La Fleur de la Vallée

Percy and Fleur walked to their desks and both began rifling through their drawers, pulling out various books and papers to study over the weekend. Percy was done first and walked to Fleur’s desk, his arms filled with books. Fleur had a stack just as big sitting on top of her desk, and she was leaning over the bottom drawer, looking for her old copy of Wondrous Wizards of Ancient Ages. She finally found it and straightened up triumphantly.

“About time,” said Percy, shifting the pile in his arms. “I have an idea of how to work things out for the weekend. We…Are you even listening?”

Fleur was busy stacking her books on the desk and straightening up her pile. Percy gave her his best Percy-like frown and she gave him a Look.

“Of course I’m listening. I just ‘appen to be getting organised at the same time, if it’s quite all right with you.” She replied, a hint of sarcasm in her voice at the last part.

Percy cleared his throat in attempts to act as if he didn’t notice. “Right, well I suppose that you can come around my house for dinner, as my mother would insist upon that anyway if I’m going to gone for a conference, and then for the rest of weekend I can stay at the Cauldron. It will be much easier to study in the chaos of the pub than the chaos of my home.”

Fleur thought for a moment and nodded. “I suppose that’s a good plan. ‘And me that quill.”

Percy passed her the quill that was lying near him and started talking again. “Okay, I‘ll just send an inter-office owl to my dad and let him know. He‘s probably getting ready to head home now and can let my mum know; he had a half-day thanks to overtime last week.”

He strode to his own desk again and scrawled neatly on a small bit of parchment. He whistled softly and a tiny owl flew down from its perch above the bustle of the office. The Ministry was a huge building and hundreds of tiny owls, like the ones used for local deliveries in wizard towns, were kept around each office to send messages to other parts of the building. The tiny owl that took Percy’s message was even smaller than Pigwidgeon and it flew off at once, heading for Arthur’s office.

Picking up his stack of study materials again, Percy called over to Fleur. “I’m Apparating to the Cauldron to reserve a room and drop off my stuff; I’ll be back in a moment. Do you want me take your stuff too?”

Fleur nodded gratefully. “Please.”

She dumped her stack into his arms and turned back to her desk to straighten up the disarray of her desk that had resulted from her searching through it. Percy disappeared.

Fleur neatly placed her papers in the top drawer of her desk and started to close it, but to her dismay it was stuck. She rattled the drawer, starting out softly and working up to shaking it furiously, but to no avail. Her patience was reaching its end and she stepped back from the drawer, crossing her arms and glaring at it. She lashed out suddenly and hit the edge of the open drawer with the palm of her hand. It lurched in a few inches but still did not close.

Fleur threw her arms up in exasperation and whirled around at the sound of a faint chuckle.

“I’m back,” said Percy, an amused expression on his face.

Fleur said nothing but gave him a fierce scowl.

When Percy apparated from the Ministry he had first gone to the Cauldron and then apparated to the Burrow. He appeared in the kitchen and saw his mother bustling around busily, preparing a meal.

“Hello mum. Did dad--” Percy started before Molly cut him off.

“Yes dear, Arthur told me all about your conference and your partner coming for dinner. So, tell me about this girl.” Molly grinned at her son.

Percy knew what his mother was getting at. “Mum, she is not my girlfriend. We work together, and now we’re simply partners for a work conference.”

“Mmhm. Hand me those eggs dear.” Molly just looked knowingly at Percy as he handed her the eggs sitting on the counter.

“Percy’s got a new girlfriend?” Ginny walked in the kitchen in time to hear the last bit of the conversation.

“I do not…” He began before Fred and George walked in, followed shortly by Ron.

“A new girlfriend, eh?” Fred grinned mischievously and jabbed George with his elbow.

“First that Ravenclaw girl and now one from work. Really got a thing for those bookish types, huh Perce?” George chimed in.

Ron laughed along with the rest of them but offered no further teasing -- due mostly to the fact that Percy apparated back to the Ministry before he could.

“I’ll be back soon Mum.” He muttered just before he vanished.

When he arrived back at his office, it appeared that Fleur was beating her desk. He arched an eyebrow and laughed to himself as she cursed in French and struck the drawer.

‘Well there’s a bookish type for you. Getting into fights with inanimate objects…Somehow I think this isn’t exactly what George meant.’ Percy thought as a laughing smile crept over his face. He was not at all fazed by the venomous look Fleur gave him when she turned around.

“Are you quite finished?” He asked not even attempting to hide the laughter in his voice. Fleur tossed her head indignantly and strode ahead of him towards the office fire.

“Shut it. Let’s go.”

At one end of the large office was a massive fireplace. It looked out of place in such a professional-looking room but every office in the Ministry had one. Fleur now stood before it, looking disdainful and wishing she had an Apparating license. Percy came up beside her.

