Je Regrette Rien

-5-

The little red-haired girl looked up as the Delacour manor came into view. Rain was pounding hard and she could see very little of it. She didn’t really know what she was she was doing here, and she didn’t understand why she had come. She just knew where she was headed. She had a piece of paper with an address on it crumpled in her hand and that was all. She prayed that it was the right address.

~*~

“Me?” Seamus asked quizzically, “Me and Parvati?” His eyes were huge, and his cheeks were burning red.

“That’s what I said,” Bryce Aulait replied angrily, “So, what’s your answer?”

“I…I…uh…I…” Seamus began to stammer unable to come up with the right word.

“He’d love to,” Dean spoke up.

“Bien,” Bryce said then he turned to Dean with a grim look on his face, “Are you the one who will be escorting Dauphine?”

“Why…I…yes I am.”

“Take care of my baby sister. You hurt her, I hurt you.” Bryce opened the front door of the Delacour manor to see a red-haired young lady, drenched from head to toe; her brown eyes were sparkling anyway.

“Ginny?” both Ron and Harry exclaimed at the same time.

“Er…yes,” replied the little redhead.

“What are you doing here?” Ron asked angrily, pulling her in from the rain. When he looked at her in a clearer light he saw that the rain that covered her face was intermingled with tears. “What are you doing here?” he repeated with a much softer tone to his voice.

“I have to talk to you…” Ginny said pleadingly.

“Why couldn’t you just wait until I came back?”

“We didn’t know how long that’d be.”

“We?”

“Mum and Dad and me.”

“What happened?”

“Dad got a…” she stopped and looked around at the others and the general look of concern on all their faces. “A death threat.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, that’s why they told me to come to you. Mum said ‘Go to Ron and Percy and stay there until we can sort through this.’”

“We should go home now!” Panic was rising in Ron’s voice.

“No, Mum said to stay and she’ll send for us when it’s all over.”

“When what’s all over? Dad’s life?”

“Don’t be a prat Ron. I mean the investigation into the message and where it came from.”

“We should tell Percy,” Ron’s eyes had gotten strangely glazed over and Ginny recognized the look. It was the same ‘nothing I can do’ look that she had when their mother had sent her here.

“Of course we’ll tell Percy. Although, I don’t think he’ll be too happy I showed up.”

~*~

Ginny was right, Percy wasn’t too happy, but Mme Delacour was considerably more ecstatic. “I’m so glad you’ve come dear,” she had exclaimed, “You’ll have to share a room with Gabrielle. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all Madame Delacour. I’m just thankful that you are allowing me to stay here.”

“Dear girl, you turn up here soaking wet, it is the least I can do to offer you a room and some dry clothes. And some hot cocoa of course.” Ginny accepted it all gratefully as she was led to Gabrielle’s room, where a cot had been set up for her. “You get some rest, dear. I’ll fetch you later.”

~*~

~The Diary of Gabrielle Delacour~

The whole house has settled into some strange stupor. Ron’s little sister, Ginny, just sits in my room and stares out the window for hour; his brother, Percy, has shut himself up in his room; and Ron been very irritable lately. It’s all very upsetting. I don’t know what to do.

~*~

“Come on Ginny, Gabrielle, we’re going shopping!” Fleur said coming into Gabrielle’s room.

“Shopping?” Gabrielle exclaimed, “Pour quoi?”

“Get our minds off our problems. Moping around won’t ‘elp. M. Weasley.” And so they went. Fleur took Gabrielle and Ginny to one of the finest dress robes designers in Paris; Mlle Chloe’s.

“Look at this,” Ginny said in a hushed voice as she fingered a sparing creamish colored gown.

“Zat would look lovely on you,” Fleur said, holding it up to the little redhead, “I’ll have an attendant fit it for you.”

“On no! When would I ever where it?”

“Well, Dauphine Aulait’s party for one.”

“I thought we weren’t going,” Gabrielle said absentmindedly.

“Well, we are now.” She called over an attendant to fit Ginny in the cream colored dress. “What about you dear sister?”

“Well, I rather like zat dark blue one.”

“Ah yes, zat would bring out the color in you eyes.” Other attendants started fitting Gabrielle.

“Since you want to go now, you must have a date,” Gabrielle said grinning evilly at her sister.

“Perhaps, but you won’t find out who until ze party.”

“Zat not fair! What about us?”

“What do you mean?” Ginny asked, stepping off the stool she was standing on.

“Dauphine has required zat all attendees have dates,” Gabrielle explained.

