A New Beginning

25th of June, 1995. Sunday

The day after the task Harry spent with Fleur. She would be leaving with the other foreign students on the same day as Harry would be heading back to London with the rest of Hogwarts. Harry smiled at her as she walked around in a daze. He'd seen the way Bill had said goodbye to her the night before. She was obviously walking on clouds. A part of him was jealous - jealous of the feeling. He guessed he'd never really had that. Rhavaniel and his relationship had been one of convenience in a way. He'd never felt the butterflies that were no doubt moving in Fleur stomach. He was happy for her.

"'E said 'e would come by zis summer," Fleur said. She looked down at Harry lying on her bed. "What am I going to do 'Arry. 'E is soooo," she sighed dreamily.

"Don't ask me," Harry said. "I let Rhavaniel run things because she liked it. The world we were together in is so different from this one that I can't tell you what to do here."

Fleur nodded slowly.

"Don't try to over do the way you look though," Harry said. "He likes you for being you. I don't care what your girl friends say you don't need to do anything about your looks."

"Zank you 'Arry," Fleur said. She looked worried for a moment. "You will come too right?" she asked.

"Of course I will lokzii," Harry said. "I've already promised Gabrielle. She'll flay me if I don't show up. I'll look like Kato, but I'll be there." He sat up slowly. "I have so much I want to do this summer. I could do with some down time with you. I'll be in touch. Winky will know how to find you she likes you. She'll probably even show up if you call her. You know if I get a house up and working I'm going to need a woman's touch or something would you be willing to help me?" he asked.

"Oui of course 'Arry," Fleur said. "You zink zat you will 'ave that zis summer?" she asked.

"I don't know," Harry said. "If I don't I guess we'll have to take it next summer. I don't really want to do things like that in the middle of winter."

Fleur giggled. "You are impossible," she said.

"And your head is filled with tall muscular redhead," Harry said. "Not that I can fault you. He's really good looking. I haven't been with a redhead."

"Oh, 'Arry you slut," Fleur said.

"I haven't been with more than a handful of people don't you call me slut," Harry said. He wasn't being quite honest with that statement he guessed. It was more like… He shook his head. He'd been through two threesomes both instigated by Rhavaniel. He hadn't actually fucked Ria. He wasn't going to get deeper into that. It was just way too complicated. He tilted his head to the side. "Can we go swimming? It's a beautiful day and the Black Lake is just out there. We won't dive down so the grindylows won't get to us," he asked.

Fleur looked contemplative for a moment. "Only if you promise to keep zose zings off me," she said.

"I promise," Harry said.

He stood up. He was already wearing his swimwear he just hadn't been over to the lake yet. Fleur disappeared into her bathroom and changed quickly while he undressed. They both grabbed robes and headed out of the carriage.

The sun was shining brightly. People were sitting outside several of them were even dipping their feet in the lake. Harry was first into the water. It was still chilly but not cold anymore. The lake was so deep that it probably wasn't going to warm up all that much. He turned around and held his arms out to Fleur. She waded out to him and they took off in the clear water. The Black Lake was dark because of something deeper down in the lake. The top parts of the lake were all clear water.

Harry was laughing as he wrestled with Fleur. She had attacked him. He was so going to get her back. "You better run and hide," he said. He took off after her as she tried to swim away from him. He caught up with her and grabbed her.

He rolled them around in the water, and she laughed as she came back up above water.

"Harry!"

The raven turned around. Hermione was standing by the shore.

"Viktor come join us!" Fleur called behind him.

Harry laughed. The Bulgarian was standing on the bow of the Durmstrang ship. He waved at them before diving into the lake. It strangely enough wasn't all that common that people swam in the lake. Harry didn't know why, but he could tell that people were going to be gossiping about it. He'd been in the thick of it for a while now. He had a feeling that wouldn't change. "Hey Viktor," he said as the dark-haired teen broke through the water surface next to him.

"Harry," Viktor said with a nod.

