DISCLAIMER: The story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K Rowling, and various publishers including but not limited to Warner Bros., Scholastic Books, etc. This story is intended as a fan made story and no money is being made. No trademark and copyright infringement is intended.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: (7-14-2016) Nothing much to say so hope you all enjoy!

Reviews always a welcome.

Word Count (approx.) – 4,613

Chapter 4 - Work and Uncertainty

SATURDAY

Lewis Warren and his sister Ashley Warren stood in front of the massive building which was the headquarters for the Delacour Group in Britain. Last night, he happened to have met the Executive Director of the well-established company who offered to meet with him when he could. While he thought it was just a fluke, Lewis called earlier that morning to confirm a meeting and was immediately granted an appointment for 1:30pm that day. His sister hearing about this asked if she could come with and he allowed her, not wanting to be away from her more than necessary.

The young teenager and his sister cleaned up the best they could and wore the best clothing they had available to them. Lewis wore some old worn blue jeans with a greying button up shirt and some converse that have clearly seen better days. His sandy hair was brushed and not in the usual mess he kept it in, which normally covered his brown eyes. Slung over his shoulder was his old camera bag with his camera in it. Beside him was a small portfolio bag of some of photos he took.

His sister, Ashley, wore a faded yellow dress wearing some old Mary Janes to go with the outfit. She had a whitish ribbon that tied her hair back, her brown eyes nervously flickering about taking in the scenery as she stood close to her brother.

It was now 1:20pm when they arrived at the entrance to the building. They walked into the front and met up with the receptionist who looked up and did not bother to hid the look of disgust from their apparel before looking back down and not bothering to help

"Hello," Lewis called out. "We are here to meet with Mr. Lee."

The girl snorted looking at them in a demeaning manner.

"Mr. Lee is very busy today, please come back another time after setting up an appointment," she responded before looking back at her nails.

Lewis was a bit offended by her actions as the girl was clearly more interested in filing her nails rather than trying to help him. Still he persisted to talk to her.

"Pardon me, but I do have an appointment with Mr. Lee at 1:30pm. It should be under Lewis Warren."

The girl paused for a moment let out a sigh that clearly displayed that she was annoyed looked at a small list and then back to him in clear disgust.

"YOU are Mr. Warren?"

"Yes," he replied.

She made a call her voice sounding very bored. A few moments later she straightened up a bit looking at them with an obvious fake smile.

"He will be with you shortly."

With that, she immediately went right back to finishing her nails as Lewis and Ashley took a seat. Five minutes later a woman came out from an elevator and walked over to them. Her eyes flickering briefly towards the receptionist who was busy applying makeup and clearly not doing any work.

"Mr. Warren?"

"Yes?" Lewis replied standing with his sister close by.

"Carla Welkins," she introduced shaking their hands. "I am Mr. Johnson's assistant. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Lewis and Ashley made introduces themselves as well.

"Please come this way. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced," he said as she glared at the receptionist who was completely oblivious to them nor was she rushing to immediately help another person who just came in.

Carla led them into the elevator and took them up. When they arrived on the floor, they walked into a large reception room with a rather large double door in front of them. There was also a reception desk next to the door with no one at the table at the moment. Once they walked up to the doors, Carla motioned them to wait a moment and opened the door partially before slipping in. Within a few moments she came back out and beckoned them in. The two children's eyes widened even more as they entered the office.

"Ah, Lewis good to see you again please come over here!"

Alex stood sitting on a sofa with a man in his middle years standing up next to him. They went over and made introductions. They provided some refreshments which the children gladly accepted and Alex and the man next to him, Eddy, began to ask some questions.

At their encouragement, Lewis began to answer their questions to the best of his abilities. There were a few questions asked to Ashley as well who bravely answered back a few while the two men and Carla too copious notes. They asked the two about their education, where they lived, what they did, about their parents. Some of the questions hit quite close to home.

