"What the fuck...?" Charlie said once Bill stepped out of the way.

Standing behind Bill were both of his twin brothers—just as Fleur remembered them from nearly a year ago at the Burrow.

She stared at the scene, though didn't quite understand what was happening. She knew that the twins were supposed to be still at school along with Bill's youngest brother and sister. And since school wasn't over yet, why were they standing in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron looking shocked to see Charlie sitting there?

"Charlie!" shouted one of them—she could not tell them apart—as he and his twin's face both filled with surprise. "What are you—?!"

"What are you doing here?!" Charlie said, standing from his seat to go and greet his brothers. "Fucking aye, Freddie." He then tightly hugged the twin on the left.

"You didn't tell us Charlie was here," said the other twin, who was looking at Bill.

"Yeah, you two aren't the only ones keeping information close to the chest," Bill countered, glancing over at Fleur for the first time and smiling as though he barely knew what to make of any of this. She silently asked him what was happening; he did nothing more than shrug.

"Georgie," Charlie said, hugging the other twin now and helping Fleur distinguish that the one in the red jumper who was taking the seat beside Charlie was Fred. George was in blue and was now grabbing an extra chair from the table next door.

Bill said he'd be right back and that this time he would return with drinks. The twins were settling in and talking in rapid fire succession with Charlie; the three were clearly excited to see each other. She did nothing more than watch, seemingly invisible to the group of them until George suddenly looked at her and smiled a little.

"Hi Fleur. Good to see you."

"Oh, hey Fleur!" said Fred. "It's been a bit. Glad to see you and Bill still kicking."

"Still kicking?" she asked, confused by the phrase.

"Alive and well," George clarified. "Your relationship, that is."

"Yeah, you're still together," Fred said. "It wasn't just a sex thing."

"Seems you two really do get on," George said. "That's great."

Fleur blinked, though it was Charlie who had reached over and swatted Fred on the back of the head, causing him to grimace; George seemed to be spared since he was out of arm's length.

Bill returned in a flash this time, having charmed several pint glasses over to the table and handing them out one by one. So many comments and questions were flying around now—about food, about why the twins were here, about why Charlie was here—everyone was talking over one another. As Bill slid into his seat next to her, she felt his hand go straight for her leg in a reassuring manner. She looked at him and he looked back at her, leaning in close to speak in her ear.

"My brothers quit school today. Just got on their brooms and left. Never to return."

She gaped. "You are serious?"

He held up his glass as if he were making a quick toast, but immediately brought it back down to take a very large gulp. "Completely."

The next half an hour could only be described as chaotic. The questions continued to fly as both twins recounted their story as to why they left, how horrible Hogwarts was, how they apparently had big plans for themselves and no longer needed school. Fleur had to admit that they didn't seem the least bit concerned about now being school drop-outs. They didn't seem concerned about much of anything, other than having to confront their mother.

"I still want to know where you got the money from to start a proper business," Charlie said, looking from one brother to the next. "That's not a small feat. It would take quite a bit of gold—"

"We have gold," Fred said.

"Right, but from where?"

"An investor," George said.

"You keep saying that as if that answers the question," Bill said with a furrowed brow. "People just don't go giving away hundreds of galleons without expecting something in return. If someone's putting up enough money to really get this off the ground, they're in this with you so that they can get paid. Who's your business partner?"

Both of the twins stared at him as if they weren't sure how to answer that. Fleur could already tell where Bill was going with this just given his tone. He was afraid they'd got this money through nefarious means. Perhaps even...dark means.

"We're the only partners in this business," George said, gesturing between him and his twin. "No one else. Just us. We owe nothing to anyone."

"There is no fucking way," Charlie said, "that you sold enough of your pranks and inventions around Hogwarts to fund everything you've said you're planning to do this summer. There isn't enough pocket money in the whole of the school—"

"Why does it matter?" Fred asked. "Why do you care?"

