VINGT HUIT

gael & pierre!

"DAD!" LILY YELLED as she ran out of the train.

"Hi sweetness!" Gael said back jauntily as she jumped into his arms. 

"Bonjour, ma fleur," Pierre said from behind Gael.

"Papa, vous etes la?" Lily asked in disbelief as she looked and saw the face of her father. 

"Oui, ma fille," he said with a warm smile as she threw her arms around him. 

"Lily, are you going to introduce us to your friend?" Gael whispered as he saw a strange boy approaching them ( with their daughter's trunk in hand ).

"Oh- um-" she stumbled as she detached herself from Pierre.

"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Edwards, I'm James," James said as he stuck out his hand for Gael to shake as he set down Lily's trunk.

"Mr. Edwards," James then said as he turned and shook Pierre's hand firmly. As predicted, Pierre had a stone cold face as his eyes ( seemingly ) bore into James's soul.

"He is my ... boyfriend," Lily said with a nervous chuckle.

"This is James?" Gael asked in disbelief. "You said he was cute, but not this cute, ma fleur."

Lily glared at Gael as he laughed it off and James smiled politely. 

"I'm Gael and the Easter Island Statue is Pierre," he said joyfully. 

James smiled at the joke, but dared not to laugh. 

"James and his family are joining us for holiday, remember?" Lily said with ( fake ) niceness.

"Of course, ma cherie," Pierre said with a pleasant smile. "Do you or any of your family have allergies or need special accommodation?" 

"No, sir," James said with a quick smile.

"Well, I don't want to keep you from them," Lily said as she smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks for bringing my trunk."

"'course," James said as he smiled down at her.

"Why don't you walk him over to his parents and say hi?" Gael suggested.

"Gael-" Pierre protested.

"Oh hush, Pierre," Gael said as he put out an arm in front of the stony man. 

"O- okay," Lily said as she turned to leave with James. 

"Feels sort of weird, doesn't it?" James asked as they walked over to his chattering family. 

"How so?" Lily asked.

"This is our last holiday at Hogwarts ever," James said. "The next time we get on the train will be the last time we get on it and the next time we leave it, will be the last time we'll leave it."

"Huh," Lily said as reality started to sink in. 

If she was being honest, Hogwarts and the trains and the chaos had become her new normal and it's not that she didn't like change, it's just that some things, like the feeling of being at Hogwarts, she'd prefer to cherish. 

"Sort of puts things in perspective," Lily muttered.

"Lily!" Ginny called out as she rushed towards the brunette.

Lily looked up and her eyes lit up as Ginny engulfed her in a hug. Lily, if she was being honest, missed how she always smelled of oranges. It was so peculiar. 

"We will be flooing to a house near your parent's house and then apparating from there, is that alright?" Ginny asked as she held the girl in front of her.

"It's perfectly fine. I've already explained magic to them, so it may come as a shock, but not that much of a shock," Lily replied with a kind smile. 

"Well I think that sounds brilliant," Harry said with a joyous smile. "Hello Lily."

"Hello Harry," Lily said with a smile as she walked over and hugged him as well. 

"It's lovely to see you again, Lily," Harry said with a smile as he pulled away.

"It's lovely to see you again as well, all of you!" Lily exclaimed as she saw that a lot of the Potter-Weasley clan was there.

They all said their chorus of hellos before she heard her parents call out to her, indicating that it was their time to go ( as they had to set up the house for their guests and the more hands the better ). 

As soon as they said hello, they all said goodbye. She then turned to James with a devilish smile, knowing that everything had changed since they last found themselves with his family. She leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek ( because PDA is gross ), but he had other plans. 

He knew it, so he turned his head and captured her lips in a kiss that she absolutely melted into, until she remembered who they were standing in front of ( and it only took her a couple of seconds ) and she pulled away quickly, as red as a tomato.

"I- I'm so sorry," she stuttered out.

James, being the annoying little shit that he is, just stood there with a victorious smirk on his face. His family, however, were gushing. 

"It's quite alright, dear," Ginny said with a smile in her tone. "It's been a long time coming." 

Lily, if it was even possible, went even redder at her comment. 

"Reminds me a bit of me and my Hermione," Ron said with a kind smile.

Hermione reached up and kissed his cheek slightly with a blush. 

