CHAPTER SIXTY TWO: 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐔𝐑, 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐏𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐌
▬▬▬❦▬▬▬
Draco and I headed downstairs while I still had this dreading feeling of continuing the steps down because I don't really like to hear Molly and the others bringing Fleur down while she was oblivious about it. Well, she's probably not oblivious, she just wanted to keep quiet about it.
That doesn't mean I won't.
By the time Draco and I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw Fleur sitting alone on the couch as she read a magazine, while Ginny and Hermione were at the kitchen, throwing looks on her.
"You go talk to them, Hobbs. I'll keep Fleur company." I ushered Draco to head to the kitchen, he looked a bit puzzled but he obliged anyway.
I walked over to the couch and sat next to Fleur as she flipped a page on the magazine.
"Hey, Fleur. What are you reading about?" I smiled at her.
"Oh, 'eez just about furnitures, I do read random magazines in my spare time but sometimes zey're helpful too, I am still improving my English, so I read a lot of zis, but like I said, 'eet is also helpful, maybe 'eet could be used for Bill and I's future home." Fleur looked at me, letting out a bright smile as she was imagining her future.
"Well, I've just met you and you're already good in your English, that's improvement already." I said.
"Thank you, Nicolette!" Fleur beamed at me as she closed the magazine and set it on the table. "By 'ze way, I hope 'eet 'iz not too sensitive for you, but how are you alive?"
"Oh, that's fine. A witch gave me her powers which helped me return here, awesome, right?" I grinned as Fleur gasped.
"Zat sounds like 'eet came out of a fairytale book, but 'eet is wonderful! 'Eet would've been nice to meet you earlier than zis!" Fleur gushed as she held my hands.
"I would've loved that too, but I sadly died before that happened, although I was there the night you arrived in Hogwarts for the tournament." I explained.
"Oh, I remember zeeing you et supper! You're seating at that snake table, right?" Fleur's eyes widened at the realization.
"That's one photographic memory, Fleur! And yes, I was there at the Slytherin table. You were giving out those soups, I forgot what it's called." I frowned.
"Bouillabaisse." Fleur's eyes twinkled, what a small bean.
"Yeah, that's it! I didn't get to eat that though, but the others seemed to enjoy that." I shrugged at her.
"Oh! I could make you Bouillabaisse! 'Eet iz I who made 'eet zat night! You'll love it!" Fleur clapped her hands together, I caught a sight of Ginny behind her, mocking her while Hermione was rolling her eyes.
"I didn't know you could cook! Then it is my pleasure to be given food made by Fleur Delacour, soon-to-be Weasley!" I grinned at the blonde beauty in front of me.
"We were not taught to cook at Beauxbatons but we were taught to be productive! I learned 'eet all by myself, I'm zo excited!" Fleur let out a grin.
"I'll be looking forward on tasting your Bouillabaisse! By the way, what's the wedding theme going to be?" I asked her.
"I'm not supposed to tell yet, but since you asked nicely," Fleur sat closer to me. "Bill and I are not sure 'et but we were thinking of a lilac theme, but our suits can be whatever we want! I haven't decided what dress I like 'et."
"That's great! So, white will definitely look good on you, how about white and black? So you'll catch everyone's eye on the wedding?" I suggested.
"Zas nice too, but I don't want everyone's eye on me, I only want Bill's." Fleur wiggled her eyebrows before laughing.
"Fleur! I didn't know you had that in you!" I gasped.
"I'm only joking, but maybe I'll take zat suggestion, I'll be sure to let you see ze dress once I bought it!" Fleur said.
"I honestly feel so special, thanks!" I gave her a small hug.
"CAN'T YOU JUST SHUT UP, MALFOY?!"
Fleur and I broke out of our conversation when we heard a yell behind us. We saw a fiery Ginny glaring at Draco who was just leaning on the wall, arms crossed.
"Excuse me for a second, mademoiselle." I told Fleur before walking towards Draco.
"Hobbs, what happened?" I asked him.
"You mean, who happened. I was just defending that Fleur girl and they're already mad." Draco scoffed.