"Because—and I think Charlie can agree with me here," Bill began, "you two are claiming to have come into a huge sum of attachment free money—"

"And that doesn't happen," Charlie finished for him. "Which begs the question, how did you get it? How do we know this isn't something dodgy? Something that could be connected to the wrong sorts of people—"

"It's not dodgy!" George and Fred said together, with Fred adding. "Everything is on the up and up."

"Then why not tell us where—!"

"Because—" Fred began, though George suddenly cut him off with, "Sod it, it doesn't even matter because it's done and nothing can change it now. Harry gave it to us, alright. Harry gave us his Triwizard winnings."

Fleur felt herself gasp; her hand finding her mouth immediately. That...that would have been a small fortune.

"He told us the world was going to need more laughs and that we should use it to do just that," George finished, looking none too happy to have had that pulled out of him. From beside him, Fred was staring absently at a spot on the table.

Bill and Charlie also had a rather stunned look of silence on their faces, each seemingly waiting for the other to speak first. It was Bill who turned to her and asked, "How much would that have been?"

"A thousand galleons," she said. "That was the prize money."

"Fucking aye," Charlie said. "Harry gave you a thousand galleons?"

Both of the twins nodded.

"That's...that's…" Bill finally stammered, picking up his glass and taking a large gulp. "Generous."

"No, generous is offering to pay for drinks tonight," Charlie said. "What that is...that's remarkable." He looked back at the twins. "Speaking of which, you two are buying the next round."

This had turned into quite the conversation. Fleur sat back quietly and watched it play out—two sets of very clear pairs taking on the other, which was an interesting dynamic to witness. Her sister and she did not have this type of relationship, one of partners and staunch allies. Their closeness was a bond built on her being so much older; almost parental. She could see shades in that with Bill and Charlie with their younger brothers, but it wasn't the same. Or if it was, it had changed recently.

There was a respect there for certain, but it came from a very different place than what Fleur was familiar with her sister. It was clear Bill's brothers were ready to assert themselves and their independence away from these former authority figures in their life. They wanted to be seen as equals, and Bill didn't seem to know what to make of that yet. Like his mother, he was evidently used to a certain routine with Fred and George, but that was changing whether he liked it or not.

For his own sake, she hoped he let go more easily than his mother did.

"I don't see why it can't wait one more day until we tell mum and dad," George had said later that night. "Why does it have to be tonight?"

"Because Bill and I have to go back to the Burrow tonight and deal with them thinking you're out there missing," Charlie said. "Then it becomes our problem. It'll be bad enough when you do turn up and explain what's happened. We'll have to listen to the fallout from that."

"Correction," Bill said. "You will have to listen to the fallout from that." He put his arm around Fleur's chair. "I'll go to Fleur's."

Charlie pulled a face just as Fleur looked at Bill. That was news to her. He's already told her that he'd stay at home to see his brother while he was here.

"I don't want to go home after these two put mum in one of her moods," he added.

"When is mum not in one of her moods these days?" Fred mumbled under his breath, which made George snicker. It also made Fleur let out a rather obvious chuckle.

Bill had glanced at her, his face apprehensive since he had to be assuming where her mind was, but his hand lowered reassuringly down onto her shoulder to give it a quick rub.

She needed to bite her tongue—she knew that. She was ready to play it off, but Charlie was staring at her a bit strangely. He had apparently picked something up from that chuckle.

"So Fleur," he said, his expression curious. "After having to sit and listen to this Weasley family back and forth all night, I have to ask. What are your impressions of this large, mad family of ours?"

"What kind of question…?" Bill muttered.

"Shush," Charlie said, using his hand to mimic a shutting mouth. "I'm always keen to hear an outsider's perspective, especially one that's so closely wrapped up in it. The stories she's heard tonight alone…" He gestured to Fred and George. "You've got secretly wealthy, shop opening twin dropouts."

"Remember that one for the business cards," Fred said to George.

Charlie counted off on his fingers. "You've got our dad getting attacked by a murderous snake at Christmas. Our sister got possessed and nearly died not long ago. You've got our other brother mixed up with everything Harry's up to. You've got that other person who we apparently share some blood relation to being a traitorous prat and a Ministry stooge—"

"Stooge is putting it nicely," George muttered.

