Chapter 07
Fleur didn't know what to do, all the excitement, all the pride, all the anticipation to participate in the tournament was gone now that all held the broken young man in her arms. Harry's aura burst had been so powerful, so damaged, that she could feel his pain through it, how he felt betrayed and lost, and how something even more sinister lurked under his mind. Fleur could barely handle her own emotions as Harry sobbed at her shoulder, and she knew he endured it to some degree every day.
The surge of magic coming from him had been so powerful that Harry was totally expended, it was almost like something had fed on his magic. When the professors arrived, accompanying Hermione and Katie, the boy let out a deep sigh and passed out, his body still hot to the touch from all the magical energy that ran through him. Fleur noticed how sad he looked, even unconscious.
"My most sincere appreciation to you, mademoiselle Delacour," Dumbledore said as he levitated Harry with a flick of his wand, Fleur a little uncertain of letting him go. "You conducted this situation with all the grace and resolve we came to expect from someone of your position. Your father would be proud. Now, I need to escort Mister Potter to the hospital ward for testing and rest, as this magical surge was indeed outstanding. But I am sure he will actually feel a lot better after all that emotional relief."
Fleur was not sure what to think about the patronizing tone of the headmaster's voice. Talking to her like an old fable book grandfather, it filled her with suspicion and she could see Hermione had a similar reaction. But there was nothing she could do for now, but watch Harry being taken away to the hospital wing. Hermione turned to follow him, but Fleur held her by the arm.
"'Hermione, wait." Fleur pleaded in a low voice. The younger witch bit her lips, clearly worried. "I need to show you something…"
"Fleur… I am sorry, but Harry…" Hermione tried to protest.
"It is about him."
Hermione sighed and, with one last look at Harry, followed the French witch to the carriage. The young witch probably knew there was nothing she could do for now, besides letting the Matron do her job, and wait for Harry to wake. Fleur took her to her room and with a wave of her wand cast a drying spell on her own clothes.
"Please 'Hermione, 'have a seat," Fleur said, waving, Hermione sat down on one of the two beds in the room, while Fleur went to her trunk to look for something. The French came back and sat at the brunette's side with a book in her hands. "I was planning to show this to Harry first. But clearly something 'as happened that Sirius, Remus, and my parents didn't tell me, or maybe they don't even know. 'Hermione, I want to help, and I am sure you know why he is broken. I know you don't have any reason to trust me yet, so I want to show you this."
Fleur handed her the photo book. Curiously, Hermione opened it and the first magical photo she saw was the one with the Delacours and the Potters at a Christmas party.
"This one is me." the French witch pointed to the beautiful little girl smiling brightly, holding the younger baby's hand. "And this one is…"
"Harry…" Hermione whispered.
Hermione kept passing through the pages in awe, photo after photo of the Delacours, the Potters, Sirius, Remus, and some other family she didn't know.
"Those are the Greengrass." Fleur pointed, noticing Hermione's curiosity. The witch was astonished seeing the families on Yule, at the beach, dancing, and sometimes with other families and people showing up. They were young and full of life. The young witch smiled at little Fleur playing with babies Harry and Daphne on the sand as a loving Lily Potter looked over them.
"That girl that kissed Harry today," Hermione said to Fleur, who just looked at her curiously. "Daphne Greengrass."
Fleur smiled a sad and tired smile.
"That is why you wrote to Harry?" Hermione asked.
"At first yes, I needed to know if he hated us, or if he even remembered us. It seems 'e doesn't even know about our families, and I was confused. But then I realized I really liked to talk to him, 'e became somewhat of a true friend along the way." Fleur answered with a shrug. "Something is very wrong with this entire situation…"
Hermione closed the album and took a deep breath.
"Right Fleur, this is going to take time, I need you to listen, and if you don't want anything to do with us I will totally understand." The French girl looked at her with resolve. "As I said, Harry didn't know about the magical world until he was eleven…" Fleur had an incredulous expression on her face as the other girl started to talk.
For the next three hours, Fleur heard about all the events that had happened while Harry and Hermione had lived at Hogwarts. The mostly peaceful first year, when he found out about who he was and the philosopher's stone, the third year, with the heir of Slytherin and the Chamber of Secrets problems and how the whole school suspected him. Fleur almost didn't believe the story with the basilisk. Hermione told her about how scared he was for Ginny's life, and how he almost died. Then came the fourth year, the dementors and Sirius Black, and how Harry was forced to relive his parents' deaths again and again. Hesitantly, Hermione told her about Peter Pettigrew and Remus's bite. In the end, Fleur was in tears thinking about how all this affected him. That was the reason he didn't feel safe at the school.
