AN: Got a comment asking for this, so I decided sure, why not. Though I don't guarantee it's satisfying as whatever you're hoping for though, since I wasn't particularly imagining their specific reactions nor their letters, just the general idea of what would come from it. Also, I realize it can be a bit annoying to re-read sometimes if it not super interesting, but I put reactions to specific parts of Mike's letter, so it's written in full and unfortunately it can't really just be skimmed.
Prompt- Dendule95: Can you plllllllease make chapter of sidestory how weasley And fleur reacted? Pretty plllllllease ? ﾟﾥﾰ? ﾟﾧﾐ?
Fleur was sitting in the living room with Bill when a white owl appeared out of nowhere. Quite literally. One moment there was empty air above the coffee table, the next it was hovering there, holding multiple letters. She shares a look with her husband, and then leans forward as the owl lands, quickly sorting out one for her and one for Bill, with the rest having the names of the rest of the Weasley family on them.
There's more than just her name written on the one for her, and Bill, clearly having spotted it, leans over to read over her shoulder as she tips it towards him, "Fleur, I initially wrote this and made copies for the Weasleys, but you are one by marriage now, and it could very well end up upsetting your husband enough for him to leave without explaining, so I figured it was only fair that you understood what was going on. Apologies for any drama."
Her husband hums, "Because that isn't ominous at all. That's Mike's handwriting, and that he's concerned I may fly out of here without talking to you…"
She smiles a bit tensely, "Yes, but at least he thought of it and was kind enough to let me know what's going on so I wasn't left in the dark, worrying over what it could be."
He smiles, then leans over to brush a kiss to her forehead, "Mike's become a rather thoughtful young man since his name came out of the Goblet."
She shrugs, "I didn't really get much of a chance to know him before that, so I'll take your word for it. Let's see what this is all about then."
Her darling Bill nods, and they both tear open their letters and start reading, "Dear Weasleys,
Firstly, I don't want you to have to try and decide who's telling the truth between your own blood and me, so let me start this letter off with this. I, Mike Dezi Sparda, hereby swear on my magic and life that everything I write in this letter is the truth, and also that I intend to place spell work on it to prevent magical alterations by other parties when I'm finished writing this, so mote it be."
She feels the hum of magic from the written oath, but while she does feel a flicker of unease at the fact he felt it necessary, ignores it to continue, "Second, I intend to just copy this letter, so please bear with sections that may be more meant for someone else in your family."
"All that being said, I'm writing this letter so as to explain to you what actually happened today rather than whatever sob story Ginerva tries to spin. If you want to hate me for it, that's your right, but I wanted the truth at least to be known."
The flicker of unease redoubles at the notion of hating Mike for whatever has happened, "Ginerva and Ronald came to me and Hermione with treats, and Ginerva claimed she had convinced Ronald that he'd been acting like a prick and they were meant to serve as the beginning of his apology to each of us. By sheer habit born from how many spiked chocolates and the like I've received, I cast a detection spell on them, which revealed they'd both been laced with love potions." She gasps as her stomach rolls in nausea, having experienced a few close calls with love potions herself and utterly loathing the deplorable things as a result, "An argument started between myself and Ginerva in which she claimed that she's known we were soulmates before we even met. I tried to tell her that 'knowing' before you even meet your soulmate isn't possible and that it was just regular obsession, but she would hear none of it. Eventually, Hermione mentioned she knew of an obscure spell that would reveal the Marks people are supposed to have, though on the side of their necks instead of the nape, and I told her to go ahead because Ginerva wouldn't drop it otherwise."
