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.
Back at the hotel, Fleur wasn't sure how to explain what she'd learned. She was afraid of what would happen when Harry learned that this whirlwind love affair of theirs had all began by them being 'nudged' towards each other. Why couldn't this be what I thought it was? She thought miserably as she looked at Harry studying the books Nicholas Flamel had given him.
"Harry?" She began, drawing his attention. He smiled at her, the way he usually did now that they were a couple. "I- I learned something today at Beauxbatons." She drew in a steadying breath and continued, "The Flamels, we have met them before."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked curiously. He began to rack his brain, trying to remember anything that would lead him to conclude that they had met the Flamels. He was drawing a blank though and gave up.
"They have been following us since at least Toulouse." Fleur explained, "They were the old man and old woman in the park." She looked away, unwilling to meet his eyes in case she saw in them a sudden desire to go back to Ginny and try and forget her.
"Huh." Harry said softly, "You know what I'd like? Just one time? To meet people who don't look at my life and see it as their own personal gobstones game." He closed the book he had been reading and stood up from his spot on the bed. "It's six-thirty, it's time to get ready if we want to make it to the restaurant on time."
"You still wish to go out?" Fleur said in surprise.
He shrugged, "We're still together. How we came together isn't the important part to me." He walked over to her, offering his hand to help her up from her own seat by the window, "What matters is that we want to continue it."
"I want that," Fleur said putting her hand in his and standing, "more than anything." She put her arms around him and buried her head in his neck, "I was scared." She admitted quietly.
Harry hugged her tightly, feeling her almost burrow into him. "However we came together, I'm glad of it. That doesn't mean I'm going excuse them for what they did. If you had still cared about Bill-" He stopped when he felt her arms move from around him. He felt her hands move and then heard a soft clink of metal on the table. Looking down, he saw her ring sitting there.
"I should have done that the first time we made love. It escaped my notice and now I can't look at it without feeling sickened." Fleur said as she put her hands back into his. "Bill was not the man I thought he would be." She kissed him, "When we go to England, I will make it official, but I have been Fleur Delacour since our first kiss."
Scene Break
They were summoned back to Beauxbatons late the next afternoon. Harry gave Fleur a kiss at the door for the Alchemy Lab and walked inside. "Good to see you again Mr. Potter," Nicholas said, "I've been working on our project and I believe it's time for you to add your part to it."
"Before we do anything." Harry said, holding his hand up, "We need to talk about you and your wife following us."
Nicholas scoffed and continued to add things to the cauldron, "Were you hurt by this? Did you experience loss of limb or worse loss of hair?" The old man laughed quietly, "All that happened was you found the woman you loved. If anything you should be thanking Perenelle, she likes orchids by the way."
"Orchids? After you two deliberately interfered with our lives? What if Fleur didn't want to be with me? Did you think about that?" Harry said, his voice rising, "What if you two ruined a happy marriage?"
Nicholas rolled his eyes and tapped his wand on the cauldron, "If she had been so happy with her husband, then this would have just been a trip for two friends. Neither my wife nor I Mr. Potter told the two of you to do anything. We haven't used a single compulsion spell or love potion. Everything that happened, did so because you two wanted it." The old man's voice softened, "Is there something you do not like about the lovely lady or your relationship with said lovely lady?"
That stopped Harry. He knew, realistically, that he had every right to be furious with them. Even if not for his sake, for Fleur's. "She was terrified that I would reject her after finding out about you two. I was lonely, sure, when we came to France, but if she would have stayed Mrs. Fleur Weasley then that would have been fine. I'd have found someone eventually, or I wouldn't have and just raised kneazles. This would have hurt me, but you could have destroyed her." He said after a moment, "You and your wife can decide on a proper way to repay Fleur for scaring her like that. For now, what do I need to do?"
"So, you are still willing to do this?" Nicholas asked him.
"Neville lost his entire childhood. If I can give him his adulthood with them, then so be it." Harry said simply, "So what do I need to do?"
