The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

She awoke to the smell of fresh coffee and hot cinnamon. She smiled warmly. Clearly, her loving husband had decided to treat her this morning. She rose out of bed, not bothering with a robe as she padded down the hall to the kitchen.

He was turned away from the door when she got there. She crept up behind him and then wrapped her arms around him kissing his neck and then spun him around to face her. She kissed him firmly before leaping into his arms, pressing her naked body against his.

"I love you Ha-"

And then she awoke. From beside her, she heard the regular breathing of her bedmate. Harry didn't have the Weasley snore, a fact she was truly grateful for. She sat up in the bed and looked at him, in the darkened room, lit only by the moon outside he wasn't the hero of the wizarding world, he wasn't the destroyer of Voldemort, he was just Harry.

Just Harry, who had put everything aside in order to bring her to France.

Just Harry, who'd taken her on this trip through her home country with a stop at Beauxbatons and then another week in Paris.

Just Harry, whom she really wanted to kiss. Possibly for the rest of their lives if the warmth in her belly when she thought about him was anything to go by. She saw him frown in his sleep, his lips moved as if he was talking to someone but all she heard was a slight hiss of his breathing. She leaned down and kissed his temple, hugging his sleeping body to hers. It seemed to help, Harry's face calmed back into a sleep-slackened neutral expression, the only sign that he was taking comfort in her actions was that his lips spread very slightly into a smile.

What am I doing? Fleur thought as she stroked his cheek, I cannot fall in love with him. The scandal alone would ruin his good name for years, maybe for the rest of his life. She sighed, Whatever this is, it cannot go any farther than France.

That idea was sound, except everything in her very soul hated it. She couldn't live that life, loving Harry and watching him find another woman. She couldn't be married to Bill and trying to imagine Harry's face when she was forced to perform the duties he expected of her.

Perhaps I can convince him to stay in France...She liked that idea, images of that little dilapidated farmhouse they'd stopped at being turned into a proper home flitted into her mind. The issue of scandal in England still existed, but at least in France, they could be free to be together.

Thoughts of the cheerful farmhouse in her dream lulled her back to sleep and she fell back asleep against him.

Harry awoke later in the morning to a sight that was slowly becoming more familiar, Fleur was asleep and holding onto him. Her face was pressed against his chest, her lips curled in a smile. At his stirring, the smile turned into a frown and she tightened her grip on his shirt, burrowing tighter into him.

Fleur, Harry had begun to learn, was a cuddle-enthusiast. She had a grip like iron but she was warm and sweet-smelling, Harry supposed that he could very easily get used to that grip on his waist. Too used to it in fact. He loved-

He loved her.

Shit.

Harry was in love with Fleur. He loved her, from the top of her bed-head to the tips of her absolutely freezing toes that traced up his leg as she twitched in her sleep. He was in love with a married woman, a woman married to the brother of his former fiancee. He groaned softly in annoyance at the situation, causing Fleur to stir from her sleep. "'arry?" Fleur said against his chest, her accent thick from sleep, "What time is it?"

He looked over at the clock, "A little after seven."

She tightened her grip on his waist, "Then it is too early." She looked up at him, "I want to thank you for this. All of this is because you wanted me to be happy. Something I haven't experienced with my own husband in a very long time." She drew in a steadying breath, "I- I need you. I need this. The closeness, the kisses, I don't care if they hate me forever."

"What are you saying?" Harry asked her, with her closeness, he knew she could tell his heart was racing in anticipation.

She leaned up and kissed him deeply. Harry froze for a moment then began to kiss back. He felt her shift in the bed, pressing her body against him, she was sitting up now, her hands on his thighs as she pressed him against the headboard. Her tongue slid into his mouth, filling his senses with the taste of her, Harry heard her grunt softly into the kiss, a sound born of her hunger for this connection between them.

When the kiss broke they were both panting slightly, "Love me." She said quietly but firmly, "Here in France, there is no 'Fleur Weasley', we are Harry and Fleur Peverell at this place, let us be Harry and Fleur Peverell until we are forced to choose between it and Harry Potter and Fleur Weasley." Her hands moved from his thighs to his shirt, her hands moved under the material touching his chest, "We both want this, you know it as well as I do."

"I do want you," He admitted, "You make me crazy."