"Fleur," Hermione continued almost in a whisper. "There are also some things that he never told me. Things that happened during the ten years he spent with the Dursleys and I think are still happening at some level. Harry has this annoying habit of keeping all the pain to himself." Hermione was crying now. "He has no help! I have asked the professors, even the headmaster but they don't seem to think it is serious enough." Fleur didn't know what to think of it, but she ended up holding Hermione in a hug. "He tries to act like nothing's wrong. But sometimes I can see his light fading. I thought Katie and I would be able to do it this year, to help him… we want to make him understand that he needs us as much as we need him."
"Such loyalty…" Fleur thought.
"You are a smart witch 'Hermione, why do you think someone would put Harry's name in the Goblet?" Fleur asked.
Hermione stopped sobbing and thought for a couple of seconds.
"To make his death appear like an accident. Goodness, that puts all the competitors at risk too, you…"
"Yes, I thought so. Thank you for sharing all this with me Hermione. I can see 'e has not been a boy for a long time. But I need to think, and you need to rest. I will talk with you tomorrow." Fleur finished, taking the book like it was something incredibly precious.
"Thank you for letting me cry on you, and sorry…" Hermione said, a little ashamed. Fleur just smiled at her.
After Hermione left, Fleur laid back on her bed, tears in her eyes. The Veela had felt this connection with Harry, something in the back of her mind; like she had found something she had missed but didn't even know existed. At first, she was worried about him being two years younger, or that he hated her and her family for abandoning him. Knowing what she knew now, she felt how shallow she was being, judging before knowing all the facts, just like people did with her.
But was Fler brave enough to face that storm?
.oOo.
Albus Dumbledore watched as Dolores Umbridge sat heavily onto one of the less than comfortable chairs in front of his big desk. All dressed in pink and orange, she looked like a giant frog cupcake. The headmaster smiled at her.
"Good evening Dolores, May I offer you some lemon drops?"
"Cut out the chit-chat headmaster, what is the reason you summoned me at this dreadful hour, specifically after those heated events." The woman said in her high-pitched voice without hiding her giggling.
Dumbledore closed his eyes, his head hurt, and her voice always made it hurt more; she had always been hard to handle, specifically since that messy deal about Harry Potter's papers 14 years ago. But she was too important of an inside agent at the ministry for him to dispose of. Without her, many of his own laws securing his power over Hogwarts would have never seen the light; fortunately, her vision was always too narrow regarding blood status, which made her easy to maneuver.
"Dolores my girl, may I ask why you thought it would be a good idea to include young Harry's name in the tournament? Should I remind you of how delicate our situation can be?"
"I did it because from the moment I set foot in this school, I realized you had completely lost control over him!" Dolores said, her voice making Dumbledore's head hurt even more. "His best friends are all muggle-born born or half-blooded, far from what we had planned for him. And he is even consorting with a half-breed! Delacour's little animal nonetheless! Your… desire for this boy has blinded you, headmaster! He no longer serves our objectives in bringing about the Greater Good. Once he realizes his political status, he will undoubtedly hurt us!"
"Your little rant was indeed very elucidating about how your head works my child." The headmaster dragged the word, making clear who was in charge. "But it failed to answer my question."
"The boy has outlived his purpose, but he is still famous, so why not give him a glorious death in the tournament? And we can get Delacour's daughter as a bonus. My sources on the French council are certain of his win tomorrow. Need I remind you what that man really stands for?" The witch was almost a maniac.
"I know very well what said man believes he stands for, Madam, must I remind you that I faced men like him before you even walked these same school halls? No Dolores, I think it's a pity to see such a beautiful and prodigious young woman not living to her full potential, but can understand the need to remove her, but it is imperative that the boy lives through it." Dumbledore said.
"And why is that? The little half-blood prat is being nothing but trouble, just like his parents!" The woman made no effort to hide the hate in her voice.
"Dolores, the only thing that would make me happier than seeing the Potter line washed out, is to bring said ancient line back to the rightful ways, bringing them back towards the light. Although, that is not the reason. The boy has an important part to play in events yet to come" The headmaster sounded tired. "One day, your games will catch up with you…" The old wizard told himself, silently. "Only when they all got to fruition my old man…" the headmaster answered himself.
"You are blind by desire!" Dolores screeched like a harpie.
"Dolores Umbridge!" Dumbledore stood, and projected his aura; the small woman had crossed all the limits of his patience, refusing to listen to reason. The headmaster knew better, he was the greatest wizard alive and people would listen to him, like it or not. "Must I remind you whom you are talking to? Who holds not only yours but also Fudge's and Bagman's jobs in his hands? Get out of my office; I need to ponder on what to do about this unfortunate turn of events."
