The Veela Chronicles

The Veela Chronicles: Book One (4/12)

Chapter Four: The Charmer Meets the Charm Breaker

Fleur stepped out of the fireplace, Floo powder engulfing the small room. She had decided to travel to Egypt as a witch. Living as a Muggle would have been too difficult. Hasty research done the night before in the Delacour library told Fleur she would have been considered a foreign woman by Egyptian Muggles. The social structure would have been too rigid for her to get any work done, although she would have more freedom as a foreign woman than a native one. Fleur did not want to worry about walking alone without a man or not being able to approach men on the street. After all, her grandfather's associates were mostly men! She hoped that the wizarding world in Egypt was more lenient as far as her sex was concerned. It may be more difficult to pick out a wizard that deals with Muggles in wizard world than it would be to pick out a wizard among Muggles, but it was really her best bet.

The Floo network had let Fleur off in Giza. There was a small Floo station located near the Giza pyramids. Three pyramids lay to the east. The smallest pyramid was closest, and the largest farthest away. Fleur had been most impressed with the placement of Cuspis, the wizarding city. If you drew a line that connected the northern-most points of these pyramids, and then drew another line that connected the southern-most points, the two lines would meet, and then cross. It was at this cross were the Floo station lay. Wizards wishing to blend in with the Muggles tourists would simply head east, while wizards wishing to visit Cuspis would head west into the well-hidden city -- located within the magical folds of the pyramids angles.

Fleur brushed off her robes and examined her surroundings. The fireplace sat in a plain, nondescript room. The entrances to the Muggle bathroom were off on one side. It was through certain stalls that visitors to the Muggle's Egypt could exit the Floo station. To her left was the entrance to the Cuspis Inn, a small tavern created to serve both locals and weary Floo travelers.

"I always thought that was strange," thought Fleur, who had never felt any queasiness traveling by fireplace. "Floo powder makes travel almost instantaneous. How weary could you get?"

She paused and touched the knotted braid at her neck. It had stayed beautifully arranged throughout her trip. She gave her robes a brush before entering the Inn.

People filled the tavern - regardless of the morning hour. Much to Fleur's relief, they consisted of every nationality possible. As she made her way towards the exit, she overheard snippets of conversations in Egyptian, English, and even her beloved French. A group of men sat near the door. Fleur could feel their eyes on her as she walked past them.

"Bella," one of them said as she walked by, then said something else in a language she didn't know, causing the others to laugh. Fleur ignored him but waited until she was outside the tavern before grabbing her wand and uttering, "Loquor passim," which enabled her to fully understand all languages. More importantly, all listeners could understand her. The spell was a recent discovery of a young witch named Hermione Granger in Britain. "I wonder if she had gone to Hogwarts," Fleur mused. "She probably did and I just never paid attention. I was too busy flirting with Quidditch captains. Oh well. It would have been nice to meet her."

Fleur had never been to Egypt before, even though she had heard all about it from an old boyfriend. Her heart gave a brief, unexpected pang. But she brushed it away as she headed down the alley, marveling at her surroundings.

Morning customers surrounded a street stand whose vendor sold falafels and fresh mango juice. Fleur inhaled curiously. She had never been eager to try new foods, preferring the fine French fare she had brought up on, but vowed to be adventurous at lunchtime. The falafels had potential.

The slight breeze sent a different, lingering aroma through the air, deftly weaving in and out of people. Fleur turned and found the source of the aroma - a small wizard carrying a tray of incense. Fleur watched as he darted in and out of the stores, conjuring up sweet smells in limitless combinations - perfuming the areas for a fee.

A group of young witches passed Fleur, wearing the most fascinating jewelry she had ever seen. Bands of titanium with gold inlays buckled their wrists, necks, and pointy hats. They had richly textured hair and wore stunning robes that floated along oblivious to the heat. Fleur took it all in enviously. One of the witches caught her eye and smiled at her.

"Sekhmet," she said simply, gesturing at a store located a few blocks down. Fleur looked and saw that Sekhmet was located right across the street from her first scheduled stop - Gringotts. Gringotts was the wizarding bank all over the world. It didn't matter if you were in Persia or Peru. Fleur smiled and nodded her thanks, adjusted her bag, and set off down the street.

Seeing the familiar bank made Fleur feel instantaneously better. She tried not to think of how she was alone in a strange country on a less-than desired errand. She pressed her lips together, pausing on the front steps. "I will get this over with as soon as I can," she thought. "Then I can go home. Maybe Pere won't make me stay an entire year." But as the thought struck her she paused at the steps of the bank and looked down at her feet. "Home to what?" she asked herself. "Pere is right. I'm not doing anything there. The fact is it doesn't matter where I am. It makes no difference to anybody."

