resigned sigh, he realized he needed to apologize to Fleur for his actions. And so, he began to formulate a plan to do so. To his knowledge, he knew Diggory had solved the clue for the task, given the fact he'd heard the guy brag about it to his girlfriend Chang when he'd passed them in the hallways earlier that day. Glancing around the Great Hall, he picked out Diggory at the Hufflepuff table. Given how disturbingly attractive the older boy was, he tended to stick out compared to the rest of the male population of Hogwarts. Subtly, he reached out with legilimency to try and glean anything of use about the clue from Diggory's mind. The only thing he could grasp was something about water. It was better than nothing. Realizing he had finished his meal, Arien stood up to leave. He paused, when he saw Fleur was eating at the Ravenclaw table, casually chatting with Roger Davies, who seemed to only be mildly dazed by Fleur's passive allure. With a resigned sigh, he pulled a piece of parchment from his things, and quickly wrote a note. Pulling out his wand, he morphed it into the form of a paper crane, before willing it to fly over to Fleur. With no other reason to remain in the Hall, he made his way out.
Xxxxxxxxx
Fleur was wondering why she had decided to sit at the Ravenclaw table that day. While avoiding Arien was a good excuse, she had to wonder if it was worth it when she had to suffer the ogling stare of Roger Davies. She did note that he was less effected than the other males at the table, though. As she nodded along to his incessant prattling and attempts at impressing her, a small enchanted paper crane landed in front of her. She picked it up, and saw 'open me' written on the beak in messy handwritting. Inside was a simple message written in the same sloppy handwriting.
I got some information on the egg, and how to solve it. Water. If you want my help, I'll be at the room you showed me, tonight at 9. Otherwise, I hope this clue helped you, and I wish you the best with your endeavors.
-A
She hadn't expected to hear from him after their fight. Blaise and Tracey had mentioned how proud and stubborn Arien could be, so she had sort of assumed that was the end of the friendship she had with him. She turned just in time to see him leaving the Great Hall. While she wanted to confront him then and there, she realized how slippery he could be when he didn't want to be found. Blaise had mentioned Arien's tendency to disappear for hours on end, and she'd observed it first hand on a few occasions. And so, Fleur Delacour resigned herself to finding out what the jerk wanted her for that evening.
Xxxxxxxxxx
Later that night...
Arien stood outside the Room of Requirement, wondering if Fleur would actually show up. She seemed to be just as stubborn as he was, and while he was sure the hint had gotten him some points back with her, he still wasn't sure she would show. Even if she did, there was a strong chance she would hex him to pieces. He checked his watch, noting it was now 9:15 at night. He cursed under his breath, realizing he had been foolish to expect her to show up. He propped himself up from the wall he'd been leaning against, and was about to leave, when he saw Fleur walking up the stairs. Her expression was of the same detached apathy she'd displayed when he'd first saw her. She was wearing what she usually did, though she had on a pair of glasses, which he noted made her more attractive, somehow. She took her time walking over to him, as if savoring his discomfort.
She glanced him up and down, before speaking. "You said you had information about my clue?"
Arien winced at the formal and cold way she spoke to him, as if this was purely about business. Running a hand through his black hair, he nodded.
"I do. Water is the key to solving it, I think." Upon hearing his answer, she scoffed at him.
"You zink? You are not even completely zure?" Disbelief dripped from her words, causing him to wince.
"All I could pull from Diggory's mind was that water helped him solve the egg. I was too far away to get anything more detailed from him." He didn't know why he told her how he had gotten the information, but it seemed to impress her a little bit.
"You used ze mind art to 'elp me? You know zat is illegal." At her response, Arien merely shrugged.
"I've never used it on people who would be able to realize what I was doing, and I've only used it when I felt it was helpful without any chance of causing harm." He once again found himself explaining his actions to her, without really understanding why. He looked up, and met her eyes, noting her lips were pursed and brow furrowed.
"Zank you, Arien. I will go test your information in ze room now." The unspoken dismissal wasn't lost on him, and he watched as she made her way to the door of the Room of Requirement. Before she entered, he spoke, afraid if he didn't he'd never get the chance to again.
