La Fleur de la Vallée

She sat alone in the corner, away from the happy, chattering groups gathered around the bar and tables in The Leaky Cauldron. Her head was bent over a letter. Her long, silvery blond hair hung around her face as she re-read the letter for the umpteenth time, a nervous feeling arising in her. She took a deep breath.

"Relax. It's only a job. At the Ministry of Magic...Oh, lots of people work there, there's no reason to be nervous. You will do great. After all, you were a champion and a top student at Beauxbatons. There is no reason to be nervous. It's only a job. In foreign country. At one of the most important places in the wizarding world...Oh god, I just hope I don't make a fool of myself..."

Fleur closed her eyes and took another deep breath. She was extremely anxious about her upcoming job at the British Ministry of Magic in the Department of International Cooperation. She had just recieved an owl with a letter informing her that she would start on Monday. It was already Saturday. Barely two days until she started.

Tom the bartender came over to her secluded table. "Would you like anything Miss? You've hardly eaten the whole time you've been staying here--"

"No." she snapped, startled from her thoughts. "If I want somezing I'll ask for it. Not zat I would consider eeting ze 'eavy food you serve in zis tavairn." She tossed her head disdainfully. Tom shrugged his shoulders unfazed and walked back to the counter. "Well, you know where to come if you want something to eat.."

Fleur cringed slightly as she watched him walk away. She was really too nervous to eat but her attitude certainly didn't reveal that. Why did she always have to act like that when she was nervous? She supposed it was some sort of defense, a way to hide. She sighed and stood up. Still berating herself she quietly slipped out of the room and started up the dimly lit staircase to the room she was renting in The Leaky Cauldron.

She ascended the stairs slowly and her thoughts turned to her last year as a student. As one of the top students at Beauxbatons she was selected to go to Hogwarts and enter her name in the Goblet of Fire. She hadn't expected to be chosen as a champion and was shocked when her name was annouced. But, as always, she covered it up by putting up an act of false confidence and self-assurance that she didn't feel.

She also remembered the great feeling of pride that followed the initial shock. She had been chosen above all the other students in her school to be the champion. The Goblet had picked her as the best champion for Beauxbatons. She was picked because of her abilities, her skills as witch. Rare it was when people saw past her veela beauty that she was ecstatic, to say the least, that she was definitely chosen because of her talents.

Being part-veela had it's advantages though. She had inherited Veela magic which was particularly strong with charms and enchantments. Over the years she had nearly perfected enchantment magic and it made up for what she lacked in Defense Against the Dark Arts skills. During the first task she was almost able to enchant a dragon! She was proud of this alone though she was thoroughly disappointed in herself when she was foiled by Grindylow in the second task.

She shook her head bitterely remembering the second task. She could not even save Gabrielle, the one person that meant something to her. Perhaps she wasn't special after all if she couldn't even save her little sister. Fleur remembered the panic she felt when she had failed. She had tried desperately to get back to the lake to get Gabrielle but Madam Maxime restrained her. Then there was the imense relief when the youngest champion swam up with not only his best friend but with Gabrielle. She managed to escape Madam Maxime's clutches and rushed out to the edge of the lake alongside a tall, red-headed boy to meet the three. She immediately began hugging Gabrielle, nearly blinded by her tears of relief.

Fleur reached her room and pushed open the creaking door. She stopped and tapped her wand on the hinge muttering a word under her breath. She started opening the door again and this time it swung open silently. Fleur sat at a small desk in the back of the room which was positioned in front of a window. She pushed the curtain back a bit and looked out onto the darkened street below. Diagon Alley still had a few shoppers left strolling up and down the street but it was beginning to empty as the shops closed up.

Fleur drew her hand back from the curtain and let it fall over the window. She felt sick to her stomach and she took yet another deep breath to banish her nerves. She almost regretted having ever applied for a job at the British Ministry but she wanted to improve her English and experience a different culture. Her English had improved slightly over her year at Hogwarts, but she worried about her proununciation.

" 'Ello, I am ze new employee. I am vairy pleezed to meet you." She said out loud. Fleur sighed and tried again, enunciating every letter slowly and carefully. " 'Ello. I am ze-- no, the new employee. I am very pleezed to meet you. Pleezed...pleased to meet you. 'Ello, I am z--the new employee. I am vairy pleased to meet you."

Nearly an hour later Fleur was still sitting at the desk painstakingly pronouncing English words. Right in the middle of correcting herself again she yawned. She stood up and pushed her long hair away from her face, yawning again. As she went around her small room getting ready for bed she still practiced her English speaking. At long last she dimmed the lights magically and went to bed.