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With Hogwarts and Durmstrang receiving an extra champion each, Headmistress Maxime barely had to raise a complaint before the tournament committee agreed to elect another champion for Beauxbatons. Since Harry and Bob were fourteen and fifteen respectively, they reluctantly agreed on allowing Rosanna Lopez, a fourteen-year old student of Spanish descent to participate voluntarily.
Like Bob, she was a transfer student, and was popular amongst the Beauxbatons student body for her exotic looks and friendly nature.
Fleur didn't have much interaction, but she learnt some valuable lessons that day about assumptions on her part.
It had been a day after the hullabaloo about Harry Potter and Bob getting selected. They tried first to get the two out of it, but the Goblet of Fire was a binding magical contract, and refusing to participate was a surefire way to lose one's magic, and likely life. What idiot thought about using this magical artifact anyway?!
In fact, Rosanna Lopez was the only one there completely by volunteer. She alone was free to withdraw from the competition at any time without any repercussions. And despite her age, she was allowed to participate with the agreement of the student body and the Professors. "Hello, Fleur!" greeted the girl, and Fleur noted with amazement that she was within three feet of herself as she plopped down on the bench at the Gryffindor table.
"H-hello..." replied Fleur, uncertain with what to make of the girl and her behaviour. Was it all for show? She'd certainly made no effort to interact with the Veela before.
The Spanish beauty's smile dropped abruptly and she said, "We are going to be partners in the Triwizard Tournament now, so I thought it best to make an effort to get to know you, and I hope I do not come off as pushy. You never seemed to like talking to any of us, so I took that as a cue to stay out of your way. We have no choice now, though, right?"
Fleur's alarmed expression might have given Rosanna the wrong impression, because she quickly backed down, "I-I-I'm sorry...I was overstepping..."
"Y-you thought...I didn't like talking to anyone?!" Fleur's pitch was a little off-kilter, and her new friends noticed. They were all watching Rosanna warily.
"Well...you always look upset when people come to talk to you. Before and after...I thought...I mean not everyone likes to be around people, no? I thought you just preferred to be left alone." Rosanna's eyes were wide.
"I...don't..." Fleur was baffled, "...Rosanna, I am a Veela."
"So?"
More blinks all around, it wasn't just Fleur now, but everyone's jaws were agape. That one word seemed to say everything that summed up Rosanna in so many ways and Fleur wanted to slap herself. She had written off her schoolmates as a lost cause and lumped this girl with the rest, but here she was, not only willing to represent Beauxbatons of her own free will, but she was willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with Fleur, a Veela, and her answer to Fleur's racial origins was simply, "So?"
"You...do you not know about the Veela...and our tears?"
"Pfft! Si, of course I do! But so what? Do you want to kill me or cry on me when you're angry?" Rosanna actually sidled closer as if to prove a point.
"No, of course not!" said Fleur.
"So what's the problem? Let's be friends, no?" she offered a hand.
Fleur actually felt like crying right then, but years of self-control barely restrained the tears, which were in fact filled with anger, anger at herself for judging Rosanna all this time to be like everyone else, and here she was, offering a hand in friendship, with no hesitation, no fear, almost like Daphne. But it was different. Rosanna knew about the Veela, but she didn't care.
"Friends," said Fleur, slowly reaching for the girl's hand, "I'd like that very much."
"Good!" said Rosanna, and she turned to look at the table, "Now, all you Hogwarts students, I am Rosanna Lopez, if that's not clear enough. I'd like to know what kind of food you like to eat!"
Turned out, Rosanna had an appetite that rivalled Ron's and an appreciation and curiosity for anything new or different. The school's house elves had prepared some Spanish style dishes, which she introduced them to, and a few others she seemed to know about.
After watching Ron almost die from trying a ghost pepper dish (which wasn't native to Spain for sure, or France for that matter), nobody was willing to brave anything spicier than black pepper. But Rosanna was going at anything and everything like a convert to a new religion. Her enthusiasm and cheerfulness as well as good humour quickly won almost everyone over.
The volume at which Rosanna naturally spoke also ensured her brief initial conversation with Fleur carried over to other tables, and the Hogwarts rumour mill helpfully spread the information around. People were beginning to look at Fleur and Gabrielle differently. And the older of the two Veela finally felt like life had decided to give her a break at last.
~ O ~
"Hey, Fleur."
The girl in question whipped her head around to see who it was, and smiled when she saw Harry. "'Arry, hello!"
They were in the owlery and she had just sent off the latest letter to her parents. Things were looking up, despite her having to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, she was truly happy for the first time in a long while, and no longer did she ever feel alone.
Her happiness had been going up and down. Happy that she suddenly had friends all over the place, sad that most of them were not from France, overjoyed with getting to know Rosanna, and sad again that it was just the one from her own school.
She owed it all to the boy standing before her now, and he was looking at her with...amusement?
She was busy stroking the plumage of this beautiful snowy owl that had descended shortly after she sent off her letter and she was giving it some pampering and attention.
"Hedwig isn't the most sociable of owls, but she seems quite taken with you." said Harry, gesturing to the owl, and Fleur suddenly realized that much like the bond shared between herself and her family, Harry shared one with this owl. It was more than just an owl to him, but a familiar. That also explained her own sense of attachment to a bird she'd never seen before.
"M-must be the bird within me she sensed," said Fleur, trying not to sound too awkward or nervous, to which Hedwig hooted and playfully nipped at her nearest finger. "Ouch!"
"Sorry, did she hurt you?" asked Harry, alarmed and he quickly crossed the distance to be right in front of her.
"No...no," said Fleur, "I was just...surprised, and I'm not hurt...really."
Harry didn't look certain, and thus, gently took Hedwig out of her arms, and she felt suddenly bereft. "Really...I was not hurt...I...I have sensitive skin, and I...I haven't had much physical contact...I suppose, I feel things more keenly as a result. I was just surprised."
She felt like she was babbling, but also felt like she needed to share.
"What I wouldn't give to have a little less of certain kinds of contact," said Harry flippantly, and again, Fleur felt that odd sense of connection to him.
"Do you not feel lonely?" asked Fleur unnecessarily, "Or...I'm sorry, was there something else you meant by that?"
He looked at her for a moment, and sighed, then opened up a little, "Let's just say I've had my face aggressively introduced to one too many fists in the last few years."
Fleur's eyes widened, then she nodded, "Yes, I...I suppose that's something one could live without. But that is awful! Why would people hurt you? You're Harry Potter!"
Harry let out a sharp bark of laughter that lacked any mirth, and he said, "Would you like to trade places? I'm more than happy to not be Harry Potter anymore."
Surprised at the amount of cynicism in that remark, the girl fell silent, unable to think of anything to say.
"Sorry," said Harry, "It's just not a lot of fun, and I think you get that better than anyone."
"Yes," said Fleur with a weak smile, "I do."
"Ron was torn between being relieved and panicked the last few days. He's glad he wasn't selected after all, but now he's worried sick about me."
"Is that why he's eating three times more than usual?" asked Fleur, and they both laughed at the redhead's antics. "Rosanna seemed to take his appetite as some sort of challenge."
"Yeah, where is she putting all that food?"
"I think she has a black hole in her stomach."
They laughed again, then looked out at the night sky, both starting to stroke Hedwig at the same time, and didn't notice as their hands kept brushing over each other's, but Hedwig certainly had no complaints. When they finally did notice, their eyes locking for a moment, neither seemed particularly inclined to stop. And Fleur decided as long as he didn't care to call a halt, neither would she. She liked the warmth of his hands. It was something she liked very much.