A/N – In this AU, Year 7 happens pretty much the way it did in Deathly Hallows. The only exception, from Part 1, when Harry defeated Voldemort, he somehow absorbed a good portion of Voldemort's power. Thanks to csitokyo3 for editing.

Part 2 – Fallout

Harry slowly paced around the storage room at the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, silently fuming about what had just happened. What the bloody hell was she thinking? he snarled to himself and smashed his fist in to the palm of his other hand. Breaking in to the freaking Ministry, break me out; just to send me off as she gets into a firefight.

Even through Harry's anger, a little voice in the back of his head, chimed in. Sound familiar?

"Shut up," he muttered to himself as he turned again and kept pacing.

From a safe distance, Fred and George curiously watched Harry as he paced back and forth. They had been surprised by just how angry Harry had been once he had gotten over the confusion of what had just happened. To the twins, it had almost seemed like he had been pleased to be in holding and the last thing he wanted was to have been broken out. After making sure he was all right, the twins had quickly and wisely backed off upon seeing the state Harry was in.

"I do believe, dear brother," Fred started.

"That we've really stepped in it this time," George finished. Both brothers flinched as a nearby drinking glass shattered.

Where is she, damnit? Harry thought as he fought for control of his temper. I had those bureaucratic dimwits right where I wanted, and then she comes in, wands blazing, and screws everything up. He stopped his pacing for a moment to press his palm against his forehead, in a vain attempt to stop an oncoming headache that he felt forming. I told her to stay in France. She would've been safe. This would've taken a week, maybe a few days more. Now what the hell is going to happen? Why couldn't she just listen to me!

Even for a Veela, those weren't great odds back there. We're talking about at least a dozen, heavily trained Aurors. Harry's right hand flexed instinctively, and scowled as he remembered that his wand had been confiscated. If they hurt her, he growled and then recoiled as a nearby wooden table splintered in half. Calm down, focus. Now is not the time to lose control.

As he took a deep breath, he began running through the mental exercises Fleur had taught him. A little bit calmer, he turned to the twins. "All right you two, I want to know what the hell is going on."

"Well, you see," Fred answered. "After news of your arrest broke, Fleur wasn't exactly… happy about it."

"Right pissed off is more like it," George quickly added under his breath.

"She arrived at Mum and Dad's, and said she was getting you out… one way or another. Naturally, for a plan that insane, we offered our services."

Harry rolled his eyes, and muttered sarcastically, "Naturally."

"Dad offered his help as well," George said, taking over the narrative. "We came up with a plan for Fleur to sneak in when security was at its weakest, along with a few choice toys from yours truly. The plan was to get in, find you, and get out. As quickly and quietly as possible." George glanced at Fred, back to Harry. "What happened?"

Everything had been a blur of images. One moment, everything had been quiet in the holding cell, only to be replaced the next moment by a flurry of action. The only thing that seemed clear was the kiss.

Harry was well aware of how attractive Fleur was, even without her powers, and often felt himself admiring her. But he had always done so quietly and from a distance. He had never seriously thought she may have felt something similar towards him. Quickly shaking off the desire to kiss her again, he tried to keep himself in the present. "In this little brainstorming session of yours, did any of you think of talking to Ron or Hermione?"

The twins looked back at Harry awkwardly, as if the most obvious thing had just been pointed out to them. "But," Fred started to ask, but George cut him off.

"You weren't in any danger, were you?"

"I spent a year in hiding from Voldemort, and wasn't exactly quiet about it. I'm stronger now, did you honestly think I couldn't sneak in and out behind the backs of some near sighted fools if I had wanted to?" Harry said rhetorically. Then he exploded in anger. "We set them up! Ron and Hermione knew! It was only a matter of hours before Kingsley sprang the trap!"

Harry had set a trap for his detractors, giving them a bait too tempting to resist: himself. As long as it was just talk, there was nothing anyone could do, but as soon as they did something, the tables could be turned. With the aid of Kingsley, the new Minister, and the new Director of the DMLE, Harry had set the trap and simply waited for them to step in to it.

Which they did, magnificently. Both the order to raid Harry's hotel room and arrest him had been illegal, as there was no proper cause for either act. In addition, the commander who had ordered both was already under investigation by the Unspeakables for improper conduct and bribery. While public opinion was still pro-Harry, his opposition was still trying to raise questions about him and create doubt in the public's mind.

