Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; everything is J K Rowling's.
Sorry for the longer than usual wait, it's been a busy week, but I finally finished this chapter and posted it for you!
Chapter 74
The tiny, bronze ring spun on the blank surface of her desk. It's intricate pattern of garnet petalled roses revolved round and round beneath the tip of her wand, glinting gently in the light of the lamps. The ring was a present, an apologetic gift from one of the curse breakers whose associate had embarrassed himself under her thrall.
Fleur was bored.
For the first few months she had been busy all day every day as business deals were hurriedly finalised before the inevitable conflict could interfere. Those deals were closed and no new deals had been made. Fleur suspected none would come until Voldemort was defeated.
The ring swirled a little too violently as her concentration wavered and the four millennia old artefact rolled gently across the desk and fell into the inkwell with a soft clunk. Fortunately the well was empty of ink and the ancient ring came out untarnished - not that it was likely to be damaged. She'd evaluated the enchantments on the thing and short of hurling it into a volcano or something of similar temperature the ring was unlikely to come to harm.
Harry had found that amusing, and happily made plenty of jokes based on what Fleur presumed was muggle literature. He'd explained them dutifully, one after the other, smiling brightly and never taking his eyes of the ring, but Fleur knew him well enough to recognise the faint gleam of paranoia.
She'd intended to get rid of the ring. It was scarcely valuable, despite its age, and should it have been priceless Fleur would have thrown it away all the same. Nothing had ever turned her blood so cold as the fear and suspicion on Harry's face when she had told him about the gift, and yet she still had it. The poor curse-breaker had seemed so embarrassed by his colleague's actions and his apology had been so earnest she couldn't bring herself to cheapen it by throwing it away.
I'll keep it with me, she decided. If Harry never sees it again, it won't upset him, and in a week or so I'll be able to give it away. Gabrielle might like it.
Fleur slipped the ring into her pocket and shrugged.
How much trouble can a ring even cause?
She was fairly sure Harry would have had another muggle literature joke if he'd heard that.
A group of her coworkers drifted past, laughing amongst themselves and juggling a suspiciously innocent looking teaspoon. Fleur watched, confused, until one of the younger curse-breakers held onto the teaspoon for a fraction of a second too long. He was immediately assaulted as the teaspoon sprouted large, grey tentacles and latched itself onto his face.
The group dissolved into helpless laughter as their unfortunate colleague flailed around on the floor before eventually pulling the tentacled teaspoon from his face and patting the flushed curse-breaker on the back. He looked embarrassed to be caught out so easily, but laughed along with group at his misfortune. Then they caught sight of her.
Immediately the laughter faded, and the effects of her allure swept over them. It's attraction, even in its restrained state, was evident in the sudden straightening of uniforms and smoothing of hair. Fleur turned away, annoyed, breaking their line of sight and her spell over them, but not before she glimpsed the rueful grin and shrug of the red-haired curse-breaker that had apologetically gifted her the ring.
At least they aren't all affected.
The laughter began anew as the teaspoon, forgotten in the moment they had caught sight of her, struck again, wrapping its tentacles around the arm of the nearest curse-breaker. She smiled to herself at their antics; it was refreshing to see something so lighthearted when the rest of Britain seemed so determined to focus on the gloom to come.
They'd even chosen an appropriately cursed item to mess around with, rather than risk the wrath of the goblins. Fleur had overheard from the senior curse-breaker she acted as a liaison for that a young curse-breaker had once tried to scare his friend by giving him a ring that couldn't be removed. He had failed to ensure that it's permanent nature was the only enchantment, and his friend had nearly died from the Withering Curse before a nearby goblin had had the presence of mind to remove his arm and stop the spread.
Those few of her senior colleagues who had not already left early began to tidy their desks as she had very slowly done over the last hour. The rustle of their papers and the rattle of locked drawers marked the end of the day. If the senior curse-breakers were leaving, then Fleur was well within her rights to disappear too.