Fearing the Headmaster's rage, Dolores quickly got up and left the room, leaving Albus Dumbledore to readjust his plans.
.oOo.
Harry saw the enormous snake sliding to his side; he felt Like he was getting carried in the direction of an unknown manor like a baby by someone. The place looked old and abandoned the mold eating up the walls, and the floor was dirty with years of dust. Once inside, he was laid on a big bed. Why was it so hard to move, why didn't his arms obey him? Then, he heard a serpentine-like voice hissing. "Call for Narcisa and her useless husband." At this point, Harry realized with a growing fear that the voice was his own. "They need to get the right ingredients; it needs to be ready in time"
"Yes, my Lord" Harry heard, it was a voice that sent shivers down his spine. Harry woke up with a jump just as he saw the rat-like traitor's face in front of him.
The young wizard was feeling dizzy, and could barely see without his glasses in the dark. Harry could smell as Madam Pomphrey came closer to him, waving her wand and saying with a tired voice.
"Here we are again Harry; two months may be a record for you. No, no, no! Don't try to get up; you are still weak Mr. Potter. Please take this potion and rest, my trainee will assist you with anything you may need."
"This is new." Harry thought as gentle pair of hands helped him take the potion. Dizzy as he was, he barely recognized the blueberry scent coming from his side.
"Daphne?" Harry whispered as he drifted back to sleep.
.oOo.
Ronald Weasley was walking alone through the grounds, something he had been doing a lot lately, heading for the quidditch field after declining a game of Exploding Snap with Seamus and Dean. For the first time that he could recall, since starting Hogwarts, Ronald wanted to be alone. The boy was feeling angry. How could his so-called best mate humiliate him like that? And in front of the entire Gryffindor house? It was not enough for Harry to have everything he wanted? Harry had money, and fame, was probably shagging Katie and Hermione and now had that French witch too? And what about Hermione, would she ever talk to him again? Ronald did nothing wrong! Not even his brothers were talking to him now. Traitors, just after his ex-friend's money and fame, the red-haired wizard thought.
"Tough day Weasley?" Ronald heard the last voice he would want right now. The last thing he needed was detention for breaking the little git nose, again, that was the one good thing Harry had done this year.
"Leave me the bloody hell alone Malfoy! Looking for another black eye?" Ronald turned around to see the blond boy behind him, but next to the boy there was a strange-looking slender woman with a pointy nose, wearing big glasses and a notebook. The older witch had a predatory smile on her face that sent shivers down Ronald's back.
"Cool down Weasley, I came in peace," Draco said, raising both his hands.
Ronald looked at him with suspicion.
"Tough business last night wasn't it. Being attacked like that in front of the whole school. Such a friend, this Potter guy, I knew it all along! I brought you an opportunity to pay him back!" Draco stated as he pointed to the strange woman behind him. "My friend here wants to tell your side of the story. Maybe we can even get some of the prestige of your family back. Purebloods stick together." The blonde boy finished with a smirk.
The woman stepped forward before Ronald could say anything and extended her hand to him.
"Hello Ronald, my name is Rita Skeeter…"
.oOo.
After the breakfast, Katie was worried, Harry hadn't shown up, so she made the quick trip to see him at the hospital wing. The she-wolf found the boy laid in bed, still sleeping, his scars covered by the blanket, looking almost peaceful. Daphne was at his side, finishing the sorting of a lot of potions before taking the rest of the day off.
"He is going to be okay." The Slytherin said, when Katie approached the bed, with a reassuring smile rarely seen outside the hospital. "He is just drained. I will look after him tonight…"
Katie looked at her with surprise.
"Thank you…" Answered a confused Katie.
Daphne sat at her side, still working on some of the sorting and listing of the potions. Katie found it weird to see so much emotion from the other girl, so different from the usual persona she presented to the school. Daphne looked at Harry with real caring, her scent betraying the girl's real emotions. Katie knew the girl was more worried than she let it appear. The ice queen was not really that cold after all.
"So…" Daphne moved her ice gray gaze from the boy to Katie, looking like her normal cold self now. But Katie knew better, the girl's scent betrayed her nervousness. "If what people are saying is true, you and Harry have been… intimate in the last few weeks…"
Katie gave her a knowing smile. Daphne rolled her eyes, and Katie caught a different scent coming from her now.
"OK… so you have seen his scars...And he is also a little too thin, even if fit, thank goodness for quidditch." Daphne said, with very little emotion or her voice, but a lot of it on her scent.
"Not only quidditch…" Katie said, remembering the stories he told her. "But yes, I see your point."
"Something happens to him during the summers. How can someone as famous and as important as him get like that? Some of those scars are years old. How can his magical guardian allow that?" Katie looked at Daphne, who had returned her gaze to him, the tenderness back to her eyes, Katie had wondered some of the same things, but she was not so versed on laws and politics to say anything.
