Chapter 94: Ah, To Be Young…
(Sorry for the delay.)
Fleur was a mess, Magnus was discombobulated; under the assumption that he was about to end something so beautiful, she impulsively took their relationship to the next step.
"….This is in no way how a respectable young lady should act! I hope you two learned your lesson, you are both too young to think about such a thing much less act on your baser impulses." Poppy went on and on with her tirade, chiding the both of them for their unsightly, highly appropriate behavior in this sacred sanctuary of healing.
Magnus was alone in his bed, unfortunately. The Veela had been chased off to her own a long time ago, yet both of them were still dizzy from the experience.
He had half a mind to tell her that if he did give in to his instincts, then he'd have a hard time hearing her from between Fleur's legs. However, that would be something of a social faux pas, and potentially a case of sexual harassment if he didn't know his birdfriend to be much, much more dirty minded than he could ever be.
Nothing to do with her being a Veela, mind you.
'If we were in a bad story, I'd have accidentally said it out loud and gotten the Will Smith smacked out of me by an embarrassed Fleur.' He thought, somewhat amused.
The mediwitch's lips were moving, and they did emit sound, but it failed to reach his brain in one of the most creative uses of Occlumency he knew of.
At some point, Pomfrey did stop talking, face red from either embarrassment or exertion.
'Or arousal, but let's not open that can of worms.'
He looked sideways, his gaze meeting Fleur's. She looked every bit as indifferent to the nurse's pleas as he was, but she wore it better than he ever could.
The woman smirked, as if she knew where his mind wandered. He'd find some way to turn it into a blush, if he wasn't busy locking his eyes on her lips and thinking about where they had been moments ago.
This train of thoughts almost made him blush instead, a quick look up her face showed him she didn't fare much better.
'Yeah, sorry Poppy but there's no way we could stay off each other for more than ten minutes.' He tried to convey the message with his eyes, with some success as he got to hear the Beauxbatons champion's pretty laugh.
Madam Pomfrey took offense to that, and was about to try ripping them a new one for their lack of seriousness when her foreign counterparts put a stopper to that.
"Let zem be, Poppy." The French nurse said with her thick accent. She sighed, looking away in a hundred yards stare in that fashion unique to people with stories to tell, Magnus couldn't care less about it though.
'Saved by the French, how low I've fallen.'
One could argue that Fleur was French too, but to them he'd say that was also a Veela; his flimsy nationalism and common sense meant he disliked human frog eaters with an aversion to baths.
Yes, he did think about it.
No, he isn't ashamed of himself.
"Magnus!" Was all he heard before a small silver fleshy cannonball shot from the tent's entrance to his belly impacting with too much force for his recently healed ribs to handle.
"Ouf." He'd let out, for a moment all he could see was strands of silvery hairs trying to suffocate him by penetrating his nasal cavity.
Not the prettiest death by far.
His magic was likewise assaulted by the allure, much weaker than Fleur's or even Appoline's which were starting to enter his system too. But Gabrielle was still young and tender, it would take time before her gift matured enough to be more than a minor annoyance.
"Shouldn't you be embracing me instead?" Fleur said, a single eyebrow raised and looking more than a bit troubled.
"Later, I'm a little busy right now." Magnus smirked, knowing full well she wasn't referring to him.
"Good," Fleur smiled, looking rather pleased.
Alright, maybe she was in fact talking to him.
"You finally decided to strike, ma cherie?" Her mother said, looking way too amused for both of their tastes. But it was Fleur who blushed at the comment, Magnus was too busy gauging Sebastien's reaction to their little exchange.
Anyone with more than three functional brain cells could guess why.
"Maman!" The poor girl looked mortified, and he could feel Gabrielle's muffled giggles on his chest.
"What? You took your sweet time, that is all." Appoline sat on the foot of her bed, and Magnus could see where Fleur picked up her particular brand of effortless grace. "Sébastien had met my parents, grandparents, and most of the extended family less than a month after our first meeting."
She looked from her blushing daughter, to the young man being assaulted by her youngest.
"It's been half a year, and we only saw him thanks to that stupid tournament." Her eyes grew darker, more avian, and Magnus saw something else she shared with Fleur.
Appoline took a deep breath, and it was all gone as fast as it came. The comfortable, knowing smile returned to her face as she addressed her eldest daughter.
"Even Gabrielle made more progress than you, and she only met him twice." She said, much to Fleur's increasing ire. "Be careful, dear, she might just steal him away."
That woman was playing with fire, Magnus was both fascinated and a bit worried. For a father, meeting the boy his daughter was taken with was a grueling task, without him also seeing his youngest stuck to him, and his own wife making comments about her less than wholesome intentions.
Add in Veelas and their passionate, destructive reactions and you get a recipe for disaster.
Fleur was now glaring at the no-longer so angelic little girl, who only took a second to remove her head from his chest to stick out her tongue.
It would be cute, if Sebastien wasn't approaching him with an unreadable face.
He'd be lying if he said he was afraid, taking shit from a girl's parents was really a bad idea if you had any intention of committing to a long term relationship. It would set a precedent for any and all future interactions, put you in a position of weakness and in some particularly intense cases emasculate you as a man.
And there are few things more dangerous than an emasculated man; one who has little to nothing left.
Just ask Mr. White, or should we say Heisenberg? He stood silent for too long, allowed his brother in law far too much liberty…and he ended up breaking bad.
Magnus wasn't about to fall into that trap, and that was all.
"Magnus," Sebastien said, lips pursed so thin you'd have trouble shoving a needle in there. He looked just about ready to blow, bursting with repressed emotions.
And burst he did.
