Whenever Mum mentioned Primrose's extended singlehood, Primrose shrugged and laughed it off ("Mum, I'm only 24!"), because otherwise she'd get annoyed at her mother's constant nagging. But she couldn't deny it might be nice to have someone besides Clementine to come to of an evening, someone tall, handsome, and completely smitten with her....
With a sigh, she gathered up some reports to deliver to Anita, her colleague. It wasn't useful to dwell on daydreams during the workday, so she set off at a brisk walk to dispel the last imaginings. She wasn't expecting to turn a corner and find Bill Weasley coming her direction, but she distinctly felt that dropping all of her papers at the sight of him was a bit much.
"Oh, bother," she muttered, kneeling down and gathering them up.
"Sorry, Primrose!" Bill said, helping her with the last few. "I didn't mean to startle you!"
"Don't worry about it; it's just my report on the latest treasure from the steppes," Primrose replied, smiling at him. "Haven't seen you in a while, Bill. How's Egypt?"
"Fantastic." His grin faded a little. "But I actually came in today to apply for a desk job for the time being. I need to be closer to home."
"Oh." Primrose wondered why he was making the change.
"It'll take me a couple of weeks to get everything settled, but then I'll be here for good. We'll have to catch up when I get back, okay?"
"That'd be great," Primrose said, hoping she didn't sound too enthusiastic. She had always adored Bill Weasley; he'd been a year above her at school and Head Boy when she was a prefect. The very fact that he remembered her name after all these years illustrated why she had such a soft spot for him. "Good luck getting everything worked out," she added.
"Thanks! I'll see you in a while then." He patted her shoulder then headed off the other direction.
If Anita noticed the way Primrose kept smiling, she didn't say anything about it.
"So I ran into Bill Weasley today."
"Literally?" Benj drawled. "Knock him down, did you?"
Primrose rolled her eyes at her brother. "No, though I did drop my reports. He helped pick them up."
"Of course he did!" Martha exclaimed. "Bill Weasley is such a gentleman! How is he doing?"
"He looks like he's loved being in Egypt. His hair's really long and he has an earring." Primrose had been so overwhelmed at seeing him she hadn't remembered that detail until now. "Oh, and he's coming back to Headquarters to work for the time being."
"Did he say why?"
Primrose shook her head at the same time her little sister Emma said, "It's probably because of You-Know-Who."
Everyone stared at her. Emma had recently finished her first year at Hogwarts; Benj and his wife Martha had invited her to dinner to celebrate (Primrose had a standing invitation) -- and to take her mind off the events that had closed her time at school. So far it didn't seem to have worked.
"You-Know-Who?" Primrose said finally.
"Yeah." Emma looked curiously at their shocked faces. "Does Bill Weasley have red hair? He was at the Third Task, with Harry Potter. He was there when Cedric died. Maybe he wants to be closer to his family." Her eyes filled with tears. "That's what I would want if I lived in Egypt."
"Oh, sweetheart, don't worry about what happened. You-Know-Who isn't back. We're perfectly safe." Martha tried to hug her, but she pulled away.
"Dumbledore said he was, that he killed Cedric, and Harry Potter was there and escaped!"
Benj and Primrose exchanged glances; there was no point debating with a twelve-year-old. Benj took it upon himself to change the subject. "So, Rosie. Bill's still single, isn't he? Mum will be thrilled to --"
"Don't you dare tell her!" Primrose interjected, giving him her best glare. "We haven't seen each other in years, and I'm sure he only thinks of me as one of his little prefects. And now one of his colleagues."
"We won't mention it," Martha promised. "Shall we play Exploding Snap?"
Even Emma was happy at that idea, so they got out the cards and spent the evening playing and laughing at each other's explosion mishaps. Primrose won handily, as usual, even though she couldn't help but wonder why Bill would come back from Egypt. She supposed she'd hear soon.
Somehow Mum found out. (Primrose suspected Emma.)
Primrose couldn't stop her nagging until she at least agreed to a haircut, then Mum took advantage of her captivity in the salon chair to grill her about the other men in her life (mostly Martha's annoying little brother Basil, who also worked at Gringotts; Primrose couldn't stand him).
"Still," she said to Clementine, who was watching her get ready for work. "I look nice, don't I?" She took a moment to survey herself in the mirror: her pale hair, normally inclined to frizz, had been coaxed into behavior and lay neatly across her shoulders; her light eyes looked positively green thanks to the makeup Mum had forced her to get; she still wore her normal work robes, which concealed all imperfections in Primrose's soft figure. She smiled at her reflection. "And maybe Bill will be back today."
