My face was still burning. Not burning for real anymore, thankfully; however, thoughts of Fleur and shagging now wouldn't leave me alone. The feel of her skin, the sight of her ethereal beauty, her unreal teal-blue eyes and almost-glowing, golden hair. I wanted to run my fingers through her hair and hold her close, breathe in her unique fruity-vanilla aroma. Maybe I should've kissed her pink lips and touched her more when I had the chance.
My special place throbbed and tingled in a way I didn't know it could. It felt great. More than great. An urge to press my body against Fleur rose within me like a raging inferno. That must be my libido. I really didn't know much about this stuff, admittedly. I wondered if Fleur also had a libido going. Would it be rude or wrong to bring these things up with her? Something told me it wouldn't be—after getting to know her a bit. The books kind of hinted it was in their nature.
I noticed Olivia was crucifying me with that smug look, and I mentally slapped myself. What the hell am I thinking?
"Watcha fantasizing about, bro?"
"Piss off." I didn't usually swear, but this was an occasion for it.
"Oh, I think I know." Olivia held back giggles. Her face tightened as her eyes narrowed a bit, judged me with what I assumed to be a dirty look. Some of the older boys had mentioned 'dirty looks' once or twice—how girls would look at them sometimes when they were thinking about them in gross ways. Well, I now understood why it wasn't gross. It was anything but.
I shook my head, mentally slapped myself once more. Cool magic flooded my body as I forced myself to get a hold over things. My wand reacted to the surge of inner-magic with a slight tug at the invisible blood bond, helped me regain my sanity. Chilly wind blew throughout my bedroom.
What in Merlin's name did Fleur's magic do to me? I was losing my mind. I hadn't been this icky over girls before. It was as though her magic had flipped a switch in my head, turning me into one of the older boys, which I was destined to become anyway. Dad had said something like this would be happening sooner or later… I just hadn't thought it'd be this excruciating.
Groaning, I pinched my brow. "I think this is what puberty feels like. Fleur's magic triggered it."
Olivia blinked in surprise. "You might be right. It could be one of the side-effects."
Ah. Of course, it was. It was obvious now that I thought about it. I said, "The book's wrong."
"Hmm?"
"I'd say it's extremely harmful. This is torture. I can't stop thinking about her. I have to double my efforts to keep up my Occlumency without her allure calming my magic."
Olivia smirked. "You can't stop thinking about her?"
"This is serious."
"It is. The great second coming of Merlin can't stop thinking about a girl. What will the papers say if they find out?" She began loudly laughing again.
My wand hand jabbed at her, a blob of water at her face. She dodged easily. "Shut it."
She poked her tongue at me.
Why did I even bother talking to her? Looking away, I sighed and concentrated on my mental walls. I patched up a couple more large holes that'd sprung up, and I forcibly kept she whom must not be named out of my mind's eye no matter how much I wanted to think about her. I'd get through, someway. There had to be a way to endure if every boy in Britain was destined for this.
The door knocked. "Olivia? Are you in there? Harry, are you awake?"
Mum. Shock rippled up my sides.
It opened before I could stash the heavy book under my bed. Mum's emerald eyes bounced from me to Olivia, then straight to the book in my grasp. She recognized it in a heartbeat, her face draining of color. Dad was just behind. He winced. Not good. A gulp sank down my throat.
After what felt like eons, Mum shook her head and sighed. "I can't say I'm surprised, but perhaps it's for the best. You need to understand where I was coming from." Her reaction was far calmer than I thought it'd be. She looked over her shoulder. "James, can you handle this?"
He nodded, stepping around. "Better now than never." His strong magical aura flared as he waved his wand, conjured a finely polished wood chair at the side of my bed, and sat with a serious look. He took the book from me.
I assumed he was going to deliver my fate, whether I'd see Fleur again. Please be yes. I didn't care how irrational that was. It was what I wanted.
"Olivia," Mum said, jerking her head toward the hallway.
"But—"
"Let the boys have their chat. We'll have ours." The tone was final.
After a moment, Olivia exhaled and sprang off the chair. "Fine." She sauntered out with a slight slouch, her potter robes wafting a faint hint of her magical aura.
The door clicked shut, and I braced for the worst, not quite meeting Dad's gaze.
"Harry."
I looked at his matching glasses. He was sombre—though warm. The sappy mood was killing me. "Just get on with it. Am I going to see Fleur again or not?"
He chuckled. "Why do you want to see her?"
I almost rolled my eyes. "Because her allure helps with my magic." My nose wrinkled as his brows lifted. I let out a hot breath. "She's really pretty and doesn't treat me like the second coming of Merlin like every other girl we run into, including her sister." I'd already forgotten her name. "I kind of want to have that duel. I want to see how good she is." How powerful she was, whether she could match me.
