I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
Note: Surprise Sunday update! I hope all had a nice weekend. So I made a surprise update today for a couple reasons. I had a productive writing week last week so feel comfortable with doing an extra update this week. I also finished some of what I found to be very funny chapters and some very eventful ones, so be excited for that.
The second reason is that I made a new post called Random Reddit Ramblings. I do prompt responses on Reddit's Harry Potter Fanfic subreddit and decided I wanted to share them with you fine folks. I'll post when I can. Many are very random, some cracks style prompts, and others I am very proud of. So I hope you all will take a look and enjoy.
Random question for you all. Do you guys like the chapter titles or do you generally not pay attention to them? I usually try to think of something clever that is related, sometimes it's a terrible joke, and just wanted to see what y'all think.
Oh and allow me to explain something for going forward. I personally find writing the French accent to be difficult and quasi-offensive and over the top so I won't be doing it here. I'll try to make her speech seem a bit different to show her struggling with speaking. Italics within quotations will be people speaking in French. Hope that's okay.
As always, thank you for the follows, the loves, and the kind reviews and feedback. Y'all make this journey worthwhile. Have a good day and a good start to the week!
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The Family that Chooses You
Chapter 79 – A French Connection
She could not look more out of place if she had tried.
Her robes were very different than other peoples: a pale blue and of shorter cut and finer material than the darker, thicker, and longer robes of the others. Her hair was pale blonde, making it look like silver. Her eyes were haughty, always on the watch for offense. She carried herself differently, an aggressive posture that screamed warning at others.
She was also hopelessly lost.
She cursed in her language, her words sounded soft and smooth but to one that understood the language, they would be scathing and crude. She was already deeply annoyed at being somewhere she did not like. She hated all the drooling looks and hateful glares she had already gotten on the journey of being lost. She looked about at the stone walls, ugly tapestries, suits of armor, statues, and cursed again.
"Hello, are you lost?"
She whirled at the tone. "Whatever gave you that idea?" she spat scornfully.
The boy in front of her flinched, his shoulders curled and he almost raised his hands to protect himself.
The way he looked, the way he reacted, filled her with deep shame. It was not this boy's fault that she was lost. He had not made any snide remarks thinking she would not understand or had drooled at her.
Wait. He was not drooling at her.
She knew her allure was strong. She knew she had not bothered in keeping it under strict control, control being the first thing to leave when she was deeply annoyed or angry. She saw him recoil a little bit as he recovered from flinching, but after a small shake of his head, he regained his composure. That made her pause, and for her to regret her reaction somewhat.
Harry flushed and tried to straighten. At her tone and posture, he had reacted like he used to, a reaction that was literally beaten into him. He had gotten much better since then, but she had been so angry and a stranger, he reacted automatically. "I'm sorry," he stammered. "You just looked lost and this is a back part of the castle and didn't think anyone from the other schools would come here. I'm sorry to have bothered you." He started to flee.
"No, wait." She held an arm out and looked sincerely contrite. She visibly forced her irritation down, folding her hands in front of her and raised her chin. Her voice was melodic, her English heavily accented but easily understood. "I was upset but not at you. I snapped at you unfairly. My apologies."
"Oh." Harry stopped and smiled sheepishly. "That's good. Not that you were upset but that I didn't make it worse. I really did want to help. Do want to help."
She looked down at the boy. He was shorter than her, by a bit. She noticed how he stood shyly, hands holding the strap of his bag tightly, shifting from foot to foot. His eyes were earnest, not filled with impure thoughts or glazed emotion. He was genuinely shy and not overcome by her allure. That fascinated her.
"I…would like some help," she admitted slowly. "My name is Fleur Delacour."
"Harry Potter." He bobbed his head shyly. "Nice to meet you."
