Harry searched his brain for any memories of ever talking to Roger; nothing occurred. He did not seem to remember seeing him talking to Fleur either… "Then again, never really watched her as much as everyone else seems to do," he thought to himself, instinctively shrugging and then, afraid someone would notice, composing himself again.

The tall Ravenclaw approached the sitting students. Harry quietly observed, his Seeker 'ways' adjusting to the moment before he could help it, analyzing, taking in the scene…

There was confidence in Roger's eyes… to anyone who didn't bother looking at them twice. The way his shoulders moved, how the left foot seemed to falter every two steps… Harry knew better; that was a game face if he ever saw one. Whatever reasons brought Roger to that corridor at that moment, they were strong enough to both get him there and make him want to leave screaming at the same time. Given that Quidditch was suspended and he saw no other common interest that would make that boy bother looking for him in the school grounds, there was only one reason why he should be closing in on them… Fleur.

"Come to think of it, if you're ever sided by a girl like her, you're always the last thing people will be looking for, wherever you are," thought Harry, shrugging again and silently cursing his daydreaming while Roger's blinding smile reached them at last.

"Two Champions at the same place… should I be calling any teachers to see if the Triwizard allows it?" he teased. What surprised Harry the most was that Fleur frowned first.

"I don't see any complications… do you, monsieur Potter?" she added somewhat nonchalantly, turning around to face the boy with an amused smile.

"None I can think of," he returned, relaxed, while they both focused back on the Ravenclaw, silently waiting. With his joked deemed lame, and his charming entrance shot down, Roger continued, a bit stiffer than before...

"I was only kidding… but I do have matters to discuss with you, mademoiselle Delacour (Harry did not miss the slight flinch the girl gave to the badly pronounced French)… is that alright with you, Harry?" he sentenced, being very clear in his gaze… leave us was written all over it.

The Gryffindor laughed shortly. "If I'm alright with it or not hardly matters, Roger. It's her choice whether to speak to you or not, not mine." Then, realizing what a mistake it was to show attitude towards an older, taller and atypical Ravenclaw, he opened his arms defensively, head down as he motioned to stand up, ready to announce he was on his way to give them some privacy.

"Just where are you going?" the girl asked (well, rather demanded). Harry stopped in mid movement, almost on his feet but not completely. He looked at her somewhat confused.

"Hm?"

"Didn't you just promise you would show me the directions to the… how is it that you people call it? Owlery?" she inquired, her tone casual enough to conceal to all but the most observant how urgent were her words. There was a silent plead in her eyes that told Harry she knew very well the subject of this conversation Roger meant to start, and was attempting to delay it as much as possible. All this happened in a matter of seconds, while the Ravenclaw eyed both students with a certain amusement.

"Well, absolutely no problem! I can escort you there while we talk, Harry may be freed from his word," Davies added in a hurry, already offering his arm in a mocked chivalry. Fleur looked at his arm as if it was hanging in an awkward angle.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Harry began, a bit uncertain. The look he received in return was nothing short of a dragon's tenebrous guard, as Roger turned his head slowly around…

"And why would that be, Harry?" he asked, forcing the words through his teeth.

"You know what… I'm actually going to enjoy this… serves you right for being such an idiot right now," the youngster thought. "She doesn't have to go to the Owlery, actually. We… have been summoned to discuss matters of the Triwizard, I had just found her when you walked in," he paused, both to let his words sink and to think ahead. "We still have to find both Diggory and Krum, and… I have been instructed not to tell this to anyone else… and this applies to Miss Del… to Fleur just as well. She was trying to be gentle about it. I'm sure you can understand that."

Roger probably wasn't the brightest Ravenclaw out there, but he was still an eagle: delaying Champions under instruction wasn't a smart move.

"We really do have to go, mate… perhaps you can talk to her some other time," suggested Harry, as if to destroy any possibilities rising in the lad's brain. Fleur rose in her delicate, swift ways, eying Harry with a glint at the corner of her eye. She smiled back at Roger.

"Yes, some other time. I do appreciate your understanding, Roger! I'll see you around… and Harry, I believe we should be trying to find the others," she said, leading them away from the bench. Harry nodded curtly towards the Ravenclaw and followed suit.

"Some other time, then," was all that Davies managed to blurt out when both other students were almost out of sight.

