Harry Potter: The Rise of the Technomancers
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If you believe that I do, please send me all your cash and check yourself into your nearest mental health center, thanks :)
Chapter 26: Fleur's Recollection I - This is not the Life I Wish
Fleur was sitting at the window lost in thought.
Was it just a fling, she thought to herself, was it simply a release of emotion after her horrendous break up with that disgusting red headed fool? Or was it something more? She felt that it was, he even told her that it was, and the feelings they had been building over the course of their relationship were certainly genuine. It had even happened, just another impossibility that she had come to expect from being so close to Harry Potter. It had been agonizing for her the past month. Harry was busy arranging his take over in the UK, Gabrielle was getting ready to start school in Beaubattons, and yet Fleur was simply lost. She could have returned to Gringotts and applied for a job, her Goblin bosses had been excited when she had finished her apprenticeship, but had allowed her the time to collect her thoughts before taking a position in their bank. She could have gone to Madam Ames, who had offered her that modeling job over the summer, the one she had turned down to apprentice at Gringotts last year. She could have done many different things, but nothing seemed to fit her.
But why? She was beautiful. She was young, only nineteen, and a Veela to boot. Even if it happened, that didn't mean that she was forced to follow through with it. Maybe she could find herself a nice rich old husband, who would be kind to her, and she could live out her days as a plaything, a pet, and then inherit all his money after his death. But that really would not suite her at all. She was a woman of action, a woman of means, who needed to achieve things for herself, not to be given them like a child throwing a temper tantrum. But what could she do? She could have gone into politics with her father, but that would have lead to the inevitable shady dealings and underhanded trickery that her Father had to deal with daily and she was not keen on being a part of that at all.
Lost in thought, she didn't hear her sister softly making her way into her room.
"Fleur?" Gabrielle asked quietly.
Even though she asked quietly, it still made the older girl nearly jump out of her skin, "Gabrielle!" she shouted, slightly annoyed, "Do not sneak up on people like that."
Her little sister grinned at her and quickly climbed up on the window seat and sat between her sister's knees, leaning her head on Fleur's belly, as her older sister's arms wrapped protectively around her. Fleur smiled at her little angel, she had loved her little sister since she was born those eleven years ago. She had been such a small little thing, and Fleur had taken it upon herself to protect her sister where ever she went.
It had been lonely growing up Veela, many girls hated her thanks to her unnatural good looks, and boys simply wanted her all the time, despite being able to control the charm. Throughout her life, she had been the recipient of various unwanted advances, and in some she had been glad for two things, her natural Veela strength and that fact that her father had taught her to defend herself. Yet she still could find no peace. She tried to find solace in physical comforts, but still, the men were nothing but gibbering idiots, only attracted to her looks, never her intelligence of her personality.
Finally, when she had almost given up, she had found Bill. Bill had been different from other men. He had a natural immunity from the charm, a godsend for any Veela who wished to actually experience the pleasures that sex could bring. Since men seemed to lose themselves in the power of the charm and a Veela is unable to control the charm during bouts of physical intimacy, the act of making love is never one that is completely enjoyable to the Veela as the man simply cannot control himself when taken by the power. He'll simply try to pump his way to his own climax, regardless of what the Veela wants. But those who find mates who are resistant to the power are those whose love lives are filled with pleasure. Their mates are able to give the Veela what they want so badly, the release of climax and the surge of emotions that comes with it. So far, she had only met five men who had any resistance to the charm, one was a kindly old man who was actually married to a full Veela, she must have been a lucky woman in her youth. Another man who lived near her grandfather's vineyard in the Veela territories who was married to a half-Veela was also resistant to the charm. And, finally, three others. Her father was one, thankfully, as human men are usually taken away from their Veela children if it is shown that the charm is either too great or the blood buffer is too weak for the man to control himself. Bill who had a natural immunity to the charm that was moderately strong, he could still keep his higher functions from falling during a full onslaught of the charm's power. And finally, Harry Potter.
