Chapter 586 - Until We Meet Again, My Beautiful Veela

Chapter 586: Chapter 586 - Until We Meet Again, My Beautiful Veela

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-Saturday-

A few days had passed since the families left.

Now, the time had finally come to say goodbye to the foreign delegations as well.

At that moment, the Hogwarts grounds were already bustling with activity.

Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students walked back and forth carrying luggage, talking with friends, and enjoying their final moments before the journey home.

The enormous flying carriage of the French school was already waiting near the castle’s main entrance, while the Durmstrang ship could be seen in the distance, anchored in the waters of the Black Lake.

Curiously, the atmosphere wasn’t sad.

In fact, most of the students seemed more excited about going back home than disappointed about leaving.

But honestly, that wasn’t all that surprising.

After months away from home — and especially after everything that happened during the final task of the Triwizard Tournament — anyone would be happy to be back to the comfort of their own home.

Hogwarts might have tried to make the students from the two schools feel welcomed and comfortable here, but that clearly hadn’t worked... at least not for everyone.

And that was mainly because of the personalities of those foreign students.

The Beauxbatons students, with a few exceptions, were a group of spoiled and arrogant brats.

Their disdain and contempt for Hogwarts and its students prevented them from truly connecting with the place and the people. On top of that, their arrogance made it even harder for Hogwarts students to like them.

In the end, the French students remained in their own groups, barely interacting with anyone outside their circles.

They didn’t even make much of an effort to see and understand the many wonders of the British school.

The same could be said about the Durmstrang students. But in their case, it wasn’t arrogance and disdain that kept them apart.

Their personalities were simply more reserved and quiet. They were a pretty closed-off group.

Even so, they managed to make more friends among the Hogwarts students than the Beauxbatons students did.

To be fair, though, the foreign students couldn’t take all the blame.

Because of the Triwizard Tournament, many Hogwarts students viewed the other two schools as rivals — and sometimes, in more extreme cases, even as enemies.

As a result, many British students didn’t exactly make things easy for the French and Bulgarian students either.

And that only reinforced my opinion that bringing back the Triwizard Tournament had been a stupid idea.

The whole point of the damned tournament was supposedly to encourage friendship between the schools, but in the end, it had practically achieved the opposite effect.

Even so, despite all the things working against them, some friendship had inevitably formed.

Because of that, it was still possible to see a few emotional goodbyes happening here and there.

And, as one of the few people who had managed to become friends with someone from another school, I was also preparing for a goodbye.

And that was exactly why I was walking with Fleur right now.

We were taking our time as we walked along one of the quieter, more secluded paths near the Black Lake.

Neither of us seemed particularly interested in talking about the farewell that was approaching.

So, to make the most of those final moments, we ended up talking about pretty much anything else.

The weather, summer vacation, the Beauxbatons students, the Hogwarts students, the cultural differences between the two countries.

Pretty much any topic worked.

Until, while discussing future plans, an idea that had occupied my thoughts for quite some time resurfaced in my mind.

"You know..." I began, "I’ve had an idea in mind for a while now."

"Hm?" Fleur turned her head toward me. "What kind of idea?"

"Well... I’ve been planning to start a company here in the wizarding world," I replied. "Nothing too big, just enough to generate some profit and get people’s attention."

She blinked.

Then she looked interested.

"A company?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "It would mainly focus on selling enchanted and alchemical items... objects that would make people’s daily lives easier."

"And honestly, it’s something I’ve been planning for quite a while," I continued.

"The only people who know about it right now are my parents, Nick, Penny, Sirius... and now, you."

I gave her a small smile.

"Well..." an amused smile appeared on her lips, "I suppose I should feel special because of that."

"Definitely," I said in a teasing tone.

I then stopped walking and turned directly toward her.

"Anyway, the reason I told you about it, besides the fact that you’re my friend, is because... well..."

I paused, looking into her beautiful blue eyes.

"When you graduate from Beauxbatons... if you don’t have any plans... or if you’re still unsure about what you want to do..."

"...I’d like to offer you a position in my company."

Fleur’s eyes widened slightly.

"Wait." She stared at me, stunned. "Are you... offering me a job?"

"Well... yes," I replied, rubbing the back of my neck nervously.

"I mean, the company is still in the planning stage and—"

"I accept!"