She slipped a hand inside her blouse, opening, activating and closing the locket that connected her to Harry. He would feel the pulse of heat and know what it meant. He might even be waiting for her already. It was about time he gave in to reason, even if he only did it because Fleur had been enchanting the sofa to be ever so slightly more resistant to magic each day.
She was a little surprised he hadn't caught on to her trick, but something had needed to be done to distract him from his concern. It was sweet that he was afraid of them going to fast and falling apart, but buying furniture was hardly a proposal of marriage, and they were in desperate need of some new chairs.
Her locket flared hot against her breastbone. Harry was waiting.
Fleur pushed her chair back so quickly it almost fell over, and hurried out, weaving impatiently past her slower associates and the short, slower goblins, ignoring both the glazed stares of the human employees and the irritated frowns of the goblins she swerved in front of.
There were over a hundred wizards outside Gringotts, many of which were the same height and build as Harry was, but Fleur needed only a single glance to find the wizard who was hers. There was, after all, only one wizard who was gazing up at her with clear-eyes. She checked, just in case, closing her eyes and pushing her magic out to touch him.
It was Harry; there was no mistaking his unique magic.
'Fancy finding you here,' he grinned.
'I'm sorry,' Fleur apologised as haughtily as she could manage, 'who might you be?'
'I,' Harry's grin spread wider, 'am Tom Marvolo Riddle… but blond.'
'Am I supposed to know who that is?' Fleur inquired.
'Tom Riddle has a new name now,' Harry chuckled, ' a new face as well, and there are not many who would recognise either.'
'You're wearing Voldemort's old face around Diagon Alley,' Fleur realised, sighing. It was the sort of thing that he would find funny, worse, it was the sort of thing he knew she would find funny but would have to remonstrate him for doing. No doubt that had been in the back of his head when he'd chosen it.
'You know me too well,' Harry laughed. 'It's a bit disturbing when you really think about it. I barely changed anything to get from my face to this one.'
'I shall call you Marvolo,' Fleur decided delightedly.
'Is there something wrong with my name?' Harry asked, not looking at all enthused by the idea.
'This is the price you pay for choosing such a dangerous disguise,' Fleur admonished him. 'Next time choose an inconspicuous, innocuous nobody instead of a face that is not only the original countenance of the Dark Lord, but also incredibly similar to your own.'
'It's still funny,' Harry sulked.
Fleur paused. At some point over the last year Harry had learnt to mimic Gabby's pout perfectly, only unlike her baby sister's version his sulking face gave her a sudden, strong desire to kiss him. She resisted, gently biting her lip and taking his hand.
'Furniture shopping time,' she sang playfully.
'I know,' Harry groused. 'I wouldn't have come for another week or so if you hadn't meddled with the sofa.'
'So you did realise,' Fleur laughed. The sound stopped every wizard within hearing distance on the street.
'Of course,' Harry looked insulted, 'the first time I woke up on the floor earlier than expected to the sound of your laughter I brushed it off, but not the second, or the third, or the fourth…'
'You were far too worried about this,' Fleur told him kindly. 'It's a little daunting if you look at it in a certain light, but,' she tightened her grip on his hand, entwining their fingers, 'I quite like the idea too.'
'You can choose the furniture then,' he retorted cheerfully.
'Of course,' she replied. 'I'm not letting you pick.'
'How hard can it be,' Harry shrugged, 'we're just buying a bed, a few chairs, and some cupboards.'
'That, Marvolo, is why you're not choosing,' Fleur explained. 'There's all sorts of more complicated things to consider. There's the colour scheme, the time period, the style, the price, and then we have to arrange them when we get back.' She neglected to mention that she had already considered these, and that, should Harry agree, they had to do no more than collect the furniture she'd already scouted during lunchtime excursions.
'I knew I should have stayed at the Dursleys',' Harry quipped. 'So where are we actually going?'
'There's a place on the North side of the Alley that enchants and sells furniture,' Fleur explained, leading the way. 'What colours do you like?'
