1. Six Women


Mixing the Delacour family with the Weasley family was like mixing chocolate with vinegar. Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour were finally going to get married. The wedding was going to take place at la Maison de la famille Delacour in the French countryside. Both families and a couple of special guests, Harry and Hermione, had gathered at the Delacours’ place one week before the ceremony to plan the details.

The reunion couldn’t have been more awkward.

The Weasley men found it hard to socialize with Fleur’s father, Jacques. When the Weasley men wanted to play some Quidditch, Jacques preferred to talk about the French Ministry and his accent was even stronger than Fleur’s, but they eventually warmed up to each other. After all, they were men, and men were simple.

The women were the problem.

They never seemed to agree on anything, not even on the simplest things, like the time at which the ceremony should start. Fleur’s mother, Louise Delacour and Molly Weasley were truly opposites in all ways imaginable. Molly wanted to decorate with white tulips, but Louise wanted to use red roses. Molly wanted a daytime wedding when Louise wanted a wedding in the evening. Molly had only invited the closest friends, but Louise wanted to invite much more people. In conclusion even fire and water made a better match.

Ginny’s fights with Gabrielle, Fleur’s sister, didn’t make the situation any easier. Gabrielle kept making jokes about Ginny’s freckles and boyish clothes, and even though she was fourteen, she tried to flirt with Fred and George, which made Ginny furious. In exchange, Ginny hexed one of Gabrielle’s purses. Every time she tried to open it, the purse grew teeth and tried to bite her.

As the week passed, the relations between them didn’t seem to improve. After all, they were women, and women were complicated.

The day before the wedding, Fred and George came up with a plan to make the women stop arguing amongst each other. That was, of course, if they didn’t kill each other first.


Fleur planned a small reunion for the ladies at the guesthouse to help her with the final fitting of her wedding dress.

“Oh mon dieu!” exclaimed Louise Delacour, refreshing herself with a fan as she entered through the door of the small house. “With all zis heat, it feels like we’re in Africa.”

Louise Delacour had a lot of charm and class. She had voluminous short blonde hair and a face that showed the traces of a once very beautiful woman. The effect of time had given her wrinkles and large thighs, but her glamour and sex appeal remained intact.

“Would you please explain to me once again why you decided to set your wedding in the middle of the summer?” Louise asked Fleur, who was entering the living room.

“So ze kids could be present,” said Fleur. She was struggling with a large black box between her arms. “If we did it at any other time, zey would be at school.”

“You could’ve gotten married in ze winter!” replied Louise, sitting on a pink sofa.

“She wanted to get married before Bill regretted he ever proposed,” whispered Ginny to Hermione, as they stood by the doorframe, staring into the living room of the guesthouse.

Fleur heard what Ginny said, but decided to ignore it. She thought it wouldn’t help if she argued with Bill’s little sister. Things had been sour enough so far.

Hermione and Ginny were still looking at the living room with widened eyes, but their behavior was understandable. Every inch of the room was decorated in a peculiar way. The colors of the walls and cushions were mostly pastels. The other color standing out was a dark brown from the wooden furniture. Walking into the Delacours’ guesthouse was like using a Time Turner to travel to nineteenth century France.

“Oh my!” exclaimed Molly, as she walked over to Louise and checked out the living room. “Did you also help to decorate this room?” she asked, in a beaten tone. She already knew the answer. Louise had decorated the entire Maison; she didn’t waste any time telling Molly about it. It made only sense that she had done the guesthouse too.

“Of course I did! I wouldn’t have anyone else do it,” replied Louise, lighting a cigarette. “We spent so much money on it.”

It had become a custom for Louise to speak of how much money the Delacour family had, and how much they had spent doing this, traveling there, and building that. Molly had to control herself every time the woman opened her mouth. It disgusted her to see such materialism.

Ginny and Hermione finally walked inside the house, and they seated on one of the couches.

“Please make yourselves comfortable,” invited Fleur, not realizing that they had indeed already made themselves comfortable.

“I’m melting!” yelled Gabrielle, Fleur’s younger sister, as she entered the house.

“Ma petite fille,” said Louise with a warm smile. “Come here and sit with your mother.”

Gabrielle closed the door behind her, dragged her body through the living room, and sat next to her mother. Gabrielle’s face resembled the one of an angel in a Botticelli painting. Her golden hair rested on her shoulders and she had the same blue eyes as her mother and sister, but this girl was far from an angel.