Lewis and Ashley's parents died in a car accident two years ago leaving them with their debt. Due to the debt, the collectors seized anything of value and the two children were kicked out of their homes and were not even sent to the orphanage. The only thing that they had that belonged to their family was the camera that Lewis carried around with him. For two years Lewis and Ashley moved about looking for a place to stay temporarily before moving on. Ashley went to school whenever she could, but the constant change made it difficult for her to attend her school. Lewis gave up school altogether to try and bring in whatever he could bring in to support his sister and himself.

After what seems like hours although no more than an hour and a half went by, they asked Lewis to show his portfolio. The pictures there brought a surprised expression from the three.

"You took this pictures you said? With that old camera?" Eddy asked.

Lewis looked a little offended at calling his camera old, but he silently nodded.

After going through the last picture, Eddy looked at the two carefully particularly the girl and looked at his assistant raising one eyebrow. She nodded in agreement to his silent inquiry. They looked at Alex, who looked at them with an inquiring look, and nodded. With Eddy's acknowledgement, Alex leaned forward a bit looking at both of them, though he looked mainly at Lewis.

"Lewis I have a proposition for you. Would you be interested in taking an internship with us here? I assure you that if you accept it will be a paid internship so you will have a steady income. We can also schedule your internship so that you can go school and finish your classes as well if you would like."

Lewis was taken back, his mind in complete shock.

"I-I-," he stuttered.

Eddy leaned forward as well grinning. "If your sister is interested, we could also provide an internship here as well for her. That way she does not have to wait for you while you are interning."

Ashley now was in complete shock as well. Seeing the two children with such expression brought much amusement to the three adults.

The two gentlemen along with Carla explained what the children would expect. For Alex, they thought of him being an assistant photographer. For Ashley as Eddy was able to see the subtle beauty and cuteness hidden from the hardship, Eddy offered her an internship in modeling for the youth line, design, or anything else she may take an interest in. They also mentioned the compensation and the salary for their internships.

The Warren siblings huddled together whispering with each other for a few moments before turning towards them with hunger and excitement emitting from their eyes.

"We accept," Lewis replied.

Carla produced a contract for the two and had them review sign the documents. Eddy reminded the two children to make sure to go over everything in the document and to have them explain any sections that are unclear.

"There are lots of legal issues with such contracts," Eddy stated. "And you want to make sure that you know what you are getting before you commit yourself to sign the document."

Once done, Alex and Eddy also stated that they could make use of one of Alex's spare room until better arrangements could be made. The Warren siblings protested at first, but with Eddy's insistence, the two accepted. They also stated that while Lewis is still a child legally but near of age to be emancipated, they can make arrangements to see if they could have him emancipated to which he eagerly agreed to.

And so the Warren siblings spent the rest of the day moving their meager belongings to Alex's penthouse and spent most of the day exploring the place with much enthusiasm.

Weeks and later months went by and since many things began to change. The Warren siblings were registered to a school closer to the office allowing them a shorter commute to and from school. They even met many people who some in turn befriended them. While they were given chances to move out, the two did not and Alex did not pressure them to leave either. In a sense it was like having younger siblings in his house.

Alex still hosted parties at his place but the parties were much more toned down. The guests took notice of the change and having the young children around, but nevertheless still enjoyed the parties he hosted despite the more controlled manner. Kat and Sienna acted like the older sisters for the siblings and helped them with whatever they needed. Sienna's and Alex's night rendezvous became less frequent though they still slept once in a while. Eventually, they both agreed to stop sleeping with each other but still remained close to each other as good friends as Alex began to actively pursue Gabrielle.

It took a while, but legal was able to process the documents to emancipate Lewis and to have him be Ashley's legal guardian. In celebration for that, Lewis and Ashley taken out to celebrate and visit the zoo while enjoying the sites.

Lewis began to thrive, studying hard and working intensively. He absorbed what he learned like a sponge much to his supervisor's excitement, who stated that once he graduates he should be offered a full time position in the company. This brought much pride to Lewis and to his sister for seeing how successful he was doing.

Ashley enjoyed school and the fact that her classes were no longer being constantly interrupted. While she took an interest in modeling, she found out that she loved to design outfits. After the first month of lessons, she began to alter her own clothing. She also became fast friends with Lily. When Lily came by, the two were always seen together, modeling clothing with one another sometimes trying out one of Ashley's outfits that she made.

