Fic: A Brave Man Fleur-centric PG-13
Nov. 18th, 2005 03:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wildestrangerTitle: A Brave Man
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Fleur Delacour, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Molly Weasley, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter.
Words:1562
Disclaimer: JKR owns these characters, I have no permission to use them and I am making no money out of this. No infringement of copyright is intended.
Notes: I have chosen not to give Fleur a fake French accent in this, but I did spend some time thinking how her sentences would be formulated in French, and then translated that back to English. Any linguistic awkwardness is probably the result of this attempt. :)
A week before his wedding, on a night of the full moon, Bill Weasley cut his own throat in a broom-closet next to his parents’ house. He was found by his mother the next morning, who started screaming and didn’t stop until she was sedated by the Aurors. It was considered an attack of madness, brought on by his new werewolf tendencies. Molly Weasley blamed Fleur, everybody else blamed Fenrir Greyback. Fleur blamed Bill.
: :
She is standing in the kitchen of 12, Grimmauld Place, now reinstituted as Order headquarters. She is a member, joined last year and all of Molly’s crying and spite will not make her leave. This is her war now and she can do things, serve a purpose. She works as a liaison with the French Ministry of Magic and recruits students from Beauxbatons. She translates scrolls and scrolls of ancient runes, spending many nights thinking in Old Icelandic as well as French and English. She discusses the differences in styles of magic with Hermione and comes up with plans to augment their policies. She does not speak about Bill.
The last meeting is just finished, but she waits, there is something yet for her to do here. She hears Tonks crash into something, the giggles and the complaints that follow, and then Remus’ rough voice, I just need to get something from the kitchen. She waits.
He stops as soon as he sees her. They all treat her with fear these days, they say it is respect for her loss but she knows that it’s fear. They do not wish to talk to her, but it isn’t annoyance or resentment like it was when Bill was alive. They think there is something threatening in her, something dangerous. She thinks that they are probably right.
“Hello Remus.”
He looks at her, tilts his head. She can feel the kindness in him coming out in waves, but it isn’t nice words and reassurance that she needs now.
“Hello, Fleur. How are you?”
She almost bares her teeth with her smile. They don’t ask her that anymore. Only Remus dares, and would probably listen as well, should she want to speak.
Instead, she inclines her head, and says.
“There is something I wanted to ask you.”
Remus becomes, if possible, even more still, and she wonders whether he has expected this. Probably. And the others wouldn’t want to ask such questions, too prudish, too scared even of him and of thinking about what he is.
But Remus nods, still kind.
“How do you live with it?”
She lets the words sink in, observes the slight flinching as he settles to consider her question.
“Because you do live with it. You can. It’s possible. So tell me, Remus, how can you live with it? What does it take?
Remus remains still but his voice is strong.
“If you want to know why Bill couldn’t live with it, I can’t tell you. He wasn’t a full werewolf, and we don’t even know what precisely it would have been like. But if you’re asking whether you can live with being a werewolf, whether it’s bearable. Then yes. You can. It is.”
She steps up to him, feels the hum of magic arise along with her fury.
“But it’s hard? It’s difficult?”
Remus doesn’t look away from her.
“Yes. It’s hard.”
She knew this, has watched him for many months now and thought about how he lives, how he manages. Remus has been a werewolf for thirty years; he probably doesn’t remember what it’s like not being one. Bill has only been young and happy and handsome and clever and cool. Fleur unclenches her hands that have become fists, tries to steady them on her skirt. It’s still not good enough. He wasn’t brave enough.
Remus doesn’t try to console her, doesn’t give her platitudes. There’s another crash, and a high-pitched giggle from the hallway. If Fleur wasn’t standing too close she wouldn’t see it, wouldn’t see Remus flinch at the sound of his girlfriend. And as she looks on, he wets his lips, now getting uncomfortable, his pale eyelashes fluttering once against the freckles on his cheekbones.
He isn’t a tall man, same size as her, and it’s easy for her to reach out her hand and cup his cheek. He opens his mouth, no doubt to ask her what she’s doing, but she presses her mouth to his, slides her tongue along his lips and swallows the words. He is warmer than she expected, his breath hot in her mouth, but he doesn’t kiss back, just stands there, still. And then pushes her away.