"Let's not compare them to us, they've had their own love story," Hermione replied dreamily. "Remember, we were best friends. And besides, we had Harry."

"Oh don't I know it," Harry grumbled. "6 years of watching these two blindly chase after each other. Torture, I'll tell you."

"But it all worked out in the end," Hermione said kindly. 

"Barely. Would rather fight Voldemort again than have to relive 6th year with the whole Lavender Brown situation," Harry grumbled. 

"Oh shut it, Harry," Ginny said as she rolled her eyes. "You only really knew about them because they had to explicitly spell it out for you. You're the most oblivious person I've ever met."

"I am not!" Harry defended.

"Really?" Ginny asked with a quirked eyebrow. "Who did Dean date for practically our entire time at Hogwarts, except for his little thing with me?"

"Don't remind me, worst months of my life," Harry grumbled, but obviously trying to avoid the question. 

"I'm sure they were, but you still didn't answer the question," Hermione said with an amused smile as she stood next to Ginny. 

"Well ... I don't know ... Parvati?" Harry asked.

Both Ginny and Hermione burst out laughing.

"Parvati?" Hermione asked as she started to tear up a bit. "Really?"

"Well, if you're so brilliant, who was it?" Ron asked, jumping in to defend Harry. 

"It was Seamus," Ginny exclaimed through her laughter.

"Dean and Seamus?" Harry asked, with an utterly confused face. 

"Did you not hear them snogging in the broom closet during every passing period?" Hermione asked incredulously. 

"Or see them constantly together on your father's map?" Ginny asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, sorry, but I was pretty busy ... I don't know ... saving the Wizarding World!" Harry defended.

"With the vague and little information that Dumbledore gave you on what you were actually facing? Likely story," Hermione said with a bitter laugh. "Besides, we all know you never would have made it past first year without Ron and I." 

"What is happening," Lily whispered to James with wide eyes as she watched the parents bicker ( completely forgetting that her own needed her ( she likes the gossip, ok? ) ). 

"My parents aren't trying to impress you anymore," James explained. "Welcome to the family." 

He smiled down at her as they continued to watch the adults bicker amongst themselves. 

"Scorpius! There you are!" a nasally voice sounded behind them.

Everyone stopped talking and turned to see platinum blonde hair escorting someone who should be on the cover of Vogue.

"No, no, continue as you were," Draco pronounced. "Just here to get my son." 

Scorpius smiled slightly, but still looked downcast at having to leave Albus so soon. 

"As I was saying, how did you not know about Dean and Seamus?" Ginny asked incredulously. 

"Thomas and Finnegan, blimey Potter, even I knew about those two!" Draco commented.

"Oh hush Draco," Astoria tutted. "You were a right prick to Harry and all of his friends as they saved the Wizarding World!"

"Still are," Ginny muttered. 

"I agree," Astoria said as the two women made kind eye contact, however, after Astoria turned to glare at Draco.

"Come, Scorpius, darling," she said kindly as she turned to her son. 

"Hey mum," Scorpius said as he walked over and accepted her hug.

"Who's this?" Astoria asked quietly as she looked knowingly at Albus.

Scorpius cleared his throat and turned to his parents. 

"This is Albus, my boyfriend," he said authoritatively. 

"It's lovely to meet you, Albus," Astoria said kindly. "And it's lovely to see all of you again."

A chorus of hellos, directed at Astoria, were heard. 

"Don't you think, Draco?" Astoria asked as she shoved his side.

"Right, yeah, sure," he muttered. "Don't know how he got a Potter to like him."

"Oh don't tell me you had a crush on Harry too," Ginny said with a wide smile. 

"Wh- I-" Draco stumbled. "Let's please act like adults here."

"You threw that out the window a long time ago, darling," Astoria kindly tutted.

"Wait hold on ... too?" Draco asked as he looked at his son with utter betrayal in his eyes.

"I can't believe we're doing this in the station," Scorpius breathed out.

"This is better than the Bachelor," Lily commented to James. 

"What's the Bachelor?" James asked.

Lily just smirked up at him, but continued to listen to the conversation at hand ( her parents had given up trying to get her attention ).  

"I might've sort've told them about your- you know- on Hermione," Scorpius stuttered.

"Hermione?" Draco asked, bewildered. "You get to call her- you know what — "

"Well, to be fair, you did call her the m-word, so that kind of revokes your ability to call her Hermione," Scorpius reasoned. 