"He is cute isn't he…" Katie said suddenly.
"What! Sorry… I mean… he is your boyfriend… and…" Daphne said, and Katie laughed at the girl's sudden awkwardness.
"He is not my boyfriend, don't worry. I don't own him or anything, he is too much for me to handle only by myself anyway…" Both girls blushed at that. "Daphne, he is special, not that boy who lived shit special… and the magical world has been doing a crap job on him…" The Slytherin looked confused.
"Anyway." Katie continued. "I need to find Hermione…"
"She came by earlier, with that French witch… said she would research magical exhaustion and emotional accidental magic in the library…" Daphne rolled her eyes.
"Thanks…" Katie got up and approached Harry's ear, whispering to him, making Daphne blush at the things she said to the young wizard, things she would do to him when he woke up. "Remember Harry, protect the pack…" Katie finished with a soft kiss on his cheek.
The witch winked at Daphne and left the hospital wing to look for Hermione. On the way she thought about Fleur, and how she had handled Harry's outburst, how his magic didn't hurt her as she approached and embraced him. Maybe she was wrong, she thought his equal would be Hermione, but maybe it was the French witch. Katie only knew that wasn't her position to take, she didn't like to lead.
As expected, Katie found Hermione in the library, alone at the back table.
"Hello, Hermione…" Katie greeted as she approached and sat down on the chair in front of the other witch.
"Hi, Katie… did you stop by to see Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Yea. Sleeping." Katie nodded.
"I think he will wake up tomorrow, a normal wizard would take a couple more days, but you and I both know that is not the case." Hermione wondered.
"About that… Hermione, I am also…" Katie's started saying.
"I know, I figured it out a couple of days after you and Harry started doing whatever it is that you have been doing… what? Smartest witch blab blab blab…" Both girls laughed.
"Hermione…" Katie thought about how to approach this, and decided to be the most direct possible, Hermione would listen and understand, she hoped. "Harry needs a pack… he is powerful, his Wolf is like nothing I have ever seen, I am afraid it may consume him if he is not helped… the last time something like that happened with a powerful wizard, it was not pretty. You may know the stories about Fenrir Greyback" Hermione nodded, he was the literal big bad wolf. "Let me assure you that what is known is only the tip of his evil… Harry is different though… His protective instincts are really powerful. That is the way we can get to him, that we can help him. We have to make him come to terms with his inner wolf and accept his pack…" Katie hoped the intelligent witch would understand.
"He needs other werewolves?" The cogs on Hermione's mind were turning at full speed, Katie could tell.
"A pack is not necessarily made of just werewolves, it's more like an extended family bound by love. It is hard to explain… is something we have done through generations." Katie was realizing how bad she was at explaining things.
"I didn't know werewolves had such a developed culture like that. But again, they fail to teach us many things here." Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"We keep it away from other wizards, as they are not a paragon of tolerance as you may have noticed." Katie shrugged.
"I did. You seem to know a lot tho."
"Family tradition." The girl quickly answered and continued. "A pack shares the emotional load of its members and helps direct the instincts of the Alpha in the right direction. It gives him a purpose and an identity, a place to stay and a place to be. The pack needs to guide the Alpha as much as they need him for guidance…" Katie tried the same words her grandfather had told her.
"Beautiful words…" Hermione whispered.
"Heh, my grandfather told me that when I was ten."
"So, we need to find him a pack of some sort?" Hermione was trying to understand.
"This kind of thing cannot be forced, and I understand Harry is fed up with people deciding things for him."
"So, there is nothing we can do?"
"Hermione, he already has a pack…" Katie smiled.
.oOo.
Fleur was very irritated. The witch had little sleep and the people glaring at her were not helping her mood. Harry was still asleep, and she was craving talking to him. Damn these people looking! Who do they think they are? English people were turning out to be ruder than she had ever imagined. One week in Scotland and her life was already turned upside down. And the only one who cared was in a hospital bed because some monster wanted to take control of his life. And Fleur hated being followed.
The Veela stopped outside of the Great Hall, the autumn wind moving through her hair, then she suddenly turned around with a swift movement only possible by years of dueling practice and caught the glare of the red-haired young girl from the day before.
"It is not polite to follow other people around, little girl." Fleur gave her an evil glare, in the hopes of the girl going away. To her surprise the girl didn't back down as she expected, quite the contrary, the red-haired stepped forward with a fierce expression that amused the French witch.
"What did you do to Harry?" The girl asked in an accusatory tone, her voice full of venom and jealousy.
That was it. To Fleur that was enough. She would not stand being accused of hurting the only person in this forsaken school that cared for her. The person she had only tried to help, especially by a jealous little fangirl.