It actually took a couple of days, but one morning when Primrose Apparated in, she saw some boxes and other evidence that someone was moving in to one of their vacant offices. She sat down at her desk and took a deep breath. One of the unfortunate side effects of letting her family know that Bill Weasley was coming back was an escalation in ... daydreams. Primrose found herself imagining the way his smile would widen when he saw her; she could almost feel his arm settling around her shoulders as he led her to an intimate cafe where they would catch up as promised. It was hard to stay grounded! She knew she was ridiculous, and yet...
"Hey."
Primrose beamed before properly registering her greeter. "Oh. Hi, Basil. What can I do for you this morning?"
"Have you seen who's moving in?"
"Oh, I know who it is," Primrose replied. "Bill told me a couple weeks ago he'd be coming back."
"Oh, it's not Weasley. It's a bird. A real fancy one."
"What?" Primrose hurried around her desk and joined Basil in the hall. "When you say 'bird' do you mean a fowl or a woman?"
"A woman, of course. Didja think an owl came to work for us?"
Primrose smiled blandly. "I just don't appreciate your slang, I suppose. Who is she?"
"Let's go find out!" Basil said eagerly, leading the way. "I wouldn't mind getting to know her."
"Honestly, I don't know what the fuss --" Primrose began, but halted. Bill leaned against a doorway, chatting with the person within. When he spotted her, his smile widened just as she had imagined.
"Primrose! I'm glad to see you again! Who's your friend?"
She grimaced, but only inwardly. "This is Basil; he works in Accounts."
"My sister's married to her brother!" Basil volunteered, elbowing Primrose in the ribs.
"Come meet the other newcomer," Bill said, gesturing inside. "Fleur, I'd like to introduce some of your colleagues."
Primrose's first sight of Fleur was almost a physical shock; she wasn't sure she'd ever seen anything so lovely at Gringotts before, and she'd looked at her share of goblin treasure. She almost couldn't blame Basil's mouth for dropping open when she noted her gorgeous figure (even in the unflattering Gringotts robes) and her long fan of silvery hair. Then she opened her shapely mouth. "Eet is nice to be meeting you," she said, smiling slightly. "My name is Fleur Delacour."
The name was familiar, as was the smile. Primrose realized where she recognized her. "Oh, you were the Beauxbatons champion!" she said. "My sister was at Hogwarts this year and mentioned you." Emma hadn't had much to say about the French girl, mostly that she was "very pretty". She was certainly right about that.
"Yes, I was there. 'Ogwarts is a nice enough school, I suppose."
"That's where I met Fleur, actually," Bill said. "I was at the Third Task and got introduced to her there."
Fleur's smile blossomed as she looked up at Bill and placed her hand on his arm. Primrose tried not to stare, especially when Bill smiled back. After a moment Basil cleared his throat, and Bill jumped to attention.
"Ah, right! Fleur, this is Basil from Accounts."
"Charmed," Basil said, taking Fleur's hand and kissing it.
"And this is Primrose Dobbs. She works in Translation and is the sweetest girl you'll ever meet."
Primrose blushed as Fleur extended a languid hand to her as well. "It's nice to meet you, Fleur," she said politely.
"The pleasure is all mine, I am sure," Fleur replied. "You know Bill from 'Ogwarts?"
"Yes, he was my Head Boy," Primrose said, before realizing that it sounded weird. She'd had other Head Boys, but somehow Bill always stood out as hers.
"She was a great little prefect," Bill remarked, grinning at her. "Well, I'd better finish unpacking! If you need any help, Fleur, feel free to ask me or Primrose. She's in Translation too."
"I can also be of assistance," Basil added, smiling ingratiatingly. "Just let me know."
"I certainly will," Fleur said, encompassing both Basil and Primrose in her response before returning to her office. Primrose glanced at Bill once more; he'd already turned away.
That was useful, she thought, then walked back to her desk. She certainly had plenty of work to do.
Primrose almost didn't feel like going to dinner at Benj's that night; she knew Martha would want to know if Bill was back, and she wasn't up to talking about it yet. It was silly, she knew, but she hadn't been able to shake the image of her and Bill, alone together for an entire evening. It would take time to replace herself with Fleur, but she figured it would be good practice for the future reality. She'd only needed to see them together for a minute to tell what would happen.
But Primrose knew that if she didn't go, she'd spend the evening moping at home with her cat, and that certainly wouldn't help matters. So when the workday was over, Primrose gathered her things and Apparated to the flat Benj and Martha shared.
