Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)
Assignment #4 - Poetry Studies (The Romantics)
Task #3 - Write about someone free-spirited.
Further prompts are at the end.
Word Count: 1,264
Gabrielle wasn't quite sure why she was there.
All around, she saw people crying, laughing, smiling, together. They knew each other. They were friends with each other. They fit in with each other.
She, on the other hand, fit in about as well as a cactus in the lush, beautiful park the post-wedding party was taking place in.
She'd come with Bill and Fleur - both of whom did fit in and did belong there, because after all this was Bill's brother's wedding and Bill's family's celebration - but her older sister and brother-in-law had disappeared into the crowd ages ago. Gabrielle herself had pushed them away, assuring them that she'd be fine and half-ordering them to go have fun.
But now, she just sat there alone, a table to herself and no one to talk to.
Not that she'd be able to talk to anyone easily. Fleur had always been better at English, as their tutor had loved to remind Gabrielle. The man had seemed to believe that 'sibling rivalry' would push Gabrielle to work harder.
Maybe that worked with siblings who weren't nearly a decade apart in age. And it wasn't exactly that Gabrielle didn't try... She just wasn't good at languages. She understood fine, but speaking was always a pain.
Someone sat down heavily on the chair besides her, exhaling heavily and, Gabrielle thought, almost certainly theatrically. She studied the unfamiliar witch out of the corner of her eye - she was very pretty, with bouncy black curls, light brown skin, and large, chestnut-colored eyes. After a moment, she met Gabrielle's gaze, and gave a playful smirk and a wink. Gabrielle frowned, but-
"Miss Vane, there you are! I saw you talking to Travis, and got worried-"
"Oh, shut it, Grey! No one wants to hear you talk! Just say the word, Rommy, and-"
"Romilda! Her name is Romilda, not Rommy, or Milda, or whatever other silly nickname you can come up with!"
Gabrielle blinked, incredulous, as the witch's smile turned innocent and beguiling, and she leaned back in the chair, crossing her legs. "Michael, Charles, Travis, you know I hate it when you fight..." she said softly.
Immediately, the three cut off, glaring at each other before softening their gazes to look to the witch.
"I am ever so sorry-"
"Oh, Rommy! I'm so sorry-"
"Grey and Conray were the ones who started it-"
"Shh," the witch shushed, and they all fell silent again. She sighed dramatically, putting a hand to her forehead. "All this fighting is giving me a headache-"
"I'll fetch you a potion!"
"I know a spell!"
"Don't trust anything they give you!"
"What I need," she said, looking sternly to the three, "is some peace and quiet. Shoo." She made a dismissive hand gesture, which the three puzzled at for a moment.
"Miss Vane-"
"Rommy-"
"Romilda-"
"Go," she snapped, before looking poutily, apologetically, at them. "Maybe some other time? I know you care greatly about what I want..."
They were gone so quickly, Gabrielle almost thought they'd Apparated.
"Finally," the witch groaned, her tone losing its previous airy quality. She looked at Gabrielle. "I mean, it's fun, of course, to make them all orbit you, and I always get what I want in the end, but it gets so tiring after a while, am I right?"
Gabrielle blinked. Was she talking to her?
"I'm Romilda Vane," the witch said, holding out her hand. "You?"
"...Gabrielle Delacour," Gabrielle answered, making sure that her voice was high-pitched and sweet, taking the hand.
"Oh, I think I've seen you before! At that Tournament-thing in school... Your sister was one of those champions, wasn't she?"
Gabrielle nodded in one fast, excited motion. The Triwizard Tournament... which had been terrifying to watch, even though she'd been incredibly proud of Fleur for being chosen.
"Whatcha doing here?" Romilda asked, after a moment of silence. "You know the happy couple?"
"Not really," Gabrielle said. Short sentences. She could handle this. "My sister is ... married to Bill Weasley, so I came." She winced at the thick accent in her words - that self-consciousness was probably part of the reason why she was so bad at speaking in other languages.
