POV Gabrielle Delacour
The girl came to hard — it was as if a gray void was not only greedily clinging to her, but also pulling her back into a world without dreams or memories, a world of emptiness and peace. A small groan shook the youngest of the sisters, and the girl jumped to Fleur's side, taking her hand gently. The older sister's eyelids twitched for a few seconds before they slowly opened and she looked around the normally bright but now curtained room with a blurred gaze so the bright daylight wouldn't sting her eyes.
— How are you, sis? — Gabby asked quietly.
Fleur looked at her sister in silence for a moment and then tried to say something, but only a croak escaped her throat. Gabrielle carefully handed her a glass of water, which had been mixed with some potions, specially prepared for the moment of the victim's awakening. A few greedy sips — Fleur, as it turned out, was very thirsty, it was noticeable how the girl's eyes cleared and a healthy blush appeared on her pale cheeks.
— Thank you, Gabby... ahem... — the girl listened to herself, even covered her eyes for a moment and then looked at her sister again. — She seemed fine... but what happened?
— You don't remember? — Fleur heard a strange note in her sister's voice and her thin eyebrows knitted slightly. — You were at the last test of the tournament... — Gabrielle continued carefully, studying her sister's face.
Fleur tried to remember for a while, and then the gray haze on her memories shifted, swirled, and was dispelled by a gust of desire from the Magess, and the memories flashed. Surprised, the girl, who had managed to sit up in bed, fell back against the pillows and closed her eyelids. She remembered. Everything. Vividly and precisely, down to the smallest detail. Her heart clenched at the last memory and she felt sick, her eyes watering.
— What had happened? What had happened to Sora? — The girl opened her eyes and looked at her sister, whose face showed signs of doubt, of inner struggle. Fleur guessed almost immediately what the reason for her sister's silence was, or rather who it was. — Has your mother forbidden you to tell me anything? — Gabrielle nodded glumly and apologized to her sister with a glance.
— Sis, my love, — Fleur took the younger girl's hands in her own and looked into those similar and dear eyes. — I will be tormented by the unknown and it will be worse for me... — she added softly. — Please... — Gabrielle sighed heavily and looked up, silent for a few seconds, then looked at her sister.
— Sora couldn't be found for a long time, — Gabby began quietly, looking as if she had to betray her family and blood. An image, it had to be said, that she maintained perfectly. — Headmaster Dumbledore, by the way, when you arrived at the scene of your battle, you'll tell me everything later! — The younger girl's eyes were filled with determination and a demand for fair revenge, so Fleur just nodded in agreement. Gabby was satisfied and continued. — Ah... no, I got off on the wrong foot! So, when the protective dome fell, all the gathered forces rushed to the center of the events, but found only you, radiated by some powerful postmortem curse — Gabby hesitated, looking into her sister's eyes as if searching for something there.
— Madame said, — I heard her say, — she said you wanted to kill yourself... Sis? You wanted to leave me? Us? — The little one asked softly and pitifully, like a sad little puppy. Overcoming her weakness, Fleur pulled herself to her feet and immediately hugged her little sister, pressing her cheek against her blond head.
— No, my darling, I would never leave you and Mommy and Daddy... I don't know what came over me... I was in pain, as if the whole world was gathered in a point of despair and pain, without light and sense... — The girl swallowed hard, remembering what she had felt that night. — It was as if life had lost all meaning in an instant, and the only way was to go beyond the Fringe... — The girl shuddered and shivered, but then she was enveloped by the hot aura of her sister, who generously poured out her warmth and love on her sister. Grateful, Fleur rubbed her cheek against the sun-scented top of her sister's head and smiled. — 'Did you say I was cursed?
— 'Um,' Gabrielle shook her head, smiling at her sister's behavior. — 'Papa said that the last enemy performed a ritual on himself so that when he died he would curse his murderer...
— I see...
Gabrielle did not ask unnecessary questions — everything was clear, and although she was curious to the point of itching, she decided to hold back until her sister came to her senses.
— It wasn't clear where Sora had disappeared to: the Master of Magic had determined that they were both there, but where he had disappeared to was unclear, and then strong distortions of space were detected — as if the portal artifact had exploded... — Gabrielle wanted to look her sister in the eye, but she couldn't, and so the girl made a mental note to find out that detail.
— And then the Headmaster of Hogwarts appeared and almost immediately said that these distortions of space should be closed as soon as possible — as if they could open the way for otherworldly monsters. — Fleur tensed visibly: she remembered Sora being sucked into the rift, and she remembered exactly that no monsters had come out of the rift. On the other hand, it had all happened too fast. — And he immediately started to close it... — the girl felt how literally petrified her sister was, so she decided not to torture her and to continue.
— Madame Louise said that Dumbledore was almost killed by Madame Junko, and that's when the gray robed wizards found that Sora had been pulled into the rift, and the Hogwarts headmaster had already slammed it shut. — Here, despite the situation, Gabby giggled, and Fleur even pulled back a little to look at her sister, whose voice had an unexpected note of venomous satisfaction. — Dad laughed, saying that Dumbledore bragged so much about his Phoenix, so boastful of his familiars, and Madame Junko not only chopped the bird, but did it evenly, with one blow! — The girl chopped with her palm as if she was doing it herself,
— She almost tore Grandpa's head off as well. Unfortunately, he had a very good reaction and got away with a bird, a beard and a deep gash on his chin. — Again the poisonous giggle. — Madame Junko was barely held back, and Dumbledore ran away shamefaced, even losing his wand... hee hee hee... — Fleur couldn't stand it herself and smiled as well. — As for Sora, in the morning Daddy got a message from Mr. Lupin that our fiancé had been found, somewhere on the Cornish peninsula, by the sea.
