Harry Potter needed a break.
He thought that after the war, after Voldemort, he could take a break, that he could relax. He thought wrong.
First were the hunts. Chasing and gathering all the Death Eaters and snatchers that managed to escape and survive the battle of Hogwarts. He and Ron had joined auror teams, and made a big show about the hunts. Posters boys to help Kingsley. It didn't help that a lot of the runaways wanted to face Harry´s group, attempting to take revenge on Voldemort's name.
Eventually they were over. But then came the trials.
The first ones were terrible and easy. It was a delicate contradiction.
They were easy because there was no doubt. They were as guilty as they could. Rape, mass murder and torture in sickening quantities. Some cases, like Dolohov or Greyback, the debate was between the Veil or Azkaban, that is after some of the juries stopped throwing their breakfast out.
The next trials were delicate in a radically different way.
Tracey Davis was marked to protect her mother, a half-blood witch. Cho Chang fought bravely in the battle of Hogwarts, but also aided her best friend´s family, the Edgecombes, who were active supporters of Voldemort´s regime. Narcissa Malfoy, at everyone's surprise, was technically innocent of almost every crime, not even bearing the fool´s mark.
Guilty for good reasons was still guilty? How many good actions overcame a terrible one?
Harry needed to go away. Away from the memories, from the pain. Even if it hurt, away from his friends. At least for a while. But he didn't do it. They wouldn't understand why. Ron was fuelled by Fred´s memory, while Hermione, always the overachiever, took on the monumental task of dragging the medieval magical Britain into the modern world.
Not even Ginny could help with that. What they had in his sixth year was a soothing autumn fire, the last cosy warmth before the terrible winter of Voldemort´s regime. Now they were in spring, and no number of memories of autumn could overcome the changes winter had brought upon them.
At his surprise, it was Fleur who understood. She apparated to Grimmauld Place one night, and after an improvised dinner she made her request. Gabrielle had turned fifteen one month ago, and it was a Delacour tradition to take the birthday girl in a journey around France. Unfortunately, neither her parents nor her sister were available to escort her.
Looking back, Harry could only admire Fleur sneakiness. She had tricked him into an all-included trip, and had disguised it as a favour for her and her family, forcing him to accept. It had been that masterful movement the reason he found himself traveling through France with Gabrielle Delacour.
It was in that travel he felt in love with her.
He tried to fight it. He fought it till the end. But there was nothing to do about it. Harry Potter fell completely in love with Gabrielle Delacour.
He couldn't tell exactly when it happened. It might have been in the beautiful Marseille beaches, where they both expended a lot of time working on their tans. It might have been in Lyon, where Gabrielle gushed about the beautiful architecture of the city, with a passion and enjoyment that completely enrapture Harry, who wasn't exactly an academic. It might have been in Strasbourg, where they spent hours watching the lights show of the cathedral, leaning closer and closer without realizing. It might have been in Lille, where a storm caught them in the middle of the town, forcing them to seek refuge under a small roof, where the closeness of their bodies turned them both into stuttering and blushing attempts of human beings. Neither of them could think about a water-repelling charm.
It could have ended in that, in blushes and lingering touches, but Paris had something to say about it. The magical atmosphere of the world capital city of romance surrounded and welcomed them. In a small café, hidden to prying eyes, Harry and Gabrielle where preparing the end of their journey.
"Excited for your classes?" Harry asked, attempting to engage in conversation.
Gabrielle shrugged. "I guess. I´m not sure what I want to do after school so I´m taking a lot of different things."
Harry stared at her companion. He couldn't help it. His instinct was screaming to help the petite French witch as much as possible, even in an area far from his expertise. "Do you have any options or ideas?"
Gabby thought for a moment before answering. "I want to travel. Fleur´s letters about Bill always made treasure hunting interesting." She paused for a bit before continuing. "I don't want to work for the goblins though. Too focused in profit and gold."
"So you want to be Indiana Jones?" joked Harry, an amused smile in his face.
"Non" answered Gabby, scrunching her nose in distaste. "He always breaks everything; I would be way more careful"
Silence reigned between the two of them, conversation effort wasted. Gabrielle leaned toward the small centrepiece, a small jar filled with flowers, wood and a bit of water.
"I never thanked you" she said.
Harry blinked, unsure of what to say. He didn't have the heart to tell her that the trip has been Fleur´s idea of a therapeutic intervention. "You don't have to..."
