riddlenet | ( un: odile )

That's my name.

[ And then, in careful French, ]

Are you one of Fleur's relatives?

[ ... his dad is so cute. ]

Oui.
Her youngest child, actually.

Hi, Dad.

[ Merlin. ]

Victoire?

No, Louis. There's three of us. Victoire is the eldest, then Dominique, then me.

[ He has a son. He has two daughters, and a son!

(The daughters came first, his mum will have a field day.)

He's grinning so hard he feels as though his face may break from it. ]

I'm sorry. I'm a bit behind you. None of you are born yet. Victoire is due next month, but

Can we meet?

Yes, of course we can. There's a lot that we should talk about, and I don't want to be far from family in this place, I think.

Good.

[ A thought occurs to him. ]

Don't register. You can't register.
Please tell me you haven't registered.

No, of course not. I'm not that trusting, especially with Tom Riddle and the Death Eaters in power here.
I suppose you could say that I've been collecting information.

Where are you staying? I'll come to you right now.

It's better for me to come to you. I've been [ hm. ] between places.

[ He had mentioned sex in his original message, hadn't he. Christ, how old is he!? ]

Leaky. Room 6.

[ Old Enough, but probably not old enough for your comfort, bill. ]

I'll be there shortly.

[ Will he ever be old enough that Bill's comfortable thinking about him sleeping around? Likely not. ]

I'll be waiting.

[ Pacing. Checking his hair in the mirror. Pacing some more. ]

[ not long after, there's a knock at the door-- and on the other side, a tall, lanky young man with white-blond hair, extremely bright blue eyes, and the same uncomfortable beauty of his mother and aunt.

he hesitates, then offers a slightly cautious, almost shy smile. ]

Hi.

[ There's a knock, and he freezes for just a heartbeat, before rushing to throw the door open. And at that point, he's just flabbergasted. He hadn't known what to expect-- the trademark Weasley ginger hair, perhaps. Freckles, probably. Lanky height like himself and his brothers.

The last one is the only thing that carries over. Otherwise, he's the spitting image of his mother. Of course. How could anything as plain as Weasley blood overwrite something so beautiful? ]

Merlin, look at you.

[ Then all at once, the reality of their surroundings come crashing down around him. Who else has been appreciating his son's beauty?

He steps back from the door. ] Come in, come in.

[ despite himself, he colours a little at the exclamation. back home, his dad's used to he and his sisters, of course, but he supposes they can be a little overwhelming if it's one's first time seeing one of them.

he steps in when invited, shutting the door behind him, then stepping toward his father, curling his arms around him in a quick, fierce hug.

merlin, he's so glad he's here. ] Are you okay? Is Maman here? [ he assumes victoire and dominique aren't, at least, since his father was surprised about them. ]

[ Bill is half a second late in returning the hug-- he's not used to being hugged like that. But then the hug is over and he pulls back to look at Louis again, really look at him and realize that this is his son.

He shakes his head no. ] It's just us. And your uncle, Ron. There's a smattering of other displaced, but no family.

[ And then, just to be safe, he pulls out his wand and lays a few protective spells on the door to keep anyone from interrupting or overhearing them. ]

I spoke to him a bit. [ he hesitates, then shifts to lean against the desk in the room, hands curling against the edge. ] The two of you have been through-- through this before. I don't know what to do.

[ he and the rest of his generation have grown up during peace-time, after all. and though louis is naturally a cautious person when it comes to revealing things about himself, he's still.. lost. ]

I'm to meet Scorpius and Albus later, though. --Draco Malfoy's son and Uncle Harry's youngest son. They were in my year at Hogwarts.

None of us have been through this before. This is... it's insidious, but it's just as dangerous as the war, maybe more so. [ Voldemort coming to power legitimately, using politics instead of terrorism... It's nothing they could have expected.