The happiest person though was Kevin. His daughter made a new friend who had similar interests as her. He now had more people to cook for with the addition of the Warren siblings, Kat whenever she wished to, and Gabrielle.

Alex meet with Gabrielle throughout the rest of summer, eventually bringing her to his place. He introduced her to the others and sometimes went on group outings with them. They continued to meet each other until she had to go back to France for her last year of school. During the latter part of summer, they began to hold hands and share a chaste kiss every once in a while. Some nights Gabrielle came to spend the night every once in a while sleeping in one of the guest rooms. But as the summer went by and their relationship grew, she started to spend the night in his room cuddled up with him. Despite sharing a bed, they never went further then cuddling and the occasional kiss. This was something completely different from the types of relationship that Alex was used to, but he felt satisfied and content just holding onto her. The day before she left though, he officially asked her out which she accepted earning him another kiss before she left.

Everyone teased him stating that Gabrielle got him whipped as he was no longer the workaholic that lived a life with parties and women. Surprisingly for him, he actually did not mind and felt at ease. However, the calming feeling lasted only for a short while.

Time went by and Alex was slowly getting frustrated. He tried contacting Gabrielle to see how she was doing got no answer back. Her phone was not working, those who may have an idea could not provide any information. Worry began to fell on him. He was certain she was not the cheating type despite her occasional flirty behavior. Sure there may be some people she may fancy, like that Harry Potter guy, but it was merely fascination. She knew about his lifestyle before and during the time they met. She, like everyone else, knew that he changed his lifestyle over the summer. He was no longer the sex craving workaholic who threw extreme parties just to blow some steam. While he did host some parties they were much more toned down than before. So he knew that reasoning would not have caused a communication black out.

He remembered the look of wanting in her eyes when he asked her and knew that they wanted each other that night. However wanting to do it right this time around, Alex and Gabrielle agreed to try and take it steady so that they can enjoy the relationship. For some reason he felt that this was it. This was the girl he was to be with for the rest of his life. When they were together, they acted as if there was no one else in the world but them two. It was in a sense a very innocent and loving relationship for the two. Yet all that ended once she left for school and went off the radar.

His constant worry began to affect his work performance as it began to suffer noticeably. There were times that Eddy demanded that he take some time off to sort his personal life before coming back to work. After a week of feeling out of it, Alex decided that if he was just going to act like this, he might as well just focus on work and forget everything else. He still threw himself into work slowly turning back to his old workaholic self once more. While performance wise, this was great, everyone was concerned seeing him reverting back to his old days.

His frustration of wanting her kept hammering at him, causing him to stress out. He destressed at work becoming a very stern but very efficient taskmaster. He would also call and leave a message to her every week just to keep his own sanity, hoping that she would call back.

Eventually, it was a week before Christmas when he received a call.

"Lee, speaking," Alex said as he picked up his phone.

"Alex?" A familiar voice asked.

"… Gabi?" he asked shocked.

"Sorry, I did not reply back sooner," she responded.

"What happened? I tried calling you for a while now."

"I know and I'm sorry," Gabrielle replied back. "I did not have my phone on with me until now. So I did not know that you left messages for me until now."

How could someone not respond to their phone in months when they used to calling each other every day? He thought.

However, he replied. "No, that is alright. How have you been? I missed you."

There was a moment of silence before he heard a reply.

"Alright I guess. I need a favor if you do not mind me asking," her voice sounding a bit nervous.

Alex froze a moment noting that she did not reply to his last remark.

"What do you need?" he asked trying not to sound upset.

Hasn't called me back in a while and first thing calls me for is for a favor? He realized that he was being a little unfair about being angry with her. He decided to push the negative feelings aside for now.

"I need you as my date," came the short reply.

He sat upright, his trail of thought going right out the window. "Uh... pardon?"

"A date."

"Yes, I got that."

"With you."

"Oh."

Alex was a bit stunned at the forwardness from Gabrielle.

"Thought you did not like me or something after you left," he said in a strained teasing voice while trying to keep the slight bitterness he still had.

"Wouldn't dream of it," she replied back her voice sounding more cheerful.

