Fleur Delacour-Weasley (veelahair) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2018-07-31 21:15:00 |
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Bill had a lot of things he needed to tell Fleur. He had a lot of things to explain. Some of which were his and some were to do with the others in his family. He wasn’t sure where to start or exactly what information was more important to get into than anything else. The fingers of his left hand ran over the synthetic skin of his right hand. It was another hint of the vanity that he worried that she’d see some flaw in it. It looked almost as if nothing had happened, it looked just as real as his skin, the tone of it was right, the feel of it was right. It was practically the same, but that didn’t mean that he felt exactly the same. He knew he was different. It was like when he’d known he was just a fraction different after Greyback attacked him. He had the scars, but that wasn’t all. He felt the amount of information he would have to give piling up slowly in his mind. It felt like there was so much, but he was happy that Fleur was here. Despite everything, that had been one of the brightest moments of his life since she’d left the last time. Getting to be in Egypt was nice, especially since it made him feel a little closer to himself. He’d had Rhy, Kell, and Alucard with him and showing them somewhere he’d grown to love over the years had been a wonderful experience. One day he hoped to show Fleur Egypt, to let her see all the places he’d known. He knew that she might not be quite the ‘camping in a tent in the desert’ sort, but he knew her and so he knew that she would be receptive to seeing something that made him happy. She would do it for him and so for her he would make sure that the lodgings were less tent and more hotel room. He now knew of a few places around that weren’t so bad. He took in a small breath and finished making tea before going back into the other room. “Do you need anything? I have a lot of information to get into and I’m still trying to sort through where to start. There’s quite a lot to tell.” Not even fighting a dragon had prepared Fleur for the phantasmagoric experience of interdimensional time travel--or whatever this was. Living with magic and all nature of things that Muggles would have considered equally as impossible and baffling hadn’t prepared for Fleur that there could be phenomena in the world that even she might consider beyond the bounds of possibility. Mostly, it was disorienting--even as Fleur walked the dry, rural streets of Tumbleweed, she had a hard time reconciling herself to the fact that she was really in Texas, that it was really 2018. In the midst of this upheaval, Bill, who she understood, recognized, and above all else, trusted, was her anchor. She held his hand a little more tightly than usual, unable to put exact words to the level of apprehension she felt, but she knew it was etched into her face and he could likely feel it in her grip. After being detained in a medical facility and told all nature of irreconcilable truths, Fleur would have thought she would have begun to numb to shock; and yet, finding her and Bill’s home more or less exactly as she knew it in the midst of such a glaringly different setting than their quiet seaside town made her gasp, taking her breath away. In the sitting room, Fleur surveyed their things, finding it as difficult to believe that she was at once home, and yet also in a world where her home apparently did not exist. Her sense of place was rocked to its core. As Bill reentered, Fleur’s smile was at once both relieved and rueful, “I would imagine zere would ‘ave to be,” she said. “Is it true we are in another world, as they say?” she asked, “Zis truly is not...a portkey or trick of Death Eaters?” she continued, needing to put the only other rationale she had in her mind to rest once and for all. It had been weakening with every passing moment, but she knew she would trust Bill’s confirmation more than anyone else’s. Bill gave her his own smile. He understood the line of questioning, understood the disbelief of it all. He’d been there from the beginning. He’d seen a Fleur from their future, pregnant with their first child. He’d lived through so many things that it seemed so different. “It is true, yes. We’re not here because of portkeys or any trick of the Death Eaters. They’re really not quite so intelligent.” At least he didn’t want that to be the case. He held out a cup of tea before sitting down. “As ridiculous as it seems, this is real. I’ve been here for months.” Actually a year. “It’s been a while, really.” He stared at his hand for a moment. “You were here for a bit from the future. You…” He tilted his head. “You were pregnant then. We’re going to have kids. Eventually anyway. After the war. But you went home and well, that was a bit shit, really. I’ve managed all right now that Charlie and I have our own business with Rocket. I handle the finances naturally. Can’t leave Charlie with that or who knows what will happen.” It was a light jest, slight teasing. He knew that, if it came down to it, Charlie would figure out the idea of it. Bill was just happy to have something to do. There would be no going back to cursebreaking. Perhaps he might find himself with a career in Egyptology, but he’d have school to do for that. “Oh. And Charlie is dating this girl Snow. She’s pretty great. Her kids are, too. There’s five of them. They just turned six. I’ll introduce you later. Once you’ve had time to adjust to things.” He was going to have to get to the more serious things regarding himself sooner rather than later. He just was trying to figure out how to bring it up. Fleur’s eyebrows shot up early on to Bill’s onslaught of information. “Pregnant?” she asked. It’s not that it was so incredible; Fleur wanted to children, but she never expected to hear this news second hand. It also sent a shiver up her spine to think that she was here with no recollection of it. Fleur frowned, “I cannot remember anything of zat...It is...strange to hear of yourself doing things zat you do not recall,” she said, then considered what he said some are. “Are they...the children are not here, are they?” she asked, a confliction of emotions building in her chest; on one hand, it pained her to think of Bill losing something of that magnitude...on the other, it scared her immensely to think she might now be a mother with no preparation whatsoever. “Yeah.” It was easy to get the information on