True divergence during year 5, ignores HBP and DH.
...
Halloween had brought a new mess to Hogwarts. Malfoy had tried to kill Dumbledore again, there had been a werewolf that had tried to eat some third years before getting trapped in greenhouse five, and someone had smacked Harry with a fish that had turned out to be a portkey.
One stomach turning trip later, he'd been in a dark and gloomy forest instead of the second floor corridor.
It had been a horrible, confusing night. He'd been chased by another werewolf before getting rescued by a group of veela. Said group of veela had almost toasted him along with the werewolf for interrupting one of their hunts for thefavor of Artemis, virgin goddess of the hunt. The fact that they did this running hunt clad only in sandals had made it Harry's favorite near-death experience by far.
The veela had insisted that he stay near their village while they sorted out what to do with him. Tradition forbid wizards from joining their hunts, though the occasional witch might be allowed. The facts that Harry hadn't created or deliberately taken the portkey, that he hadn't tried to assault any of the veela, and had in fact only encountered them while fleeing from the werewolf had kept them from killing him right away. It had helped that one of the voices in his favor had been Gabrielle Delacour, who was starting to look a good deal older and more interesting than she had the year before during the Tournament. Still too young, but she was definitely going to be stunning when she was adult. The other veela had teased Gabrielle about having a crush.
The next full moon had led to their hunt getting another portkey interruption. This time it was Voldemort and a pack of Death Eaters, seeking Harry Potter to kill him. Why they hadn't assumed him dead from the werewolf, the forest, or the month away from known civilization escaped Harry's understanding.
Veela fireballs were not good for Death Eaters. Especially not when the Death Eaters were too busy staring at naked veela to block fireballs or remember the flame freezing charm. The still screaming scorched husk of Voldemort had been dragged back.
After the second hour of debating still hadn't given any explanation why he wasn't dead or how to fix it, Harry had walked up and cast a silencing charm followed by a reducto to the skull and a second to the torso. He'd then asked Gabrielle, as the closest veela, if she could incinerate the remains. The whole thing had given Harry an awful headache. After watching the remains burn to ashes, Harry had retreated to the small cottage where he'd been staying and went to bed.
Harry Potter woke up to see Gabrielle's smiling face. She was sitting on the edge of his bed, barely clad in a white gown clasped over one shoulder, her fingers playing with the cord she was using as a belt.
"Good morning, Gabrielle. What are you doing here, in my cottage?" Harry blinked. Not that waking up to the sight of a veela of any age was bad, but it was certainly unexpected.
"You killed the evil wizard that was attacking a group of veela. By ancient law, that means you get a hero's reward!" She smiled brightly at him. "I promise to be a good concubine and bear you plenty of little Potters."
Harry Potter was speechless.
Gabrielle chattered on about how she would become his concubine as Harry staggered out of bed and gathered his clothing. She kept smiling at him and talking about how she would be delighted to help rebuild the Noble House of Potter.
Harry ducked into the bathroom, and after a moment's thought, locked and reinforced the door and wall before starting his shower. Gabrielle gave all the signs of being willing to start on those little Potters right now, and Harry just didn't think that would be a good idea. Especially since he knew she had plenty of fireball throwing relatives in the village.
Before he stepped out of the bathroom, he was wearing everything but shoes.
Gabrielle pouted at him, "Does this mean we won't be working on little Potters just yet?"
"I think we need breakfast before anything too strenuous, and perhaps I should talk to your grandmother first? Just to make certain that everyone knows what's going on " Harry countered.
With a heavy sigh, Gabrielle agreed "If you think that is best."
While Harry was certain that the breakfast was lovely, he couldn't have described it to anyone. Afterwards, he reminded Gabrielle about needing to make certain everything was in order, and she reluctantly led him to the large open structure that provided a roof for the leaders of the village. He had fully expected the pair of veela that were waiting, recognizing Gabrielle's grandmother and seeing another veela beside there that he suspected was Gabrielle's mother. Meanwhile, Gabrielle was pulled away by some other younger veela, squealing about nice muscles and messy hair and handsome faces.
Harry swallowed and offered, "Morning ladies. Ummm Gabrielle was saying something about old traditions."
"She spoke about the traditional rewards due to heroes by ancient laws. One of the things that she insisted on was that it was only proper that she become your bound concubine, as she is the veela here that knows you the best," Gabrielle's grandmother spoke in soft tones, her lips twitching as she fought not to smile.
Harry frowned, certain that he'd read something more recent about that ancient law. Something about it causing trouble with a couple families and then being brought up for debates in many countries every country that had a native veela population, if he remembered correctly. Now, what had been the result of those talks? History class really needed more questions concerning veela. The memory of the page was just at the edge of his mind .
"She's been trying to find a way to do this for the past two years, Harry. And finishing off that wizard-construct was the perfect excuse," the other veela spoke.
"What about the fact that those laws have been overturned, repealed and generally no longer hold power in any known European nation and haven't for about two hundred years?" Harry countered. "She can't be forced into becoming my concubine, no matter what heroic deeds I perform."
"You know about that?" the second veela asked, her eyebrow arching.
"When my best friend's brother started dating a veela, I made a point of looking for information. Those laws that she's talking about held true during the Norman invasion, but they haven't held power in England for almost three hundred years."
"But many people find the idea tempting," Gabrielle's grandmother countered.
"Tempting isn't the same as legal or even the same as `good idea.' I think Gabrielle's a bit young to be having anybody's babies, I'm not even sure I'm old enough or responsible enough to be a father. And I certainly don't want someone tossing a fireball at me because the young veela's bouncing around talking about being my concubine and having lots of little Potters!" Harry insisted.
They laughed at him.