"You do the same to me." She said, "Will you then? Love me, at least for a little while?" She hated how needy she sounded. She wasn't a scared little girl, she was stronger than-

Harry was kissing her and the pleasure from that fact stilled her rational mind. Maybe it was wrong, she didn't care anymore. She didn't care about the disapproval of her family, of her in-laws, or of her husband. As she and Harry undressed one another, clothes flying from the bed, she didn't care about anything except how right this felt. As touches progressed to lips on bare skin, she didn't hear Ginny Weasley calling her 'Phlegm', all she heard was Harry moan as her lips kissed a sensitive place just above his navel. When his lips touched her inner thigh, his face slightly scratchy and rough with stubble, she didn't see Bill's face, it was Harry making her feel this way.

Later, much later, they took a shower together. They hadn't spoken since before they'd made love. Even now in the shower, they were silent as they washed one another. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, it was a silence made from there being nothing that needed to be said rather than one born of not knowing what to say.

Fleur felt her stomach gurgle and that sound caused them both to laugh, "I suppose we should have eaten breakfast before we used all that energy." She said to Harry, "Lunch will have to be a sizable meal."

"As my lady wishes." Harry said as he turned off the hot water, then his voice turned serious, "Fleur-"

She stopped him with a kiss, "Non. Until we return to England, when we are alone then there is no shame in what we've done." She told him before leaving the shower and toweling herself dry. She smirked as she bent to dry her legs, "Harry, I felt loved in your arms. I haven't felt like that in a long time. I know that I am a married woman, I don't care anymore. If we decide upon going back that we don't want this to end, then it won't."

"You'd divorce Bill?" Harry asked her, drying himself with his own towel.

Fleur nodded as she straightened her body, "Of course I would. If we want this to be more than a brief fling while we are in France then I would choose the man who wants me over the one that refuses to defend me when his family attacks me." She walked into the bedroom of their suite with the towel wrapped around her waist, "I had a dream about that, I believe that's what spurred me on today. I saw us building a life here in France."

She sat on the bed and took her wand from the nightstand. She cast a drying charm and began to comb her hair out as her wand floated about her head, a gust of hot hair coming out and drying her hair. "We found a little farmhouse like the one we found the other day but livable."

Harry came out brushing his teeth, "Really now? I always pictured you as loving the city life."

"I enjoy comforts, I won't lie about that." She said taking back her wand once her hair was dry. She went back into the bathroom to brush her own teeth, "But there is something to say about the peace and quiet of the country isn't there?"

There was, he had to admit it. "What would we do?" He asked her, wanting to hear more of her fantasy. At this point that was all it was, a flight of fancy.

"Harry, you are rich. My family is likewise, my father loves you. If we were to tell my father that we both wanted to live in France he would shake down every contact he has at the French Ministry to get you any job you wanted." Fleur explained, "As for me, I can just transfer to Gringott's Paris branch."

He shook his head, "I don't want to be given a job because my future father-in-law knows someone. I have enough problems with my fame in England." Harry dropped his towel and began to dress, "I'd rather get a job on my own terms, even if it is sweeping the floors."

She came back naked and began to pick through her clothes, "If he was to do that, please do not hurt his feelings by refusing to at least talk to whomever he met with." She turned back to him, holding up a light blue blouse against her body, "Do you like this or," she switched the garment for a black and white blouse, "this one?"

He looked at her and then to each of the blouses. "I'm not going to lie, I love seeing you in blue."

She blushed and put the blue blouse on the bed before placing the black and white one back into the suitcase. They dressed in a comfortable silence and then it was time for them to face the day.

They left the hotel and took the motorcycle into Toulouse proper. Harry steered the bike onto a road that followed the canal. Sitting in traffic made Harry long to press the button to turn on the invisibility booster and get them into the air. He refrained, partly out of the fact that they were already on the road and partly because he knew she didn't like flying.

"What about that one," Fleur said pointing with her free hand, the other arm was wrapped around his waist, "Les Complices?" Harry followed her hand and pulled into the parking lot. It was a small, cozy place, the kind that he could imagine them taking a child to after an afternoon exploring the shops.

"This will do for me." He said as he turned off the motorcycle. They disembarked and walked into the restaurant. They were sat by the hostess near the window and given menus.

"So, if we do this-" Harry began, "We'll be starting over. I doubt very seriously that Ron and Hermione would talk to me again, well maybe one letter at Christmas or something similar, but-"

"I know that. But you would have Andromeda and Teddy." Fleur offered.

Harry blew out a breath, "Damn I forgot about them. There's no way I can be a godfather and live in another country."