In order to get revenge on Ginny for cursing her purse, Gabrielle kidnapped Ginny’s Pygmy Puff, Arnold, with every intention of feeding it to the family cat. Luckily, Harry was nearby and had stopped her. Ginny had only known her for a week, but had already reached the conclusion that Fleur was a gift from God compared to Gabrielle.

Molly and Fleur stood in the middle of the room, looking at the other four women. There was an awkward silence, but Louise suddenly spoke up.

“Fleur, what are you waiting for?” she asked, her eldest daughter. “Put on the dress, vite!”

“Right,” said Fleur. She started to untie the white ribbon that held the large black box shut.

Inside was one of the most beautiful wedding dresses that any of the six women had ever seen. It was a strapless dress with a heart shaped cleavage. It was made out of many layers of soft white chiffon and on the bottom were embroidered pale blue roses. The dress had also been enchanted to make it look like it had been showered with glitter. It was custom made for Fleur by one of the most prestigious tailors in Paris.

She held the dress in front of her and looked at it. She was getting married, she really was, and to a man she truly loved. It was finally going to happen; she didn’t remember the last time she was so happy.

Suddenly, Fleur started to feel a little dizzy.

“I don’t feel so good,” she said, before passing out and landing on the floor with a loud thud. The floor floated off her hands and landed next to her.


“Oh dear!” exclaimed Molly, as she kneeled next to Fleur and held her head.

“She must’ve fainted,” said Hermione. She stood from her seat on the couch and went, to aid Molly.

“Reallee?” asked Louise with an ironic tone. She rolled her eyes while putting out her cigarette, and walked towards her unconscious daughter.

Ginny and Gabrielle hadn’t found the situation alarming. They both stayed sitting on the couch as if nothing had happened.

“Do you have some perfume or something we could use to wake her up?” Molly asked Louise, unbuttoning Fleur’s jacket so she could breathe better.

“Isn’t she already wearing enough?” asked Hermione.

Louise gave her a stare. “Let’s take her to ze room upstairs,” she said, heading towards the stairs.

Molly and Hermione stared at Louise without moving.

“What?” asked Louise. She was beginning to loose her patience.

“How are we supposed to take her upstairs?” asked Molly.

“I’m not going to carree her,” said Louise.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” sang Hermione, waving her wand. Fleur’s body started to float in the air. “You lead the way,” she said to Louise.

“Follow me,” replied Fleur’s mother.

Molly, Hermione, and Fleur’s unconscious floating body followed Louise up the stairs.

Ginny and Gabrielle were left alone in the living room. They gave each other evil stares for a couple of minutes, and then Gabrielle finally stood up from the couch. She walked towards the wedding dress that lay on the floor. Gabrielle picked the dress up and placed it carefully back into the black box.

“I’m going to put zis away,” she said. Without giving Ginny another look, she turned around on her four-inch heels and went upstairs.

Ginny started to wonder why was she there. She certainly didn’t want to sit around and watch Fleur parade in her dress while Louise told her how beautiful she looked. It was a waste of time. They didn’t need Ginny’s help; she didn’t even know a lot about dresses. She would be better off playing Quidditch with her brothers and Harry…

This is stupid, said Ginny to herself. I’m leaving!

Ginny went to the door and grabbed the doorknob. She tried to turn it, but it didn’t move. She tried again with more strength, but it was useless. The door clearly wasn’t opening.

“Strange,” she muttered to herself. Ginny took out her wand from her back pocket and said, “Alohomora!” She pointed the wand at the doorknob, but nothing happened. She tried again and still nothing.

Ginny was starting to get desperate. There was nothing worse she could think than being stuck with the Delacour women. It wouldn’t be so terrible because Hermione and Molly were also there, but it was still bad. She tried anything she could come up with to open the door, even talking to it, but it had all gone in vain. It felt like she was fighting against a stone wall.

Defeated, Ginny sat on the floor and banged her head against the door. That was when she noticed a folded piece of parchment lying in the door crack. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she decided to read it.


Hello, whoever this is:

We have written this letter to let you know that we (the Weasley men and Jacques) are very tired of your arguing and bickering. Therefore, we have decided to lock you all up in the guesthouse. You’ll find a way to get out if you work together.

Happy hunting!