'Green,' Harry shrugged unhelpfully, 'grey, silver, maybe blue.'
'Ivory,' Fleur suggested innocently, 'with pale wood and pastel blues.'
'Or that,' Harry grinned. He didn't seem to mind her choosing at all.
'That makes it easier,' Fleur told him. 'I've already found and reserved a list of what we need that fits that colour scheme.'
'When did you do that?' Harry asked, looking far more relieved than curious.
'My lunch breaks,' Fleur answered, 'if I am always busy for lunch I do not have to worry about being invited out by my colleagues.' Harry's face hardened. 'It is nothing to worry about,' she reassured him, 'it's just easier to avoid their attention than deal with it.'
'You shouldn't have to,' he frowned, staring hard at the cobbles underfoot.
'I wouldn't if you weren't so fixated on keeping our relationship a secret,' Fleur reminded him. He had no reason to be annoyed or jealous when he was the one causing the problem. If Harry just accepted that their relationship was going to be revealed eventually anyway and stopped trying to hide her away where she was safest then none of her colleagues would have a reason to invite her out.
None of the respectable ones, at least, Fleur amended, but she didn't want to worry Harry about those, she was more than capable of taking care of herself.
'I suppose.' His lips twisted in irritation then curved into a rueful smile. 'You want me to let you tell them about us.'
'I already have,' Fleur admitted, 'not by name, of course, but I have said that I am already involved with someone.'
'Physical proof is needed for the more persistent,' Harry realised, slightly amused.
'Exactly,' she agreed, looping her arm through his and leading him through the door to the shop. 'Now, it's time to buy some furniture for our home, Marvolo.'
Harry screwed his face up in distaste, gazing around at the array of chairs, tables and every other conceivable item of furniture that were piled across the floor in sprawling heaps. 'I don't think shame and hate for his muggle relations were the only reasons Riddle changed his name.'
'Marvolo is a wonderful name,' Fleur told him, straight-faced, 'Riddle's mother clearly had good taste.'
'Well if Riddle's father looked anything like him, then his mother had very similar taste to you,' Harry reminded her smugly.
'Sometimes a pretty face can make up for all the underlying personality flaws,' Fleur jibed.
'I sure hope so,' Harry grinned, 'else I chose a veela for nothing.'
'The veela,' Fleur noted archly, 'chose you. I made you take me to the Yule Ball-'
'Out of pride, and because you really overreact when you think someone is laughing at you,' Harry interjected happily. 'Isn't there anyone in this shop?'
'And I invited you to France when you weren't doing anything about us except sitting in that room moping,' Fleur continued.
'Kidnapped,' Harry corrected cheerfully, 'you lured me there and kidnapped me. If I hadn't kissed you I'd probably still be under that willow tree.'
'No,' Fleur smiled innocently at him, 'the wind would have blown your ashes away over the river.'
'That seems unreasonable,' he chuckled.
'It worked,' Fleur shrugged daintily. 'You are mine now.'
'I can't complain,' Harry's smile softened briefly, 'although you must realise that if you'd not run away after kissing me we wouldn't have had any problems at all.'
'I did not run away,' Fleur disagreed, narrowing her eyes at her beau. 'I kissed you and left you thinking about me. Gabrielle agrees that it was a good, romantic idea'
'But you ran away the next time you saw me,' he pointed out. 'Oh,' he swivelled to look over her shoulder, 'there is someone here. I was beginning to think this was just warehouse.'
Fleur twisted about, instinctively stepping back from Caratacus, the old wizard who owned the store, into Harry's chest. His hands immediately slipped onto her waist, keeping her against him as if he was afraid she might step away. Fleur leant back a little further into him; she was more than happy where she was.
'It is,' the old wizard quavered, 'are you here to pick up and pay, Miss Delacour?'
'I am,' she confirmed. 'Do you like what you see, Marvolo?' Harry glanced at the furniture, then eyed her suggestively and nodded when the old man wasn't paying attention. Fleur smothered a smile.