"I would not say no if they wanted to live with us," Fleur said as she took a sip from the water glass the waitress had brought them. "The change of scenery would do her some good. She lives in the same house she'd shared with Tonks and Ted."

Harry rubbed his temples, "This is a lot to even begin to process."

"That's why I didn't want to discuss it today." Fleur told him, "I wanted today to be free from worrying about tomorrow. This was supposed to be our day without intrusion."

He sighed softly, "Then let's do that. What do you want to do today?"

She thought about it. Beyond the immature voice that was telling her to say 'go back to the hotel and stay in bed all day', there were one or two other things she wanted to do. "I would like to visit the shops, this is a tourist town of course, so it's only appropriate that we go and look at the overpriced goods."

He laughed at that. The waitress arrived and they each made their order, once they were alone again he took her hand. "Whatever we decide though, I want you to know: I will do my best to make sure you never regret whatever choice is made."

She squeezed his hand, "Harry, I know that I would never regret being with you." She smiled at him, "You are a good man and if we decide that this is what we want, then I know you will love me forever."

His thumb traced the back of her hand, "I mean the fact that we are already at this point should tell you that I want this too." He saw the hope in her eyes and brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, "I want to make this work."

She could not mask her happiness at that. Divorce would not be painless, but he was worth it. "Harry, when we return, would you mind a lodger at Grimmauld Place until my divorce is completed?"

He laughed softly, "Of course I wouldn't. I may have to change the wards so that no one but the two of us can get inside, well us and Andromeda, but there will always be room for you in my home."

After lunch, they went back to the motorcycle. Fleur guided him through a series of twisting roads until they arrived at an alley that dead-ended behind a small bakery. "This is the entrance to the magical district of Toulouse. It is similar to Diagon Alley, but it is a bit smaller."

"Where should I park the bike?" He asked her, "If this is like Diagon then I know there's no parking." She laughed and thought for a moment, "There is a car-park beside the church we passed. Let's park there and then walk back."

And so they did.

The Allee Magique was exactly as Fleur had described, a small but bustling shopping district for the magical community in Toulouse and beyond. "We need to stop here," She told him, "I have to send word to Madame Maxime that we wish to visit."

"Couldn't we just send a messenger patronus?" Harry asked her.

"We could," She admitted, "But I also wanted to show you where I got my school things. It may come in handy in case we ever have to bring someone here ourselves." The message was clear: Fleur believed strongly,that at some point, there would be a child and that child would have to get their school things.

As they browsed Madame Maxime was well aware that they were in Toulouse. She had been told of their arrival thanks to a visit from her benefactors. They were most anxious to meet with Harry and Fleur and so for the first time in many, many years, the in-school alchemy lab was humming with activity.

Henri was working on one of his experiments when Marie came to find him, carrying in a tray of sandwiches. "Work time is over," She told him, "Eat your lunch."

"Spared no expense I see." Henri said to his wife as he took a bite, "The doctor told you I wasn't allowed any more organ meats, so instead of liverwurst I have to eat watercress..."

"That potion of yours keeps us alive, we have to keep ourselves healthy and sharp-witted." Marie told him, "Besides I told Olympe to expect an owl today. When she gets it she is to send one of the House Elves to pick up our lovebirds."

"I know that. That was my plan. I've not gone addled yet. No matter how hard you try." He said dryly as he ate his sandwich.

"I wonder how they will take our meddling." Marie said as she sat down beside her husband, "Do you think we should tell them or just let it be?"

"Let it be of course." He said with a chuckle, "Saying 'Hello Harry, Fleur, lovely to meet you two again. We've been following you since you stepped into our cafe and think you would make lovely children, marry each other as soon as possible' wouldn't go very well."

She rolled her eyes, "You are hopeless when it comes to being tasteful." She told Henri.

"No," He said putting the last of his sandwich back on the plate, "That mess of lake-weed they call watercress is the hopeless one when it comes to taste. You've just been so caught up with those two that now you're nervous."

There was a knock on the door, Madame Maxime entered, "I have received their owl. They have requested entrance tomorrow morning. I will send a House Elf as you've asked."

"Thank you, dear," Marie said, "It is very gracious of you to allow us a chance to carry on like this."

"Marie, we do pay her after all." Henri pointed out, "Still, thank you, Olympe, you are free to go back to actually running the school while we act like gossiping schoolgirls." He dismissed the Headmistress and he and his wife discussed Harry and Fleur. Tomorrow would be the day that everything would either go well or go straight to hell as Henri termed it.

The fact that Marie smacked him for his crude language should be taken as understood.