I'm a student with a passion for stories. I believe that stories are how we remember who we are, that they help us to explore our deepest questions and understand ourselves. They can take us to new places, show us fantastic and beautiful things that illuminate the fantastic and beautiful things in our real lives. Our stories are our legacy, and what we write is how we will be remembered.

Usually I'm content just reading them. But occasionally I find myself wishing I could spend more time in some author's world, or learn more about characters only seen in passing. JK Rowling's Harry Potter novels create such a world, so although it's probably the most common fanfiction category in the world, I'm joining it. Most of my writing has been expository, poetic, or musical, so I'm venturing into new territory a little. If I feel inspired to continue I may write several stories, for other worlds as well.

I'm working on one story so far, about Bill and Fleur. I always liked Bill, even though we don’t get to hear about him much in the books, and I liked the idea of him marrying Fleur. There’s something fascinating (to me, at least) about the idea of this stunningly beautiful woman, who can choose practically anyone she likes, finding someone to love. We learn in Book 7 that her mother (half veela herself) married a man who was short, plump, and not particularly attractive. I imagine that a what a part-veela woman would want most is a man who sees her for who she is, not what she looks like, who doesn’t fawn over her or treat her like a possession, but really cares about her. I also like the idea that she would be attracted to someone who didn’t show any particular attraction to her. For someone used to being constantly asked out by boys she didn’t even know, being treated like a doll rather than a friend, shown off as a prized possession, I imagine it would have been amazingly refreshing to simply be treated as a human being, by someone genuinely interested in her.

We know that Fleur is smart and talented, but we don’t see the thoughtful, genuine side that I like to think she had. We know Bill is handsome, with a decent helping of roguish charm, but I can’t imagine Fleur (who would probably have been sick of people fawning over her all the time) being quite so mushy over him, or drawn to him just because of his looks. I imagine that Bill would only have married her if he really loved her (as he certainly seems to, especially from what we see in Book 7), and the often obnoxious character we see only in passing just doesn’t seem to be the type of woman a man like Bill would fall in love with. If she seems out of character in my story, I will unashamedly admit that I have romanticized both Fleur and Bill, taking what little we know of them and combining it with a generous helping of my imagination.

I suppose I felt that JK Rowling didn’t really develop Bill and Fleur’s characters as much as she could have - Fleur especially felt like more of a plot device than a real person. Of course, the books were dense enough, and they are really very minor characters, so I don’t blame her for it. But I hope she wouldn’t be offended by my taking the opportunity to explore her characters a little on my own, even if I picture them a little different than she might.