This is the first Bill's hearing about Draco Malfoy and Harry having sons that, apparently, are friends with not only his son, but each other. It's unlikely, for sure, but Bill knows that in strange times like these, it's important to have people you can trust, and if Louis trusts Scorpius and Albus, then he will too. ]

Good, just-- Be careful. Stay clear of the ministry and anyone who works there. I only just found you, I can't --

[ Can't bear the thought of losing his only son mere moments after meeting him for the first time.

He stops, breathes. Forces himself to focus. ]

I'll have to find somewhere for us to stay. Shell Cottage is out, and while the Burrow is open to me, I don't know how your gran will react to a full grown grandson.

That is, assuming you don't want to find a place of your own?

I'll be alright, [ louis says with a small, hopefully-reassuring quirk of his lips-- not quite a smile. those are fairly rare, especially when he actually means them. ] If there's anything being a Slytherin taught me, it's to be careful.

[ to be careful and to hide what he really feels. he'd learned that his first year. hell, he'd learned that just writing the news to his family, that he hadn't wound up in gryffindor like the majority of the weasley clan.

he hauls himself up to sit on the desk, watching his father carefully. ]

I'd like to stay with you. Close to you, anyway. [ a pause, then carefully, a little uncertainly: ] I've been.. ah, hearing things, though. From.. people. I think that could be handy, if it comes down to it. I don't look like a Weasley, I have a French accent. I could play another person if I need to.

[ he's good at acting. and he has no idea if it'll be any use, but he's leaving the option open to.. whatever resistance forms. ]

[ Bill looks away, returning to his worried pacing, but when Louis mentions being a Slytherin, he does a double take.

Slytherin. His son was in Slytherin. That wasn't something he ever expected to hear. Suppose that makes sense why he'd be friends with the Malfoy boy, but...

It doesn't matter. Louis is still his son, no matter where the Sorting Hat placed him. And he's obviously an adult now. What does House loyalty matter when you're out of school?

Bill nods. What's more important is what Louis goes on to say. ]

That could come in handy. I'm hesitant to use you as a spy, but... [ He sighs. ] There's no Order of the Phoenix yet. It could get dangerous, trying to start one.

It's dangerous just living here, being what I am.

[ part creature, and obviously so for anyone even remotely familiar with veela. they tend to be slightly more acceptable, being considered near-humans and also beautiful, but that doesn't mean voldemort likes them any more than he does any other non-human.

he reaches out, snagging his father's wrist as bill paces, squeezing the slim bones beneath his fingers. ] We have to do something, don't we? We can't just.. leave things like this.

[ Of course. Fleur's children would have Fleur's heritage along with her beauty. He'll have to be extra careful not to let the Ministry get their evil hands on Louis, or any of them should Victoire or-- Dominique, was it?-- arrive.

He's stopped in his pacing as Louis reaches out to grab his wrist. He freezes, exhaling deeply before moving to stand in front of Louis, placing his wand down on the desk and cupping Louis' face with his hands. Looking his son dead in the eye, he promises, ] I won't let them touch you. Any of you.

This timeline is broken. I think it's up to us displaced to fix it. Maybe... [ He takes a deep breath. ] Maybe we were pulled here for a reason. There's something grander at work here, and if we're going to return to our times-- to the right times, we're going to have to fight.

[ the thought of this turning into another sort of war is enough to make nausea curl in his stomach, but naturally, nothing shows on louis's face safe for a sort of distant concern. he lifts his hands to his father's wrists, squeezing them gently. ]

I'll be okay, Dad, and I'll do whatever needs to be done.

[ whatever he has to do. the thought of living forever here like this, with things so wrong, is too horrifying to contemplate. ]

I know you will.

[ Gryffindor or Slytherin, there's no way that Louis was a child of Fleur and didn't inherit her tenacity to thrive in the face of trouble. Bill pulls Louis into another hug, just holding him close to his chest as his mind races, trying to think, trying to plan ahead. ]

They've set up a village for the displaced, near Hogsmeade. Hopefully, there ought to be enough displaced there that we can slip by unnoticed and they'll assume we've registered.

( un: odile )

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