Fleur Delacour (2)

Two weeks have passed since the Triwizard Tournament ended and Harry was staying with Fleur Delacour at a wizarding house somewhere in the sticks in France. It was a decent-sized three bedroom, three bathroom house with a swimming pool in the backyard. The reason Harry was staying with Fleur was because he had enough of being pushed into the spotlight against his will, performing heroic tasks while a certain headmaster sat back in the safety of his office without so much as lifting a finger, and the headmaster controlling his life. For that reason, Harry decided that he was leaving Hogwarts for good, even some of his real friends were saddened by that. Most of Hogwarts was actually glad that Harry left, since they got tired of his so-called cocky attitude. Harry ended his friendship with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger for good when they tried (rather rudely) to make Harry stay. Ron sister, Ginny, was also upset because she wanted to win the affections of her hero, the Boy-Who-Lived, despite Harry telling her that he was nothing like him and that the Boy-Who-Lived was a fictional character. Harry had only been at Fleur's new house for a night and it was much better than being cooped up in Durzkaban.

'I wonder what kind of surprises Fleur has in store for me?' thought Harry, as he woke up.

It was morning around 5:30 AM, the time when Aunt Petunia would rudely rap on his bedroom door and order him to cook breakfast. It used to be the cupboard under the stairs until Harry got his first Hogwarts acceptance letters. Then he remembered that he was at Fleur's house. it was yesterday around around noon (London time) when Fleur came by to rescue him from the Dursleys. Fleur felt that she owed him a favour and wanted to repay it not just for him saving her sister, Gabrielle, from the depths of the Black Lake, but Harry even saved Fleur from Viktor Krum during the third task even though it was revealed that he was under the Imperius Curse. One week before the foreign school departed, Fleur spent some time with Harry and that was when he revealed that he saved her from Viktor despite him being imperiused. Fleur was even more grateful to the point where she kissed him on the lips instead of his cheeks like how it was after he saved Gabrielle. Harry was rendered speechless and lost in a trance when Fleur planted that kiss on his lips. After he came to, Harry realized that he enjoyed that and after some hesitation, admitted it. Needless to say, Ginny was very enraged with jealousy by that (since she was spying on Harry and Fleur), to the point where the Weasley girl tried to strangle Fleur. Luckily, Fleur easily overpowered Ginny and knocked her out-cold. Some of Harry's real friends spotted that and alerted the aurors, who quickly came by and arrested Ginny for attempted murder. Now Ginny was confined to the mental ward at St. Mungo's until she was seventeen before a retrial and sentencing hearing to determine her ultimate fate.

"Maybe it's time I show Fleur how to cook food muggle style." Harry told himself, as he got up to leave the guest room he was staying in.

Upon opening the door, Harry jumped in surprise to see that Fleur was waiting outside the bedroom for him. She was in a pair of gray pajama trousers and a gray v-neck short-sleeve shirt. Harry was in a red short-sleeve t-shirt and a pair of gold-coloured knee-length shorts. Harry didn't think that Fleur would be up at this hour and he was wondering the reason for it. Even if he didn't have his glasses on (they were on the nightstand), Harry could still make out the outline of Fleur, plus it was just the two of them in the house.

"Good morning, Harry!" Fleur greeted with a smile.

"Good morning, Fleur!" Harry greeted back, returning the smile. Then he asked, "Was there a reason you got up early?"

"I like to go for an early morning swim during the summer days," stated Fleur. "Since the sunlight lasts longer in the summer than in the winter."

"Want me to start cooking breakfast so it can be ready when you're finished?" Harry offered.

"No, I'd like you to join me, Harry, we can get breakfast cooking a little later," said Fleur. "Moments like these would be better if they're shared."

Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement and just before he could turn around to return to his room and changed into swim shorts, Fleur walked right by him still in her shirt and pajama trousers. Harry was baffled by that, so he followed Fleur out into the backyard to try and find out what she had in mind. There was a closet close to the backyard door and Fleur opened it to pull a couple towels out, with Harry finally putting the puzzle pieces together. Once they walked outside, Fleur put the towels on a lawn chair and started walking towards the shallow end of the swimming pool. Then Fleur started stepping into the water, on the steps descending underneath the surface. Harry finally realized that Fleur intended to swim in her clothes. Harry remembered when he had to have quidditch practice in the rain of his third year because Oliver Wood was desperate to win the quidditch cup before he graduated. Harry even remembered that one rainy match that had the dementors around, ultimately costing him his old Nimbus 2000. Once the surface of the water was just above her knees, Fleur jumped in and ducked underwater. Then she resurfaced and wiped excess water away from her face.

'Wow, I never Fleur could look good in wet clothes, even if she's wearing gray!' thought Harry in surprise.

"Come on in, Harry!" Fleur told him in an encouraging voice, gesturing for him to do so.

Harry took a running start and jumped into the pool in a cannonball, even blurting out the word as he jumped in. After resurfacing, Harry wiped away the excess water from his face and faced Fleur. The surface of the water was up to her hips, which made it about as high as Harry's waist because he was still a little shorter than her. Fleur was still standing in her spot with her wet shirt in plain view.

"I wasn't expecting you to jump in like that, Harry," said Fleur with a smile. "But I'm proud of you for having some fun. You also looked more relaxed now, as opposed to being in England where you always seemed so tense."

"And I have a wonderful lady to thank for helping me getting out of there." Harry replied, smiling back.

Fleur blushed at the compliment and gently pulled him forward to kiss him on the lips. The two could feel their hearts beating with excitement, just as Fleur cupped Harry's face with her hands while Harry placed his hands on her waist, ignoring her shirt being soaked with pool water. Then Fleur began swimming a little closer to the deep end before swimming back. She decided that this was the right time to teach Harry how to swim before breakfast. Fleur even came up with a reward system for Harry, which surprised (and relieved) him because he remembered all the times when Hermione would relentlessly nag him when it came to doing things, especially things she wanted. But Fleur had the better way to help motivate him and Harry was happy to have a support system for once.

The End!