Heh. Hi guys. I know, I know, who's this freak, right? Well, I apologize but what'd you expect? New plan: try and post a new chapter every other week, but probably not. But when I do post, it'll be on Monday/Tuesday. Promise. The exception being today. This is your Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/ Whatever-you-celebrate present.

You guys'll be pleased to know that I plan to never put another story on here without already finishing it, so we won't have this problem anymore… if you guys will still read my crap after this… hmm…

Also, for those of you who haven't noticed, I had to return my copy of Goblet of Fire to the library (my brother lost ours) when I wrote the last chapter, SO I FORGOT THE DAY THEY PUT THEIR NAMES IN THE GOBLET IS A SATURDAY! *dies* So, what do I do, guys? Put a chapter before the ones with Cho and Maria and them or just ignore it? For now I will just ignore it, but I am sooooo sorry, I hate not being accurate. For now I shall just continue as planned. *shakes head at self in disgust*

Thanks to Yann, the only permanent fixture in my updating schedule. He actually sent the translations in today, the day after Christmas! Whoa! *bows humbly to Yann*

"Fleur Delacour?"

I frowned, not overly pleased that a possible criminal knew my name.

"'ow do you know my name?" I asked warily.

She grinned. "Only one person is part veela and would teach her daughter to do that."

I smiled wryly. "And, 'oo would zat be?"

She smiled, and brushed her iron gray hair out of her face. She stood up, and looked even more peculiar with her gray hair and her spine perfectly straight, and she held herself with pose and absolute dignity. She looked a hundred years old, but also only twenty. She had to be one of the strangest women I've ever met, and she had only said about fiveteen words to me.

"Miss Delacour, with all due respect, your mother is nothing but ordinary. She is one of the most talented Ward Masters I have ever met, and it was a pleasure to just speak with her. If you have even half the talent she does, then I would be honored to speak with you." she said kindly, her strangely bright hazel eyes boring into me. "But now I have a class to teach. I would love it if you would stay and help, if you like."

I nodded, smiled, but I was still wary. I conjured a soft, rather cushy armchair towards the front of the room and sat in it. I looked at her sideways. "What is your name?" I asked, curiosity making me even bolder than usual, which was very bold. Usually my respect for authority would have held me to silence because she was starting her class.

"My name is Professor Astor, Miss Delacour." she said, before turning to the front of the room.

"Students," she started, "The thing you just saw Miss Delacour do, was Remove a Ward. Doing that, even to a simple Ward like that one, is very difficult. It takes time, practice, and an extensive knowledge of Runes. Not all of you will ever be a Ward User, let alone a Ward Master, and probably none of you will have even a fourth of the talent that Miss Delacour has right now as a relative ameteur."

I snorted, then cursed myself quietly. Disrespectful. That was no way to act around a superior, that I knew. Professor Astor turned to me. Her eyes were narrowed. Was she the Ward on the front doors Creator? That would explain why she thought I was an ameteur, because ameteur, I was not.

"Miss Delacour, what part of that statement to you deem worthy of... scoffing at?" she asked.

I shrugged, my irritation at being underestimated bringing out my crippling honesty. "Simply zat I am no ameteur,Profesor."

A small, rather sadistic grin spread on her face. "Well, then, Miss Delacour, care to help me give my students a demonstration?"

Now I was angry. Good. Anger fueled me.

"I would love to, Mademoiselle." I said sweetly, standing abruptly and vanishing my chair with a flick of my wand.

We faced each other. An old, gray haired woman long past her prime, with experience on her side, and a beautiful young woman, with skill on hers.

She began. She worked with the fast skill one needed to create a quick Ward Wall, but she slipped many complicated patterns and combinations. She was unmatched by anyone, except for me and my mother. I watched her and I realized that while she had age, experience, and knowledge on her side, I had her beat talentwise. She poured everything into her ward, and I watched it become harder and harder to disable.

She finished five minutes after starting, panting slightly but looking satisfied. The large Ward Wall that stood in front of me was similar to the one on the castle doors. I grinned.

I stepped forward and used my wand to search through her wards. There was no way I was touching it with my hand until I knew what was in it. I finally found the wards that quite literally would have melted my hand off if I had touched them. I disabled it neatly, countering the Rune Combination with my own carefully fused Runes. The confident grin on her face slipped slightly. The Ward was Unpierceable, Unenterable, and even Uncrossable, meaning I could not cross through it, penetrate it, or slip through it.

But I could break it. I decided to use a simple Ward that would cause it to break if I hit it. A simple Shatter When Struck Ward Combination. Now all I had to do was check that there were no hidden Wards that would cause me harm if I did. I flew through all the wards that were in the Wall, checking each one with stunning ease. I didn't notice anything that would prevent my plan from working, so I took the plunge.