Interrupted by Fleur’s outburst, I blinked.

This time, it was my turn to stare at her in shock.

"You... accept?" I repeated, surprised.

"Yes!" she nodded energetically.

A huge smile was spread across her face.

"You... you do know the company doesn’t even exist yet, right?" I asked with an uncertain expression. "And besides that, I haven’t even told you what your position would be, what you’d have to do, or even what your salary would be."

"That doesn’t matter," she replied immediately. "I trust you."

Those words were simple, but direct.

And that, combined with the look of trust and affection in her eyes, hit me harder than I expected.

Before I could answer, a faint blush appeared on Fleur’s delicate cheeks.

"The only thing I’d ask is that..." she fidgeted nervously with her hands, "...that the job be here in Great Britain."

She looked at me before shyly averting her gaze.

With her heart racing, she added:

"And that... and that I can stay close to you."

For a moment, the world around us seemed to slow down.

I could feel her emotions through my Empathy.

The nervousness. The shyness. The hope. The affection.

And most of all, the love.

A sincere, deep love.

My heart gave a small leap inside my chest.

Her request caught me completely off guard.

But even so, I could feel a happy smile threatening to appear on my face.

"I’m pretty sure I can make that happen," I said, smiling as I looked at her gently.

"Parfait." She smiled as well.

For a few seconds, we simply stood there, looking at one another.

Until a voice sounded in the distance, breaking that affectionate atmosphere.

"Fleur!"

The two of us turned around.

There, near the Beauxbatons carriage, stood Madame Maxime.

With her towering height, she looked over the students, clearly searching for her champion.

"I guess that’s my cue..." Fleur said.

The smile on her face didn’t disappear, but now it carried a small trace of sadness.

Because no matter how much we both knew we would see each other again, this was still a goodbye.

Just thinking about being apart for that long was enough to make us feel a little down.

"Yeah... I guess it is," I sighed.

For a few moments, neither of us said anything.

But the silence didn’t last long before Fleur spoke again.

"Will you write to me?" she asked softly, without looking away from my face.

"Of course I will!" I nodded firmly. "I’ll even ask Fawkes, the Headmaster’s phoenix, to deliver the letters so they’ll arrive faster."

"Good." Her expression softened.

She didn’t even question how I intended to convince a phoenix, one of the proudest and most mystical creatures in existence, to work as a postal owl.

At that moment, she was simply happy knowing we’d be able to communicate more often.

Fleur stared at me silently for a few seconds, seeming hesitant.

Then, as if she had reached an important decision, she took a deep breath before taking a step forward.

And another.

And another, until she was less than a foot away from me.

Looking at her, I could see both shyness and determination in her eyes.

It left me confused and, for some reason, nervous.

Before I could say anything, she rose onto her tiptoes and leaned forward.

And then I felt her lips touch my cheek.

It was a gentle, warm, lingering kiss.

It was full of affection. Full of emotion.

Full of feelings she didn’t need to put into words.

When she finally pulled away, her face was completely red.

Mine probably was too.

"See you soon, Ethan." She smiled.

It was a small smile, but to my eyes it was incredibly beautiful... like a flower blooming.

Fleur stared intently at my face, as if she wanted to memorize every detail of it.

Then, seemingly satisfied, she nodded.

The next instant, she took a few steps backward before turning around and running toward the Beauxbatons carriage.

She didn’t look back even once, feeling far too shy and embarrassed.

And me?

I simply stood there watching.

Still stunned, and with my heart pounding like crazy, all I could do was watch the beautiful Veela walk away.

I then watched her reach her classmates.

I watched them question her, and I watched her cover her face with both hands before hurriedly climbing into the carriage under the amused laughter of the French students.

Shortly afterward, those students boarded as well.

Once everyone was seated inside the carriage, they were ready to depart.

The dozens of Abraxans harnessed to the carriage spread their enormous wings. Then, with a powerful run and a strong leap, they took to the skies.

Watching the French carriage rise into the air and slowly disappear into the distance, all I could think about was the girl with golden hair and crystal-blue eyes.

Every moment we’d shared together, from our very first interaction to this farewell.

Slowly, I raised a hand to my cheek, still feeling the warmth and softness of Fleur’s lips.

Then, unconsciously, a smile appeared on my face.

’See you soon... my beautiful Veela’

End.

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