The plan had been once they went public that Harry had been illegally searched and detained, no matter what causes the opposition brought up, Kingsley was positive that public opinion would be firmly behind Harry, damaging the credibility and power of any of their opponents who tried to speak out against them. At the moment, trying to go against Harry would've been political suicide.

At that moment, a loud pop startled them. Turning to the source, the three men watched Fleur stumble forward a few steps and then with her hands on her knees, take a few deep breaths.

Harry instantly rushed over. "Fleur?"

Slowly, Fleur straightened and gave Harry a weak smile. "'Arry," she said softly, relieved. Her raincoat had been burned, ripped, and battered, and there was a long gash on her forehead that was still bleeding.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, concerned and forgetting for the moment that he was furious with her. He eased her raincoat off her shoulders, feeling her delicate body sway beneath his hands.

Her legs felt weak, and she leaned against Harry for a moment, trying to regain her balance. Wiping the blood away from her eyes, she murmured softly, "I'm fine." Even though she probably could've stood on her own power, something made her not want Harry to let go of her at the moment.

The twins watched them cautiously, and glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes, both having the feeling this was the calm before an approaching storm.

After a few minutes, Fleur gingerly stood up under her own power and it was then, exhausted and emotionally frayed, that Harry lit into her. Even physically weakened, Fleur straightened up and stood her ground.

As the two argued, practically yelling at each other at the top of their voices, the twins started to feel a physical pressure against them. Looking at each other nervously, they realized that it was Harry and Fleur's magic flaring out and clashing. Both of their magics were tied in to their emotions, and currently, both were pissed off.

"Retreat?" George asked rhetorically.

"Immediately," Fred answered, and the two quickly left the room.

The sparring duo didn't even notice the twins leave, as they were far too focused on each other. With adrenaline making up for her lack of strength, Fleur glared back at Harry. "If you had zis all planned out, zen why didn't you tell me?" she snarled at him, her accent become more pronounced.

"I was trying to keep you safe," Harry snapped back. "The less you know, the better. After what those idiots pulled on me, do you really think I would've let them come after you!"

"I can take care of myself! I zertainly took care of zem today, didn't I?"

"You snuck in and made a surprise attack! Do you honestly think if they had known you were coming, the results would've been the same?"

Fleur practically growled at Harry, and tried her hardest not to lash out and send him into the far wall. Fleur stepped toe to toe with Harry and glowered down at him. While she was normally only an inch or two taller than him, the stilettos she had been wearing gave her a few more inches. Against a lesser man, she would've had them trembling, but Harry simply looked back at her defiantly.

Someone clearing their throat drew their attention away from each other and towards the entrance of the storeroom. "As much as I hate to interrupt," Kingsley said, not even showing a glimpse of how nervous he actually was. "We have a few pressing details we need to discuss." With a small smirk, he watched the pair back away from each other. Interesting. Looks as if the relationship is more than simply friendly, and far beyond anything resembling teacher and student.

"What are the damages?" Harry asked impatiently.

"Roughly seven Aurors were killed, another six or so injured," Kingsley said softly. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Fleur's reaction, and was pleased to see that she may have regretted the rash decisions she had made. "The Unspeakables are launching an investigation as we speak."

"Wonderful," Harry muttered, throwing his hands in the air and walking around a bit.

"The chief theory is that, with help from an inside source, a group of Death Eaters infiltrated the Ministry and had made their way to the detention level before encountering a group of alerted Aurors. A fight broke out and unfortunately the Death Eaters managed to slip away. We believe they were after someone who was being held down there."

Harry stopped his pacing, surprised and confused, and looked at Kingsley. "Death Eaters?" he interrupted.

What Harry didn't understand, Fleur did. They're covering it up. But why? When Fleur had been under attack in the Ministry, survival instincts kicked in and she hadn't given much thought to what she was doing. But now, looking back, she was troubled. She had labelled everyone her enemy and attacked them without mercy, just because of the actions of a few cowards who were really pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Kingsley smiled a little and paused to adjust his robe. "I believe Mlle. Delacour understands," he said after a moment.

Staring off into space, Fleur spoke. "Your friends are covering up what really happened. But I don't understand why?"

"Simple," Kingsley said slowly. "First, with the original trap ruined, we needed to improvise something to make the best of the situation. By suspecting an inside source, records and activities of everyone, especially in the Auror ranks, will be scrutinized. Weeding out the corrupted; our main goal. In addition, once news hits that it was Harry that was the target, who would seek the publicity to that? From his illegal detainment to someone letting in a group of deadly radicals to the attempted attack upon the Hero of the Wizarding World."

