'Fleur,' her parents were on the far side of the largest room, chatting amicably. Fleur was not fooled, this room was cold and rarely used outside of meals; they had been waiting. 'And you must be?' It was her father who asked the first question of what would doubtless become many.
'Harry,' Harry responded, politely. Fleur was the only one that caught his almost imperceptible twitch of amusement.
'It's nice to meet you,' he mother rose from her seat to clasp Harry's hand, 'I am, Fleur's mother, but please call me Apolline.'
Her father, as he often did, followed her mother's example, but anything he might have been about to was interrupted by Gabby's delighted cry.
'You finally brought him to meet me,' she abandoned her shoes by the door, darting dangerously over the floor, nearly stumbling twice, but coming to a halt next to their mother.
'Gabrielle, I presume,' Harry smiled, still speaking french and extending a hand politely.
Gabby, of course, ignored it, opting to jump forward and wrap her arms around Harry's chest. 'We've already met,' she reminded him, neglecting to mention that she had been unconscious the entire time. To his credit Harry didn't flinch from the sudden contact as she had feared.
'Laurent,' her father declared, stepping up alongside his his wife, and extending a hand that Harry shook around Gabrielle, who had yet to release him. 'I see you've already met my youngest daughter.'
'He saved me from the Black Lake for Fleur,' Gabby giggled, finally letting go of Harry who looked a little relieved to be free. 'It would be Harry Potter, then, would it?' Her father seemed slightly pleased that he had deliberately left his surname off.
'Just Harry suits me fine,' her partner, she refused to even think the word boyfriend, replied evenly. 'Adding my surname only seems to make people act differently around me.'
'Well, it is almost dinner,' her mother announced, 'you're most welcome to join us, Harry.'
As if you would pass up the opportunity to make sure he is good enough for me.
'I'd love to,' Harry smiled brightly. Fleur's face fell slightly at the expression. That was the smile he wore when he knew he was supposed to be happy, or when he didn't want people to look to closely for what he really felt. 'We decided to eat in the kitchen,' her father told them, 'it's a little more informal.'
Both her parents moved towards the kitchen, and the small table that comfortably sat four, but would be a squeeze with five. Gabby didn't move.
There was mischief burning in her sister's eyes and Fleur shifted just a little closer to Harry in case she had to ward anything off.
'Sorry, Fleur,' she chirped, then turned to look up directly into Harry's eyes. He looked back down at her quizzically, then glanced at Fleur in bemusement.
It was a moment before she realised what her little sister had just done.
How dare she?
Fleur motioned for Harry to follow her parents, then, once he was round the doorframe and out of sight, pinned her baby sister against the wall.
'What were you trying to do?' she demanded furiously. Gabby looked up at her, perfectly innocent, but it only lasted a few moments before she giggled delightedly. 'Gabrielle,' Fleur hissed, not at all in the mood for her capricious little sister's games.
'He didn't even notice,' she whispered, 'and that was everything I could direct at him. He must love you, Fleur,' she squealed quietly.
'Did you just test Harry?' She tried in vain to keep the flush from her cheeks, veela magic did not work like that, it was just effective whether you loved someone or not. Strength of will determined much of how resistant anyone was. Still, it was a very flattering thought.
'I don't have allure like yours, Fleur, but nobody ever just doesn't notice it like that.' Her eyes went a little dreamy and she slipped out from under Fleur's arm. 'It must be true love,' she sighed.
I'm hiding every single romance novel in this house, Fleur decided.
It was for Gabrielle's own good. If she spent all her time alone, reading those books she'd spend half her life waiting for someone to come and sweep her off her feet, and the second half regretting the first. Fleur certainly hadn't been waiting for anyone, even if Harry had managed to at least knock her off balance.
She found her parents and Harry talking about the Triwizard Tournament, but steering clear of mentioning the third and final task. Fleur had never told them what had actually happened in the maze, they'd have been furious. As it was they simply seemed glad that she hadn't shared Viktor Krum's fate.
'Are you going to tell me why Gabrielle decided to try and charm me?' Harry murmured quietly in English when the food appeared courtesy of Binky, their family's house-elf.
'She wanted to see how much you loved me,' Fleur whispered, reverting briefly to English herself and throwing a dirty look at her sister who was grinning with unseemly delight at the pair of them from across the table.
Gabby probably thought the way they were sitting so close was sweet and romantic, rather than the result of the table being slightly too small for two people to sit on one side.
Harry was deliberately avoiding looking at her sister, whose staring was even making Fleur uncomfortable, and letting his eyes roam around the kitchen. He wouldn't find anything of particular interest, the room hadn't changed much since her father's grandmother had inherited it and brought it into the family in the seventeenth century.
'So you're the heir of the Potter family,' her father's interest in history was the bane of family conversation and their holidays.
'As far as I know,' Harry agreed. He had never actually ever mentioned his family, Fleur knew only that his only close blood relatives were muggles, and not particularly pleasant people.
'That's a big name to be responsible for, especially in Britain where pure-blooded families are held in such high-esteem,' her father remarked evenly.
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