"Briar Lupin had dreamt, predicted, foreseen death more times than she cared to admit. If she actually remembered all of the times it had occurred, at least."
Sequel to Blue.
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
BIG FUN
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CHRISTMAS WAS QUIETER when Briar couldn't spend the day with any of her family. Livvy hadn't been speaking to her, the only contact she'd had with her parents was through letters, which felt strange, compared to having the whole day with her family. Her Christmas presents had been swapped with her parents by the twentieth, but neither side was yet to open them.
The entire lead-up was weird. Every inch of it had been pleasant, but the strange sort of pleasant. But, what Briar found odd was that, ever since she had befriended Fleur, Cedric had too, and the three ended up talking often. Briar felt like a groupie. She also felt very cool. A lot of people looked at her in admiration — even if it was the sort of admiration that stemmed from, oh, wow, they're pretty.
A lot of people, ever since the string of Rita Skeeter articles on the tournament, were also stopping her in corridors to ask her questions. The majority of the time, it was the same stuff Rita liked to comment on. How she did her hair ("I saw it in a muggle magazine...?"), where did she get her makeup from ("Random muggle shops that sell cruelty-free stuff — MAC and Chanel aren't cruelty-free! Don't trust them!"), how was her brother...
The last question, as of late, was answered with an awkward laugh and lie. "Oh, he's, um, fine," she'd say, and dart away before they asked anything else.
But, Briar liked the questions. She liked to discuss makeup and fashion with someone who was interested in the topic. That was originally why she clicked with Fleur so easily because no one else she knew actually liked to talk about it. Which was a shame, really. Briar just wanted to trade secrets.
She crossed her arms and stood next to Fleur and Cedric. Fleur was talking about the Yule Ball, and Briar was standing close to Cedric to steal his warmth. Brightly, Fleur said, "My grandmother bought this beautiful gown from a Parisian designer years ago. It never fit her so she saved it, in case it suited any of her children or her children's children."
Cedric asked, "Was that the Veela grandmother?"
Fleur nodded. "Ah, oui," she said. "She's lovely. One day, I hope that you two get to meet her. She always has the best selection of food and wine."
"Are you inviting us to get drunk with your grandmother?" asked Briar. She raised an eyebrow. Fleur let out a laugh as she nodded, in a why not? sort of fashion. Briar and Cedric looked at each other, and high-fived. "Let's ditch the ball to get drunk with Fleur's grandma!"
