Hey, everyone! Mystery Critic here, back at you with a brand new chapter of your favorite Harry and Fleur romance! Don't deny it, you know it's true! Don't make me add in another Wookiee growl. I mean, Jedi mind trick, I mean some other copyrighted thing, which I still definitely do not own. Now, this story is getting so much love, it's so awesome. I am so happy by how much support and enjoyment the story is receiving! I hope everyone continues to love it for a long time to come! I finally corrected the title, so everyone can stop worrying about the whole thing. Now, to fulfill a promise I made. For answering the question correctly, here is your specialized cookie, one of my dearest sister's world-famous snickerdoodles! You have not lived until you have tasted her snickerdoodles, and it was baked in the flames of the haters. Here is your own personal cookie, Devilsummoner666! I hope you enjoy it. Now, I am going to, for now, keep each of the chapters between three and five thousand words. Upon returning to Hogwarts, I will start bumping up the chapters to higher word counts. I hope you will stay for all the goodies to come, and I hope I'm succeeding in capturing your continued interest with this story. As for the disclaimer, I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the rights affiliated with it. Anywho, now that all that stuff is out of the way, grab your licorice wands, your Madame Rosmerta's Oak Matured Mead, and enjoy chapter eleven!
Chapter 11
Italics - French
Days pass since Harry, Jacques, and the Goblins rescue the Delacour women. Although she walks around the house with a smile on her face, loving and spending time with her family, her eyes are haunted. They dart around, flitting from corner to corner, into hallways before walking out, the sapphire orbs of beauty and determination losing their fierce luster, dulling faintly. In another week, Harry would leave for Hogwarts, and Fleur for Beauxbatons. Their hesitation to leave their mother while in this state apparent whenever they sit around her, an uncomfortable silence permeating the air.
"You need to stop worrying about me, my children." Apolline says with a sigh, putting her book down and looking up at them with a warm smile. "Your dear mother will be fine. I will be fine. I was saved by my wonderful son before anything could happen, remember?"
"You are not fine, maman!" Harry snaps, standing up and clenching his fists. "You were nearly raped, for Merlin's sake!"
"I was not, though." She says, placing a loving hand on his cheek softly and smiling up at him tiredly. "I was saved by my one and only son."
"Stop it, please! Be serious!" Harry pleads, taking her hand from his cheek and clutching it protectively in his hand. "We are not blind! You have not healed from this! You keep watching around corners, your eyes don't stop flitting around the room! You are anticipating it to happen again, and it's killing me inside that I can't do anything to help!"
"You have already done everything you can, Harry." She says, squeezing his hand in an attempt to comfort him. "This isn't something that you can wave a wand and make disappear. This takes time, love. I have to see mind healers to deal with the stress. It will take quite some time before I am all the way better. However, that will not stop me from loving my family. I will still be the mother and wife I need to be. My family needs me in this time as much as I need them."
"Maybe I should stay home this year..." Harry begins, looking away in embarrassment at suggesting it.
"Absolutely not, my love." Apolline answers firmly. "You are going to school, and that is final. Besides, I still have Gabrielle and Jacques here while you and Fleur are at school. I will be fine. I promise."
"I don't like it..."
"Sometimes we must do things we don't like, but that is how life works." Brushing a strand of hair out of his face, Apolline smiles warmly. "You must go to school, just as Fleur does. You do not see her saying she should leave school, even though I'm sure she wants to with all her heart."
"It's true, my love." She says, wrapping her arms around his shoulders comfortingly. "I want to stay home with maman to make sure she is going to be alright, more than anything. Our education is important, however. It is something we must do. Besides, I'm sure some fun at the Quidditch World Cup will be fun, won't it? I know maman loves cheering at sports events. She becomes quite crazy doing so, and tomorrow night will be no different."
"Oh, you lying hen!" Apolline shrieks, feigning outrage as a blush creeps slightly across her cheeks. "I do not go crazy! I am just... A little enthusiastic, that is all!"
"'A little enthusiastic?'" Fleur repeats, raising an eyebrow as she holds back a chuckle. "Are you sure it's not just about the butts? They are quite nice, aren't they?"
Yelling in outrage, Jacques and Harry both blush hotly as they protest loudly in perfect sync.
"What, are ours not good enough?!"
