Charms and Curses

Here's the next chapter!! Disclaimers apply!! Again, thanks to Chained Dove for Beta-ing!!

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They arrived at a wizarding inn for the night, the nicest establishment on the list that Bill gave Fleur to choose from. Within minutes, they had reached their rooms. It was a fine suite, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a large room in the middle where on one side there was a sofa and a pair of desks and chairs, and on the other a dining table. Fleur, however, must have not thought it up to par, for she darted about, waving her wand furiously as she went, adding pictures, flowers, a chandelier, various adornments, changing the color and make of the furniture...

Suddenly, she pointed her wand at him, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Bill found himself floated from the sofa that he had been sitting on and set down on the newly transfigured armchair, while Fleur waved her wand over the sofa and changed the brown cloth to a cream-colored leather, then floated Bill back to the sofa. She strode over towards the fireplace, and glanced over her shoulder at Bill.

"Zey will allow us to eat in ze room and deliver ze food 'ere for a few galleons extra. Would you mind eef I ordered some French food?" He shook his head, and she immediately tossed a handful of powder into the fire.

"What can I do for you, miss?" The smiling, boyish face of a young waiter appeared in the flames.

"Eef you pleaze, I would like to order some food for two: Brillat-Savarin fondue for ze appetizer, two sairvings of Camembert Bistro salad, tartiflette, and lapin au père douillet, oh, an' some truffles wis cointreau for ze dessert." Fleur said authoritatively, "And do NOT even sink of using cheap seasonings on ze entrées, I will be able to tell!"

"Of course not, miss," the waiter said placatingly, "I will bring it up to your room in half an hour."

"Sank you." Fleur said, now every inch the high-born French beauty that had been Beauxbatons' representative in the tournament. She turned towards Bill, who was looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face. He said nothing, however.

"I sink zat eet would be nice to stay in comfortable surroundings for tonight, since eet might be a long time before we can 'ave such a luxury again. Besides," she smiled at him, "I don't know eef you 'ave evair 'ad French food, eet is très délectable, zat is, eef zey make it correctly."

Bill shook his head. No, he had never had French food before. He goggled as she took the white scarf from her hair, letting the lustrous golden strands fall to her waist. She laid the scarf on the table, now intricately carved out of rosewood and highly polished, and transfigured the scarf into a lacy white tablecloth. A wave of her wand added a crystal vase full of red and white roses and two filigreed silver candlesticks with vanilla-scented tapers lit in them to the table, and then, there was a knock on the door. Fleur's smile widened, and she quickly opened it.

The waiter, pushing a cart holding numerous covered dishes, smiled at her. "Here is your order, miss."

Fleur smiled brilliantly at him, causing the young man, certainly no older than 17, to blush. "Sank you, would you be so kind as to put ze dishes on ze table for us, pleaze?"

"Yes, miss, of course." The waiter pushed his cart in, taking a moment to pause and gape at the changes that Fleur had made in the surroundings, and then laid the dishes on the table carefully. Then, he turned to Fleur, holding out one hand.

"That'll be 45 galleons, please." Bill, still rooted to his spot on the couch, gulped. 45 GALLEONS FOR ONE BLOODY MEAL?!? This did not seem to worry Fleur at all, though, as she summoned her purse and quickly counted out 50 golden coins.

"Keep ze change, young man, for your tip." she said cordially, handing the lot to the waiter with another heart-breaking smile. The young man was now reduced to a blushing, stammering mass of fervent gratitude as he stuck the bag of galleons onto his cart. Fleur grinned.

"What eez your name, young man? I might want to talk to you tomorrow, ask you some questions, eef you don't mind." she said in a sweet voice.

"M-my name? Ah, my name! I'm Cassius. Cassius Venia, at your service." the young man gave Fleur what he thought was a very rakish grin. Bill, still on the couch, rolled his eyes. And Fleur seemed to encourage this! She simply smiled indulgently.

"Sank you zen, Monsieur Venia. I am Fleur Delacour. I might ask for you tomorrow morning, all right?" she asked, proferring her hand regally.

"O-of course, Miss Delacour, anytime, miss, anytime!" The bumbling, blushing Cassius Venia stammered, grabbing her hand and covering it with kisses. Bill scowled, and Fleur firmly pulled her hand away.

"Zat will be all; 'ave a nice evening." Fleur's voice was soft but brooked no argument, and the waiter took the hint and left at once. Fleur shut the door behind him, and turned back towards Bill.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Ze food should be eaten while 'ot. Come on." Dumbly, Bill followed her to the table, still bewildered at the strange behavior of his partner. He barely tasted the exquisite French dishes that she had paid 50 galleons for. First, she would snap at the muggle in the inn that they'd had lunch in, then, she would flirt wildly with the waiter here! It did not make any sense at all. Women... blowing hot and cold... Bill shook his head, watching Fleur daintily nibbling her rabbit. Well, at least one thing was sure. His partner had impeccable taste and breeding. He idly wondered what she would think if she ever met his rowdy, close-knit family at the Burrow. They were not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. Then, he shook himself for the wayward thoughts. She would most likely never have an occasion to go to the Burrow. And she would never be used to such a place. 'It's probably a shack compared to whatever her home is like.' he thought to himself.

Fleur watched as her partner ate. She had decided to treat him to an extra nice meal in hopes of making amends for the incident at the pyramids earlier that day, but he had been silent so far. "Do you like ze food?" she asked.

