Chapter 06
Fleur looked at herself in the full body mirror she had transfigured on the wall and arched her eyebrows, not sure what she was looking for.
"You know you're still drop dead gorgeous, right?" Regine said as she entered the room she was sharing with the veela in the Beauxbatons carriage. Fresh out of the bath, a towel over her head. "But it's good to know you are human like the rest of us."
Fleur was indeed a sight to behold, dressed only in white lace panties, perfect fit on her round hips and embracing her round ass cheeks until it disappeared in the valley between her legs, her breasts perfectly balanced her figure, with small pink nipples, the same color as her lips, and long legs with almost flawless skin.
"What do you mean by that?" Fleur looked curiously at Regine, who grinned at her, drying her own curly black hair.
"Let me see… you meet a cute guy that is totally unaffected by your allure. Said guy happens to be no one other than Harry Potter himself, whom by the way, you came all the way from France to see, and he was surrounded by other cute girls… I guess you are feeling just a little insecure, like us mortals who have to put in some work to look good…" a pillow hit Regine in the face before she finished.
"Bint!" Fleur said with a smile. "He is just a friend."
"Uhum… I wish I had a frieeeend like that." Regine said with a playful voice.
"He is almost two years younger than me…" Fleur whispered.
"And that is a problem because? If even half the stories about him are true, he has seen and lived more than most grown men ever will. There was something in his eyes… and the way you keep touching him…" Regine said with a smile.
"I didn't!" Fleur was astonished.
"You didn't even realize, did you? How cute! So much for your veela heart breaker fame." Regine was having so much fun.
Fleur looked thoughtful. The veela sat on the bed, beside Regine.
"I don't know. I came here to compete, and…"
"Yes, I know, but why can't you enjoy being with some guy who will not be hormone crazy all over you, even if just as a friend? And I am not talking only about him. We had some great conversations yesterday, that other girl, Hermione I think, is a very smart witch, and so is Harry. They talked with us without holding any prejudice. You need it, before you become a bitter old bint." Fleur slapped her in the arm. "I am not saying to pursue romance or anything, just not to be the cold Fleur of the past but be open to it. And girl, you really seemed to enjoy that hug!"
Fleur slapped her arm again, giggling.
Fler really did enjoy that embrace...
.oOo.
Hermione was lying on her stomach, on her bed at Gryffindor tower, recounting the day's events.
"We finally meFleur…" The young witch thought, "and not only is she intelligent, educated and seems to understand Harry, she had to be a bloody Victoria's Secret model! And what's up with Katie, she looked happy, she even gave her seat next to Harry to her!"
Hermione buried her face in the soft pillow. "Come on Hermione Granger, you are not like that! You are a strong independent woman, with objectives and plans! You are going to be the founder of the first magical feminist group and change the magical world forever!"
"But... I am also in love and those things do not need to be mutually exclusive. Wait... Am I in love?"
No one could see, but Hermione bit her lip. "Yes, I am in love with Harry Potter, the most troubled, humble and caring guy I ever met. Man, he would love to listen to the Descendants", The witch thought with a smile, imagining Harry with her, listening to muggle music, talking, drinking, kissing, far away from Dark lords, politicians and fangirls. The witch's hips started moving almost by themselves, rocking against the bed. "But Katie and Fleur are stunning…" her mind drifted, again imagining Harry with the other girls, her hips moving more forcefully against the sheets. "Goodness, when did I become such horny girl?"