"Bloody hell, does this mean you had a crush on me too?" Ron asked, also bewildered.

"Absolutely not," Draco shut down with a slight glare.

"Darling, I think we should get going," Astoria interrupted. "It's lovely to see all of you and I'd be happy to help you Harry."

"Good," Harry said kindly as she turned away.

"Help him?" Draco asked, clearly extremely confused.

"Yes, some of us do help the people who bailed us out of Azkaban, darling," Astoria said dreamily as Scorpius followed after his parents. "Besides, he did save the Wizarding World, so I'm going to help him hunt down any manner of dark wizard, especially using my connections."

"I should probably go as well. My parents will throw a fit if everything isn't ready by the time you guys get there," Lily said with an apologetic tone. 

She quietly slipped away as the adults continued to bicker amongst themselves. She quickly kissed James and on the cheek and hurried back to her impatient parents. They were beside themselves when she finally arrived, scolding her in harsh whispers about how they had so much to do to get ready ( but it was Gael and Pierre, so they would have it done in no time ). 

She had a pleasant, everlasting smile on her face as her parents drove through the countryside. The GPS said it would take 13 hours, but Lily knew Gael, the ever determined man he was, would make it in about 9 ( he joked he could have been a race car driver in a past life ). 

Lily hummed to the faint beat of ABBA as the countryside passed by her backseat window. She flicked her eyes forward and smiled a little bit more upon seeing her parent's intertwined hands. 

About 4 hours into the trip, Pierre cleared his throat, knowing they had a long while, but having had enough time to think about everything.

"So, James, is your boyfriend," Pierre said carefully, causing Lily to look up from the movie that was downloaded on her phone ( which she had finally gotten her hands back on as Hogwarts didn't allow them for absolutely no reason ). 

"Uh- yeah, he is," Lily said steadily as she took out her ear buds and turned her phone over on the seat. 

"So, when did this happen?" Pierre asked, still looking at the road ahead.

"I wrote ... to you and dad to tell you," Lily said again.

"I see," Pierre said. "What's your least favorite thing about him?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Lily asked.

"You heard me," Pierre repeated.

"Pierre," Gael warned. "Not now."

"Yes now," Pierre said forcefully. 

"Well ... I guess he's too persistent for his own good and he's arrogant and he's impulsive and he sometimes doesn't take other people's feelings into account," Lily explained. "And you can never ever change his mind. He's the most stubborn person I've met since you."

"Sounds like I'll like him then," Pierre said with a ghost of a smile. 

"What? I just said all of the bad things about him," Lily said with a furrowed eyebrow.

"I know, cherie," Pierre said mysteriously.

"Are you going to tell me why or ...?" Lily wondered.

"Well, the first thing mon oncle asked me when I said I was in love with your father is what were the bad things about him," Pierre revealed.

"Woah ... I never said I was in love with him," Lily defended.

"You didn't have to, cherie," Pierre mused as his smile grew. "You don't have to hide it from us. I know how much you like to keep us separate from that world — "

"Papa — " Lily protested.

"I won't hear it," Pierre interrupted. "But what he said after was that those who are in love, real love, can recognise the faults of their partner and love them as well."

"Huh," Lily muttered. "That's actually- that makes sense."

"Voila!" Pierre exclaimed. "Not as clueless as you thought!"

"I never said — " Lily protested.

"I heard your tone, mademoiselle," Pierre countered.

"Alright," Lily conceded. "I guess you're right."

"Pierre is always right," Gael piped up.

"That's not — " Lily replied.

"Thank you, mon amour," Pierre said with a smile as he kissed Gael's cheek. 

"What're you watching back there?" Gael asked, turning back a bit, but not too far as he still had to watch the road. 

"When Harry Met Sally," Lily revealed.

"Lily!" Gael roared. "We watch that movie as a family!" 

"I know!" Lily defended. "I'm sorry! But I haven't seen it in ages and I promise I will be just as excited to watch it over the holiday."

"It could be worse, Gael," Pierre reminded him.

"What could be worse?" Gael exclaimed as he hands flew momentarily from the wheel, freaking out both of the other passengers. 

"She could be watching the BBC Pride and Prejudice without us," Pierre replied.

"That's true," Lily piped up.

"Not the time," Pierre hushed her down and Lily complied.