Fred & George


Ginny looked at the letter in anger. She was absolutely furious. How could they do this to her? If she ever got out, George and Fred were in for a world of pain. Her face had never been redder. She squished the piece of parchment in a tight fist and let out a high-pitched scream that was heard all through the house.

2. Six Problems


“Ginny!” yelled Molly, rushing down the stairs. “What happened? Are you alright?”

The worried mother ran towards her daughter and kneeled down next to her. She held Ginny’s angry face in her hands and looked into her eyes, which were burning with fury.

“Are you hurt?” asked Molly.

Hermione, Louise, and Gabrielle were walking down the stairs. They were also alarmed when they heard the scream.

“We’re locked up!” said Ginny. “The men locked us up with them!” She pointed at Louise and Gabrielle.

“What?” asked the other four women in unison.

Ginny threw the letter at her mother and stood up. She went towards one of the windows and tried to open it, but was unsuccessful. Molly’s face went through a whole range of emotions while she read the letter.

“FRED! GEORGE!” she yelled through the door. “What is the meaning of this?” She kept yelling, even though her sons were nowhere near the guesthouse.

“My ears,” whined Gabrielle, as she covered her ears with both hands.

“What is zis nonsense?” asked Louise. She walked up to Molly and took the letter from her hands. “Zis is a sick joke,” she said, after reading the letter.

Hermione moved towards the door and directed Molly to the side. “Alohomora!” she sang, but the door didn’t open.

“I already tried that!” spat Ginny. “Nothing worked.”

“Zis sons of yours!” said Louise. “Zey’re monsters! Don’t you have any control over zem?” she asked to Molly.

“Don’t you dare insult my sons!” replied Molly.

“Well, it’s understandable,” said Louise. “Zere so many you’re bound to lose control.”

“Are you saying I’m a bad mother?” Molly’s face was slowly reddening.

“Let’s try to stay calm,” said Hermione, standing between the two women.

“What’s going on?” asked Fleur, on the top of the stairs. Her hair was messy and she had a puzzled look on her face. “Why eez everyone yelling?”

“Your soon to be brother-in-laws ‘ave locked us all up,” said Gabrielle, in a dramatic tone. “Why does zis ‘ave to ‘appen to us?”

Fleur looked at her sister in a shocked manner. She knew very well that Fred and George liked to play jokes and pranks on people. Bill had told her all of the things they used to do when they were younger, but this time, they had gone too far.

Hermione took the letter from Louise’s hand and read it carefully. “Let’s remember that all of the men planned this, including your father,” she said, glaring at Gabrielle. “As it’s stated in here, there is a way to get out. I’d suggest we start looking, unless you’d like to spend the rest of the day locked up.”

The other five women agreed silently and went their separate ways. They checked all the windows, the chimney, the back door, the bathrooms, the kitchen, and Ginny even checked under the carpets, but there was no sign of something that looked like an exit or a clue to how to get out.

Beaten and tired, the ladies found themselves again sitting on the couches in the living room.

“Mimi!” called Louise.

“Who’s Mimi?” asked Hermione.

“Our ‘ouse-elf,” said Gabrielle, in an unnecessarily proud tone.

It wasn’t strange that a family like the Delacours had a house-elf; in fact, it was expected. A loud crack noise invaded the living room, and a female house-elf appeared.

“You called, Madame?” asked Mimi, with a serious expression.

“Bring us some refreshments and a few biscuits,” said Louise, while lighting a cigarette.

“Oui, Madame,” said the house-elf, who quickly fled the living room.

“How did the house-elf get in here?” asked Ginny.

“Of course!” exclaimed Hermione. “How could I have been so stupid? Apparition.”

The faces of the other five women lit up at the idea, but none of them wanted to admit that they hadn’t thought of it, either. Admitting it would be agreeing with what Hermione had said - that they were indeed stupid.

Hermione closed her eyes tightly and concentrated. She had barely mastered the art of Apparition, but she still decided to try. Ron would be very impressed if she managed to get out of the house on her own. After some hard concentration, she did manage to Apparate, but on the wrong side of the door. She was still inside the house.

Gabrielle applauded with a smirk on her face. “Is zat what ze smartest girl in ‘Ogwarts can do?” she asked.

Hermione shot daggers at her. “There is obviously an anti-Apparition barrier.”

“I’ll try now,” said Fleur, standing up from the sofa.

“You can Apparate?” asked Hermione, surprised. She never imagined that a girl like Fleur would be interested in learning how to Apparate.

