La Fleur de la Vallée

La Fleur de la Vallée

Percy was awakened early the next morning by King’s extremely off-key singing. The old driver hit a high note and jolted Percy out of his slumber. It took him a moment to get his bearings but he soon remembered where he was when he glanced around the bus.

There were Daniel and Mark still sound asleep against each other. Alek was still sleeping as well, snoring softly. Xanthus was awake but still sitting sullenly in his corner; Percy wondered whether he had slept at all. Ferris was also awake, staring out the window with fascination. He turned his head and grinned at Percy.

“Morning,” he whispered. “Sleep well?”

Percy stifled a yawn in response. “Well enough.” He began to stretch, feeling cramped from having slept sitting up, but found that his arm was pinned down. During the night as they slept his arm had slid behind Fleur’s back and her head was now lying on his chest. Percy shifted slightly, careful not to wake her.

“Good morning!” King said exuberantly when he noticed some of his passengers awake. “You fellows woke up just in time. We’re now driving through Egypt. See there on the left? That’s the Nile. We‘ll be in Cairo soon.”

Percy looked at the river, squinting slightly at the early morning light reflected off the water. Lost in thought, he didn’t even notice when Reggy appeared with a breakfast tray.

“Breakfast, Sir. And here is somes for Sir’s Miss when Miss wakes up.”

Percy took the tray from Reggy and was about to correct her when she disappeared again. When she reappeared with more breakfast trays for Xanthus and Ferris, Percy shook his head and didn’t say anything.

Reggy vanished and appeared several more times, waking Daniel, Mark, and Alek as she brought them their breakfast. When at last everyone was served and awake (though Daniel was still rather bleary-eyed) except for Fleur, Reggy looked up at Percy.

“Reggy is not having the time to wake Miss. Sir must do it. Miss will not give Sir as hard of a time.”

Reggy vanished before Percy could respond and he grimaced. He nudged Fleur but she simply groaned and turned her head. Percy sighed.

“You know, this is strictly against the Hogwarts motto,” he muttered. Mark laughed.

“Never tickle a sleeping dragon. She really that vicious?”

“When she wants to be,” Percy answered as delicately shook Fleur’s shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open and she glared fiercely up at him.

“You ‘ad better ‘ave a good reason for waking me up this early or I will ‘urt you.”

Daniel stifled a grin as Fleur slowly sat up, still glaring. “Perhaps dragon’s too mild of a term.”

Everyone except Fleur snorted in their coffee; even Xanthus managed a ghost of a grin. Fleur chose to ignore them and stared out the window as the bus neared Cairo.

“Now entering Cairo, Jewel of the Orient!” King called minutes later. Percy finished the last of his coffee and leaned over Fleur to get a look at the city.

“Where exactly are we going?” Alek asked after glancing out the window.

“Over the bridge! Dumbledore’s enchanted all Ra vehicles to be permitted through a complicated spell barrier on the bridge. When one of the authorized vehicles passes over it, it is sucked into a parallel dimension hidden from muggles and other magical folk alike. A magic rather like what hides Diagon Alley and such.”

“Where do we go after we’re through the spell barrier?” asked Mark curiously.

King grinned. “Don’t exactly know for sure. Safety measure, y’know. Just know we end up in the middle of a desert with nothing but a huge, old hotel nearby… Oh, and an oasis with a little pond in it. Don’t even know if Dumbledore himself knows where the hidden Ra headquarters is located exactly.”

“But then how--” Fleur began. She didn’t finish for at that moment the bus passed over the bridge and the passengers suddenly had a sensation much like dropping with lightning speed in a lift. Just seconds later they came to an abrupt stop directly in front of a large, rather run-down building in the middle of nowhere. The hotel rather looked like an ancient mansion and patches of green could just be seen stretching out from behind it.

“Oy. I think my stomach’s back in Cairo,” Daniel commented looking rather ill. Mark suppressed a laugh as he put a comforting hand on Daniel’s shoulder.

Fleur snorted and shook her head, turning away from the couple. Percy, she saw, also looked rather off-colour.

“Are you all right,” she asked quietly, placing one hand delicately on his back and rubbing slightly.

“Yeah, fine. Fetch a basin, let me be sick a few times, and I’ll be good as new,” he muttered, rubbing his temples slightly. Fleur smiled sympathetically at him until he managed a small smile back.