the internet and he didn’t want her finding out from someone else. “It’s okay. I doubt you would. Most people don’t remember when they leave and come back. It’s happened before. Mostly with Harry. Sometimes others.” He hadn’t seen a lot of versions of other people, but people outside of their group left and came back with no recollection of ever being there. He shook his head at her question. “No. Ours aren’t here. There’s information about it on the internet and some people have a habit of telling people their lives, so I figured it’s better to keep you informed about the future for us. We have a few nieces and nephews. Harry and Ginny’s kids are here. All grown up. Both of George and Angelina’s kids are here. Roxanne’s older than Fred II, though.” He reached over to take her hand, lightly squeezing it. “There’s also...we’ve gotten into a few scrapes here. A few battles. I’m...I don’t know. Something happened.” “I am sorry,” Fleur frowned, “That you ‘ad to...it must ‘ave been difficult to learn and loose that,” she said, taking his hand. Truly, Fleur did not know if she was ready yet for children--they were only just married in her mind, and they had spent their whole married life fighting in a war. They hadn’t had the time to even enjoy being together without fear yet--Fleur wanted that first. Though she was curious to meet their friends and relatives’ children in time. “Battles? It is not safe here?” Fleur questioned, though was not especially surprised. She hadn’t assumed it was safe--had begun to grow unfamiliar with the sensation, in fact. Bill shook his head. “It’s fine, love.” They would get there. He’d been happy about it despite how quickly things had happened, but he didn’t want her to feel poorly about something that couldn’t be helped. “It’s a couple years out still. For us.” And he was okay with that. He was just glad that Fleur was here. It was the thing that mattered the most to him. Eventually he’d have to introduce her to his friends. Especially Rhy. He felt that Fleur would appreciate anyone that made a friend of Bill and kept his spirits up and made his day a little while she wasn’t around. Plus, Rhy was a charming person in general. Bill had a feeling it wasn’t often that someone didn’t like the man. “Occasionally,” he said. “But mostly there’s nothing to worry about.” He frowned slightly. “I lost my hand during the last one I participated in. I sat out the one after.” Fidgeting with his right hand, Bill tried not to look to anxious about it. He’d come to terms with it, but Fleur hadn’t been there and it had taken a minute for him to adjust. It had taken him time to adjust even with the scars on his face. “Aphra built me a mechanical, robotic prosthetic. I just recently got the synthetic skin for it. Looks like a real hand now. I mean, it might not be perfect, but…” He closed and then opened his right hand as if to demonstrate. “Just about. It works.” Fleur’s breath caught and her throat tightened at the revelation--and yet, there was also something steeled in her expression. Something like this--or worse--had long been a daily possibility back home. “Oh, Bill,” she frowned. Leaning in, she took both of his hands in her own and kissed them gently. “I am glad zat you are alright, and zat someone was able to ‘elp you,” she said, then paused before asking, “Who are you fighting though? Who is the enemy here?” she asked, meeting his eyes with equal part weariness and determination. She had learn, by now, how to face down all nature of evil. Bill smiled a little at the feeling of Fleur holding his hands, at the kisses. It was such a small thing, but after such a long time without his wife, he couldn’t help but treasure every little thing. He realized that he may have taken those things for granted before because her constancy was something he believed would last even if he knew it might not. He felt like it should, like it would. But now he was more than aware that her constancy away from home was not guaranteed. At home, they would be together, they would have children and live their lives. “We were fighting the enemies of Atlantis the first time. That’s when I lost my hand. The second time, it was pirates. The enemy here depends on where we are and what we’re doing.” He gave her an apologetic look even if he knew it was hardly his fault. “But we’ll stick together. No matter what happens. Just as we always do.” Well, perhaps not always but he wasn’t concerned about that, so he wasn’t going to voice it. “Of course we will,” Fleur said with confidence--in her time, their marriage had already been tested by their joint vigilantism and the Death Eaters. While she didn’t want to underestimate anything in this new world, it was difficult to imagine a foe more formidable or just downright gut wrenching than You Know Who and his ilk. “What about zis Tumbleweed?” she asked, the inflection of her voice at Tumbleweed giving away some of her initial impressions, which were not exactly positive. “Is there anyone to worry about here?” Bill felt a little lighter now that it was said and he knew they were together no matter what happened. “There used to be the military, but they seem to have disappeared or died. It’s not entirely clear as to what happened. I haven’t been trying to figure it out, though.” But there hadn’t been anything really to be concerned about, really. There were people who probably weren’t great people in general, but no one ever really hurt anyone else. They had to work together to get things done. They had to keep each other safe. Some, however, might just stay safe rather than help. That was him during the second battle. He’d just had surgery and he’d been in no place to fight. He’d been on pain medication and mostly attempting to deal with healing. But then he recalled a few things. “There are the occasional monster that comes through portals, but that’s not terribly often, though. We had Dementors come through a little while back. Spiders more recently.” Fleur listened intently, taking it all in--yet, it was the mention of an all too familiar foe that peaked her attention even more than a potentially tyrannical military force. “Are the dementors still here?” she asked wearily. Bill shook his head at her question. “From what I understand, they are gone. Some of the other creatures stuck around. Something called a Weevil? I don’t know. But as long as we stay out of the sewers, that shouldn’t be an issue. So I don’t think it’ll be an issue. But none of the Dementors stuck around.” |