"And those are just the highlights," Charlie added. "I'm sure there are loads more, but since you're still here, you either really love Bill or you're not easily fazed by what this lot will generally bring to your life."

Fleur let herself laugh a little at that. "I am both, but you also must remember, most of these things you mention I have not been around for. They are just stories to me." She reached over and gave Bill's arm a rub. "Our life is mostly quiet, outside of your father's attack."

"Yeah, up until today, she'd only even met mum and dad and these two," Bill said, pointing from Fred to George. "Hard to get invested in this so called Weasley drama when she's only met a handful of us—"

"I met Ron," Fleur corrected, glancing back at the other boys. "He helped Harry save my younger sister from the lake during the second task."

"Did he…?" asked Fred through squinted eyes, his tone a little skeptical.

"Wasn't he frozen down there with her?" George asked. "May I ask what you think he did exactly—?"

Bill held up a hand to silence them both. "What I'm saying is while we've undoubtedly been through some shit, what she's seen of our family has been pretty typical. Not counting dad's attack." He shrugged. "You wouldn't believe how quiet things are when the rest of you aren't around."

Charlie hummed rather thoughtfully, drinking from his pint once more before he proceeded to lean onto the table rather casually. He continued to observe her in a way that made her think something was happening. She felt her defenses go up a bit.

"So you get on with our folks, then?" he finally asked.

She didn't break eye contact with him, she just stared back. She didn't even dare look at Bill because she knew if she did, she would lose her nerve. She would have loved to have spoken her mind about their mother—but she also knew that she could never truly do that in front of four of her seven children. Even if she sensed Fred and George—and even Charlie to a lesser degree—had a past with her that wasn't always rainbows and sunshine, she was still their mother. They were allowed to have those opinions. She was not.

She finally nodded. "Of course. Your father is a lovely man."

Everyone but Bill was nodding as if they could agree with that polite and safe answer; clearly they hadn't expected much more. Bill, however, was staring straight ahead, as if bracing himself for what may be said next.

"Your mother is also...nice," she added rather slowly.

It had been in her tone. As soon as she said it, she knew she hadn't been convincing enough because the agreeable nod didn't follow that time. All of Bill's brothers seemed to be staring at her as if they weren't sure she meant that. George had looked away first, evidently not wanting to push it; Fred was doing that squinting thing he'd done earlier; Charlie was still carefully considering her.

"She and mum have some differing opinions on things," Bill offered. "But they do get on."

"We do," Fleur agreed, nodding and not wanting this to become a topic worthy of discussion tonight. "But yes, we do have different opinions on...things."

"Things or Bill?" Charlie asked, smirking as he said it. It made both of the twins grin in an identical way.

Bill sighed. "You know how mum can be. She's set in her ways. Dad thinks she's just anxious about so much lately for obvious reasons, then I'm adding more change. I'm not looking to live and carry on like I did when I was kid, because I'm not a kid, which she sometimes forgets." He smiled a little at Fleur. "And since Fleur supports all of that, I think sometimes mum thinks it's her influence as opposed to my choices."

She stared at him. He thought…? There was no "I think…" about it. That was exactly what it was, but she chose to bite her tongue once again and glance at the next table instead of comment. Her tongue probably had teeth marks in it at this point.

"She gives you a hard time, doesn't she?" Charlie asked her.

She turned back to look at him. She was not going to be fooled into saying something she couldn't take back in front of this group. She chose to be diplomatic.

"It is nothing I cannot handle." She paused for a long moment before smiling. "It is very obvious that your mother is a very strong willed woman who loves her children very much."

"She does," Fred quipped. "Some more than others."

"For fuck's sake," Bill said, just as Charlie said, "No, that's where you're wrong, Freddie. She loves us all equally, but she likes some of us more. I like to think I'm somewhere in the middle. Bill's near the top."

