The bell jingled toward the front of the store and Verity sighed happily, slipping the last box of Canary Cremes on the shelf. It had been a quiet day, and she was eager for a customer.
Rounding the shelves, Verity paused, recognizing George's sister-in-law, Fleur Delacour. Suddenly feeling incredibly frumpy, Verity smoothed back the wisps of hair that had escaped her ponytail and approached the young woman.
"Hello," she said with a smile. "Looking for George?"
Entering the shop with a graceful walk, Fleur smiled back at the young woman who had just greeted her. She tried not to show her disapproval of the other woman's inelegance as she nervously smoothed her hair. Fleur could remember seeing her at the Burrow at Harry's birthday party, but she could not really remember her name. The young woman seemed to have recognized her, however; which did not surprise Fleur that much: she knew that she generally left a lasting impression on people.
"Good afternoon," she replied politely. "In fact, yes, I waz just shopping in ze alley, and I thought I would say 'ello to 'im. Iz 'ee 'appening to be around?"
"I'm not sure," Verity said honestly, glancing toward the stock room door. "I haven't seen him much today. He may be in his flat, which is just upstairs, though he could very well be sleeping. His sleeping patterns are pretty unusual these days..." Verity trailed off, silently cursing herself for jabbering on about nonsense. It was a bad habit she was going to learn how to break, even if it meant using a charm to glue her mouth shut.
She noted the bag in Fleur's hand, from Flourish and Blotts. She never pegged Fleur Delacour as a reader - but that had been her judgmental side when Fleur arrived at Hogwarts and promptly stole the attention of every male within a hundred feet.
"Have you found anything interesting at Blotts?" Verity asked, struggling for small talk as Fleur simply stared at her. "Lots of rubbish coming out lately, if you ask me..."
"I see," Fleur said, frowning slightly in concern. That was what Bill had said too, about George: he did not go out much lately, did not communicate much. She had not known her husband's family for a long time, but she still had had the chance to meet the twins, and she had known (especially from how Bill talked about them) how funny and joyful they were. It made her sad to think that this joy was gone from the family now. And she could see how much it affected Bill. Now Fleur wondered if she would even mention her visit here to Bill. It would only make him worry more about his brother.
"Hmmm?" she said distractedly as the young woman pointed her bag. "Oh, zat," she said, looking at her bag with disgust as she remembered the unpleasant experience of buying the book. "I bought a book for my leetle sister Gabrielle, she'z eleven years old," she explained. She took the book from the bag to show it to the other woman
( ... )
Verity took the book and resisted giggling. Tulip - Veela and Private Detective. It looked like a bunch of rubbish itself, but if it was for an eleven year old girl, who was Verity to say anything?
She remembered turning eleven herself and staying up all night reading Quidditch Through the Ages.
Verity lifted an eyebrow, trying to remember the clerks who worked inside of Flourish and Blotts. Generally she saw Michelle, a lovely, older witch who seemed to know every book ever written in the Wizarding world, and some Muggle ones as well. The only other clerk she could vaguely recall was...
"Peter Ponomagrass?" Verity asked, handing Fleur the book back. "Tall sort of bloke? Likes to leer?"
Fleur put the book back in her bag and looked knowingly at Apathy. "Yes, it 'az to be 'im," she replied, laughing softly. "Well, I don't know 'is name, but 'ee tried to give me 'is address..." She rolled her eyes, looking half-amused, half-exasperated.
"Really, I can't understand men, sometimez," she continued, Of course, my 'uzzband is different, but most of ze ozzer men all tend to theenk zat womens will fall in love just by looking at zem. 'oo do zey theenk zey are? Veelas?"
Shaking her head, she considered Apathy for a moment, then commented, with a sincere smile. "I mean, it must 'ave 'appened even to you, sometimez."
Feeling awkward, Verity shrugged, slipping her hands into the pockets of her trousers. Of all the things she thought would happen today when she woke up, discussing men with Fleur Delacour was not one of them.
"I...you know...yeah, sometimes," she stammered, forcing a smile. The last thing she wanted to do was start rambling on about George or Percy. "Some men just tend to look for a pretty face. But not all of them." She was reminded of Roger Davies for a moment as Fleur smiled, her flawless skin seemingly glowing under the lights of the shoppe. Verity resisted the urge to smooth her own hair again and wondered briefly why she never bothered with make up.