"I'm sorry, Fleur. I was wrong about you." It was a simple admission, but it held weight. She paused, hand on the handle, before she slowly turned to face him, her expression a mixture of surprise, anxiety, and...hope?
"Oh? About what?" She wasn't going to make this easy for him, was she?
He sighed, before he made his way over to her and looked her in the eye.
"I was wrong about you being some bitchy girl who thinks she's better than everyone else. I was wrong about you trying to use your allure on me maliciously. You were worried I had ulterior motives, and that I would be like the myriad of other people that I assume abused any trust you gave them. I was wrong about you being stuck up and pompous. I was wrong about so many things, and I just want to apologize to you." He took a breath before continuing " That's all I came here to say. If you want me to leave now, I will, and I won't bother you again." He heard her breath hitch a moment at his statement, which he interpreted as a sign of discomfort. He sighed and backed away from her, breaking their eye contact. He was about to turn and leave, when he was pulled into a hug. Fleur pressed herself close to him, burying her face in his shoulder. He wasn't sure if she was hugging him so tightly because of the fledgling magical bond between them, but it was...nice. She pulled away after a few moment, before she went red in face at her boldness. She adjusted her glasses, before she coughed into her hand.
"Non...you don't 'ave to go. I would like your 'elp with ze clue." She smiled gently at him, and motioned for him to follow. In that moment, for the first time since he had met her, Arien was struck by how beautiful Fleur was.
This fact became problematic for him, when he realized they would have to change into swimwear, and the bikini she chose was every bit as revealing as he had worried it would be. As such, the following two hours of Arien's life were humorously awkward, given the proximity between the two of them, and the fact that he was now having to come to terms with the fact that Fleur Delacour was not nearly as troublesome as he'd initially thought.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
December 1994, Night of the Yule Ball...
It was a beautiful night, though Arien's reasons for stating such were probably much different from the other members of the joint student body. The stars in the sky were perfectly visible, and he was wrapped up in enough blankets to resemble a caterpillar, and a case of butterbeer. If the fair reader was wondering why Arien was essentially pouting AND brooding below freezing temperatures, then the reason was actually quite simple. Because Roger Davies was at the Ball with Fleur...and Arien wasn't. Granted, she freely admitted she only accepted Davies' invitation to spite him, she was too kind of a girl to retract acceptance after she gave her word. She had offered him a sad smile, though he'd gotten the last laugh when she'd kissed him softly right in front of the snobby Ravenclaw's face two days prior. He would definitely use that for a Patronus memory at some point. But he had little interest in social gatherings as a whole. If he couldn't even go with the only person that had managed to break down his walls since...Caroline...then why would he bother?
He'd gotten some funny looks from the couples who'd been trying to find some secluded spot to snog at. Considering the only paret of him that was visible from the cocoon was his angry looking eyes, most people who spotted him were weirded out. He flicked his wand under the blankets levitating a butterbeer up to his mouth, sipping it on it and thinking about whether Fleur was having a good time, and whether he'd have to maim Davies afterwards for uncouth behavior toward his friend.
That word gave him pause. He wasn't quite sure when she had become his 'friend', and he was even less sure that the word accurately described their relationship. If he had to put it into words, he'd say they were somewhere beyond simple friendship but less than a romantic relationship...Though if Arien was being honest with himself...then he wouldn't be opposed to the idea of dating Fleur. She'd lately seemed almost...aware of the fact his glances at her had begun to linger. Was that something a Veela bond did? He wasn't sure, especially since the only experiences with Veela prior to meeting Fleur were overwhelming annoying. But Fleur was different, perplexingly so. She was somehow gentle and almost shy, while simultaneously driven and scary as hell. Letting out a muffled sigh of annoyance, he turned his thoughts to other things, like how Blaise was doing, and whether he'd have to hurt Malfoy for harassing that Greengrass girl. Apparently she was rather smitten with Potter, and Draco didn't like that very much. Oh well, he'd tormented Draco in the past for much much less, so he with an evil chuckle, Arien cast his gaze back towards the stars, content to watch the night sky while he enjoyed the solitude.