She had been shocked when she first met Harry. Unlike his moronic friend, she forgot his name, not that it mattered in the slightest, Harry had been a very nice boy. A little shy, a little too quiet, but he was someone who had a wealth of inner strength and reserves of power that only the heightened senses of part humans like half-Veelas could detect. She had initially felt betrayed when he was found to be a Tri-Wizard Champion, but later realized that he really did not want to be there. For the first few months, she had been cool to him at best, still not understanding what would make him continue on with the tournament, even though he kept claiming he didn't want to enter it. This continued, until he saved her little sister, one of the few people that she cared about more than life itself, and pulled her from the lake without care of his own safety, nearly drowning in the process. She had been so relieved that she had missed the look of complete awe and devotion her sister had when she looked upon her supposed savior. Then the last trial began. That was an eye opener. They finally understood why Harry had been tricked into entering the tournament: the resurrection of Lord Voldemort. He tortured the poor boy and used his blood to revive him, but thanks to Harry's skill and courage, he managed to escape, even bringing back the body of his fallen comrade.
He had been so traumatized by the event, yet he maintained his cool through the rest of the year, despite his admittance that he had been having horrible nightmares ever since that night, something she had learned only recently, he never showed it after. They had become friends of sorts, he even sat at the Ravenclaw table with the other Beaubaton's students, indulging his sister with cleverly naive phrases in French, despite the fact that he could speak the language fluently by the time he was thirteen. Much of what most people knew of Harry Potter had been an act, but thanks to her Veela sense, she was able to pick up some of the more clever lies. But he tried to hide them, especially his intelligence, from his friends, and she was never one to reveal the secrets of others, especially those who helped their family, even if that help was not needed at the time, it was still the sentiment that counted.
On her graduation that year, she had returned to the UK because of a position as an apprentice for a few months that the Goblins had offered her. It was there that she met Bill. He was so much older, seemingly so much more mature than her, his flashy clothes, his money, and the smooth way he talked had captured her attention immediately. But it was the fact that he had a natural immunity against the Veela charm that made her agree to go out with him. At first she had been wary, she knew men like Bill, men who used their flashy jobs, their money, and their positions to get what they wanted from women, but she had hopped Bill was different. She was caught in his web after a few dates and their first time. He was older, more experienced, stronger, more imposing, and could fight off the effects of the charm. And the sex was very good. He didn't go limp or just plow away like her other lovers had done, he had been excited, yes, and his over exuberance had ruined some of her fun, but still, it was the best sex she had ever had in her entire life. Never before had she felt what a pure orgasm was other than the frequent times she had used her fingers to satisfy her needs. It had been intoxicating, and she had clung to him, hoping that he would change. When he was to meet her father she had warned him about the strength that her father possessed, and how he had to attempt to impress the older French man if he wanted any sort of response from her father. Bill had laughed it off, brushing off her warning and assuring her that he would be fine. Consequentially, he was NOT fine, not fine at all. Jean had bulldozed the red headed curse breaker, completely overwhelmed him, and had immediately disapproved of the man.
Over the following months, she had begun to grow tired of Bill. All of her attempts at making him a part of the family had failed, Bill never tried to change, never tried to fit in, never tried to make anything of the relationship between he and Jean, he simply stayed the same, put absolutely no effort into it, and blamed her for his troubles. But still, the sex was too good to pass up, despite the increasingly more bizarre and degrading things he coerced her into doing, and every time she thought of leaving him, she stayed. Then that dinner with Evan Magius happened.
At first, she had been shocked at the feeling of familiarity around the blond haired, blue eyed young man. Just something about him reminded her of the Triwizard Tournament for some reason, but it later slipped her mind when he began to display how intelligent he was. In all honesty, she had been very attracted to the tall business tycoon, but she saw the slightly glazed look she mistook for the effects of the charm, in his eyes and decided to just be neutral to him and ignore the jolt of electricity that shot through her body as he lightly took her hand and kissed it like the old traditions demanded. It had been delightful talking to him, he seemed to know a little bit about everything, and everything about most things, she even used his praise of curse breakers to sink a barb into her father, whom she was still trying to soften up for Bill. Then all hell broke loose. It had turned out to be Harry all along, and the glazed look in his eye, the sensation of arousal that was awaked by the bond with her sister and the close proximity of her after so long apart. But then she saw his eyes, the real eyes, those once beautiful green eyes of the skinny lonely boy had changed, she nearly wept when she saw what had happened to him over the years. Pain, anger, betrayal, hatred, weariness, all of those negative emotions rolled into a pair of once vibrant orbs, yet they were glinting with anger that night. The anger, the smoldering fires of the clear green orbs, had dashed away the painful emotions for a time and left two clear and intoxicating green eyes.
