Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter story or characters. I do, however, reserve the rights for any characters I develop and the plot of this story.
Harry Potter and the Veela Life Debts
By Jojobevco
Chapter 14
More Training and More Thoughts
6:00 AM
Secret Entry Hall
The Minister for Magic of France's Bunker/Safe House
On Street Level with The Château Fort de Lourdes
Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrenees, France
Fleur had just finished getting into her workout clothes when she met her security detail at the entrance to the bunker hidden in a small house next to the Chateau-Fort. The detail consisted of two Aurors that were chosen because of their similar appearance to Fleur and with a few glamour charms, the three were identical. They were also wearing identical clothing. After a few quick stretches the ladies put on their shoulder holsters, strapped in their Walther PPKs, attached the arm holsters for their wands and zipped up their tracksuits before opening the door.
The three stepped out in a triangle formation, with Fleur on the left and one of the Aurors in front and one on the right. With a quick wave to the top of the fort they turned right and started jogging. After reaching the first corner they rotated so that Fleur was in the front. This was one of their defenses, to continue rotating position so that no one would have any idea who was the real Fleur, a 'shell game' of sorts, along with varying their route every morning.
Fleur decided to go left, jogging down the Boulevard de la Grotte, and onto the Sanctuary perimeter road, through the Accueil or Hospital-Hotel courtyard, past the John Paul II Church and crossing the river at the Sanctuary's western most edge before coming back toward the fort. At this point in their route they jogged along the Rue de la Batuguerre for a bit before turning onto Rue de la Foret. This turned into the Avenue Monseigneur Theas next to the large hill that contained the Stations of the Cross, passing the still closed Basilica and turning on to the Avenue Bernadette Soubirous, where the souvenir shops were just opening. Their route became uphill here as they jogged back across the river and up to the hill the Chateau-Fort was on, this time entering the public entrance and jogging to the base of the tower that overlooked the valley.
The detail stopped here, nodded to Fleur and jogged away back to one of the many entrances to the bunker, while Fleur continued up the stairs of the tower only stopping when she got to the top level that overlooked the whole valley. By this point after jogging just under a two and three-quarters of a mile through mountainous terrain and then up the tower, she was exhausted, out of breath and shaking even though this was one of her shorter routes. After taking a few minutes to calm her heart rate and drink some water she walked to a hidden panel and flipped it open, entering an access code on the keypad that released a hatch in the ceiling which caused a ladder to drop down.
Contrary to the belief of the million or so pilgrims that visit Lourdes and that of its citizens, the valley is actually a lot better protected then they think. The apparently defunct and ancient Chateau-Fort is actually quite active, usually playing host to a squad of French Department of Magical Law Enforcement Officers- Reserve Branch.
The Reserve Branch is a special force of Non-Magicals such as Squibs and the relatives of Magical Persons, which plays double duty as part of the DMLE and Gendarme Corps. The hidden roof of the tower is where they operate from. Concealed behind various notice-me-not charms is a magically reinforced platform of various weapons including a flak cannon, an artillery battery, a few machine gun nests, and a sniper team. The sniper team is what brings Fleur up here.
When the French DMLE started issuing Muggle weapons to the Aurors it brought a variety of logistical and tactical problems, specifically in incorporating them into Magical Warfare. The biggest of these problems was transfiguration. How do you keep a wizard from turning your PAMAS into a rubber duck?
The French were hard pressed for an answer; the best solution they came up with was manufacturing the guns out of transfiguration-resistant alloys and material. This would hold off transfiguration by an average wizard, not someone of McGonagall or Dumbledore ability. However, any partial transfiguration would cause a gun to permanently jam and backfire, thus causing the French Auror Forces to go through more weapons than their muggle counterparts. Eventually the protocols on using firearms were adapted to account for the fact that they could only be used at longer range and in situations where the wizards didn't have time to react, visualize, and transfigure a gun. This was by no means foolproof, thus causing most Aurors to relegate their firearms to use only in the muggle world or situations where the quick reactions were absolutely necessary. The Force did, however, come up with one foolproof solution.
There was no way in hell that any wizard or witch could transfigure a sniper rifle from over a kilometer away.