By that time the other passengers had already filed out of the bus and were waiting for the two younger members of their group. Percy got up, climbed out of the bus, and walked towards them. Fleur followed him closely, her hand still placed on his back. She let it drop away, however, when she noticed Ferris looking at them and reddened slightly.

Percy turned when he felt the light pressure of Fleur’s hand leave his back and saw her flush. He grinned to himself and looked away before she noticed.

Alek witnessed all of this and chuckled to himself as the party moved to follow King inside the building. “Theus is absolutely right,” he said later that day to Ferris. “Those two are the most stubborn pair I have ever met, even when it comes to their own feelings.”

******

“This is the main foyer, there on your right is the hallway leading to the kitchens and straight ahead there is the grand hall where all the meetings will take place. You folks should go straight there now, the directors will be expecting you.”

King left them then, waving merrily as he went out the massive front door. The group called their farewells (except for Xanthus who merely nodded in King’s general direction) and set out in the direction King had pointed them.

When they approached the large doors leading to the meeting hall, Percy eagerly pushed through them and the rest of the group followed. The room was enormous, even larger than the great hall at Hogwarts and it was filled with witches and wizards. The chattering buzz did not fade when the new group entered and only a few glanced casually their way.

“Are you the group from London?” asked a soft voice to Percy’s left. They turned and saw a petite woman smiling kindly at them. After receiving a confirming nod from Percy the woman continued. “Oh, good. We were expecting you. Remus in particular will be pleased to see one if his old students.” She smiled at Percy. “I’m Ava Harper, by the way, one of the coordinators of this conference. If you will all follow me.”

Ava began walking towards a long table on the other side of the hall. The group followed her and they soon reached it. Standing and sitting around the table were all the directors that Theus had informed Percy and Fleur of -- including Sirius Black whom Percy just barely recognized from those photos of him taken at Azkaban -- and a few extras.

Lupin was the first to look up and notice them. He grinned as he greeted them. “Welcome to the Ra Conference! I’m terribly relieved that you all chose to come; we really do need every man -- and woman,” he added hastily before Fleur could say anything. “--that we can get. We are expecting two more groups to arrive and then a meeting will be held right here. Things will be explained more thoroughly then. Until then feel free to wander around at your will.”

Taking up on his offer, Daniel and Mark soon left to explore the oasis behind the hotel. Ferris and Alek left to chat with a few people they knew in the room, Fleur tagging along with them, and Xanthus just went off alone as usual. Percy stayed behind to talk with Lupin.

“Good to see you again, Percy,” Lupin said as the group dispersed. He nodded in the direction of Fleur, Alek, and Ferris. “Who is that girl? Last time I saw you, you were nearly attached at the hip with that Ravenclaw… Penelope, isn’t it?”

Percy nodded, “Yes, Penny Clearwater. We broke up shortly after I graduated.”

His tone was casual which surprised Lupin; Percy had always struck him as the type that would brood over something like an ended relationship for awhile. He glanced back at the pretty blonde girl as Percy continued, thinking perhaps there was the reason for Percy’s light tone.

Percy went on with the same light tone. “That girl is Fleur Delacour, a colleague and friend of mine. Surely you have a list of those attending…”

“Of course, we have a list,” a new voice cut in. “Remus just lacks the organizational skills to keep track of that. That’s what we have Ava for.” Sirius Black had sidled up alongside Remus and grinned at the small woman that had first welcomed Percy and the rest of his group. She was busy sorting through papers at the moment though and barely acknowledged Sirius’s comment.

“Fleur Delacour,” Remus repeated, ignoring Sirius. “French, I presume? Yes, I do think I remember her file…” He trailed off and glanced at Sirius who nodded ever so slightly.

“Yes, that’s correct. She went to Beauxbatons and was one of the top students there,” Percy said nodding. He had noticed the silent exchange between the two men but said nothing about it.

“Excellent, excellent! We need more intelligence,” Ava exclaimed, looking up briefly from her organizing. “And your friend is heading back here,” she paused to nod in the approaching Fleur’s direction. “Remus’ll show you two to your rooms now.”

******

Alek and Ferris watched as Fleur walked back to Percy in the massive hall. One of the younger men among the group they had been talking to watched as well, shaking his head.

“Oy, how did that redheaded bloke ever manage to get with likes of her?”