The next morning, she had been shocked at the speed and the strength that Harry displayed. He had taken out an entire contingent of her father's best trained bodyguards, all without breaking a sweat, and then obliviated everyone he came into contact with. Then, broke through the door in a shower of splinters, knocked her mother out, then proceeded to duel with three magically powerful people, and win. That strange layering technique was incredible, her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when the spells shattered her shields and she felt the stunning charm wash over her. Later on, she had watched hungrily as her sister undid the buttons of his shirt and she marveled at the definition she had not seen those two years ago.
Bill had been another irritating point in this whole affair. She was finally beginning to realize that the man was too selfish to change, that he was much too narrow minded to understand what was happening. His need to call the order and not listen to her made her very angry, and she had finally chewed out the red head in front of her entire family. She had been angry with him every since. But then her hopes that she could have started an affair with Evan Magius were dashed and still she would not give up the pleasure that an immune mind could provide so she gave Bill yet another chance.
When she looked at Harry and how genuine he was, and how caring he was to her sister, as well as to her family, she grew jealous. Why could she not find someone like that, someone with whom she could have both a physical relationship with as well as an emotional relationship? She envied her little sister, she found her perfect man, a man who was both strong and had vision, a man who was truthful and had the conviction to remain truthful no matter what it took. And not to mention, he was pretty much, the most powerful man in the world. That would be her sister's legacy, the wife of Evan Robert Magius. But what would she have? Fleur Delacour, the knocked up woman bearing the illegitimate son of a man she did not love, but couldn't stand to get away from because she enjoyed the sex too much. Not a very promising legacy, and the thought of her son or daughter with a mop of that ugly red hair with a pale freckled face. Yick. But a child in her arms, a beautiful child with beautiful green eyes, long unruly locks of black raven hair, the thought made her tingle with need as well as guilt. She wanted to find a man like Harry, whose presence was strong and someone who wouldn't wilt under the strength of the charm, yet she felt terrible for wanting something that her sister already had her stake in.
So she decided to be the fool and to continue with her downward spiral, but thanks to her father's inflexibility and Harry's general kindness, she no longer had to settle for second best. It had all started three days into their trip to the south of France. The small wizarding village they had their Villa, in a place she could never name thanks to its strange protections, was a place full of memories. Her first summer love had been here, wonderous times with her mother, sister, and father riding on the horses, shopping in the large muggle cities, seeing the sights, and the hours spent on the beach where she learned to forget her modesty as a girl. It was a wonderful place. Her father's business associates were coming as well, her father had invited them time and time again, and finally Harry gave in and accepted.
They had been growing closer and closer, the two men, as time went on. She saw how much happier her father was with another man around. Not that he did not love his daughters, but it seemed he could finally let loose and talk man to man with Harry. It had been a hard won thing for Jean to finally acknowledge Harry. Every day for nearly two weeks, the man had faithfully returned to their home to attempt to engage their father in conversation to only get rebuffed time and time again. Even though Jean refused to speak to him, she knew that her father was cracking. No one could put up with that kind of persistence and not crack, especially to someone like Harry who clearly deserved the respect. He had really grown close to Josephine, as well as getting to know Gabrielle better. It was Josephine that finally cracked their father, and slowly, he and Harry had begun to build a friendship.
