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Chapter 14

The bell rang three times then a voice came over the intercom. "Ladies we are on our final approach, please remain seated, make sure your seat belts are securely fastened and lock your chairs in their original position. Local time is 7:05 and the temperature is a cool 48 degrees, 9 Celsius."

Shar looked out the small window. 'London,' she thought, 'I hoped I'd not see this city for a while longer.' Memories bubbled up in her mind, flickers of family courtrooms, arguments, the criminal trial. She sighed, they had worked so hard to put what had happened here behind them.

Her mother, Tannim and his adopted family had been there every step, supporting her in any way they could. Just like they were now, she thought as she sat in Keighvin's Learjet. He had had it prepped and the flight plan filed before they had reached the airport, and if she knew him at all he was pulling other strings to be sure anything they could need was close at hand.

The moment she had laid eyes on Harry she knew her life had changed, in seconds her previously nonexistent mothering instincts went into overdrive. The sight of that frail, scared and lonely child melted her heart, while the injuries he hid fired her will to protect him. Somehow in those first moments she had taken a large leap toward motherhood.

Her mother stretched, smooth almost cat like. She smiled at her daughter, her red hair shining like fire as the sun hit it through the window. Her eyes seemed to sparkle, their jade green glowing vividly. One of the best traits she had inherited from her, if she said so herself. If only she had also got the hair color as well. Though her raven wing black hair was nice too, and it matched Harry's making them look like a blood related family, something that made her ecstatic when someone said something about it.

"Worry not, he will be fine daughter."

She smiled, she couldn't help it, some how her mother always knew. "How bad do you think it is?"

Lady Ako chuckled lightly. "He is yours and Tannim's son, and if he is anything like you two he is up to his neck." She watched as her daughter deflated a little. "But, also like you he has a family that will stand by him, willing and able to help however we can."

Lady Ako reached over and grasped her hand. "We know that he was alright as of when we spoke to Mr. Lupin, We will be with him soon, and then we will work this out together."

Shar nodded slowly. "Ok," she said still worried.

English breakfast, he never could get used to it. Who had beans with breakfast? Then again this was a country that thought of kidney pie as food. Thankfully, this was a form of buffet, the long table was piled high with breakfast foods, pastries, oatmeal, eggs, toast, bacon and sausage. So he was able to avoid having things on his plate he wasn't going to eat.

He supposed it was because it was Sunday, but the Great Room played host to few this morning. Though most of the students from the visiting schools were there, it seemed most of the Hogwarts students preferred to sleep in.

He was pleased to see one of the other competitors sitting at the table Hermione was directing him toward, "Good morning Fleur, I hope you are feeling less singed this morning."

"Yes, Mr. Potter, thank you for your concern," she said studying him intently.

"It's Harry, Fleur." He looked at Hermione as they sat, she waved at a petite blond entering and motioned for Harry to sit across from Fleur.

Hermione introduced the girl as she sat, "Harry this is Luna Lovegood, my best friend, Luna..."

The small blond interrupted, and plopped into the seat across from Hermione. "Hello Harry Potter…" She trailed off as she looked at him, her eyes, that reminded him of pools of molten silver, took on a vacant expression. "Hmm… that name… odd, it fits, yet it doesn't." She then smiled happily and filled her plate.

Breakfast passed with the group talking quietly, Fleur only stumbled a few times over her use of the English language. Unfortunately it wasn't to last.

"A mudblood, a loon, and a half-breed. Harry Potter comes to Hogwarts, and this is all he can find to have a meal with." Harry looked up at the offensive person, the first thing that came to mind was, 'how much crap do you need in your hair to turn it into a helmet?'

"Wow, an albino!" Well he did look very pale, with that fair skin and blond hair. "….No it's just a bleach blond…my mistake." He looked at Fleur. "Any idea what he is talking about?"

"My father said you had been raised by muggles, and knew nothing of our world. He said you did not even own a wand, how pathetic," the blond quipped.

"Your father?" Harry tilted his head and adopted a thinking pose complete with fist under his chin. His eyes scrunched up as if thinking real hard. "Is he a kind of tall guy, helmet of white hair, carries a cane with a silver topper of some kind…"

"Yes that is my father, Lucius Malfoy!" The young man puffed his chest with pride.

"Looks constipated…" The boy's face reddened. "Nope don't know him."

"You had better watch yourself Potter, and know who your betters are."

"And I suppose that would be you? I don't think so." Harry looked over the person he now thought of as Prissy boy, and at the two gorillas he had brought as backup. "You needed someone to hold your hand to even waltz your ass over and try and pick a fight. Not that you could, you probably need their help to pick your nose."

The boy looked as if he had been struck, and the great hall had fallen silent. "I don't care about you or your daddy issues, and if you thought this ridiculous display was going to get a rise out of me and make you look like the big dick on campus, you failed! Look around, all you did end up looking like was a little prick."

