Work Text:
It was that time again: the Triwizard Tournament. All three schools, Beauxbaton Academy of Magic, Durmstrang Institute, and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, will meet on the terrain of Hogwarts to hold the tournament.
Fleur Delacour sits inside the flying Beauxbaton carriage. It may only take a few more minutes for them to arrive in England. Fleur sits beside her little sister Gabrielle, who looks inquisitively outside the window. She was never before in England and hopes that exciting things await her. Unfortunately, it will get more exciting than she could now imagine. Fleur gets very proud when she sees her sister in her light-blue uniform, with the hair tied back and holding her small brown leather suitcase tight on her lap.
“Fleur! Look! Look I can see Hogwarts! Wow!” Her eyes sparkle and her silver-blonde hair softly sway in the wind when she leans a little bit nearer to the window to have a better overview of the whole terrain. “That must be the forbidden forest… and I can see the great hall… and look there are so many people standing outside looking up to us!” Gabrielle adds. She cannot take her eyes off the impressive Hogwarts building they are flying in a huge circle around at that moment.
Fleur arranges her uniform one last time before she grabs her light-brown leather suitcase and turns around to Gabrielle who still looks wide-eyed outside the window. “Come, sweetheart. Take your case. We are about to leave in a minute.” Fleurs says softly to her sister. When she notices Gabrielle´s delightful smile she proudly smiles too. She loves her sister inordinately. A few seconds later the carriage puts down on the floor and they leave.
All of the Hogwarts students are already in the great hall. Fleur takes a deep breath and then walks nimbly inside the building. The door opens and all eyes are on them. It was not hard to tell what they are thinking at the moment: all of the Beauxbaton students are incredibly beautiful and well-dressed. But Fleur is used to the gaze of the people. No matter how beautiful the other students are, Fleur is just impressive. Her forefathers were Veelas and inherited her breath-taking beauty. She has silver-blonde hair like her little sister that almost reaches her waist, dark-blue eyes, pale skin, and white teeth. She knows that a lot of men get immediately in thrall to her beauty but only her closest family and friends know her better and know that she is not at all conceited about her look.
Fleur walks so gracefully that it looks like she glides over the floor of the great hall. She discerns Harry who she has seen before in a newspaper at home. Otherwise, she looks in a lot of unknown faces, some of them smiling excitingly at them others gazing.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next day they have time to scout out the terrain and get to know each other with the other students. Most of the boys of the Durmstrang institute have very firm expressions but leave Fleur in peace. They might be very self-conscious, but to get a brush-off of a Beauxbaton student in front of their classmates would be even for them too much. Not on the first day. Besides, Fleur really does not care about the boys of the other schools. She had no boyfriend before and does not want to change that anytime soon.
Gabrielle went with other girls her age to the greenhouse. Fleur walks slowly and sunken in her thoughts through the corridors. Some beams of sunlight reach through the windows and leave colorful patterns on the floor. These kinds of things fascinate Fleur and that pulls her out of her thoughts. She stands in front of a huge, old, dark-brown wooden door. This type of door, the hinges of which grate when opened or closed.
The moment Fleur wants to grab the handle a soft voice sounds directly behind her: “Do you want to go in there or just look at the door? I don´t know how doors work at your academy but sadly we have to use them by hand here.” A smirking girl appears on Fleurs left side. Before Fleur could answer the girl continues talking: “Hi, my name is Romilda. Romilda Vane. I hope I didn´t offend you.” Romilda gives Fleur a questioning look waiting for her to introduce herself but not stopping to smile softly. “Unfortunately, our doors work the same. But it was worth a try that things work differently here:” Fleur answers now also grinning. She was used to other people staring at her, unable to get a word out in her presence, or being terribly careful not to say anything wrong, but rarely someone says something sarcastically to her. That is a welcome change to her.
Inside the library, Romilda leads Fleur between high bookshelves to a small studying table in front of a window. She must have sit there before because a small dark-blue rucksack lies under the table and a few old-looking books on top of it. “I just wanted to steal some Butternut-Brownies from the kitchen. Best food for the nerves ever, trust me! To your luck, I managed to get two Brownies, and to my luck, I don´t have to eat alone now.” Romilda says in a cheerful voice. She hands Fleur a big Brownie with orange icing and sprinkles on top of it. She sits down and starts eating it.