"Why the hell are you defending her anyway? You really know how to always get on our bad side." Ginny hissed.
"I am defending her because you're backstabbing the girl who didn't even do anything bad to you!" Draco spat, glaring at Ginny while Hermione just covered her face with a book.
"Excuse me? You mean she hasn't done anything bad to me yet! I know a bitch when I see one!" Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"Alright, alright, you know what? I'm tired of you two constantly bringing Fleur down, she's a sweet girl who has a great hospitality and you don't try to see that! Aren't you two feminists? Why the hell are you bringing another girl down just because she's prettier than you? Face it, she's getting married to Bill and she's going to be part of the family." I stood between them, giving them a stern look. I pulled Draco's arm as we were about to leave the kitchen, but not before stopping in front of the two.
"I don't know what happened, but I didn't like the change of your personality. It's fucked up." I hissed at them before pulling Draco out of there.
"Thank Salazar you took me out of there, I'm trying so hard not to chant a spell." Draco sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"I'm honestly so pissed at the way they're acting right now." I shook my head as we walked back to the living room where Fleur was still reading.
"What happened?" Fleur looked at from her magazine with a concerned look.
"Nothing big, I accidentally triggered their school hate towards me." Draco lied as we sat next to Fleur.
"Things like zat happen, but 'eet will always become good in ze end." Fleur beamed at us and turned back to her magazine.
Draco looked at me as he motioned to Fleur in awe, as if he was saying, "What a sweetheart!"
"Oh, Hermione, dear! What happened to your face?!" We heard Molly gasp from the kitchen, I could hear Draco snickering beside me.
"Oh no, what happened to 'er?" Fleur stood up in worry, dropping the magazine she was reading on the couch in the process.
We didn't get the chance to stop her as she immediately raced towards the kitchen, where Molly began fixing Hermione's hideous black eye.
"Do you need my help, Molly? We were taught to performing medications, I think I can help." Fleur suggested, I saw Hermione pale up and looked at Molly with a pleading look.
But even without looking at Hermione, Molly already knew her answer.
"Oh, I've got it handled already, no, thank you, dear." Molly refused with a tight smile as Hermione visibly sighed in relief.
"She could at least hide her reactions, so insensitive." Draco muttered, shaking his head in disappointment.
"It just won't budge," Molly sighed, as she frustratingly flipped pages from a healing book. "This has always worked before, I just can't understand it."
"It'll be Fred and George's idea of a funny joke, making sure it can't come off," Ginny shrugged.
"But it's got to come off!" Hermione said in horror. "I can't go around looking like this forever!"
"It's not that hideous, Hermione. You just need tons of makeup for that." I spoke up, sardonically. Hermione's eyes widened as she lightly touched around her injured eye.
"You won't, dear, we'll find an antidote, don't worry," Molly said softly
"Bill told me 'ow Fred and George are very amusing!" The room was covered by Fleur's lovely laughs, but only Draco and I were fascinated by it.
"Yes, I can hardly breathe for laughing," Hermione snapped, I heard Ginny snort behind her.
"Seriously, they've got no shame. I should've just stayed with Sirius." Draco rolled his eyes. "You spent your summer here, right Jills? Was it like this?"
"It wasn't like this at all, today just reeked of judgements and insecurities." I frowned.
Hermione jumped up and started walking around the kitchen, twisting her fingers together.
"Careful, Hermione. With all your twirling your hair might fly more bushy, you'll be looking to close to a lion soon." I coughed with a little tone, but I think Draco was the only one who knew I wasn't joking, because the Fleur haters were laughing.
"I swear to Salazar, I can't believe she's the smartest in our school, but she can't even differentiate between sarcasm or seriousness." Draco whispered, chuckling.
We saw Harry and Ron submerge from the stairs, fully dressed.
"Mrs. Weasley, you're quite, quite sure no owls have arrived this morning?" Hermione asked, panicked.
"Yes, dear, I'd have noticed," Molly assured her. "But it's barely nine, there's still plenty of time..."
