Ok, for all of you waiting for more on Adopted Life Debt then I will try and update. But first, I really want to go through the current chapters and spruce them up a bit. Grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, detail. It all needs a little work so I'll be doing that first. I'll be splitting my work time between this story and my other one. Senju Arashi. Both of which need a little spring cleaning.
Hope you enjoy the revamp.
Please R&R and, of course, enjoy!
Harry sat in Dumbledore's office with a confused expression as he pondered who wanted to speak with him so urgently that he was called out of class. The headmaster had gone to retrieve them which, of course, caused Harry to muse on why they weren't present anyway. The raven haired teen was fairly certain he wasn't in trouble for anything, but there was always Snape and his apparent hatred of Harry. Although, Snape would have been in the office already just itching for the opportunity to belittle Harry at every chance he got.
He got in a solid ten minutes of speculation in the headmasters absence, during which he noticed that the portraits of headmasters past were all pretending to be asleep. He also noted that there wasn't a portrait of any of the founders as he thought there might be.
Just as he thought that moving portraits may not have been invented until after the founders time, the door opened. Looking around Harry stood up to greet Dumbledore and his guest, but soon found the words lost.
Walking behind Dumbledore was a tall woman with waist length, silvery blonde, hair. She had an athletic, yet still voluptuous, build and stunning good looks, which seemed familiar somehow. Her eyes were what really drew Harry in however. They were a deep sapphire colour, but they seemed troubled.
Based on her appearance Harry guessed the woman was a Veela and was now wondering why she would want to speak with him.
Dumbledore looked between the two before bowing slightly and leaving silently, with a somewhat grave expression which only served to confuse the teen even more.
Harry raised an eyebrow as the man left then returned to the woman who smiled sadly at him. It was only then he placed why she seemed so familiar. "Mrs Delacour?" He questioned moving forwards.
"Not quite." She replied in a lighter accent then her eldest daughter. They shook hands and she gestured to the couch that was present rather then the hard chairs. "Please, take a seat Mr Potter. We have somezing razzer important to talk about." She told him.
Now even more confused Harry nodded and sat down. She sat down next to him and wouldn't meet his eyes for several seconds. "Is there something wrong Mrs Delacour?" He asked worried that something may have happened to Fleur or Gabrielle.
She turned a little more towards him and looked him over before nodding. "Oui, zere is Mr Potter." She confirmed. When he made to speak she held a hand up. "Please, allow me to explain first." She told him. Once he nodded she continued. "First of all. You saved my daughter from ze lake, from ze...merpeople." She practically spat the name.
Harry frowned. "You don't like merpeople?" He asked confused.
She shook her head. "Non. Veela and merpeople 'ave been enemies for many centuries Mr Potter. Zey would never 'ave allowed Gabrielle to leave their village alive. Regardless of what you may zink Mr Potter, you did save my daughters live zat day. No protection Dumbledore used would have deterred ze merpeople." She told him sadly.
Harry sat in shock at that. "Did he know?" He questioned. She nodded and he growled. "How could he put her in danger like that for this stupid tournament?" He ranted about ready to get up and continue, however Mrs Delacour halted him by placing a hand on his knee. Anger was forgotten and quickly replaced by embarrassment as he blushed slightly at the contact.
"Zank you for your concern Mr Potter..."
Harry held his hand up. "Please, just call me Harry. Mr Potter makes me sound so old." He joked slightly in order to try and raise the mood.
She gave a light laugh and nodded. "Oui, but only if you call me Appolline." She returned.
He nodded and she continued. "Per'aps I should tell you ze more important situation zat has arisen because of all of zis." She told him.
Harry felt vaguely confused on just how any situation could be more important but kept silent to allow her to explain.
"Saving Gabrielle's life meant zat she carried a life debt to you. To a veela, zis is fatal. It will take zeir magic as payment unless settled and a veela can not survive wizzout zeir magic." She informed him looking down as she did.
Harry was shocked silent for several long seconds before her wording caught up to his frozen mind. "Wait. You said "carried." As in past tense." Does that mean it was settled somehow?" He asked hopefully.
Appolline shook her head and looked him in the eye. "Non. Gabrielle is far too young for such a debt to fall upon her. As her muzzer, I adopted ze responsibility of ze debt myself." She replied calmly.
Harry's eyes widened, almost comically if the situation were not so grave. "B-but, you...I mean..." He stuttered and took several deep breaths to calm himself and order his thoughts. "Is there anything I can do to help? Any way this can be settled?"
She nodded. "Ze way to settle a life debt is one life for anozzer. Zis can be achieved by one of two ways. Ze first is zat I would 'ave to save your life. Zat is not likely." She said bluntly and Harry couldn't help but grimace and nod in agreement.
"You said there were two ways. What's the other?" He asked quickly.
She smiled sadly again. "Arry. You referred to me as "Mrs" Delacour. Zat is not true. I 'ave never been married. When I wanted children I took a mate but zat is it. Fleur and Gabrielle 'ave different fazzers." She told him.
Quite suddenly Harry had an uneasy feeling as to where this was going, and sure enough.
"Ze only ozzer way to settle zis debt would be an instant marriage." She said bluntly.
He blinked rapidly. "Instant marriage?" He repeated.