"And who are you, little girl?" Fleur felt her veela nature take over her emotions. "Are you his girlfriend?" Fleur was well aware of the answer, of course, but The girl seemed startled by the question, Fleur felt even angrier at this, people around them started looking and she could feel the warmth building up on the point of her fingers. "That's what I thought, you are just a little stalker." The veela continued, aiming to hurt now." Tell me, you stalk Harry too?" Fleur was feeling like something was burning inside her. The witch approached the girl and talked in a low tone. "I didn't do anything to him. But when I do, girl, I assure you it will be something you cannot even dream about, and he is going to like it!"
There were tears on the girl's face, but they were angry ones. With a decided move the girl turned around and stomped away.
"Damn, you are an evil bitch!" Someone said in French. Fleur turned fuming, looking to see where the voice was. Regine was standing behind her, holding her hands in the air. "The girl really got you angry, if I didn't know better, I would think she had attacked Gabby."
Fleur started to calm down. The witch regained control of her emotions and the fire subsided. It was true; the only other times she had gotten that angry was when someone attacked her family. Fleur was not one to lose control of her veela nature like that.
"Poor girl," Fleur said, a little sad. "She didn't deserve it…I don't know why I got so upset…"
"Really? You don't? Well, the damage is done. Come, let's find Gabby and grab some lunch." Regine shook her head.
.oOo.
Harry woke up in the dark but sensed the familiar texture of the sheets in the infirmary. His vision was blurred, but the smell of blueberries let him know that he was not alone. Harry felt around with his hand, searching for his glasses and wand, but not find them.
"Here", Harry heard Daphne's voice as she gently placed the glasses on his face. After a second the vision of her striking angular face and black midnight hair focused in front of him. "Better?" The girl asked softly.
"Yes, a lot, thank you." The wizard said, suddenly very conscious of her proximity. "What time is it?" Harry asked, glad that the dim light of the room concealed his blushing face. Daphne was sitting on his bed, beside him, using a white robe, much like the one the matron used, although it looked much better on the young witch. Her hands over her lap as her straight hair ran over her shoulders and back, framing her face.
"One in the Morning… you have been out for the entire day, Hermione, Ginevra, Fleur, and Katie all came to see you. Katie said some really dirty things she was going to do to you once you awoke…" Daphne finished with a teasing smile that made Harry blush even more, but with a silly smile on his face and tingling on his member.
"Wow… I guess I outdid myself this time… wait, what are you doing here so late?" Harry asked.
"I am apprenticing with madam Pomphrey this year, I want to be a healer like mom when I finish school…" Daphne answered with a kind look, totally different from the one he had learned to expect from her. It made her even more beautiful, Harry thought, and her scent was something he could live with for the rest of his life.
"That is great, but I don't think you had to stay with me this late. I mean, I really appreciate it, but I didn't expect that with your… fame." "Great Potter, put your foot in your mouth talking to the girl you crushed on since day one…" The wizard thought, with a frown.
"My facade is a way to protect myself and my sister, Harry; here at the hospital wing I don't need it…" Daphne said before her voice turned cold again. "But I can still hex you into oblivion if you do something funny." The witch giggled, before turning serious to him again. "I… I wanted to see you… you mutter in your sleep…"
"Sorry," Harry said, ashamed.
"Some of the things you said are really scary…" Daphne said with a shiver. "especially about Tom and Vernon, whoever they are… also Harry, I am sorry…"
"Why?" Harry was confused and felt he cannot be more ashamed than he already was.
Daphne got a little closer to him, her dark straight hair falling over her shoulders and breasts and Harry silently cursed both his hormones and the wolf. The witch's scent was intoxicating, and he hoped she didn't notice his growing arousal. Merlin, she looked and smelled so good!
"I always thought you had forsaken your lineage because you were weak…" The girl said looking deep into his emerald eyes, a mixture of confusion and guilt over her face. "That you don't act proud of who you or your parents were because you didn't like the wizard blood in you. But I can see now that it is a lot more complicated than that, right?" Harry gulped. "Seems like someone beat the pride out of you… You didn't even know who your guardian was…"
"You could say that…" Harry answered after a while, turning away in shame from her piercing gaze. "I want to change Daphne. I really do… but every time I think I can, some shit brings me back to the mud." The wizard was becoming angry again now. "I don't even know who I am anymore, each person tells me something different, and everyone seems to expect something from me. I… I don't even know who I want to be!" Harry's hands became closed in fists.
Daphne placed her hands softly on Harry's own.
"Sorry," Harry said with a sigh. "It's not fair dumping that on you, we barely know each other, even though I want to change that?"