Images of Harry together with the other girls started running through her mind. Hermione could see Harry holding Fleur and giving her a true deep and wet French kiss, his hands running over her body while their tongues danced right in the middle of the Great Hall. Hermione's own hands traveled slowly over her body, her hips moving against the sheets. In her imagination, she pictured Harry's hands under Katie's skirt, moving in and out, the girl's juices flowing down her thighs, making a mess on Harry's fingers. The bushy haired witch let out a soft moan as her hands entered her sleeping shorts, touching her own center. "I am a horny and perverted little girl…" The girl could feel the moisture on her inner lips as she imagined Fleur taking Harry into her mouth, swallowing his manhood again and again. In her mind,Harry would look across the Gryffindor's table at her with lust in his eye. Hermione gathered her own juices on her fingers and moved to make small circles against her clit, moving her hips at the same time. The images kept running in her mind, Harry taking Fleur and Katie in the great Hall. Her movements and breathing were getting faster, and as she felt close to her climax, Hermione finally imagined her best friend taking her, bending her over the table, as the other girls watched, smiling with acceptance as Harry's member slid inside her, making her scream in ecstasy. Hermione had to bite her pillow to avoid screaming her best friend's name as she fell into her orgasm.
Panting, Hermione turned on her back. "Good, with that out of the way for now, I can concentrate on some real problems". With that reassuring though, the witch finally gets to sleep.
.oOo.
In the fifth-year boy's dorm, on the other side of the tower, Harry couldn't sleep either. His mind was racing, trying to make sense of his own feelings.
The night had been great, even magical in a sense. Harry, along with Fleur, Hermione, Katie, Angelina and Regine, plus Alicia and the twins had stayed up talking until curfew. They talked about Hogwarts and learnt about Beauxbatons, about Victor Krum and quidditch, Hermione talked about her vacations to the Riviera and spoke with the French witches in their native language, much to everyone's surprise. For a moment Harry could forget about the lycanthropy, Voldemort, Malfoy or the Wizengamot. Hogwarts once more felt like home, like it had been back in first year. Even Hermione let her usual stiffness go and accepted some of the twins' jokes. Harry noticed that Fleur's effect over them diminished as time passed and wondered why he was not so affected by it. Later, as they were walking back to the tower, Hermione told him that Fleur was probably part veela, and explained a little about the allure to him. Interestingly, other than feeling a slight warmth in his belly, Harry didn't feel the compulsion Hermione described as the effect of the veela magic.
But there was something else, much subtler, but powerful, even if he didn't know exactly what it was. When he felt Fleur's lily and vanilla scent in person, it was like a switch had turned on his head. Every time she touched him (and there was a lot of touching, hands, shoulders, legs, he suspected she didn't even notice it) Harry felt something strange; he couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was. The best way he could describe it was an intense sense of nostalgia, like he really missed somewhere he had never gone. Katie and Hermione noticed something, but while his best friend just bit her lip, Katie smiled wide every time Fleur touched him. The wizard thought for a moment that he would never stop blushing, and concluded that Katie was trying to embarrass him to death.
What was happening… he could understand at some level why Hermione, his best friend, first kiss, first platonic love and Katie, his partner and lover in his new life, made him feel that way. But why Fleur? Sure, they had many things in common. Was that the reason he felt like he had known her since… forever?
"Maybe I am overthinking it; maybe I should just enjoy the ride, like Katie said." Harry thought, his mind wandering on the incredible girls in his life.
Thinking about it, Harry finally got to sleep.
.oOo.
A couple hours later across the channel, in France, at the Delacour manor, a goblin dressed in a fancy styled suit and a dragon leather briefcase arrived through the floo on the house's studio, together with the small dignitary, a man with a muggle style suit and failing Black hair also entered the room. Waiting for them was a pale tattooed man, with deep blue eyes and midnight black hair. Apolline, Jacques, Sirius and Remus all got up as soon as the short dignitary entered the room.
Sirius watched the black eyes of the creature scan the room, stopping a bit longer over him. Then with a smile full of sharp yellow teeth he said.
"Good morning gentleman and milady. I am the requested Gringotts's representative. You may call me Grimpod."
"Good morning mister Grimpod." Jacques said with a formal voice, "hello Arthur." The Frenchman greeted the Greengrass' patriarch with a soft smile. "Please everyone, let's have a seat." He finished As he gestured to the chairs in front of his big table. "Grimpod, thank you for helping us in this dangerous ordeal. May I offer you a beverage?"