It took about 30 seconds for Bill to realize that she was speaking to him. "Beg pardon?"

"I asked eef you like ze food."

"Oh, it's great, thanks." Bill said hurriedly, forcing himself to focus on the contents of his plate. The remainder of the meal was silent, as Bill pushed other thoughts out of his mind and concentrated on the food. It WAS delicious.

Fleur watched her taciturn partner as he ate the scrumptious truffles that she'd ordered for dessert. He seemed preoccupied. 'Probably thinking about the mission. Fleur, he does not care about trifles and trivial things like good food and pretty rooms. He's thinking about how to help the light side! And you're probably just making him think that you're a snooty little socialite.' She sighed softly, then spoke, "Well, you seem to 'ave finished dinner. I will clean up ze table, and I won't bozer you for ze rest of ze evening." A muttered charm later, the dishes were clean and gone, and she walked into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her, leaving Bill staring blankly at the spot she'd just occupied.

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True to her word, the next morning, Fleur sought out the young waiter, Cassius Venia. He had been expecting her, from the looks of it, his hair slicked back to a shine, and dressed in a glaringly bright yellow robe, a bouquet of equally garish orange flowers in his hands. Whatever Fleur thought of it, her feelings did not show on her face, as she gave him a cool smile and graciously accepted the flowers. "Sank you."

"You're very welcome, Miss Delacour. Father!" An older man, obviously the proprietor of the inn, joined the young waiter to stand in front of Fleur.

"So, you must be the charming young lady that my son said changed the suite into a luxury room. What would you like for payment? I can fetch a much higher price for that room now." the older man looked at Fleur shrewdly and gratefully.

"Payment will not be necessary, sank you." Fleur replied, "Alzough, eef you pleaze, could you answer some questions?" she turned up the veela charm a brief notch, and smiled at the two.

"Your establishment eez vairy elegant, I am sure zat many vairy powerful wizards would choose to stay 'ere instead of any ORDINARY place, and since you obviously 'ave good breeding and brains, I am sure zat you know ze surrounding places vairy well, am I right?"

"You flatter us, Miss Delacour." the older man said politely.

"No, I speak but what I observe. So, would you pleaze tell me about zis place? I am afraid zat I am not too familiar wis Egypt, for I 'ave nevair been 'ere before."

"Oh, Egypt is fascinating, all of the beautiful sights, the magnificence of the desert, the history, the splendor of the pyramids, the powerful magic of the ancient sorcerers..."

"Yes, zis I know, of course. But, I 'ave always 'ad a fascination wis ze last Egyptian pharoahs... Ptolemy, Cleopatra... surely someone as knowledgeable as you would know somesing about zat?"

The older man's face immediately took on a shuttered look. "Well, Cleopatra... that type of information is somewhat classified... I can't just tell every traveler about her. She was a powerful witch as well as a pharoah, you know."

"Of course, but I am not just ANYBODY, am I?" Fleur persisted, accompanying her honeyed voice with a sweep of her long eyelashes. "Besides, surely your 'ospitality towards special guests extends as far as to give me some pairfectly 'armless information? I 'ave come to Egypt to study ze fascinating 'istory; would you be so kind as to 'elp me?" she smiled another brilliant, winning smile at the two.

The man softened, and smiled back. "Well, I suppose I can make an exception for you, Miss Delacour. You DO seem to be such a generous, smart young lady. And you are correct in assuming that I am very knowledgeable in this area." the man puffed out his chest impessively, and Fleur turned away briefly to hide her smirk.

"Cleopatra has a most impressively built Mausoleum. That's where she keeps her treasures, of course. But there are many spells and creatures guarding it. Of course, I do not quite remember what they are..." he glanced at Fleur's knapsack. Fleur immediately opened it up, and extracted a handful of coins.

"Ten galleons... would zat 'elp you recover your memory, per'aps?" The older man grabbed the money, and smiled.

"Ah, I remember now. Of course, the outermost entrance is guarded by an array of spells. There are the usual ones, that make muggles who try to break in perish on sight, but most wizards don't have trouble with that kind of curse. However, there are others. Ones who desire to enter the first level must fulfill the requirements stated on the moving hieroglyphics. I have heard that the requirement itself is not complicated, but the hieroglyphics shift as soon as one comes within two feet of them, and reading and deciphering them is extremely difficult, even for full-fledged wizards. And, if ones who try to enter do not fulfill the requirements, they get sucked into the sand under their feet and buried alive."

"Oh! Do you 'ave any idea what ze requirements are?" Fleur asked eagerly, one hand on her purse indicating the willingness to spend more money, if need be. But the man seemed to have no desire to say any more.

"Sorry, my dear, that is all I know. Have a good day!" And with that, he walked away. Cassius Venia stayed for a second, still grinning like a dolt, before blowing Fleur a kiss and hurrying after his father. Fleur rolled her eyes, then turned back to Bill, who had witnessed this entire astonishing exchange with mouth agape.

"Well, you 'eard 'im. Let's go." Fleur called as she walked out of the establishment, transfiguring the garish orange flowers into a tasteful pink-and-white flowered scarf. Bill followed her out. Well, it seemed that he had underestimated her. Despite her fondness for finery, she was no fool. He made a mental note not to doubt her occasionally odd behavior again.

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Whee!! Another chapter done!! What do you think of it? Review and tell me!!