The goblin perched outside the bank looked at her suspiciously. "In or out," he snapped.

"I'm sorry," Fleur said, and quickly went inside. She turned around once inside. The goblin was looking away but Fleur still felt like she was being watched. Even after working with them for a year or so, Fleur never got used to their shifty, observative natures. She hurried towards the goblin with the shortest line.

"I'd like to open an account please," she told the goblin.

"Name?" he inquired.

"Fleur Delacour," she said.

"Ah yes," he said. "A Lisbeth Delacour has authorized a transfer of funds from our Reims branch to a Fleur Delacour here in Giza."

Fleur nodded.

"Do you have your key from Reims?" he asked.

Fleur presented it to him.

"Very well. This will be your new key," he said, handing it to her. It looked identical to her old key, but she was not fooled. Tricky creatures, goblins were.

"Shall we sent regular withdrawals to your residence, per special messenger?" inquired the goblin.

Fleur flushed. Her family rarely went to the bank by themselves. "No," she replied. "I don't have a permanent residence here yet. I can come and make my own withdrawals."

The goblin looked at her sharply, as if a real Delacour never made withdrawals on their own. "Very well," he repeated. "If you'll follow me, you can make a withdrawal," he said.

Fleur nodded again. As she turned around something flashed in the corner of her eye. She twisted to follow the movement, but it was gone. All she could see was the usual commotion of people, goblins, and other magical beings against a backdrop of pillars and corridors.

"How funny," she thought, and then shook the thought away.

"Come along," said the goblin. After a moment's hesitation, Fleur followed him. This trip down Gringotts' tunnels was just like the few in Fleur's memory. She rather liked it. After a whirlwind trip down and up again, Fleur found herself back out on the front steps of Gringotts.

"Well," she muttered to herself. "Now I need to find a place to live. Should I look right? Left?" Her eyes wandered towards the store in front of her. "Should I forget it all and just go shopping?"

A low chuckle erupted behind her. Fleur spun around but only saw the security goblin glaring at her again.

"Right," she said and took off back towards Cuspis Inn. There was bound to be someone there that knew a good place to point wizards.

Just then a piece of parchment floated in her path. Fleur glanced down as she prepared to step over it. But a picture of a house caught her eye.

"For rent," Fleur read, reaching down to pick it up. The picture showed a simple house with a broad balcony. Two trees with bright red leaves framed the doorway. Pyramids could be seen in the background. "Available now. Fully furnished. Come see. 106 Ahmed Orabi St., Mohandessin."

Fleur pulled out her map of Giza and looked up the house's location. It wasn't terribly far from downtown Giza and seemed out of the way enough to provide some peace and quiet. She reoriented her steps and soon found herself in the correct neighborhood. She quickly located the house and knocked on the front door.

"Hello there," came a voice from behind her.

Fleur jumped and turned around to see an old witch carrying a pair of cats. The witch's sharp eyes racked over Fleur.

"A French Veela!" she cried in Fleur's own language. "Now that's not something we've had in the neighborhood for quite a while."

Fleur smiled. "I'm all French, but only part Veela," she replied. "Are you the owner of this house?"

"Yes," said the old witch, putting her cats down to explore their surroundings. "My name is Sagira."

"I am Fleur Delacour," Fleur said. "I understand the house it open for rent?"

"Yes, yes," said Sagira. "Come in, I will show you." She unlocked the front door with a slight flourish of her wand and gestured Fleur inside. "You saw on the outside that we have lovely flame trees along this street. This house has balconies outside every room so we can look at them."

"Yes, it's very nice," said Fleur.

"But the inside is nicer!" said Sagira. "Look here, a big sitting room. Use it for books, for conversation, just not for loud parties. We don't do that here." She looked at Fleur sternly.

"Oh, no," said Fleur. "My mother taught me always to entertain away from home. That way guests can't stay too late, you can always maintain your privacy, you can always blame the cooking on someone else…" Fleur's voice trailed off as she realized she was saying too much. But Sagira laughed.

"Yes!" she said, "Your mother is wise."

Fleur made a face. "Wisdom isn't everything," she muttered.

Sagira laughed again. "Yet you show much of it yourself," she said. "Tell me. What do you think of the furniture?"