"Bottom," Fred and George said in unison with cheeky sorts of smiles. George added, "Though given Percy's shit lately, we may not be at the very bottom."

"Nah, he was still a Prefect and Head Boy," Fred muttered. "He didn't quit school. which probably still holds more worth than betraying the family."

George made a sad sort of face that said he could see that.

"We're not doing this," Bill said, sounding suddenly aggravated.

"Let's just say none of us are surprised to hear any of this," Charlie said to her, also apparently sensing Bill's aggravation since he kept glancing at him and now seemed to be picking his words carefully. "Mum's always had a soft spot for Bill."

"Yes, I have learned very quickly he is the favorite," Fleur said, smiling at him even though he didn't seem particularly receptive to it.

"I'm not," Bill began to say, just as Charlie said, "Would you believe he actually isn't? There is another..."

Fred and George were nodding as if they agreed, though Fleur found herself staring at the group of them as if they were all off their heads. There was no possible way he was not the favorite. The way Molly doted on him, the way she fretted over him, the way her face lit up when he walked into a room. If he wasn't the favorite then who the hell was?

"He's the favorite boy, for sure..." George offered.

"Yeah, Ginny's the favorite favorite," Charlie continued. "If you think it's bad with Bill, wait until you see mum around Gin." He let out a low whistle.

Fleur still couldn't believe that, if only because she could not fathom how anyone could be more of Molly's favorite than Bill. But sitting here now, all four of the brothers seemed to be in agreement on this.

"Yeah, Ginny and my mum are similar, I guess you could say," Bill offered. "They've always been connected in a way even I can't touch."

"Wonderful," Fleur said sarcastically. "So I should expect your sister to take issue with me being in your life as well? If they are so connected?"

Bill was shaking his head. "No, I've told you Gin and I have always had a tight bond. She was my little shadow. She'll love you. I know it."

Fred and George had pulled a funny sort of face at the comment that Bill couldn't see. It was Fred who said, "Or...perhaps you should brace yourself for yet another highly opinionated Weasley woman who also puts Bill up on a pedestal to have thoughts."

"I'm so glad I was never put on any pedestals," George muttered. "Life is so much easier here on the ground with little to no expectations placed upon you."

"Cheers to that," Charlie offered, clanking his glass against the twins' glasses. All three laughed.

"Don't listen to any of these idiots," Bill said, turning to Fleur and looking her in the eye in that kind way he did when he really wanted to drive his point. "My mum will come around when and if this You-Know-Business calms down, I promise. It's driving her mad with stress. And ultimately none of it matters."

"For the record, I think you're great," Charlie said, smiling at her. "I really do. You two compliment each other well."

She and Bill both smiled at him, with Bill turning back to her and saying, "And he's the only one whose opinion I really care about."

"What about us?" Fred asked, feigning offense.

"I said what I said," Bill quipped.

"It's getting late," Charlie said, checking his watch. "And we still have to go home and watch this—" He gestured to Fred and George, "get handled."

"Get manhandled, you mean," George corrected, draining the rest of his drink and standing. "It was nice knowing all of you. Please remember me as a gentleman and a scholar."

"Well, if we're making shit up," Fred said, following his brother's lead. "I want to be remembered as a Quidditch superstar, a sex god, and Mum's favorite child."

There was laughter amongst everyone as the twins were urged to go and collect their things while the rest of them readied themselves to leave.

"I think I will head home and attempt to keep some semblance of peace within my family," Bill said to her. "It's really not fair to stick Charlie with all that."

"I expect nothing less," Fleur said with a half smile as she leaned up and kissed him on his lips, letting it linger before pulling away. "I will see you tomorrow?"

"Absolutely," he said, smiling as he kissed her again.

"Fleur, lovely to meet you," came Charlie's voice, appearing next to Bill once they pulled apart. "I'm only in town for two more days, but here's hoping we can do this again sometime." He nudged Bill. "I get the feeling you might be keeping this one around for a bit."

"That's the plan," she said, smiling up at Bill. "I have no plans to go anywhere."