Xxxxxx
A few hours later...
Apparently, Arien had dozed off at some point, because he was now being shaken gently by someone. He shifted a bit in his cocoon so he could look at them, because he was had no idea who it was. But the perfume smelled like Fleur's, and to his knowledge, no one else imported perfume that smelled like cherry blossoms.
"Fleur?" He slurred sleepily and still slightly buzzed from the butterbeer. He tried to move a bit, but he was still wrapped up pretty tightly. He was however, able to get a glimpse at her face, which was currently somewhere between amused and upset. " 'sa matter?" He was still groggy, but he was now worried about what was wrong.
"Yes, Arien, it's me." She spoke softly, patting him on the head. "I see you had an interesting evening." She tried to sound joking, but there was a note of anger in voice.
"Don' worry about it right now. Why're you upset?" She stiffened, or at least that's what it looked light in the dim light. He was still struggling to get out of the damn cocoon, his wriggling causing him to lean against her, something that caused him to blush.
"I don't want to trouble you with-" He cut her off, but using a cutting hex to slice his way out of the blankets(making a mental note not to use magic again to ensure maximum warmth). After repairing the blankets with a quick Reparo, he locked eyes with her and placed his hands on her shoulder, causing her to let out a 'meep'.
"Fleur, you are never a trouble to me. Now tell me what is wrong." He spoke to her rather softly, but he made it clear he wasn't asking. He idly took a moment to take in her appearance. She looked like an angel, if he was being honest. Her silver hair was drawn in a pony tail to the side, and she was wearing a modest yet sleek dress that accentuated her figure quite snugly. She had some sapphine earrings in, and she was wearing a sapphire pendant that secured to a small choker around her neck. All in all, Arien wasn't really sure how he was maintaining higher cognitive faculties while speaking to her. He chalked it up to his concern for her overpowering her ability to turn him into a driveling idiot.
"It was Daveez. 'E...kept trying to touch me in inappropriate ways." Fleur's eyes welled up with tears, from frustration and sadness. "I told 'im to stop repeatedly. But 'e would not. So I set 'is pants on fire wizz my Veela magic. He called me a psycho, and cursed at me. Saying I was leading 'im on wizz my magic."
As much as Roger Davies was now effectively number one on Arien's shitlist, Fleur needed him more than Roger needed a kick in the teeth...for now. Though, he chuckled a bit when she said she set his pants on fire.
"You zink zis is funny?!" She pulled away from him immediately, hurt written on her face. "You ztill zink I am just some 'arlot?!" He stopped chuckling immediately, closing the distance and pulled her into a hug. She struggled a bit, but didn't try to hard to get away.
"No, Fleur. I was laughing because you set a guy's pants on fire for being a pervert. I would have paid money to see that." She stopped struggling completely, gingering wrapping her arms around him, and putting her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I don't think anything he did was funny at all. In fact,I plan to...educate him on why that was a mistake very, very soon. Blaise and I are rather creative when we wish to be." She let out a small laugh, but her eyes were still brimmed with tears.
"Do you zink I lead him on? Or zat I am some kind of eazy girl?" She asked in a small voice, insecurity from years of namecalling and isolation becoming evidence. Sometimes Arien forgot she was essentially a badass and grown woman, given how vulnerable she was sometimes. He shook his head, cupping her chin in his hand, and placing a small kiss on her forehead. She blushed a rather pretty shade of pink, but didn't complain.
"No, you silly woman. I don't think anything of the sort. I think people just have a nasty tendency of forming opinions about you without knowing you at all, and then sharing those opinions with other idiotic people." He let go of her, before he reached down to pick up the blankets. He then placed them on her shoulders, to make sure she was warm. "I was worried that you wouldn't have a good evening, so I had sort of planned to..." Arien sort of trailed off at then, suddenly embarrassed.
"Zorry? I did not catch zat?" Fleur was curious why he seemed so bashful.
