Author's note 1: An AU of Bill and Fleur's wedding at the Burrow. A little bit of bad Ron, Molly, Ginny, and Hermione, and some posthumous bad Dumbledore, so reader's discretion is advised!
OC: Madeleine Beaumont
Harry was leaning against a wall of the broom shed at the Burrow, wearing his dress robes he got for the Yule Ball for the Triwizard Tournament a little more than two-and-a-half years ago. It was August 1, 1997; the day Bill and Fleur were getting married. Harry was keeping out of sight from Molly, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny after he found out that Molly was planning to disguise him as a Weasley cousin by means of polyjuice potion. Naturally, Harry refused because he already had been dealing with being something he wasn't and was getting tired of being forced to be fake. He had been living up to the expectations of the wizarding world wanting him to be their saviour as the Boy-Who-Lived and the thought of taking polyjuice potion to disguise himself as one of Ron's cousins was causing him to tremble with rage. Molly claimed that it was for Harry's safety and that Dumbledore would've wanted it that way. That was why Harry was out of the way from the wedding ceremony preparations, to avoid the temptation of lashing out that some people wouldn't let him make his own choices (especially since Harry turned seventeen yesterday and was a legal adult in the wizarding world).
'Honestly, who do Mrs. Weasley, Ronald, Granger, and Ginevra think they are to insist on treating me like a bloody five-year-old boy?!' thought Harry bitterly. 'It's bad enough that Dumbledore had been doing that to me since I started Hogwarts, and I'm getting sick and tired of it. Why should I be the one to take Voldemort down? I never asked for the job and people need to quit looking up to me and realize that the Boy-Who-Lived is a fictional character.'
With that realization, Harry decided he was going to leave England after the wedding and have Magical England deal with Voldemort themselves. He had enough with certain people manipulating him and it was time to live life on his terms. That also meant that he wasn't going back to Hogwarts since 85% of the students there would ungratefully turn against him because of behaving like sheep by listening to the Daily Prophet making up stories about him. This was his life and there would be no more people trying to run it on their terms. Harry started planning out where he would stay, even thinking about asking Bill and Fleur for ideas. Approaching footsteps brought Harry out of his musings.
'Oh, crap! They've finally spotted me.' thought Harry, tensing up.
Turning around, Harry spotted Fleur's sister Gabrielle walking up to him and walking beside her was one of their cousins. Gabrielle flashed a smile at Harry, in which he smiled back. Gabrielle was wearing gold dress robes and her cousin who was walking beside her was wearing gray dress robes.
"This is my saviour, Maddi," Gabrielle told her cousin, pointing in Harry's direction. "Harry Potter. He saved me from the Black Lake during the second task of the Triwizard Tournament."
"Bonjour, Monsieur Potter!" greeted Fleur and Gabrielle's cousin.
"Bonjour, Miss Delacours!" Harry greeted back.
"Sorry, Harry, I should've told you," Gabrielle apologized, as she and her cousin giggled some. "Maddi's last name is Beaumont."
"I'm sorry," Harry apologized to Gabrielle's cousin who at least went by Maddi. "I thought you would have the same last name as Fleur and Gabrielle."
"No worries, Harry," assured the girl who went by Maddi. "I'm Madeleine Beaumont, but you can call me Maddi if you wish. This upcoming school year I'll be starting my sixth year at Beauxbatons. My maman is Apolline's sister. Fleur and Gabby's mother's name is Apolline."
Harry nodded his head to show that he understood. When Maddi approached Harry to shake his hand, he saw that Maddi had silver eyes and the same platinum-blonde hair (which was in a bun, like Gabby's) that Fleur and Gabrielle had. After Harry and Maddi finished shaking hands, Gabrielle (or Gabby, as her cousin called her) walked to Harry and gave him a hug and a kiss on each cheek. Gabby assured Harry that he could call her Gabby, with the explanation that he earned that honour forever for rescuing her from the depths of the Black Lake a little more than two years ago.
"But two of our cousins have the same last name as Fleur and Gabby," Maddi informed Harry. "Their names are Aurora and Emmanuelle, though she likes going by Emma. Their parents' names are Russell and Allura. My parents' names are Audrey and Wyatt. I also have a sister about Gabby and Emma's age. My sister's name is Valerie. I also have a brother about Fleur's age and his name is Lucas."
"Since your mother and Gabby's mother are sisters," Harry replied. "What are their maiden names, if you don't mind me asking?"
"My maman's and aunt Apolline's maiden name is Laurent." said Maddi.
"Oh okay." said Harry.
"What were you doing here all alone, Harry?" Maddi and Gabby asked in unison, curiosity clearly in their voices.
"Avoiding Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, and her two youngest kids Ronald and Ginevra," Harry explained. "They wanted to disguise me as one of Ronald's cousins by use of polyjuice potion. Despite refusing, they insisted that I do it for my safety as they put it. They and Professor Dumbledore are too keen on treating me like a five-year-old and not letting me make my own choices despite the fact that I'm already seventeen. Even though Professor Dumbledore is dead, it's not stopping Hermione, Mrs. Weasely, Ronald and Ginevra from continuing his plans for me and I'm just tempted to leave this country and starting a new life elsewhere."
Gabby gave Harry a comforting hug, then she moved back to give Maddi a turn. Harry felt himself relaxing, since their hugs weren't smothering like Molly's nor were they like Hermione's (who always charged at him before wrapping her arms around him). Gabby's and Maddi's hugs were soft and warm, something that Harry realized that he needed.