But Bill never tried anything like that. Bill simply ran away when things got tough. Feeling slightly jealous that her sister's man and not hers was being invited, she had convinced her mother to invite Bill as well. At first, Bill refused, stating in no way would he voluntarily spend a week with the imposing Frenchman who obviously hated him. What he wasn't counting on was how persuasive Fleur could be when she wanted to. Begrudgingly, he had accepted and attempted to win over the Frenchman, but her father could see through his half hearted attempts. Where, as Harry had worked hard to gain his respect, Bill just flittered around the corners, he hadn't even bothered to brush up on his French the entire time he had been dating Fleur. It just showed how selfish he really was. Then the kicker happened. Harry, being his normal selfless self, had offered to help Bill. At first, he accepted the help readily, Bill had learned some French phrases, a few of Jean's likes, and had been making some progress, but due to the lack of forward momentum, he grew irritated once again. Harry tried to tell him it was not going to be easy, but Bill accused the poor young man that he was trying to sabotage his chances with Fleur's father. Like a selfish child, the eldest Weasley began to rant and rave at poor Harry, the only person who had attempted to help him, and yet he threw the help back into his face. Harry didn't' move the entire time he was being yelled at. Simply waited patiently, then, when the Weasley's steam had run out, simply shrugged and walked out of the room. It had been the worst thing he could have done to Bill, to ignore him. The man truly was a petulant child. So he went after the next open target Fleur herself.
"He did something, told Jean something to turn him against me! What else could it be? He never even acknowledges me and he speaks so fluently in French to your father, he's probably spreading lies. You know how he hates my family? Ron was probably right. Potter is turning dark and now he's affecting your family!" Bill shouted, ranting about his unfair treatment and how "the kid" Potter was a dark wizard.
Fleur couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had seen Harry trying to help Bill, and heard him talking with Jean to have him open up to the curse breaker. Harry had really been the only one on his side, both her mother and her sister were completely against the red headed Englishman and had told her so from the first time he had made her cry, but then the ingrate turns on the only person trying to help him? The only person besides herself that actually talks to him? She just couldn't believe him.
"'ow dare you say such sings!? Blaiming your problems on poor 'arry, after 'e was only trying to 'elp you!" she shouted back at him, her accent clearly showing in her anger as she yelled back in English.
"Trying to help me!? The kid was spreading lies about me to your father! Why else would Jean continue to act like that to me!?" he shouted back.
Fleur ground her teeth. The idiot couldn't understand that his lack of trying, his complete selfishness was the reason why her father hated him.
"I 'ave 'erd, ze sings zat poor sweet 'arry 'as been telling my papa, and none of zem are negative about you! On ze contrary, 'e 'as told my papa, zat you are a good man. Zat you are no'sing like your traitorous brozer and sister, even when my papa accused you of it!" she shouted back at him, "And why does 'e not like you yet? Why? Because you do not try! Ten months we 'ave been together Beel, Ten Months, and steel, you know not a word of my tongue. Why? Because you are an idiot! You are ze lazy, you do not try at all. It took 'arry two straight weeks of being rebuffed every single day to crack my papa. 'e was willing to do zat for someone 'e was forced to be wis, someone who gives 'im no'sing, no pleasure, no Financial advantage, no'sing at all, but a burden for 'is magic, yet 'e is willing to do zis for 'er because 'e iz an 'onerable man. What 'ave you ever done? What 'ave you sacrificed for us? No'Sing! You are a slug, a leetle man wis no'sing to offer!"
She was so angry, she could nearly have changed at the moment.
Bill sneered at her and spat, "If I'm so lazy, if I'm a slug why the hell do you spread your legs, eh? You know why, you're s cheep French SLUT! That's why! I'm sick of all of this. Fucking you isn't worth all the hassle it came with. I can find a better fuck in a whore house!"
Fleur was shocked. He had just called her a whore and admitted to only using her for cheep sex. She thought, he would at least fight for her, at least try a little, but his words stung her deeply. Her first long term relationship, and the man thought of her as nothing but a whore he could get himself off on. Tears fell from her eyes as her face hardened, the anger rising to a head and igniting her magic. She was a hair's bredth from losing it and transforming, which would have probably ended with Bill's head crushed between her hands. her anger was blatant on her face, it flashed in her eyes and crackled around her head, yet the foolish man simply sneered at her.
"Cry your crocodile tears, slut. No one is going to be with a cheap French whore like you," he said and then froze suddenly as he felt a wave of murderous intent wash over him. The pure ambient magic was near crushing as he slowly turned around. There, right at the door, were three figures, the smallest wore a scowl on the beautiful face that looked so much like her mother. Gabrielle was nearly burning with anger, the little girl a hair's breadth away like her sister from turning into her avian form and crushing the man who said and did such horrible things to Fleur. The woman standing on the other side was not burning, she was ice cold, her blue eyes chilling him to the bone. Josephine was angry yes, but it was a quite rage. She would ensure that the boy would suffer for his crimes against her daughter, that was for sure. But it was not the two of them the killing intent was washing from, it was the tall young man in the center of the doorway.