The boy glanced around the room, everyone was glaring at him. "Let me give you some advice, if you are going to get into a battle of wits then you had better be sure you are armed."

"When my father hears ab…"

Harry waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Yeah… Yeah… go tell someone who cares." then went back to his breakfast.

When he looked up again prissy boy was gone. His eyes moved to his companions. Fleur's shoulders were shaking as she tried to hold in her laughter, Hermione was trying to catch flies in her open mouth, while Luna…. ate pudding… pistachio pudding….?

Hermione quickly regained her composure. "Harry! You shouldn't have done that! Draco Malfoy's father is a powerful man! He could…"

"Hermione, you forget, I. Don't. Live. Here. I'm a US citizen, and he has about as much power at home as a gnat. Now anyone want to explain what he thought he was insulting me about?" Harry asked as he buttered a piece of toast.

Hermione looked at Fleur nervously, only to see an odd almost… predatory? look on her face as she looked at Harry. Luna spoke up, after licking her now empty spoon. "The loony is me… people don't think of me well. Hermione is the mudblood, referring to her non-magical parentage. As for the half-breed, I think he meant Ms. Delacour," she said waving the spoon in her general direction. "Although he's wrong, she is pure. Oh, pooh. No more pudding!" she said tilting the bowl beyond her plate.

Fleur's head snapped to the young blond, "How did..."

"I love to study the unusual and the exotic, my father and I are currently looking for the lost colony of Crumple Horned Snorkacks, we think that the colony is someplace in Scandinavia, that's where we are going this summer.

Harry looked at both of them. "Ok, I'm lost."

Hermione chuckled, "That's easy around Luna." She took over the explanation as Luna moved off down the table, looking for more pudding presumably. "It took me forever but I finally got her to explain it once, her family searches for animals that are even considered legends in the magical world, I guess they are kind of like xeno-biologists. You know, 'hunting for the Loch Ness monster and such'."

Harry nodded his head, Hermione's eyes drifted to her friend with a sad look. "Her parents used to take trips with her when she was younger, and after her mother passed I think it is one of the only ways she and her father can connect. Every year they go on these trips, and while I know she loves to go with him and to search for her lost animals… it's hard on her too. She always seems a little more… Luna than normal at the beginning of the year." She looked at him to see if he understood.

He just gave her a lopsided grin as Fleur spoke. "How did she know of my heritage?"

"That's all Luna," Hermione said looking back. "When she saw the article in my copy of the Prophet, the one about the wand weighing, and about your wand being made of your grandmother's hair she just laughed and said that there was no such thing as a quarter Veela. You are either Veela or you are not."

Fleur nodded, amazed that someone outside the families understood that. Harry looked back and forth between them. "Veela?"

Fleur looked down, at her now empty plate. "Yes, I'm a Veela."

"Ok, you say that like it's a bad thing," Harry said.

Fleur looked up at him, he just sat looking at her waiting for an explanation. "I'm not human, I am one of the Veela."

"So?"

Hermione took over. "You need to excuse him Ms. Delacour, I don't think he understands about Veela." She turned her head to explain what she knew of Veela. "Veela aren't quite human, they are… different. From what Luna told me," she looked at Fleur for confirmation, "They are a magical race, that lives alongside our own. They are known for their exceptional beauty, grace, and for something called the Allure, the natural ability to influence men in close proximity. She also said to be careful never to push a Veela into a rage… it would be most unpleasant. And coming from Luna… I'd tend to believe that would be an understatement."

Fleur looked uncomfortable. "It is not like we can control men, it just makes us more attractive to them, and there is a down side as well. Women tend to respond badly to us, anger, jealousy, the feelings range. It is said that it depends on the type of relationship the woman is in, and how secure she is in it." She smiled a little. "Unpleasant would be an understatement. I have yet to reach the final stage of my maturity, so I will not be hurling any fireballs in anger."

Hermione looked stunned. "That was true?"

"Most definitely! Father said mother did it once when I was very small. She killed both the men, they wanted to kidnap a Delacour, preferably me."

"Why would they want to kidnap you?" Harry asked.

"My father is a powerful man, he holds much sway in our government, and is well respected," she said with no small amount of pride.

She continued, "What I don't understand is, how Harry and Luna seem to be unaffected." She looked at Hermione, "I thank you for your effort, I try to keep the Allure at bay, but some still… leaks. I can see you struggling with it."

"It's ok, I just keep reminding myself that this is a compulsion, and not deliberate," Hermione replied. "As for Luna who knows? When the Defense professor had a Boggart in for them to study this year, it just came out in jumbled images, then a scream came from it and… well now it won't come out of its container." She then looked at Harry.

