Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognizable belongs to J K Rowling
This story is set after the first task of the Tri-Wizard tournament during the Goblet of Fire
Chapter One – The Promise
A week had passed since the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, in which Harry had faced off against the horrifying Hungarian Horntail, ducking and diving aboard his Firebolt to evade the frenzied foe and collect his gleaming golden egg.
The entire week had played host to a number of parties and gatherings, the mood within the Gryffindor house had been one of pure joy and ecstasy. With the euphoric atmosphere finally beginning to subdue after a long and tiring week, Harry was glad to finally be able to rest his bruised and aching body, his mind still reeling from his triumphant victory, his spirits high as he rested his weary head into his soft feather pillow.
The following morning he awoke from a surprisingly comforting and dreamless sleep, something that he was more than welcoming of. He hauled his legs out of the covers and dangled them over the side of his bed, raising his nimble fingers to his face and wiping the sleep out of his tired eyes before grabbing at his bedside cabinet. His paws dabbed away before reaching his glasses, sliding them off the desk and pulling them his face.
His feet touched the cold wooden floor as he slumped his weight forward before hoisting his body into the air, his arms extending out to his sides, a large and drawn out yawn escaping him. He clawed at the curtains that hung around the outskirts of his bed, the dazzling light from the sun almost blinding him as he faced the stained glass window.
He lazily pulled on his school uniform and robes before stepping towards the oak door before him. As he clambered his way down his cold stone dormitory steps towards the Gryffindor common room, he heard a voice coming closer towards him.
He could distinguish this voice anywhere, the voice of his best friend Hermione Granger. As he descended further and reached the common room door, he was almost trampled as she came hurtling towards him, grabbing at his robes and dragging him roughly in the opposite direction.
"Harry, Dumbledore sent me, you're supposed to be in the Great hall with the other champions, where have you been" She muttered sternly.
Harry give her a questioning look, but allowed himself to be pulled along none the less, 'she really does take things too seriously, its only breakfast' he thought to himself as they made their way down the castle towards the Great hall.
Once they reached the towering oak doors, Harry stepped in front of her and pushed them open to see the usual bustle of breakfast time, a loud buzz of conversation echoing loudly around the cold stone walls.
Within a few seconds, he had spotted the long silver hair of Dumbledore sitting at the helm of a much smaller table than those of the Hogwarts houses. Seated around him were his fellow Tri-Wizard Champions, Fleur Delacour, Cedric Diggory and Victor Krum.
As he plodded his way over to the table, he noticed a small girl in a Beauxbaton uniform; however she looked much younger than the other French students that had resided at the school over the past few months. She had bright silvery blond hair and was extremely pretty; however she seemed to be somewhat dejected.
Harry made it to the table which seated Dumbledore and his Tournament counterparts, and was instantly greeted by the twinkling eyes of his headmaster.
"Ahh Harry, you made it, had a little lay in did we...? Never mind, please, join us" Dumbledore bellowed.
Harry blushed a little as he realised that he was somewhat late to breakfast and it appeared he had be waited on for a short while by the rest at the table. He took his seat next to Fleur and began to fill his plate with some toast and bacon.
After he had taken a swig of pumpkin juice, Harry decided to ask fleur something that was gnawing away at his head.
"Fleur" He said, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Yez 'arry?" She responded in a sweet and soothing tone.
Harry was momentarily taken aback as his mind seemed unable of producing thoughts, he had been told that Fleur was a quarter veela, and after the effects he saw of veelas on people at the Quidditch world cup, he quickly come back to his senses, mentally reminding himself that it must be her veela charm clouding his thoughts.
"Who's that girl over there sitting alone, she's wearing your school uniform, but looks too young to of been able to enter the tournament"
"Zat is Gabrielle, she iz my sister" Fleur responded.
Harry looked at Gabrielle and then back to Fleur with a curious look on his face. Before he could ask anything, Fleur answered for him.
"She come along wiz us to spectate and give support"
"Oh, that's nice" he replied almost glumly.
Fleur seemed to notice this and give him a questioning look to which he answered with a little unease.
"Well, it's just; well she doesn't look very happy, is she ok?"
Fleur looked over at her sister and smiled, which Harry found more than a little strange.
'Why would you smile at your sisters unhappiness' he pondered.
"It iz her first time away from France, she most likely thought I'd be spending all my time wiz her, she will just be feeling lonely, zat it all" Fleur finished with a half smile.
He didn't understand why she wouldn't simply spend a little more time with her young sister, but thought it unwise to question her further; he had seen firsthand the repercussions of angering a Veela.
He continued to eat his breakfast, all the while listening to Dumbledore talking animatedly with the other champions, answering questions now and then if asked. After around twenty minutes, he saw Gabrielle stand up and start walking out of the hall.
At the same time, he saw a small group of Slytherins sniggering with each other while looking at the young girl. Just as she passed the threshold, three of them stood up and quickly hurried out of the hall in the same direction as Gabrielle.
Harry felt a feeling of foreboding grip at him and politely excused himself from the table, stating that he needed to prepare for his lessons. Dumbledore however seemed to see through Harrys excuse as if he had X-ray vision, the twinkle in his eye turning to one of curiosity over his half-moon spectacles.
Harry quickly rushed out of the great hall in the direction in which Gabrielle and the Slytherins had gone. He didn't know why he wanted to follow them, but for some reason, in the pit of his stomach, he knew that something was wrong.
He walked along the long corridors, swiftly checking each turn when he heard lazy voices and quiet laughs, recognizing them as the stale tones of Slytherins he edged into the corridor, which is when he saw what he had feared.