She rolls her eyes at Ginerva revealing the depths of her obsession, "I was very surprised to find that Ginerva and myself are a pair, and she immediately became smugly, and patronizingly, gleeful. That was my final straw after she just tried to love potion myself and my girlfriend, especially since regardless of what Potter says, my mom has proven that she was only ever with him because he had been love potioning her since she was sixteen," Her stomach rolls dangerously at the information that the former Lily Potter only had that last name due to years of love potions, "so while it's already a disgusting practice in my opinion, I also have very strong opinions based on that. For reasons I'd rather not go into at the moment, my grandma recently found out that Magic is… very interested in my family and their soulmates and the babies that can come from those unions." Her interest peaks, "I'm sure your international work means you probably already know what I'm talking about Bill, Charlie, since that piece of information on the Sparda's was already fairly well known to any country that isn't close minded, and to basically everywhere but the UK now, given its current isolation due to V-Mort and his lackeys. You're welcome to pass the information along, but even if you hate me after this, I would like to ask that you at least be discreet about it. Perhaps have Bill visit his parents in person so it doesn't get out in the UK if he's ok with doing so. Perhaps Percy and the twins could visit at the same time to make sure everyone is on the same page. For the record, Ginerva also insulted my entire family by putting them in a broad and extremely derogatory category I'm sure you can work out just fine if you know what I'm referring to. The kind she may be inclined to lump Fleur into if she's of that sort of mindset. On that note, Fleur definitely knows what I'm referring to if you don't Bill. There's no way she doesn't with the fact France is more open minded and the way her dad is an ambassador."
Sheer rage and indignation ignites in her as it clicks what he's referencing. He's talking about their Nephilim blood, and the patriarch and matriarch's Demonic and Angelic blood respectively. And Ginerva had called them Creatures. She's incredibly disgusted, not to mention disappointed, at the deplorable mindset her husband's sister had revealed herself to have, "Anyway, the reason that makes Magic so interested is because my grandpa was the last, and if you don't know the detail of which he's the last of Fleur likely does," She racks her brain, but it only takes a few moments for the detail of Alessio being a Devil specifically to come back to her, though even if it hadn't she could've easily written her father, "and the results of him having kids with Grandma specifically makes us the rebirth of the results of such a union. I realize that's a little cryptic, but I'm not comfortable putting anything more straightforward on a letter traveling the current UK, and if you do know the information about Sparda's, it's fairly easy to work out what I mean. The next part is why I said above that you may hate me and that you were welcome to your opinion, though I will ask that you at least read the entire letter before you form your opinions. Anyway, due to its interest, in a fit of rage, I started demanding that Magic fix its mistake of making Ginerva my soulmate" Her eyes widen, as while she's certainly disgusted by Ginerva at the moment and has of course heard of people who reject their soulmates, hell, she was one of them, with how ingrained the sanctity of a soulmate bond is in the magical world it still boggles her mind in a knee-jerk reaction to hear someone call their bonding a mistake, even if with her history with her own she can immediately understand after the instinctive reaction. Especially since she finds it an accurate description for her own pairing, "if it wanted any babies from me. There was a bit more between Ginerva and myself and I repeated my demand. At that point without anyone casting it, Hermione and Ronald's soulmate Marks appeared, revealing they were also a pair, but then all four of our Marks… shattered out of our skin and the light from them disappeared into thin air. Three new lights appeared, one each went to Ginerva and Ronald, and one came over to myself and Hermione."
Her jaw drops as she starts to get an inkling of where this is going, which is confirmed as she continues to read, "It gave Ginerva and Ronald different soulmates, and made Hermione and I each other's soulmates and even completed our full bond right then and there. Around that time Madam Pince showed up, presumably drawn by the noise, spotted the food Ginerva had brought and went to get rid of it. I stopped her and explained the situation, and that it was now evidence, because I'm sorry, but I will be pressing charges on both for attempting to love potion us. It is in no way, shape, or form ok and there are consequences to such despicable behavior. I will not, however, be going to the UK's courts, I'm not heartless enough to basically drag them before V-Mort and his lackeys. I'll take it to the international court instead, since with the mess in the UK, they've been picking up all sorts of things like that so people can still see justice done without having to expose other people to V-Mort's controlled government."
She does feel a flicker of relief at that. As deplorable as Bill's youngest siblings' actions were, no one deserved to be dragged to that monster and his followers. Not that she necessarily thought Mike was cruel enough to take them to that particular court, and he was entirely in his rights to press charges, but it's still a relief to have it firmly stated, "Anyway, given the extreme circumstances, I flooed home with Hermione. After we got back and settled, my grandma did a Divination reading, which is actually how we originally learned of Magic's interest because it's being very forthcoming with her lately, at least in regards to that. For the record so you don't have to take my word about my grandma's honesty, she swore a magical oath herself that what she told me was revealed by the reading is true. Namely, we were only paired with Ginerva and Ronald because if it tried to pair us with anyone else, Ginerva would have tried to destroy mine and my potential soulmate's opinions of each other, sabotaged our relationship, and if all else failed even murder my soulmate." Her nausea comes back full force at that. Utterly, sickened by what may have been done to Mike and any other soulmate, if Magic picked differently, "It only made her mine because it was doing the best it could in a shit situation. Hermione was in a similar boat with Ronald, since after he became interested when she grew out of her awkward pre-teen years and became beautiful, Ginerva would've ended up helping him do the exact same thing to her. Except he would've been impatient and hot tempered and if she had rejected him for too long, apparently he would've killed her."