"The lake scene..." Gael trailed off.

"With Colin Firth, oui, my love," Pierre said gently. 

"You are right," Gael admitted. "It could be worse." 

"So, their names are...?" Pierre asked, realizing he didn't actually know the names of most of his guest.

"So, the mother, who had bright red hair and brown eyes, is Ginny," Lily explained. "The dad, who has messy black hair and green eyes, is Harry."

"Ginny and Harry," Gael and Pierre repeated back in unison.

They looked at each other and broke out into laughter at the coincidence. Lily watched, amused. 

"Bah, continue, ma cherie," Pierre said, waving it off slightly. 

"So in order, we have James, who you've met. Then is Albus, who looks just like his father, but younger and then the last one is Lily, who has her mother's hair, but her father's eyes," Lily explained.

"Hold on, their daughter's name is Lily?" Gael asked, looking in the rearview mirror, only to see Lily nod. "That must be weird for James."

"Woah — " Lily breathed out as she chuckled a little. "It must be. But most people call her by her first and middle name, Lily Luna or her family calls her Lunes." 

"That's pretty," Gael mused. "Remember I wanted to name her Stella."

"Yes, but we named her after the place we met, cherie," Pierre reminded him. 

"You've never actually told me this story," Lily said incredulously. 

"Bah! We haven't?" Pierre asked, confused and Lily just shook her head. "Out of all the stories..." 

"Well, I was a young student studying in Paris. There is a fantastic medical program there and I had learned quite a bit of French in my time during secondary school, so it provided ... an escape," Gael explained. 

"And I was restless, I had a dream to cook, but my family had thrown me out and I was just trying to make ends meet," Pierre revealed. 

"So, I went to this local café that has the most scrumptious, pain au chocolat, by the way, we must take you some time," Gael trailed. "And I sat down, getting ready to order a coffee when the most beautiful man came up and asked for my order." 

"It was my last shift of the day and I was ready to relax. I wasn't even supposed to serve him, but one of my coworkers had asked me to cover and so I made my way over and I guess the rest is ... history," Pierre said peacefully as he stared at Gael with adoration. 

"And the café was called ...?" Lily asked.

"Lily's, yes," Gael confirmed as Pierre smiled back at her. 

"I- I love that," Lily breathed out. 

"And we weren't much older than you," Pierre commented carefully. "Maybe 19 or 20." 

"Love comes at all ages, mon amour," Gael said. 

"Bah! Oui!" Pierre said with a chuckle. "How about some Etta James?"

"Sounds heavenly," Lily said with a comfortable smile. 

As Etta's ethereal voice filled the car, they slipped into a relaxed state, a natural one. 

"So how long have you and James been dating?" Gael asked.

"Oh, I don't know, honestly it feels like forever," Lily said with a slight laugh.

Gael and Pierre looked at each other with knowing smiles.

"But, a couple of months," Lily continued. 

"And his last is Potter?" Pierre asked. "As in the occupation of making pots?" 

"Uh- yes," Lily confirmed. 

"But they are ... magique," Pierre said, confused.

"I know, it's confusing for me too, but something about having mixed magical blood or something," Lily muttered. 

"Ah, I see," Pierre said. "And they like France?"

"Well, according to Lily Luna, they've only been a couple of times with their Aunt Fleur," Lily revealed. 

"Fleur, what a beautiful name," Pierre mused. "I knew a Fleur once."

"Really?" Lily asked, curious.

"Mmmm," Pierre hummed. "A long time ago. She was one of the most beautiful people I'd ever seen..." 

"That's weird because Fleur is enchantingly beautiful," Lily murmured. "Do you remember her last name?"

"I wish I did," Pierre said wistfully. "Maybe in another life we can know each other." 

"Weird," Lily muttered. 

The rest of the car ride went similarly: Pierre and Gael telling anecdotes and Lily filling them in on the Potters and what she'd learned from them while staying at their house. They sang to a lot more ABBA, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Elton John. 

And soon enough, they reached their villa in Provence ( and in record time too, but just don't tell the police ). 

The villa, itself, was built from light colored stone that speckled the outer walls. Crawling over the stones were massive patches of deep green ivy that stopped once it graced the bottom of the red tiled roof ( though the tiles looked much more brown than red now ). 