She nodded. "Oui. It is a marriage created specifically for events such as zis. Zere do not 'ave to be feelings involved, merely ze knowledge and agreement that the debt will be settled. Unfortunately, it is just as binding as a full marriage, and in ze magical world. Zere is no divorce."
Harry sighed, nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let me get this straight. I saved Gabrielle, only for her magic to decide that she needed to repay a debt to me or she would die. You took that debt onto yourself and, in lieu of saving my life, we have to marry to settle it. Is that about right?" He summarised and questioned.
"Oui." She confirmed in an oddly nervous voice.
Looking back up again Harry saw her expression matched her tone and found the nervousness odd to see on a veela. "Appolline." He started making her look into his eyes. "I can't honestly say that I know what it's like to have a mother then to lose her but I do know what it's like to grow up without one." He started. "And, if I have the ability to stop that, then I will."
Suddenly, a hopeful glint appeared in her eyes.
"I think of Fleur and Gabrielle as my friends Appolline and I won't let them lose their mother over something so ridiculous as this tournament." He continued. "So how does this instant marriage thing work?" He questioned.
There was silence for a moment before Appolline moved, with surprising speed, and pulled Harry into a tight hug. "Zank you." She murmured and repeated quietly.
After a few minutes of this Harry was beginning to feel both a little embarrassed and claustrophobic. Because of their height difference, and the small distance between them on the couch, she had pulled him into a rather soft, but very inappropriate, part of her body. "Appolline." He said in a muffled voice.
She let him go and wiped her wet eyes with a tissue that was under her sleeve. "Zank you." She said again. "Fleur was right about you 'Arry. You are noble, but I feel like I 'ave trapped you in zis." She admitted looking down.
Harry was silent for a moment before taking a leap and opening an arm up. She blinked a few times but understood and slid closer to him where he put his arm across her shoulders reassuringly. "I will admit that this is not how I planned my life to go or my preferred way to get married but I believe that marriage is done for love. Yes?" He asked her.
She nodded and tilted her head in a curious manner.
"And you are doing this out of love for your daughters, yes?"
Another, much more certain, nod.
"Then what is the difference really? You love your daughters enough to marry a scrawny git like me so I think that's plenty enough to base a marriage on. Hell, I'm sure that there have been a lot of worse reasons for marriage." He pointed out with a smile.
She laughed lightly. "I do not zink I would ever describe you as "scrawny" Arry. You are still growing are you not?" She reasoned.
He chuckled a little. "Thanks." He replied before frowning slightly. "Though, there is something that is going to be odd, and a little difficult, to explain." He told her.
She looked up at him with a questioning gaze.
"If I marry you, doesn't that make me Fleur and Gabrielle's step father?" He asked the woman who blinked a few times.
"Step fazzer? Oh! Zis does not 'appen zat often in ze magical world so I don't believe zat "step fazzer" is a recognised phrase. To zem you will be zeir fazzer." Appolline informed him.
Harry nodded slowly then ran a hand through his untamed hair. "Well, that's going to be weird to tell people. 'Here, meet my daughter, she's three years older then me." He muttered rolling his eyes.
Appolline giggled a little.
"Does this mean you'll take my name?" He asked her.
"I will, but Fleur and Gabrielle will 'ave to choose whezzer zey want to or not." She answered.
Harry nodded slowly then smirked. "I'm not sure Fleur will be changing her name any time soon. I imagine she rather enjoys being called "Flower of the Court."
Jean tilted her head and looked at him with a surprised expression that he pouted at. "Hey! Got to do something in my holidays. I speak french." He defended with a slight smirk that she returned after a moment.
"Non, I do not believe she will change it eizzer, but perhaps she will add your name onto hers. Delacour-Potter." Appolline suggested. "As for Gabrielle? She is young but razzer dedicated to her family. I can't really say." She admitted.
He nodded with a slight smile before he asked. "Do they know about this?" With a concerned tone.
Appolline sighed and nodded. "Oui. I told zem of zis matter earlier today. Zey were in ze Great 'All as I left. I do not wish to worry zem any longer zen I need to."
He agreed so asked. "How do we complete this instant marriage thing?"
She sat up and turned to face him. "We 'ave to say. "I, our full names, hereby marry, the ozzers full name, to settle a life debt." Zen we must kiss." She explained to him.
Harry couldn't help but blush slightly and scratch the back of his head sheepishly. "I've, er, never kissed anyone before." He admitted.
Appolline blinked a few times. "You 'aven't?"
"Not once."
"Not even at ze Yule Ball?"
At the mention of that he grimaced. "Don't even go there." He murmured thinking he really should apologise to Parvati for that, even if it was very late.
Appolline just shrugged and a smirk formed. "Unexpected, but I admit zat I razzer like ze idea of being your first in everyzing." She told him.
He blinked a few times in confusion. "Huh?" He asked intelligently.
She shook her head. "Never mind for now 'Arry." She dismissed.
"Ok, we should go through with this." He told her. Before they started though he was embarrassed to have to ask. "Um, what is your full name?" While blushing.
"Appolline Celeste Delacour." She replied smiling.
He nodded and they spoke in unison. "I, Harry James Potter, hereby marry, Appolline Celeste Delacour, to settle a life debt."
"I, Appolline Celeste Delacour, 'ereby marry, 'Arry James Potter, to settle a life debt."
Then the two leaned closer, with one of them feeling considerably more nervous then the other, and Appolline lead the way into a kiss that Harry was certain he would still be feeling years later.