Shatter Rune, combined with a Timer Rune fused with a Strike Rune. Easy. After I finished drawing the last Rune, I took a step back. I could see Profesor Astor studying me with interest. I reached out and slammed my fist against the Wall, then ducked and covered my head with my arms. Thee Wall shattered, exploding into a million ice cold pieces that cascaded over me. They stung slightly when I they struck me, but didn't hurt too much.

When the last of the pieces had disintegrated on contact with the floor, I straightened, trying to look dignified. Profesor Astor was laughing.

"Bravo! I hoped you would find the loophole, and you did. Then combined it to shatter on contact, oh, brilliant, Your mother taught you well, Miss Delacour."

I smiled. "Merci, Mademoiselle, I was 'appy to break it for you. You are too kind.'

Mmph. I had always been a suck up. Authority was important at Beauxbatons. Most of it's students are suck ups.

I sat down on my newly conjured chair as she began explaining to the class what I had done. She explained each different part that went into it and asked me to explain some of it. When the lesson ended, she called me to her desk. I went, not at all nervous. I was fully expecting praise, but instead I got:

"Miss Delacour, would you like to study with me?"

I frowned, mulling it over. Would I like to learn from the obviously quite talented woman who was very clearly less talented than me? Well, I was going to be missing a whole year of time with my Runes teacher at Beauxbatons, so I guess it couldn't hurt. The woman knew more about the subject than I did, and I knew quite a bit.

"Profesor Astor, I would be 'onored."

When I exited the classroom Cho, Marietta, Maria, Al, and Danny were waiting for me.

"Fleur! What was that? Why didn't you tell us you could do that?" Cho cried, looking at me in shock.

I was surprised. "Well, one does not really volunteer irrelevant information, no?" I said.

Cho grinned. "Just flippantly using the newest words you can learn, huh?"

I chuckled. "I do not pretend to know what thees 'flipp-ant-ly' word means, but I theenk I know what you mean."

Marietta frowned. "Guys, can we get lunch? Maybe they'll be people putting their names in the Goblet."

I nodded, surprised I had forgotten. "I 'ave to do zat as well. Susanne, Terese, and my sister will be furious."

Cho nodded, still looking put out that I had, I guess deceived her, in some twisted way. But she still lead us down the hallway, pointing out a few secret passages like an especially good tour guide, while I tried to cram all the knowledge in my brain.

When we reached the big hall that we ate in, I turned to Cho to thank her for keeping me from getting lost. A castle this big was not good for children, with too many passages and trick steps and secret turns. But before I could get a word out, all the air was knocked out of me by a silvery haired blur.

"Fleur, oh mon Dieu, où étais-tu? On s'est réveillé et tu étais partie! Nous étions tellement inquiètes! Et en colère, nous sommes très en colère. Pourquoi as-tu pensé que tu pouvais simplement partir? C'est ridicule!"FLEUR, oh my god, where have you been? We woke up and you were gone! We were so worried! And angry, we are very angry. Why did you think you could just leave? That is ridiculous!

I chuckled slightly as I stroked Gabrielle's silky hair, and she smacked my arm, looking up and me with big worry filled blue eyes. "I am fine, Gabrielle. Zere is nothing to worry about." I said it in English for the benefit of Maria, Danny, Cho, Al, and Marietta who were staring at Gabrielle as if she had two heads as she ranted in rapid fire French.

Gabrielle took a deep breath and kept going. "Tu avais disparu quand on s'est réveillé après avoir entendu la porte du carrosse claquer, et Aiden a vu quelqu'un s'enfuir. Que s'est-il passé ? As-tu-été kidnappée? T'es-tu échappée?" You disappeared when we woke up after hearing the carriage door slam, and Aiden saw someone running away. What happened, were you kidnapped? Did you escape?

I shook my head, forgetting English and answering in French. "Je n'ai pas été kidnappée, je me suis réveillée tôt et je suis allée me promener. La porte a claqué derrière moi." I was not kidnapped, I woke up early and went for a walk. The door slammed behind me.

Gabrielle frowned. "Donc tu es partie en courant?" So you ran away?

I glared. "J'ai paniqué." I panicked.

She shook her dainty head. "Paniqué? Mais devant quoi Fleur? Le froid? L'idée de te faire prendre par ta soeur et tes meilleures amies?" Panicked from what, Fleur? The cold? Being caught by your sisters and best friends?

I sighed. "I wanted to get out of zere. I needed ze air and ze time alone to clear my 'ead." I said, switching easily to English again because Danny looked like his head was about to explode. I turned to them and pointed gestured to them, hoping Gabrielle would get the hint and realize that the conversation was over.

