Chapter 57.6- Doom Days

XXXXXX- JEAN-PIERRE DELACOUR

He felt the urge to put his hands in his head and sigh again, but he knew the second he did that his worried wife would walk through the door. Veela could sense all sorts of things, and she was just waiting for the chance. He read through the report again. Japan had stopped. Nothing had happened, they’d just taken Nepal and stopped there. The ICW couldn’t come to a consensus on what to do about that, and now that we’re consolidating their wins.

The Press would probably report this as a win. The Japanese had stopped their constant expansion. Some Ministers would even try to take credit for it, most likely, but this was worse. The first time, they had managed to push them back so much by starting rebellions within the territory they had only recently taken and hadn’t integrated, while fighting them from the front. With so much to think about, they had been forced to sue for peace and disgorge some of their ill-gotten gains.

Now, they were smarter. If they were stopping so quickly then it meant they were making sure they were integrating the taken territory immediately after taking them. It would mean a slower conquest, not as quick as the plague of black-robes that they had foreseen spreading over Asia while the ICW got their heads out of the sand. But they had plans for that plague. Small things they could do where and there to prevent the Japanese from securing as total a victory as they would think and then giving them space to counter when the time came.

“Mon amour” His wife called, walking in with two steaming mugs balanced on a tray. He looked up a her. Blonde hair that fell to her hips in curved ringlets, angular features, skin that looked so perfect it was like she had never stepped outside a day in her life. Beautiful. Incomparable. Not for the first time today, he considered himself the luckiest man in the world. He did so whenever he woke by her side.

“Sweetheart” He replied as she set the tray down. He took a long look down her robes as she did so. The teasing smile on her face told him it had been no accident, the exposure, but he had learned long ago that it would be a waste of time to try avoiding her games.

“You need not have” He said, even as he picked up the mug and took a long sip. The temperature, perfect. The taste, perfect. If only his rivals could see him now, nearly undone with a single cup of hot chocolate from his Veela wife.

“I could sense you worrying from across the house”

“I was trying not to bother you” He said.

“And I am your wife. Besides, it is for the best that I come here. Fleur and Gabrielle are still listening to the wireless. Le Survivant has made it to the Quarter finals”

“Truly? Fleur did not overstate his talent then. I heard from Julian that this year was going to have an exceptional crop of contestants”

“Leave that enthusiasm here” She warned, narrowed eyes.

“It is a bad match, and do not allow Fleur to think you support it for a second” She said.

“You know I can not refuse our daughter” He sighed. Veela and their Veela things.

“Leave it to me. Just try not to give her false hope, mon amour. It is the hope that kills.”

A/N: A whole chapter without Harry? How fun! I hope you enjoyed the introduction of two new POV characters. Nymphadora is our eye into the British Ministry in a lot of ways, and Jean-Pierre will serve a similar role with France and the ICW. Also gives us a chance to check in on Fleur every now and again.