When Fleur also sits down, she recognizes that she still hasn´t introduced herself. “Thank you, very courteously of you. I never had the pleasure to try typical English food. Hopefully, it´s good. Silly me. By the way, my name is Fleur Delacour. I am a Beauxbaton student.” Fleur answers with her French accent. “Well, then I have hopefully not promised too much. Nice to meet you, Fleur.” Fleur has been so diverted by the impressive high ceiling of the library, the huge bookshelves, and the smell of old books and history that lays in the air, she has only now the opportunity to look at Romilda more closely. She is presumably one or two years younger than Fleur, has long, curly black hair, large dark eyes, and tanned skin. Overall, she is very stunning. But what makes Romilda stand out is not her good look but her astounding character and attitude. While she seems to be bold and self-conscious Fleur does not feel uneasy around her. It is very soothing to spend time with someone who is not shocked or rather prejudiced by her beauty.
“This is my favorite place at Hogwarts. In late spring you can watch the first sparrows dancing in the wind, in autumn the romantic evening sun, and in winter the frozen lake. I love the warm sunlight on my back when I study. And – if you like me – love some treats during studying this is the perfect place no one will recognize you stole some from the kitchen.” “Oh! Did you mean that seriously? I am eating stolen brownies right now?” “Yes!” Romilda answers laughing out loud. “Okay, if that is the case: It is my pleasure to start my criminal career with you! To a long life in freedom.“ Fleur answers giggling and holds her brownie up in the air like she is about to make a toast. “That´s something worth living I would say” Romilda answers cheerfully.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next day Romilda and Fleur have school internal tasks but they arrange to meet in the evening when all is done. Fleur stands in the hall next to the great hall and waits. When Romilda arrives she has a smirk on her face. She does not tell Fleur where they´re going, but guides her stairs up and then again down, passing paintings with people nicely smiling or waving at them. Fleur is impressed by the spaciousness and beauty of the old building. You can discover something new every few meters and Romilda seems to know every centimeter of the castle.
After 10 minutes the two arrive in a small corridor with a painting at its end. If Romilda has not gone inside firstly Fleur had not even noticed the almost hidden corridor. She stops before the painting. “Here you go, we´ve arrived!” Romilda says smirking. Fleurs looks questioning at the painting. There is not a lot to see. An empty chair inside a dark room without any window. “Okay, I am not sure what you want to show me,” Fleur answers carefully and turns around to Romilda. “That´s what I thought,” Romilda says cheerfully. “Robert? Are you here?” Romilda shouts with a raised voice. Fleur looks at Romilda more and more confused. “Bobby! Hey, it´s me, Romilda! Would you please let us in?” Only a few seconds later an old but funny-looking man enters the painting. “Oh, it´s you, Milly. How are things going?” The old man responds with a cracking high voice. “Good, hope you are doing well, too. Sadly, I have no time for chatting today. That is…” Romilda stops and looks at Fleur. “my friend Fleur. I would like to show her the room.” “Okay, okay. No pressure. I have time, you know” Bobby laughs loud, and then the painting slides open.
Fleur and Romilda enter a dark room with shimmering lights, a crackling fireplace, and a brown leather couch with red cushions and a red cozy blanket. It is a secret meeting point for students who have a rendezvous. But not everyone knows it – it wouldn´t be secret then obviously – only some students pass on this secret to others. And it is a precondition that Bobby likes you, if not, no chance to enter this room ever. “Wow,” Fleur looks around and sits then down on the couch next to Romilda. She still wears parts of her school uniform: a white blouse and the Gryffindor cardigan. But she also wears a denim skirt, black stockings with dark boots, and a velvet necklace. Her hair is half pinned up and some loose strands of hair are framing her face. Fleur recognizes her plump naturally dark red lips and long lashes she couldn´t see the day before. But now, they are sitting that close Fleur could see every pore of her face. She has a really fascinating face, so unique one would never think they had seen someone similar before.
“You like it?” Romilda asks. “It is really impressive. Thank you for bringing me here.” “I´ve never brought someone here before. Maybe a good friend or we hang out with a bunch of people, but never someone… um… I really liked.” That is the first time Romilda seems a bit uncertain and she flushes. “Then, it is an even greater honor for me, my partner in crime.” Fleur looks happily to Romilda who looks just as happy back to her.
Fleur never felt that safe and understood with anyone before. She really likes Romilda, her nature, self-consciousness, and kindness. A boy never gave her the feeling to be more than just beautiful. But with Romilda it´s different. She likes her as a person, her character, and gives her the feeling to be someone special. Isn´t that something admirable? Someone who can make you truly happy.
At that very moment, Romilda grabs Fleur's hand as if she had heard her thoughts. It never felt better before. Fleur grabs her hand and clasps Romilda´s fingers in hers.