"Alright, is there a place you had in mind or where do you want me to pick you up?" he asked. Relief slowly spreading across his body. He decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Actually, I have an early Christmas party I have to attend tonight and I need to bring a date. So I was wondering if you would be interested in coming as my date tonight."

"I would be honored to go as your date," he answered.

Thank you!

"Would you like me to pick you up and what time?" he asked.

"No worries about that, I will see you at your place around five tonight and you can drive us to the location?"

"Alright."

"Perfect! Oh, and remember to dress formal tonight."

With that she hung up and he wondered what was going on. Well at least he has something planned tonight. He called to the receptionist on the ground floor (the previous one being sacked a while ago) notifying them that he would have a guest coming around five and to call him when she arrived.

He spent the rest of the morning and afternoon in his study leisurely reading the morning newspaper.

The hour before the meeting time, he washed up once more and changed into his dark two button custom fitted Brioni suit with a white collared shirt and blue necktie. The suit was complete with black oxford by George Cleverley.

He made sure the last preparations were made before heading downstairs where group of people stood looking at him expectantly.

"Well, finally seeing him act like his age again," Eddy remarked bringing the others to snicker.

Alex looked away a bit embarrassment.

"You didn't expect us to find out?" a woman called out. It was Eddy's wife, Martha.

Alex composed himself and put his arms out and turned.

"Well, how do I look?"

"Could do without the suit," Sienna teased causing the rest the laugh once more.

"You go and enjoy yourself, Alex," Kevin stated. "We will have our own little party here tonight, so don't bother to come back early!"

With that the others cheered him on. Eddy and his wife went into the kitchen to help Kevin and his wife prepare dinner as Carla and her fiancé chatted with Sienna and Kat. Andrew was home for the holiday and was eyeing his sister's best friend with interest as Lily and Ashley as they dashed up the stairs to Ashley's room. Lewis seeing Andrew's look of interest decided to pull him to the side to have a chat. This of course did not go unnoticed by Kevin who laughed silently to himself at the amusement of Lewis' protective nature towards his sister.

Alex look at his watch once more when he got a call.

"Yes?"

"Hello, Mr. Lee. We have a Miss Gabrielle waiting for you." The receptionist replied.

"I will be right then, thank you."

With that he headed downstairs. As he got out of the elevator he stood still looking at the beauty that stood in front of him.

Gabrielle grew a little bit and definitely developed a bit during the months he had not seen her. She wore a dark blue dress that plunged a little in the front, the back was low cut showing off her soft bare skin. The dress trailed down just barely touching the floor just barely hiding what looked to be black d'Orsays pumps. She have a blue shawl covering part of her back with the ends draped over each arm. Her flowing golden hair was made up in a romantic half up-down style. She wore minimal makeup allowing more of her natural looks shine through complete with silver earrings and a necklace that be bought for her before he left for school.

While Alex seen Gabrielle looking wonderful before, she was just incredible tonight. He was momentarily stunned by her as she looked up seeing him.

She also gave him a look over, eyes burning with desire and in approval of what she saw. She smiled in a flirtatious manner nearly making him lose his composure.

He gathered his self-control just barely and walked towards her with a smirk. Her eyes brightened when she noticed him nearly lose himself and walked in a seductive manner towards him until they met face to face.

It has been a while Mr. Lee Gabrielle said in a low voice her voice almost purring.

Likewise he responded.

He slowly pulled her in and gave her a slow kiss on the lips that intensified for just a brief moment. As they pulled apart they heard a polite cough startling them a bit. The new receptionist, a much friendlier person, looked at them a little red faced from the public display of affection. Alex and Gabrielle looked a little embarrassed and he quickly escorted his date to pick up his car.

While with Gabrielle, he always drove the Bentley around. However, this time, the valet pulled up a different care this time around. It was a black Ferrari. Gabrielle looked at the car in amazement and was escorted to her seat. Once seated, Alex went over towards his side and got in buckling himself in as the valet closed the door for him.

"I did not know you had another car," she stated as she looked at the features in the car.

"Actually, I have three."

"I would like the see the third one the next time we go for a drive," she said.