"No thanks required Mr. Delacour. Actually, I should be the one thanking you for bringing some terrible irregularities to light. You and Mr. Greengrass are expending a significant amount of capital to find those dirty files, you don't need to be thanking me." The goblin said in the formal tone so common to his kind.
The goblin silently placed his briefcase on the table, opened it and produced some parchments and a blood quill. He aligned all of them perfectly in front of Jacques Delacour, but moved to face Sirius.
"Now… Mr. Black. Much of what you told us is true. The boy truly is in some sort of bureaucratic limbo. Most of his papers, other than his birth certificate, and his parent's obituaries could not be found. We could not even determine who was supposed to be his legal guardians and magical representatives. By default, in this situation, this obligation falls to the school's headmaster. It seems he has been using this unusual legal loophole to gain access, even though in a limited way, to the family's vaults." Grimpod said, watching the way the man reacted to his words. Rage, fear and determination.
"Who was the ministry official responsible for his case at the time of the… tragedy?" Apolline asked.
"A former secretary, now director of the disciplinary department, Dolores Umbridge." The goblin made no effort to hide his disgust at the name.
"Now, it is only because of those irregularities and Mr. Delacour's influence that we were willing, together with some friends at the ministry, to move through with this. Understand Mr. Black, if what you are saying is not true, and you in fact are a convicted criminal, you are sending yourself back to Azkaban, and probably all the other wizards in this room with you. But, if it is true, and no trial was held, then there will be no magical records about it, and by signing this, not only will you get what you want, but will also have a legal basis to reopen your case. Are you sure you want to proceed?" Grimpod gave him a grin.
"Absolutely, they stole thirteen years of my life!" Sirius said with determination.
"Then, Mr. Black, please sign these papers, and all will be done." The goblin pushed the papers towards him with his long fingers.
Sirius took the blood quill, read the documents, and with a smirk signed it. Silence fell in the room, all the occupants tensed, minus the goblin, who smiled. Suddenly, a golden light flared up from Sirius's signature, then the piece of parchment floated up in the air and copied itself. One of the copies disappeared in a small burst of green flames. The other flew into Sirius's hand.
"Congratulations Lord Black." The goblin said, closing his briefcase. "You have just adopted Harry Potter."
.oOo.
Fleur stepped out of the carriage, looking at the imposing castle in front of her. The veela had woken feeling a lot lighter, the memories of the previous night bringing a smile to her face, She turned around and called.
"Come on Gabby, I want to put my name in the Goblet of fire before breakfast." The younger French girl came out of the carriage jumping and giggling. Regine followed along after her. Gabrielle was full of energy, looking at everything with curiosity.
"I can't wait to taste the sausages" The young girl said with a smile, and Fleur suspected it was only to upset her, Gabrielle knew her sister always had a hard time with English food. "Hey Fleur, do I look good? Do you think Harry will find me pretty?" The giggly girl asked, taking a turn in front of her sister.
Gabrielle did look radiant in her informal school clothes. Fleur rolled her eyes.
"I am sure he will find you… cute." Regine laughed, and Gabrielle showed her tongue to the older witch.
They entered the imposing entrance Hall, surrounded by the giant statues that legend says were the defenders of the school, and Fleur saw Harry, Hermione, Katie, and a red-haired girl she didn't know, but looked remarkably like the twins, waiting for her. Harry was in a happy conversation with the two older girls, and the younger saw the French witches approaching.
"Does he even notice how he is always surrounded by girls?" Regine asked in a low, almost evil tone, smiling at Fleur.
Harry looked at them with a radiant smile.
"Good morning Fleur, Regine. We thought about accompanying you to breakfast, and maybe giving you a tour through the grounds." The wizard shrugged, a little embarrassed.
"That sounds great 'Arry, but first will you accompany me to the Goblet? I should put my name in there." Fleur answered.