Giggling at the antics of their men, the adult veela in the room stands up and wraps her arms around his neck, placing a soft kiss on her husband's lips. "Your butt is more than handsome enough to satisfy my needs."
"As is yours, my sweet Harry." Fleur whispers in her chosen mate's ear.
"Um, Fleur?" His voice shaking, Harry looks up at the beautiful veela. "Do you think I could talk to you in private for a few minutes?"
"Of course, my love." She answers with a smile, kissing him on his nose as she takes his hand and walks towards their room. Opening the door, she gently ushers Harry in before closing it behind her. She waves her wand and silently casts locking charms on the door and privacy wards around the room. "What would you like to talk about, love?"
"Well, Fleur, I really like you. I do, there's no debating that. You're an amazing woman with one of the best personalities I have ever come across and the beauty to match, but..."
"You... don't want me...?" Fleur's voice cracks, her eyes swelling up with tears as her whole body begins to tremble with sobs.
"Woah, no! Of course I do! That's not what this is about at all!" Moving forwards quickly, Harry takes Fleur's face in his hands, wiping away the tears gingerly with his thumbs. "Fleur, I would never want to be apart from you. I am your mate for the rest of our lives, and I love that. You saved my life, Fleur. You saved me from those monsters! I will be grateful to you for the rest of my life! What you did, Fleur, I could never repay. You gave me a loving family, one that cares for me and loves me unconditionally. I have wanted this for as long as I can remember! Throw in the most beautiful and wonderful woman I've ever met as my life mate, I hit the jackpot of perfect lives!"
Giggling and sniffling once, the sadness and fear being replaced with confusion. "Well, then what is this about?"
"Fleur, I don't know a whole lot about love, and even less about relationships." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't mind the pet names, or the close contact, and I'd never complain about cuddling... It's just, don't you think we're taking this a bit... fast?"
"Oh, Harry." Slapping her hand to her face gently, she shakes her head. "I didn't even think about that. It's just, a man being able to resist the allure is so much rarer than you think, and it's the most sought-after quality in a potential mate for a veela. By being adopted into this family, you'd be around a lot of veela women, many of them single. By being able to resist the allure, you're basically the most eligible bachelor around. By claiming you as my life mate, and you accepting it, as well as sealing it with a kiss, I was able to keep any other veela from making a claim on you. I know that sounds awful, but I just wanted you for myself... I'm sorry if that upsets you."
"Are you kidding me?!" Smiling like an idiot, Harry hugs Fleur tightly. "A veela hotter than any supermodel on Earth laying claim to me? I'd have to be an idiot or gay not to be happy about that!"
Giggling again, Fleur wraps her arms back around Harry and plants another soft kiss on his nose. "Of course we can take it slow. I am so sorry I didn't take your feelings into consideration when laying claim to you, Harry."
"Hey, you won't hear any complaints from me." Chuckling along with Fleur's giggles, Harry looks up at her and kisses her cheek warmly. "Let's get some sleep, love. We've got a match to cheer our heads off at tomorrow."
Smiling and laying back onto their bed, the two magical beings fall asleep together in a deep sleep, wrapped in each other's embrace.
-Fleur-
As Harry's eyes flutter open, his face is covered by a full head of luscious blonde hair. Moving it aside, Harry slides out from underneath her and pulls his wand out with an evil smirk, his Marauder blood boiling. Pointing the tip of his holly and phoenix feather wand at the sleeping woman, Harry screams at the top of his lungs; "AGUAMENTI!" A stream of water shoots out his wand, drenching his sleeping mate and making her shoot up straight suddenly in terror. Seeing who cast the spell, Fleur's eyes narrow as she growls, standing up slowly, her eyes glaring at our resident dead meat wizard menacingly. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"
"Oui." Fleur says coldly, a terrifying smile adorning her features as she grabs her wand from the nightstand and conjures a ball of bright blue flame in her off hand. "You 'ave two options. Veela fireball, or stinging 'exes until you can't sit down? Which will it be?"
"Uh... Option C?" His voice squeaking, Harry stumbles back quickly, falling onto his ass as she approaches him slowly. "Life?"
"Wrong choice." Crouching down, she straddles Harry's lap, a leg on each side of his as she giggles maniacally. "Let's get up close and personal for zis punishment, shall we?"
