This update came a lot quicker than I was planning but the first chapter looked so lonely on it's own so I caved.
Chapter Two – Obvious
At nearly eighteen Gabrielle had finally worked out the secret of her sister's success. It was in the blood and it didn't take much for her to be able to turn on the charm and dazzle unsuspecting males into submission. It was a weird feeling of power and she hated to admit it but sometimes it felt a little out of her control.
It wasn't just down to looks, she quickly realised. Because although Gabrielle shared her sister's silver blond hair she did not come close to Fleur's natural symmetry and perfect bone structure. No, Gabrielle was a young woman that people would describe as striking. Her face did not have the same delicate lines and subtle femininity as Fleur. Rather Gabrielle had a strong, almost masculine profile. Her lips were dark and eyes were challenging.
She was beautiful but beautiful in the way that lightning or a tempest is beautiful; any sane man would run. The 'charm', as she usually thought of her veela-like powers, brought out a chaotic magnetism that augmented her compelling physicality and attracted suitors indiscriminately.
In contrast to her sister, boyfriends were not the be-all and end-all of Gabrielle's life, although that was not to say she didn't indulge from time to time. Instead she preferred to devote her attention to more cerebral pursuits. She wouldn't even consider going out with a boy unless he proved to be at least as interesting as Helmartz Codex.
Which was probably why, when she went to Hogwarts on the Tri-School exchange program, she was sorted into Ravenclaw.
That was the September that Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes was finally set to open in Hogsmead and the news spread through Hogwarts like wildfire. Some of the teachers groaned at the very mention of the joke shop but a few seemed almost as excited as the students. Professor Flitwick in particular was very easily persuaded to wax lyrical about the Weasley Twins proficiency in charms. He even took a forth year class down to see the portable swamp they had "demonstrated" the day they had left the school in a blaze of glory and fireworks.
Gabrielle had started the year as a mildly interesting exchange student but in the days leading up to the first Hogsmead weekend it seemed like everyone in the school approached her to get the inside track on her brothers-in-law and what they had planned to mark the occasion. Gabrielle was curious herself and had sent owls to almost all the Weasley's trying to get information but it seemed that Fred and George were actually capable of keeping a secret. She had even suggested that she help out with the opening and reminded the twins of the offer they had made her years ago to come and work for them. They had written back saying nice try and given her a ream of special coupons for her friend to get free stuff.
The Saturday came and Gabrielle was ripped from sleep by a loud explosion.
"Gabrielle, come and look!" Alison yelled as she and the other Ravenclaw seventh years clustered around the window.
"The whole school's going to be in Hogsmead today," Melantha laughed.
"What 'ave zey done?" Gabrielle asked yawning.
"Seems they wanted to get everyone's attention," Ally pointed to the lake. Thousands of little paper boats were floating in formation, spelling out things like "Opening today in Hogsmead – the greatest jokeshop known to wizardkind!" and every so often there would be a bang as one of the boats would explode sending waves that would rearrange the rest into another message.
"Cute," Gabrielle shrugged. "No fireworks though. I like the fireworks better." She was actually disappointed that nothing more… well, violent had happened. She wondered if Fred and George were going soft in their old age.
"It's eight o'clock in the morning. Of course they aren't going to waste fireworks in the daytime," Mel said pragmatically. "Let's get dressed and get a move on. With any luck we'll get there before the crowd."
Gabrielle did as she was told and followed her friends down for breakfast. She wasn't really a morning person and yet she had been sorted into Ravenclaw where everyone seemed to wake up at the crack of dawn. Sometimes she thought she would have been better off in one of the other houses, perhaps Hufflepuff - nobody ever saw any of them before about ten on a weekend.
The girls ate their breakfast and listened to Gabrielle's familiar lament about the state of British food. They knew that her grumpiness would wear off as soon as she had a full stomach. When she tossed her hair and flashed a dazzling smile at a passing Gryffindor boy who promptly tripped over his own feet and had to be dragged away by his friend, they knew she was ready to go.
As they walked down to the village Gabrielle dutifully answered questions about the infamous Fred and George. She did her best to sound aloof and distant – "Zey used to chase me around. Zey are like overgrown children!" – but secretly she was pleased that she would have the chance to see them again.
Gabrielle had always liked the Weasley family. They were so loud and colourful and unequivocally brave in the face of the horror's they'd had to face over the years. She approved of Bill, which was surprising since she had never liked any of Fleur's boyfriends. He was very intelligent and kind and had always treated her like an adult. She didn't really know Percy or Charlie very well but what she had seen of them pleased her. Fred and George were a lot of fun, so was Ginny who never hesitated to throw a bat bogey curse if her brothers stepped out if line. Then there was Ron.
"He's Harry Potter's friend, right?" Mel said.
Gabrielle nodded. She wondered what she could say about Ron. She settled on a neutral, "'E is very tall."
It was all hands on deck at the newly renovated shop. Fred and George had offered obscene sums of money for the premises which used to be Honeydukes and only a handful of people knew why. Most of their friends thought it was a stroke of brilliance but Hermione clicked her tongue in disapproval and muttered something along the lines of, "Well, at least one of the secret passageways into the school is protected if something happens."