"Sure thing, Fred and George are there putting their own names in. But before that, who is this beautiful lady behind you?" Harry asked, looking past the older veela.
Fleur noticed Gabrielle almost hiding behind her. All that bravado and energy, and she gets shy now, she thought.
"This is my little sister, Gabby, but be careful, she's a dangerous fangirl!"
"Heeey, what are you telling him about me!" The girl asked in quickly spoken French. "'ello 'Arry. English zis not good"
"Don't worry, it is a pleasure! I hope we can be friends, and this is Hermione, Katie and Ginny." Fleur noticed that he talked to her like he talked to anyone, not patronizing the younger girl because of her age.
"I like him!" Gabby said in French, blushing.
At that, the strange group started moving to the Goblet of fire, talking about breakfast. Fleur started noticing the other student's looks, and started closing in on herself, her good mood draining away, until she realized those looks weren't exactly for her, but for Harry. Some looked with admiration, others in disgust, many looked fearful. Fleur could see Harry trying to ignore it, while he and Hermione talked with Gabby about the statues.
They arrive at the entrance to the Great Hall where the Goblet was placed. The goblet's fire radiated a blue light on the people surrounding it, everyone watching as the contestants presented their names. In a circle on the ground, runes were inscribed, shining with magic and preventing the underage students from participating. Some Gryffindor third years were cheering as the Weasley twins put in their names.
"Wish me luck." Fleur said. The veela was surprised when Harry reached for her hand and confidently said.
"You will get it." For some reason, she didn't want to let go of his incredibly warm hand.
Fleur proudly walked to the pile of parchments and signed one of them with the blood quill. Then entered the runic circle and threw the parchment into the fire. The flames engulfed it and launched a bright blue light, accepting her inscription.
The witch came back smiling, and then Regine did the same. Some other Beauxbatons students also entered their names into the Goblet, while also giving Fleur an angry look. She sighed and gave them a smirk. Typical insecure bitches, she thought.
Then, she heard a high-pitched irritating voice screeching behind her.
"What an entourage Potty, a blood traitor, a mudblood and now a half-breed? If you sink any lower, you will be sleeping in the barn with your giant friend!" Fleur turned around to see a slim, greasy blonde boy with a nose in bandages followed by two other bigger boys giving them a mocking look of disgust.
Fleur was angry, how could someone be so low, how can someone say such disgusting things? To her and her little sister! The beautiful witch could feel the heat building up on her hands as the veela nature started getting the better of her. Fleur was about to say something, when Harry walked in front of her and as she looked at him, the girl could see the wolf's eyes again. There was no mistake this time, it was him. Some people around then took a step back. Hermione held Harry's hand, Appearing to be afraid.
Harry took another step forward, and to Fleur's surprise, the prideful blonde boy took a step back.
"Really Malfoy," Harry said in a low, even tone that was even more scary than if he had shouted. "Racial slurs coming from a coward whose only company is two inbred grimlocks, who can't even cast a stunner?" Harry took some more steps towards them. "Any of these witches are miles better than you any day, so much for blood superiority." Fleur could "see" his aura now. The wolf was there. Hermione was biting her lips. She could hear Katie whispering "control it… protect the pack…". There was something happening that the veela didn't understand.
Harry was very close to the boy now.
"I can see your nose is still in the wrong place. If you say anything to any of my friends again, I will help you fix it the same way I messed with it before". Everyone tensed as hands were going to wands.
"You know you can't handle him blondie". Fleur and the otter students turned to see the scary professor with a fake eye approaching. "So why don't you go run to your daddy. The rest of you, move along. You too Potter, but watch your back because that one is sneaky." Fleur watched as the professor smiled, and disgustingly licked his lips.
Fleur touched Harry's hand, and his aura slowly subsided.
Harry looked at her with a guilty look.
"I am sorry, I know none of you need my clumsy protection, but I couldn't stand it"
"It's OK 'Arry. He's just a li'ee boy. Let's go eat something." Fleur smiled at him. Fleur looked at Hermione's relieved face and realized she was not afraid of the blond boy, she was afraid of what Harry could do to him.