“The gate you want is ‘The Burrow’. I’ll go ahead and wait for you.” Percy said as he took a handful of Floo powder and tossed it in the flames. He wanted to Apparate but he could just imagine what his mother would say about him doing that while a guest used Floo.

Fleur nodded and watched as Percy disappeared through the flames. As soon as his shadowy figure was out of sight in the fading green of the fire, she stepped forward and followed his example. Within seconds she was stumbling into a well lit, homey, little kitchen.

Fred and George had been tormenting Percy when they saw Ron gaping over their shoulders at the fire. Still grinning they turned to see the girl Percy brought home. Their grins faded and their jaws dropped at the sight of their annoyingly uptight brother helping up a gorgeous part-veela.

An awkward silence hung as Fleur straightened up and brushed soot off her robes. She seemed unaware of the attention she was getting from the goggling redheads. Molly broke the silence by coming up to Fleur and patting her arm.

“Why hello dear! Fleur, isn’t it? Come along and I’ll show you where you can hang your cloak.” Molly led a taken aback Fleur from the room to hang her thin cloak. As soon as they left the room, Percy’s younger siblings all turned and looked at him in shock.

“How’d you manage that?” George said at last, breaking the silence. Percy glared stonily at him and refused to answer. Instead he turned on his heel and stalked into the kitchen.

Ginny shook her head and watched him leave. She turned to her other brothers and said, “Guys, leave him alone. Don’t you think you pester him enough normally?” She was met by a response of three heads shaking no. Ginny rolled her eyes in exasperation and followed Percy to the table.

A few minutes later they were joined by Molly and Fleur, who were chatting comfortably though Fleur still looked a bit taken aback. Arthur along with Ron, Fred, and George sat down soon after. Molly served a large meal, obviously a delectable one as there was no sound for quite some time other than chewing, knife cutting, and the occasional Mmm.

Ron spent most of the meal goggling at Fleur, Fred and George took turns grinning at Percy and laughing at something the other whispered, Molly exchanged a knowing look with her husband and all much to Percy’s embarrassment. Fleur still seemed not to notice, but enjoyed her meal greatly in comparison to the Leaky Cauldron food she had been living on. She listened attentively when chatter started up halfway through the meal but said nothing herself, not until Ginny started quiet conversation with her unheard by her brothers.

“So you work in International Magical Affairs?” Ginny asked out of mere good manners.

Fleur nodded. “Yes, I was pleased when I got the job. I wanted to stay in England to improve my English.”

Ginny looked impressed. “You certainly are doing a good job of it! Your pronunciation is pretty good for a Beauxbatons.”

Fleur laughed. “Well, I forget to articulate correctly sometimes. Usually only when I’m mad.”

Ginny held back a laugh. “If you work with Percy you’re bound to get mad a few times! I love him and don’t give him a hard time like my brothers, but sometimes he’s just too,” she paused, searching for a word. “Work driven. He throws himself into a task and sometimes forgets to have a little fun.”

Fleur didn’t get a chance to reply for at that moment both she and Ginny had to duck a glob of flying mashed potatoes.

“Heads up!” Fred warned.

“Fred Eli Weasley!” Molly looked furious. Fred ducked his head, carefully avoiding his mother’s eye.

“Sorry,” he muttered. Molly narrowed her eyes at him and turned back to Arthur, resuming conversation.

The sun was near setting when Percy and Fleur got up to leave. It was a good ten minutes later before they actually made it to the fireplace to leave with Molly fussing over them and Arthur giving them tips on how to act at the meeting. Fleur disappeared through the emerald flames and Percy said goodbye to his mother one last time.

“Good luck dear. I’m sure you’ll be able to get along fine with Fleur. She seemed like a very nice girl but the poor dear didn’t seem to be used to a nice, homely family.” Molly clucked her tongue and patted Percy’s cheek. “Goodbye dear.”

“Bye Mum.” Percy smiled confidently at his mother and apparated out of the Burrow. He didn’t have much time to think about Molly’s words when he arrived at The Leaky Cauldron for he was immediately led to his room by Tom, the owner.

“Your friend, the young lady, has the room right across the hall.” Tom led Percy upstairs and nodded to the door directly across the narrow hall from Percy’s room. “She herself is downstairs reading a book in the booth in the far corner of the pub. Need anything you know where to come.” With that Tom bowed and went back down the stairs.

Percy quickly organized his books and papers but didn’t bother unpacking his clothing. He selected a book, one that was very thick and extremely dull-looking, and went downstairs himself. He spotted Fleur easily through the thinning crowd, sitting just where Tom said she was.