“I wasn’t chosen to represent Beauxbatons at ze Triwizard Tournament for nozing,” said Fleur, walking towards the door.

“’Orrible times,” said Gabrielle. “I was traumatized, and I’ve been terrified of water since zat Tournament!”

“That explains why you smell so funny,” said Ginny, with a grin.

Gabrielle shot daggers at her and then said, “I won’t sit ‘ere and allow to be ‘umiliated by you. All zis stress has exhausted me; I’m going to take a nap.” She stood up and went up the stairs.

Hermione congratulated Ginny in her head for her great comment and waited while Fleur tried to Apparate. She did Apparate, but ended up at the same place.

“No wonder you didn’t win ze Tournament,” said Louise, exhaling the smoke of her cigarette.

For a brief second Fleur had a hurt look on her face. However, she quickly composed herself and went back to join the women in the living room. Hermione wondered to herself if it was normal for Louise to make hurtful comments to her daughter.

Mimi entered the living room, carrying a tray with glasses filled with juices and some biscuits. She gently placed it on the coffee table and left.

“Thank you, dear,” said Molly, but the house-elf was already gone.

Ginny looked at the biscuits in disgust; she hadn’t liked any of the food since they had arrived in France. “I’m going upstairs,” she said.

“Don’t get into any trouble,” said Molly.

Louise put out her cigarette and grabbed one of the biscuits. “Do you ‘ave a ‘ouse-elf?” she asked, looking at Molly. However, she already knew the answer.

“No, we don’t,” said Molly.

“They believe in the freedom of house-elves!” said Hermione, feeling proud of her cause.

Molly gave a puzzled looked at Hermione. “Well…um…I guess so,” said Molly. “And I’ve also never needed any help to take care of my family.”

Louise tightened her mouth and then laughed. “You’re just jealous.”

“Jealous?” asked Molly, confused.

“It’s only natural for you to feel zis way,” said Louise, raising her chin. “I’m beautiful and rich, and you’re ugly and poor.”

Fleur and Hermione stared in shock at Louise, who had a smirk on her face.

“Mother!” said Fleur.

Molly’s anger was almost palpable. She was about to say something back, but Hermione interrupted her. “Please Molly.”

“Aren’t I allowed to protest? Did you hear what she said?” asked the enraged Weasley mother. “What a dreadful woman,” she muttered under her breath.


Ginny was walking through the hall on the second floor. They were a couple of rooms decorated in the same manner as the living room downstairs. It was unbelievable that the guesthouse had two floors. It was almost as big as the entire Burrow, but it was nothing compared to the actual Maison. The Maison was a huge house where there was enough space for four small families to live comfortably.

As she walked down the hall, she noticed some movement in one of the rooms. It was Gabrielle. Ginny thought it would be fun to spy on her to see what she was doing.

What Ginny was expecting to see certainly wasn’t what she saw when she peeked into the room. Gabrielle was standing in the middle of the room wearing Fleur’s wedding dress.

“Aren’t you a bit old to be playing dress up?” asked Ginny as she pushed the door open.

Gabrielle jumped when she heard the voice and turned around quickly. Her expression changed from shocked to angry when she saw Ginny the one who had made the comment.

“If you tell anyone, I swear…” threatened Gabrielle, but she was interrupted by Ginny.

“Or what?”

Gabrielle took out her wand and pointed it at Ginny. The redhead did the same.


In the living room, things were still tense. Louise and Molly kept directing mean comments to each other. Fleur and Hermione tried to calm them, but nothing seemed to work.

“Is zis the kind of people you want to marry?” asked Louise to Fleur. “When you marry someone, you marry zeir family, too!”

“Oh, poor Bill,” said Molly, collapsing on the sofa.

“You never liked Bill!” Fleur said to her mother, sounding upset. “Why can’t you just be happy for me?”

“What are you talking about?” asked Louise. “I’m delighted! You’re marrying a penniless werewolf! Of course I’m happy!” Her voice reeked with sarcasm.

“Actually, it’s never been stated that he’ll be a complete werewolf, just that he’ll have werewolf-ish traits.” corrected Hermione.

“Shame on you!” said Molly to Louise.

The four women fell silent for a moment.

Louise calmed herself a bit and then said, “I just think that you’re marrying too fast.” She paused to fix her hair and continued, “Marriage is a sacred union and you’re not taking it seriously.”