"How will you explain my presence? Or Harry's disappearance?" Fleur asked nervously.

"Were you there Mlle. Delacour? I have not heard anything to that effect. As Minister of Magic, you'd think I'd be privy to that knowledge," Kingsley said sarcastically. Then before Fleur could answer, he continued. "Most of the description of the fighting is fragmented at best.

"While some know better," Kingsley said, glancing at Harry for a moment. "Not many will believe that damage was caused by one witch alone," he then added sarcastically, "Especially, not done alone by a delicate flower such as yourself."

Fleur glared at Harry when he, despite himself, snickered at the flower comment. For a brief moment, they forgot they were upset with each other. Kingsley continued, "And second, one of my goals is to protect Harry, and by extension, his interests. If you were charged, regardless of how Harry felt about your actions, do you not think he'd come after you? I believe he would, and his path to you would dwarf the one you just carved.

"Harry's disappearance will be the easiest bit of all to explain," he said in an off the hand manner. "Upon review of everything, Harry was freed and moved to a secure location that until such time, will remain confidential."

During the entire conversation, Kingsley had watched Harry move away from Fleur when he first entered, only to now be standing very close to her side.

"So where do we stand now?" Harry asked, his voice more tired then anything.

"For now," Kingsley said as he searched in an inside pocket, "lay low and relax. By this afternoon, news of this will be everywhere. You'll be able to walk about Britain without having to glance over your shoulder for people looking to blindside you, for a change." Then with a teasing smile, added, "If you wish to return, that is."

Still fishing in his pocket, he pulled out a small silver ball and tossed it to Harry, "When you're ready, turn the top off until you hear a click, and it'll take you two to Grimmauld Place. Kreacher has the place set up for your arrival. Lay low for now, and I'll come by later this afternoon." With a swirl of robes, Kingsley Apparated away.

Harry sighed softly and slowly looked over at Fleur. She was currently slumped against a pair of stacked boxes, her head bowed and looking down at her hands. Reaching out, he gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Harry frowned when Fleur flinched a little before slowly looking up at him.

Looking into her eyes, Harry could see a storm of emotions swirling in them. Worrying about saying the right thing, Harry simply blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Thank you."

Fleur titled her head slightly, and looked at him in confusion for a moment. He smiled awkwardly back at her, "While it may have ended up as a mess, it's… nice to know that you'd try and help me.

"I'm also sorry about not telling you, I was trying to protect you, in some misguided way. I wanted to keep you out of harms way in case something happened and I wasn't there."

Fleur nodded solemnly, and reached up, took his hand from her shoulder, and held it in between her own. Harry felt an odd chill as Fleur held his hand in her own soft ones, but it never occurred to him to pull it away.

As Fleur spoke, her voice was tired and ragged. "I'm sorry too, I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Well, it's hard to when you don't have the whole story," Harry admitted.

"I guess… I've just gotten so used to you being around, I didn't like it when you were gone."

"Fleur-" Harry started but was interrupted by Fleur.

"No, let me finish," she told him. "I returned to France and threw myself into work, trying… trying to forget everything. I wasn't happy, far from it, and I was lonely, which made me angry.

"Than, I got that blasted letter, and against my better judgment, I tried to teach a little brat self control."

Harry chuckled softly. "How many times did we replace that couch?"

Fleur gave a small laugh too. "Enough times."

"You were such a painful reminder of… everything. I wasn't prepared for that, and it's why things weren't as successful as they could've been at first. Then, the more involved the training became, the more I worked past my own problems. Eventually, I liked having you around. It was nice having someone who I could talk to, or spend time with, without having to explain everything to. They just knew."

Tightening her fingers around his hand, as if it was the only thing that was keeping her anchored to the spot. "When William was taken from me, I shut down inside. Then, you… you sparked something… and when those pigs attacked you, I wasn't going to let it happen again."

"Fleur," Harry started, having no clue what to say to her. Part of him still wanted to throttle her, but another part wanted to hold her.

"I never really did thank you for helping me, especially when you didn't have to," Harry told her. He stood there for a moment, watching an odd reversal of roles. Fleur had helped him, and now, Harry would have to help her.

Harry opened Fleur's hands and in them, placed the small silver ball Kingsley had given him. Finding which way it moved, Harry turned the top off until he heard the click. In the brief seconds before the familiar tug of a Portkey, Harry and Fleur locked gazes and a silent moment passed between them. No more secrets. We do this together.