“Fleur, I realise that you’re very upset but…”
“You realise nothing. I do not kiss you because I’m grieving, because I’m lonely, because I have lost my man and so must steal another’s.”
“I wouldn’t think that of you, Fleur, nevertheless..”
“You think your friends wouldn’t? Remus, you are not so foolish.”
“Why then?”
She is still standing too close but he has regained himself now, watches her through cool eyes, his hands still on her arms.
“Because I wanted to know if you were brave. What a brave man would taste like.”
He doesn’t resist when she kisses him again, he opens his mouth and lets her in, and there is a sliver of longing in the way his warm lips move against hers. She uses her teeth and he answers, sharp and tight and teasing on hers and she feels her stomach flip, her hands clutching at his shoulders.
“Remus, where are you…”
Tonks’ voice trails away and they break apart, she moving first, and turning to face the other woman. She is not ashamed.
“You bitch! You fucking two-faced cunt, how dare you, how dare you touch him, you bitch…”
Tonks keeps shouting and Fleur just looks at her, feels Remus silent against her back. Molly and Arthur come in, astonished and worried at first but when Tonks’ tirade starts making sense they close down, they look at her and see a French whore, and go stand beside Tonks. Harry and his friends come in and look confused at first, but they start watching Remus, and Fleur agrees, wonders, why isn’t he saying anything. He is not scared of this woman, she knows.
It is only when Tonks approaches her and prepares to slap her that Remus speaks.
“Tonks! Stop it! This is undignified and you know it. Come on, come upstairs. We need to talk.”
And he grabs her by the arms and walks her upstairs, and she’s still crying, still wailing and still shouting abuse.
“You.”
Molly is walking up to her, and Fleur has never seen so much hate in anybody before.
“You get out, now. Don’t ever come back here. We don’t want you here.”
Fleur stands up straight and looks down at her. There is always grief and a hint of madness in Molly these days, and she’s suddenly glad that she doesn’t have to deal with it anymore.
“Molly, don’t be like that. You can’t ask Fleur to leave.”
Harry’s voice starts timorous, but it soon grows into the voice of a young man, their young leader.
“But you see what’s she’d doing! She’s trying to destroy us, first my Bill and now Remus…”
But as Molly starts to cry, Ron comes up to her and hugs her, holds her tight until she is calm again and weeping quietly on her son’s shoulder. Harry and Hermione look at each other and pull Fleur out into the hallway. Hermione speaks
“She’s very upset. But it’s not her house and she has no right to drive you out. You are very much needed and welcome here, Fleur. This is a war. We can’t afford to lose you.”
Hermione is politic as ever, but it is Harry that Fleur looks at, searching for disgust and hate and finding none.
“It might be best if you found somewhere else to stay though. We have some friends who might put you up…”
“Thank you but that will not be necessary. I will find my own place.”
But Harry is looking at Hermione and frowning.
“Didn’t Luna say she wanted to get a flat? That might work. You know it isn’t safe for any of us to live alone, the attacks are coming so fast now. And she’s a lovely girl, you’d get on with her very well.”
There is a look of scepticism on Hermione’s face, and it is this rather than Harry’s pleading and the urge, so familiar now, to make his burden lighter, that makes Fleur agree.
: :
This is her war, and she is fighting it. She lives with Luna, who is stranger than all the English put together, but she doesn’t treat Fleur as foreign, and Fleur likes her. Sometimes she sees Remus, who tells her that Tonks is getting engaged with Charlie Weasley and that Molly is better now that she has another wedding to plan. There are more attacks, more deaths, but she survives.
She thinks about Bill, because not thinking about Bill would mean something else and she doesn’t want it to mean that. She doesn’t love him anymore. She is still learning what it means to be brave, the different forms that courage can take, and how you live with it.
And she does.
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Fleur Delacour, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Molly Weasley, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter.
Words:1562
Disclaimer: JKR owns these characters, I have no permission to use them and I am making no money out of this. No infringement of copyright is intended.
Notes: I have chosen not to give Fleur a fake French accent in this, but I did spend some time thinking how her sentences would be formulated in French, and then translated that back to English. Any linguistic awkwardness is probably the result of this attempt. :)
A week before his wedding, on a night of the full moon, Bill Weasley cut his own throat in a broom-closet next to his parents’ house. He was found by his mother the next morning, who started screaming and didn’t stop until she was sedated by the Aurors. It was considered an attack of madness, brought on by his new werewolf tendencies. Molly Weasley blamed Fleur, everybody else blamed Fenrir Greyback. Fleur blamed Bill.