“’Ello,” Fleur murmured absently as Percy slid into the seat opposite of her. He returned the greeting and they soon lapsed into silence, both reading from their own books. It was a comfortable silence though and they each felt relaxed and at ease as they read. Nearly two days they did this, getting up and claiming the secluded booth before customers straggled in, reading throughout the day, just enjoying the contented silence and presence of one another, sharing bits of conversation now and then, and not leaving their booth until late evening.

A disruption of the patter came late Sunday afternoon. Fleur was studying Wondrous Wizards of Ancient Ages when she suddenly made a small cry of triumph, as though she had discovered something of great importance, and rapidly tapped Percy’s shoulder to get his attention, not taking her eyes off the book.

“Ow! What, what? I’m paying attention, you can quit beating me!” Percy drew his arm away from her and rubbed his shoulder. Fleur paid no attention and pointed excitedly at a page in her book.

“I’ve found something about Ra! It’s a person, an ancient Egyptian wizard, one of the ones thought of as a God by muggles!” She exclaimed. Percy’s interest was sparked and he leaned over to see, his eyes filled with curiosity.

Ra - Ra is the sun-god of ancient, dynastic Egypt. He was considered self created and the creator of all. It was thought that he rose from the primeval waters enclosed within the petals of a lotus blossom, within enfolded him once more when he returned to it each night; or that he rose in the shape of a phoenix (the phoenix is often associated with Ra) and alighted on the pyramidal top of an obelisk, the Benben stone, which symbolised a ray of the sun. He is the father of Tefnut and Shu, and has been known by many names and takes many different forms (most usual alternate form is Re). This makes him one of the most confusing gods to understand.

At sunrise he is Khepera, represented by the sacred scarab. Around noon, when the sun is at its full power, he is Ra. At sunset, when the sun is said to be weak and growing old, he is Tem or Temu. He travels across the sky with the sun upon his head in two boats. The boat used in the morning is called Matet, which means becoming stronger. From midday on he travels in the Semktet (growing weak) boat. When he has set, he begins his journey into the underworld or the Duat/Tuat. Here he encounters many dangers and foes. Chief among them is a creature called Aapep, an evil serpent. He usually wins his battles with Aapep and is then born anew as Khepera.

Percy read the entire entry quickly, saying the words out loud under his breath. When he finished he sat back in his seat with a thoughtful expression.

“Ra…Egyptian sun god, associated with phoenixes, is represented in different forms as the day goes on, and--”

“Battles the evil serpent to ultimately defeat ‘im,” finished Fleur. She had reached the same conclusion as Percy. “The Ra Conference will probably be ‘eld in Egypt--”

“And I’m willing to bet it’s for the Order.” Percy said lowering his voice though the pub was uncrowned and no one was near their table. Fleur nodded slowly, her mind filled with questions and thoughts.

The two began whispering animatedly, speculating about the conference. Percy was positively swelling with pomposity at being chosen to attend this special conference and only ended that when Fleur gave him an appraising look.

It was well past closing time when Tom urged them to get to bed. They obliged but did not cease their chatter as they walked up the stairs together and towards their rooms. They stood outside their doors and continued talking until a guest down the hall poked his head out his door and yelled rather rudely at them.

Percy laughed quietly. “I suppose we do need to go to bed if we want to be awake tomorrow for the trip.”

Fleur nodded in agreement but neither of them moved toward their respected room. They stood in silence, each seemingly lost in thought. The hall was dim, the only light being that of the crescent moon pouring through the window at the end of the corridor. Percy seemed to contemplating something and his gaze was directed right at Fleur, though it seemed distant somehow.

Fleur broke the silence, faltering slightly under Percy’s far-off, yet intense stare. “Uh…Well, goodnight….See you in the morning, Percy.” She turned and placed her hand on the doorknob, starting to open her door and she felt a pressure on her arm.

“Fleur, wait.” Percy gripped her arm gently and she turned her face slightly to look at him. “Ah…” he trailed off nervously and then leaned forward and pecked her on the lips. It wasn’t a terribly passionate kiss or even romantic, but Percy’s ears turned a brilliant shade of red. For less than a moment they stood frozen in awkward quiet.

Fleur was shocked, that being the last thing she expected from Percy. Her brain whirred with a thousand different thoughts, all very confusing. Even more shocked and taken aback than she was Percy.

‘Where did that come from?’ he wondered. Out loud he stammered, “I’m so sorry…I have no idea what came over me.”

Fleur simply nodded curtly and turned back to her room, stepping through her door. “Goodnight,” she said before closing her door behind her. A little while later she lay in bed, wide wake. ‘What was that all about?’. The first explanation that popped into her head was her veela charm and that thought made her spirits sag, though she didn‘t know why. A small voice at the back of her mind nagged at something and she couldn‘t help but to think that Percy was always unaffected by her veela beauty before and respected her much more than any other person she had met. With these thoughts still whirling around in her head she slipped into a peaceful slumber.