"Not about the trip" answered Gabby, seemingly reading his mind. "About the lake"
Harry looked puzzled for a bit, before his mind returned to that dreadful February. The lake, the grindylows. Gabrielle small figure floating lifeless chained to the bottom of the lake. "That was a long time ago". He said softly.
"I still hadn't thanked you"
"You were never in danger."
Gabrielle looked at him straight in the eyes, soft green meeting another. "But you didn't know that". Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper. "You thought an unknown girl was in danger and threw everything at the side to make sure she was safe. Glory, your own safety."
"I was dumb..."
She interrupted him quickly. "You were noble. Never apologize for being noble. Today, more than ever, the world needs knights in shiny armour"
Harry wanted to protest. To acknowledge how dumb he was at fourteen. How many people had been hurt because of his nobility. How she didn't know everything. He couldn't.
Slowly, over two empty cups Gabrielle leaned towards him, slowly closing the gap between them. He would have wanted to say he didn't lean. But he did. With a soft touch, barely a brush, Harry and Gabrielle kissed in the middle of a lost coffee shop in muggle Paris. He gently caressed her cheek as she deepened the kiss, small tingles of electricity traveling between them.
At some point, Harry broke the kiss, backing a bit as Gabby gasped for air.
"I´m sorry, I didn't…"
"Don't" interrupted Gabby forcefully. "Don't you dare say that you didn't mean to. Don't hurt me that way"
"Gabby I…"
"I have seen how you look at me Harry. It's the same way I look at you." The frenchwoman's eyes were staring intensely towards him, drilling him into his seat. "Tell me that you don't feel the same way. Tell me that and I will never mention this again. Break my hearth if you don't feel the same way but don't do it by lying"
Harry didn't say that. He didn't even consider lying to her, as those beautiful eyes were challenging him. "You are too young".
"Fleur is younger than Bill. There is more difference between them than between us"
Harry opened his mouth before closing it again. He had nothing to say about that. Even tough, he still tried. "You are fifteen, I'm almost twenty. It's wrong, and illegal. And I couldn't do that to your sister."
Gabrielle stared at him. Not in anger, not with sadness. She was clearly in deep thought and he didn't dare interrupt her. After what it seemed years, she spoke. "Then wait for me"
"What?"
She looked at him, with a determination stronger than steel in her eyes. "Wait for me. I will be seventeen when I graduate from Beauxbatons. Come to my graduation, and we will start from there"
Harry had to give her credit, the idea had merits, but he was still unsure. "What if I doesn´t work? Would you waste two years of your life waiting? For me?"
She crossed her arms stubbornly. "I know how I feel. I know what I want. And I know that we could work together." She stood and move quickly to his chair, caressing his hair as she looked him pleadingly in the eyes. "Please Harry. Give us a chance"
Despite himself, Harry smirked a bit. "I won't be able to convince you otherwise right?"
Gabrielle smiled. "Not a chance Monsieur Potter"
After paying their coffees, they both strolled by the darkening streets, hands intertwined. When they arrived to the gates of the Delacour state, they shared a chaste kiss. It wasn't a goodbye. It was a promise.
When Gabrielle returned to school, Harry didn't return to England. Gabrielle´s desire to travel ignited something in the Man-Who-Won, an unknow desire to know about the rest of the magical world. France had shown the young wizard how little he knew outside the walls of Hogwarts.
And so, Harry travelled. Letters came for around the world to Hermione, Ron, Teddy, Molly and Arthur. And Gabrielle. Mostly Gabrielle.
Beauxbatons soon got used to exotic birds arriving with letters for the pretty veela. Sometimes they were powerful pitch-black ravens, proud and imperious, coming from the winterly lands of northern Europe. Other times were normal owls, black, brown and tarmy, but never white. One time was a colourful macaw, who flew around the dining hall, boasting its beautiful feathers before landing in front of Gabrielle.
Sometimes they brought small notes, while another brought lengthy letters. Photographs, both magical and muggle illustrated Harrys stories, showing places and curiosities. And then there were the gifts.
Sometimes they were simple curios, like that feathers from a thunderbird he had found strolling in Arizona. Other times however, were extremely valuable, like that goblin-forged earrings Gabrielle received in Christmas. Harry didn't care. He didn't realize it but, in his head, Gabby deserved everything beautiful he could find.