: :
She is standing in the kitchen of 12, Grimmauld Place, now reinstituted as Order headquarters. She is a member, joined last year and all of Molly’s crying and spite will not make her leave. This is her war now and she can do things, serve a purpose. She works as a liaison with the French Ministry of Magic and recruits students from Beauxbatons. She translates scrolls and scrolls of ancient runes, spending many nights thinking in Old Icelandic as well as French and English. She discusses the differences in styles of magic with Hermione and comes up with plans to augment their policies. She does not speak about Bill.
The last meeting is just finished, but she waits, there is something yet for her to do here. She hears Tonks crash into something, the giggles and the complaints that follow, and then Remus’ rough voice, I just need to get something from the kitchen. She waits.
He stops as soon as he sees her. They all treat her with fear these days, they say it is respect for her loss but she knows that it’s fear. They do not wish to talk to her, but it isn’t annoyance or resentment like it was when Bill was alive. They think there is something threatening in her, something dangerous. She thinks that they are probably right.
“Hello Remus.”
He looks at her, tilts his head. She can feel the kindness in him coming out in waves, but it isn’t nice words and reassurance that she needs now.
“Hello, Fleur. How are you?”
She almost bares her teeth with her smile. They don’t ask her that anymore. Only Remus dares, and would probably listen as well, should she want to speak.
Instead, she inclines her head, and says.
“There is something I wanted to ask you.”
Remus becomes, if possible, even more still, and she wonders whether he has expected this. Probably. And the others wouldn’t want to ask such questions, too prudish, too scared even of him and of thinking about what he is.
But Remus nods, still kind.
“How do you live with it?”
She lets the words sink in, observes the slight flinching as he settles to consider her question.
“Because you do live with it. You can. It’s possible. So tell me, Remus, how can you live with it? What does it take?
Remus remains still but his voice is strong.
“If you want to know why Bill couldn’t live with it, I can’t tell you. He wasn’t a full werewolf, and we don’t even know what precisely it would have been like. But if you’re asking whether you can live with being a werewolf, whether it’s bearable. Then yes. You can. It is.”
She steps up to him, feels the hum of magic arise along with her fury.
“But it’s hard? It’s difficult?”
Remus doesn’t look away from her.
“Yes. It’s hard.”
She knew this, has watched him for many months now and thought about how he lives, how he manages. Remus has been a werewolf for thirty years; he probably doesn’t remember what it’s like not being one. Bill has only been young and happy and handsome and clever and cool. Fleur unclenches her hands that have become fists, tries to steady them on her skirt. It’s still not good enough. He wasn’t brave enough.
Remus doesn’t try to console her, doesn’t give her platitudes. There’s another crash, and a high-pitched giggle from the hallway. If Fleur wasn’t standing too close she wouldn’t see it, wouldn’t see Remus flinch at the sound of his girlfriend. And as she looks on, he wets his lips, now getting uncomfortable, his pale eyelashes fluttering once against the freckles on his cheekbones.
He isn’t a tall man, same size as her, and it’s easy for her to reach out her hand and cup his cheek. He opens his mouth, no doubt to ask her what she’s doing, but she presses her mouth to his, slides her tongue along his lips and swallows the words. He is warmer than she expected, his breath hot in her mouth, but he doesn’t kiss back, just stands there, still. And then pushes her away.
“Fleur, I realise that you’re very upset but…”
“You realise nothing. I do not kiss you because I’m grieving, because I’m lonely, because I have lost my man and so must steal another’s.”
“I wouldn’t think that of you, Fleur, nevertheless..”
“You think your friends wouldn’t? Remus, you are not so foolish.”
“Why then?”
She is still standing too close but he has regained himself now, watches her through cool eyes, his hands still on her arms.
“Because I wanted to know if you were brave. What a brave man would taste like.”
He doesn’t resist when she kisses him again, he opens his mouth and lets her in, and there is a sliver of longing in the way his warm lips move against hers. She uses her teeth and he answers, sharp and tight and teasing on hers and she feels her stomach flip, her hands clutching at his shoulders.