Her eyes flicked up to his forehead when he said his name, recognizing the scar now. She had heard it was rather obvious but it looked faded on him. She saw his face twist and saw him look down at the floor, pawing his hair over his scar. For the second time she was mildly ashamed with how she treated him, recognizing his actions. She too had been stared and leered at.
"I am…sorry. I did not mean to do that." She said softly, sincerely.
He smiled weakly. "It's okay. I should be used to it. Where were you trying to go?"
"To see your school Healer. I am having difficulty…breathing." She fumbled for words at his look of panic. "No no, nothing serious. I have…reactions to the plants."
"Oh allergies," Harry supplied. "I can take you to Madam Pomfrey," he offered. "I have nothing more to do until dinner."
She sighed with relief. "If you do not mind. This castle of yours is very confusing."
Harry laughed. "Yeah, I still find corridors and secret hallways and I've been here four years. The best way to get around is to recognize tapestries, let me show you." He led her back to the stairs and pointed out landmarks for her. Eventually he took her to the Infirmary and led her inside.
"Harry Potter, what did you do to yourself now?!" Pomfrey looked at the boy with exasperation. "Barely a few weeks into the term. I suppose for you, it's a record."
Harry grinned. "I'm fine, really! Miss Delacour needs your help. I just showed her how to see you. She's having trouble with her allergies."
"Oh well that's simple enough. One moment Miss Delacour, I'll whip you up an anti-allergenic in a few moments."
Harry and Fleur watched with interest as Pomfrey summoned a small cauldron and poured a light blue liquid into it. She started grinding bits of local plants into powders before adding them one by one into the simmering cauldron.
"Oh! You're adding all the local plants to a base Anti-Allergy Potion right?" Harry asked. "That way it's keyed more to combat the local fauna so it'll be more effective to where you currently are."
"Five points to Gryffindor," Pomfrey said with a big smile. "Correct Mister Potter. Your standard anti-allergenic is fine for most things but going the extra step will ensure the drinker is better protected against all forms of the allergens. It takes more time and effort but the end results are much better."
"None of the additional ingredients would throw off the potion itself though?" he asked.
"Not if you add them as fine powder and allow the simmering completed potion to fully dissolve and absorb them. If you tried to add them when making the potion the first time, then yes. This way, you avoid that. Now this won't combat severe allergic reactions such as to peanuts or other things, not to mention dust, but it is good for most plant-based ones."
"What if you're allergic to an animal?"
"Have you tasted dog and cat hair?" Pomfrey asked wryly. "Not as effective but still doable. This method works best with plants."
"Do you normally answer such in-depth questions?" Fleur asked, intrigued. "The Beauxbaton Healer does not like to lecture."
"Normally no. Most of my patients don't care about the how and why. Normally this one isn't either." Pomfrey smiled at Harry. "Then again, it is rare for him to walk in of his own volition."
Harry shrugged sheepishly. "I'm actually getting more interested in Potions since Professor Snape is less…snappy."
Fleur noticed the Matron laughing heartily at that comment. She thought for a moment. "Are you particularly…fragile?" she asked Harry. When Pomfrey laughed harder and Harry blushed, she thought for a more appropriate term. "Clumsy?"
"Let's just say I get into some strange situations," Harry said weakly.
"That's putting it lightly," Pomfrey teased. She finished the potion and poured it into a large vial. "Here you go," she said, handing the vial to Fleur. "Let it cool and have a sip every morning until you finish the vial. It should cover you for a long time but if you ever need more, just come ask."
"Thank you," Fleur said with relief.
"Anytime dear. And you," Pomfrey poked a smiling Harry, "stay out of trouble. Though I don't mind if you visit and if you have more questions. I expect payment if you do however." She winked. "I hear you're an accomplished chef."
Harry blushed and tried to wave the praise away. "I'm alright," he said. "I'll definitely bring you something later though. Thank you, Madame Pomfrey!"
Harry led Fleur back to the main hall, once again pointing out the best way to get to the hall and medical wing and what to look out for.
