Golden Haze, Act Three, Scene Four
AN: Well, I guess I learned my lesson about updating over Easter. Never again. But come on you guys, over a thousand hits and ten reviews? Even with the holiday, I thought that that chapter in particular would have garnered better results.
This scene is out of place in the next chapter, so I cut it out and had it stand alone - as the next chapter is more looking for Hermione - and this is a moment of downtime and very terse conversations.
Music of the story – Cake – Short Skirt, Long Jacket
It was strange when they returned that night, Harry silently retreating up the stairs after a hard look from Ginny, Draco leaving them at the doorstep with a promise to come first thing in the morning. Fleur was grateful for the support, but as William stood framed in the bright light of the kitchen door, she knew that the moment had finally come. There was no way she could avoid the confrontation, the judgment, or the fact that she had no idea what to say. Somehow, 'I never loved your son,' did not sound like a good way to begin the conversation.
Her steps were uneasy, one, two, and then a third. They sounded like explosions in the quiet of the Weasley's foyer. Fleur swallowed, and came to stand before William, knowing full-well what was about to come.
"Est il…" she began, French flowing more cleanly from her lips at this moment, another sign she did not belong.
Hermione was gone, captured by a man who had laid a second trail so carefully that they'd wasted an entire day following it. Fleur had no place here, with these people who loved and cared for Hermione like she did. Not until she could find her lover and bring her back to all these smiling faces would she belong.
She wanted to turn and leave.
William nodded gravely and Fleur felt her control begin to slip. Golden hues swam at the corners of her vision and she felt dread take deep hold in her stomach.
(Best the get it over with,) the veela breathed inside her, but Fleur could feel its fear as well. They were in unchartered waters, and the feeling was so akin to what she had felt when she first told her parents that she was going to marry William despite the fact that she did not love him.
Back then, they had told her to just leave. That no misguided sense of justice was worth being subject to Voldemort's reign of terror or the oppressive laws that the British ministry was forcing upon its citizens. She had felt that same sense of dread and hesitancy. She did not want to be the bearer of bad news, she did not want to become hated in her lone safe-haven.
The golden haze on her vision spread like wildfire and Fleur tried to will herself to calm down. She inhaled slowly, and looked up at William with a small, closed-off smile. "We should go in then, non?"
He looked taken aback, but nodded his agreement and followed Fleur into the kitchen.
Molly and Arthur Weasley were sitting at one end of the table, cold, forgotten mugs of tea on the table before them. Fleur swallowed, the lump in her throat only seemed to grow bigger.
How could she trust her English in a time like this? She didn't even know where to begin. "I believe that I owe you an apology," she said at length, taking a seat opposite Molly Weasley and folding her hands neatly in front of her. "I 'ave misled you."
"That is putting it mildly," Molly Weasley said shortly. Fleur flinched, but she knew that it was something that she did deserve.
"I was not 'onest with my intentions and for that I am truly sorry. I wish that I could 'ave never done what I did during the war, but at the time it seemed like the only choice." Fleur looked down at her hands, nails chipped (again) and shaking. "I am not sorry for how I did it." Her hand clenched into tight fists. The bandage on her palm giving her pause before she once again clenched too tightly and hurt herself, Fleur relaxed her grip.
"Why ever not? You deliberately misled this entire family – did Bill never mean anything to you?" Molly's eyes flashed dangerously and Fleur wondered if she had overstepped her bounds in her honesty.
"William, is my best friend," Fleur said shortly. "At the time when we made this decision, both of us were in far more denial about," she glanced over at William, wondering how much she could get away with saying. He didn't look at her, instead concentrating on picking at a deep scratch in the table with his fingernail. "certain aspects of our person. I am sure that it did not go unnoticed to you how many members of my family were notably absent from the wedding. They did not believe that I could dishonor myself in such a way."
Arthur Weasley, always quiet and a foil to his more expressive wife, slammed his mug down on the table. "You dishonored this family."
"Da-" William began, and Fleur glanced over at him, afraid to look at either of her former parents-in-law. "To dishonor a veela family is not marry one's mate. That's what they were objecting to. It has nothing to do with us."
"He isn't your mate then?" Arthur glanced from William to Fleur and back again. Fleur felt her cheeks color but she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything. It was not their business, it was no one's business but her own. "Who is?"
Fleur looked down at the table for a long time, wondering if she could actually come clean about this. So much had changed since the war had begun and she was a completely different person. "I knew before, we had met when I was seventeen." Her voice shook, but she kept talking. "That year was very 'ard on me. I dishonored my school by doing poorly in the Triwizard Tournament and I shamed my family by not seeking out my mate as soon I became aware of the bond. I was afraid. Always, always, I 'ated the way that my grandmere's blood changed me; that year I shifted for the first time and I vowed that I would never do it again." She found herself laughing. "I could not stay away, it seemed. After my mastery was finished, I came back here to fight. But also for another reason that I am only now becoming aware of: 'ermione."
The room was silent, Fleur hoped that they were just dumbfounded. She had said a lot, perhaps even too much. Fleur watched with wary eyes as her chest rose and fell, calming down from the extreme push of emotions she had just expelled. The truth is almost always worse, the saying said, and she was so sure that she would be run out of the house now.
"Is that why you went off?" Molly asked, and Fleur looked up, meeting her eyes evenly. "Today, I mean."
"Yes." Fleur said tonelessly. "The veela does not take kindly to having its mate kidnapped."
William sighed, "Mum, Da – you know that Fleur is not the only guilty party when it comes to this."
They both looked at him and Fleur mentally groaned, she had not been mentally prepared to go through the entirety of their lies today. She had been so much already. Couldn't this wait?
"I am not attracted to women." William said quite forcefully. "I told you this when I was seventeen and I'm telling you this again now. I can't follow the old ways and give you a blood heir in the traditional way."
"I 'ad offered, should 'ermione be willing…" Fleur clapped her hand over her mouth, suddenly fearful. She could not make this promise; she should not even mention it.
Molly Weasley smiled at her, "That would be wonderful if you were able to, dear."
Fleur swallowed, fear gripping her stomach once more. "I 'ope that you 'ave not misunderstood me. I 'ave yet to even speak to 'ermione about this – I do not 'ave the place to offer such a thing." She looked away, "The veela in me would not allow it."
"Do you love her?" Arthur asked.
"J-I- Of course I do." Fleur stuttered, English switching to French and then hastily back again. How could she trust her English in a time like this?
"It's not exactly a traditional love, Fleur," Molly said, not unkindly. "Have you explained to her what it would mean in the eyes of wizarding society?"
"That is why she is trying to change the law." Fleur shrugged, she did not understand where Hermione pulled her motivation from, but she did love how the younger woman was so passionate about changing perceived injustices that she saw in the world. "That is why 'er parents asked 'er to leave."
Molly's face pulled downwards. "I do not approve of this – not when Hermione is so young. She does not know what's she committing to – or what she's doing with a married woman."
William began to speak then, explaining how they had nullified the marriage contract in hasty words and how when the laws were appealed they would file it officially. Fleur was grateful that he had taken over the talking, she could not stand the idea of having to dignify Molly's comment with a response.
The conversation was far from over, but it did not seem as though she would be thrown out. At the moment, it was all that Fleur could hope for. She had more to think about. She had to get Hermione back.