Fleur looked around. The room was furnished with an eclectic combination of genuine Egyptian and typical European furniture. Painted frescoes and ornamental textiles covered the walls. Oil lamps perched on each small table. A beautiful chair carved out of wood was furnished with slung leather. A matching, yet extremely comfortable-looking leather couch completed the room.

"It's beautiful," she said, meaning it.

"Yes!" said Sagira, clapping her hands together. "My own home looks just like it. Come see the rest of the house."

Fleur followed Sagira throughout the small house. To Fleur, each room seemed more and more wonderful. The location was good and the price was right. "May I take it?" she asked eagerly at the end of the tour.

"Of course," Sagira said. "I knew Mosi would find me a good tenant."

"Mosi?" asked Fleur?

Sagira turned to Fleur knowingly. "Your next-door neighbor, I call him Mosi, or sometimes Hasani. Both names fit," she said. "Don't you think?"

Fleur didn't have any idea what Sagira was talking about, but nodded her head agreeably anyway. She liked this old woman and felt comfortable here.

"Now you," Sagira continued, "you are easy to name. I shall call you Zahra."

***
The next morning Fleur awoke to the bright sunlight streaming in her bedroom. She sat up in the bed, blinking the sleep away. She gazed over at the window, trying to adjust to this new lighting. A set of eyes blinked back.

Fleur yelped and scrambled back in surprise. The cat didn't jump but cocked its head deliberately, as if sizing her up. After a moment it flicked its huge ears and leaped back down into the yard.

"Mon dieu," Fleur muttered. "Well that woke me up. How silly am I? Jumping at the sight of a neighborhood cat." She rubbed her eyes and got out of bed. After standing a few moments, she slunk back down again.

"So now what?" she thought to herself. "Here I am. In Egypt. I have to start on my assignment for my father." Fleur didn't feel like getting out of bed anymore. She looked over towards the small bag she had left sitting in the corner. Most of her things would be delivered via servants this afternoon. But the bag held the few necessities she needed for the trip and the names of her Grandfather's business associates, the ones she was supposed to look out for.

"Pere will expect a report by the end of the week," thought Fleur. "If I do well, so what? And if I mess up, well, so what? None of this matters at all to me. I don't care about making him proud or happy."

Her eyes fell to her lap as she realized something worse. "I don't even care about making myself proud or happy."

She dragged her feet away from the bed, resolving to go through the motions of the day. "Maybe Sagira will stop by to see how I'm settling in. That would be nice."

If on cue, Fleur heard knocking at the front door. She looked down at her nightgown in dismay and quickly grabbed her wand from the nightstand. "Abrumpere" she said, and it fell to the Floor. She placed on hand on her chest and pointed the wand towards the closet. "Vestire Acceptabilis," she said. A simple outfit flew across the room and wrapped itself around Fleur. She quickly patted her hair, which remained as unruffled as always, and ran downstairs.

"Coming," she called as she hurried towards the entrance. A few steps later her hand was twisting the knob. "Sagira," she said as she opened the door, "Thanks so much for stopping by…" Fleur's voice trailed off as she realized it wasn't Sagira at all.

Fleur stared at the figure in front of her. She quickly took in the tight clothes, dragonskin boots, and most importantly, the long red hair. She smiled and involuntarily tugged at her hair, trying to disguise her blushing face.

"Bill Weasley!"

Bill grinned and looked impressed, "Hi Fleur. How've you been? It's been a few years, huh?"

Fleur gazed at the man who stood at her doorstep, the man who had regularly visited her thoughts for years after they lost touch. "Oh my Bill," she exclaimed, enveloping him in a bear hug. "It's been so long. Come in! Come in!" "Bill Weasley?" she thought as she ushered him inside. "I haven't seen him in years! I can't believe this. After all this time. I hadn't even known he was back in Egypt. I always just assumed he stayed in Britain, with his family, and Dumbledore." She couldn't look away from his face, not that she wanted to.

"Can I offer you something?" she asked him. "I'm not sure what's in the kitchen, but I'm sure I can conjure up some tea."

Bill smiled, his even, white teeth showing. "Actually," he said. "I came to offer you something" He pulled out a bag from behind his back. "From one neighbor to another," he said, holding out the bag.

"Why thank you," she beamed, overcoming some of her shock and opening the bag. Inside was an assortment of teas, cakes, breads and herbs. "This is most helpful."

"Oh, you're welcome," Bill answered, shoving his hands into his pockets.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "So neighbor is it? Are you the mysterious Mosi/Hasani neighbor Sagira was telling me about?"