"Don't let my mum get to you," Charlie added. "Keep doing what you're doing. It's like we talked about. Bill has his way of handling things and you have yours. Take it or leave it."

Fleur smiled and nodded. Oddly enough, it was nice to hear someone remind her of that; that she'd got this far in life doing exactly as she'd needed and it had worked. She could admit that this year with Bill had made her a little softer—a little—but sometimes she needed that reminder: Keep doing what you're doing and what you've always done. Take what you need and stop waiting on others to get things done for you.

She would write to Dumbledore and ask him herself. She would let Molly know that she had her own way of doing things that won't always agree with hers—and there was nothing wrong with that. There was nothing wrong with being exactly the person she was.

"What were you talking about earlier?" Bill asked, looking a little nervous by the comment.

"Nothing you don't already know," Fleur said, kissing him quickly again. At the same moment, Charlie swatted him and gestured toward where Fred and George had reappeared with their brooms and bags.

"You can get home alright?" Bill asked, affectionately rubbing her back.

"Of course," she said. "I am fine. I have much to do tonight."

"This late?" he asked, smiling a little curiously. "What are you up to?"

She shrugged. "I need to write a letter."

The twins' homecoming had been exactly as expected. Bill had barely taken a few steps into the kitchen before he found his mother and father sitting over untouched tea in the kitchen. They'd both looked up, almost as if expecting something, but their faces immediately settled the moment they saw it was only Bill and Charlie.

"We've received a letter from Ron and from the school," began their mother, who stood up at that very moment to face them. "Fred and George have—"

"Left school," Bill said.

"We know," said Charlie.

With that, he gestured to the doorway, urging the twins—who were apparently in no hurry to come inside—to step forward. With a definite drag to their steps, they both did enter to the sounds of shock and surprise from their parents. There was a good thirty seconds where it seemed their parents were simply happy to see them alive and well and in one piece, but it was short lived. As soon as it seemed to register that they were no longer in any sort of harm, the questions—the very loud questions—began.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?"

Bill and Charlie had hung around a bit, watching as the twins attempted to explain themselves and their plans to no avail, but it only took one attempt by Charlie to defend their decision to leave school before their mother shooed both he and Bill out of the kitchen as if this didn't concern them.

The pair of them posted up in the sitting room, still listening to the back and forth from the sofa since everyone was loud enough to hear. Their mother was irate; even their father sounded irritated by their decision. The general consensus seemed to be that they could understand their frustrations with Umbridge, but that was no reason to throw their future's away.

"We're not throwing our future's away," one of the twins said. They were staying remarkably calm despite getting chewed out. If they were attempting to sound mature and professional, they were doing it well. There was little shouting on their end; everything they said was clearly aimed to explain instead of excuse.

"You've thrown away your education before your exams," their father said, with their mother immediately chiming in with, "How is that not throwing your future away?! You can barely do anything without N.E.W.T.s.!"

"You can open a business…"

"Oh, this business," their mother said, her tone not amused. "Yes. Right. Canary custards—"

"Canary creams…"

"And the silly ear things—"

"They're not silly."

"Yes, that's what people need right now!" she said dismissively. "You-Know-Who is back and you're turning people into birds and setting off swamps at school!"

Charlie and Bill's eyes had met then as if they'd had the same thought. It was Charlie who said, "I hadn't wanted to say it earlier, but that swamp thing sounded impressive."

"The more I hear about their stuff, most of it is," Bill said. "The magic behind some of it is very layered and complex. It's really not just jokes and pranks."

Charlie smirked. "Well, no one's ever claimed they were dumb."

"You know," one of the twins cut in, countering their mother. "Some people happen to think this is exactly what we need right now. Harry, for one."

"And you took Harry's money!' said his mother, now sounding embarrassed. "How could you take that poor boy's winnings?"

"He gave it to us!" said one twin, the loudest Bill had heard them all night.

"And he's not poor," said the other twin. "He's had loads of bad hands dealt to him in life, but he's got money."