"Um, Fleur...?" A beet red blush enveloping his face as he looks just under her chin, her white nightgown soaked through as her baby blue bra and panties show through the material. Coughing nervously, Harry tries his best not to stare at the lacy underthings melding tightly to her curves, seeming to almost melt into her skin. Following his gaze, Fleur looks down, then back up over his head, a blush spreading across her face, too. "Not that I don't like what I see, can you get up? We have to get ready for the cup..."
Taking a breath, Fleur fights down her embarrassment and slides off Harry, turning around so he can get up. Grabbing a change of clothes, he walks into the bathroom and changes as quickly as possible, staying quiet the whole time until he walks back into the room. "Fleur, are you okay?" He asks, keeping his eyes covered.
"Oui, 'Arry." She says, kissing the hand he used to cover his eyes. "I am decent, you can uncover your eyes now. I am sorry about that."
"My fault entirely. I didn't mean to embarrass you, Fleur. I'm so sorry."
"If zere was anyone I wanted to see those, it would be you, 'Arry." She says, fidgeting in place slightly, biting her lip slightly as she looks up at him. Fighting his blush, Harry nods, rushes forward and kisses her cheek, and rushes out of the room. Giggling to herself, Fleur follows down into the dining room where breakfast has already started. Giving everyone a kiss on the cheek before Harry, she slides into the chair next to him like every morning, planting a lingering kiss on his cheek, her full lips touching the corner of his mouth tauntingly. "Good morning, everyone! 'Ow is everyone today?"
"Fine, Fleur..." Looking back and forth between his daughter and son, Jacques raised an eyebrow at her cheerful disposition. His eyes move from Fleur eating her breakfast happily to Harry fidgeting in place with a faint blush, poking at his food. "So, is my daughter no longer a virgin?"
"JACQUES SEBASTIAN DELACOUR!" Apolline screams in shock. Fleur chokes on her bite, coughing and hacking at the words her father just spoke. Harry pats her on the back with enough strength to dislodge the errant food. "'OW COULD YOU ASK SOMEZING LIKE ZAT?!"
"Easy." He says, winking at the two teens. "I am zeir fazzer, and I trust zem to be safe."
"You're an evil man, papa." Fleur says, panting heavily as she glares daggers at her father. "An evil, evil, evil perverted man."
"Oh, please!" Rolling his eyes, Jacques flips a strand of imaginary hair and winks at them again. "You shouldn't use ze truz (truth) as an insult. It won't 'ave any effect. Now, finish breakfast. We 'ave a portkey directly into ze ICW box at ze stadium. We will be spending ze day reading in ze library. Around six zis evening, we'll be off."
-Fleur-
Landing on the ground with a hard thud, Harry groans as the rest of the Delacour family lands gracefully on the ground, Gabrielle in Jacques's arms. "Anyone get the number of that bloody bus that hit me?"
"Is it all magical transportation zat hates you, or just portkeys and floos, my love?" Smirking at Harry, she winks cheekily at him.
Grumbling about wizards and magical transportation, Harry stands up and dusts himself off, walking over to a chair and sitting down. Harry looks out of the window, hundreds of thousands of people screaming in anticipation of the match to begin any minute. Lights flashing everywhere in the stadium, Harry looks out in awe at the magnificent sight in front of him. Large patches of color alternating between red and green everywhere. He turns his head up to see a giant blackboard, golden writing appearing as though an invisible giant was writing upon it. Catching movement in the corner of his eye, Harry turns to see Minister Fudge stand up and give him a small wave before turning to the Malfoy family. Seeing the younger ferret walk over to him, Harry tenses up and sighs in exasperation.
"Potter!" Draco snaps, glaring at Harry venomously. "What right do you have being up here in the Minister's Box?"
"First of all, you ignorant ferret. This is the box for the entirety of The International Confederation of Wizards, not the Minister's Box." He spat back, raising his hand and showing his rings, the metal and stones glimmering magnificently in the light. "Second off, That's Lord Potter-Peverell-Slytherin. So show proper respect before I do something that'll make you ever regret messing with me."
"Oh, yeah?" Proving once more that the air-headed ponce has less intelligence than a flobberworm, Draco sneered and mocked Harry, ignoring his much higher social status. "How are you going to do that, you jumped up half-blood?"