'This is for you and your friend, Miss Delacour?' The wizard croaked.
'His name is Marvolo,' Fleur announced, trying not to sound too smug, but failing miserably. Harry's fingers slid dangerously low over her abdomen in retaliation and she had to bite her lip to prevent herself from visibly shivering.
'Wait,' Harry gazed around him at the stacks of furniture, 'this is all for us?'
'Of course,' the old wizard nodded, closing his eyes happily, 'Miss Delacour has spent many hours choosing some of my finest pieces.'
'I'm sure she has,' Harry replied evenly, his fingers slipping a little lower. Fleur could feel his smile just behind her hair and discreetly elbowed him in warning. This was not the time or the place for him to be teasing her.
Plenty of time for that later, her treacherous thoughts decided.
'It looks perfect,' Harry agreed, his fingertips retreating back to a more acceptable rest over her hips.
'I have enchanted every piece of furniture as you requested, Miss Delacour,' the wizard wheezed, 'you will find it quite hard to accidentally ruin or spoil any of these pieces.'
'Thank you, Caratacus,' Fleur smiled. She could have enchanted all the pieces herself, but it would have been time consuming, and the enchantments that caught her eye were generally a lot more dangerous and clever than simple stain resistance.
'Five hundred galleons and fifteen sickles,' Caratacus quavered. 'A signed letter of promise would be preferable to a mound of coins,' the old wizard added.
'Of course.' Counting out half a thousand coins was tedious, and that wasn't including carrying them around. A note of credit signed in magical ink that the bearer could take to Gringotts was easier all round.
'I'm going to have to shrink everything aren't I,' Harry realised.
'Yes,' Fleur nodded, 'it will give you something better to do with your hands.'
'My hands were happier where they were,' he murmured huskily into her ear before stepping away and flicking out his wand.
'The letter?' Caratacus hinted. She flushed, remembering what she had been doing before Harry had distracted her and quietly thanked any deities that might exist for the old wizard's poor sight and hearing.
By the time she had looked up from signing the letter Harry had finished and was leaning patiently against the wall of the now empty warehouse.
'Thank you,' the wizard croaked, and shuffled out of sight clutching the letter of credit tightly in one old, prominently veined hand.
'What now?' Harry asked tentatively.
'We apparate back and arrange the furniture,' Fleur decided, 'or, more accurately, we apparate back and you arrange the furniture where I want it.'
'That feels unfair,' Harry complained.
'I chose it,' Fleur responded unsympathetically, 'all you've done is shrink a few things and let your hands wander in the middle of a shop.'
'I didn't hear you saying stop,' Harry grinned. 'In fact,' he smirked, 'the only response you gave was that little shudder.'
Fleur took his arm to apparate them home, scowling at his proud smile, but the effect of the expression was rather ruined by her heated, rosy cheeks.
With a soft snap she apparated them back into the hall of their home, throwing an arm around Harry's stomach when he staggered at their sudden apparition.
'Now what?' Harry was eyeing the empty spaces in the rooms apprehensively. 'Do you have a planned place for every piece?'
'No,' she laughed, 'put them wherever you think looks best, we can move things around later if we want. I shall fix the shower.'
'Finally!' Harry exulted, 'just because you're resistant to heat doesn't mean the rest of us enjoy being scalded every morning.'
Fleur snorted, flicking her hair back over one shoulder, and dancing up the stairs. He could deal with the old sofa and his little stash of book underneath while she was upstairs and out of the way. If he was hiding them from her rather than Sirius or Gabrielle should she ever visit, then he needed to find a better hiding place than under the only sofa in the room. It was completely unnecessary to hide them from her anyway. Fleur did not care if he knew how to create inferi, and she'd like to read the book on rituals herself when Harry was finished with it. There might even be something useful for her, though it was unlikely given her magic and body were already altered by her veela nature.