"I know I messed up Ancient Runes," Hermione's face went pale, making her black eye become highlighted again. "I definitely made at least one serious mistranslation. And the Defense Against the Dark Arts practical was no good at all. I thought Transfiguration went all right at the time, but looking back--"
"Hermione, will you shut up, you're not the only one who's nervous!" Ron groaned. "And when you've got your eleven 'Outstanding O.W.L.s...'"
"Don't, don't, don't!" Hermione exclaimed, she looked like she's close to becoming hysterical. "I know I've failed everything!"
"What happens if we fail?" Harry asked.
"You just cry, Harry. Because there's no future for you at all." I joked, Harry's face went pale at this.
"Are you serious?" Harry's eyes widened.
"No, I'm Nicolette." I grinned.
"We discuss our options with our Head of House, I asked Professor McGonagall at the end of last term." Hermione butted in.
"I'm kind of scared." Harry frowned.
"At Beauxbatons," Fleur spoke up, I saw Ginny covering her ears as she read from a magazine. How childish. "we 'ad a different way of doing things. I think eet was better. We sat our examinations after six years of study, not five, and then..."
Fleur didn't get to finish her sentence because Hermione obnoxiously screamed, pointing at the window.
"They're definitely owls," Ron looked shaken, jumping up to join Hermione at the window.
"And there are four of them," Harry pointed out.
"Why would there be four- oh." Ron looked stricken as he realized Draco was standing beside us.
"You're not the main character, Weasley." Draco smirked.
Hobbs, I've got to disagree with you this time.
"B-but how could you get your O.W.L.s? You didn't finish your school year, that's not fair!" Hermione stuttered as the owls flew to the window, dropping the letters.
Draco and I ignored her as he grabbed his letter. I read the letter with him silently.
Draco Lucius Malfoy,
We are here to address the topic about your O.W.L.s, for sure you might've known what is
to happen since you weren't able to take your exams. Your acting guardian, Sirius Black has sent us a letter, regarding on what you would do in the near future. We would like you to know that we have sent a hoax letter to your family to avoid suspicion. We are now arranging a meeting with Auror Alastor Moody for the arrangement of your documents.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
"There it is! Congratulations, Hobbs!" I hugged him as he stood there, shocked.
"I'm going to be a trainee!" Draco gasped in realization.
"I'll be proud to call you, Mr. Auror-in-training!" I grinned as I shook his hand.
"Mr. Auror-in-training? How?" Ron exclaimed with his jaws agape.
"That's not possible!" Hermione walked over to us as she tried to look on Draco's letter.
"Actually, it is possible, Granger. You see, when you're a great performer when it comes to defensive magic, there's a huge possibility for you to be an Auror." Draco said smugly.
"How's everyone's O.W.L.s?" Molly walked over to us as she looked at Ron's letter.
"Well done!" Molly said proudly, ruffling Ron's hair. "Seven O.W.L.s, that's more than Fred and George got together!"
"Less than seven O.W.L.s and they've been able to build their own joke shop, earning galleons everyday." I smiled tightly as Molly looked taken back.
"C'mon, Nicolette. You always ruin the fun!" Ron groaned. I winked at him in reply.
"Hermione?" Ginny asked Hermione who looked nervous. "How did you do?"
"I--not bad," Hermione said in a small voice.
"Oh, come off it," Ron rolled his eyes, striding over to her and whipping her results out of her hand. "Yep... ten 'Outstandings' and one 'Exceeds Expectations' at Defense Against the Dark Arts." He looked down at her, half-amused, half-exasperated. "You're actually disappointed, aren't you?"
Hermione shook her head with a frown.
"Well, in that case, we're N.E.W.T. students now!" Ron exclaimed with a grin. "Mum, are there any more sausages?"
"Of course, dear! I'll be cooking more sausages for you! You've done so well this year!" Molly sauntered over to the kitchen isle as she began to cook.
"Draco, congratulations! I didn't see 'ow'd you do on your O.W.L.s, but Bill tells me how great you are with spells! I'll be looking forward seeing you in ze Ministry!" Fleur kissed Draco's cheek lightly as Draco turned crimson.
"Thank you, Fleur." Draco smiled.
We walked out of the kitchen, tired of hearing Hermione's distress on her O.W.L.s.