.oOo.
Daphne watched the scene that unfolded in front of her with fascination and excitement. The Slytherin could see Harry intimidating the monster that tried to attack both her and her sister with ease. She saw the fear in Malfoy's eyes. And rejoiced in it.
Thinking coldly though, it was not a smart move on Harry's part, unless he wanted to exert power through fear, and she firmly believed he didn't, that was not him. That was the entire reason she wanted to help him, he was different from the pureblood animals like Malfoy.
But looking at the fear in Malfoy's eyes, she saw an opportunity to leverage the situation, and to further protect both her and Astoria, and she was going to grab it. Daphne waited until Malfoy entered the Great Hall followed by Harry and his group a couple minutes later.
As her sister passed by her, she grabbed her arm and whispered.
"Tory, you are going to enter the hall and sit next to Tracy, as close as possible. Sit on the opposite side of Malfoy and wait for me."
Astoria nodded at her sister's serious tone and did just that. Daphne waited a couple more minutes, took a deep breath, straightened her midnight perfect hair and walked into the great Hall alone. The beautiful girl stopped at the big open doors and waited until some of the Slytherin eyes were on her, specifically Draco Malfoy's.
When she was sure he was looking, Daphne walked straight toward the Gryffindor's table and touched Harry on the shoulder. Daphne noticed that the boy seemed to be waiting for her, as she saw no surprise in his eyes, at least until she kissed him. A quick, chaste kiss, but enough to send the great Hall into silence.
Before she lifted her head, she whispered in his ear.
"Walk with me to the Slytherin table" Harry seemed to promptly understand what she wanted and did as he was asked. Daphne could see the looks of surprise on the faces of the other witches around the table, and let out a smile.
Harry walked with her to the Slytherin table to the place saved by Astoria in front of Draco Malfoy. Daphne's face remained cold as ice the entire time. The proud girl sat down as Harry stood behind her with a hand on her shoulder looking directly at Malfoy, his deep emerald eyes almost glowing. There was no need for words, The message was clear when Darco instinctively touched his hurt nose. Daphne was under Harry's protection.
After a couple seconds, he came back to Gryffindor's table, looked at the girls with a smile and left the Hall.
"I should have given him a real kiss…" Daphne thought as she watched him leave.
.oOo.
"'Ermione, what just happened?" Fleur asked in French. "Is that 'Arry's girlfriend? Why did he leave?"
Hermione sighed. So typical of Harry to leave and let her do the explaining.
"That was someone who is helping us and in need of our help, and no, she is not his girlfriend, at least as far as I know, he doesn't have one. Daphne is a friend who is in a dangerous situation." Hermione then proceed to explain about the attack on Daphne's sister and how Harry saved her and the plans to help Daphne gain control of Slytherin house while she helped Harry learn how to use any political power he may have. "Malfoy is getting ever bolder and more dangerous; I can't even imagine what he would have done to Astoria. There is a divide in Slytherin, and today Daphne made him publicly take a side. I figure that if you want to be his friend, you need to know he has a talent to paint himself into some pretty dangerous corners."
"Wait, is that Daphne Greengrass'? And Why does 'Arry need someone to teach him that? why doesn't his magical guardian do that?" Fleur asked, a little shocked by the situation.
"Fleur, he didn't even know about the magical world until he was eleven." Hermione said and Fleur looked at her with a shocked expression.
"Mon dieu, that explains so much…" The French witch whispered to herself, but Hermione could clearly hear.
"And every year at Hogwarts after the first one was terrible for him… he really thought that with the tournament, he could have some time to learn this year." Hermione sighed
Hermione studied Fleur's expression. She saw some genuine concern there.
"So, why did he run away?" The older witch asked.
Hermione bit her lip.