The mirror sighed despondently when Fleur entered the bathroom. The enchanted mirrors never liked her, or Gabrielle either. They took quiet exception to those who were naturally and effortlessly able to fulfil the purpose for which they had been created. It wasn't fond of Harry either, since his hair resisted any and all attempts to tidy it no matter what the mirror advised, but Fleur was the only one who was treated with such offended silence.
Not that she particularly cared. It was just an animated mirror, a jealous mirror at that.
She ran her wand over the shower, tutting to herself when she realised what the problem was. Whomever had enchanted it had completely failed to weave the two separate pieces of magic together. It was a simple fix. Fleur stripped the enchantments away, then recast them, taking care to ensure that her enchantment was well weaved, otherwise Harry would still be having short showers every morning.
'I've arranged things,' Harry smiled, stepping into the bathroom. 'You can go and rearrange everything now.'
Fleur craned her neck around the door frame, running an eye over the new interior.
'It will do,' she decided. 'We have more important things to talk about than furniture.'
'There is a horcrux to be found,' Harry agreed, 'but it will not be easy.'
'It should be all but impossible,' Fleur said. 'If Voldemort had any common sense we would have already lost. It is a blessing he has been so careless with the pieces of his soul. Do you have your list on you?' She asked, suppressing a smirk at his look of faint surprise. Harry should have known that he would not eb able to hide things from her so easily.
'Yes.' He recovered his composure swiftly, grinning and extending a hand that the list floated into. Harry was still far too proud of being able to wandlessly summon things.
'This is the Inner Circle?' Fleur inquired, deftly plucking the parchment from his fingers.
'Yes,' Harry nodded, 'all the ones I know of, anyway.'
'And you think Voldemort has entrusted his soul anchor to one of them.'
'He did it once already,' Harry explained. 'I hope he has done it again, or there is precious little chance of finding the last horcrux.'
'The last?' Harry had never mentioned that before.
'He will have chosen a magical number,' Harry grinned. 'A diary and a diadem have been destroyed, the third is still out there.'
'If I had a horcrux I would not entrust it to my followers,' Fleur disagreed, 'even if I had more than one I would not.'
'What would you do?' Harry seemed genuinely curious.
'Give it to you,' Fleur smiled gently, 'or hide it somewhere nobody else could ever hope to find. The ocean floor, the ice caps at the summit of the world.'
'Sadly Voldemort has not entrusted his horcrux to me,' Harry grinned. 'This is simply the only way we are going to find it ourselves. If he has hidden it, then I will have to take the information from his mind,' his face darkened into a frown, 'and I suspect that will prove extremely difficult at best.'
'Malfoy seems likely,' Fleur deduced. She knew he was rich, powerful in his own right, and capable of hiding and protecting the horcrux for his master.
'Good guess. He was entrusted with the diary,' Harry smiled. 'Nott, Avery, the Lestranges, Dolohov, Macnair, Yaxley, and Travers are the others that might have been given one,' Harry read out calmly. 'I wouldn't trust Crabbe or Goyle with a cupcake, let alone a horcrux.'
'I know very little about the names,' Fleur admitted. She had heard them, occasionally in the papers, or from her father, but attached little importance to them until now.
'They're all pure of blood, powerful, and well off,' Harry summarised. 'I believe that Voldemort would have entrusted his horcrux to those he thought were most loyal from his most capable followers. If I were in the habit of giving pieces of my soul out that's what I'd do.'
'Those who went to Azkaban were likely the more loyal,' Fleur suggested, and Harry smiled in agreement. 'Travers, the Lestranges, and Avery, were all imprisoned.'
'And consequently are all out of our reach since they're in hiding from the aurors,' Harry pointed out cheerfully. 'I think our best bet is to go for someone on the edge and see what they know. Someone like Yaxley or Nott.'
'Nott,' Fleur pondered aloud, 'he's the reclusive one who lives alone with his son since his wife died and always refuses to attend the sessions of Britain's Wizengamot, isn't he.'