Dad smiled widely. "Ah. A good answer, because I would've said you're still ensnared by her allure if you had stuck with the first bit and nothing more."
"Obviously." It was difficult to not be sarcastic. "I like her."
"How much?"
I nearly squirmed. For some reason, talking about this stuff with Olivia was less awkward. Maybe it was because she was my twin. "Too much. It's just like Mum described when she was being icky about crushes and stuff."
Laughing, Dad adjusted his glasses. "I see. How much of it is the allure?"
It took a long moment for me to answer. "I don't know. I think the allure triggered something in me, a side-effect like the book says."
He grunted in agreement. "Most likely. You still remember our previous talk, right?" About puberty and stuff.
"Yeah."
"Good." Dad's aura swirled. He conjured a metal cup and filled it with warm water, took a sip. "Are you adamant about the duel?" His head inclined a bit. His tone was hinting something.
I wasn't sure of what. I shrugged. "Sure. I officially accepted on behalf of the family, right?"
"Yes, you did." He inhaled a long breath. "It was magically recorded on both our family registrars."
My jaw dropped, my eyes swelling. I'd completely forgotten about that. It'd been so, so long since we'd done anything formal with the old ways. It was boring as heck too, memorizing all those rules and customs.
"It can be cancelled, however. The Delacours have already offered to rescind."
No! I wanted to shout. This was my chance. My heart rising in pace, I said with much courage after a moment, "I want to have the duel."
Dad beamed at me. "I knew you'd say that!" He ruffled my hair, much to my dismay, but I let it pass, for I somehow managed to keep Fleur in my life. Maybe it was her plan all along. How smart of her.
Dad cleared his throat. "However."
"Yeah?"
"It is still ultimately my decision as head of House Potter, and after a lot of discussion with your mother, there are some conditions for this duel to happen… for multiple reasons."
"Oh." My posture sank. "And they are?"
He took another long breath. "Since it's an official duel, it will likely make headlines throughout Europe, so you both will need to put on a good show… for your age. But more importantly, we don't want you ensnared by her aura again, so the duel won't be happening until after your first year at Hogwarts and mastery of Occlumency."
It took everything in me to not protest or groan at the top of my lungs. The only thing stopping me was that the book said Veelas sought after lads who were able to resist their allure. That explained why she'd blasted me with it at first sight. It was only another reason why my inner walls were so important.
And Dad could easily read the disparaged look on my face. "Those are lenient terms."
My head churned as I tried to find a way to speed things up. "What happens if it's left for too long?" There had to be a time limit or something.
"Nothing. There weren't any conditions, stipulations, or stated time-frames."
Ugh.
I was about to argue before another thought struck: I could still see her at the upcoming Quidditch match, and the terms only referred to the duel, nothing else. I smiled and tried to make it not too sly. "Okay. I accept."
Dad looked at me with clear surprise. "I thought you were going to be difficult. Just what are you planning?"
Buggers. He knew me too well. "Quidditch."
He caught my drift without pause. "Way ahead of you, son." He winked. "I've got your back."
Wow. My brows zipped up, compressing my forehead tightly. Now that was something I for sure hadn't expected.
"Don't forget I was your age once, not too long ago." He chuckled two breaths. "But seriously, you will have to work extra hard on your Occlumency over the next few days." He added with distaste, "Snape will be here shortly." He stood, un-conjured the chair and cup, then gave me another hair-ruffle.
I was far too happy and lost in bliss for it to bother me. I was going to see Fleur again in less than a handful of days. Mum would just have to put up with it. "Thanks, Dad."
"No problem."
A/N
Thanks for the review and snarky comments the other day, guest, so I thought to do an update. Harry's probably going to furiously masturbate to Fleur every night once he discovers himself, if they don't get together by then. He might even try to imperious her if he turns evil. I hope not.
I'm surprised people are still finding and reading this story of short chapters. It hit 200 favorites, somehow… My bad for just dropping it. Been a tough year for me. Haven't been able to write much, but to answer the comments and others regarding Harry's sudden weak-willed-ness: though he's mentally older, he's still at the onset of adolescence, inexperienced with girls, and Fleur the pretty veela overwhelmed him. She's his first crush, albeit magically induced. I thought it was quite clear. Maybe not. Shrugs. I also got a couple questions on whether Gabrielle will be thrown into a three-way romantic pairing eventually. The answer is a no. I don't write incest even if the genre is creeping up on here and Literotica and other places like crazy… But I was tempted to age her up and write her as the pairing instead; however, her character in canon, or what little of it was shown, wasn't what I was looking for.
(POTENTIAL SPOILERS)
It will be strictly Fleur/Harry, though Harry might be tempted to mess around with some girls at Hogwarts while he's there (he may or may not be staying for long).