"I'll take away all of your family's SleakEazy." Grinning maliciously, enough to make a goblin cringe, Draco paled in horror. "Yeah, that's right. I own SleakEazy. Keep fucking with me and your precious silky blonde hair will be gone, and you'll be forced to go back to the days of hairstyles when your family was nothing more than sheep fondlers in France."
"Now, now, 'Arry." Fleur purrs, leaning against Harry. "Come now. Don't insult sheep like zat! Why do you zink zey are 'ere? We didn't want zem in France anymore."
"Is there a problem here, Potter?" Lucius asks, walking over with a poor attempt at grace and sneering at Harry.
"Not at all, Lord Malfoy." Moving his hair away from his forehead, Harry flashes his rings purposefully, eliciting a wide-eyed reaction of pure shock and disbelief from the pureblood lord. "Not with me, anyway. Maybe you should re-educate your heir on etiquette of addressing a Lord of higher political standing."
"Yes... I think I shall do just that." Mumbled Lucius, turning away and placing his arm around Draco, whose eyes were still glued to Fleur hungrily, eyeing her up and down with unrestrained lust. "Come, Draco. Let us leave Lord Potter and his... family to enjoy the game."
As they walk away, Harry turns to Fleur and breaks down in laughter, followed shortly by the happy veela. "Oh, man! That was awesome!" Harry cheered, leaning on Fleur.
"Indeed it was." Fleur purrs, nuzzling Harry affectionately. "You played ze prim and proper pompous lord role perfectly, mon amour."
"I almost believed it myself!" Breaking down into more peals of laughter, the two start to quiet down as Ludo Bagman walks up to the edge of the box, placing his wand at his throat.
"Good evening, everyone!" He yells, his amplified voice carrying out over the entire stadium. "Welcome to the finals of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup! This is a marvelous event, and we have two amazing teams full of the best talent in the world, competing for the honor of being the best in the world!"
Cheers erupt from the crowd, Bagman waiting patiently for it to die down.
"Yes, yes! Well, without further ado, let us introduce our two teams who will be battling to the fullest of their abilities tonight. First off, the Irish International Quidditch team! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Conolly! Quigley! Ryan! Aaaaand Lynch!" As he says each name, a broom flies over the edge of the stadium, cheers erupting from the crowd once more as each player lap around the stadium. From down below, Harry spots little men in green walk out from one of the tunnels on the pitch and realize that they're leprechauns. Thrusting their hands in the air, gold and green sparks shoot into the sky above the Irish team. As they reach their peak, they explode in a flash of fireworks with the Irish team colors, receiving another bout of cheers from the audience. "And now, help me welcome the Bulgarian International Quidditch Team! Ivanova! Dimitrov! Levski! Volkov! Vulchanov! Zograf! Aaaaaaaaaaaaand KRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM!"
Cheers louder than any time earlier that night explode from the stadium, Krum's name setting off a deafening roar. Harry turns down to see several beautiful women walk out of the tunnel on the opposite side, and chuckles. 'They have actual cheerleaders? That's weird.' Chuckling in his mind, he turns to Fleur to tell her when she sees everyone in the rest of the Delcaour family seething in silent fury as the eyes of every other male in the box glaze over, pushing each other out of the way to get a closer look. 'Veela. That's why they're angry. The cheerleaders are veela.'
Wrapping his hand around Fleur's he squeezes gently, smiling at her reassuringly once she turns to look at him. Upon seeing his smiling face, Fleur snaps out of her anger and leans her head on his shoulder in silent thanks. Gabrielle notices as Harry lies his head on top of hers, and taps Apolline and Jacques, pointing at the pair of teens with a giggle. Upon successfully being broken out of their bout of anger, Jacques stands up and smacks Bagman upside the head, prompting a muttered thanks from the dazed man. Returning his wand to his throat, Bagman clears his throat towards the veela on the field for them to reel in the allure so the game can commence. Upon complying, Jacques sits back down with a smirk, earning a chaste kiss on his cheek from his wife.
"Now that the teams have been introduced, with great honor and pleasure, let the final match of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup... BEGIN!"
Not as big a cliffhanger as usual, but still enough to see what I do with the game. To be honest, I'm not going to stray from the canon result, and the game itself won't be taking up too much of the next chapter. Quidditch in this story will be more focused on upon arriving at Hogwarts, though. So, look forward to that. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and look forward to more! As usual, read, review, and spread this shit like wildfire! I'll see you all next chapter! This is Mystery Critic, signing off!