'No idea,' Harry shrugged, 'though there is a Theodore Nott in Slytherin in my year, so it's possible.'
'How exactly to you intend to find out what they know?' Fleur doubted they would just answer his questions honestly, and her mother was not licensed to brew veritaserum.
'Legilimency,' Harry smiled dangerously, 'I'll tear the knowledge I need from their thoughts.'
Fleur's stomach fluttered. There was something very appealing about that smile. The subtle, savage edge to it tugged at her heart, and curled her toes. It was the smile of a wizard who knew what he wanted, and knew that there was nothing he would not do to achieve it. The sight of it excited her heart, igniting a soft, hot fire in her stomach. Harry's desire was simply for them to be free, and together they would take it.
'It sounds illegal,' she remarked slowly, 'we'll need to be careful.'
'I don't know if it actually is,' Harry mused, 'but needless to say that Mr Nott won't be waiting around to chat with us.'
'We can pay him a visit at home,' Fleur suggested. 'Everyone knows where the old pureblooded families live, and if Nott is as reclusive as I remember hearing about we'll have no trouble once we're through the wards. An ageing Death Eater and his inexperienced son are not a challenge for me, let alone the both of us together.'
'Nott it is then,' Harry grinned. 'You can get through the wards, can't you?'
'Easily,' she smirked. 'Short of the Fidelius Charm there are few wards that I cannot bypass, and I sincerely doubt Mr Nott has set anything like an age line, or blood magic around his home.'
'We're both over age anyway,' Harry laughed, 'so it won't help him if he has.'
'When?' She asked, knowing that it would be better to wait a while to research Nott and his home before going.
Forewarned is forearmed.
'A few weeks,' Harry shrugged. 'He's not going anywhere, and we do need to be cautious. Dumbledore will be watching every move I make, and every move made that might have been mine.'
'This doesn't feel like much of a plan,' she commented. It was better than anything he'd managed before this year, hurling himself recklessly against acromantula, dementors, dark lords and a basilisk without a second thought.
'I normally just improvise as I go along,' Harry agreed with a smile. She could almost see the same events running through her head in his eyes.
'I know,' she scrunched up her nose in distaste, 'it's a wonder you're still alive.'
'Aren't you lucky?' Harry grinned.
'I intend to stay lucky,' Fleur told him softly. 'I've plenty of free time now business is waning before the war. I'll look to see what I can learn about Nott, and anyone else on that list as well. There's probably something useful in Gringotts' records.'
'Probably,' Harry nodded. 'I suppose I'll just carry on studying for my NEWTs, and reading the Daily Prophet to find out which few unlucky Death Eaters and hit wizards died in what skirmish.'
'The Carrows were killed today,' Fleur said dispassionately. 'They tried to ambush Amelia Bones in her home with a few of Fenrir Greyback's followers.'
'Foolish,' Harry shook his head, 'she's Minister for Magic. They were on my list,' he realised.
'They didn't even make it through the wards from what I heard,' Fleur said evenly, 'they triggered the perimeter wards and were cut down by her bodyguards halfway across the lawn.'
'How do you know that?' Harry raised an eyebrow. 'There was nothing in the paper.'
'One of the curse-breakers was talking about it with a pink-haired lady in the atrium at lunch,' she explained.
'How would a curse-breaker know?' Harry wondered, rubbing his chin and the light stubble that was beginning to grow there. 'Did he have red hair?' He asked after a moment.
'Yes.' Fleur glanced at him quizzically, her fingers straying to the rose-emblazoned ring in her pocket, an apologetic gift from the same wizard. The only colleague she had who was able to resist her allure when she did not consciously restrain it.
'Bill Weasley,' Harry deduced. 'A member of the Order of the Phoenix like every member of his family over the age of seventeen, a stalwart follower of Dumbledore, no doubt, but probably a decent wizard.'
Bill Weasley.
It was nice to have a name to go with the red hair, rueful grin and apologetic frown.
AN: Please read and review, thanks to everyone who does!