Romilda nodded sagely. "Same. I'm not entirely sure why they invited me... I guess 'cause I'm Ginny's friend? I'm not even sure how that happened, since I used to try to steal her man... Or 'cause I'm friends with Katie, who's Angelina's bridesmaid?" She shrugged. "It feels a bit... weird, doesn't it? That everyone around you's celebrating and crying, but that you don't really know enough about the new Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to feel anything special?"
"Yes!" Gabrielle said. "Exactly! I am happy for them, but..."
"And, I mean- Heya, Ron!" Ron Weasley, he youngest of Bill's brothers, flushed as he saw Romilda, and quickly disappeared again.
"You know him?"
Romilda smirked. "He drank a Love Potion, once, that might have been keyed to me."
"Might?" Gabrielle repeated.
Her smirk grew. "Mmm-hmm... I might have added a Love Potion to some chocolates... and given those chocolates to one Harry Potter... and Ron might have accidentally eaten those chocolates..."
Gabrielle blinked at her again. "And what happened?"
"Well... He proclaimed his love for me, broke up with his girlfriend, and ended up poisoned in the Hospital Wing."
"What?"
"Hey, all's fair in love and war, right?"
"That sounds like a horrible thing to do!" Gabrielle exclaimed, then winced at the criticism. But really, was Romilda actually that sort of person? Love Potions were illegal in France for a reason, and she was bragging about using them in school?
Romilda met her gaze, and her expression slowly morphed into a sad smile. "When everyone expects something from you, and won't see when you try to be something else, how can you fight that?"
And Gabrielle understood. Too often, she felt like she was wearing a mask, being the cheerful little girl she'd once been but was no longer, because if she 'matured', then people would treat her like they always treated Fleur, because she was quarter-Veela, and though Fleur was bold and self-assured enough to laugh in people's faces, Gabrielle was nothing like her older sister.
But she didn't tell Romilda that. She knew next to nothing about this witch, and was not about to trust her like that. For that matter, "Why are you telling me this?"
Romilda laughed softly, then shrugged. "No idea. You just... I'm probably never going to see you again in my life, since you're from France, so nothing I tell you will matter, right? And I kind of needed to get that all off my chest. Sorry to burden you with all that."
Gabrielle didn't say anything.
"I guess I'll just... go," Romilda said at last, standing.
"No!" Gabrielle blurted. Romilda turned to stare at her, confused, and she blushed. "I... like talking to you. And I think you can change. If you want to. So you have your reasons, to act like you do, but everyone changes, when they get older, when things happen to them. And you don't seem like the kind of person who cares about what others think of expect." Unlike Gabrielle. Free-spirited, she thought the word was. Independent. Headstrong. Brave.
Romilda was silent for a long moment, and Gabrielle wondered if she'd just committed some English faux pas. Finally, though, she began to smile.
"You know," she said, "you might be right. And you're interesting." She sat again. "So now that I've bared all my deep, dark secrets to you, why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"
Summer Seasonal Challenges
Days of the Year & Religious Events: 14th July - Shark Awareness Day: Write about someone or something that is misunderstood.
Unlucky Month for Weddings: (scenario) A wedding
National Ice-Cream Month: Raspberry: Playful
National Indoor Plant Month: Fiddle Leaf Fig: (word) lush
Colours: Chestnut
Tarot Reading: Four of Pentacles (reversed): Write about someone refusing to make necessary changes in their life
Gryffindor Characters: Romilda Vane
Build-a-Fairytale: Stage 3: The Villain... has an elaborate scheme perfectly planned out: (dialogue) "I always get what I want in the end."
Writing Club: August
Bingo: I don't even know - Write about someone who doesn't know how to do something, or deal with something
Showtime: Big, Blonde and Beautiful - (genre) Fluff
The Trews: Black Halo - (dialogue) "So you have your reasons."
Scamander's Case: (plot point) making a bad first impression
Film Festival: (word) soft
Marvel Appreciation: Daredevil - (trait) daring
Lyric Alley: You have the power to make it right
TV Spree: Word: Expectations
EnTitled: The One with Ross's New Girlfriend - Write about a new relationship
August Auction: Gabrielle Delacour/Romilda Vane
Piñata: Easy - Setting: A park
Back-to-School Shopping: The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk - Word: Charming (first)
Mix It Up: Option 1 - Romilda Vane