AN:
Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Season 8
This fic is AU taking place in the HP universe
Round: Round 4
Team: Puddlemere United
Position: BEATER 2: [thriller] A tense narrative which is full of suspense. It is often based around a crime or deception
OPTIONAL PROMPTS:
[quote] "You know, for a magical being, you have a terrible sense of adventure" — Kingdom of Copper, by S.A.
[character] Fleur Delacour
[word] Talisman
[relationship] Family
[character] Draco Malfoy
Word count: 2975
The Talisman
She has been looking for a while. She has searched everywhere, in all the books she could get a hold of, and that was a lot. But she has finally found what she has been searching for, deep inside the Malfoy libraries. She had been so desperate that she had set foot in the Manor that saw her tortured and mutilated. She hated this manor and what it had stood for during the war, she hated what had happened to her here inside its walls. But she had to get over it, she had looked in all the other libraries she could find but came up empty-handed.
Hermione had a goal, a desire that she needed to achieve. For that reason, she had gone above and beyond to find the solution, she had conquered her fears and faced once more the manor of her nightmares. But it was all worth it, she had finally found the answer to all her problems: a talisman.
A talisman is an object, typically a ring or stone, that has magical powers similar to the philosopher stone. But this particular one, the one that was needed for her to accomplish her goal was only crafted once by one of the most powerful sorceresses of all times, Morgan Le Fay. No mention of how the talisman had been created but it was said that the witch kept very detailed notes and hid all of her creations in Le Fay castle.
"Did you find anything?" asked Draco as he came into the library.
"Yes, I got a lead Drake, I finally have something that can help," Hermione told her friend, well her brother in all but blood, excitedly.
"What is it?" he asked, just as excited. She has been searching for this for over a year now, he had tried to help as much as he could, but until now no one had found anything.
"Le Fay castle, the solution is there, Morgan has created a talisman for the same purpose as for what I need—well, a derivation, but it has the same principle. It should work for me, it should work!"
"So, when are we going?" he asked, smiling at the happiness he saw radiating from her.
"What do you mean we, you're not coming, it's too dangerous, I can't have you risking your life in order to help me." She was shaking her head slightly; she was not about to risk anyone's life for this.
"Do you honestly believe I will let you go steal from Le Fay castle on your own? Who knows what that crazy witch has in there? She may have been dead for ages, but the castle may be filled with traps. There is a reason no one has been able to get out once they got in, you know. They say that a lot of people tried to go inside her castle, but few returned and none were sane if they did." He responded in one of the most serious tones Hermione had ever heard coming from him.
"That just proves that I need to go on my own, I will not endanger you or anyone else."
"I'm going Hermione, and do you honestly believe that your Veela would let you go on a dangerous mission on your own?" he retorted.
"I... you… ahhh, she doesn't need to know… If I let you come, will you not tell her where I'm going?" she pleaded.
"No, nope, not happening, I won't lie to her, she's scary and would kill me if something happened to you. I'm too handsome to die and too young." He smirked, knowing that he had her.
"You're an ass, I just don't want to get her hopes up." She told him the last part in a low voice, just above a whisper.
"Hey now, whatever happens, she loves you and would do anything for you. If this works or it doesn't, she's not going anywhere. And do you honestly believe that if she saw you disappointed and sad she wouldn't mirror your feelings? That woman loves you with all of her being, if you are hurting so is she. She'd rather be with you and hold you if we come up empty-handed than know afterward and know that she wasn't there supporting you," he told her, hugging her closely.
"Thank you, Drake, you're right, I'm sorry I'm all over the place, but I want this to work, I need it to work. You're the best brother I could have ever asked for," she said, hugging him closer. He really was the best brother she could have ever asked for.
After the torture and being taken to Shell Cottage, Hermione came face to face with Fleur Delacour. In her bleeding and convulsing state, she laid her eyes on the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. It was weird, to say the least since she had seen the woman before, but this was different; it was like she was seeing her for the first time, and by the look in the Veela's eyes, she knew the same thing happening to her was happening to Fleur.
The Veela nursed her to health, not leaving her side for a second; Harry and Ron had tried to get her to leave but they were met with glares that would make anyone run for the hills. Hermione didn't mind, she really wasn't in the mood to deal with the boys, she was hurting, and it seemed that the Veela was the only one capable of alleviating some of this pain. She didn't know why but she knew she had to find out—she felt a pull towards the blonde that was like nothing she had felt before. Her feelings for Ron paled in comparison to what she was feeling now for the woman.