"That is the question; Harry is not one to run. Sorry, I need to go look for him." Hermione said as she got up. She quickly ran to Gryffindor's tower, and after making sure no one was paying attention to her, entered the fifth-year boy's dorm and secured the marauder's map. It was a good thing that Harry let her know where he kept both the map and his cloak. Hermione scanned the map for a minute, before finding him outside at the edge of the forest. He was not moving, good.
"Why do you always do this Harry" the girls thought to herself as she got after him. "Keep all feelings inside for yourself."
The witch walked quickly through the grounds, passing Hagrid's hut, and saw him sitting on a tree trunk with his back to her.
"Hi Hermione," Harry said without looking at her. "Funny how now I always know who is coming behind me…" The werewolf turned to her with a sad smile. "Before you ask, I know the full moon is a couple weeks away, but yes, I can smell you…"
The girl sat down at his side.
" And You smell good Mione…" Harry whispered.
They stayed there, in silence, just enjoying each other's presence for a while, Hermione trying to muster her courage.
"Harry, why did you leave like that? Fleur was confused… and you got me worried."
The wizard buried his face in his hands.
"Bloody hell, one day in, and she must already think I'm a freak. She wouldn't be too far off anyway…" Harry laughed
Hermione got closer to Harry and wrapped her arms around his shoulder.
"You are not a freak Harry… you are my… best friend…" she whispered.
"I am a monster Mione… you were right, that day in the field… everything you said. I am dangerous." The werewolf looked at her, ashamed. "I saw the way you looked at me when Malfoy started talking shit…"
"Oh Harry, I am sorry, I…"
"Don't be, you are right, you have no idea what was going on in my mind that time… and again at the table… when I remembered what he was doing to Astoria… I wanted… I wanted… to break… him… and not as a figure of speech… I wanted to rip his body apart, and I was ready to do it, that is why I had to leave."
"But you didn't, you controlled yourself, and you did it to protect us." Hermione tried to reason with him.
"Only because you and Fleur were there." Harry blushed. "You two… pulled me back, but what will happen the day you are not there with me? I can't even get help from the bloody professors, and Remus is somewhere in France!"
Hermione put both hands on his shoulder and turned him to herself. Harry's eyes were full of guilt, anger, and looking at her... Something else… hunger?
"Harry, I will never leave you. We are going to get past this together, as always! This is not a hundred dementors!"
"I don't know if that is true anymore! No, not because of you! Hermione, the other things you said are also happening, and I am feeling awful, I am feeling dirty!" Harry moved away from her a little. He was blushing furiously now. Hermione looked at him confused, but understood a second later. "The way I feel when I look at you, when I smell your scent…" now it was Hermione's turn to blush. Hermione wanted to say she didn't mind it, that she actually liked it, but let him finish instead, he needed to vent. "I thought it would take years, damn, maybe this is just the beginning, what if it gets worse. Will I become more dangerous? It's not even all the girls! Damn, I am not like that!" At this point, he had stood up and was breathing rapidly. "Sorry."
"Please don't, Daphne is right, stop apologizing." Hermione said and He blushed again, like a little boy. "I am also alarmed by the speed at which things are happening, Harry. But when were you ever normal? Maybe your magical ability is too strong, maybe it's all the emotions you keep locked inside feeding it. Maybe it's your connection with Voldemort…"
"You think…"
"I don't know Harry, I am just conjecturing. You know I just pretend, right? That I don't really know it all."
Harry gave her a smile.
"What does Katie say?" Hermione asked. "I believe she lived with it for some time now."
"How did…" Hermione raised an eyebrow at him before he finished. "Of course, you know... she is trying to help me. She said I should not fight against it, but to use it to protect the pack or something…"
"You said it's not all the girls? What do you mean by that?" The girl asked and Harry blushed furiously again and remained silent. "Harry, you can trust me… please"
"I… I… I notice the other girls of course…" Harry said in no more than a whisper. "But I discovered that what really messes with me is … the scent… and only a few scents really got me…" The boy couldn't finish.