“Remus, where are you…”
Tonks’ voice trails away and they break apart, she moving first, and turning to face the other woman. She is not ashamed.
“You bitch! You fucking two-faced cunt, how dare you, how dare you touch him, you bitch…”
Tonks keeps shouting and Fleur just looks at her, feels Remus silent against her back. Molly and Arthur come in, astonished and worried at first but when Tonks’ tirade starts making sense they close down, they look at her and see a French whore, and go stand beside Tonks. Harry and his friends come in and look confused at first, but they start watching Remus, and Fleur agrees, wonders, why isn’t he saying anything. He is not scared of this woman, she knows.
It is only when Tonks approaches her and prepares to slap her that Remus speaks.
“Tonks! Stop it! This is undignified and you know it. Come on, come upstairs. We need to talk.”
And he grabs her by the arms and walks her upstairs, and she’s still crying, still wailing and still shouting abuse.
“You.”
Molly is walking up to her, and Fleur has never seen so much hate in anybody before.
“You get out, now. Don’t ever come back here. We don’t want you here.”
Fleur stands up straight and looks down at her. There is always grief and a hint of madness in Molly these days, and she’s suddenly glad that she doesn’t have to deal with it anymore.
“Molly, don’t be like that. You can’t ask Fleur to leave.”
Harry’s voice starts timorous, but it soon grows into the voice of a young man, their young leader.
“But you see what’s she’d doing! She’s trying to destroy us, first my Bill and now Remus…”
But as Molly starts to cry, Ron comes up to her and hugs her, holds her tight until she is calm again and weeping quietly on her son’s shoulder. Harry and Hermione look at each other and pull Fleur out into the hallway. Hermione speaks
“She’s very upset. But it’s not her house and she has no right to drive you out. You are very much needed and welcome here, Fleur. This is a war. We can’t afford to lose you.”
Hermione is politic as ever, but it is Harry that Fleur looks at, searching for disgust and hate and finding none.
“It might be best if you found somewhere else to stay though. We have some friends who might put you up…”
“Thank you but that will not be necessary. I will find my own place.”
But Harry is looking at Hermione and frowning.
“Didn’t Luna say she wanted to get a flat? That might work. You know it isn’t safe for any of us to live alone, the attacks are coming so fast now. And she’s a lovely girl, you’d get on with her very well.”
There is a look of scepticism on Hermione’s face, and it is this rather than Harry’s pleading and the urge, so familiar now, to make his burden lighter, that makes Fleur agree.
: :
This is her war, and she is fighting it. She lives with Luna, who is stranger than all the English put together, but she doesn’t treat Fleur as foreign, and Fleur likes her. Sometimes she sees Remus, who tells her that Tonks is getting engaged with Charlie Weasley and that Molly is better now that she has another wedding to plan. There are more attacks, more deaths, but she survives.
She thinks about Bill, because not thinking about Bill would mean something else and she doesn’t want it to mean that. She doesn’t love him anymore. She is still learning what it means to be brave, the different forms that courage can take, and how you live with it.
And she does.
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no subject
Date: 2005-11-18 07:56 am (UTC)The opening is very powerful, and for some reason the idea of Bill cutting his throat seems particularly right.
I like your Fleur immensely, and she does come across as brave and a fighter. I also like your Harry who is very in character.
And yay for Fleur and Luna living together. If I ever write femmeslash, if it's not Blackcest, it'll be Fleur/Luna. *g*
Excellent work, darling, as ever. :)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 04:48 am (UTC)And Fleur/Luna? That seems somehow so right. ;)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-18 08:17 am (UTC)Still think it's very clever and wonderful, and very canon.x
kxx
no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 04:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-18 08:46 am (UTC)I like your Fleur; she's strong, and not afraid to go searching for answers. The premise is perfectly plausible and the observations about Bill are heartbreaking (although I hope he doesn't do anything like this).
You even managed to break up Remus and Tonks :).
Noticed one typo: And he grabs her be her arms should be by the arms
no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 04:49 am (UTC)And thanks for pointing out the typo, will correct.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-18 09:30 am (UTC)“Because I wanted to know if you were brave. What a brave man would taste like.”
That's a great, great, GREAT line.