Fleur stood up from her seat and looked at her mother misty-eyed. “’Ow dare you?” she asked. “’Ow dare you preach to me about marriage when you’re ‘aving an affair!”

3. Six Tears


Louise stared at Fleur with a shocked expression on her face. She had no idea that Fleur knew about the affair. Hermione and Molly were also left speechless.

“’Ow?… ‘Ow did you?” Louise tried to ask.

Suddenly, they could hear loud noises coming from upstairs. It sounded like a small war was going on. Things were breaking and exploding; there were also a few screams and yells.

“Not again!” exclaimed Hermione. She stood up and followed Molly, who was already halfway up the stairs.

What Molly and Hermione found upstairs was a scene they surely weren’t expecting. Gabrielle was running around wearing Fleur’s dress, which was on fire. Ginny was trying to put out the fire by casting a few spells, but it was hard for her to aim directly at the dress when Gabrielle was running around like a lunatic. Ginny decided to do it the Muggle way: by stamping on it.

“You’re stepping on my foot!” yelled Gabrielle.

“Stop moving then!” yelled Ginny back.

“Aguamenti!” sang Hermione, waving her wand.

Water came out of the tip of her wand and soaked Gabrielle. The fire was put out, but the dress was now completely ruined.

The four women stood there silently. Hermione and Molly were trying to understand what had happened. Gabrielle and Ginny were recovering their breaths.

“What happened?” asked Molly, in an angry tone.

Ginny was about to answer when Fleur and Louise came through the door. Tears started building in the bride’s eyes when she saw her dress, which was now ruined. It had black soot stains from the fire, it was ripped at the bottom, and it was completely soaked.

“It was her fault!” pointed Gabrielle at Ginny.

“How dare you?” asked Ginny with indignation.

In an act of anger and desperation, Gabrielle grabbed Ginny’s ponytail and started pulling it. Ginny screamed in pain and grabbed her wand to cast a hex.

“Leave ‘er alone!” yelled Louise. She tried to take Ginny’s wand, digging her long red nails into Ginny’s flesh in the process.

“Ginny, I’ll help you!” yelled Molly. She took out her wand and muttered a spell that made Louise let go of Ginny’s arm. Shocked because of the spell, Louise started walking backwards, without noticing that she had stepped on a broken vase. She tripped over it, fell to the floor, and one of her high-heeled shoes ended up flying across the room.

Hermione finally found a way to make Gabrielle let go of Ginny’s hair. Gabrielle was in complete hysteria; she kept swinging her arms and legs. She didn’t even know she slapped Hermione’s face with the back of her hand.

“Calm down!” yelled Hermione. “We’re acting like mad-women!”

The other four women looked at each other, realizing how ridiculous they looked. Fleur was still standing by the door. Slowly, tears started running down her cheeks.

“I’m so sorry,” said Ginny, looking at Fleur.

Fleur knew Ginny wasn’t the one to blame. Even though she wasn’t close to Ginny, Fleur knew she wouldn’t be capable of ruining her own brother’s wedding. Fleur walked up to her sister and looked at her in the eyes. Before anyone could say anything, Fleur slapped Gabrielle across the face. The other women gasped.

“The wedding eez canceled,” said Fleur, in a harsh tone that was drowned in tears. Before anyone could respond she turned around and took off.

“Fleur!” cried Louise, standing up from the floor. “Wait!” She followed Fleur, walking awkwardly because one of her shoes now had a broken heel.

“You should be ashamed of yourselves!” said Hermione. “I’ve had enough of this circus. I don’t know how, but I’ll find a way to break this spell and get out.” She left the room with her chin held high.

Molly couldn’t believe what had just happened. Fleur had cancelled the wedding. She initially thought that it would be happy news, but she felt sad. Bill was going to be very upset once he found out about this.

While looking at the wound that Louise’s nails had caused in Ginny’s arm, Molly noticed Gabrielle. She was sitting on the floor crying, with her right hand covering her cheek where Fleur had slapped her. Molly wasn’t too fond of Gabrielle, but she couldn’t help, but feel sorry for the girl.

“It’s going to be alright, dear,” said Molly, resting her hand on Gabrielle’s head. Gabrielle was alarmed when she saw that Molly was coming towards her. She thought she would yell at her for fighting with Ginny, but there was kindness in Molly’s touch. It was something that Gabrielle rarely saw.

Molly stared at the ruined wedding gown and looked at Ginny with a disapproving look. “Did you have to burn the dress?”