"Who?" Hermione asked and immediately though. "Why am I asking this?"
"Katie, Daphne, Fleur, I could feel her scent even in the letters, and… you…"
Hermione blushed. They stayed in silence for some time. Harry couldn't see to look at her.
Finally, she got up.
"Harry, look at me…Harry, I… I don't mind it. I think… I even like it… and I know for a fact Katie likes it… Harry, we will get through this together." She said and hugged him, trying to convey as much feeling as she could to him. The girl felt relieved and happy when he returned the affection, and pulled her to an even closer hug, and took a deep breath at her hair.
"Thank you, I am feeling better, I think…" Harry whispered in her ear.
"Do you want to stay here a little longer?"
"Yeah, the forest's smells help me to calm down…" They both leaned back against the tree trunk, holding hands.
Hermione's mind started running, making mental notes and calculations…
.oOo.
Apolline Delacour poured the Dom Perignon champagne into the six crystal glasses. The Veela and her husband were sitting in the living room, accompanied by Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and by Arthurs and Sarah Greengrass. Each one of them picked up one of the glasses.
"To the new generation, may they achieve what we could not" Apolline said as she raised her glass in a toast. "May they set the world on fire!"
The others raised their glasses. "To the new father!" Jacques congratulated Sirius.
"To the new ministry of magic!" Remus and Sirius finished, and they all drank the champagne.
"Exquisite taste, my dear Jacques' ' complimented Arthur. "Once we start the process to give Sirius a new trial, I will move to block Narcisa's access to the Black assets on the Wizengamot. If Harry is correct, and I believe he is, when Voldemort indeed returns, that will be a great blow on his finances."
"I can't believe Harry doesn't know anything about his family or us…" Sarah Greengrass said sadly.
"That is in part my fault." Remus sighed, Sirius tried to protest. "No Sirius, it is. I was so devastated when things happened, Michel had died only a week before, I was so desperate that I believed everything Dumbledore fed me. I believed when he said Harry was safe with the Delacours. When I discovered he was not here, I broke…"
"We all did Remus…" Apolline said, holding his hand.
"I just hope our kids understand," said Sirius. "Ultimately, we are doing the same thing as the old fart did, deciding part of their destinies for them, removing their choices… I just hope they don't hate us in the end…"
.oOo.
"And the champion for Beauxbatons…" headmaster Dumbledore announced with his voice magically amplified. "Is Fleur Delacour!"
Fleur proudly stood up from the rolls of french students. Applause and cheering all around her, even the girls who usually hate her, got caught up in the celebration. "Fake bitches." the veela thought with a smile. She knew half of them would be cheering for the pretty Hogwarts's champion, Diggory, tomorrow. Regine gave her a hug and, as Fleur moved to the champions room, she could hear the cat calls of some male students. The witch stood even prouder.
Then, amongst the students she saw Harry's face. Harry was calm and smiling a reassuring smile. Fleur hoped his eyes could see her, not the veela, not the champion, but Fleur, as she could see only Harry. "Come on Fleur, you have been chosen. He is your young friend now, concentrate on the tournament ahead!"
The witch entered the room to see the other two champions. Victor Krum stood in the corner; arms crossed over his chest, and only gave her a nod. She answered in kind. "Is he so insecure that he has to keep this facade all the time?" She thought and smiled, "men can be so fragile."
"Congratulations Ms Delacour" Cedric Diggory said, extending his hand. Fleur admired his will power at fighting the allure so close to her. His girlfriend was a lucky girl.
"Likewise, mizer Diggory, I see 'ogwarts is well represented."
"Here I am with a chance to prove to myself that I am capable. To The school, the purebloods, all those people that doubt me, they will see! What a bravado, I am terrified!`` She taught herself.
Fleur then noticed that the noise outside stopped. Something was wrong. She barely could hear the headmaster. Cedric and Victor noticed it too. Fleur tensed.
The door opened, and Harry Potter walked into the room looking at the floor.