So, she asked, and the answer shocked her to the core. They were mates; apparently, Veela had mates, and she had known that William wasn't hers but had married him because she had felt lonely and was desperate. She was older than most when they met their mates; apparently if a Veela doesn't meet their mate within the year after their 17th birthday, they would never meet them. But it made no sense, they had met before. They later discovered that the lack of response the first time they had met was due to Hermione being under a love potion.
After the final battle, it was revealed that Ron Weasley had been dosing Hermione with a love potion. He had been enraged when Hermione had refused him during and after the battle, he started ranting, saying that she was his, he had made sure of that. He went on to reveal what he had done, apparently to tie her down and get a hold of her money. Hermione to this day hasn't figured out how he found out about that.
She had been devastated at the discovery and even more so, when Harry had agreed with Ron's action stating that she would be lucky to be with a respectable pureblood.
That had been the last time she had spoken to either of the boys or any of the Weasleys. Fleur and Bill had divorced soon, after severing all contact.
Hermione had gone back to finish her last year at Hogwarts where she grew close with Draco Malfoy, who has returned to the school after being pardoned for his war crimes. He had been very supportive of her relationship with Fleur, and had become like a brother to her, always at her side and helping, as well as supporting her.
Now years after the final battle, she was married and happy, but something was missing, and hopefully, with this talisman, their family will be complete.
"Hermione, I don't like this, can we go back?" Fleur whined.
"You know, for a magical being, you have a terrible sense of adventure," Hermione retorted.
"It's not that I don't like adventures, but this is breaking into an ancient castle to steal an ancient artifact from one of the greatest witches to ever live."
"But it's all worth it if it works, I need it to work," the brunette told her mate with sadness in her voice.
"I know, love, I know. Even if this doesn't work, we'll find something else, I promise," the blonde told her mate in a soft voice, before giving her a small peck on the lips.
"Can we get going, this place is spooking me," Draco interrupted the couple; the place was really creeping him out.
An imposing castle stood in front of them, it was a sight to behold, it was gigantic, magnificent, and terrifying. Gargoyle sculpture covered the tower walls, and imposing statues of armed soldiers stood guard all around the building. The castle wall was of a dark color, everything screamed darkness in this place.
"This is going to be one hell of an adventure. If I die, Granger, you won't be getting a dime out of my fortune, it all goes to your lovely wife," Draco announced, before taking a couple of steps forward. As soon as his foot made contact with the first step leading to the entrance doors, a loud crack was heard before all hell broke loose.
The ground started shaking, bits and pieces of stones starting to fall all around them. They looked frantically around them, trying to figure out what was happening.
"Take cover fast!" Hermione shouted once she saw the sculptures start to move. Draco ran up the steps trying to take cover under the alcove, but he got blocked by a sharp object inching towards him. Fleur, noticing this, started firing spells frantically, trying to destroy as many statues as she could.
When the Veela started firing spells, the other two woke up from their shock-induced stupor and followed suit with an array of spells making their way out of their wands.
"We need to get to the door as fast as possible," Hermione announced while firing spells and running towards Draco, who was trying to get past the enormous Gargoyle blocking his way.
Draco was debating how to do this; his cutting spells had no effect on the creature and the bombarda seemed to only scratch the surface of the damned moving statue.
"Try using water against these things!" shouted a disheveled Fleur. She was doing exactly that, as jet after jet of water was cascading from her wand. The creatures seemed to recoil as the water hit them, granting the young woman some time to join her mate and pull her towards the door, where Draco still stood fighting the giant gargoyle on the steps.
The wizard followed his friend's suggestion and started hitting the monster with water. Unfortunately, it seemed that this one needed more than what he was sending its way. It was still moving forward towards him, although at a slower pace.
"Some help here!" He shouted.
"I'll shield us Fleur, help him with that," Hermione told her mate while erecting a shield around them. The shield was getting hit from every direction; soldiers, Gargoyles and other mythical creatures were surrounding them trying to get past the massive shield. It was holding for now, but Hermione knew that this couldn't last for long—it was starting to crack.
"Guys, I can't hold this for long!" she announced, sweat dripping down her face.
Fleur and Draco, seeing this, amplified the force behind their spell, and soon the giant in front of them started to get pushed backward. He was resisting but they were holding strong.
"It's going to break any second now!" came the frantic voice of Hermione, and not too long after the words were uttered, the shield dropped and multiple things happened simultaneously.