"Of course, darling," George said hugging his wife. "My twin and I are the very souls of chivalry."
Hermione tried and failed to maintain her disapproving expression and went back to stocking the shelves with fake wands and magical sweets. Somehow she managed to class helping out at the shop under family loyalty, which outranked her still strict respect for school rules.
Most of the Weasley siblings and spouses had turned up for the shop opening and Mr and Mrs Weasley were presiding over a makeshift crèche in the tiny yard at the back. Occasionally there would be a loud shriek followed by Mr Weasley calling, "Nothing to worry about – Victoire just swallowed a Canary Cream."
The shop was due to open at nine o'clock. With half an hour to go there was already a queue forming at the door and a glut of kids and adults with silly grins were pressing their noses against the window.
Suddenly the crowd parted and a tall redhead pushed to the front of the queue and banged on the window. "Oi, George let me in."
"Apperate, you idiot," George shouted back.
Ron shrugged before rematerialising on the other side of the door. "I didn't think you let people apperate inside the shops."
It was Hermione who replied, "Well, that turned out to be impractical so we put you on the authorised list."
"I'm on the list," Ron grinned.
"Yeah, well, we can take you off again if you annoy me," George said. "You're late. Mum and Dad got here three hours ago and Ginny and Harry arrived last night. Bill and Fleur dropped off Victoire and have gone shopping. A lot of help, those two!"
"Where's Fred?" Ron asked.
"He's opening up in Diagon Alley. He'll be in later."
"Cool. What do you want me to do?" Ron asked Hermione.
"Hey. I'm the boss here in case you've forgotten," George protested.
Ron ignored his brother and turned to his friend. "You're husband seems a touch stressed."
George pouted as Hermione and Ron exchanged an knowing look.
"Do me a favour Ron and grab another box of Nosebleed Nougats from the back," she said. "Oh, and could you check on the kids and make sure they haven't got into any more Skiving Snackbox's"
The queue was enormous when the girls reached Hogsmead. Gabrielle frowned and muttered, "Well, zis is no good at all. We shall go in through ze back door."
Mel and Ally grinned and followed their friend down a side alley. Gabrielle heard the sounds of young children playing and homed in on the noise. She pushed open the wooden gate and found Mr and Mrs Weasley vainly attempting to heard four young children.
"'Allo Molly, Arthur," she called cheerfully.
"Gabrielle!" Victoire screamed and launched herself at her aunt. Gabrielle scooped up her niece and tickled her until she squirmed with laughter.
"Oh, hello dear," Mr Weasley said distractedly. "Here for the opening then?"
"Oui," she replied. "But ze queue is massive. Will Fred and George mind me coming in this way?"
"Oh I shouldn't think so." While Mr Weasley came over to give Gabrielle a hug, Mrs Weasley looked at her strangely. Thinking she had been rude in some way, Gabrielle quickly introduced her friends.
Mrs Weasley nodded at the two girls and then said to Gabrielle, "It's nice to see you again, Gabrielle dear. I think the last time was Victoire's birthday party. Now you're at Hogwarts, if you ever want to come and stay with us during the holidays just send us an owl won't you."
"Thank you," Gabrielle said surprised. She tried to work out the reason for Mrs Weasley's strange invitation – Fleur was always going on about how difficult Molly Weasley was to get along with – why would she go out of her way to be nice to Gabrielle now?
Rather than spend all day trying to figure out the inner workings of Molly Weasley's mind, Gabrielle went over to say hello to the other children - Dixie and Dot, George and Hermione's two year old twins and James, Ginny and Harry's nine month old.
Suddenly Victoire wriggled out of her arms and raced towards the back door of the shop. The kid was acting like a human pin ball. Gabrielle wondered what Bill and Fleur had been feeding her.
Luckily someone was blocking the entrance and grabbed Victoire before she could make a bid for freedom.
"Oh," he said casually, "Hi Gabby. You made it then."
"Bonjour Ron," Gabrielle felt a little embarrassed. Nobody else called her Gabby and she had repeatedly asked Ron not to but it never seemed to sink in. She could feel Mel and Ally looking at her and at Ron with astonishment.
"Come on," he said waving for them to follow, "Come and have a look at the shop before the mob descends."
They walked in to the sound of familiar voices. Gabrielle stole a glance at her two friends who were looking distinctly star struck. Not only was the Harry Potter lounging against the counter but Ginny Potter, the famous chaser and three time winner of Witch Weekly's most glamorous quidditch player award, was pacing up and down pulling distractedly at her clothes.
"I hate you George," Ginny was saying as she gestured to the magenta robes she and Harry were wearing. "These are vile."
"There supposed to be highly visible actually," George said. "It's all a carefully thought out sales strategy."
"Just tell me Ron's here," Harry moaned. "I need to know someone else is suffering too."
"I'm here," Ron said laughing. "But there's no way you're getting me in one of those things George!"
"Oh, hello Gabrielle," Hermione said as she noticed the teenagers shuffling in behind Ron.
"Yeah, found 'em in the yard. Didn't fancy queuing did you, Gabby?"
Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron and ushered the girls in. Gabrielle was grateful that she didn't have to concentrate on Ron anymore as she was beginning to get the usual heavy feeling in her stomach that tended to set in whenever he was around.
Hermione gave them a quick tour and said, "Listen, in about twenty minutes it's going to be pandemonium in here so pick out what you want now and we'll send it up to the castle later." Ally and Mel squealed excitedly and dashed to love potions section.
Hermione watched them ruefully. "I know you're of age, Gabrielle, but there's no way George will sell that stuff to you. It's not like you'd need something like that anyway."
Gabrielle nodded dubiously. Ordinarily Hermione would have been right. A smile here, a sway of her hips there with a bit of the old veela magic usually did the trick. But occasionally, recently, her powers had seemed to have deserted her. Gabrielle wasn't sure if they shut down entirely when she was around Ron or whether he was just immune. Either way whenever Gabrielle saw him she managed to do a very passable impression of the shy, gawky teenager she had never been. She heaved a frustrated sigh.
"Hey," Hermione said with concern. "Is everything alright at school? It must be hard to be away from all your old friends."
"No," Gabrielle said, shaking herself out of her gloom and smiling brightly. "I'm enjoying 'Ogwarts very much. It is different from Beaubatons. We 'ave much more freedom."
"I know what you mean. I sometime thought that as long as we turned up to class, didn't cause any physical damage and didn't let Filch catch us that Dumbledore was happy for us to do whatever we wanted. I don't know if Minerva's that laid back?"
"I think she secretly finds the students entertaining," Gabrielle said. Hermione was another surprise, she thought. Fleur had always said that she was an "unattractive little know-it-all". But Gabrielle found herself warming to the young woman as they chatted about Ravenclaw and Hogwarts library and advanced transfiguration.
In no time at all nine o'clock rolled round and George yelled, "Alright people, man your posts!"
"Well, I guess this is it," Hermione shook her head in resignation, "Another generation of Hogwarts students corrupted by the Weasley Twins. Listen Gabrielle, anytime you need to get away you are welcome here. Day or night."
Gabrielle frowned in confusion. Surely Hermione knew that Hogsmead weekends were only every month or so. What was she getting at?
"Ron," Hermione called him over. "It's about to get real busy in here. Might be a good time to show Gabrielle the cellar."
Ron stared stupidly at his friend. "The cellar?"
"The cellar," said Hermione pointedly.
Suddenly realisation seemed to dawn on Ron. "Oh, the cellar."
"Why are we down 'ere?" Gabrielle peered through the gloom and made out a few stacks of boxes and very little of interest.
Ron lit his wand and tramped around the place, banging the floor with his heels. It looked like he was doing some strange dance.
"Now where is it?" he muttered and stamped some more.
"What are you looking for?" Gabrielle asked curiously. "Can I help?"
"Nah… It's here somewhere. I just never really saw it from this side before. Ah!" Suddenly Ron's boot hit something hollow and an echoey knock sounded in the room. He knelt down and swept the dirt away revealing a rickety old trap door.
"Where does that go?"
"That, Gabby, goes right into Hogwarts and comes out… behind the tapestry of Mad Hilda and her Miserable Men on the potions corridor, if I remember rightly."
"A secret passageway?" Gabrielle said delighted.
"Of course. Why do you thing Fred and George wanted this place? So they could smuggle orders into Hogwarts even if Filch started to check owls."
"Zat is wonderful!" Gabrielle cried. "Beaubatons did not 'ave any secret passageways. And now it makes sense what 'Ermione meant when she said to come any time I wanted…"
"Yeah, just keep it quiet though. Fred and George are pretty uptight when it comes to security. You have to be on their list otherwise you can't get into the building without really loud alarms and a lot of bleeding."
"Zat is so kind," Gabrielle said quietly. "I don't understand why everyone is being so nice to me."
"Well, you're a long way from home and you're family… sort of." Ron shrugged.
Gabrielle's jaw dropped in horror. Ron thought of her as family, like a little sister no doubt! Gabrielle found herself fast approaching sulk mode and she knew she had to get out of there before she regressed into a full blown temper tantrum, which was unfortunately one of the downsides of having veela blood.
"Well, thank you. We should go back now," Gabrielle said coldly. "My friends will be wondering where I am."
George saw the pair return to the shop and Gabrielle's face was dark and unhappy. She gathered up her friends, said goodbye and fairly sprinted out of the shop.
Ron didn't seem to notice anything amiss.
Hermione caught George's eye shot him look that communicated everything from the fact that she had seen exactly what had happened to her mirth at the situation.
"Do you think he has any idea?" George whispered to her.
"Not a chance," she grinned back. "Poor Gabrielle. If she has to wait for Ron to catch on it could be years, going off his track record."
"I don't get it. She's part veela right? Shouldn't she be able to just... you know…" George made a flouncy gesture.
"I dunno. She's not like Fleur." Hermione mused thoughtfully for a moment. "I like her though."
"Yeah. It's a shame Ron's such a prat."
"Couldn't you maybe give him a bit of a nudge…"
"I'll nudge," George agreed. "But if that doesn't work then you'll have to give him a gigantic push."
TBC.