The sniper team composed of Squibs and Non-Magicals was responsible for defending the fort. They also were responsible for providing cover for Fleur on her morning runs, hence the reason she didn't jog anymore than 1,800 meters from the tower, the maximum effective range of their long range rifle, the PGM Hecate II, a massive, powerful, 50 caliber rifle.
Fleur finished climbing up the rope ladder and turned to her instructor, Louis Lafleur, "Good Morning, Louis."
"Good Morning, Fleur, how was the run?"
"Brutal as usual, where are the targets today?"
"In the Field, 850 meters north of here on a heading of 218."
Fleur nodded and moved to the crate in the center of the platform, and picked out her rife of choice a PGM 338, loaded with .338 mm Magnum rounds. After checking the clip and picking up a few extras, she grabbed a silencer (the wards don't stop sound from traveling and the sound of a sniper rifle going off in a peaceful valley at 6:30 in the morning would be kind of noticeable) and went over to the north side of the platform. The soldier in position there quickly grabbed his rifle and moved out of her way. Fleur got prone on the ground, engaged the forearm of the rifle, took aim at the first of the targets, and fired, before adjusting her aim to the next target and firing again. After going through all ten targets and ejecting the clip, Louis grabbed his scope and checked them.
"Hmm, you're a bit off today, Fleur, you need to relax a bit."
Fleur just grumbled and ejected the clip, before inserting a new one. She knew why she was off, it was the same reason she had taken the shorter route. Her mind was on Harry's bedroom downstairs, specifically what her Master and sister were doing.
7:00 AM
Harry's Suite
The Minister for Magic of France's Bunker/Safe House
Under the Château Fort de Lourdes
Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrenees, France
Harry's alarm gently buzzed, pulling him back into consciousness. After leaning over to shut it off, he looked at the woman who was snuggling against him. Last night was amazing, perhaps the best night of his life. Making love was wonderful and the bond made it even better. The bond seemed to take a whole new level with the physical contact involved. It seemed to make Gabrielle anticipate him. It made the experience so much better.
Harry allowed himself a brief moment to indulge in the memory before turning to wake his bonded companion up.
"Good morning."
Gabrielle murmured, "Good morning, Master. How did you sleep?"
"Very well and how do you feel?"
"Much, much less tense."
"That's good. Come on, time to get up."
A half hour later, a showered and dressed Harry and Gabrielle entered the kitchen, grabbed a traditional English breakfast and some tea, before heading through the double doors into to the dining room.
Unlike the conference/dining room up in the Minister's suite, the large dining room they had been using was set up like a small cafeteria. They had no idea why so many tables were needed until now. In a room that was empty the morning before there were now about thirty-six other soldiers besides Louis and Tonks, who were both sitting at a smaller table with Fleur. Harry and Gabrielle went to join them.
Harry turned to Louis, "What's with all the soldiers."
"The Bunker is now fully operational, meaning that we will start playing host to a varying number of troops. What you see here is the bare minimum. Those two tables over there," Lafleur pointed twelve soldiers sitting in the far corner, "are composed of the Reserve squad that is usually assigned to the Fort. The rest of these troops are a section, that's the French equivalent to a British platoon, of Aurors assigned here from Paris. This also doesn't count Fleur and Gabrielle's security detail and the regular staff, such as secretaries, maintenance, etc, which is being bolstered by transfers from the Bastille. Right now there are about fifty people in the Bunker, a number that's liable to grow in the next few days."
Harry nodded, "So what's on the schedule today?"
"Well, the good news is that the Underage Magic Exemptions came through this morning for you and Gabrielle so the three of you will be practicing magic today. Harry, you will be with Tonks, since you both know the British styles of magic, while I will take Gabrielle, and Fleur will train with her detail. Any questions?"
There were none. After finishing their breakfasts the group went down to the training rooms.
8:00 AM
Training Room 1
The Minister for Magic of France's Bunker/Safe House
Under the Château Fort de Lourdes
Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrenees, France
Harry and Tonks walked into the training room and she shut the door.
"Okay, Harry, what I'd like to do first is go through a Pensive memory of you in the graveyard, see where you're at and all that. Is that okay."
Harry nodded, as much as he didn't want to, he'd have to face his memory at some point.
"Good."