"Don't look at me! I don't have a clue. No offence Fleur, you are very pretty, but… well you don't seem any different than any other beautiful woman." Her eyes widened.

"Truthfully, you feel nothing? No pull at all?" she asked.

"No," he said shaking his head. "You just look like another nice looking woman to me, just like Hermione." Hermione's head shot in his direction. "Or Sue Bones," he said, pointing at the red head at the next table. He waved at her and she waved back.

The car dropped them off at the address they had been given, they stood looking at a small bookstore. "Well this is the address," Shar said, "but somehow I think that," she pointed to the building next door, "is where we will be going."

The sign above the rundown store front said The Leaky Cauldron. Lady Ako replied, "You are probably correct. It is almost time. I expect our guide will be here shortly."

As if on cue, a man walked out of the front door under the sign. He was fairly tall, and had a graying head of hair. His clothing had once been nice but was now going threadbare from wear. His eyes reflected on him as a man that had had a rough life. Whatever had worn on him had taken a toll.

Remus Lupin was happy this morning, he had gotten one of his best friends back, and now the lost child of his other best friend had been found! Even the burden he carried as a werewolf seemed light today! Life had been hard on him the past thirteen years, but it seemed to be getting better, even if it had seen Harry entered into that stupid tournament.

He was almost whistling as he stepped out onto the street, and turned to walk to the place he had told them he would meet them.

He stuttered to a stop. There in front of him stood two women, in muggle clothing, the first with raven black hair and jade green eyes, while the other had matching eyes but fox red hair. If he didn't know better he would have thought he was looking at the Evans family, Harry's mother and Aunt. They looked so much like Lily's family it was uncanny.

He gathered himself and continued to approach. "Good morning. I take it one of you is Lady Ako?" The red head nodded. "Then you must be Shar." He offered his hand, it was taken by the dark haired woman.

"Yes I am Shar." Her sense of smell flared, he was up wind of them and his scent hit her hard. He had a scent of wildness. The deep woods… a wolf! He was not human, this man was a were. "This is my mother, the Lady Ako." She gestured to her mother, a further gesture clouded their scent, he would only expect to smell human so that is exactly what he would smell.

"Your mother?" He looked perplexed, she looked so young! "Surely not! Sister certainly, but not mother!" he said with a grin. "Welcome to London. If you will come with me we will be on our way, and you will need to take my hand." He held his hands out. "The entrance to our world is hidden nearby, to keep muggles from wandering in.

Shar asked, taking his hand again then her mother's, "How long will it take to get to this school?"

"Not long, we'll floo from here, to the town of Hogsmead. Then it is a short walk to the grounds of the castle.

Once they were inside the building he released her hand. "Welcome to The Leaky Cauldron." He gestured to the surrounding room. "A great pub, with excellent food, and lodging is available upstairs."

The pair of women looked around quickly. It disgusted them, the wood tables were dirty, and stained with lord knew what. The floors were worn, and they had mud, long dried, on them from when someone had tracked it in. A man sat eating some form of stew out of a wooden bowl, he turned it upside down on the table when he finished and juices leaked onto the floor.

The bartender spoke up. "Well that was quick Remus! Welcome to my pub, I'm Tom." He wiped his hands on the dirty rag he had around his neck. "If you need anything just let me know, and when you come back through be sure to stop by and say hello." They both smiled, and continued to follow Remus.

"They were easy to find and right on time, so no worries." He waved at the man.

"That reminds me, Remus. Stop by next week, I'll have something for you," said Tom smiling at the group.

Remus smiled sheepishly. "Thanks Tom, can always count on you coming through."

"Always for a good friend."

"This way Ladies." He led them to the far side of the room, to a large fireplace. "This is a public access floo, most people use it when visiting Diagon Alley." He gestured to an archway at the rear of the pub. "You go through there, and… well just ask Tom he'll get you in, you need to be magical to open the passageway."

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. He selected three silver coins and put them in a glass jar on the mantle, then offered an explanation. "Wizard's currency." He picked out three coins and put the rest back in his pocket. "The bronze one is called a knut, there are twenty-nine knuts to a silver sickle, and seventeen sickles to a gold Galleon. How that is converted to muggle money fluctuates, but it's usually around a Fiver to a Galleon. If you need Wizard money you will need to go to Gringotts, the bank, it's at the far end of the alley. A large white building, no chance you'll miss it. Harry should have access to his trust account there if you need as well." The women made a mental note to find out more about that.

"A local floo, the city for example is three knuts, it gets higher the further you need to go. Here to Hogsmead is a sickle, a lot of people use that one as it is the only fully wizarding town in the country. You'll need to take a pinch of the powder from the green pot, then throw it into the fire. Then say 'The Three Broomsticks' clearly and step in. Keep your elbows tucked in."

Five minutes later found them in Scotland, cursing one of the most used modes of transportation for magical England.