"Thank you, Harry Potter," Fleur said with genuine gratitude.
"You can call me Harry," he replied. "People only use Harry Potter when they're upset at me."
She still had trouble enunciating the H part of Harry, but she smiled when she did. "Harry then. You may refer to me as Fleur. Miss Delacour sounds odd coming from you."
Harry grinned. "Sounds good. I'm glad I could help you." He started to walk away.
"Would you mind showing me how to get to a few other places?" she asked. "I rather not wander about lost again and hope you show up."
Harry looked shocked that she would continue to ask him for help but he nodded readily. "Sure. Where would you like to go?"
He took her to the library, the entrance to the kitchens, to Professor Flitwick's office who had volunteered to be the main professor liaison for the Beauxbaton students, to Professor McGonagall's office, and a brief tour of the grounds.
Harry noticed at times the male students around them would stop and stare at Fleur. Most got a vacant expression, as if mildly stunned. Others looked incredibly odd and creepy to him. Sometimes the looks got even more pronounced and he would scowl at them, ashamed of the behavior of his fellow classmates. The girls would usually give Fleur dirty looks or look at the pair of them with questions in their expressions.
Every so often Harry would feel his mind go slightly fuzzy, occasionally stumbling. He chalked it up to him working harder than usual and being a little more tired. He also noticed the odd looks Fleur kept giving him and he felt like he was bothering her somehow, despite her asking him for help.
Fleur paid attention to the tour, making note of the helpful tapestries Harry pointed out. However, that was not why she asked for a continued tour from the intriguing Hogwarts student. She would periodically push her allure out more, making it stronger, make it weaker, see if he would notice. The other students noticed and were not subtle about their reactions at all. The girls also reacted as they usually did. Some had the same look of glazed attraction; most had that hostility from noticing her effects on the boys.
Harry, for whatever reason, seemed resistant. He was not immune. She caught him stumbling once in a while or shooting her a flushed look of questioning. She prided herself in knowing what attracted people. She knew he was attracted to women. Yet he did not fall prey to the Veela allure completely. It was rather refreshing to find a male that could do that that she was not related to.
They finally made their way to the great hall, right when dinner was starting to be served. "Oh that's good timing then," Harry said.
"Indeed. Thank you for your time, Harry," she said.
"Glad to help."
He really is glad, she mused to herself. I cannot tell if he had any ulterior motive.
They entered the hall together and more than a few students turned to see them arrive together. Heads turned and stared, whispers rose all about them.
"Let me know if you need any help. It was nice to meet you," Harry said, oblivious to the stares and whispers. He was so used to being the target of gossip, he truly was oblivious to them at times.
Fleur never completely was, not like him. She noticed them and could easily ignore them, but was always aware of them. "I will do that. It was nice to meet you as well."
He waved shyly and left, making his way to the Gryffindor table and sitting down amongst a group of people. Fleur noticed that most of them were girls and she felt that stab of irritation when the girls cast looks at her, the reaction grown from years of experiences, precious few of them being positive.
Suppressing a sigh, she went to the Ravenclaw table where her schoolmates normally took their meals. Ignoring the majority of the ones that came to Hogwarts, she sat with the two girls that she actually considered her friends instead of acquaintances.
The black-haired girl looked up at Fleur. "So, who was that?"
"Harry Potter," Fleur replied as she sat down.
"That's Harry Potter?" The brown-haired girl craned her head to try and look at Harry. "I imagined someone taller and more impressive looking."
"You and me both," the other girl said and they laughed.
"Colette, Aimee, you should be more careful," Fleur chided them. "You never know who could be listening."
"Bah," Colette tucked a lock of black hair behind her ear, "everyone from our school ignores us and I doubt the Hogwarts students can speak French."
"They barely learn anything here," Aimee said with a sniff.