'Ah, Crapbaskets.' He thought to himself before he looked her in the eye "I sort of maybe...plannedtowhiskyouawayaftercurfewforsomedancin? Under the stars?" She still looked a bit confused, so he repeated himself slowly. "I planned to sneak you out after curfew so we could go dancing by the lake, underneath the stars."
Realization dawned on Fleur's face, and she began to fidget nervously.
"Does...zis mean zat is no longer ze plan?" She sounded really disappointed, which prompted Arien to wave his hands in front of himself rather empathically
"Of course we can still do it! I just figured you were tired and irritated so you would-OW!" She had flicked him on the tip of his nose. "What was that for?!" He demanded, irritated by the stinging on his nose.
"Arien, zometimes you talk almost too much. Now lead ze way." She latch onto his arm, before making a gesture to proceed. Still rubbing his nose, he nonetheless complied.
The walk from the castle to the lake wasn't an overly long one, but they did not speak too much to each other on the way there. The silence was a little awkward, because of the romantic connotation this excursion now held, but was not oppressive silence by any means. At some point, Fleur had laid her head on his shoulder again while they were walking. He hadn't really taken notice of their height difference until now. The top of her head only came up to about his chin. Meaning she was about 5'4'' or so, while he was about 6'0''. He flicked his eyes to her, but didn't comment on her action. Finally, after walking down the gravel path that lead from the school, they finally found themselves on the shore of the Black Lake. They could idly make out the shape of the lake's giant squid floating lazily across the surface. Shaking her head at the oddity of a giant squid in a freshwater lake, Fleur walked over to the lone tree by the shore, and carefully sat down, before she removed her heels. She briefly rubbed her feet a bit, before looking at Arien with a hopeful innocent expression, though she didn't say anything. Arien just stared at her a moment, before sighing and sat down in front of her, and started to rub Fleur's feet. She beamed at him, before sighing in contentment as she nestled herself into the blankets.
She paused a moment to look around, before she raised a brow at him.
"Well, Monsieur Carstair...Zis is a rather romantic setting, but it iz a bit bland, no?" She was stated innocently, trying to prompt him into unveiling his plan.
"Well, I was going to set everything up, but then you wanted a foot rub." Arien stated in a deadpan manner, causing Fleur to blush slightly in embarrassment.
"But my feet were a leetle sore..." She stated, pushing her index fingers together sheepishly.
"It's not a problem, Fleur. Just give me a minute okay?" Upon seeing her nod, he stood up, and pulled his wand from his sleeve. He threw up a few privacy measures, including a silencing spell and perimeter wards in case anyone got close to them. He then reach into his pocket, pulling out a shrunken enchanted radio his father had gifted him. This one differed from the average magic radio in that it picked up muggle stations as well as magical. Without turning it on, he moved the frequency knob over to the station he had in mind, which was an older music channel that he thought was good for dancing. Canceling the shrink charm, he set it on the ground beside the tree, then pulled out a picnic basket he had used a shrinking charm on as well. Upon returning it to normal size, he pulled out a bottle of wine Blaise had recommended along with some glasses.
"You have wine, Arien?" Fleur asked excited, as she always enjoyed a nice glass of wine with her meals, though it wasn't as acceptable here in England as it was in France, much to her annoyance.
"Yes, a...little birdy informed me that nothing pairs better with French girls than wine." He stated noncommittally, though it was very obvious who he'd gotten it from.
"Would zis leetle birdy happen to be named Blaise" She asked teasingly, though her expression was definitetly one of delight.
"As a matter of fact, it is. And a rather annoying birdy at that." He replied with an annoyed tone, prompting her to laugh. Once more, he was now acutely aware of how nice her laugh sounded. "I prelude this experience with I do not know shit about wine, nor do I have any idea of what he put in this bottle. He was rather adamant about there being no labels on it, to ensure plausible deniability." Fleur raised a brow at the explanation, but didn't comment, instead choosing to hold her glass out expectantly. Arien sighed, before he filled her glass. Rather than filled one for himself, he called for his family's house elf, who brought him another case of butterbeer. Fleur looked mildly offended that someone would choose butterbeer over wine. Shaking her head, she took a sip. Her eyes brightening a bit upon tasting it.