Her eyes blow wide at the revelation that Hermione's pairing was made to avoid her getting murdered over rejecting a boy. Her heart breaks for the younger girl. She's fully aware that Ronald isn't the only man who may be liable to make that choice, it's a terrifying reality women have to live with potentially happening to them, but that doesn't mean the knowledge doesn't break her heart anyway, even as her disgusted rage focuses on Ronald at the revaluation that he's that sort of man. The kind her mom had raised her and her little sister to be weary of. The kind that would just force themselves on them at best. The kind of man that was all the more dangerous to them because of their Veela blood, "As I said before, I can understand if you hate me, given that I didn't know the circumstances behind why Ginerva was selected to be my soulmate, only that she had tried to love potion me, when I called our former soulmate connection a mistake, however other than my issues with Ginerva and Ronald, I've always had a good relationship with the rest of you before this, so I wanted to at least make sure you knew the truth before whatever sob story Ginerva spins reaches you. If you're going to hate me, I'd at least prefer it to be because of the truth."
"I hope that you can understand my side, but I respect that it's entirely your choice. Regards, Mike Sparda."
She lowers her letter, looking up at her husband, who is equally disgusted and enraged as she is, but also torn up. His voice is raspy, "I doubt it's necessary with Mike, but did you wanna swap letters and make sure he's telling us both the same story? I mean, he said he'd copy it, but a loophole in that is that just because he made copies that doesn't mean he sent the copies instead of individual letters."
She shrugs, "I agree that Mike isn't the type of boy to do something like that, but we may as well."
They do just that, but she can tell even with just a skim that it's the exact same letter. Bill drops the letter and buries his head in his hands, "Merlin. This… it's wild enough to know that Magic listened to him and changed their soulmates, but that Ginny and Ron tried to love potion them- The things they would've done-"
He chokes, tears falling freely, and she reaches over to him, offering what comfort she can, "I don't know if you understood what he was referencing, but he was talking about his grandfather's Devil blood, as well as his grandmother's Angelic blood and the way they mixed to bring back the Nephilim."
He nods, "Yeah, I worked that out. Nice to have confirmation though." Then his face twists with pain, "And Ginny called them Creatures, didn't she?"
She sighs, somewhat tiredly after having that label tossed at her, much more frequently than a mutter here and there, after having come to the UK, "Undoubtedly." She looks down, "It breaks my heart a bit to know it paired them with your siblings because it practically didn't have a choice."
He lets out a shuddering breath, "Yeah. Mine too." Then his face hardens, "But Magic fixed it, because Mike wasn't wrong that it was a mistake, even if he called it that before he had all the information on just how fucked up it was. The very fact that Ginny-" His breath hitches, "felt the need to love potion them makes that abundantly clear."
She nods. Then her brow pinches a little, "...We should probably head over to your parents. Both because I doubt they know the specifics Mike was being understandably vague about and because I want to try to convince them to understand Mike's side of things if they're being unreasonable."
His face becomes determined, "Yeah. Definitely."
He stands up and she scoops up the letters. At his raised eyebrow, she shrugs, "Better to cover all avenues and bring them for comparison."
He nods his understanding, and without hesitation they both head over to the fireplace to floo. It isn't long at all before they're in the Weasley family home, where they're immediately treated to the sight of Molly crying into Arthur's shoulder, "Where did I go wrong with them?! To try to love potion them-! To have been willing to go so far-!"