There was a knock on the door, Tonks went and opened it. Outside was a soldier with a large box. He gave the box to Tonks, gave her a clipboard, which she signed, the soldier then saluted and left. Tonks brought the box inside and tapped it. The lid slid open and a pensive popped out. This Pensive, however, did not look like Dumbledore's. It looked…newer. Tonks then took her wand and pointed it at a 45 degree angle to Harry's head.
"Harry, I want you to think of everything that happened in that graveyard, portkey to portkey. Then we will go through and analyze it. Okay?"
"Okay." Harry thought for a moment, concentrating, "I'm ready."
Tonks touched her wand to his temple and rotated it, before slowly pulling a memory out. The then brought her wand over the pensive, rotated it again, and let the memory fall into the device.
"Ready, Harry?"
No, but Harry took a deep breath and said, "Yeah."
"Good, let's go."
And they both stuck their heads in the pensive.
Seconds later they both landed in the cemetery next to Harry and Cedric with a soft "squelch."
"Where are we?"
Cedric shook his head, "Don't know, did anyone tell you the cup was a portkey?"
"Do you think it's part of the task?"
"Don't know, wands out you reckon?"
"Yeah."
Harry heard something, "someone's coming."
A short figure approached between the two of them with what looked like a bundle of robes in his arm. Then, Harry's scar exploded with pain, his wand slipped from his fingers and he fell ot the ground clutching his head
Tonks waved her wand and brought up a 'menu' of sorts, selecting pause. Instantly, the action froze around them
"Harry, describe what you were feeling here."
"Um, pain?"
"How bad?"
"Second only to the Cruciatus."
"And it's concentrated around your scar?"
"Yes."
"And you just noticed it suddenly?"
"Yes."
Tonks pulled out her wand and 'rewound' the memory back to just before Harry started experiencing pain. She then opened the menu again and selected one of the options. Suddenly, several strings of lights spun out of Tonks's wand and settled around the graveyard. One of them settled between the Pensive Harry and Voldemort. Tonks made a hmm like noise, grabbed a pen and notebook out of her robes and made a notation.
"Okay, let's continue." Tonks hit play.
"Kill the spare."
Pettigrew fired, "Avada Kedavra."
Cedric died.
Tonks paused the Pensive again and looked at Harry. He was standing, looking over Cedric's body with a look of shock on his face and tears running down his eyes.
"Harry."
"I, I got him killed."
"No, you didn't."
"Yes, I did."
Tonks crossed her arms under her chest, "Really, Harry, how?"
"I should have moved him, or stopped him, or something."
"Harry, you were ten feet away, in excruciating pain, on the ground. Pettigrew was just feet away, the spell didn't have far to travel. Cedric was a quidditch player, he had good reactions. He made it through the tournament. If he could have moved he would have.
"But he was only here because I insisted we take the cup at the same time and the cup was only a portkey, because Voldemort wanted me."
"Did you know the cup was a portkey?" Tonks thrust her rather ample chest out a bit. She was trying to distract Harry, not that she wasn't attracted to him, but he's married, Merlin it's complicated.
"No."
"Did you know Voldemort would be there to kill Cedric?"
"Of course not."
Tonks put her arm around him and brought him over to a log and sat him down.
"Then it is in no way your fault. Harry, you are a great man, but you can't save everyone. You're not invincible. You're fourteen years old. True, you've been forced to grow up fast, and that is not your fault. That is the fault of the adults around you, of the world you're put in. Cedric's death is regrettable, certainly, but you are no more responsible than anyone else."
Tonks then hugged him, and they sat on the log for a while, before they stood up.
"Ready to continue."
Harry wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at her, "Yeah."
"Good." Tonks pressed play.
8:00 AM
Training Room 2
The Minister for Magic of France's Bunker/Safe House
Under the Château Fort de Lourdes
Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrenees, France
When Gabrielle entered her training room, she found a single desk waiting for her. Louis entered behind her and shut the door.
"Gabrielle, you are much more gifted in Charms than in Defense, unlike Fleur, you also never participated in Beauxbatons's Defense Club. So, to begin, we are going to have a quick review. We will start with the disarming charm, the incantation is Expelliarmus. There are two versions of this spell, the first is the standard disarming spell. Simply pointing your wand at a target say "Expelliarmus" and the target's wand will be ejected from their hand, there is no visible light for this spell. The second version involves a circular wand movement and a scarlet light. This one will tend to send your opponent flying as well. Any questions?"