Fleur giggled. She noticed a short blonde girl sit nearby to them which was a little strange. Most of the time, no one sat close to them if they could help it. The Hogwarts students were too intimidated by them while their fellow Beauxbaton students disliked them. "Perhaps. In any case, I was also surprised that he introduced himself as Harry Potter. But he had the scar and he did not lie like most do when they interact with me. He was incredibly shy."
"Oh? That's interesting. I thought the Boy-Who-Lived would be quite arrogant."
"As did I. However, he was quite reserved and oddly helpful." Fleur delicately bit into a slice of bread.
"Why Fleur, are you showing interest?" Aimee's eyes sparkled.
"A bit young for you don't you think?" Colette teased.
"You two are love-starved harpies," Fleur said with a chuckle. "I mean, he seems resistant to my allure."
"That is interesting," Colette said. She looked thoughtful. "And it's not for the usual reason?"
"It isn't something I asked, it's typically rude to ask that when you first meet someone," Fleur sniffed. "No, I think he did find me attractive. Yet he wasn't reduced to a drooling mess."
"Is that so? I wonder why. Especially if he was just being helpful." Aimee's tone was suspicious.
"Harry is a very warm and kind person. He never wants anything to help you."
The three girls looked at the small girl in open surprise. She had sat quietly beside them, making shapes out of the vegetables on her plate before she ate them. She spoke French clearly with just the barest trace of an accent.
"You speak French," Aimee said dumbly.
The girl nodded. "I do. My father and I travel to France often enough so I learned the language. It's very pretty. Also a lot of old books on magical animals are written in French." Luna continued to eat her dinner.
"Do you make it a habit of eavesdropping on private conversations?" Colette asked with an angry tone.
"Typically no. If I was truly eavesdropping with intent, I would have warned you I spoke French when you said Hogwarts students don't speak French." Luna ignored Colette's sudden blush. "Though truthfully, you're probably correct. Not many do."
Fleur waited for the strange girl to explain more. Eventually Fleur spoke when it was clear Luna was not going to unprompted. "In that case, may I ask why you felt compelled to interject about Harry Potter?" Fleur was surprised to receive Luna's full eye contact and attention. Up till now, the Ravenclaw girl had paid more attention to her plate when she spoke. Now the girl looked right at Fleur without hesitation or shyness.
"Of course you may, and thank you for asking. You are much more polite than you appear." She ignored Fleur's blush and Colette and Aimee's giggling. "First, I was waiting for a moment to tell you that if you need to speak to someone or ask for help, feel free to ask me as well. Since I speak French. My name is Luna Lovegood by the way. The second is that Harry is my older brother."
The trio of French girls looked surprised.
"Not by blood of course. More of a conscious decision instead of circumstance. In any case, I'm very fond of Harry and wanted to dispel any doubts about his character."
"Hmm, that's rather suspect," Colette said. "Why feel the need to defend your friend without prompting?"
"Because he was the one to ask me to help you when I told him I can speak French." Luna looked back to her plate, rearranging her peas and missed the look from the French witches. "He thought you might find it more comfortable to ask me since we speak the same language as well as that I am a girl." Her odd eyes looked at Fleur again. "He thought he made you uncomfortable today since you kept shooting him strange looks. Not to mention he's noticed the strange looks from the other boys."
Fleur was completely unprepared for that. So he had noticed the looks she gave him and he was not as oblivious as she thought at the other boys reaction to her. For some reason she felt a prickle of shame at him thinking that he made her feel uncomfortable.
"So, in that case, you can tell us his ulterior motives then," Aimee said. "As in, what he is wanting out of 'helping' Fleur."
Luna stared at the brown-haired girl for a few long moments. Her silence was starting to make the three girls uncomfortable, coupled with her large eyes staring silently. What happened next made them feel even odder.
Luna laughed.