One of the boys of which he recognised as a fifth year, had Gabrielle pinned tightly against a wall by her throat, his chubby sausage like fingers digging into her neck as the other boys stood laughing and taunting, egging the aggressor on.
Harry felt anger swell in the depths of stomach as he watched. Without thinking he shouted out at them.
"Oi" was all he could muster with his anger swelling, a knot of rage beginning to form in his throat.
The three boys swung around abruptly at the loud sound, letting go of Gabrielle and looking worried for a second before a smug grin was once again spread across their faces.
"Oh look who it is, Harry Potter, come to save the day again" the leader of the three stated matter-of-factly before laughing.
"Picking on young girls your new hobby is it" Harry retorted, his animosity lacing his words.
"And I didn't think the Slytherins could stoop any lower" he spat out at them.
The three boys as well as Harry instantly grabbed for their wands ready to duel, their faces contorting into a misshapen maniacal mess before something made the three Slytherins recoil.
They looked at each other, nodding as they did so before talking more quietly to Harry.
"Next time, Potter" the leader grunted, spitting Harry name.
Harry turned around wondering what had happened, when he caught sight of Snape walking past the corridor, with a snarl spread across his face usually emotionless face, his hooked nose quivering slightly.
Once Snape had walked away, Harry turned and rushed to the quietly sobbing form of Gabrielle.
"Are you ok?" he asked worriedly.
She looked up at him, her eyes red rimmed and puffy from the tears she had shed. She was shaking like a leaf and clearly scared. His Emerald eyes locked with her tear soaked silver ones and as she smiled warmly at him, he felt his mind sharply begin to fog and resigned to stare into her unfaltering gaze.
"Zank you" she said quietly, her voice trembling.
"I should not to wander alone after last time"
Harry smiled, figuring that she can't have learnt much English being so young and living in France. After a few seconds however, the thoughts and fog in his mind cleared, his mind snapped back to the present and a sickening feeling formed in the pit of his stomach.
"What do you mean after last time...you mean this has happened before?" he asked nervously.
"Oui" she replied.
Harry looked at her in shock, 'does Fleur know about this?' he wondered to himself, finding it hard to believe that half the school was not brought to its knees by her rage.
"Who?" he asked after coming out of his thoughts. Gabrielle didn't seem to know the answer, but after a few moments, she picked up her head and raised her arm to Harrys robe, pointing at the Gryffindor logo embroidered on the chest on his robes.
"A Gryffindor attacked you" he asked, shock clear on his face. Gabrielle nodded as another tear came to her eye. He quickly acted and wiped away her tear from her soft cheek.
"From now on, I won't let anybody hurt you ok, I'll deal with it, I promise" he said smiling. Gabrielle returned his smile and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.
"I think we better go to your headmistress and tell her what's happened"
Gabrielle looked reluctant, but as Harry took her cold hand into his own, she seemed to relax and nodded her approval.
Harry walked out of the castle and trudged along the grounds towards the Beauxbatons carriage, which served as their living quarters. Along the way, he got several strange looks from people. Thinking about it, he realised he must look strange being a 14 year old holding the hand of a girl much younger than himself.
When he reached the carriage, he climbed the step and knocked gently on the door. A few moments later the door swung open to reveal the towering figure of Madame Maxime
"Oh, it's you, what is?" she trailed off before seeing Gabrielle in the hand of Harry.
"What is ze meaning of zis" she said raising her voice, making harry take an involuntary step backwards.
He noticed that the carriage was much like the tent in which he stayed in at the Quidditch world cup, it had been magically enlarged and looked spacious enough to allow the Beauxbatons students a comfy living quarters.
"Sorry to disturb you ma'am, but there has been an incident involving Gabrielle"
Madame Maxime looked at Harry curiously before looking down at the run down and cowering figure of Gabrielle.
"What is it my girl?" asked Maxime in a soft but impatient voice.
When Gabby didn't reply, Harry spoke for her, clearing his throat first, thinking of a way to word this, while gaining a suspecting look from Maxime.
"I found Gabrielle being attacked by students within the castle. Luckily I got there in time to stop it, but from what she has said, it has happened before" Harry said carefully, hoping she wouldn't erupt in anger, however what happened next he couldn't possibly have predicted.
"Oh" said Madame Maxime in a disappointed tone.
"I am currently busy, but I will write to your parents to inform them... Have you told your sister?"
Harry looked dumbfounded at Gabby's headmistress, 'how can she take this so lightly' he thought to himself. He quickly looked to Gabrielle expecting her to say yes, but if so, why would Fleur allow this to happen? As these thoughts coursed through his mind, Gabrielle nodded her head, signalling that she hadn't told fleur.
"Why not?" Harry asked abruptly.
"She haz been ignoring me, I did try" she replied softly.
"Very well" said Maxime.
"I will contact your parents, in the meantime, stay with the rest of ze girls, and stay away from your sister, she doesn't need any distractions"
As soon at the last words left her lips, she closed the door on the two teens before her, leaving Harry with a look of disbelief on his face.
After a few minutes of standing awestruck at what he had just witnessed, he turned to look at Gabrielle, who didn't seem the least bit surprised at her headmistress' words.
"Does she always treat you like this" he asked, wondering if this was normal behaviour for her.
Gabrielle simply nodded and let a weak smile spread across her pretty face.
"Let's get you to the castle, McGonagall will help" Harry added, with a hint of pride is his voice. He knew he could depend on his head of house to help him, especially as Gabrielle had been attacked by Gryffindor students.