"Eet iz good, Arien." She replied happily.
"I'll make sure our little birdy knows you liked it." Arien said with a laugh. Idly, he looked at her again. She had one of the fluffy blankets draped over her shoulders like a shawl, and her cheeks were slightly flushed, probably because he'd started rubbing her feet again. Her dress was slightly crumbled, and her mascara was little runny from her tears earlier. All in all, she was breathtaking in that moment.
"Arien?" Her voice shook him from her trance. "Iz zomething on my face? You were ztaring at me." Maybe it was the fact he'd had a shitload of butterbeer or maybe he was just feeling bold that evening, but whatever caused it, he did not regret his next words for even a second.
"You're beautiful, Fleur." Three simply words. Well, a contraction followed by two words. She didn't say anything immediately, almost as if she didn't hear him. However, about 7.3 seconds later, her face went nuclear read, and she covered her face with the blanket.
"D-Don't say such zings!" Her voice got quieter a moment. "Especially if you do not mean zem. It is not fair to me." He stopped his footrub, and looked at her a moment, before he grabbed the shawl and pulled her towards him, causing them to tumble over. She put her hands on his chest, and her wrapped his arms around her. He looked down at her head, which was staring at his chest to avoid eye contact.
"I did mean them, Fleur, because you are. I just...figured you wouldn't want to hear them because people probably tell you so much they lack meaning by now." He murmured softly, before brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"Zey...Zey do hold mean when you say zem, Arien." She mumbled softly "Arien, I have something to tell you..."
"Is it that I'm pregnant and you're the father?" He stated jokingly, causing her to hit his chest lightly with her fist.
"N-No you fool! Zis is serious!" She stated in annoyance. "When you saved me...I zink you formed a bond with me. Specifically, a veela bond..." She trailed off, insecurity.
"I know, Fleur."
"You...do?" She sounded surprised, as if not expecting that from him.
"Yes. My defense teacher last year was rather adamant about creatures that have influencing abilities, though he was very clear that doesn't make them malicious."
"So...you know zis means I am essentially property to you, a sex toy." Her words were icy, and dangerous.
"No, Fleur. While that may be the common wizard interpretation of what a Veela, but it's not true." Her expression shift from impending anger to one of pleasant surprise. "A veela bond is a magical union of two people. It lets you feel what I'm feeling, and in some cases, I feel what you feel. Sure, it means any...activities we do will feel like 50 times better now." At seeing her blush, he grinned. "But that's more a side effect, not the defining characteristic. It doesn't mean I just see you as some object for my sexual desires." He gently placed a hand on her face, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. He felt her lean into his hand, and let out a content hum before she hugged him tighter.
"You pass."
"I what now?" His confusion was tangible.
Instead of answering verbally, she instead smashed her lips against his, and ran her fingers through his short black hair. After a minute, she pulled away, taking amusement in his dazed expression.
"Bloody hell, Fleur. What was that for?"
"For being sweet. And knowing about my people." She laid her head back on his chest and closed her eyes.
"As fun as I think it would be to have us take a nap, I actually had one more thing planned." At his statement, she lifted her head to meet his gaze, curiosity visible in her pools of silver that locked with his sea of green.
"What iz it, Arien?" She was a little nervous for some reason.
"I wanted us to dance."
"You want...to danze? Wizz me?"
"I do. I knew I wasn't going to be able to at the ball...so I wanted to have a private dance at my favorite spot at the school, just you and me." His statement had the confusing reaction of having her swoon a bit, but she nonetheless agreed. He helped them both to their feet, and led her over to the shore, the full moon illuminating the beach rather nicely. He went over to the radio, and turned it on, causing pleasant singing to fill the air.
"Put your head on my shoulder
Hold me in your arms, baby
Squeeze me oh-so-tight
Show me that you love me too..."
They slowly danced in rhythm with the music, time seeming to stand still as they gently swayed to the man's wonderful singing. The music fit the mood and setting perfectly, and spoke more for Arien in that moment than he felt he could with his own words. Fleur gently set her head on his shoulder, enjoying the moment of intimacy that she hadn't expected from this evening.