Luna was laughing with deep breaths. Her whole body shook from her laughter and it was deep and hearty, laughs made by someone who was incredibly amused. Apparently, Luna laughing was a strange or rare occurrence for everyone around them stopped talking and eating to stare at her. People watched with open-mouthed astonishment at the third year girl laughing so unrestrained.
Luna finally regained her composure, waving to a concerned looking Harry a few tables away. "Harry does not possess a single selfish bone in his body," Luna said firmly. "If he helps you, he helps you without expectation, without reservation. He never expects anything, no matter how hard he wants something."
The French girls looked at each other. Clearly Luna was not someone who was a sycophant. They noticed how most ignored her. This was also not a girl that spoke gushingly of someone as if they were besotted. Luna clearly believed in what she said. Her expression up till now was soft and dreamy. Now it was hard, her eyes clear, her intent sharp.
"Perhaps an apology is necessary," Aimee said hesitantly after a small moment of quiet.
"If you feel like one is. Not to me though. To Harry. You could be forgiven I suppose since you don't know him, and he certainly would never hold it against you."
"Then why should we apologize to him? If he would not be upset?" Colette asked.
"Because I am for him." Luna stood from the table. "I will still help you because he asked me to. Remember that I'm only doing so because he did." She nodded at them, her dreamy countenance returned, and skipped away.
"Perhaps there is more to Harry Potter than we thought," Fleur said softly.
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Harry took a few moments to speak to Luna, thanking her and hugging her after he did, and made his way to the Gryffindor table.
"Making friends with the foreigners?" Angelina asked as Harry sat down.
"I found Fleur Delacour on the fifth floor way in the back of the castle. She got really lost. Apparently she was trying to find the Medical Wing. So I took her there and she asked me to show her the other major spots in the castle," Harry explained as he served himself some vegetables.
"Delacour?" Alicia looked up from her newspaper. "I've heard that name before. I think their family is pretty important in France. Maybe their Ministry?"
Harry shrugged. "We didn't really talk much aside from me pointing out how to get around. I think I made her uncomfortable."
"What?" Katie looked concerned. "What gave you that idea?"
"She kept giving me funny looks. Like really weird ones. Then again, a lot of boys give her funny looks too so maybe she just thought I was doing the same." He looked thoughtful as he ate. "I thought I was being respectful though," he said in a small voice.
"I'm sure you were a perfect gentleman," Katie said, patting his arm. "She's probably just nervous about being in a foreign country. Not used to the school and the other students."
"Most of the boys here do look at her oddly," Hermione said. "I noticed it when they arrived that night."
"You think Ron's right then?" Fred asked.
"About her being a Veela?" Hermione shrugged. "I don't know honestly, but I could be wrong I suppose."
"Now that I think about it, the boys do look at her like boys did at the World Cup at the Bulgarian cheerleaders." Angelina said. She turned and leaned close to Harry, inspecting him with a critical eye.
Harry flushed. "What, do I have food on my face?"
"No, I'm looking for traces of drool and any hints of a vacant expression," Angelina replied cheekily. The table burst into laughter and Harry gave her a sour look accompanied by a giggle.
"How can you tell the difference from his usual vacant expressions?" Hermione giggled.
"I'm not in History of Magic," Harry said to more laughter.
The sound of Luna's laughter cut through theirs and they looked over in astonishment at the spectacle that was Luna laughing. Harry rose from the table, concern written plainly on his face. He breathed a sigh of relief when she waved him off. Then after the girl spoke to the three French witches, she skipped away.
"I wonder what that was about," Harry said softly as he sat back down. "I hope they weren't rude to her, especially since I asked her to offer to help them."
"Hmm, let's hope not." Alicia said. "Why are you being nice to them by the way? You heard Fleur laugh ever so mockingly at us the night they arrived."
Harry shrugged. "It seemed like the right thing to do. I didn't want to just leave her wandering about, lost like that."
"But offering more help? Are you so enchanted by her stunningly good looks?" George asked with a salacious grin.