Delicately, she interrupts, "Didn't you mention before mine and Bill's wedding that you slipped Arthur a dose of love potion? Just the once mind, and only to get him to act on his feelings, but…"
Molly yanks her head up and towards her, tears streaming down her face, "It was only a love potion on technicalities! And I always made it clear to the kids! It-" She hiccups, "It was one of those that only works if you already have feelings! And- And even then it's strength was dependent entirely on the strength of the pre-existing emotions!" She lets out a sob, as she twists towards Bill, "I thought I'd always made that clear! And- And that actual love potion wasn't ok!"
She relaxes a bit, having always been a bit tense around Bill's mom since she heard that tidbit. Bill's face softens, and he moves over to her quickly, "Oh mom. You did. I promise. You did. This- This isn't your fault. You didn't put the idea into Ginny's head, I promise. This-" He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, "Sometimes, even if you raise a child perfectly, they still turn out bad. You and dad aren't perfect, and I'm not saying that as some sort of dig just that nobody is perfect, but you've always been incredible parents to us. The best you could be even with our difficulties. This- This moral failing is entirely on Ginny and Ron's heads."
Fleur jumps as another voice pipes up behind her, rather tiredly, "Hear, hear. Come on ma. You can't blame yourself for them being rotten."
She turns to see the rest of the kids, all of them clearly having flooed over as well, though she'd been so distracted by Molly's emotional state that she hadn't heard it. As Molly starts crying again, she clears her throat a bit, wanting to give her some time to work through her emotions and compose herself, "I really don't think Mike is the sort of boy to do something like that, but I brought mine and Bill's letters for comparison just to squash any thought of him playing to each of our weak spots or something like that. We already compared ours since he sent me one too in case it upset Bill so much that he tore off without an explanation, and Bill pointed out that just because under oath he said he'd copy it doesn't necessarily mean it was the copies that he sent, but ours are exactly the same."
One of the twins shrugs, looking a bit worn, "Didn't think to bring ours, but you could just read it out loud? If it's different from one of ours, we should notice."
She looks around, and seeing general agreement, shrugs, "Sure. That works."
She opens one of the letters, and does exactly that. It doesn't take very long for her to read through it, and when she looks up when she's done, the Weasley kids are all shaking their heads, though it's Charlie that speaks up, "Yeah, that matches mine, exactly word for word from what I can tell, so it undoubted was the copies that were sent out. Not that there was much doubt of it to begin with, since Mike isn't that kinda guy but…" He shrugs, "Nice to confirm it."
The other Weasley kids, even if they're technically adults they're still Molly and Arthur's kids and they're who she thinks of when she just thinks of 'The Weasleys', murmur in agreement and Arthur's tiredly voice joins in from the table, behind Fleur since she turned, "Ours as well."
She turns back to them, and sometime during the letter Molly's crying had tapered off, but she looks a bit despondent from where she's sitting in Arthur's lap as he soothingly rubs her back. There's a beat of silence as they all just process it a bit further for a moment before Percy marches passed her and slams his hand on the table, "We aren't taking Ginny and Ron's side on this right?! Because I have no clue what he was vaguely alluding to as to why Magic cares about the Sparda's so much, but whatever it was, I can't think of anything it could be that would excuse Ginny and Ron's behavior! Neither what they did nor what they were willing to do if Magic had tried to pair Mike and Hermione with anyone else! And Hermione and Mike are good kids!"
He looks like he's gearing up for an argument, but one of the twins snorts as he and his twin also move forward, "No, I don't think anyone here is on Ginny and Ron's side. They may be our family, but they were way over the line. And they would've gone much further if Magic hadn't essentially done damage control and paired them with Mike and Hermione."
Once again, there are murmurs of agreement, and she even sees Arthur nod with a sigh, and even Molly agrees, even though her expression is still a mess of pain, numbness, and despondency as she stares at the ground. Percy seems to deflate, "Oh."
Charlie let's out a snort of his own, "Yeah, sorry Perce, but while it's a bit heartwarming too see you were already to fight for Mike and Hermione, we're all on their side."
Her husband sighs, "We should probably all write to him and let him know though. Given how close he's been to us over the years, the kids probably all twisted up in anxiety at how we'll respond. Also, I suppose I should clear up what he was being so vague about."