Nicholas looked at his notes, "We need to channel the spells to break a curse and cleanse poison from the unicorn blood and the troll skin. The Elder Wand is the best chance for that. While you cast those spells, I will take the Resurrection Stone and place it into the cauldron. Its necromantic energy will work with the other ingredients." He motioned to his notes, "I could let you read that, if you had a year to study them you would still be lost, no one can read my shorthand except Perenelle. Long story short, the Stone will enhance the rejuvenative properties of the potion."
With that, the two wizards began their work. The charms were written down for Harry to use and were simple enough, basic purging and cleansing spells. Using the Elder Wand, he could feel the magic as it changed the properties of the blood and skin, leaving their regenerative qualities whole but removing the taint that each item carried. The silvery unicorn blood glowed white hot before returning to its mercury silver state, the grayish troll skin lightened a small amount turning the color of the same whitish-gray of Spanish moss.
His part done, Harry turned to Nicholas, "What now?" Harry asked him.
Nicholas shushed him with a wave of his hand. The old alchemist flicked his wand and Harry's contribution sailed across the lab. Nicholas caught it without looking and opened each jar. The blood went in first. The potion spat out an acrid smell that nearly made Harry gag as the smoke went from yellowish to white. The troll skin was added and Harry heard a deep thrumming as if the potion was pulling the magic out of the skin. That was apparently what Nicholas wanted it to do as he drew the bits of skin back out of the potion. "Now, come here and use the Elder Wand to channel your magic into the potion."
"What spell?"
"Not a spell, the root of all alchemical potions is the will of the crafter. Point your wand and then concentrate on your magic, let it flow into the cauldron." Harry did as he was instructed and concentrated. He felt his magic flowing, it was like the first time he'd held his original wand, but the feeling was much stronger. Dimly, as if in another room, Harry heard Nicholas laugh and shout 'that's it, that's it!'. He looked back into the cauldron and saw that it was glowing.
"That's the ticket!" Nicholas clapped his hands excitedly, "That's it, that's it, drop your wand." He pressed Harry's arm down, "Merlin's saggy balls, it's perfect! The Hallows are much more than powerful objects Harry, they are fragments of Death itself. Now, the mixture needs to rest, go back and find your woman. Enjoy the rest of your time in France, I will send an owl in one month. Now, go!" He shooed Harry out of the lab and then slammed and locked the door behind him.
Harry found Fleur sitting on the steps outside the Charms classroom. She looked lost in thought, that appearance was proven true when she jumped as he sat down beside her. "How did it go?" She asked him quietly.
"He seemed happy," Harry said to her, taking her hand in his own. "I let him have it about how they'd been following us." He was quiet for a moment then spoke again, "He said something that made me think,"
"Oh?"
"He asked me if there was anything about our relationship I would change." He said to her. He squeezed her hand gently, "Short answer: no."
"Long answer?" Fleur asked, disliking the needy tone in her voice.
"Long answer: definitely not." Harry said bringing her hand up and kissed it, "How we got together isn't the important part. What is important is that we are together now."
That earned him a proper kiss.
Scene Break
Harry and Fleur looked at their luggage. After a quick lunch in Toulouse, they had gone back to the hotel to pack. They were on the last leg of the trip. Up next was Paris and the small apartment Fleur had been given by her parents.
"So, Paris?" Harry said as he used his wand to shrink and lighten their luggage.
Fleur laughed for the first time, Harry felt, since she'd told him everything. "Oui, onward to Paris." The idea of visiting Paris helped the knot still inside her heart untangle.
They went out, dropping their room key into a small basket on the desk in the lobby as they went out into the gravel parking lot of the hotel. The sky was clear and the sun was still high and bright as they made their way to the motorcycle.
Donning their helmets they boarded the bike. Fleur slipped her arms around his waist as Harry turned the bike on. With a roar they were off and turning northwards they joined the lines of cars and buses on their way to their own destinations. She squeezed him tightly as they made their way past a group of goods trucks. "It's about five hours, we'll get to Paris before it gets too dark." She said to him through the enchantments on the helmet.