Harry glowered at him for a moment before he looked down at his plate. "No, I mean she is pretty but definitely not why I want to help. She reminded me of me."
"Tall, beautiful, and blonde?" Fred asked and everyone laughed again.
Harry smiled weakly. "Not really. She just…she looks lonely even though she's surrounded by people. I know what that's like." He ate slowly and it was clear that he was not tasting his food.
Everyone grew somber at that. Katie slid closer to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, squeezing softly.
His smile strengthened and he swallowed his food. "Don't worry. I don't feel like that anymore, not that much anyways. Not like I used to."
"That's good." Alicia smiled warmly. "Let's just enjoy dinner and later, after we finish our homework, we can spend the rest of the evening throwing things at the twins."
"Why us?" they said in tandem in equally hurt tones.
"For turning the conversation into something maudlin," Alicia said severely.
"I have a better idea," George said. "How about we change Harry's hair?"
"He did say he thought he was a blonde," Fred continued.
"Oh I bet you would look good as a blonde," Alicia said, getting on board with the idea.
"Are you mad? He would look awful," Hermione said with a laugh.
Harry laughed too and found his appetite return. He ate contently, still leaning into Katie and listening to his friends discuss his hair color. "What about red?" he suggested.
"No, no more redheads," Angelina said with a wink. "There's already too many."
The roar from the Weasleys was expected and Harry's laughter made them all feel much better.
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D.J. Scales - It's the little things that can cause the biggest impacts down the road.
yogibears - Fourth year is turning into a much bigger endeavor than I originally thought so I hope you continue to enjoy it and it's deviations.
Guest - Thank you so much. I adore callbacks and references to past chapters and try my best to do ones that aren't too out of place or forced, so I'm glad you enjoy them. Thank you for the kind words and thank you for reading.
SvenHPotterFan - Nothing so simple for Snape, just some honest reflection. Thank you so much. I really wanted to show a changed Harry, shaped by his past and the interactions of others.
Urgwaew - I almost didn't include the Homesick bit. It came up as I was writing as a good way to start Fourth year and am glad it hit well. It made a lot of sense after I wrote it out. I like using Hermione as that bridge between "normal" Muggle and "normal" family dynamics, and let her help Harry much like she did in canon. At the risk of beating a dead horse, the whole baby bird and mama bird joke amuses me so I plan on letting it run when applicable.
I'm glad you liked that. I didn't want to make it ham-fisted or forced with Mirabelle and Harry. I really wanted to show a changed Harry, one who has grown because of his past and his past interactions. I want my Harry to want to change, to be better than who he was before, to pay it forward. I thought this would be a good way to tie him to his past and laying a foundation for his future, to have him show believable change and growth.
I really hope Snape's change hits will with people. I want him to change plausibly. He is a character I enjoy and I want him to be who he is, but make him...more palatable I suppose. I hoped the actions of third year and the little changes can make someone like Snape change in a good way. Same with the rest of the Slytherins. I don't want them to just be a house of villain stereotypes. At the risk of spoiling, no redemption for Draco but he will still impact the story.
While Ron won't be having as big of a role, I want to treat him like the twins and Percy. To keep to core personality while showing how he could be subtly different. To make him shine a different way that is just as good and bad as his canon counterpart. A different world yields a different person with different experiences. Percy and Oliver will be mentioned at least, and I do plan on showing them again here and there.
I'm glad you still enjoy the humor. I really want to hone my dialogue and my humor so this fic is giving me that opportunity. AS always, thank you for the kind review.
alix33 - Lyla finally got her candy from the source.
teachergirl - Yes, that pairing never made sense to me. Nothing against Remus per se either, but that pairing was very odd to me.
Shamgar777 - Thank you so much, I'm glad you are enjoying it.
Thespianpoet - I think after the events of the game in third year, after what Katie and the team said, he finally realizes it.
SilverLightning26 - Surprise update! So soon too after you read the previous chapter!