"Since George isn't here," Verity said, "do you want to have a look around the shop? We have some new Patented DayDream Charms. They're one of Ron's favorites."
"Most people tend to theenk zat beauty is all zat counts," Fleur replied thoughtfully. "My grandmuzzer always sayz, beauty is something zat one should not neglect, but it does not only come from ze appearance. It eez too easy to theenk zat just because you are beautiful, you can do and 'ave anytheeng. But it eez a waste to 'ide yourself if you are beautiful, too." She thought of Bill, and of what she had heard, after he had been disfigured. More than once, she had been told that she could find prettier men any second. And few people had understood what she had truly felt at that time.
"I would love to take a look around, yes," she said on a lighter tone, swinging her long hair as she walked to the objects Apathy had pointed. "Maybe I can find sometheeng zat would amuse Gabrielle? Bill always sayz zat the twins 'ad ze funniest ideas. Not something too destructive, of course. She eez vairy quiet, zat girl, and she eez good at school. But she likes to laugh also, so..."
"Ah, well I think I can find something for her. We have a couple of items guaranteed to make her laugh," Verity said with a smile, motioning for Fleur to follow her. "I don't recommend the DayDream Charms. George only allows those sixteen and over to purchase them as they can sometimes turn a bit...racy I suppose. Hogwarts banned them before they even saw one in the castle." She felt proud of that fact really
( ... )
"I guess zat Bill set a good example for 'is siblings," Fleur said, smiling. "I sometimez weesh zat I am as good an older sister to Gabrielle zan Bill is an older bruzzer to 'is bruzzers and 'is sister." She did not really know what to say or think about Percy, as she hardly knew him at all, and Bill rarely talked about him at all.
"Oh! But I can not accept!" Fleur protested as the other woman said that she wouldn't charge her for her purchases. "It eez really too much!"
As Apathy insisted, though, Fleur thought that it would be impolite of her to refuse again. "Thank you so much, zen, Apathy," she said, smiling. "I 'ope you weel thank George for me, too."
"I will..." Verity said, pausing when she realized Fleur had called her "Apathy". Apathy? Who on earth would name their child a name like Apathy? She debated quickly, whether or not to correct Fleur. On one hand, she could just let it go and make sure to wear her name tag next time...on the other hand, what if Fleur didn't come to shop again for awhile and Verity ran into her elsewhere?
She could just imagine George's laughter at the thought of Verity forever being stuck with the name "Apathy".
"Actually, my name is Verity," she said, her cheeks burning. "But it's an unusual name, so I can understand not remembering it."
"Oh... oh!" Fleur put a hand over her mouth and blushed slightly. "I'm sorry, Verity, I thought... I must 'ave confused you wiz someone else, I suppose."
She let out a nervous laugh, and blushed even more. She was embarrassed, and hoped that Bill would not hear of this - he would make fun of her. She watched Verity for a while, trying to think of something to say to ease the tension.
That's when the other woman ran yet again her hand in her hair with that nervous gesture of hers.
Fleur frowned. "You shouldn't do zat," she said, glad to find a new subject of conversation. "Zat's bad for your 'air. Zis is probably why eet looks so greasy. You should put a lotion on eet, too." She pursed her lips, thinking. "Hmmm... probably Madam Greensbrook's tired-looking-'air Dittany extract, I theenk."
Verity's mouth fell agape as her hand fell quickly from her hair. GREASY? Her hair had looked fine this morning! She had washed it this morning!
Blushing furiously, Verity could do nothing but simply stare at Fleur as the young woman pursed her lips in concentration as she studied Verity.
Maybe her hair looked tired because Verity worked all day, in a shop, with boxes, and dust and dirt. She had no use for lotions, or bottles, or...or whatever it is Fleur used.
"And what is it you use for your hair?" Verity asked pointedly, trying to keep the offense out of her voice.
Comments 54
Rounding the shelves, Verity paused, recognizing George's sister-in-law, Fleur Delacour. Suddenly feeling incredibly frumpy, Verity smoothed back the wisps of hair that had escaped her ponytail and approached the young woman.
"Hello," she said with a smile. "Looking for George?"
