Muggles Call it Fate
By the time Fleur walked back to the Beauxbatons carriage, the sun had begun to dip below the horizon. The little warmth she accumulated this morning was wearing off rapidly. She shivered bitterly as the unusually cold autumn wind enviously scraped against her pale cheeks. It had never been this damp, it was beginning to feel like someone had turned the world upside down, water pouring freely from the inverted ocean that is now the sky. Or at least she had not experienced horrid weather such as here in Britain. She hugged her arms around herself, wondering if she should cast a spell to deviate her from the cold.
She reached for her wand with her right hand, only to find her knuckles red and stiff. She winced as she tried to move the fingers, and then remembered how focused she was during the almost-duel; her hand was firmly enclosed around the wand, squeezing out any air that could be trapped in her tight fist. She held onto the wand with what seemed to be like her dear life. But that was when she noticed something warm wrapped around her left hand. The fabric had felt coarse against her delicate skin, but never the less kept her hand from going numb from the unusual freezing weather. Then she remembered. This was Hermione's scarf…which she stole…with a reason?
She looked at the lengthy knitted scarf, and noted that it was indeed very comfortable to wear in such weather conditions. Back in Southern France, well at least in Beauxbatons it was like spring all the time and flowers bloomed all year round so there wasn't a need for things like this. Fleur considered keeping the scarf, but then again…there was really no need for it, except it reminded her of the bothersome brunette.
If the girl wasn't going to respect Fleur, why should she respect her in return?
"Fleur, there you are." Called out the familiar voice whose owner she had spent looking for all afternoon.
"Where were you all morning?!" She snapped at her little sister.
"Around," Gabrielle faced Fleur and stated matter-of-factly. Which was true, she was around the campus all day with a new found friend (who surprisingly spoke French on a very fluent level). And much more to her surprise she had enjoyed their company very much.
"Who with?" Fleur raised an eyebrow.
"A friend," Came Gabrielle's simple reply.
"Is this friend a 'she' or a 'he'?"
"Ah, Fleur, must I report everything I did to you?" Gabrielle protested out of utter frustration. Fleur can be so overprotective at times, and her parents too.
Oh well, the benefits of being the youngest, think about happy thoughts…
"Besides, I'm not doing anything mischievous, unlike someone," Gabrielle said with a wide knowing grin.
"Don't you start!" Fleur commanded powerlessly, as her mind travelled back to a few months ago, where her sister had caught her in a seemingly compromising situation with another girl, who had came to Fleur for some help. However what happened still remained a mystery in Fleur's mind.
"Heh, secret is safe with me, I won't tell Mom and Dad,"
"That is no secret! You are just young and silly to think that, she just needed help with the broken zipper and it happened to be the damn thing on her skirt, and it is not my fault that it snapped and I ended up on my bed bringing her on top of me in the process," Fleur finished in one breath.
"Uh huh, how very descriptive, keep going I want to know what happens next," Gabrielle smirked.
"And…GABRIELLE!" Fleur screamed, this was the least she needed right now.
"I'M RIGHT HERE! So no need to yell, geesh…"
Gabrielle rolled her eyes and examined her sister. She wondered why Fleur sounded so…agitated. Fleur rarely acted like this at her, usually when she brought up this joke Fleur would've just laughed it off with her. Well, including the few exceptions when Gabrielle would see Fleur return from a long day from classes or horrible dates. She examined her sister further. Her eyes travelling from head to toe.
For starters, Fleur was frowning as her hair blew in the wind. Each silvery strands heavy with dread and disorganization. This was far from what Gabrielle was used to. Fleur's hair was always perfect like the rest of her. And in her hands she held a long red and yellow striped scarf.
Messy hair? Fleur? Impossible…Unless…
Then it crossed Gabrielle's mind, had Fleur been snogging somebody? That wasn't possible since Fleur was picky with her choices in men, and did not just snog anyone she just met. Is it, or were her eyes playing tricks on her.
"Where have you been?" Gabrielle asked with a devious smirk on her face.
"Looking for you all morning!" Fleur snapped back.
Is that so? Where did you get the scarf? And your hair is all messy, have you been- Gabrielle wanted to ask, but her sister is definitely not in the mood to be humoured. "Madam Maxime is waiting for you in her office. Something about the tournament," Gabrielle shrugged.
"Fine," Fleur motioned for her sister to get in the carriage with her.
"Er, on second thought I have something more important to do. I'll be back. And you might want to fix your hair-" She yelled as she ran off in the other direction.
"Gabrielle!" Fleur called after her. But it was useless, if Gabrielle had felt like doing something there was no way of stopping her. It was watching her run off or watching her sneak out later. Hopeless…
"One of these days, I'll have to send her back to Mother and Father," Fleur muttered as she entered the carriage.
Fleur stood in front of the gold framed full length mirror located in her room. For the first time she got a look at the damage done on her hair. She shrugged to herself after she saw the reflection.
It was better than what Fleur had expected.
