Chapter Text
A single red spark circled the peak of the stone throne like a tiny crimson comet, floating down to bounce off the faint shimmer of Gabby's magic and drift back into orbit once more. The pitch-black veins snaking under her limp silver curls and across Katie's face writhed like worms beneath her pale skin, a web as dark as ink in the shadows of Kart Hadasht’s Tophet; they spidered across her little arms and small hands to her grey dead fingernails.
‘Keep dreaming sweet dreams, mon poussin,’ Fleur murmured, stripping her wards away with a flick of a wand and jamming the jar of willow sprig into the pocket of her robes. ‘It is safe for us to go home now.’ She brushed Katie’s limp dull silver curls off her pale, still face and scooped her off Ba’alat Tanit’s throne, cradling her to her chest. ‘Je t’aime, little chick—’ Harry’s memories bled through her thoughts like ink soaking through parchment, soft and dark and drenched in despair ‘—je t’aime à la folie.’
She disapparated, hopping through the empty Corsican hall and out onto the pale pebbles beneath a clear spring sky.
Daffodils lined the banks of the small clear river rushing past; their bright yellow flowers fluttered in the breeze above purple, white and gold crocuses, stretching away up the hill toward the distant trees and the faint cawing of the ravens.
A scorched, scarred crater gaped between the edge of the white stones and the warped, ruined pensieve.
Fleur tugged her eyes away, pressing a soft kiss to Katie’s forehead and lying her down at the pensieve’s centre. ‘There we go, baby bird. You will be safe in there for a moment.’ A small lump swelled in her throat. ‘You look like a little chick in a big silver nest. Your silly harpy of an auntie used to lie in there on her back just like that, only she was a lot more chirpy—’ her voice shook ‘—and you’re still sleeping.’
The blackened crater dragged her gaze back to it like the missing tooth in a smile and her heart trembled.
‘I am going to regrow our willow, mon amour,’ she whispered, brushing her thumb across the crimson-threaded ring upon her finger. ‘Tu me manques.’
I will put everything back the way you meant it to be before Mithras destroyed it. Fleur stepped across to the crater, smoothing the crater down with a flick of her wrist, and wrestled the jar out of her pocket. Starting with our willow tree.
She vanished the jar, snagging the willow sprig from the water and poking it into the dirt. Fleur glanced back at Katie lying still within the faint white glow of Gabby’s magic and threaded her magic through the sapling, feeding it through the web of tiny veins, coaxing it on with little tugs.
The sprig shivered, sprouting upward, putting forth small branches and bright, fresh slim green leaves, and sending thin pale green root tendrils burrowing down into the dirt, swaying and shaking as it stretched up into the spring sunshine.
Gabby’s bubble of white magic burst.
Fleur dropped her wand and leapt into the pensieve, gathering Katie into her arms. The frozen tears in her daughter’s wide bright green eyes spilt free, trickling down her pale, dark-veined cheeks and she crumbled through Fleur’s fingers, collapsing into glowing golden motes and shrinking into a single spark of light as bright and hot as the summer sun.
It wavered, dancing like a desperate candle in the dark as Fleur’s heart trembled in her breast, and died.
J’espère.
A bright mote of amber flame welled up before the small willow sapling; it split into two, into four, and countless more, whirling in a blinding, blazing golden swirl, melting together, coalescing into a small sun-bright silhouette.
‘La Victoire Finale,’ Fleur whispered.
Mon amour… She pressed her hand over her mouth and stared, hot tears blurring on her lashes. You saved our little girl.
The glow dimmed, fading like the last light of the sunset sinking over the edge of the world.
Katie tottered forward from the small willow sapling, bare-foot on the cold white stones and naked to the breeze, her bright green eyes full of fear, trembling from head to toe.
Fleur snatched her wand up and apparated across, sweeping her daughter into her arms and disapparating into the bedroom; she grabbed her blanket off the bed and wrapped her daughter up in it. ‘There you go,’ she murmured, stroking Katie’s silver curls back off her face. ‘Tu vas bien, mon petit ange, you are okay. Tu iras bien, tout ira bien—’
Katie burst into tears, burying her face in Fleur’s shoulder and clinging on to her arm, huge fat tears trailing down her cheeks and dripping into the blanket. ‘Maman,’ she wailed. ‘Maman.’
‘You are okay,’ Fleur whispered, lifting Katie into her arms and cradling her head against her heart. ‘You will be okay. Everything will be okay.’
Katie’s tears slowed as she curled her small fists into Fleur’s loose dark robes and hiccuped, smushing her warm, damp cheeks into the crook of Fleur’s neck.
Fleur pressed soft little kisses to the top of her head, swaying back and forth as she hummed a gentle tune. ‘Let me find you some clothes, little chick. Come on.’