She didn't.

"J'écrirai à Mère et Père et je leur dirai que tu nous fuis nous et Madame Maxime bien que qu'on t'ait expressément dit de ne pas-" I will write to Mother and Father and tell them that you are running from us and Madame Maxime even though you were expressly told not to-

"THIS, GABRIELLE, IS DANNY, MARIETTA, MARIA, AL, AND CHO," I started as loudly as I could over Gabrielle. She just kept talking.

"Ils te ramèneront à la maison et tu ne pourras pas participer au Tournoi-" They will bring you back home and there will be no entering this Tournament for you-

I rolled my eyes at the empty threat. "Ouais, c'est ça." Yeah, right. I answered sarcastically in French before switching to English to speak to the people staring open mouthed at my sister. "This, amis, (friends) is Gabrielle."

Maria recovered first. "Hey, Gabrielle." she said kindly.

Gabrielle stopped talking in French, looking absolutely terrified at the possibility of conversing in English with those who spoke it as a first language.

"Uh, bonjour… hola? Al said, looking like a lost puppy.

Gabrielle giggled. "Bonjour, monsieur."

Al frowned. "Okay, you've lost me."

Gabrielle looked confused. "Lost… you…?"

He nodded. "Lost me, like, I'm confused."

Gabrielle brightened. "Ah! So am I!"

Al grinned. "Excellent!"

Gabrielle smiled prettily, so I grabbed her arm and began to pull her towards the hall. The others trailed after us.

"Quoi ?" What? Gabrielle asked indignantly, pulling her arm away.

"Ne flirt, il est bien trop vieux pour toi." Do not flirt, he is much too old for you. I said calmly.

"Quoi?" What? she squeaked. "Je ne... Certainement pas! J'ai huit ans!" I am… I am not! I am eight years old!"

I sighed and kept walking. We sat at the Ravenclaw table, Cho and Co. flocking around us like a bunch of… well, ravens, actually. I looked across the hall and noticed Terese, Susanne, and Zoe striding up to us. I snorted, catching Gabrielle's attention. We both burst out laughing. Susanne was seemingly floating across the hall, almost as graceful as me, while Zoe, inheriting none of her sisters clumsiness, was a small model, flicking her hair over her shoulder. Terese was the funny part. She was looking distinctly out of place, stomping towards us with no grace, her boots smacking the ground, robes swirling around her, her dark eyes glittering with anger. She somehow managed to make her lopsided gait and anger look good, though. Terese's clumsiness made her who she was, even if I didn't appreciate it most of the time.

"Hello," I giggled, as Gabrielle covered her mouth beside me, her eyes shining. "What brings you to lunch so late?"

Terese's eyes flashed. It was not a good idea to anger the ill-tempered witch, but I always loved to poke the bear with a stick. "Where ze 'ell 'ave you been you terrible, terrible personne. Nous nous sommes rongés les sangs en te cherchant. Et te voilà. En train de Manger. un Toast." person. We have gone insane with worry looking for you. And here you are. Eating. Toast. she started to slip into French in her anger, which was a habit she had broken long ago but the rest of us had yet to fix. My English, or any of the others, was not up to the standard I wish it was, but Terese spoke flawlessly, with little to no accent and perfect consonants. She only slipped into French when she became very angry, sad, or worried.

But I was not one to go down easy. "Yes," I replied, in the best accentless English I could. "Eating toast."

Terese looked murderous. "Tu trouves ça drôle, non?" You think this is funny, do you?

I started to realize she was really mad. I steeled myself. "Oui, en fait, assez amusant."Yes, actually, quite amusing.

"Tu aurais pu te faire tuer Fleur, c'est ta première fois vraiment toute seule dans un pays étranger. Cela t'aurait tué de laissé un mot?" You could have been killed, Fleur, this is our first time really alone in a foreign country. Would it have killed you to leave a note? Terese shrieked, her voice reaching a shrill pitch most banshees could not match. People were looking over now at the crazy forgein girl yelling in French. Good. I loved attention.

So I matched her, yelling back. "Je suis partie. Pour me promener. Pourquoi dois-tu paniquer à la seconde où je pars, tu n'es ni ma mère, ni mon père. Tu es la fainéante dans cette amitié, pourquoi n'est-ce pas Susanne qui me fait la morale?" I left. I took a walk. Why must you panic the minute I leave, you are not my mother, nor my father. You are the lazy one in this friendship, why is Susanne not delivering this speech?"