"Your girl is over on the shore," Harry said.

Viktor turned to look at Hermione. A small smile spread over his lips. As he turned back to Harry, he had a thoughtful look on his face. "You'll keep her safe yes?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "I will," he said. "Let's convince her to join us." He took off towards the shore. He reached the bushy-haired brunette. "Come join us," he said.

Hermione shook her head with a smile.

"Oh, come on," Harry said.

"Let me 'andle zis 'Arry," Fleur said. She got out of the water and disappeared off with the brunette. Harry had no idea what the girls were talking about, but he could guess.

Hermione wore a dark blue bathing suit when they came back. She waded out in the water with the rest of them. "This is crazy," she said.

Harry shrugged. "Why, because no one does it? People are afraid of the squid. He isn't going to hurt anyone," he said. "Come on the people staring are just jealous." He did his best to calm his friend down so she wouldn't hurt herself. It took some convincing before Hermione ignored the students on the shore so she could just swim with her friends and have fun.

The following couple of days were spent calmly going over inventions that needed to be made for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, reading and just spending time with friends. The whole school was buzzing. Cedric was being congratulated wherever he went. You could find him complaining about it if you knew where to find him. At least his girlfriend, Cho, was always there to support him.

Harry didn't envy him. He was happy enough being the one that didn't finish though that had its own problems. The Slytherins needed to learn to stay out of other peoples business. They also needed to learn manners. Katla would have had a field day dealing with the arrogant bastards.


30th of June, 1995. Friday

Harry stood by the Beauxbatons carriage with his arms around Fleur. She was going back to France and he was heading for London. He wasn't sure what he would tell the Durselys, but he guessed that he'd figure it out. He wasn't staying that much he knew. Clan Magun already had a small place set up for him. "I'll see you soon," he told the blonde. He kissed her on the cheek. "You take care of yourself and play with Gabrielle." He'd miss her. She had become a very good friend quickly. Next year would be difficult without her. He'd manage, but he'd have to set up a safe way for them to communicate. He didn't want anyone intercepting his mail, and he knew it could be done.

Fleur nodded. "You be careful 'Arry. Don't do anything stupid and make sure you come by," she said. She was worried about him. She knew it wasn't really necessary, but she still worried. It was strange how close they had gotten. She had friends back in France she was that close to, but she had known them for years. She didn't mind at all though. It was something new, having a guy that close. She hadn't thought that could ever happen considering how guys normally reacted around her. That or they were jealous. She had a couple of gay guys around school who hated her for being part Veela.

Harry hugged her close. "Au revoir," he said.

"Au revoir 'Arry," Fleur responded. "Don't you forget to write."

"I won't." Harry walked from the carriage over to the ship where Hermione was saying goodbye to Viktor. He stayed a respectful distance away from them. He didn't want to intrude on their conversation. He was pretty sure that whatever they had to tell each other was rather private. He waved goodbye to Viktor as Hermione started heading up to him. The bushy-haired brunette was blushing deeply. She smiled softly up at him as she reached him. He took her hand and they walked up to the carriages. He'd miss Viktor too. It had been nice to have another Seeker to talk to.

As they reached the carriages, Harry stopped by one of the skeletal horses. He really should have looked into what they were. "So you pull the carriages," he said softly. He didn't linger though. He knew Hermione couldn't see them. He hadn't either when they had arrived at Hogwarts that year. There were so many students swarming around them that he doubted Hermione had noticed him talking to the horse-like creature. He helped her into a carriage before climbing in himself. They would have to try to find Neville when they reached the train. The moved through the crowd and made their way into a carriage.

The shy brunet was sitting in a compartment close to the end of the train. He smiled up at Harry and Hermione as they entered. "Hi guys," he said. He had improved so much the past half year. His Gran would be so proud of him.

"I guess that's another year," Harry said. He looked at the two he was sharing the compartment with as the train started moving. "A lot of things have changed," he said. "Most of them for the better. We'll spend the summer apart but this won't change. Come next year we'll pick everything back up again."