‘Maman,’ Katie pleaded, smearing tear-stained cheeks across Fleur’s collarbone and tugging at her robes. ‘Gabba.’
‘We will go see your Auntie Gabby soon,’ Fleur murmured. ‘But not today. We must stay here at home together where you are safe for a little while.’ She eased Katie’s fists free from her robes and sat her in the middle of the bed. ‘Stay still for just a moment; we do not want you getting cold.’
Katie’s bright green eyes darkened and she scrunched her face up into a huge scowl; little bumps rose along her arms as she held them out at Fleur and the blanket slipped down around her waist.
Fleur fished a clean set of clothes out of the draws beneath the wardrobe and tugged the top over Katie’s raised arms. Katie’s eyes bled black and small white tufts poked through light blue cotton; she balled her little fists into the silver blanket.
The corner of Fleur’s mouth curved up into a fond smile. ‘Are you pouting at me, baby bird?’ She levitated her daughter up and pulled her underwear and trousers over her squirming legs. ‘Socks?’
Katie ooched herself toward the edge of the bed.
‘Where are you trying to go?’ Fleur waved the tiny pair of bright green and pink socks. ‘You need these.’ She scooped Katie up and sat her on the edge of the bed, wiggling her small socks onto her little feet as she curled her toes. ‘Now you are all dressed.’
Katie lurched for the floor.
Fleur caught her and set her down on the carpet. ‘There you go.’
Her daughter dragged herself up on two fistfuls of duvet and tottered toward the door with a huge beaming smile and bright green eyes.
‘Where are you escaping off to?’ Fleur trailed after Katie as she scampered down the corridor, poking her head into the empty rooms one by one. ‘Katie…’
A small frown spread across her daughter’s face and she disappeared into Gabby’s bedroom, her cheerful babble drifting back down the hall.
Fleur leant on the doorframe and watched Katie toddle around the bed, the small frown turning into a huge pout and her green irises darkening.
Her daughter plopped down on the carpet and held out her arms. ‘Pa?’
Fleur’s heart sank like a stone. ‘Non, petit ange.’
A disconsolate little noise escaped Katie and she waved her arms at Fleur, squirming forward. ‘Pa, pa, pa,’ she gabbled.
‘Non,’ Fleur murmured, bending down and scooping her daughter into her arms. ‘He is not here, baby bird. Je suis désolée.’
Her daughter wriggled, pushing at Fleur's cheek with her small fists and scowling at the reflection of the two of them in the window.
‘Je sais, mon poussin. Je sais.’ Fleur pressed a light kiss to Katie’s cheek and drifted back to her room. ‘Je suis désolée.’
Katie’s green eyes darkened, brimming with tears, and her lip quivered.
‘I know,’ Fleur whispered. ‘But I cannot bring him back. It is just the two of us, baby bird, but it will be okay. Je te le promets.’
Her daughter threw her head back and wailed.
‘He is gone, little chick.’ She sighed and held Katie close. ‘One day I will tell you where he went and why, but not until you are old enough to understand.’
Katie flailed her arms and legs, bawling in Fleur’s ear.
‘Look, little chick—’ Fleur pulled the painting out from under their bed ‘—I have a picture of the two of us. You can see him here.’ A sweet little pain twisted in her heart as she stared down at the two of them kissing forever beneath swaying willow boughs. ‘Non?’
Her daughter shoved her face into Fleur’s chest and cried harder.
‘Non?’ Fleur slid it back below their bed and glanced around, bouncing Katie on her hip with a gentle arm. ‘You know who you need, mon poussin.’ She drew her wand. ‘Accio.’
Henri the Raven zipped down the corridor, bouncing off the door and into Fleur’s hand.
‘Here you go, petit ange,’ she whispered. ‘Look who I found?’
Katie scowled at her toy, small soft white tufts sprouting all along her arms, and with a loud pop, Henri the Raven vanished.
‘Accio,’ Fleur murmured, snagging the soft toy from the air as it floated back into the room. ‘Poor Henri.’
I suppose he will have to replace you after all, mon Amour. A little hot lump swelled in Fleur’s throat and she set the raven down on their bed. And our little chick is going to crawl all around the chateau hunting for you like she used to, but she will never find you.
Fleur blinked the warm blur of tears away and shifted Katie’s weight to her hip, smearing them away and humming a gentle tune as she cradled her daughter close; she watched Gabby wave and smile within her silver frame upon the desk.
‘Maybe you are hungry, non?’ Fleur pressed a soft kiss to the top of Katie’s head as she sobbed against her shoulder. ‘Let us go and see if there is anything tasty left; I think we still have your birthday presents from the Duforts, though Mithras ate all my macarons.’ A choked little laugh escaped her. ‘Bâtard.’
But in a few days he will be dead. She tucked her wand away and drifted downstairs toward the cake cupboard. And when he is gone, you are safe from everything, little chick. Your papa made sure.