"There are the apologies again, it really doesn't suit you, Harry." The witch said in a commanding tone. "Did you even know we met before Hogwarts?" The boy looked at her with confused wide eyes. "Our parents were good friends. My mother went to school with yours, and our fathers were political allies. I spent my first Yule at your parent's house."
"Wow… why does everyone know more about my family than I do?" Harry wondered.
"That, Mister Potter, is a really good question. It seems like someone wanted to keep you in the dark…"
"I don't know what to do." The wizard buried his head on the pillow behind him, looking at the ceiling, confused. Daphne leaned closer to him.
"I know two Harry Potters." The werewolf could feel the warmth of her breath, her blueberry scent driving him mad. "One is a shy boy, who keeps apologizing for things out of his control and makes me angry…" Daphne's thumbs started making circular motions on his hands, and Harry had to admit he liked her touch. "The other devised a plan to teach people how to defend themselves, saved my sister from a monster, and was not afraid to take a stand in front of the entire Slytherin table, that one is not a boy, that one I have had a crush since the second year... that one I could fall for…"
Daphne leaned in and kissed him, her smell inebriated him, and without thinking, the werewolf kissed her back. The girl parted her mouth as an invitation, and his tongue met hers. It was very different from Katie, he felt like his whole body responded to it, as their tongues caressed each other, their lips softly touching. It was deep, sensual, as each one took time to explore the other's mouth, her taste driving Harry's mind blank.
When they parted, she was still holding his hand with force, taking quick breaths.
"Sorry…" Daphne said, blushing.
"You lecture me about apologizing and then say you're sorry." the wizard smiled at her, who returned an evil glare at him. "For once, I am not sorry." And the girl probably could tell by his silly smile.
"Prat!" Daphne said, slapping him on the shoulder. Daphne recomposed herself and her expression became a little colder.
"Harry, my parents have returned from France today and sent me an owl. Along with their letter, there was one other for you…"
"For me?" Harry was confused.
"They were at the Delacours. Here" The girl extended him the parchment, and Harry could imagine what this was about.
"Lumos," Harry said, and Daphne noted that his wand was still on the table beside the bed, a tiny ball of light appeared next to his head, she was astonished.
Harry couldn't believe what he was reading, and Daphne caught his weird expression.
"What the…" Harry's eyes went wide.
"What?" Daphne asked.
"Sirius Black just adopted me!"
.oOo.
The boy who cheated!
The new Triwizard tournament has barely started and it is already brimming with irregularities. After the weird announcement made by Barty Crouch about a fourth champion chosen for the competition, none other than Harry Potter himself, this intrepid reporter ventured onto the depths of Hogwarts School of Magic grounds to bring you more information about this incredible story.
It was found out that not only did the Boy Who Lived name come out of the Goblet of Fire, giving Hogwarts one extra champion, thus creating a big disadvantage to the Foreign schools, but also, that a great tumult had upset the choosing ceremony.
No one seems to know how Harry Potter's name ended up in the Goblet of Fire or what kind of spells the boy used to circumnavigate the protections cast upon the artifact. Some students suspect the use of dark arts given the boy's record of parselmouth and the rampage that followed his nomination.
"Potter is out of control, not even a week ago he broke my nose without any provocation!" Revealed Draco Malfoy (15) a beautiful young man, heir to a great fortune that now has his face covered in bandages.
After the nomination, it is said that Harry Potter came out of the room in a hurry, where he was caught cheating and, on his way out of the castle, assaulted a fellow Gryphindor student. Then, the maniac teen proceed to a rampant of raw magic that endangered many. Even his own house colleagues are afraid. "He is getting distant from everyone and has no friends, he can't stand not being the center of attention. I am afraid he may even put others in danger because of it!" Said a fellow Gryffindor student who prefers to remain anonymous.
For more on this see page 12.
For a summary of the Triwizard tournament over the years see page 13
Rita Skeeter.
...
.oOo.
Daphne stayed awake with Harry discussing the ramifications of the adoption news for way longer than she had planned, this was too big of a thing not to. Harry had told her about his last year, how he discovered that Sirius was innocent, and that Peter Pettigrew had betrayed his parents, then about the escape of Remus and Sirius to France, as his godfather was still accused of the crimes he did not commit.
They deduced that Daphne's father, Artus, knew it all and had been in contact with Sirius in France, which would explain the first of Fleur's letters. The Delacours, Daphne explained to Harry, were a prominent and ancient family, and had been in business with the Greengrass family for many generations. They had grown distant after the war ended, though my father never explained why. I think it had something to do with the deaths in the war, and how the country needed stabilization, but their connections still ran deep. The family head, Fleur's father, was probably going to be the next French minister of magic. Then they discussed the notification itself. The ramifications were huge.