"'Arry? It's everything alright? They need us?" Harry looked at her, and she saw fear and anger in his eyes.
"I am so sorry Fleur…" he whispered, but she could hear.
"Non…"
.oOo.
The door slammed open, Dumbledore, Madam Maxine, Karkaroff and the ministry officials all entered the room in a hurry. With intensity in his eyes, Albus Dumbledore held Harry's shoulders with both hands and asked.
"Did you put your name on the Goblet of Fire?
"No sir!" Harry protested.
"What zis ze meaning of zis…
"Cheated of course. The boy…"
"Let's all calm down. If Harry…
"Hogwarts is going to have an unfair…"
"Is not legally of age…"
"How did you manage, boy…"
"Let me see your wand boy!"
"Cheaters, both of you!"
"Give it to me, let's see the last spells…
"He must compete; it is a magic contract…"
"Go stand over there Harry…"
"How could he!"
"... The magical wards…"
"Just a li'ee boy!"
"Zis is unacceptable!"
"Could not stand to not be the center of attention, Potter?"
"I should have imagined…"
The sounds and smells were overwhelming but it was Fleur's eyes that hurt him the most; it was her silence that brought Harry to the edge.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! Harry screamed almost in pain. "I didn't put my name in it! I didn't even want to compete! I just wanted to be left alone, someone is trying to kill me, and no one cares!"
Harry stormed to the door, but Dumbledore held his arm.
"Harry please listen…"
"Dangerous…" the voice on Harry's mind whispered.
"Let go of me Sir…" the last one was more of a growling than a word, Harry saw the spark of fear in his eyes, and the headmaster released him.
Harry got out of the room, the other students looking at him in confusion and disapproval. Harry passed through them, trying to get out of there as fast as he could, the scar on his forehead starting to feel like a burn. People moved out of the way for him; he barely registered Hermione's and Katie's voice calling for him. Until Ron appeared right in front of him.
"Couldn't keep to yourself Harry?" Ron said with gritted teeth, anger and jealousy in his eyes. "You must have everything? Can't you just step aside, "mate"?"
Harry was shocked. He couldn't believe his friend was saying that.
"Prey…" Was all the wolf whispered, the scar was hurting him now.
Harry snapped, his hands flew to Ron's neck and shoved him into the wall. Ron lost his breath with the impact. His feet were not touching the ground anymore.
"Aaaargh! How could you!" Harry growled at his friend.
"HARRY!" Hermione's voice called him back, he saw the fear in Ron's eyes and let him go from the wall.
Harry turned around and looked at Hermione and Katie, before turning back and running. The wolf was too close now. He could feel it lurking, wanting out, the scar was like a screech in his mind.
Harry ran out of the great Hall, through the doors, he could feel the tears starting to burn his eyes. The werewolf kept running, maybe he could outrun everything…
He ran until he reached the edge of the lake. His feet went into the water and he screamed, his head was about to explode, pain coming from the scar.
"AAAARGH! WHY!
Harry turned to the castle, his heart was heavy, he felt like his head was about to explode, the wolf and the scar were fighting each other and his mind was not able to process what was happening.
"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING! WHY DO YOU WANT TO KILL ME! WHY!" The water started boiling and swirling around his feet as he turned and cursed the castle.
"WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH!" The surrounding water started splashing in a swirl, the stones being pushed away from him the scar in his forehead had turned red. There was so much pain. "I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU! He dropped to his knees. "I hate you… why …" he started sobbing violently, the tears flowing now.
Harry felt an embrace around him, he cried out loud, letting himself go with the smell of lilies and vanilla. He let himself go into the embrace. "I am sorry Fleur, I am so sorry…"
Notes: Even at the rewrite, I'm still not tottaly happy with this chapter. I find it really hard to find the balance on how the Hocrcrux, the lycantropy and Harry's mood disorder would workm withot falling into campy territory. Well, I hope it works, at leats a little Thanks