And so, two years passed. Two years of letters.
Gabrielle graduation found Harry in the legendary gardens of Beauxbatons, strolling alongside a Delacour. A Weasley-Delacour.
"I still don't know how much you were involved in all of this. I'm truly doubtful if I should be crossed with you or utterly grateful"
Fleur stopped by the famous Beauxbatons fountain, leaning towards one of its decorations. She looked as good as the last time he saw her, and not even Bagman would be willing to bet on Fleur just being a mother barely one month ago.
"Do you know why wizards marry so young Harry?" asked the frenchwoman.
Harry frowned, curious to the unrelated question. "I don't know, I always thought you and Bill married because of the war"
"That was… a factor." Fleur nodded. "But it's more than that." She took a moment to fix her hair before continuing. "As you may know or infer, we have everything a muggle have to establish a relationship. You can have physical and mental attraction, sexual compatibility, common life-goals, and the always tricking emotions.
Taking a bit of air out of her face she kept going. "But we have something extra. Our magic." Fleur smiled at the puzzled face Harry had. "It…. Help us in a way. Small pulls towards magically compatible persons. Soothing emotions to help in conflict resolutions. Even memory-aids, if you believe some japanese studies."
"For us, is a bit more intense."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Us as in…"
"Veela". Fleur nodded.
"Just… How?"
Fleur pause for a bit, trying to express the unearthly feeling in words. "It's a bit like a tingle. Like a low-powered jinx the first time you see someone."
Harry was getting really confused. "Like magical marking someone? Like a mate?"
The French witch swatted him in the arm. "We are not beasts Harry! We don't have "mates"!"
"Sorry sorry, I worded it wrong" the raven-haired wizard quickly apologized. Waiting a bit, he asked Fleur "So you felt that tingle with Bill?"
Any anger Fleur could have vanished immediately, replaced by a dreamy smile in her face. "Yes. When he came visit you near the third task. I was so happy when we coincided again in Gringotts." Turning her face to him, she smiled sweetly. "That tingle gave me a beautiful family with a good man."
Harry nodded, but before he could ask the real question he had in mind Fleur kept going. "But I also felt it with Diggory".
Harry almost cracked his own neck by turning to her. "What?"
Fleur chuckled. "That's why I was trying to go with him to the Yule Ball. It's a shame I didn't get to know him better." She adjusted her position. "It's not perfect. I felt it with Viktor and after two minutes of conversation it was clear that the musique wasn't there. In that case the tingle gave me a really close friend, and the godfather of ma petite. I also felt it with Davies, and if you remember my date with him it was a bit of a failure." Fleur chuckled. "The tingle only gave me a good galoche that time"
"Way too much information Fleur" said Harry jokingly.
The beautiful french snorted. "Please, as if I didn't know all the improper things you want to do with my little sister."
A subtle magical bell saved Harry from more embarrassment, signalling the impending beginning of the graduation ceremony. He and Fleur strolled towards the hall.
"So Gabrielle felt it with me?" asked Harry
Fleur turned her head towards him as they walked. "Oui. She felt it when you rescued from the lake. A small tingle in her arm, where you grabbed her to pull her out."
Harry frowned. "That could have been a shiver. It was mid-February in England and we were soaking wet in the middle of a lake!"
"Calm down Harry" chastised Fleur. "A shiver? Really? Strong enough to overcome a sleeping draught AND a stasis charm? I don't know who started that rumour about your magical touch but I swear to…"
"Alright alright sorry." Interrupted the Englishman. "I just wanted to understand why were you so eager to set us up."
Fleur kept walking in silence for a bit. Two times she opened her mouth just to close it after a while. Third time was the charm. "Gabby needed a chance"
Harry stared at her, unsure what to answer to that. Fortunately, she continued. "She needed a chance to get to know you, to make try and see if her Chevalier blanc was meant for her in real life. To see if there was something more than just the idea of you." The veela smirked. "It seems that there was something after all."
As Harry pondered, Fleur finished her ideas. "It didn't hurt either that it was also a chance for you to see her as something other than my baby sister."
They were arriving to the hall, and they were forced to stay silent. Harry's heart beat considerably faster when Madame Maxime announced "Delacour, Gabrielle". Her hair was a bit shorter, albeit not as short as she had described in one of her letters. Her pace was as dignified as ever, and she wore the delicate blue garment that was the Beauxbatons uniform as the most expensive designer dress.