"Well, if it isn't the prodigal sister!"
"Very funny, Benj," Primrose said, starting the evening off on a positive note. "It's been, what, two days since I came last?"
"Seems a veritable age," Benj said solemnly, taking her cloak. "Anything exciting happening at work?"
"Yes, tell us, is Bill back?" Martha asked, predictably.
"He is, and so is his new girlfriend," Primrose said, getting the worst over with as soon as possible.
"What?" At least Martha was also predictably shocked.
"Oh, I don't know if they're dating yet, but it's got to be soon. You should've seen the way they looked at each other." Primrose felt a dull ache at the thought. "You've probably heard of her: Fleur Delacour?"
"Beauxbatons Champion," Benj said instantly. "Nice job with the dragon, poor showing in the other two tasks."
"You only know because she's gorgeous," Martha accused him fondly, poking his arm. "That picture of her in the paper was beyond stunning, and those photos aren't usually very flattering."
"She's even more lovely in person," Primrose said. "And I have no way to compete."
"Oh, Rosie," Martha said sadly. "I'm sorry. But I'm sure she's a nice person! Maybe you'll get along."
Primrose wasn't going to count on it. "Basil was his usual ridiculous self," she remarked, changing the subject slightly. "Remind me again how you're related to him?"
"I can't imagine how embarrassing he was in front of her," Martha said, shaking her head. "It must be some weird quirk of genetics."
"If our children take after him, I'm filing for divorce," Benj said, with every appearance of seriousness.
"If we're lucky, they'll be just like Primrose."
"Oh, please," Primrose said, flattered but not in the mood for flattery. "I know you're just dying to have spinster daughters."
"Don't be absurd, Rosie," Benj said sternly. "There's hope for you yet. It's just a pity your hope didn't come in the form of a Weasley."
"Still might," Martha added. "There's always Charlie."
Primrose took a moment to picture herself with the boy she associated strongly with magical creatures, and had to laugh. "That'll be the day. So are we eating anything tonight or just feasting on conversation?"
"Just waiting for you to ask!" Benj said, leading the way to the kitchen. "We're having cheese sandwiches, in your honor."
"Oh, excellent!" Primrose said, giggling as she and Martha followed. "You know how to treat your guests!"
It was a good thing she'd come.
The next week of work fell into a new routine for Primrose. She'd start the morning by cordially asking Fleur if she needed any assistance. After Fleur politely declined, she would work as usual, with occasional breaks to clear her head. She wanted to get past her jealousy and figured the best way to do that would be to befriend her competition, or at least expose herself to the sight of Fleur and Bill together until it didn't hurt anymore. It was kind of working.
"It's my own fault for daydreaming," she told herself. "Nothing ever comes of it, and it's not Bill or Fleur's fault I did it." When she could look past the pain she was actually enjoying their courtship; Fleur was coy and lovely and attracted men like flies to honey, while Bill pretended not to notice the effect she had on him and didn't shower her with attention the way others (like Basil) did.
"What would it be like," she mused once, "to look like Fleur does?" After a few moments she realized she was daydreaming again, and scolded herself roundly. "It's just as well! What would I do with that kind of attention?"
There was one more thing that bothered her, though: it was clear to her that Bill wasn't enjoying his desk job very much. Why was he staying?
One day she decided her curiosity had gone on long enough. She marched up to his office and, ignoring Fleur as she stood nearby, asked, "Why did you come home?"
Bill blinked at her, surprised. He glanced at Fleur, who raised her eyebrows. After a moment, he looked Primrose square in the eye and said plainly, "Because You-Know-Who's back, and I'm working against him here."
Primrose felt faint. "But -- but how do you know? What makes you think that's the right way when the Ministry is --" but then she stopped and thought. "You actually know Harry Potter, don't you?"
"A sight better than any journalist," Bill replied. "And he's a great kid. Dumbledore's as sharp as ever, too."
"The Ministry is trying to cover up the story and discredit them because Fudge is scared," Primrose concluded. She could understand how Fudge felt.
Fleur laughed a little; Bill looked sideways at her and said, "I told you she was good."
To Primrose's surprise, Fleur was smiling warmly at her. "You are good, too," she told Bill. "And Primrose is better."
"Can you tell me more?" Primrose asked.
"Sure thing," Bill said. "Fleur, shut the door for us, will you? Take a seat, Primrose; we'll be here a while."
Primrose did as asked, feeling a little lightheaded. She'd need to apologize to Emma and find some way to tell her family that their world was changing. As she exchanged another smile with Fleur, though, she couldn't help but think that something good could come of this news.