Bill flushed. "Oh, yeah," he said. "I lived in the neighborhood for a few years now, ever since I moved back from England. It wasn't long after we..." Bill coughed nervously. "Well, you know. Sagira is great, though. You won't find a better first judge of character. Although, she does insist on renaming everyone. But that's how you can tell if she likes you. Once we had a neighbor she called 'Perpatjau" which mean trumpeter. When he blew his nose, you could hear him blocks away." Bill said this very fast.

Fleur laughed and tried to disguise her own nervousness with questions. "And what do your names mean Bill Weasley?"

"Mosi means first-born," he answered.

"Of course," said Fleur. "You have all those brothers. You must tell me how they are all doing, especially Ron. I'm afraid I've lost touch with everyone I knew at Hogwarts. But not until the tea is ready." She gave him a sly look, one she used to give him all the time. "And you must tell me what Hasani means."

"Mmm, I'm not sure," he said, flushing until his face almost matched his hair. "Has she named you yet?"

Fleur smiled widely at him. "Alright," she answered, letting him off the hook for a bit. "She calls me Zahra."

"Ah," said Bill, his flush gone. "An exact translation of Fleur." He moved into the sitting area. "Well Zahra, a cup of tea sounds wonderful. Can I get you some?"

"Non," said Fleur, gently pushing him further into the sitting room. "You are a guest in my home. I will get the tea." She gave him one last brilliant smile before heading to the kitchen.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Fleur took out her pocket mirror. "Please tell me you know what Hasani means," she pleaded. "Because my translation spell doesn't do names." The mirror gave a snort of disgust. "Then you should have tried using it in a sentence. I thought the Veela knew the word for handsome in any language," it said.

"Ha!" said Fleur. "And shush! Don't mock me. You're just a mirror." But of course that had been the wrong thing to say, as the mirror began mocking her even more as Fleur carefully examined her appearance.

"It's hot here. Watch out for all the sun, it doesn't agree with your skin tone, not to mention the cancer risk…"

"I said shush!"

"Although I'm not sure the flush in your face came from sun exposure. I bet it's from man exposure…"

"My goodness, will you be quiet? He'll hear you."

"You're the one that started talking. What's he look like anyway? Is he really handsome? Oh, yes, he is. What an adorable smile."

Fleur snapped the compact shut and spun around. Bill was standing in the doorway holding the tea.

"Er, I thought this might come in handy," he offered, his eyes twinkling as he gave her sly look of his own.

"Right," she said, taking the tea from him.

"So," he said, the smile still on his face. "What brings you to Egypt? How's you family? What have you been up to all this time?"

"Oh, I'm here on some family business actually. They are doing well. My father has a job for me," she said, trying to keep her tone upbeat and optimistic. It didn't work because Bill's eyebrows furred with concern.

"So, working for the family, huh? You don't seem too happy about that," he said.

"And there he goes, seeing right through me, just like he always did," thought Fleur.

"Well, it's just that…" Fleur hesitated before shrugging. "I guess it's as good as anything else I have to do right now." In her head she started screaming at herself. "What are you doing Fleur? Bill doesn't want to hear about the depressing details of your non-life. What kind of reunion is that?"

But if this statement put off Bill he didn't show it.

"Egypt is a great place," he said. "I'm sure the sights alone will make up for any dreary job you have to do for your parents." He smiled crookedly. "And it can't be any worse than de-gnoming a garden, can it?"

Fleur laughed as she waved her wand at the teapot.

"Non," she said, pouring a small cup for Bill. "Menial labour, it is not."

She pressed the cup into his hand, letting her hand linger there for a moment. Bill seemed to momentarily forget what he was talking about as he stared at her.

"Well, if you need a guide to help you out, I'm your man," he finally said, gulping down his tea.

Fleur smiled her brightest smile yet. "I'd like that," she said simply.

Bill grinned back. "I hate to drink and run, but I should be getting to work. Don't want to upset the Goblins. You know how it is." He paused. "I'm actually one of the head Charm Breakers now. Finding treasure and stuff. At Gringotts."

"That's wonderful," said Fleur, meaning it. "I always knew that desk job wasn't your thing. I hope it's not too much to presume, but do you think you could help me out after your done with work today?"

"Of course," said Bill.

"Merci," said Fleur. "I shall stop by this evening then."

Fleur walked Bill to the door. Outside she could see Sagira's cats running all around, except for one who was lounging lazily in the sun.

"Ok, I'll see you later," Bill grinned.

"Bye," said Fleur, thinking that her trip to Egypt wouldn't be anywhere as bad as she had feared.