Unconsciously, Harry stood a little to the side of the Delacours, and the graduated witch didn't saw him as she almost tackled her family in a big hug.
"Ou est ma petite nièce, Fleur!" demanded Gabby with a huge smile. She looked behind her sister, as she switched to English, probably in deference to her beau-frère. She returned to Fleur with a puzzled look. "Where is your husband?"
"Babysitting Victoire at home Gabby" answered Fleur with a big smile. "I just thought you would want to see him first" she said pointing towards Harry.
The younger veela turned quickly, and widened her eyes as they landed on Harry. For a second, all his insecurities returned. Maybe she hadn't waited. Maybe she had given up. Maybe he was a foul for believing that a woman as beautiful as Gabrielle Delacour would wait for someone like him. Just for a second. It was a long second before the most radiant smile appeared in her face, as she moved quickly towards him.
Harry opened his arms, ready to embrace her. Gabrielle was having none of that.
She kissed him, closing her eyes just before their lips joined. He closed his a moment after, letting himself involved in the marvellous sensations of the moment. A soft voice that sounded uneasily similar to Hermiones reminded him to not deepen the kiss too much, as he placed his hand chastely on her hips.
As they broke the kiss, soft green meet vibrant, eyes linked and the world completely disappeared from both their minds. Nothing mattered outside their embrace.
"You came"
"I promised I would"
Her eyes never left his. "So? Is this a chance?"
He smiled, and softly pecked her lips. "Our chance"
Scene Break
Apolline and Sebastian Delacour were received in Shell Cottage by their elder, a very unlady-like scream. "Mamam! Papa!"
The Delacour's chuckled as they embraced their daughter. Fleur was always excited about Christmas, and it looked like being a mother had only increased that excitement.
They soon mingled with the sea of redheads that had arrived to Fleur and Bills home. You could clearly pin point the couples in the family in the occasional glimpses of darker hair.
At some point in the evening, a beautiful black owl entered the room. A bunch of letters in the leg. In sudden silence, Bill stretched to the bird, and started distributing the letters. Each one was different, but the thing that all the receivers noted was the signing.
Love.
Harry and Gabrielle.
Bill chuckled, at the post-script of his letter. At Fleur questioning glance, he showed her. Christophe likes toast. That should bribe him enough to ignore Fleurs cooking.
Fleur smiled, and shown the attachment that came in her letter. There was a photo of Harry and Gabby. That attracted the attention of everyone present, and soon the picture started to pass between all the attendants. The image showed the couple in an embrace, fully clothed in winter gear. The small movement the magical picture showed was Gabrielle turning towards Harry, planting a kiss on his cheek.
Hermione broke the silence. "He looks so relaxed"
The Weasleys all nodded.
Angelina commented. "He looked like that whenever he flied."
Again, the majority of the presents nodded, smiles creeping up their faces.
Arthur closed the subject with a small chuckled. "It's good to know he will be family. Even if it is not how I once thought".
That lead to a really loud and long laugh in the room, as everybody slowly returned to their conversations. Only Fleur saw the wistful smile in Ron and Hermione´s faces, as they gave one last look towards the photo. She gently caressed her bracelet.
In a wintery mountain, another Delacour received the warm caress in her own bracelet. Smiling, she left the tent. Outside, watching the snow falling was her very own, very relaxed boyfriend.
She gently embraced him from behind, snuggling her face in his back. "They received the letter"
Turning, he smiled. "Really?"
She nodded. "That's good."
He never thought he could find camping enjoyable. Not after the last year of the war. But when you have a quarter-veela making sure every single detail is as comfortable and enjoyable as possible, you can't help but relax.
"Wanna go inside and cuddle?" She asked, hope in her bright green eyes.
He chuckled a little bit. "Sure."
They entered the warm tent, and went straight to bed after grabbing their respective cups. Cocoa for him and black coffee for her. They snuggled as if they were freezing.
"Where do you want to go?" Harry asked suddenly. "After Britain."
She pondered the question a bit. "I think Brazil. Your letter about Castelobruxo was really interesting."
Harry nodded, answering with a smile "As long as it's with you"
AN1: Yeah, I like other pairings that aren't Harry/Daphne. Here is a one shot because I have no self-control.
AN2: In case you didn't catch any of my main stories, Happy Holidays! Stay safe and take care of yourselves and your loved ones.