“Oh, who are you going with?”

“No one at the moment.”

“Oh.” The attendants brought out the fitted dresses and Fleur handed them a small bag of golden money.

“Zat should take care of zem both.”

“But Fleur…” Ginny began.

“But nozing. You deserve zis distraction.”

~*~

“Hey Gabrielle,” said a male voice. Gabrielle could barely see the person it belonged to, but he was sitting on the white couch in the sitting room.

“Ron? Is that you?” Gabrielle asked.

“Yeah, it’s me. Come site down.”

Gabrielle went and sat next to him on the couch. He looked depressed; his hair was an unbrushed mess of tangles and he had heavy bags under his eyes. Dauphine would have run away repulsed. Gabrielle had the sense to stay. “How have you been?”

“Bien, et tu?”

“You’re learning some French!”

“Isn’t that easier on you guys?”

“Oui, zat’s very nice of you.”

“Keeps my mind off things.”

“You know, zere is nozing you can do.”

“That’s what Harry said. I was just talking to him. Poor boy always blames himself for everything. He thinks it’s all because my family has been so nice to him.”

“He shouldn’t do zat.”

“That’s what I think, but try telling him that…There’s just…” Ron paused and then smiled at Gabrielle. They locked eyes for an instant, her crystal blue pouring into his coppery brown. “It was really nice of you to listen to my babbling.”

“You weren’t babbling.”

“I’m going to go get some rest now.” He walked out of the room. Gabrielle jumped up and dashed to her room. There she found Ginny, sitting on the cot, admiring her new dress.

“Alright Gabrielle?”

“Ginny, can you keep a secret?”

“Yes of course I can.”

“I zink – I am starting to fancy your brother.” Ginny looked at her and started to laugh.

~*~

“I feel so -oh how do I say it- helpless,” Harry said to his friends. He, Dean, Seamus, and Neville were all holding a secret conference over sorbet in the kitchen.

“We can’t do anything to help him,” Seamus said, “the more we tell him not to worry, the worse he gets.”

“Maybe,” Dean suggested, “we could stupefy him. Then he’d get some rest.”

“I don’t think…”Neville began.

“I was joking.”

“I knew that.” Although the look on his face showed that he hadn’t.

Just then Ginny walked in. “I have some hilarious news. It might perk you up.”

“What is it?” Seamus asked.

“Littlest French girl has it bad for much older British workaholic.”

“English please,” Dean requested with a laugh.

“Gabrielle fancies Percy!”

“What?” they all asked at once.

“I didn’t know if I should tell anyone, but the whole thing kind of scared me.”

“It’d scare anyone with a brain,” Dean said, still chuckling. “What does she see in Percy?”

“I don’t know. She just came in and…” Suddenly Ginny stopped talking. Voices could be heard coming from the other room. One belonged to a Delacour girl, speaking in a suffocated whisper, which seemed most unusual. And the other was distinctively from a young boy, but who it was, no one could tell.

“Gabby, come with me to Dauphine’s party,” his voice was calm and steady, as if he had rehearsed it for hours in front of a mirror.

“I have other plans,” she said bluntly. The boy’s eyebrows drew together with a strange mixture of anger and sadness.

“Just go with me,” he pleaded. Ginny and the boys peaked into the room. They saw Gabrielle with a boy who looked maybe a year older. His dark curling hair was cut short and his azure eyes pleaded with her.

“But…there’s this…”

“What?”

“This thing…”

“Did someone else ask you?”

“No, but…”

“Then go with me.”

“But Malick…”

“Please Gabrielle, go with me to Dauphine’s party.”

Gabrielle looked into Malick’s pale cornflower eyes. They didn’t hold near the amount of warmth as Ron’s. She heard Dauphine’s voice in her head, saying what she said just last year. “Malick really likes you. He’s really cute, too. Just give him a chance. No one in the world has ever loved anyone the way everyone wants to be loved.”

Then she heard Fleur talking angrily as often did, “If zere’s one zing you’ll learn from being always judged on your looks alone, is to recognized actual affection.”

“I’m sorry Malick, I can’t,” Gabrielle said, her voice ringing with finality.

“But who else are you going to take?” Malick asked, turning somewhat viscous. “One of the little English boys perhaps? They’re all in love with you sister, Gabrielle. Everyone is, just except it.”

“No!” Gabrielle said angrily. She spun around to see the five spies peeking out of the door. “Ce qui sont tu regardant?” She growled and then stomped up the stairs.