Harry Potter, the man who toppled an all powerful Dark Lord as a child, who battled and defeated a possessed evil wizard at eleven, who fought and killed a seventy foot fully grown thousand year old basilisk at the age of twelve, a man who could turn away an attack of a hundred dementors with a single charm at thirteen, a Tri-wizard champion at fourteen, the man who dueled and fought both Beletrix Lestrange and He who must not be named at fifteen, and the man considered the most powerful wizard both financially and magically in the world at only sixteen years old, was simply staring at him with every bit of loathing and hatred that he could muster, letting his magic run wild in the room and forcing the dark terrors that his eyes had seen to strike at the curse breaker from within his magic. The feeling was so oppressive, that he nearly fell to the ground. As it was he had to catch himself on a knee, only his hands preventing him from falling completely on his face from the magical pressure, and found the man standing above him, in complete control of his emotions. Bill doubted that he would ever be able to lift a finger, let alone cast a spell at that moment.
Reaching down, Harry picked the other man up by the collar of his jacket, literally dragging the older man up to eye level. He wasn't quite as tall as Bill, but as for how imposing he was, Harry was a thousand times the man that he was. Once he was eye level, a light probe seemed to brush against his defenses. All employees of Gringotts are given extensive occlumancy training to protect the secrets that they deal in. Curse breakers are given even greater defenses due to the extremely delicate materials they deal in and thanks to the types of rituals they undergo, their powerful mental shields are able to rival the best occlumancers in the world. So Bill wore a smug look when he first felt the mental probe.
"Try it Potter," he hissed. When Harry quirked his eye brow, Bill smiled maliciously, well, as maliciously a man on the verge of pissing himself could muster, and explained, "You won't be able to make it past the defenses. Curse breakers are given advanced occlumancy training, comparable to the best occlumens' shields in the world. You'll not be able to break it and from what I heard about your foray into the mind arts, you're too pathetic to make a dent. Did you like to be mind raped Potter?" he asked with a self satisfied smile.
Harry shook his head, "Not everything is what is seems Weasel. I could have done this the easy way, lightly so you wouldn't feel it very much, but you just had to bring up Snivillus and his childishness didn't you. I guess we'll do this the fun way," he said and struck.
"AAAAGGGHHH!!" shouted Bill, as a thousand burning ice picks seared through his brain. He felt the thick barriers of his mind begin to crack under the strain. The pain was multiplying tenfold and traveling into his body. He felt himself starting to seizure, his limbs uncontrollable and his mouth starting to drool, he lost control of his bowels and the pungent smell made everyone cringe back. Then finally, the walls around his mind broke open, crashing as he screamed like a woman, a loud piercing scream that should never had come from the mouth of a man. Finally images flew threw his head as Harry began to root through the man's memories. All the times he cheated on Fleur, the submissive acts of sex he demanded from her, all of the dirty thoughts he had crashed through his head as he felt tears of shame and revulsion fall from his eyes. After an eternity, he felt something different enter his mind, a bundle or sorts, then the sensation was gone and Potter drew out of his head.
Bill slowly opened his eyes, to find the twin green killing-curse eyes of Harry Potter staring at him. He nearly lost control of his bowels once more. Harry simply smiled, "How did you like to be mind raped Bill? I could have done that much more easily, without all the pain, probably without you even knowing, but I figured you listened to Snivellus when he boasted about his rape of my mind, so you would appreciate a taste of what he did to me week after week. Enjoyable, no? Though I didn't scream like a bitch when he did it and I didn't shit myself either. Oh, and you are a dirty son of a bitch. Enjoy the little present I left for you Bill, that was for all the times you made Fleur do those things for your own sick amusement. You know what I'm talking about you sick perverted fuck. Although I should have expected it, you are a Weasley."