"Put your lips next to mine, dear
Won't you kiss me once, baby?
Just a kiss goodnight, maybe
You and I will fall in love (you and I will fall in love)..."
Fleur lifted her head from her perch, and they locked eyes, before their lips slowly drifted towards each other, meeting in the middle. It was electric, if Arien was being honest. It wasn't lustful, and it wasn't heated, but it nonetheless sent chills down his spine.
The song continued, but Arien found he couldn't make out the words anymore because all he could focus on was Fleur Isabelle Delacour.
Xxxxxxxxxx
They danced for a few more songs, before they took a break. Arien was about to speak out, but he was cut off by someone else.
"Ah, young love. It reminds me of my own romances of my past." The jolly voice of Albus Dumbledore intruded on the moment, causing them to look over at where he'd spoke from. The eccentric old man was wearing frilly robes, and his half moon spectacles sat on the bridge of his nose, and were his eyes...twinkling?! "As beautiful as this moment is, Mr. Carstair, I would point out to you that it is after midnight. It is quite fortunate that I have found Ms. Delacour, as I was certain that Madame Maxine was going to send out the hounds had I not located you myself in a timely fashion."
"Headmaster, I am so sorry-" Arien began, but was cut off by a knowing chuckle from the old man.
"My boy, the day such a beautiful moment becomes something to be ashamed of is the day I no longer preside over this school. Now, if you'll excuse me. I believe young Ms. Lovegood said there were some gnargles around here, and as I am not familiar with the creatures, I am delighted to finally encounter some. Off you go." He shooed them back towards to the castle, before he strolled in a jolly manner towards the other side of the lake.
As they started the walk back, Fleur had to voice one of the questions on her mind.
"Arien?"
"Yes, Fleur?"
"Does zis mean...we are togezzer?" At her question, Arien pulled her into his arms, carrying her bridal style, prompting the girl to flush red.
"If that's what you want. I know I'm quite fond of you, but you're the one who's a ten here, and much out of my league, so you make the call." She didn't say anything but nodded. "Then together we are."
They walked a few more minutes before Fleur spoke again.
"Arien?"
"Yes, mon cheri?" She swooned a bit before she continued, taking a lot of joy from the use of French.
"What is this...Nargle zat Dumblydore mentioned?"
"I have no idea, Fleur. But I hope he finds them."
xxxxxxxxxx
The year passed much faster than Arien would have liked. He had ended up being Fleur's hostage in the second task. The judges were originally going to use Gabby, until Dumbledore pointed out how harmful that might be on the young veela, since they were creatures of fire. When Arien found out they'd even considered using a child, he'd almost turned Ludo Bagman into a stain on the wall, though Dumbledore made a compelling case that as amusing as it would be, he doubted Ms. Delacour would want to visit him in prison.
Next, came Valentines Day, which went reasonably successful. He had taken Fleur on another picnic at the tree by the Black Lake shore, and she told him that she loved him, something that he reciprocated.
He had also ended up playing a pick up game of Quidditch with various people from the schools. He didn't recognize a lot of people, but he had known the Weasley twins, Potter, and Davies, since they were from Hogwarts. His team had won, between his efforts as Chaser and Viktor Krum, who'd been the seeker for his team. Somehow, he'd actually managed to impress the Bulgarain, who told him to write him about trying out for the Vratsa Vultures, the quidditch club Viktor played for. Apparently, their third chaser had just retired, and they had yet to find a replacement yet. If Blaise had been there, he would have had money symbols for eyes. While that was certainly awesome, watching Davies get smashed in the face with a Bludger was heavenly, and judging from the conspiratory thumbs up the twins had given him, Arien was fairly confident it hadn't been an accident.
The third task had been upsetting for Fleur, because she'd made it to the cup first, only for Diggory to get her with a stunner from behind. Suffice to say, she did not like Diggory at all after that. Arien had, however, made sure to cheer up, but using the Room of Requirement to make a spa for her. That is how she spent the following day, being lavished in attention and pampering. Suffice to say, Fleur was very appreciative.