"I know a faster way," Harry said with a grin, earning a soft smack on the shoulder that made his grin grow larger. "It's got us this far.."
"Harry James Potter, if you dare put that motorcycle in the air, I promise I will put you on the balcony of the apartment for a week!" Fleur hissed, "I want my prawns to stay in my stomach where they are supposed to be." She rolled her eyes, practically seeing him pout through the helmet, "Oh fine...but be careful. I-" She stopped as the fish-eye effect filled her vision and they took off as soon as they turned a corner.
"I love flying," Harry said once they leveled off in the sky, "The first time I really had a sense for what magic could be, was when I had my first flight on a broom." The sheer pleasure in his voice made Fleur smile. Again she had images of those children in her mind.
"You know, Veelas tend to have mostly daughters." She said to him quietly, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Oh we'll have you a son, but it may take several tries." She laughed then, "You may have a Quidditch teams worth of daughters first though."
That drew his attention, "I don't care if we have a boy." Harry said, "We don't have to be reverse-Weasleys." Harry shook his head.
"No, you deserve an heir, to carry on your family name," Fleur told him as Harry swung out of the way of a large white bird. "Besides, half the fun of having a large family is the conception." She was quiet for a few moments, "I- neither of us have bothered with protection." Her voice was serious now, "Hopefully before anything happens we will be in an acknowledged relationship." She didn't want to think of the trouble the Weasley family could make for them if she was pregnant.
"We'll be alright." Harry said to her, "You, me, and any kids who show up."
Scene Break
Perenelle found the door locked when she went to bring dinner to her husband. He hadn't come to lunch, something she was used to but still irked her. Rolling her eyes, she tapped the door with her wand and then stepped inside when the door unlocked with a click.
"Well?" She said as she saw her husband staring almost lovingly at the bubbling brew inside the cauldron. "How was your talk with Harry?" Growling softly at being ignored she sent a stinging hex at him.
"Ah! Violent shrew!" Nicholas cried, rubbing his backside, "If you must know, I pulled out the 'yes, but did you die?' card. That worked well enough. He was in enough control of himself that when he channeled his magic into the potion it was strong. Very strong indeed."
"How strong?"
"Strong enough that his magic shaved two weeks off the brewing process. When I had to do this myself a potion like this would have needed a month and a half easily. I told him to expect my owl in a month." Nicholas looked back down at the potion, "It might even be less time than that."
"You make it sound like you want him for an apprentice, you haven't had an apprentice since-" Perenelle began but stopped when the potion glowed deeply and then settled again. She looked at the potion, "It's not about to explode is it?"
"It's doing fine." Nicholas said, "It's the most potent regenerative potion I've ever seen." He shrugged, "As for the apprentice part, why wouldn't I want him as an apprentice? With that wand of his, he could cut our wait time in half." The old man stepped back from the potion almost reluctantly, "I'll bring it up after he's had time to cool off."
Perenelle scoffed and drew a sandwich out of her pocket, "Eat your lunch, or should I say your dinner." She smirked as Nicholas stared at the watercress sandwich, "It's your favorite."
Nicholas groaned and took a bite of the sandwich. He chewed glumly for a moment and then spoke, "For the love of Mab's knickers woman, couldn't you at least put some pate in this? If I wanted to eat grass I'd transfigure myself into a cow!"
"The doctor said no organ meats and you aren't getting any organ meats no matter how much you pout." Perenelle told him, "Greens, vegetables, fish, fruits, and olive oil. That's what you get unless you want to be alive but immobile in a bed."
"You and that stupid 'Mediterranean diet'." Nicholas said finishing the sandwich, "I had enough of that diet when I was a boy. I like meat and cheese."
"And your colon doesn't!" Perenelle finished giving him a mug of grape juice. "No wine until you get your blood pressure down."
Functional immortality, Nicholas Flamel mused, wasn't always what it was cracked up to be.