He shrugged feeling more like himself now and responded back with a smirk. "Maybe, depends on how I feel."

She leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Maybe I can convince you?"

Alex's hands tightened around the steering wheel for a moment.

"You probably can, easily," he replied as he drove the on to the street.

She chuckled at his response.

"Although, you might not like it."

"Why not?" she asked.

"It's an old car," he replied. "One that my parents used to drive when I was young."

"A minivan?" she asked her eyes wide with shock.

He nodded looking a bit sheepish. He remembered all the fun times he had as a child in his parents' minivan as they drove him to school or to one of his lessons. Wanting to relive it a bit, he bought a minivan that was just like the one before. He even made sure that it was the same year make as well. Despite the minivan was something that an executive would definitely not use, especially when it seen better days, it was in a sense a reminder of his childhood that he actually liked.

"So where to?" he asked trying to divert the topic.

"The Ritz," she replied promptly.

As they drove down the street Gabrielle apologized again for the lack of contact. She explained about how it is hard to contact others by normal means where she goes. This got Alex thinking a bit as well. He remembered how Kat once mentioned that her school, Beauxbatons, did not have any normal means of communication and thus had difficult time trying to reach out to others outside of school. Apparently, there was no cellular network or land line services in the area. The only means of communication was by letter and even then, the letter would had to be sorted through the school which carefully monitored the letters. As Gabrielle also attends Beauxbatons, it began to make sense to Alex about that despite the oddity.

They drove up to the Ritz Hotel located close to the river. It was an elegant building that displayed the architecture of the late 1800s to early 1900s. Alex drove up to the hotel where the valet promptly relieved him of his car. He escorted Gabrielle who directed him to the restaurant inside. Just at the entrance, they met with some staff and security personal for the event. The attendant at the front smiled and nodded at them both and ushered them inside where people were milling about.

Through the doors, the floor on the other side was cleared on one end and in the middle allowing people to mingle with several dining tables placed around the area forming one large area for people to chat and possibly hold an event later in the evening. So far, the place seemed to be bustling with over two hundred people moving about with more coming in. Some Alex recognized as famous designers, models, and executives in the industry. However, there were many who Alex did not recognize and seeing some of the styles that a few sported, were definitely foreigners or at least have a different taste in fashion than normal if only a hundred plus years outdated in their style sense.

As they walked closer to the mingling group, a striking young man wearing a brightly colored robe approached and bowed to them both.

"Ah, Mademoiselle Delacour," he said. "It is nice to see you tonight."

Alex immediately noticed Gabrielle's grip tighten around him more at this. It was fairly obvious that he was addressing her as he walked up to them, but she seemed to be giving him a glaring look.

Interesting. He thought as he noticed how the gentleman addressed Gabrielle.

"Pardon?" Alex asked trying to pry some more information from the man.

"Pardon me, Mister Lee!" the man exclaimed. "I was not expecting you here tonight and must say was a pleasant surprise that Mademoiselle Delacour here has brought you here tonight. The name is Louis Malkin it is a pleasure to finally meet you in person, sir. I have heard many great things that you have done in the muggle side."

"Muggle?" Alex asked a bit confused.

Louis paled a bit and laughed nervously waving his hand as if it was nothing. "Oh! J-just a term I like to use. Nothing of importance really."

Alex nodded slightly to Louis and shook the man's hand, not really trusting the cover up that Louis made.

"Well it is nice to meet you, Mister Malkin," Alex replied back. "And thank you for the clarification."

The three chatted a bit before they were asked to find a seat for their meal. During the entire time, Gabrielle was quiet until Alex broke the silence once the two found a seat and sat down.

"So," he started slowly. "Mademoiselle Delacour, huh?"

She looked down for a moment and looked at him clearly seeing him trying to take in that bit of information.

"I did not want you to know who I was related too," she replied softly. Luckily no one else took a seat at their table yet.

"Well," Alex said. "It would be nice to know that I was going out with someone who is related to my boss that way I would not have-"

"Would not have what, Mister Lee?" a familiar voice asked behind them.

Alex turned around and his face whitened a bit.

Bloody hell.