Harry released the man and let him drop to the floor. He turned to the three women who were glaring at Bill with hatred in their eyes. Shaking his head, he flicked his wrist and brought out his wand. With another flick, the man disappeared into thin air. Taking a sniff of the air, Harry grimaced and with another flick, removed the offending spot and conjured a fresh mist of perfumed air, the scent was that of roses, and he smiled sadly to himself at the fact that all of his…erm…his aunt's, carefully tended rose bushes were going to die without his intervention.
"What 'appened to 'im, 'arry?" came the thick voice of Fleur.
Harry turned around and gave her a smile. Even at her worst, Fleur still looked beautiful. He shot her a conspiratory grin, "You know, I did promise I would hog tie him and send him back to Gringotts in a neatly wrapped package," he said with a shrug. That got a quick giggle out of Gabrielle and a generous smile from Fleur.
He would have stayed to offer his support, but he knew this was a woman thing, and a man in the mix would simply complicate it. Harry nodded his head and walked out the door, closing it quietly behind him and casting a few privacy charms.
After that, Fleur had spent the night crying to her mother and sister. In private, thanks to Harry's forethought, she was able to confess why she didn't leave Bill and at least some of the degrading things he made her do for him. It was a humbling experience to say the least, but she had gotten through it. And Harry had been kind enough to provide privacy wards for them to speak candidly. She confessed that she felt a little jealous at what Harry could provide Gabrielle, she so badly wanted Bill to work out that she was willing to hope he would change, but that had been all for naught. She confessed her fear of once again settling for someone who couldn't provide any pleasure for her or to be relegated to a useless life of a trophy wife of someone she knew would never love her, but would only use her for the pleasures that she could bring.
Her mother knew all too well how that would be. There were very few Veela males, and those that were born were highly prized. They never left the Veela territories, so finding someone with the mental strength to resist the charm as well as someone who loved and cared for you was something that was nearly impossible to find. The odds of actually finding someone who was both immune and actually cared for you was in the hundreds of millions. It just didn't happen. So she had understood the fixation of someone like Bill who had natural immunity to the charm. Her daughter thought she could change him, but it was a dream, a fallacy that she had learned was false in the worst way possible. Josephine had been lucky. She had met someone like Jean, who was both a kind man, a man of means and personality, as well as someone who was both immune to the Veela charm and gifted in the arts of love.
From her long hours of casual conversation, she knew that Harry was a good man. He was intelligent, a very rich individual, a kind person, and, even though he had a hard life and his priorities were numerous, always made time for Gabrielle. She knew that Gabrielle would be happy. Harry had one of the strongest natural resistances to the charm she had ever seen, even stronger than Jean, coupled with his powerful mental defenses as a master occlumens, it would be as if the charm were never there. Gabrielle would never have to worry that her lover was taken by her charm, never have to worry about keeping herself in check while making love, he would never be enthralled by her magic and would perform to the best of his abilities, which, if his blushes and casual comments held any validity, which she knew they did, then he was quite experienced.
But what of Fleur? Was she to be relegated to the horrid life that she saw for herself? No, there had to be a way to make her as Happy as Gabrielle was, but how? Would it be possible to find another person like Harry, who was both strong in his immunity as well as powerful in character? Could she find a way for her daughter to meet another man like that, even though the chances were just too high to imagine? It would be impossible, and Fleur would most likely be old and gray by the time she discovered another with a natural immunity anywhere near as strong as Harry's. But what of the other course of action? Josephine had thought of that route when she had first met the real Harry. She had liked him instantly and would have wished him in the family instead of that barbaric, how did they put it, ah yes, Ginger, Bill Weasley. But that route would require subtleties that she was not sure Harry would appreciate once they came to light. Still, that route did have its own benefits that Josephine believed would allow Harry to forget their scheming in favor of the result.
All would be determined in time.
AN: There we go. The first Harry/Fleur Part. of course there will be huge chunks missing thanks to the editing. if you want me to post the uncuts, tell me and i'll post them on an alternate site. Anyway, from the earlier chapters, i provided a neutral face to Bill and Fleur's relationship. You could tell that she gave a little of it away when she first met Harry/Evan, but it was neutral at most. But in this installment, she revealed what she was actually feeling and how the relationship with Bill really was. There's, i guess you can call it, five more installments of the whole Harry/Fleur thing before we get back to the core story. ..REVIEW!!