Author's Notes: I've been writing more than I expected, so I'll probably be releasing chapters more often than initially planned. That said, I feel like I should address the way I intend to write my characters. Harry will be just a tad bit insane, a result of having lived the same few years over a hundred times. He'll retain his protective streak, and do everything in his power to protect the people he cares about. Fleur's heritage won't be a major plot element. As she is only a quarter veela, I intend to write her as a more or less normal human. Voldemort will be more intelligent, proactive, and powerful than he is in canon, but don't worry, so will Harry.
"'Arry?" Fleur was startled to see him. He should not have been able to get through the wards without her entire family being alerted. When she opened the door, she had expected to see someone who had been granted access, perhaps her grandmother had come by for a visit unannounced. But of all the people in the world, she could not fathom why Harry Potter was standing outside her door before eleven a.m. on a Tuesday morning.
"Yup, good to see you, how have you been?"
" I 'ave been… 'Ow did you get here?" Fleur asked, baffled.
"I apparated" Harry said, as though it were a normal thing for a fifteen year old to be capable of. "If you were referring to the wards, though, they could really do with an update."
"I see… Well, come in, I suppose. My family is away until the weekend."
Harry stepped through the door, gazing around at the interior of the home, which gave off a decidedly comfy aura. "Thank you." He smiled and gave an exaggerated bow, eliciting a nervous laugh from Fleur.
"So - Why 'ave you come to visit? And 'ow did you know where to come?"
"I was passing through the area, figured I'd visit an old friend. It's been awhile, and we were only just getting to know each other when Beauxbatons left after the tournament. Thought we could have a chat, catch up a bit. Do you know the time?" Harry asked.
Fleur pointed at a clock on the wall that read 10:56 a.m. "I think that that would be lovely. Would you like a cup of tea?"
"That'd be brilliant, thanks."
As Fleur disappeared into the kitchen to prepare the tea, Harry drew his wand and placed a few hasty detection spells around the house, before glancing at the clock again. 10:59. He was expecting an interruption at 11:07, if things went the same as they always had in the past. And there was no reason to believe that they would not, though the demon's cryptic parting message worried him. It was always a hell of a ride, so what could she have meant?
Lost in thought, Harry hadn't noticed Fleur returning from the other room, and quickly stowed his wand in his back pocket. Accepting a teacup, Harry took a seat on one side of a sofa. Fleur sat next to him, angling her body so that she could face him as they talked, and set her own cup down on the table. They looked at each other for a few moments before Harry took the lead, "How have you been this summer?"
"I 'ave been good, all things considered. I was recently accepted for a part-time position at Gringotts in Britain.
"Wow, good job, I hear they're very selective. Of course, I'd have had no doubt that you'd get hired. You're brilliant."
Fleur laughed lightly, "I appreciate the praise, but... I am still confused."
"Oh? Why is that?" Harry asked.
"We were friends at Hogwarts, and I still consider you one, but dropping by my home unannounced is a bit more… intimate than we ever were. So I think there must be another reason you came. And, knowing you, I have the strangest feeling that it involves something dangerous."
Harry chuckled, genuinely amused. She rarely guessed why he visited, and it was a welcome surprise each time. "Well, you're correct as usual, Fleur, I do have an ulterior motive. I suppose I should tell you-" At that moment, all of the detection charms Harry had raised went off at once. He stiffened in his seat. This was not the interruption he expected. This was new. New was bad. New was scary. New was… unknown. Nothing new ever happened this early on, and Harry was very scared, and very intrigued by the sheer magnitude of magic he felt coming through his spells. It must have shown on his face, for Fleur looked frightened.
"What is wrong, 'Arry?" she asked, looking around nervously.