Alek, who had already felt a sort of paternal attachment to both Percy and Fleur, looked down indignantly at the man. “Perhaps because she happens to have some sort of depth. Unlike some people here. Now if you will all excuse me.”

He nodded politely to the rest of the group and headed huffily towards the table of directors. Percy and Fleur had gone already with Remus, but Alek hovered near the table anyway. Finally Ava looked up and smiled at him.

“May I help you, Mr. Montgomery?”

“Alek is fine, dear.” Alek paused, contemplating how to best voice his concern. “The two that just left with Lupin, Percy Weasley and Fleur Delacour… I’m rather curious as to why they have been invited to attend when they are a few years younger than everyone else here.”

Ava smiled politely. “Well, they have the skills--”

“Oh, yes, of course. I have no doubt that they both have intelligence and skills surpassing many present here. I just had a suspicion that there was another factor involved.” Alek raised an eyebrow and said his next words very slowly and deliberately. “After all, the age limit for candidates is twenty-five, isn’t it?”

Ava looked stunned. “However did you find that out?”

Alek smiled. “That’s my own bit of classified business. My initial distress remains the same; they are both several years under the age-limit. The only conclusion I can come to for that is that there is another reason as to why they have been chosen to attend.”

Ava looked down at the papers in her hand, shuffling them nervously and carefully avoiding the older man’s eyes. “We decided to bend the rule a bit on Theus’ strong recommendation of them. Now I must bring these files to Remus, it’s dreadfully urgent.”

With that she hurried away and Alek stared inquisitively after her. After a minute or two he walked off to find Ferris, still deep in thought.

******

“Here you are, two connecting rooms.” Remus kicked open one of the doors in a long corridor on the third floor of the hotel. Fleur nudged past him and surveyed the room in one sweeping, critical gaze.

“It does not look too comfortable,” she said disdainfully as she walked inside. She opened the door inside the room that led to the second one and stuck her head in it. A moment later she emerged and announced, “I claim this room.”

Percy walked towards the second room, shaking his head. “I hate to see what room you left me then,” he commented as he looked through the door.

The second room was nearly identical to the first; a large, four-poster bed against one wall, a matching writing desk in the corner, dim lights, and various muggle paintings hanging on the off-white walls. Percy turned his head and raised his eyebrows at Fleur.

“They’re exactly the same!”

Fleur tossed her head. “Perhaps to the untrained eye.”

Percy rolled his eyes and looked back at Remus, who was leaning in the doorway watching the, with amusement. “Thank you, I’m sure we’ll be quite comfortable in these rooms.” He shot a look at Fleur who chose to ignore him.

Remus laughed. “Well, I’ll head back downstairs now. A house-elf will fetch you when it is time for the meeting.”

Remus left them then and Percy and Fleur each went to their own room to unpack their belongings that the house-elves had left in their rooms.

Percy finished his chore relatively quickly and plopped down on the edge of his bed. He stared at the shut door that connected his room and Fleur’s, mulling over the new thought that had popped into his head. All those people who had thought he and Fleur were a couple had finally gotten him thinking.

Add that to his constant reflection of that kiss… Percy began to doubt that what he felt really was just friendship. So in typical Percy style, he analysed his thoughts and feelings carefully, asking himself questions and mentally answering them as truthfully as he possibly could.

Do you enjoy being around her?

Of course.

Does she uplift your mood more easily than another could?

Yes, always.

Do you find yourself enjoying her presence more than that of others?

Absolutely.

Does the very sight of her make you happy?

Without a doubt.

Are you longing to kiss her again?

…Yes.

Well, then there is uncertainty about it. Why don’t you ask her out already?

Percy snapped out of his mental conversation and looked back at the door. He stood and took a deep breath. After a moment’s hesitation he strode across the length of his room and tapped on the door.

“Fleur, I need to talk to you.”

The door opened and there she was, looking more beautiful than ever to Percy. “Yes?”

“I--” Percy began.

At that moment he was cut off by the arrival of a house-elf.

“Sir and Miss, you is wanted downstairs. The meeting is soon starting!”

Fleur nodded at the elf and looked back up at Percy. “What is that you wanted to say?”

Percy glanced at the female elf (who was obviously not Reggie as she was waiting patiently) and then back at Fleur. “It can wait. Let’s go before we’re missed.”