Reply
"Good afternoon," she replied politely. "In fact, yes, I waz just shopping in ze alley, and I thought I would say 'ello to 'im. Iz 'ee 'appening to be around?"
Reply
She noted the bag in Fleur's hand, from Flourish and Blotts. She never pegged Fleur Delacour as a reader - but that had been her judgmental side when Fleur arrived at Hogwarts and promptly stole the attention of every male within a hundred feet.
"Have you found anything interesting at Blotts?" Verity asked, struggling for small talk as Fleur simply stared at her. "Lots of rubbish coming out lately, if you ask me..."
Reply
"Hmmm?" she said distractedly as the young woman pointed her bag. "Oh, zat," she said, looking at her bag with disgust as she remembered the unpleasant experience of buying the book. "I bought a book for my leetle sister Gabrielle, she'z eleven years old," she explained. She took the book from the bag to show it to the other woman ( ... )
Reply
She remembered turning eleven herself and staying up all night reading Quidditch Through the Ages.
Verity lifted an eyebrow, trying to remember the clerks who worked inside of Flourish and Blotts. Generally she saw Michelle, a lovely, older witch who seemed to know every book ever written in the Wizarding world, and some Muggle ones as well. The only other clerk she could vaguely recall was...
"Peter Ponomagrass?" Verity asked, handing Fleur the book back. "Tall sort of bloke? Likes to leer?"
Reply
"Really, I can't understand men, sometimez," she continued, Of course, my 'uzzband is different, but most of ze ozzer men all tend to theenk zat womens will fall in love just by looking at zem. 'oo do zey theenk zey are? Veelas?"
Shaking her head, she considered Apathy for a moment, then commented, with a sincere smile. "I mean, it must 'ave 'appened even to you, sometimez."
Reply
"I...you know...yeah, sometimes," she stammered, forcing a smile. The last thing she wanted to do was start rambling on about George or Percy. "Some men just tend to look for a pretty face. But not all of them." She was reminded of Roger Davies for a moment as Fleur smiled, her flawless skin seemingly glowing under the lights of the shoppe. Verity resisted the urge to smooth her own hair again and wondered briefly why she never bothered with make up.
"Since George isn't here," Verity said, "do you want to have a look around the shop? We have some new Patented DayDream Charms. They're one of Ron's favorites."
Reply
"I would love to take a look around, yes," she said on a lighter tone, swinging her long hair as she walked to the objects Apathy had pointed. "Maybe I can find sometheeng zat would amuse Gabrielle? Bill always sayz zat the twins 'ad ze funniest ideas. Not something too destructive, of course. She eez vairy quiet, zat girl, and she eez good at school. But she likes to laugh also, so..."
Reply
Reply
"Oh! But I can not accept!" Fleur protested as the other woman said that she wouldn't charge her for her purchases. "It eez really too much!"
As Apathy insisted, though, Fleur thought that it would be impolite of her to refuse again. "Thank you so much, zen, Apathy," she said, smiling. "I 'ope you weel thank George for me, too."
Reply
She could just imagine George's laughter at the thought of Verity forever being stuck with the name "Apathy".
"Actually, my name is Verity," she said, her cheeks burning. "But it's an unusual name, so I can understand not remembering it."
Reply
She let out a nervous laugh, and blushed even more. She was embarrassed, and hoped that Bill would not hear of this - he would make fun of her. She watched Verity for a while, trying to think of something to say to ease the tension.
That's when the other woman ran yet again her hand in her hair with that nervous gesture of hers.
Fleur frowned. "You shouldn't do zat," she said, glad to find a new subject of conversation. "Zat's bad for your 'air. Zis is probably why eet looks so greasy. You should put a lotion on eet, too." She pursed her lips, thinking. "Hmmm... probably Madam Greensbrook's tired-looking-'air Dittany extract, I theenk."
Reply
Blushing furiously, Verity could do nothing but simply stare at Fleur as the young woman pursed her lips in concentration as she studied Verity.
Maybe her hair looked tired because Verity worked all day, in a shop, with boxes, and dust and dirt. She had no use for lotions, or bottles, or...or whatever it is Fleur used.
"And what is it you use for your hair?" Verity asked pointedly, trying to keep the offense out of her voice.
Reply
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