Terese glared. "J'ai le droit de m'inquiéter quand il s'agit du bien-être de mes meilleurs amis, Fleur. Contrairement à la croyance populaire, je ne le fais pas juste pour m'amuser. Pour moi, tout dans la vie n'est pas pour s'amuser." I can be concerned when it comes to the welfare of my best friends, Fleur. Contrary to popular belief, I do not just make them for fun. Not everything in life for me is just about fun.

I snorted. "Oui, seulement la plupart." Yes, just most of it,"

Personally, I was surprised this had escalated so fast. For it to have gone this big, there must have been underlying feelings. Did I have underlying feelings about Terese's lack of taking anything seriously? Apparently. Did she seem to have a problem with me? Yes, but I wasn't sure what it was yet.

Terese's metaphorical bristled. "Fleur, je n'aime pas ça," Fleur, I do not appreciate this,

I wanted to say 'You started it.' For the first time in my life I forced myself to hold my tongue. "Tu as un problème avec moi?" Do you currently have a problem with me? I stated, doing my best to seem eerily calm.

Terese drew herself up to her full height, then seemed to deflate like a popped balloon. "Oui," Yes. she said, all anger gone. The random mood change was astonishing. "Tu es distante récemment, t'éloignant sans prévenir. Cela devient de plus en plus difficile de te cerner, et ça me fait peur." You have been distant lately, slipping off at random moments. It's getting harder and harder to predict you, and that is scaring me. she admitted quietly, her eyes cast downward.

I stood up and put my hand on her shoulder. "Terese, je suis désolée. Je vais essayer de ne pas être si distante. Je n'ai pas fais attention." Terese, I am sorry. I will try not to be so distant. I did not notice.

She nodded. "Je suis désolée d'avoir réagi de façon excessive." I am sorry I overreacted. I smiled. It was not every day that Terese and I were completely serious with each other. She swept forward and hugged me, and that was the end of the argument. Gabrielle and Susanne, who had watched in concern, looked relieved.

"Is zat over?" Susanne asked nervously as we sat down.

"Of course." Terese answered, while looking at the lunch options before us.

"That… was… terrifying." Al commented, his eyes wide. Danny nodded in agreement. I sighed. While Danny seemed nice, and wasn't that bad on the eyes, he was predictable and rather unamusing. Well, to me, anyway, and I had a really high standards. Al, on the other hand, was the man who married shy, studious, bookworms. Or no one. Or a plant of some sort... Anyway, he was even more predictable than Danny, and on top of that not easy on the eyes or very smart at all. He was the kind of boy I couldn't stand, let alone pay attention to. People with dull personalities bored me, and I couldn't respect them. They were the extras, if you will, of humankind who were unnamed, unimportant, and unrespected. My greatest fear in life was that I would end up as one.

Terese finished off her own toast then turned to me. "Fleur, want to put our names in?"

I frowned, but nodded. I was enjoying my food, no matter how important the Tournament was to me.

Terese lead us toward the entrance hall, and the whole group followed. Al fell ungracefully off his bench before pulling himself to his feet and trailing after us. I fought not to roll my eyes. I noticed out of the corner of my eye when Madame Maxime strode in the same direction as us followed by the rest of our classmates. I saw a worried looking Zoe craning her head over the crowd. Once she spotted us her eyes lit up momentarily then she started muttering in French. The closer we got the more I could hear.

"-Laisse moi seule, ne me dis même pas qu'ils ont trouvé Fleur, vas simplement prendre ton petit-déjeuner, même ses meilleurs amis ne prennent pas la peine de prévenir Zoé-" -Leave me all alone, don't even tell me they found Fleur, just go to breakfast, not even her best friend bothers to tell Zoe-

As we reached her, Terese started to apologize in French hurriedly. "Zoé, je-" Zoe, I-

But Zoe was having none of it. "Tu n'as même pas pris la peine de me-" You didn't even bother to tell me-

Susanne and I ignored them and we walked on, Cho and friends trailing behind.

Terese and Zoe argued the whole way up to the Goblet, where I paused in the line of students and pulled out the piece of paper where I had written my name. I had spent way too long last night scrawling my name in perfect calligraphy. I looked at the paper, which was worn from all the times I had touched it since writing it. Susanne, behind me, was breathing heavily but I knew she was putting her name in.

Bridgette was in front putting her name in. She threw it in then spun as the Goblet lit up with red fire. It made her face momentarily cast into darkness so hellish shadows spread over her features. She grinned evilly at me for a second as she left, striding past me flanked by her group, flicking her hair as she went. I bristled, then walked forward briskly and dropped my name into the Goblet. It lit up with red fire.

Merry Christmas guys, this is my present for you. So…. here. Thanks for reading.