"That's just awful, Harry," said Maddi. "It's totally unfair for you to be put in those situations and continue to be used. When you said plans, I had a hunch that you were being used as a pawn."
"Maybe we can talk it over with one of our sets of parents and have you spend time with us," Gabby suggested. "As that'll give you a real chance to have a life where you're not being used."
"The offer is tempting," said Harry, clearly intrigued. "I've never been to France. It'd be cool to see the Eiffel Tower in Paris, since it's Paris' most famous landmark."
"There's also the Louvre Museum if art interests you." Maddi suggested.
"And the Paris Zoo, called the Parc Zoologique de Paris," stated Gabby. "If that's interesting to you as well."
"Those are some good ideas, Gabby." stated Harry.
"Okay," said Gabby. "I'm gonna let you and Maddi have some alone time, so you two can get to know each other better."
"Alright, see ya, Gabby!" Harry and Maddi told her as they waved to her while she walked away.
"Harry, are you familiar with veela in some way?" asked Maddi.
"Yes, ever since I attended the quidditch world cup about three years ago," said Harry. "And understanding it a little more when I met Fleur for the first time."
"I'd like to educate you about veela, if you're okay with it." stated Maddi. After Harry nodded his head in approval, Maddi continued, "Alright, to begin veela are creatures who are deemed sexual by nature. They look like extremely beautiful women with platinum-blonde hair, but when they get angry they turn into eagle-like creatures. Veela are known for their extreme outer beauty and veela allure, which makes most men drool at the sight of us. Due to that, we get viewed as objects and potential trophy wives. That makes it very stressful for us because we desire mates who see us for who we are and not for what we are, and we desire friends who don't care about our looks more than our personality. Most girls do get jealous of our looks because they can never outshine us in outer beauty and tall stature. There are male equivalents called veelo, where they have the same platinum-blonde hair. The difference is that veelo have muscular bodies, movie-star handsome looks, tall stature, and dashingly handsome smiles. Veelo will have girls flocking them just to try and feel their muscles while getting enraptured by their smiles. That makes most boys jealous of their muscles and handsome looks. So veelo will go through the same stress that veela go through. Veelo tend to be viewed as objects and potential trophy husbands as much as veela are viewed as objects and potential trophy wives."
"Wow, so not too different from my life." stated Harry.
"When veelo get angry, they'll turn into eagle-like creatures." Maddi went on. "There is crossbreeding with veela and veelo. My brother is half-veelo since my papa is half-veelo and my maman is half-veela. That also makes me and Valerie half-veela. Fleur and Gabby's father, Anthony, and his brother Russell, my father, are both normal wizards. That makes me and Valerie half-veela, while Fleur, Gabby, Aurora, and Emma are quarter-veela."
"Can a normal wizard and a lady with veela traits have a son?" asked Harry.
"Yes, but those are very rare. The odds increase slightly if the parents both have the traits." stated Maddi. If the parents are full-veelo or full-veela, then their children will have all the traits and the power to turn into eagles when angry. Veelos' eagle forms tend to be a dark-brown while the veelas' eagle forms are a light-brown. Part-veelo and part-veela can't turn into birds when angry, whether half or quarter. We just have the traits, the extreme outer beauty and flawless body for the part-veela and the extreme muscular physique and handsome smiles for the part-veelo, but we both also maintain tall stature and allure."
"So while the veela allure attracts most men and makes them drool," Harry replied. "Then the veelo allure has the same effect but on women?"
"Yes, unless if any are into same-sex relationships." said Maddi. "The stress that full-veela, full-veelo, part-veelo, and part-veelo face of being treated as objects and potential trophy partners stunts our growth some. But if we find mates who are one-in-a-million, then we'll catch up on the physical growth as some of the stress will be relieved. From what Fleur and Gabby have mentioned several times before, you're one-in-a-million Harry, since you've never been affected by the veela allure."
"No, I care more about personality than I do about looks," stated Harry. "I've learned long ago that looks can be deceiving."
"And you're doing good in remembering that," stated Maddi. "Since some people will take advantage of that as a means of luring their victims. Val and I were taught that by our parents, whereas Aurora and Emma had been taught the same thing by their parents, while Fleur and Gabby learned the same thing from their parents."
"Does your sister also have silver eyes?" asked Harry.
"Yes," stated Maddi. "Since you've already seen that Fleur and Gabby have bright-blue eyes, Aurora and Emma have bright-green eyes."
"I see." said Harry.
"Are you ready to meet my parents, Fleur and Gabby's parents, and Aurora and her parents and sister?" asked Maddi.
"Yeah," stated Harry. "I might as well do that. It'll help distract me from my previous troubles."
Then Harry and Maddi walked away from the broom shed and over to the white tent, where the wedding ceremony was going to be held. Quite a number of people were there trying to help get it set up. Bill and Fleur weren't around yet, since the wedding wasn't due to start for another forty or forty-five minutes. Harry focused on his one-on-one time with Maddi to prevent himself from musing over what Dumbledore, Molly, Hermione, Ronald, and Ginevra had been trying to do to him. Maybe with Maddi there, Harry's time at the wedding wouldn't be so bad after all.
The End!
Author's note 2: I have a poll set up to see which one of my separate one-shots should be expanded into a multi-chapter story. If you're interested, please vote. The more I get, the faster it can get decided on which one it should be.