"Regardless," said their father a little sharply. "That was an insane amount of money. We've raised you two not to take charity. We work hard for what we have, we don't take handouts from—"

"No," said the other twin, "You don't take handouts. That's been clear from day one given everything we've never had. George and I are fine with it."

Bill and Charlie grimaced in a nearly identical fashion, with Charlie sharply inhaling as he did. "Holy shit. Did he just say that?"

Bill nodded slowly, now feeling a strong urge to not only leave the room, but the house. Maybe even the country.

"The bollocks on that kid."

There was another hour of this sort of thing—the shouting, the quiet lulls, the repeated explanation that they would not be going back given they had plans now. Bill and Charlie had started playing a card game to pass the time; it was well past midnight when Bill registered that he hadn't heard anyone shout or raise their voice in roughly ten minutes. He and Charlie deemed safe to reenter the kitchen at this point, where their father had presumably gone upstairs, Fred and George were eating some sort of leftovers at the table, and their mother was vigorously self-scrubbing a cauldron—without magic.

She only cleaned by hand when she was either angry or upset.

Bill threw George a "Still alive?" look, which caused him to shrug in an exhausted manner as he shoved a spoonful of leftover lamb stew into his mouth. Fred hadn't even bothered to look up from the bowl he was currently shoveling food from.

"Turns out it's a good thing you didn't take the twins room, Charlie," said their mother, not looking at any of them. "Seeing as they need it now since they apparently will not be returning to Hogwarts."

She then turned and stared at Bill and Charlie as if that was supposed to come off as some sort of shock to them; as if they hadn't heard the entire conversation. Bill said nothing and just sighed, though Charlie said, "So we heard. Loudly and repeatedly. Fairly certain the Diggorys heard down the path."

Her brow furrowed in a way that could only be described as challenged, as if she'd been at it all night, and she was fully prepared to have it out with yet another son if he wanted to push buttons. Charlie seemed to take the hint and turned to fetch some water without another word.

"We'll only need the room for a bit," George said, setting his spoon down on the table. "We were set to get into our new premises for the shop at the end of June, but since we're out early we owled today to see if we could get in as soon as next month. If it's available."

Their mother wheeled around on them. "What does having a shop have to do with only needing your room for a bit?"

"Because...the space above the shop is included. We're going to use it as our flat. We're going to move—"

"You're moving out!?" said their mother, reaching out to grab the counter.

"Obviously," George said. "Why wouldn't we...?"

"Because," she stammered, looking taken off guard. "The world is dangerous right now! The last thing you need is on your own! You're barely out of...you're not even probably out of school!"

"Alright, but…" Fred said, looking at George. "We are out of school, even if you don't love the way we did it. We've got a business to establish and it only makes sense to be close to it." He gestured to Bill and Charlie. "You didn't argue when they left."

"Life was different when they left."

"Percy got to leave—"

"Let's not bring up Percy right now," Bill interrupted. They really didn't need to push even more volatile subjects at the moment.

"They're grown, Mum," Charlie said, his arms crossed as he stood staring at his mother. "It does make sense."

"It's not as if we can stay forever," Fred added. "It'd be sad to be living here when we're all grown." He suddenly looked at Bill. "No offense."

Bill rolled his eyes, not feeling the need to address that. Charlie did though, because it was him who said, "That's a temporary thing. And he's already talking about wanting to move in with Fleur soon enough."

Bill closed his eyes. So much for not pushing more volatile subjects.

"What...?" asked his mother. It was all over her face that she'd been dealt enough blows that evening; this was simply yet another thing that she wasn't prepared to process. She honestly looked as if she didn't have any more shout in her—which may have been a first.

Bill sighed. "We can talk about this another time." He gestured to the clock. "It's nearly one. It's late. We're not doing this now."

His mother took off her apron and turned to hang on the wall. "You're all trying to do me in at once. Who needs the stress of You-Know-Who when I have my children…?"

Bill threw Charlie a "thanks for that" look. Charlie shrugged it off before whispering, "I did you a favor."

