Vive, L'Amour !
Chapter Two
"Gabrielle! Dépêche-toi! On sera en retard!"
"Attends, maman! Je viens!" replied Gabrielle. Brushing her soft, pale yellow hair out of her eyes, she packed the last of her blouses into her suitcase and ran down the stairs, floating her suitcase behind.
Her mother was standing at the doorway, her bags at her feet. "Tu es prêtes?"
"Bien sûr!" Gabrielle readjusted her dark blue beret and nodded at her mother.
Her mother smiled at her young daughter, then nodded back and opened the door, where there was a Portkey waiting, in the form of a discarded newspaper.
"On y va!"
After the stomach-wrenching journey, Madame Delacour and Gabrielle arrived on the walkway to the Burrow, setting their baggage down and patting their hair down. It was dark out, and the yellow lights of the house in front of them summoned them forward. Once again hovering their bags behind them, the two Frenchwomen walked up to the front door, where the smiling Weasley clan instantly greeted them out of the darkness.
"Bienvenue, Marguerite!" Molly cried out in warm welcome. "Let us take your things. You can stay in one of our son's old rooms, and your darling Gabrielle can stay in Ginny's room."
"Merci mille fois," Madame Delacour gushed, kissing Molly on both cheeks.
Gabrielle smiled shyly, shifting her weight to the other foot as she took in the blazing-haired family standing behind Molly: the balding father, Arthur; the manically grinning twins; the gangly Ron and his friends, one of whom she recognized from the incident at the Triwizard Tournament; and the youngest, a girl of fifteen, with long, straight hair. Gabrielle met her eyes instantly, then she smiled faintly and returned her gaze to the bubbly matriarch.
"Je vous remercie pour votre générosité. Vous êtes bien aimable comme famille," Gabrielle said, as if in some dreamy breath, and bowed slightly. She looked up from underneath her beret at the daughter for a moment – just a moment.
Molly blinked. "Bienvenue!" she repeated again. Then she smiled and gestured towards the staircase. "You're staying on the third floor with my daughter. Here, you can meet the whole family!"
The introductions began. Gabrielle got quite confused when meeting Fred and George and almost a little embarrassed to meet Harry Potter again, after what had happened during one of the Triwizard Tasks. She was amused at Ron's stunned reaction to her glittering blue-gray eyes and very happily surprised to meet Hermione, who was able to converse in some simple French sentences with her. At the end of the line was Ginny.
Gabrielle once again bowed slightly. "Bon soir." When she looked into Ginny's eyes, she saw within the deep brown a flash of something – something momentary. "I am Gabrielle."
"My name is Ginny," the redhead replied. Then, feeling as though she should have some more marvelous or lyrical name, she added, "Genevra."
"Genevra," Gabrielle replied. She smiled shyly, then turned to her mother. "Maman, je suis vraiment fatiguée. Est-ce que je peux aller au lit?"
"T'as pas faim? D'accord, vas-y." Marguerite turned to Molly. "We are very tired, us two. Does that bother you if we go to bed?"
Molly shook her head slightly, having barely noticed they'd switched back to English. "Oh. Oh, yes, of course. I'll show you to your bedroom; Ginny, can you take Gabrielle to yours?"
Ginny nodded and beckoned Gabrielle carefully. "Erm. Aller. Aller avec moi."
Gabrielle smiled at the attempt and ascended the stairs with Ginevra.