That gets Molly's attention, and her gaze hardens a bit, "We may not know specifically, but I think we all understood the gist when he mentioned that it may lump him and his family into a vague category with Fleur. She called them Creatures, didn't she?" Bill nods and she slumps a bit, "That's a mindset we never raised you kids to have. Yes, we raised you to be cautious, since non-humans almost always have unique abilities and they could be used against you, but there's a difference between that and-!"
She chokes clearly getting worked up, and Arthur rubs her back more firmly, "Easy Molly."
She sniffles, "I just don't see where we went wrong."
One of the twins, she isn't sure which beyond that it wasn't the one that spoke earlier, sighs and shakes his head, "It's like Bill was saying, isn't it? Even perfect parents don't always get decent kids. Sometimes nurture isn't enough to overcome nature. The only thing remotely negative they've grown up with is being a bit poor by pure virtue of how many of us their are, and Ginny may have gotten a little spoiled as the only girl and the youngest of us to boot, but you, and us for that matter since we all tended to spoil her a bit too, always made it clear that there were limits to that. That she couldn't just get everything she wanted, she had to work hard if she really wanted anything major. And the only negative thing beyond the money issues of there being so many of us that Ron grew up with was being a bit overshadowed, but most of that was entirely in his perception, since we all always did our best to make it clear he wasn't the last thought or anything, that we loved him just as much. And even for minor things like how good at chess he is, we all did our best to make it clear that we'd all be proud of him for his achievements, regardless of whether he did it first or if any of the rest of us kids did it first."
Molly sniffles some more, "Still. As their parent I can't help but wonder if there was anything I could've done to prevent them turning out that way." She shakes her head, "They're criminals of some of the worst sort, and I can't even blame poor Mike for pressing charges!" She sniffs, "I'm just glad he's kind enough to think not to turn them into the current Ministry."
Bill runs his fingers through his ponytail with a sigh, "We all are mom. Especially since yeah, he does absolutely have the right to press charges."
Percy settles into a chair around the table, looking towards her in question, "If we're on the same page on that, I'm admittedly curious, what was Mike being so vague about? He said you'd definitely know even if Bill and Charlie didn't."
She sighs, "Have you ever heard of the Demons referring to the Sparda's as 'traitorous Sparda' perhaps?"
Percy nods, "Yeah, some Aurors noticed they tended to say it. They were mighty curious as to how the Spardas are traitors."
She smiles tightly, "Because the Head of the Sparda Family, Alessio, is a full blooded Demon." Eyes blow wide around the table, "Actually, given their lifespans, it isn't even that the Sparda's are descendents of the one who put the seal on Hell in place. The current head of the family, Alessio, was directly responsible for it. He's a traitor to the Demons because he sided with the people of Earth and the Angels and made that seal we've all been enjoying for thousands of years himself." She shrugs, "What Mike was referring to when he said they were the last was because Alessio was the very last of his particular species of Demon, so him and his kids and grandkids as well as their shifted soulmates are the only ones of their kind alive. And they're also a rebirth of a hybrid species because Eva, the matriarch of the family and Alessio's soulmate, is a full blooded Angel. They're a rebirth of the not so mythical but merely priorly extinct Nephlim." She eyes the Weasleys a bit, "That's not a problem is it?"
They look around, most of them looking for direction, and Arthur takes the lead, voice firm, "No. No it is not. Demons may be inherently Dark, but Alessio risked his life to help give Earth and the Angels peace. He cannot help the way he was born, and his actions say everything important about his character at his very core."
Relief sweeps the table as the rest chime in with agreement, and she relaxes at the realization that it was more nervousness at speaking up in defense of a Demon in the incredibly Light Weasley family that was the reason for the previous silence. Even Percy, for all his flaws, firmly agrees.
She sighs, "Well, I don't know if Molly is up for her and Arthur's response yet, but we should probably reply to Mike soon. Bill's right. The poor boy is probably practically drowning in anxiety right now. And maybe some comfort for Hermione too. The reason Magic paired her with Ronald…" Her eyebrows pinch, "It's a fear that girls have to keep in the back of their minds. That she had to have a poor choice for a soulmate just to protect her from it…"
There are murmurs of agreement around the table, and Percy summons parchment and ink for them all. They settle down and all begin writing, even Molly and Arthur she's pleased to see. Mike loved the Weasleys. He deserved to know they understood and were in his corner over this whole mess.