"For starters, if there is no conviction to him, you automatically became the heir of the Black family. That will block Narcisa Malfoy's access to the Black fortune! That is huge!" Daphne said, looking at the official ministry documents with an understanding gaze.
"Narcisa Malfoy?" Harry asked.
"She is Sirius' cousin, Draco was the Black family heir until tonight. That is rich…" The witch gave Harry an almost evil smile. "You are now the heir to two ancient noble houses. Now you need my help more than ever, mister Potter-Black!" They kept talking, not noticing the time run. At one point, Daphne realized how close she was to him as she sat on his bed. Their hands were touching as they talked, the girl was pleased with how hungry the young wizard was for knowledge, how his mind started making plans, looking ahead. "He really would fit well in Slytherin…" Daphne thought. As the first rays of the sun entered the room, Daphne leaned close to Harry, thinking about all the time she had lost because of false assumptions and house rivalries. The witch placed a hand on his chest and said in a whisper.
"You know, I am a girl who usually gets what I want, and right now Harry, I want another kiss from you before this night ends… and we have to come back to the real world."
Harry moved forward, put one of his hands on the back of her neck, and kissed her, another slow, deep kiss, and her tongue moving sensually in his mouth. "There is his Gryffindor side…" Daphne thought, melting into his mouth.
When they parted Harry smiled. "If it wasn't for before, I would think you are after my money."
Daphne slapped his arm again. "I hate you!" And laughed, more than she ever dared to do at the school. Not a minute later madam Pomphrey entered the room and gave the two students a questioning look.
"Did you stay here all night dear?" The matron asked her apprentice.
"Yes madam, Harry woke up and we ended up talking, we didn't notice the time passing," Daphne answered.
Madam Pomphrey gave her a knowing smile as she ran through some diagnostic spells on Harry.
"You are released from classes this morning, Mr. Potter, but you are good to go have breakfast if you want."
Harry looked at Daphne. "I would like to go to class madam Pomphrey."
"Sure honey, then I would like you to see something, to get yourself prepared," as the matron spoke, she handed them a copy of the Prophet.
Harry and Daphne read it. Daphne found it horrendous, but Harry just sighed.
"That... changes nothing… I have been through worse." The boy said. "Can we eat something in here before classes, madam Pomphrey"?
"Of course, honey." madam Pomphrey answered. The elves brought them some breakfast that Daphne and Harry ate together. Daphne realized how starved the boy was after the surge of magic and the day asleep. After breakfast, they said goodbye to Madam Pomphrey and went to class.
"OK, Daphne," Harry said as they moved to potions. "I will need your help on this one, I don't want another skirmish with Malfoy." The girl nodded at him.
As they walked down to the dungeons, without touching each other, Daphne noticed the looks people were giving them, especially Harry. "So, that is how it feels." She thought. "They usually watch and measure me, but that is a whole nother level. Some people are actually afraid of him." the young witch looked at the boy, he didn't even flinch. Harry looked used to it, and she realized how sad that was.
As they approached the classroom, she could see the gathering of students in the corridor, Slytherin on the right side and Gryffindor on the left and she clearly saw what he meant on that day a week ago. They were divided by an invisible line, drawn by other generations. Daphne didn't even know the names of half of the lions, and she had been in class with them for more than four years now.
"Look if it isn't the Ice Queen and the Boy Who Cheated!" They listened to the high-pitched voice of Draco Malfoy.
"Well, that didn't take long." Daphne thought, looking at Malfoy. The blonde had his bandages off, but his nose still looked shallow. The girl was ready to respond but Harry beat her to it.
"Seriously Malfoy, all your daddy could buy with his money was a third-grade insult?"
"Isn't it strange that his father focuses on you so much?" Daphne continued, talking loudly to Harry, ignoring the blond boy. "Must be the lack of accomplishments of his own offspring. Maybe he does that because he wished for a son like you."
"Of course, he couldn't even make the team on its own…" to Daphne's and Harry's surprise, it was Blaise Zabini who said that. The tall Italian Slytherin moved forward in front of Draco. People always said he was a way better seeker than Malfoy, and seized the opportunity to pay the boy back. "Imagine his shame at having to buy his son's place on the team."
"I don't believe he even feels shame anymore." Finished Daphne, with a cold expression.
Draco Malfoy looked lost and angry, his face as red as the Weasleys hair, the Slytherin students were astonished, and the Gryffindors looked confused. There was a divide between the snakes, and people were starting to take sides. And Harry was in the middle of it. Only Hermione and Blaise smiled at them.