"You two really are serious," George said, glancing at Bill from across the table. "Moving in together is big."

Bill nodded lazily, but because his mother was still within earshot and he wasn't in the mood to deal with her, all he managed to mutter was, "Yeah."

"Is it true she's half Veela?" Fred asked.

Everyone in the room turned to look at him, though Bill's eyes shot to Fred's rather urgently. What did he say? How on earth did he know that? That was information Fleur liked to keep private, what with the ever changing climate of people casting judgement on anyone who wasn't a pure wizard.

"Is she?" asked Charlie, looking suddenly intrigued. "You never mentioned…"

"Who told you that?" Bill said, still staring at Fred.

Fred shrugged, looking at George. "I don't remember. Ron? Maybe Harry? One of them. It was some time last year during the tournament."

"How do they know that?"

"I don't know," Fred said, his face serious. "What does it matter? Who cares if she is?"

"Is it true?" his mother asked from across the room, staring at Bill. A moment prior, she'd been planning to go upstairs, but she had stopped quite abruptly at Fred's question.

He ignored her and addressed Fred. "It matters because there's a bunch of nutters out there looking to round up and eliminate the population of non-magical peoples."

"But Veelas are magical…" George said, "so why does it…?"

"Yeah, but they're not technically people," Charlie piped in, ready to offer up his wealth of magical creatures knowledge. "They're non-humans, even if their technical classification is Being."

"But like giants, goblins, house-elves, and werewolves, because they are non-human, there are prejudices," Bill said. "And you know there are people who care about that rubbish."

"Wouldn't werewolves be classified as a beast?" Fred asked. "All things considered..."

"Only in their transformed state," Charlie said.

"So Remus is both a being and a beast?" George asked, smirking a little. "Wicked…"

"Let's not get side tracked," said their mother, waving all of that off and focusing straight on Bill. "Is it true? Is she a Veela?"

Everyone was looking at him again; he truly could have throttled Fred for bringing this up. This wasn't his secret to tell, but he could see in his mother's eyes that all the pieces were coming together. Fleur's appearance alone hit so many of the Veela traits; denying it would make him seem like he was ashamed of it; that he believed it was something to hide. He wasn't, he loved Fleur exactly as she was, he just wanted to protect her.

"She's a quarter Veela, not even half," Bill finally said. "She doesn't even possess most of the traits. But it's not as though close-minded gits care since a quarter is enough for them to think she's unworthy."

Everyone seemed to mull on that for a moment. Fred and George only briefly—it was clear this wasn't even something they thought was an issue; it was more of an interesting quirk. Charlie still looked intrigued, as if he was running what he knew about Veelas against what he now knew about Fleur. His mother simply looked deeply lost in thought. It was her who spoke first.

"That...makes sense."

"Does it?" Bill asked, his tone now clipped since he sensed her words were a bit loaded. "How does it make sense exactly?"

"Oh," she said, snapping out of her thoughts and clearly noticing Bill's tight expression. "Oh, I only mean because of the hair and the glowy skin and how pretty she is. She does look just like one. They are known for their beauty."

He stared at her. He wasn't entirely sure he believed that was all she meant, but he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. He also didn't want to talk about this anymore.

He looked around the room. "This isn't something Fleur advertises now that You-Know-Who is back. She's in the same boat we are if You-Know-Who gets any power—being defined by how the Death Eaters view our value. As blood traitors, we're not much higher on society's ladder, so I ask you don't run your mouth to strangers about it? Alright?"

Fred and George nodded and Charlie said, "I get it." Their mother still seemed lost a little in thought, but was nodding slowly before saying, "Of course. We most certainly don't want any harm to come to her."

"No," Bill said, "We don't."

A/N: Alright, I got all that Weasley family out of my system. It'll be back to more Bill/Fleur centric stuff in the next two posts, but I couldn't help but play around with the Weasleys some. They'll obviously keep coming and going in their own ways, but this story has become almost as much about Bill and Fleur reacting to his wacky family as much as it's about them. And I'm fine with that from time to time. :)