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Chapter 1244: Chicken and Phlegm
🕑 Added 2024-09-24 12:37:15 +0000 UTCYes, it was Fleur Delacour.
She had come to England to work at Gringotts headquarters shortly after they separated in Egypt last summer.
To use the words in the letter Gabrielle had sent to Evan, her sister was in love!
Fleur and Bill fell in love at first sight. She had planned to have some fun after graduation, travel around the world, and then return to Paris to find a job. Now, because of Bill, she came to Gringotts last October.
Since Zoser’s incident, Bill had also applied to return home and was now working in the same department as Fleur.
They had had plenty of time to interact, and since they were both members of the Order of the Phoenix, their relationship progressed faster than anyone could have imagined.
Hermione, one of the first to hear about this, wasn’t optimistic about their relationship.
Because Fleur had always been like this at Hogwarts — she was interested in handsome boys, had little self-control, and would break up with them soon after, either because she had played enough or because she found a new, more intriguing target...
"She's a Veela, that's her nature," commented Hermione, who had a great prejudice against Fleur.
It was the nature of the Veela to seduce men and quickly dump them, and Fleur seemed to have inherited this trait in her bloodline.
Many boys were fascinated by her, and girls hated her.
This was also the main reason why Hermione didn't like Fleur. When she was at Hogwarts, she had often teased Evan and enjoyed it...
Not to mention, Fleur kept complaining about this and that about Hogwarts, which was really annoying.
But it was undeniable that Bill was handsome and dressed coolly, and he was the type Fleur would be attracted to.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have fallen in love at first sight. Still, no one could say how long this relationship would last.
"Hello, Evan, ‘Arry, ‘Ermione," said Fleur in a throaty voice, "Eet ‘as been too long!"
She was still the same as before, a woman of such breathtaking beauty that the room seemed to have become strangely airless.
She was tall and willowy with long blonde hair and appeared to emanate a faint, silvery glow.
To complete this vision of perfection, she was carrying a heavily laden breakfast tray.
Before anyone could react, she quickly walked to Evan, set the tray across his knees, and then swooped to kiss him on each cheek, very hard...
It was only at that moment that Evan came to his senses. He could hear Hermione and Ginny beside him snorting heavily.
It really was Fleur, as open as ever.
Even though they had been dating for some time, Hermione rarely ever rushed over to kiss Evan so openly...
"Did you get the letter Gabrielle and I wrote to you before the summer vacation?" Fleur said quickly.
Without waiting for an answer, she walked over to Harry again and prepared to kiss him like she had done with Evan.
Harry weakly pulled the quilt up to cover his face, then put it down in vain, allowing Fleur to kiss him twice.
It was clear that Harry's face turned red quickly, centered on where Fleur's lips touched...
Ginny's face became even uglier, and she looked very angry.
"Did you write a letter? I didn't receive it. I left for Egypt shortly after the exams," said Evan.
He didn’t dare turn to look at Hermione but could feel her gaze fixed on him.
"I read about what ‘appened in the newspaper. It seems like we just missed it. What a pity. Gabrielle originally wanted to invite you to visit France zis summer," Fleur laughed like the sound of silver bells. "I am ‘ere to inform you of the news. We’ve set the date for next summer, and I’d like to invite you and..."
Just then, Mrs. Weasley came in hurriedly, looking rather cross.
"Put that down. There was no need to bring up the tray; I was just about to do it myself!"
"Eet was no trouble, just let me do it," said Fleur, starting to distribute the food on the tray to everyone.
"What are you planning to do next summer?"
"Well, Bill and I are going to be married!” she said with a smile, swinging her silvery sheet of hair so that it whipped Mrs. Weasley across the face. "I'd like to invite you to my wedding."
"Wedding?" Hermione opened her eyes wide and looked at her in disbelief.
Harry also opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
Evan, who had some idea about this, was still somewhat surprised when he heard the news suddenly — Fleur and Bill were getting married!
He looked up and noticed how Mrs. Weasley, Hermione and Ginny were all determinedly avoiding one another's gaze.
There was an awkward silence before Fleur swooped down upon Evan and kissed him again.
Evan blinked, feeling Hermione tugging at him from under the blanket, pulling him toward her side.
"Bill is very busy at ze moment, working very ‘ard, and I only work part-time at Gringotts for my Eenglish, so he brought me ‘ere for a few days to get to know ‘is family properly. I was pleased to ‘ear you would be coming. You are some of the few friends I ‘ave in England. You know, zere isn’t much to do ‘ere, unless you like cooking and chickens! Well — enjoy your breakfast, I'll go to the kitchen to see if zere is anything I can do to ‘elp, we'll ‘ave chicken tonight..."
With these words, she turned gracefully and seemed to float out of the room like a breeze, closing the door quietly behind her.
Mrs. Weasley made a noise that sounded like "tchah!"
"Mum hates her," Ginny whispered.
"I do not hate her!" Mrs. Weasley said in a cross whisper. "I just think they’ve hurried into this engagement, that's all!"
"They've known each other a year," said Ron, who looked oddly groggy and was staring blankly at the closed door. "They met each other when Evan and Hermione traveled to Egypt last time. She and her sister..."
"We all know about this. That’s not very long! Of course, I also know why it’s happened. It's all this uncertainty with You-Know-Who coming back, people think they might be dead tomorrow, so they’re rushing all sorts of decisions they’d normally take time over. It was the same last time he was powerful, people eloping left, right, and center —"
"Including you and Dad," said Ginny slyly.
"Yes, well, your father and I are made for each other, what was the point in waiting?" said Mrs. Weasley. "Whereas Bill and Fleur … well … what have they really got in common? Bill’s a hardworking, down-to-earth of person, whereas Fleur is... Honestly, I wish they had never met."
Evan shrank back, thinking that Mrs. Weasley might be somewhat dissatisfied with him.
He had funded Fred and George's joke shop, something Mrs. Weasley hadn't wanted to happen.
And, after all, Bill and Fleur only met because of Evan’s trip to Egypt last year...
Although things would have still developed the same way without Evan, the current result was still closely tied to him.
Fred and George were doing just what he had hoped for, and Fleur and Bill getting married — that was entirely due to their own arrangement.
"She's a complete lazy woman," Ginny continued. "But Bill’s not that down-to-earth. He's a Curse-Breaker, isn't he, he likes a bit of adventure, a bit of glamour. I expect that’s why he’s gone for Phlegm."
The French pronunciation of Fleur's name was similar to the English pronunciation of Phlegm, which was the nickname Ginny gave her.