"Oh, for sure," Hermione said. She got a thoughtful look on her face. "It's strange though. Who really entered your name into the goblet? I mean in the end nothing happened. You were fine," she said.

Harry met her eyes. "I don't know. Maybe whoever it was realised that their plans wouldn't work. Or maybe I just did better than they thought I would. The dragons were more dangerous than a lot of other things in there. I did pretty well against the Horntail." He knew better of course. He had scared the man who had placed his name in the goblet off. Whatever plans the man might have had had been null and void when he didn't have access to Hogwarts anymore.

The three of them settled down with a book each and read for several hours. It was calm and quiet until the compartment door was pushed open only to reveal Malfoy and his goons.

"Hello Draco is there anything you wanted?" Harry asked politely. He lowered his book and tilted his head to the side.

"You really think much of yourself Potter," the blond spat. He looked at the other two in the compartment. "You surround yourself with losers just so you can feel like you're worth something. What do they do for you lick your shoes?"

Harry hummed softly. "I don't see how you are one to talk Draco," he said. "You might not have noticed but those two aren't all that bright at least Hermione and Neville have smarts. And personalities of their own. You have two gorillas with you. Please Draco stop bothering us unless you have something intelligent to say." He didn't really want to insult Crabbe and Goyle, but by the looks on their faces they hadn't actually caught on to what he'd said yet.

Draco pulled his wand and Harry smirked as Neville was quicker on the draw. The blond was thrown back and Hermione moved forward to lock the door. "There that should keep them out," she said. She sat back down again and picked her book back up. It was a nice change. The calm. She was used to the boys being loud and obnoxious on the ride back to London. Neville and Harry were calm though. They went from reading to talking about different plants. Neville had his own greenhouse filled with plants.

Harry made a mental note to hire the brunet when it came to his garden. He wanted it to be functional and he might as well keep plants that Fred could use for potions. He needed stuff that could be used for cooking for Winky as well. First he needed land though.

As the train started slowing down, Harry could be seen looking out the window. He helped Hermione with her luggage as the train stopped before going for his own. Once he had gotten everything out on the platform he let Hedwig out of her cage. "Find me in a couple of days," he said. She hooted at him before she took off. He followed the flow of the crowd to the exit to the non-magical world. Mrs Weasley was standing out there and she walked up to him as he walked outside. "You take care of yourself now," she told him.

Harry nodded. "I promise Mrs Weasley," he said. He walked up to Mr Dursley as he waved goodbye to the twins and Hermione. "Sir," he said. The man turned around grumpily and led the way out of the station. Harry settled down in the car with him. A part of him wanted to just throw how he'd changed at the man, but he knew he wouldn't do it. They arrived at number four Privet Drive and Harry carried his trunk inside. He waited until his Uncle had walked into the kitchen before calling Winky. He gave her his trunk and bag. She knew where to take them. She'd been shown the rooms he was going to be staying in. 'Here we go,' he thought before he walked in to the kitchen. He watched his Aunt for a little while. "I'm leaving and I'm not coming back," he said. "I'm tired of the way you treat me, but I guess I can understand why you did what you did. If my kind comes here looking for me tell them whatever you want I don't care."

"You can't leave," Petunia said.

Harry shrugged. "I can do whatever I want dear Aunt," he said. "Just watch me." He turned around and walked over to the front door. He grabbed his glasses and pulled them off before glancing back at her and changing his hair to dark red. "Do I remind you of someone?" he asked before walking out the door.

He was never going to come back. He walked down the street slowly. "Lu yah siiv," he whispered. He turned and looked upon the weak sliver of magic hanging around Nr 4 Privet Drive. His head turned back to the path he was walking. He noticed a shimmer of magic in one of the houses. Someone on Privet Drive had magic. He focused his powers on the house and set up an illusion that would hide his departure.

'Good riddance,' he thought before he activated his port-key.

~End of Book 3