Which brings the audience to the present moment, the moment of parting between Fleur and Arien. He standing just outside the Great Hall, waiting for Fleur to show up. They'd managed to set aside some time before Beauxbatons was leaving, so he was glad he could see her before she had to leave. She didn't come from the direction he was expecting, though. Rather than from the main castle entrance, he saw her come from the staircase that lead to the Headmaster's office. Arien filed that away for later examination, not really caring at the moment. Who needs to analyze things when you have a beautiful French witch walking towards you rather seductively in order to snog your brains out?
Bloody no one, that's who.
Well, unless you don't swing that way. But that's derailing this fluffy piece of literature.
Arien took in Fleur's appearance, and he for the millionth time that year, was wondering why the hell this girl loved him. She was wearing her school uniform, and she had her glasses on her face. She had not worn the school cap however. When she stopped in front of him, she planted a kiss on his lips, before hugging him.
"I can't believe I'm not going to see you for a while." Arien grumbled, burying his face into her silver tresses. And I can't believe I'll have to go a school year without seeing you."
Fleur's expression went from understanding to extremely mischievous. "I know, however will you live without me being there to keep you in line?" She spoke teasingly, before she got serious. "I spoke wizz my fazher. He was delighted to approve ze contract. He stipulated ze wedding would be at ze end of June."
Despite how liberal his father was, he was very old fashioned about wizarding dating. Meaning after courtship, came marriage contract. While normally, Arien would state this was moving too fast, the veela bond he shared with Fleur had fully developed and he knew there was no way he could ever be with someone who wasn't her. He had brought it up with his father, who had agreed instantly. After all, who doesn't some dream of uniting your family with one of your best friends? According to his mother, his father had let out a rather unmanly shriek of delight at his letter, though his father denied it to his day.
"Are you sure this? About...us?" He started insecurely. "I'm sure you could find someone better for you...OW!" She had flicked him in the nose, which was her way of preparing to call him an idiot.
"Arien, do not be ztupid. I know you have zeze insecurities but I have bonded with YOU, and no one else. Meaning I do not want anyone but you." She started off in irritation before her tone became more soft and caring. "I know zis Caroline cheated on you, and zat has hurt you. I am not 'er, and I will nezer do zat to you. I love you, Arien. Now stop being stupid., please."
Arien was touched by her words...at least until she called him stupid, which prompted him to sweat a bit.
"Yes, honey. I will." He replied in French without thinking. Immediately, Fleur stiffened.
"Arien..." Her tone became very dangerous and terrifying.
"Uh...yes, Fleur?" He began to sweat nervously. The cat was out of the bag now.
" 'Ave you been able to speak French ZE ENTIRE YEAR?!" She lost her cool at the end of the sentence.
"Uh...techincally no...because I've spoke it since I was six?" Her expression had gone blank, except for the rather pronounced twitch of her eye.
"Arien...you 'ave 4 seconds to run before I set you on fire." To highlight her seriousness, she formed a fireball in her left hand, the flames dancing across her fingertips.
"Come on! You say such adorable things when you think I don't understand!"
"Trois."
"Can you blame me? It's so cute!"
"Deux."
"Are you really that mad?"
"Une." Throwing self-presevation to the wind, he pulled her into a kiss, surprising her. After a moment, he pulled away and looked at her expectantly.
"Zero."
Arien's screams of pain echoed through the castle for a least an hour.
Xxxxxxxxxxxx
To be continued...
Whew, that was a long one. The next chapter we are back to Haphne! YAAAAAAAY
But I gotta admit I like writing this chapter so much that I actually didn't realize itwas about 27 pages until I finished it. I have thus demonstated the positive psychology phenomenon of "flow". * queue the 'more you know logo'*
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I could have done more, but I don't even know if anyone even likes these sections of Hogwarts Rumble, and while I love them as much as the Haphne sections, I stopped myself because otherswise I'd just be wasting my time, ya know?
Well, whatever, I hope you'll stick with the story. Until next time.
Raizen out.