"Welcome to that family!" The Delacour patriarch manhandled him into a hug, somehow navigating around Gabrielle's form. "My daughter whoops everyone's ass, and she even gets me a future son in law! This is marvelous! Marvelous I tell you!"
"…Thanks?" Magnus said, somehow even more confused than he already was.
When did he get engaged? Why was this grown man hugging him? Was it his imagination or did Garbielle just cop a feel?
One look at the not so angelic girl's red face and wide smile did answer one of his questions.
"Papa!" Fleur was even redder, but at least she didn't grow feathers and wings: That was good, it meant she didn't notice her little sister's wandering hands.
"What? It's a man's duty to dazzle the world with his happiness!" He shot her a look of utter contempt, "After all those years being outnumbered by you womenfolk, I finally have someone to share my pain."
"We are still outnumbered though." Magnus said, taking it in stride because what the fuck else was he supposed to do?
"True," Sebastien nodded, "But a pyrrhic victory is still possible with our odds, if it come down to it I'm also pretty sure we can use you to buy off Gabrielle's loyalty for some time,"
"What?" He and Fleur asked at the same time, one of them was looking much more angered than the other; best of luck guessing who.
Sebastien ignored them, wise man. Instead, he released Magnus and spun around to embrace his wife and twirl her in the air, making the woman squeal almost girlishly before laughing at her husband's antics.
Why was it that every happy marriage he'd seen involved the husband and wife acting like literal children half the time, and sappy teenagers the other?
"I'm so happy I could just start singing!" Sebastien bellowed a laugh.
"Please don't." Fleur released a long suffering sigh, alas it was too late.
The two supposedly responsible adults were stuck in their own bubble. Magnus made an educated guess and assumed they would stay there for a long, long time now that they've made sure their daughter and…well, Sebastien's son in law were safe and sound.
They did not react to Poppy and the other nurses' more or less amused reactions, nor to the arrival of the other champion and hostage pairs.
Victor and Cedric found little respite in that particular tent, the allure of two and half a Veela even repressed was hard to deal with in closed spaces. He didn't blame them, it took a periodic cleansing of his magic and healthy usage of Occlumency to keep him in check; such measures were now second nature to him even in the absence of foreign magics, which can only be beneficial for his safety in the long run.
"I think your parents hijacked our moment." He ended up saying, an amused smile on his face.
Fleur's reaction was more tame, and her own smile a mix of frustration and resignation. He couldn't fault her, the culmination of months of not-flirting and dancing around each other had been all but ruined by outside circumstances; be it the damned task or her parent's perhaps excessive involvement in their affairs.
'I'll have to make it up to her,' Magnus decided, 'But first, let's deal with the awkward stuff.'
He didn't need more than a quick look to know that Fleur was as uncomfortable yet eager as he was to clarify their relationship…just thinking about it felt weird, in a strangely exciting way.
Andromeda often told him that communication was one of the most important things in any healthy relationship, romantic ones doubly so. He could discard her advice, but she did have the most wholesome, stable marriage he'd ever seen with none of the 'I'm just stuck with you' nonsense some people pulled.
So it wasn't a stretch to assume she did know her stuff.
"Let's get this over with," He mumbled, trying not to look like he just swallowed a lemon.
Magnus took a deep breath.
"I'm just as inexperienced as you are, so don't get too mad if I end up saying something insensitive," He said, because disclaimers are the most important parts of any statement written or otherwise. "I like you, a lot, and if your earlier reaction was anything to go by then I'll assume that you feel the same way."
Magnus Black was talking about feelings, the end of the world was approaching.
Fleur went from frustrated pale lady, to red faced young woman in an instant. He wasn't faring much better, his face felt burning hot and he was pretty sure the butterflies in his stomach were evolving and about to burst out of his stomach xenomorph style.
Not the loveliest description, but an honest one.
"You don't have to say anything, just hear me out." He said, and immediately cursed himself.
'Way to go Magnus, tell the girl you fancy to shut up and let you say your nonsense.' He thought, hoping she wouldn't take offense to that.
Thankfully, she was as nervous as he was, if not more, Veela and the inhuman intensity of their feelings was something he was well aware of.
"Does…does it mean you want us to be…together?" Fleur mumbled almost incoherently, mixing French and english.
"Yes!" He almost shouted, the most horrendously difficult part was finally dealt with. He could kiss her right now…well, he was more than ready to do it anytime, but he was infinitely grateful for sparing him that infinitely embarrassing request.
Regardless of the awkwardness of the situation, he couldn't help but smile widely. A sentiment the Veela seemed to share, but her own smile had a rather dangerous edge.
"Gabby, get off my boyfriend's chest." She said, her smile dropping. "Now."
Magnus blinked, he had all but forgotten about the younger girl. He felt her shift her weight, ultimately leaving her spot. A wise choice, pissing off Fleur was not something she could get away with because she's cute.
"And don't think I didn't see you touching him inappropriately, we will have a long discussion about your behavior once maman is done flirting…"
It was too late for that, poor Gabrielle.
'This sentence is wrong on so many levels…' The boy couldn't help but shake his head, Fleur's family was just so…rambunctious, it made the most ancient and dysfunctional house of Black look like a calm bunch.
Still, he rather liked it.
. . .
Hey guys! It's Uncle Sheo!
Yeah, I know I haven't been around for quite some time. Had to deal with some minor technical issues, and go check up at my university (Passed this year, and should be able to choose whatever branch I want, I will probably go for biochemistry because I'm something of a masochistic freakshow.)
In any case, here's some heavy fluff for ya before a shit starts hitting the fan. Hope you enjoyed it!
Peace and Cheese!
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