"I… don't know. For once, I really don't have a clue." Harry said, an ever-so-slightly insane looking smile gracing his lips. "But we need to leave. Now." With that, he stood, grabbed Fleur by the wrist and dragged her back towards the entrance hall. Before they had made it halfway across the room, however, the entire house shook. Fleur let out a startled cry as she was knocked off balance, and Harry went to the ground with her. He was quick to recover, and launched to his feet, ripping his wand out of his pocket, and spinning around to survey the room. Whatever his spells had detected had been very, very close to the house. Seeing nothing, he helped Fleur to her feet and continued his dash to the front door. When he turned into the entrance hall, he was met with a very confusing sight.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked.
"Just here for the show." The demon replied with a grin "You might not want to open that door, by the way, they're quite agitated."
"Who?"
"See for yourself if you wish, but I'd strongly advise you keep her far away from them."
A nearly imperceptible grin flashed across Harry's face. "Fleur get around the corner there, and don't move."
"Who is that, "Arry?"
"Not important right now, get back, and don't leave cover."
Fleur glanced between Harry and the demon, before moving out of view of the entrance hall.
Harry strode to the front door and flung it open, raising his wand to the morning, which he realized was much darker than it should have been. As the door slammed open, Harry found himself staring down about a hundred uniformed Death Eaters, all of whom had their wands trained on him. How the hell did they find him?
Before he could even begin to contemplate the answer, Harry had to shield against a barrage of curses and jinxes. Flicking his wand to close and lock the door, Harry ran back to Fleur, his mind working at light speed. He led her towards the back door, but caught sight of another army of Death Eaters through a window. By now, there was spellfire being flung at all entrances, and the protections on the house were just barely strong enough to keep them out. Switching courses, Harry wheeled around, heading for the staircase. He was loath to corner himself further inside the house, but if he could just get to an upstairs balcony, he might be able to get hold of the wards and bring down the ones that prevented him from disapparating. As much as he wanted to stick around and find out what was going on, getting Fleur to safety was his first priority.
Just as they reached the second floor, a great crash resounded from the first floor. Picking up his pace, Harry raced up the next flight of stairs, and took off in the direction he knew Fleur's parents' bedroom to be in. Bursting through the doors to their chamber, Harry was brought up short at the sight of what must have caused the rumble they had felt earlier. Lord Voldemort himself grinned at Harry through the open doors to the balcony. Fleur came around the corner, nearly crashing into him, and gasped at the sight. Voldemort flicked his wrist, and the door behind them slammed shut.
"Harry."
"Hello, Tom."
"Ah, I see Dumbledore has informed you of my old identity? I may have underestimated him, I expected him to keep his precious hero in the dark for as long as possible."
"Dumbledore didn't tell me anything about you." Harry said.
"Well then perhaps it is you whom I underestimated. I would ask how you came across such information, but soon it will not matter." Voldemort said
"I could ask a similar question to you. Just how the hell did you know I'd be here?"
"I received a message from a rather eager informant. They told me your location and made a few… requests."
"Who?"
"Ah, but I do not know. The letter was anonymous, and quite well guarded against tracking."
"What were their requests?"
"Nothing I hadn't already planned on doing. They simply wished for me to make you suffer." Before he had even finished speaking, Voldemort had drawn his wand and summoned Fleur to himself. Harry immediately snapped his own wand up, but froze at the sight of Fleur, entirely immobile, with Voldemort's wand aimed at her throat.
"I am going to kill you, Harry. But not before I make you suffer so much that you will beg me for death's cold embrace." Taking aim, Voldemort sent a bonebreaker curse at Fleur's chest, eliciting a cry of pain, followed by the sound of painful, laboured breathing.
The sight and sound of her pain awakened a fury that Harry hadn't felt in lifetimes. his vision was painted red. Without thinking of the consequences, he summoned all the power he could muster into a spell that he had learned lifetimes ago, with the sole intention of making Voldemort feel pain. A needle of darkness flew from his wand, directly at Voldemort's head, who, caught off-guard, barely managed to shield in time. But shield he did. The anti-light bullet slammed into it with the force of a train, sending out a shockwave that leveled the Delacour manor, killing nearly everyone inside. The last thing Harry saw was a look of incredulous shock on Voldemort's unharmed face as the world disintegrated around him.