There was a gravel path leading to the front door, a large, dark brown oak door, but it was the only way in or out that looked 'normal'. The windows that lined the house were painted bright blue, which ( weirdly ) complimented the solar panels on the roof. 

Inside, there were 6 bedrooms, just enough to fit all of them and 7 bathrooms. As you first walked into the front hall, you were met with three different places to go: straight forward to the back, to the left to the dining room and to the right to the kitchen. 

There were three main rooms on the ground floor, the dining room, kitchen and living room that also had a large TV in it. The dining room was standard with wooden chairs and table and an airy, Mediterranean feel to it. The kitchen, on the opposite side ( through a smaller sitting area ) was painted navy blue and housed complete sets of kitchen utensils ( Gael is all about the aesthetic ). 

Through the kitchen, there was a small hall that led you to the outside ( to the left ), to the front hall ( to the right ) or into the living room ( straight forward ). The living room had a similar, beige, white and airy color palette to the rest of the house with pops of blue in various places. There was a couch and two sets of chairs on either side of a coffee table. 

With all of the windows and doors open, it truly felt like they were outside. All of the bedrooms were upstairs as well as the bathrooms, spare one on the ground level. The stairs were, also in the front hall, but stuck out next to the wall that separated the dining room from the hallway. 

If you walked outside, you were met with a large expanse of lavender fields, Lily's favorite. A smell that she had become accustomed to a child and thus brought with her everywhere. 

The three of them set to work around the house, dusting the various surfaces that hadn't been touched for at least 3 months and about halfway through, Lily popped out quickly to get food so Pierre could make dinner. 

She got all of the right ingredients to make coq au vin, a classic Pierre favorite, aside from beef bourguignon. Soon after she returned, Pierre housed himself, happily, in the kitchen and got started on dinner. 

Gael swept and made the beds while Lily did the laundry of the things that were too dusty to sweep off. A happy hum of quiet activity fell over the house and they all felt at peace. 

Provence was their safe place, their place away from everything and they were overjoyed to share it with a family that meant so much to Lily. 

Soon, it reached the time that the Potters were due to arrive any minute. They scrambled to finish getting ready by unloading their luggage and changing into a fresh set of clothes ( it was a long drive and they knew the Potters wouldn't look as rough due to magic ). 

Before she knew it, she heard them. That's the thing about the Potters, you hear them before you actually see them. It turns out her parents heard them as well because the energy of the house stiffened a little and Gael came bounding into the front hall while Pierre searched for the right bottle of wine. 

The house held its breath as it waited for the impending knock on the door, signaling that they were there at last. And in due time, it came. 

Three quick knocks from Harry, presumably ( as Ginny was much too vociferous to do something so small and deliberate ), and they exhaled.

Gael opened the door and was greeted by their bumbling guests.

"Hello! It's lovely to meet you, I'm Gael," he said cordially as he opened the door wider so they could walk in. 

He was expecting to be able to help them with their luggage, but in floated 5, neat, suitcases and they set themselves in a pile on the floor.

"That is- most impressive," Gael breathed out. "Ma cherie, can you do that?" 

Lily nodded with a big smile as she saw James again ( even though it had only been a day and they'd been apart for much longer than that, but seeing James here with the people that they were with made her positively giddy ). 

"Then why haven't you been doing it all along?" Gael huffed, slightly offended.

"I — " Lily stuttered.

"I'm joking, ma cherie, welcome to our home," Gael said as they walked into the front hall.

"This is a beautiful house, I'm Harry," he said as he stuck out his hand for Gael to shake.

"It truly is, I'm Ginny," the red-head agreed as she shook Gael's hand also. "And this is James, who I believe you've met, Albus and our Lily, but most of us call her Lily Luna or Lunes as to not get confused." 

"It's very nice to meet all of you, my Lily has told me all about you," Gael gushed.

"Good things I hope?" Harry joked.

"Only the best," Gael said kindly. "If you'd like, I can take your coats and we can meet my husband in the kitchen, I'm sure he'd love to meet all of you." 

A chorus of agreement sounded and the adults followed Gael into the kitchen. Lily Luna walked up to Lily and squealed a little with excited eyes, but quickly followed after Albus after he yanked her away. James then finally approached her.

"Hello," he said softly.

"Hello," she repeated. "Welcome to France."

"Glad to be here," James said as he took her hand and she led them into the kitchen, which was already teeming with laughter.