Thank you.
-- Julie
no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 04:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 03:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-18 08:54 pm (UTC)I really like Fleur and I've always thought it was unfortunate that we don't get to see much of her. I really enjoyed seeing how you developed her as a character and made her a strong woman.
Plus, very pleased to see that Remus shoved Tonks towards Charlie -- everyone's better off that way -- and that Luna was part of the story. I love Luna so much and this was really a perfect line to describe her ...who is stranger than all the English put together, but she doesn't treat Fleur as foreign....
Very nice!
no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 04:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-20 09:46 am (UTC)This is beautiful. The opening about Bill is simple but very powerful. Cutting his throat does feel right.
I do like your portrayal of Fleur. She's a much more real character here. She's so often cast off as the glib, simpering French girl. People forget that she was a triwizard champion so she must have brains and courage and... Oh god, I've just become a Fleur advocate! *giggles*
As always, I love your Remus... This line I absolutely adore: She lives with Luna, who is stranger than all the English put together, but she doesn’t treat Fleur as foreign, and Fleur likes her. *cackles*
no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 03:38 am (UTC)But thanks for reading and commenting!
no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 02:32 am (UTC)And rightly so. This is a stunning piece of work, very insightful and brimming with precious little and especially well-informed details.
She translates scrolls and scrolls of ancient runes, spending many nights thinking in Old Icelandic as well as French and English.
Exactly. Because Ancient Runes means Old Norse, i.e. Old Icelandic. The Indo-European comparative linguist in me frolicked when reading this! :)
Living with more than one language means that the languages take on a life of their own in your head. Very well observed.
And Fleur's remarkable canon!incompetence when it comes to English is a very sore spot with me as a linguist, and you managed to make it so much more realistic. There's an undercurrent of French, but that's how it would be.
Remus flinch at the sound of his girlfriend
There are indeed many different kinds of bravery, and you pointed to that very eloquently.
Wonderful work!
no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 03:42 am (UTC)And I am completely fascinated by Ancient Runes, it's such a shame that Rowling doesn't explore that more in the books.
But thank you for reading and commenting, I'm glad you liked it!
no subject
Date: 2005-12-05 02:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-05 03:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-06 02:51 am (UTC)Not only am I incoherent, but I am in total and complete utter awe of the quiet intensity of this piece. Thank you so much for sharing this, it is beyond superb.
Everything from the opening paragraph, to the closing one was brilliantly executed and gah ♥ I love your Fleur. I am memorising this, and will be sure to re-read it countless times ahead.
Once again, thank you ♥
no subject
Date: 2005-12-06 04:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-07 03:57 am (UTC)Remus has been a werewolf for thirty years; he probably doesn’t remember what it’s like not being one. Bill has only been young and happy and handsome and clever and cool.
I loved how you implied here that this is why Bill couldn't cope, because, for all his bravado, he'd never experienced any real hardship before he was bitten.
Anyway - the end of the fic just makes me think of Fleur/Luna slash, or at least desperately want to see some of their interactions. If anything, it would at least be hilarious!
no subject
Date: 2005-12-07 05:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-07 04:27 am (UTC)I am in awe of the evocative power of your writing that it brought me to this.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-07 05:08 am (UTC)Running
Date: 2005-12-07 12:09 pm (UTC)-I like your Fleur, strong and very cool. She's also very capable. Yayyy, Fleur.
- I can understand why Bill did what he did. A werewolf's lot is a hard one, and for all of it's mystical powers, love isn't enough in this case.
-Go Harry.
- Elegant, spare writing. It's interesting the skill you can do in your gen fic.
Thanks for the good read.
Now. I. Must. Go.
Bye!
Re: Running
Date: 2005-12-08 06:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-07 01:04 pm (UTC)Harry’s voice starts timorous, but it soon grows into the voice of a young man, their young leader.
YAY! Harry standing up to Molly!
and uhm, like
no subject
Date: 2005-12-08 06:07 am (UTC)And yes, both Fleur/Luna and Fleur/Remus/Luna would be most interesting...*g*
Powerful opening.
Date: 2005-12-08 01:53 am (UTC)::friends::
Re: Powerful opening.
Date: 2005-12-08 06:09 am (UTC)But thanks for commenting! Have friended you back. :)