As soon as they were out of ear range, Fleur breathed as if deeply relieved.

"Should I ask?" was all he could gather.

"Ah, I've been dodging Roger for the past few days, now," she confessed rather timidly, "I know it's not polite and that at some point he'll notice…"

"Wouldn't hold my breath on that," pondered Harry.

"… but I know what his intentions are: if not for his ways alone, the whispered talks along the corridors are quite easy to follow. He wants to escort me to the Yule Ball."

Harry pushed open a door leading into the main stairs, letting Fleur in first. He led her a flight up the stairs and signalized a corridor to the left, silently aware of her presence. "Well… is that too big of a problem?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… well, don't get me wrong, I'm really a social disaster most of the time, so I don't always get the… 'dynamics' of human relations," he laughed snappily to avoid wondering why was it that he didn't feel as awkward as he should for admitting that out loud to an almost complete stranger. She was just… easy to be around, no different than it was to be around his few friends. That didn't seem to have anything to do with the Veela gene, though.

"Really? I wouldn't gather that from your improvised 'Triwizard meeting' a few minutes ago," she said playfully, but just in the right amount so he wouldn't feel inadequate about it. "I suppose the rumors are true about you, after all… you really are an escape artist."

Harry's face reddened as if he was a Weasley. "Rumors aren't always tr…"

"I know," she cut in with a hand on his shoulder, without pausing their seemingly directionless walk, "this was my very impolite way of saying 'thank you' for that, Harry." Her smile was simple and genuine. "And I cut you in, yet again… what was it that you were saying?" she asked, her tone open and calm.

"Ah, it's nothing, really… I was just trying to understand why is it such a problem if he invites you to the Ball. I'm sure he would not be the first… it's a safe bet he won't be the last," he pondered, indicating another corridor brightly lit with large, glassless windows. They went in. "You don't like him? That being the case, you'd just have to refuse…"

"Oh, no, I don't have a problem with him. Not the smartest boy I've ever met, as cruel as that may sound, but in the few times we spoke he's been actually quite nice… as nice as most boys get to be around me," she said lowering her voice gradually, almost as if Harry wasn't there.

"Then where lies the need to evade him?" said Harry, leaning his body in front of one of the windows. Fleur took the one next to him.

"I don't know… I actually think that we could have a nice enough time. But sometimes he looks at me in a way that… well, I just don't know," she repeated, more to herself than anyone else once more.

"You don't want to give him any wrong ideas," said Harry, their faces absorbing the wind. Fleur laughed as she eyed him back.

"For someone who claims not to be insightful about human relations, you're pretty quick on the uptake as far as I can tell."

He smiled sheepishly as to say 'thank you'.

"I think that's exactly it, you know," she continued, watching a solitary owl rise using the winds for lift. "I'm always afraid that if I say 'yes' to any of these boys, they'll understand this a sign of something other than just the company for the night. The fact that I even need an escort sounds so ridiculous sometimes! It's perfectly normal for everyone else to go alone if they want to. If given the choice, I'd just go, have a decent meal, dance and laugh with my friends, and consider it a very enjoyable night," she paused for air and saw Harry's expression, "and I'm just shooting words here and you were not prepared for it. I'm so sorry!"

Harry laughed, his hands making small gestures of 'don't worry'. "I don't mind listening one bit (and staring into the nothing as he was, he missed Fleur's smile to this statement)… besides you pretty much described my idea of a perfect Ball too – give or take that 'dancing' thing. Given I still don't have a 'date', going alone does sound really good. That is, until Professor McGonagall decides I've had more than enough time and fix me up with someone for the sake of tradition."

To this, Fleur's eyes narrowed a bit. "What?" he inquired.

"Nothing. I just figured that given the number or girls I hear around the corridors building up the courage to invite you themselves, you'd be taken by now…"

His silence and sudden interest in his hands were enough. Comprehension dawned on her.

"… and most of these girls never bothered to say 'hello' to you before this chance of basking under the spotlight next to a School Champion."

"Well, to be fair I'm sure there was a Hufflepuff who did say 'sorry' when she bumped into me a few years back in a hallway," he said, shrugging.

"I'm sorry…"

"Oh, no… don't be," he added hastily, eying Fleur briefly. "it's not like I go talking about these things. I don't think I do it at all," he added, staring back at his hands. "But it's fine, really."