"Nothing a simple spell won't repair," She said to her reflection and twirled her wand, giving it a tap. Immediately the choppy strand was pinned and under control. A smile appeared on her face, satisfied with her work, as Hermione's voice rang in her head. The table had turned in her mind.
"Look, I said I was sorry, besides it'll grow back," The brunette's voice repeated itself once and again.
What if I was overreacting?
Her eyes travelled on her grand mattress. On top of the butterfly blue covers lay Hermione's lengthy scarf.
And there was no real reason for me to take it…But then I'll have to find an opportunity to return it. I wish I had a chance to blurt out an apology for overreacting…
She frowned. I owe her an apology. And I'll need to get her scarf back to her one way or another.
But that'll only prove that she had been right all along…
Pfft, she wishes….
Fleur narrowed her eyes and looked at her reflection again. "Fleur Delacour, you don't owe anyone anything, especially not that bothersome, good for nothing bird-nest head." She reassured herself, her eyes twinkled back brightly.
"Almost perfect," with one last look at herself in the mirror she walked out of her room.
"Madam you called for me?" Fleur greeted in French, upon entering the office of Madam Maxime. The room was huge, and costly decorated in gold and royal blue, with sets of gigantic furniture that was proportional to the half giant headmistress.
"Yes, Fleur come right in," Olympe Maxime looked up from the piles paperwork which required her undivided attention. Fleur stood in front of her anticipating for further instructions.
"Have a seat dear, this might take some time," The half giant announced.
She paused as Fleur managed herself on one of the gigantic settee. "Well you surely know that you will be our school's champion right?"
"Yes, I'm well aware of that." Fleur replied her eyes burning with ambition. There was no one that could do the job better and she knew it; the others knew it too. She would excel as she always had. Fleur grinned, she could almost feel the trophy in her hand effortlessly, and once and for all she would prove to people, that Fleur Delacour was more than a pretty face.
"Good," Madam Maxime mouthed, "Then it would be my duty to introduce you to your possible opponents in the competition," Fleur nodded as Madam Maxime went on about Viktor Krum, the most prominent student of Durmstrang academy, pride and joy of Igor Karkaroff. Not only was he the youngest seeker of professional Quidditch he was also built like a bear. His strength lies with hexes, and was a possible candidate user of Dark Magic.
"We can only hope that he devotes too much time in Quidditch to spend time studying hexes." Madam Maxime finished.
"And for Hogwarts?"
"According to sources, there is a heated debate between the houses for the Hogwarts Champion. Most say it would be Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff boy."
"That should be easy," Fleur said carelessly. Hufflepuffs are known to be the most harmless of all the Hogwarts houses, or at least that's what she had heard.
"BUT!" Madam Maxime raised her voice, making Fleur flinch.
"You MUST NOT forget that Hogwarts has its secret weapons. The three Gryffindor, including the boy who lived, who you should consider your immediate enemy,"
"But he can't compete! He is not of age." Fleur argued.
"He was not supposed to live either, things aren't ever for certain," Madam Maxime eyed Fleur carefully. "Anything can happen, do not underestimate your opponents. And as for Harry, besides his bravery, he has two close companions, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger,"
"'Ermione?!" Fleur stared at the half giant as if she heard wrong.
"Yes, the one and only Hermione Granger." Madam Maxime examined her prized pupil. "Judging by your response, I trust you know each other."
"I bumped into-"
Before Fleur could finish her sentence and complain, her teacher cut in joyously.
"That is wonderful!" Madam Maxime cried out. "This means we have one less thing to worry about."
"What?!"
"Strategically speaking, keep your friends close and your enemies closer." Madam Maxime nodded as Fleur shook her head in horror.
"You mean…"
"Yes, undermine your opponents by getting to know them better. Do whatever you need to, winning is the ultimate goal." Madam Maxime justified.
This is horrible. Madam Maxime wants her to be 'friends' with Hermione?!
Did she hear that right? And if she did, she felt like she was about to do the sickest thing in the world. The fact that she'll have to carry ulterior motives, while trying to get to Harry Potter through Hermione was just sickening… She'll rather just seduce another champion and get everything she needed to know out of them that way. It would be much easier-
"Can't I just 'be friends' with Harry instead? He'll be easier to bypass-" Fleur asked with her fingers crossed.
"Quick thinking, unfortunately, that would be too obvious." Madam Maxime replied shuffling through the piles of paperwork on her desk.
How is this NOT? This morning she hated Hermione's guts and now there are still trances of faint resentment towards the girl, just not nearly as intense as this morning. But, asking her to be friends with Hermione was too far of a stretch. And she was sure Hermione would feel the same towards her.
"But-", Fleur tried to object.
"My mind is made up, strategically this will benefit you and Beauxbatons, so if you please." Madam Maxime returned to the paperwork. "Close the door after you leave."
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Bwuaha.
Thank you guys for all your wonderful reviews I appreciate it.
Special thanks to S.F who beta-ed this.