The giant gargoyle was pushed onto the door, blasting it open and exploding as soon as it was pushed inside the castle. The surrounding creature came down on them fast at that exact moment, leading the trio to be surrounded and hit by the different creatures. They were all bleeding, having been cut in multiple places.
"What do we do, we need to get in, it seems that they can't get past the doors," said a panicking Draco.
"I have an idea but we need to act fast. I'll erect a shield, you two clear us a route leading to the doors, push them towards it. I'm not sure how long I can hold it now though," Hermione told them, before doing what she said, casting her shield with as much power as she could muster.
The other two followed her orders, acting simultaneously. It worked, they had done it, they cut the sea of creatures in two and made way for them to go in.
"Well, we're on a very good start," Draco said, out of breath, as soon as the three of them had stepped into the safety of the castle.
"You can say that again," Fleur and Hermione both said at the same time.
"Now, where do we go from here?" he asked. They were facing a large entrance hall, it was very somber. There were no doors around them, just some stairs leading towards higher levels.
"We go up, I don't see any other way," Fleur said, nodding towards the stairs.
And they did, the castle seems to have stopped in time, nothing was out of place from what they could see. They could hear cracks and whispers but there was nothing around them.
"Stay alert, this place is making my Veela want to come out."
They heard a pop; they jumped when they saw the creature that had popped in front of them. It was an elf for sure, but not like the elves that they knew. This one was taller, it stood up straight staring at them with a twinkle in his eyes that reminded Hermione of Dumbledore.
"How did you thieves get past the guards?" He spoke in a raspy voice, his face morphing into a mask of anger.
"We aren't here to steal, just borrow a talisman," spoke Draco challengingly.
"Thieves, thieves wanting to take mistress's hard work, won't let you, no no, you will not get to her lab, no you will not, I won't let you. Borrow, they say they want to borrow, but Pristy knows, Pristy knows they are here to steal. Thieves, thieves," The elf spoke, anger coloring his every word. He snapped his fingers and all three were bound by invisible chains.
They tried to get out of the invisible restraints, but they were tightening the more they fought against them. The elf was snickering manically now.
Fleur's anger started to rise when she saw her mate being suffocated by the was too much for the Veela, who came out. The large burst of magic from the transformation destroyed the hold the elf had on her. He panicked at seeing the magical creature standing free in front of him. She launched at him and pinned him to the ground growling down his neck.
"Let them go," she said in a menacing voice, punctuating every word with a snarl.
The elf, terrified and feeling his control over his mind slipping, let go of his spell. Once the Veela was assured that her mate was fine, she pushed her thrall full force onto the creature, sending it in waves onto the helpless elf.
"Now lead us to the lab," she growled out, the thrall having taken total control of the creature, made him obey her commend.
"I love this creature," Hermione whispered, lust clouding her eyes, and the Veela growled approvingly towards her.
"Keep it in your pants you two, I want to get out of here as soon as possible," Draco said snapping the women out.
The Veela pushed the elf forwards, who stumbled, still dazed. He led them up the stairs into the third floor, where he opened the door of a room and led them in.
"Now, we are looking for a talisman Morgan created, it heals the womb of a woman enabling her to have a child. We need it, where is it?" the Veela growled out.
The elf nodded and started walking toward a bookshelf, it was the only thing present in the room. He pulled a book out, and started mumbling weird words, magic started coming out of his fingers, disabling the different wards set on the book. He then opened it and to their surprise, they saw the image of a lab drawn on the pages. The elf pushed his hand inside the image and it disappeared. He mumbled a couple of words and then pulled out. A ring was now in the palm of his hand.
"This is the talisman mistress, I live to serve," He said in a lulled voice, eyes glacy from the thrall.
"Thank you, now how do we get out of here without tripping any more wards?" She asked, taking the ring from him.
"Pristy can take down the anti-apparition wards."
"Take them down." She ordered.
And with that, the trio apparate out of the castle, ring in hand and grinning maniacally. As soon as they were back in the couple's home, Hermione launched herself at her mate kissing her passionately.
"We got it, we can have children now!" the Veela instead of answering kissed her again pouring all of the love she felt for her in the kiss.
"I'm getting nauseous from looking at you, I'm happy for you and all, but I need to get going, the bath is calling my name. Love you both, I'm happy I can help undo what my crazed aunt did to you Mione, you don't know how much." The other two grinned at him.
"On that note I'm leaving before you start creating my Godchild in front of me."