Gabrielle shook her head and Louis waved his own wand and made a training dummy appear.
"This training dummy will react the same way as a wizard would. Now, disarm him."
Gabrielle nodded and stepped up to the dummy, drew her 8.5 inch oak wand with Veela Hair core, aimed and fired off an Expelliarmus.
The wand arced from the dummy's hand and halfway between Gabrielle and the dummy.
"Good job for your first attempt, keep trying."
Gabrielle sighed and took aim again
8:00 AM
Training Room 3
The Minister for Magic of France's Bunker/Safe House
Under the Château Fort de Lourdes
Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrenees, France
Fleur stepped into the training room which was pitch black. She immediately fired off a Lumos Solarum flare before diving to the right. As her eyes adjusted she aimed and fired off a series of stunners, disarming spells, and a few Reductos before erecting a shield in front of her.
Fleur noted with pride that she had hit the two enemies before they could recover.
Unfortunately, she had neglected to look beside her. This would have devastating consequences as a bright Avada Kedavra green light hit her in the side.
As the lights in the training room came back up, Fleur looked down at herself.
"Merde!" Fleur's skin was now a very bright green. She looked to her right where "Bellatrix Lestrange" was standing laughing her head off at her.
"You have to be aware of your surroundings more, Ma'am."
"Augustus Rockwood" was getting up off the floor groaning, "Nice hit, Mrs. Potter."
"Sirius Black" (someone really needed to tell the Auror Department that he was innocent) just lay right where he fell groaning, "You can say that again."
"Bella" just rolled her eyes at the two of them, "Okay you idiots, time to get off the floor, let's do another."
11:00 AM
Training Room 1
The Minister for Magic of France's Bunker/Safe House
Under the Château Fort de Lourdes
Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrenees, France
"So, any questions, Harry?"
Harry looked over at the woman that had been acting as his trainer for the last few days. Honestly, he didn't know what to think of Tonks. He liked the young Auror, but at the same time he hated her for putting him through this nightmare she calls 'training.' Yet, the training necessary, not to mention the conflicting feelings he had been having about her of a decidedly more personal nature. Harry groaned and decided to stop thinking; he was starting to get a headache.
"Too many, Tonks, but now isn't the time."
There was a knock at the door before one of the base's soldiers entered and saluted.
"Excuse me, Mr. Potter, Captain Tonks, I'm sorry to interrupt, but you have a phone call, Mr. Potter."
"Phone, not Floo?"
"Yes, sir."
"Who the hell knows I'm here?"
"The call was routed down to the bunker through the Minister's private line."
"So it's Minister Delacour?"
"No, sir, someone called Minister Delacour trying to reach you."
"Well, best go see who it is."
The three of them walked out the door and through a few hallways before reaching a door with a big sign that says COMMUNICATION ROOM- STRICTLY NO MAGIC ALLOWED. The soldier drew his wand and placed it in a cubby hole next to the door along with a couple of portkeys. Harry and Tonks quickly followed suit, before entering.
The room was small compared to the average sized state-of-the art communications room. It consisted of only a single bank of computers and a desk with a phone. The soldier gestured to the desk. Harry picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Is this Mr. Harry J. Potter?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Potter, this is the Buckingham Palace Switchboard. Please hold for Her Majesty, the Queen."
AN: Please review! Thanks to those who have!
AN2: Okay, people, Tonks. I'm really not sure what to do with her yet, so she's sort of stuck in a holding pattern. I'd appreciate any opinions you have on her.
AN3: Now for some historical information about Lourdes, France.
Lourdes. France became a famous Catholic pilgrimage site in 1858 following the appearance of Mary to a teenaged St. Bernadette. A spring later formed in the grotto where Mary appeared that was responsible for many miracles. Since then over 200 million pilgrims have visited the 51 hectare site that is home to several churches and basilicas. The Accueils house sick pilgrims that visit the site.
And don't think the route that Fleur had an easy time with her walk. Just that walk over the terrain would be hard, and climbing the Fort's tower almost gave me a heart attack, and I thought I was in good shape.