Ebon Phoenix [#1] [Complete]

Fleur Delacour

Fleur smiled. "Yes. It is sad, no? I very much like the sun, and I shall be sad when it is gone."

"But we'll still have the moon, won't we? And the stars. When people lose a large part of their life, they forget about the other small gifts they still have."

Fleur looked at the man again, noticing once more how youthful he looked when she couldn't see his eyes. "You know, you are très wise for your age. It is refreshing to speak with a man who is unclouded by my attributes."

"You're part Veela, aren't you?" he asked.

"So you are affected by my aura?"

He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky, as if looking for words. "It is hard to explain. I can sense that there is something pulling me towards you, but it is muffled, as if locked behind a glass door. I'm a bit out of tune with my magic, which might be why it's like that. I'm sure that when I get it back fully that the door will unlock and I'll be pulled to you like every other man."

"Well then, perhaps that won't be such a bad thing." She replied. The man looked at her, and smiled, actually smiled. Fleur found herself wanting to see that smiled much more often.

"So, I assume that you're from the Beauxbatons? If your outfit is any indication."

She nodded. "I am the champion for my school, and I carry that responsibility with pride."

"You're the champion? Well, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Why is that? To participate in the triwizard tournament is an honor, a privilege."

The man stared at the ground. "It's nothing to concern yourself with. I'm just a grumpy man who's got old-fashioned views of the world, I suppose.

"I don't think you're grumpy, or old fashioned, despite your choice of dress."

He looked at his kimono and laughed. "Really? I quite like this kimono. Do you really think it looks bad?"

"Well... It is not the most flattering choice, but I do believe that anything would look nice on you." Fleur's face turned a very dark shade of scarlet when she realized what she had said.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? I'm sure I'll have to look into this later, but for now, why don't you tell me more about your school?"

"Well, as I'm sure you know, it is in France, and..." the two continued to talk like this for a while. Talking about the schools and swapping jokes and stories, they enjoyed each other's company. Fleur found herself very happy to have gone up and introduced herself. They continued to talk, even when the sun began to set. They were interrupted by the man's elf, who pulled on the sleeve of his kimono.

"Sir, it is time to return for dinner and your exercises."

He looked at the darkening sky and laughed. "Oh my, it's seems I've been silly and lost track of time. Thank you, Winky, we should be getting back." He made to stand up, but did not make it on the first attempt. Fleur watched with concern as his elf tried to help him, but he shooed her away playfully. "I'm fine. I've just been sitting down too long, is all." He tried again and sure enough, he was able to stand up just fine. He folded his hands in his sleeves and turned to look at Fleur. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss. I'm sure we're going to talk again soon." He bowed slightly and turned to walk away. Fleur watched the man's retreating form.

Hopefully, very soon.

Fleur met up with her friend Charlotte and went to dinner. She had forgotten to ask for the man's name, and planned on asking either Cedric or Harry for it. Afterall, Charlotte had said that the students all cared about him. Now, Fleur had a bit of an idea why, although she was sure there was a lot more to the young man than she saw. After taking a few bites of her dinner, she decided to go ask Cedric first, but found that he was too busy talking to another girl to talk to her. So, she decided to ask Harry, the only other Hogwart's student that she knew. She may not like the fact that he was a child in the tournament, but they were fellow champions, and she would treat him as such.