"It's not," she concluded. They both inched their heads back into the corridor. "But it will be, I hope. I'm sure there must be still plenty of girls who would love to accompany you just for your company. And I pity those that do not seek this as it is."

"You don't have to be nice to me all the time, you know," he argued, a bit embarassed.

"I'm not being nice. If not for the restriction of Champions not being able to invite other Champions, I would've asked you to be my escort already. Wouldn't give you time to refuse," she added, a barely serious look on her face. He laughed.

"They actually have a rule for this?" Harry asked, amused.

"I did look it up," she said shrugging. "Alas… old rules. We can't go alone, and can't attend with our competitors. Regardless of how much fun that would be," she added somewhat sadly, tilting her head to the side.

Harry didn't know how to respond to that… not even in his wildest thoughts would he consider that Fleur would have looked up rules to see if she could be accompanied by him. Without an agenda, without compromise, just to have someone to talk to.

"You are quite the character, Fleur Delacour."

"Well… in fairness, we'll be sitting close-by, I think. If your escort becomes boring, do tell and we can always argue through the night about how the weather of this island can be damaging to a flight while carrying an egg around."

Fleur assumed a very concentrated face. "I could actually hold you to that." Harry joined her in the laughter. It was easy to do so.

"By the way," he said, pointing at the door behind the girl, "the first door to the left beyond this one… that's the Owlery."

She beamed. "You are quite the character, Harry Potter." "Clever, aren't you? I think I'll owl my sister, you know… she's been dying to know a bit more about this place, and to do so with an owl that actually belongs to the school would be rather nice. Oh, but I don't have a…"

"Parchment?"

Harry handed her a piece of scroll, quill and ink from the backpack. "No need to return these, got plenty."

"You are far too kind, you know," she said, folding the paper neatly, close to the book she still held.

"Not that much, really," he retorted, hand on the back of his head. "Do you know your way back from here? I should get a head-start on these books, but I can wait to help you out if you want me to."

"Not to worry, I can take care of myself."

"Oh, I know. With a dragon as reference," Harry smirked, fastening the catch of his worn bag.

She gave him a quick wink, before heading for the door. "You know," she added, just before disappearing, "I think before the day ends, we'll have our partners for the Ball."

"Do you, now?"

"I do. All it takes is a little bit of faith, Harry. Remember that."

"At least you gave me plenty in men today," she thought to herself, smiling.

He never heard those last thoughts, though, as he resumed his stride back to Gryffindor.

AUTHOR NOTES: (JUST RE-UPLOADED THIS, correcting some mistakes! It was late here and I was out of coffee last night...) Dudes and Dudettes! I could have sworn I had uploaded this a while back. I'm really sorry, and I really… REALLY… need vacations. Slightly longer chapter to compensate. I'm not too sure the dialogues are how I wanted, but you people can tell me what you think. Anyway, some considerations to my fellow readers and reviewers:

Some people pointed out that Harry's a bit more charming than he usually is (some of these were two of the nicest, most complete reviews I've ever had, so THANK YOU SO MUCH!). It's just that it's not hard to do so, if you know what I mean. I have NOTHING against the work that J.K. put together, but… I was kind of a nerd back when I was at school, and I could still shoot my hoops and have reasonable conversation with a girl without looking like a complete dork or attempting to replicate a Don Juan. There is middle ground, lots of gray area... and this is how I always thought Harry could be, if he wanted to. But some people make him hit on anything that moves, so if anyone expects to see that, you better move along, I think… not what you'll find here.

As to the direction of the story, I want to give it more substance, I do (including a full background with some mods and an all original plot). Just don't know exactly how to yet, and sleeping 5 hours a day is not helping. I'm getting there someday, though…

As for relationships in a wider sense… I still plan on keeping Harry/Fleur (I think it's a challenge, and I like working on it; always had a thing for slightly older women ;) ); but you have to be patient with them. Going to the ball together felt a lot like clubbing them in the head and forcing it, and I like when a story feels real, natural, even when the scenario itself is fantastic. Remember, they barely know each other (and people don't know each other in a glance, and they don't fall in love in a zap, not unless they're in for a world of hurt. Period). They have obstacles. But they are so much fun writing, too, so they're worth the effort. I hope you all feel the same.

Do REVIEW, please… I appreciate it a lot! Thanks for all the support, will try to upload the next part soon.

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