Ginny looked at her mother, shocked. “Mum, I swear, I didn’t…”

“I did it,” admitted Gabrielle, cleaning her tears.

“Why?” Molly asked in a shocked tone.

Gabrielle stood up quickly from the floor and looked at the other two women. “You don’t know ‘ow it is! To live under ze shadow of ze great Fleur!” She took a deep breath and continued. “Since I was born I ‘ave been compared to ‘er! Fleur did zis, Fleur did zat, you should be more like ‘er. I’m seeck and tired of living up to everyone else’s expectations!” And with that, Gabrielle fled from the room.

Ginny and Molly looked at each other in astonishment.

“And I thought our family was weird,” said Ginny.


Fleur was sitting at the kitchen table with a blank look on her face. She had finally surrendered. From the beginning the signs that she shouldn’t marry with Bill were everywhere. Both mothers disapproved of the marriage, they came from different societies, and the final straw was the werewolf attack on poor Bill. She had initially decided to ignore these signs, but she couldn’t fight anymore. She had taken one of her mother’s cigarettes. Fleur usually didn’t smoke; she only did this when she was very stressed or sad.

The kitchen was the only part of the house that wasn’t entirely decorated. In fact, it was quite ugly. The furniture was old and poorly maintained, and the walls were dark grey. On the kitchen table rested a vase with dead flowers. Louise didn’t bother on decorating it since Mimi was the only one who ever used the kitchen.

Louise walked into the kitchen holding her ruined shoes. “Fleur,” she said. “I didn’t know you smoked.”

“I didn’t know you were cheating on Dad,” replied Fleur without looking at her mother.

“’Ow did you find out?” asked Louise, sitting next to her daughter.

“Mimi told me two weeks ago. She was drunk.”

“So she’s drinking again?” asked Louise, not very surprised. It wasn’t a secret that the house-elf had a liking for Butterbeer.

Fleur shook her head and stood up, still avoiding her mother’s eyes. “With all ze men out zere, you ‘ad to cheat him with Monsieur Farnoux. ‘E and Dad ‘ave been enemies since school,” she said while putting out her cigarette.

“I’ll ‘ave to ask you to be discreet about zis.”

Fleur finally looked at her mother in the eyes and said, “Promise me you’ll end it.”

Louise didn’t say anything. Now she was the one who was avoiding her daughter’s eyes.

“Mother!” said Fleur angrily. “Promise me you’ll stop cheating on Dad!”

“WHAT?” yelled Gabrielle, who was standing by the kitchen door. She had changed into the clothes she was wearing before.

Fleur closed her eyes in desperation and covered her face with her right hand.

“Ma petite,” said Louise. “I didn’t want you to find out like zis.”

“Why would you do such a zing?” asked Gabrielle. “You’re destroying zis family!”

“Gabby, calm down,” said Fleur.

“No!” replied Gabrielle. “She’s a ‘orrible person!” Gabrielle started shaking in anger and her face was turning red.

“Gabby!” called Fleur, losing her patience.

Gabrielle rushed towards Louise, grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her violently. “’Ow could you do zis to Daddy?”

“Zat’s it!” said Fleur. She took her wand out of her purse and pointed it at Gabrielle. “Petrificus Totalus!” she yelled. A light came out of her wand and hit Gabrielle in the back. She fell to the floor, stiff as a board, with a loud thud.

“I’m tired of zis madness!” said Fleur. She opened the broom closet and dragged Gabrielle inside. “She’ll calm down in zere,” she said while closing the door.

Louise was still sitting at the table; she had an expression of remorse. Gabrielle’s words were rushing through her head. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “Will you ever forgive me?”

“In time,” Fleur said. She took a deep breath and looked at her mother. “But I will never forget.”


Ginny was still in the room where she had found Gabrielle wearing Fleur’s dress. Molly had left her a while ago to look for Hermione. Ginny was looking at herself in the full-length mirror that was now cracked because of one of the jinxes that Gabrielle had aimed at Ginny. Ginny looked at her hair that was tied with a ponytail, and at her clothes - a white T-shirt and a pair of old jeans.

She wasn’t fond of the Delacour women, but they sure were beautiful. They had class, and they embraced their femininity.

I can be feminine, thought Ginny.