— And how was he found? — Fleur wondered, relaxing inwardly at the simple thought: he'd survived and come back, and the rest was trivial. — And how did he get there?
— I don't know, — Gabrielle shrugged. — Papa didn't tell me, he just said that Nanao took him...
— That cat thief... — at that moment, Fleur had a strange dislike for this strange "ayakashi", and her glances at Sora she noticed, but could not immediately understand.
— Yes, the cat, — Gabrielle obviously didn't understand her sister's feelings. — And as it seems, Sora is wounded, but not critically, and should recover in two or three weeks. But what's more interesting is that the local government is trying to get Sora transferred to a local hospital for treatment — St. Mungo's, I think? — Gabby thought for a moment, then waved her hand indifferently. — It doesn't matter. Anyway, they wanted to take him away, and some of Crouch and Dumbledore insisted on it, but Junko and Nanao said they'd shred anyone who set foot on the Hoshino family land without a special invitation from them. The girl sighed deeply and bitterly.
— That was all I had time to hear before Daddy noticed me and cast a privacy spell.... — But then her eyes flashed with the cunning light of a well-executed trick, and at that moment she looked like a couple of very famous hustlers. — But thanks to my baby, — the girl lovingly stroked Sora's gift — a spider, and it literally radiated into the surrounding atmosphere of joy and happiness from the praise of its mistress.
— I could not only hear, but also see! — From her sister's new smile, Fleur somehow felt sorry for her parents, but she didn't understand why. — They showed memories, — the girl closed her eyes dreamily, folded her palms to her chest. -
You should have seen their faces when Nanao showed her tail and ears! Oh! It was beautiful! And when the Fire Spirit, the guardian of the lands of Sora, appeared — a three-foot-tall stone giant covered in liquid fire, with lava veins pulsing through him and flames shooting out of his mouth and eyes — that was one of my favorite memories! There, most of the local Aurors were screaming that the gate to Inferno had opened and the demons were coming! Squealing like little bitches... — Gabrielle's eyes widened and she slowly turned to face her sister, whose scrutiny involuntarily made the most sensitive part of her body ache. — S-s-sister...
— Gabrielle... — Fleur's voice sounded tender and caring, but the girl realized that she had gotten too carried away, and now she would have to work very hard to get out of this room without any tangible losses....
Appolyn Delacour, who had been under the spell of invisibility all the time, decided not to open the door and quietly left the room, finding her husband only a few steps away from the door. Taking her husband under her elbow, the couple slowly walked away.
— Is everything all right? — The man asked pro forma, for if there was any danger to their daughter, the woman would not be so relaxed.
— Yes, — the older blonde nodded. — Your decision to let Gabby peek has paid off. — The woman smiled, savoring the memory of how amusingly proud Gabrielle had been of her accomplishments. — But it's time for us to move on to other aspects of raising our youngest... — and a new smile that seemed to make it even brighter.
— Hmm? — The man looked at his wife with interest, and she did not hesitate to respond.
— Somewhere our little spy managed to pick up a few rude words, but did not learn to control her sharp tongue....
— Pierre Delacour nodded knowingly: he had had the misfortune (or was it luck?) to be in a class where his wife had taught Fleur such coarse words that even he blushed, and then said the same thing, only using a more literary vocabulary, which had a much stronger effect.
The man for life remembered this lesson, one could say, he then acquired a new fetish: sometimes he specifically asked his wife to speak vulgarities, and Appolin, building the most innocent face, straight angelic, began to say such profanities that in the port it was immediately taken for his own. Pierre also decided that he would no longer go to such specific lessons of his daughters.
They walked in silence for a while until Appolene spoke.
— What have you decided about Hoshino's proposal?
— Nothing, — the man shrugged indifferently, but when he saw the questioning look in his wife's eyes, he decided to explain his position. — She was talking about serious matters, speaking for Hoshino's family, but she had no power over the man's assets, so it was pointless to make any decisions until Sora confirmed her intentions.
After a moment's thought, Appolin nodded in agreement.
— I agree, — the woman frowned slightly, thinking about the recent conversation. — I didn't like the way that woman was acting either: instead of waiting for Sora to come to his senses, she was trying to do things behind his back. — Appolin was silent for a moment. — She might be the boy's mother, but he'd never said, or even hinted, that the power in his family was dual.
— That's right, — Pierre agreed, running his palm lovingly over her wrist, still enjoying his personal Venus. — She seems to be trying to take over the family.
— But still, if she succeeds in her plan, she showed up here earlier with the Chinese, didn't she? — the wife looked at her husband.
— No, the Chinese were lurking around, and their chief went to Sora, so it's either stupidity or overconfidence....
— Good... — Appolin replied somehow relieved. — It would be a shame to disappoint my daughters... ....
The man just nodded. No, he was thinking about the proposal, seriously thinking about it. In principle, the plan was not without logic and even elegance, even if primitive, but the proposal did not come from someone who had the power to make such decisions, and when such words came from his own people behind his back, it could be a very bad sign that should be looked into more closely....