Title: French Girls
Author: Lauren (restlesswritings)
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Fleur Delacour, Bill Weasley, Gabrielle Delacour
Pairing: Bill/Fleur
Word Count: 580
Rating: PG
Summary: Fleur practices her English.
Notes: Written for Assignment #2 (2019): Animagus Training task 3 at Hogwarts. Prompt: Write about someone talking in a different language.

Fleur bit her lip in frustration and then swore in French. “This is hopeless” she said to her sister. “How am I ever going to make Bill happy if I can’t speak English properly.” She’d spent all summer working at the Ministry to try and improve her English. But even she could hear the accent in her voice when she spoke the language.

“You’re doing great” said Gabrielle, putting a hand on her older sister’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. “Learning another language is hard.” Even though both sisters had studied English at Beauxbatons, they both still spoke the language with thick accents. But Gabrielle could tell Fleur’s English had improved a great deal in just a few months.

“Thank you” said Fleur with a small smile. “I just hope Bill doesn’t dump me for another woman.” She still feared her boyfriend would leave her. The insecurity was a new emotion for Fleur, who had always been confident and had boys falling all over her as a teenager.

“He would have to be crazy to do that” assured Gabrielle.

---

Fleur arrived in Hogsmeade earlier than she’d planned. She was meeting Bill at Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop, but wasn’t supposed to be there for another ten minutes. Deciding that it couldn’t hurt to be a bit early, she made her way to the tea shop and stepped inside.

Glancing around the shop, she was surprised to see Bill was there already. With a wide smile and a wave, she headed towards him. “I see you are early too” she said in English. She hoped the language sounded more natural to him than it came out to her ears.

As Fleur sat down next to him, Bill greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. “I couldn’t wait one more minute to see you” he admitted.

Fleur felt herself blush at the confession. “That makes two of us” she said after a moment.

Bill stared at her for a moment, as if he was thinking hard about saying something. “Is something on my face?” Fleur asked. She was always afraid of embarrassing herself in front of him.

Bill shook his head. Then he surprised her by saying “There’s something I’ve wanted to ask you for a while now.” She raised her eyebrows. Where was this going?

Bill slid out of the booth and dropped down to one knee in front of her. He opened his mouth again, but this time he spoke in French. “Fleur Delacour, will you marry me?” he asked her, pulling out a tiny box and opening it to reveal an engagement ring.

Fleur was so overwhelmed with emotion that she started speaking in French. It was only after she said “Yes” that she realized her mistake. Then her brain processed that fact that Bill had spoken in French. “Yes” she said again, this time in English.

As Bill slid the ring onto her finger, a thought occurred to her. “When did you learn French?” she asked him.

Bill smiled widely and climbed off the floor. Kissing her again, he said “I started taking lessons after I met you.” Then his face turned red. “ Will you marry me? is pretty much the only phrase I know, though.”

Fleur laughed at that. “And here I was afraid you were going to leave me for an English girl” she said.

Bill shook his head. “Never” he said. “I happen to have a thing for French girls. One French girl in particular.”