Maybe Harry wouldn’t have left her if she were girlier, if she groomed herself a bit more. Ginny had spent the whole summer thinking of ways to get Harry back and why they had broken up. Sure, she knew he was on a mission and that it was dangerous, but she still wanted to be with him. If only he knew that she would do anything for him.

Harry…

4. One Wedding


Hermione had found the library in the guesthouse. It wasn’t a good library to Hermione’s standards, but at least it kept her busy. She had looked for a good couple of hours and all that she had found were grooming and painting spells. She hadn’t found anything that would help them get out of the entrapment, but she did find a spell that would fix something else.

Hermione thought that they would have found a way out of the house by the time the sun had set, but she was wrong. It was already dark outside, and they were still right where they had begun. When she was about to give up, she noticed that the back cover of one of the books looked different from the others. It was one of Fleur’s old school books.

Excitedly, she grabbed the book and sat at the small desk that rested in front of a window. The excitement soon faded from her face when she opened the book.

“Of course…” she muttered. “It’s in French.”

Hermione jumped when she heard a knock coming from the window. A red-haired face was looking into the library; it was Ron.

“Hermione?” he wondered, from behind the glass.

“Ron!” called Hermione. “Would you be so kind and to tell me how long your brothers plan to keep us locked up in here?”

“I’m really sorry, Hermione,” said Ron genuinely. “You weren’t part of the plan.”

“What?” Hermione’s eyes widened.

“You were caught up in the middle!” said Ron with a grin.

Hermione was infuriated enough that she wanted to break the window and strangle Ron with her own bare hands.

“Hey!” called a voice far away from outside the house. “You’re not supposed to talk to the ladies!” It was either Fred or George.

“Gotta run!” Ron said, and he fled from the window.

“Don’t you dare!” Hermione threatened, but Ron was out of sight before she could finish the sentence. Her only chance of getting out had run away.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of the study.

“Hermione, are you there?” asked Molly from behind the study door.

Hermione took a deep breath. She thought that it probably wouldn’t be the best idea to tell Molly about her meeting with Ron because it would cause her to ask questions that Hermione didn’t have the patience to answer at the moment.

“Yes, Mrs. Weasley,” she said. “I’m in here, but I don’t feel like talking right now. I need to be alone for a while.”


Molly decided to give Hermione some privacy and moved along. It was quite late, and they hadn’t eaten in a while, so she decided to go to the kitchen and make some dinner. When she opened the door of the kitchen, she found Louise sitting at the table.

“I was thinking of making some dinner,” informed Molly. Regardless of what kind of answer Louise was going to give her, Molly was still planning to make dinner; she had to at least feed Ginny and Hermione.

“Aren’t you going to judge me for what I’ve done, like everybody else?” asked Louise, a bit surprised that Molly hadn’t done it yet. She was expecting that Molly would make her feel like a bad mother and wife.

“It’s not my place to do such things,” said Molly, looking for the pans.

“I barely knew Jacques when we got married,” said Louise standing up. “My family was ‘aving financial problems, and Jacques was very rich. I was very lucky when he fell in love with me.”

“I didn’t know that,” said Molly, realizing that there was a lot more to Louise than what met the eye.

“I love Jacques, I do,” said Louise, staring at the blank wall. “But I never fell in love with him.”

“So you decided to ruin Fleur’s marriage because yours doesn’t work?” Molly had stopped looking for the pans and was now giving Louise her full attention.

“I don’t want ‘er to end up like I did,” Louise said. She was trying to keep the tears from coming out. “I just want ‘er to be ‘appy.”

Molly looked at Louise. “And what made you think she wasn’t?”

Louise fell silent. Fleur was happy with Bill. She just hadn’t noticed; her prejudices against the Weasleys had blinded her. Now she had ruined her daughter’s wedding.

“We ‘ave to do something,” said Louise in a thoughtful manner.

“About what?” asked Molly a bit puzzled.

“We ‘ave to find a way to fix Fleur’s dress,” said Louise. She fell silent when she noticed something on the kitchen table. “What’s zat?” she asked, looking at the vase of dead flowers that rested on the kitchen table. They were starting to bloom.

“Funny,” said Molly. “They’re snowdrops. Not the kind of flower I would put in a vase.”

“Such ‘orrible flowers,” said Louise. “’Ow did they get ‘ere?”

Suddenly, the broom closet door opened. A dizzy and confused Gabrielle walked out of it, and she stumbled into the kitchen holding her head.

“I ‘ad a strange dream,” she said. “I dreamed we were all locked up in ze guesthouse and zat Mom was cheating on Dad. Where are we? I don’t remember anyzing.”

Molly and Louise looked at each other with widened eyes. “Some zings are better left forgotten,” Louise said, holding her daughter in her arms.

The kitchen door swung open and revealed Hermione, who was holding a thick book in her hands.

“I found a way to fix Fleur’s dress,” she said, with a serious look on her face. “Would you help me?”

“Of course!” said Molly.

Hermione and Molly, who were followed by Louise, left the kitchen.

“What ‘appened to Fleur’s dress?” Gabrielle asked herself, still puzzled. She shuddered and followed the other women.


In the living room, Hermione had moved the couches to create an empty space. In the middle of the room laid the wedding dress; it was still ruined.

Hermione held her wand up high and chanted a spell the other women had never heard before. The dress floated off the floor and started spinning in midair. The stains faded away, the wet parts dried, and the places where it ripped started to repair themselves. Once the dress had finished its healing process, it flew right into Hermione’s arms.

“Magnifique!” admired Louise.

“Ginny?” wondered Molly.

At the top of the stairs was Ginny. She was wearing a sundress, had combed her hair, and was wearing strappy high-heeled sandals.

Gabrielle was about to protest that Ginny, of all people, was wearing one of her dresses without permission, but before she could say anything, Louise covered her mouth.

“That dress looks better on a red-‘ead,” said Louise.

“Thanks,” said Ginny, blushing slightly. She started to walk down the stairs, but having grown up with a house full of boys Ginny, had never worn high-heels before in her life. So she tripped and rolled down the stairs. When she finally reached the bottom, she stood up quickly.

“I’m okay!” she said, trying to find her balance.

“Gabby?” said Louise, placing a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Why don’t you teach Ginny ‘ow to walk in ‘igh ‘eels while we go and tell Fleur ze wonderful news.”

Gabrielle looked in shock at her mother. Was she really supposed to pretend she was going to help Ginny after all that had happened? She was about to protest again when she caught her mother’s menacing glare.

“It’s not zat ‘ard,” Gabrielle said to Ginny, forcing a friendly smile on her face. Forcing smiles was something the Delacour women were very good at.


Fleur had locked herself up in one of the rooms upstairs. They could all rot in hell for all that she cared. She heard a knock on the door, but decided to ignore it.

“Fleur?” asked Louise from behind the door. “We know you’re zere.”

“Go away,” replied Fleur. “The wedding eez canceled. You ‘ave what you wanted.”

“We surely don’t want that,” said Molly in a motherly tone. “We just want you to be happy.”

Since they had no reply, Hermione decided to try a more direct approach. “We fixed your dress!”

Fleur opened the door almost instantly. Her face lit up when she saw her fixed dress; it looked more beautiful than ever. She held it between her arms and tears started to fill her eyes; this time they were tears of joy.

“You’re too pretty to be crying all the time,” said Molly, holding Fleur’s chin.

Fleur hugged her mother-in-law-to-be for the first time in a tight embrace. After that, she hugged her own mother.

“I give you and Bill my blessing,” said Louise.

“Zank you,” said Fleur.

From downstairs a loud click noise was heard. It sounded like a door had just been opened.

“The front door is open!” Ginny excitedly yelled from downstairs.

“We’re free!” yelled Gabrielle, also from downstairs.

The women didn’t lose any time. They ran outside of the guesthouse as fast as they could.

The fresh air of the countryside soon filled their lungs. From inside the house, they couldn’t notice what a lovely night it was. It was a full moon and the stars shined brightly; it was the kind of sparkle that one could only see in the country. They all stood outside appreciating the view and trying to catch their breaths. Hermione turned around and looked at the guesthouse.

“It looks much smaller from outside,” she said to the rest of the women.

Their problems had all looked so tiny from the outside. They couldn’t believe how crazy they all had acted.

“Congratulations!” yelled George. He was walking towards the ladies, and was followed closely by Fred. Before they could say anything else, they abruptly turned around and started to run for their life. Ginny and Gabrielle had started chasing them and were shooting jinxes at them.

“You’re going to pay for this!” yelled Ginny.

In time, Ginny and Gabrielle would learn to appreciate what the men did for them, but at that moment, they wanted revenge.

From the kitchen window, one could see that the snowdrops had fully blossomed and were peacefully resting on the table.



FIN