Daphne saw that Harry gave Hermione a strange look, and she nodded, communicating like only people who had been friends for so long and had been through so much could do. The girl understood what they agreed on as soon as they entered the classroom. Daphne took her usual place, together with Tracey, and looked astonished as Harry sat down, in front of her, with Blaise Zabini.
.oOo.
The return to classes had been a blessing in disguise for Fleur. The veela could use her time in the carriage to think about all the things happening around her. On the first day of classes, amidst the congratulations she received along with the other two champions, Fleur noticed that Harry didn't come to the Great Hall for breakfast. For some reason that unsettled her, but classes were starting, and it was her last year, tournament or not. Later that day, the news came of her father winning the council vote and becoming the new French minister of magic. The witch felt a mixture of pride about her family, and sorrow, for not being there with them at that moment. Later that night, Madam Maxine arranged for Fleur to speak with her parents through the floo in the headmaster's office, to congratulate them. The witch had many other things she wanted to talk about, Harry, his family connection with her, why they abandoned him, and what she should do. But Dumbledore and Maxine didn't leave her alone. Fleur decided she would have to figure it out by herself.
Then, on the next day, she finally saw Harry and she could see the way people were treating him. "Boy who cheated" was the word at the Ravenclaw table. Fleur also noticed the hostility amongst some people within his own house. Hermione, Katie and the chubby boy weak to the allure seemed to be the only ones talking to him at breakfast. Harry tried to pretend he didn't care, but Fleur knew better.
Fleur wanted to go to him, tell him she didn't believe for a second that he cheated his way in, hug him, and tell him the news about her father but didn't know what to say about the whole tournament business. Were they rivals now? When she saw his eyes, there was no sadness, only exhaustion… like an old man, she remembered Hermione saying, "Sometimes I can see his light fading…". Harry looked at her for a moment, and with a little smile, he got up and left.
Fleur was ready to go after him when Regine held her arm and showed her the Daily Prophet. The veela couldn't believe it. The paper started smoking in her hands and all the girls around her got subjected to a succession of French curses, "Screw the tournament, screw rivalry, I will not be like those horrible people" she thought. But she didn't see Harry all day, or the next.
People kept talking about the champions, all the hatred people had towards her before was now directed at him, the Slytherin blonde boy was actively campaigning against him, and Harry's own isolation was not helping. Fleur was getting restless, even Gabrielle couldn't lighten her mood.
The next day, she noticed only Hermione and the others had come down to lunch. Fleur walked to Gryffindor's table and sat down beside the younger witch.
"'Hermione, where is Harry? Why hasn't he talked to me?" Fleur asked, her voice a little harder than she intended.
"He didn't tell me, I think he is afraid of you being angry at him… also…" Hermione looked around and leaned closer to her, whispering. "Today is the first day of the cycle. He doesn't like to be around us…"
"Nonsense, what do you mean by being around us?" Fleur asked impatiently. Hermione bit her lips, there was a commanding tone in Fleur's voice that made it difficult not to answer her.
"There are some… persons, whose scent can get him… triggered." Hermione blushed furiously and didn't manage to finish the explanation.
"Where is he now?" The veela asked with a tone that said she would get an answer one way or the other.
"On the way to the dungeons, to get a wolfsbane potion from Professor Snape," Hermione said.
Fleur stood.
"Point me to the dungeons…" The witch had decided to sort this out, one way or another.
Fleur wandered through the castle a bit, following Hermione's s directions. After a while she finally met Harry, coming out of the dungeons, with a vial in his hands. The boy looked scared to see her, and, Without a word, she pushed him to an empty classroom. "Why does this castle have so many unused rooms?" Fleur asked herself.
"Full moon or not, we are going to talk!" Fleur said angrily, closing and silencing the door behind them, her own veela nature taking the jest of the girl, before turning to Harry with her arms crossed.
"Let me guess, Hermione told you…" Harry leaned against a table with a smile.
"Yes, she did." Fleur looked at his green eyes. "Listen 'ere, if you 'have a problem with me, you are going to talk with me! I know you better than this push me aside crap! If you don't want to be treated like a little boy, don't act like one!" Fleur was angry, but strangely, around Harry, she could keep her control, but she noticed he seemed a little uncomfortable. "Harry, is my allure bothering you?" The veela asked with a sigh, afraid of the same things happening again and again.
"No Fleur, I didn't even know what a veela was until the day after you arrived. It's not you, I mean, it is, but it's not your doing." Fleur was confused. "It is your scent… it gets into me…" Harry took a deep breath, was he smelling her? "Also, I saw your eyes that night when you realized what happened, this tournament was yours, you were so happy to be chosen, so proud and I was afraid you hated me because some idiot is using the tournament to try and kill me again. I don't want to lose one of the few people I can talk to…"
"Idiot…" Fleur whispered.
"I am sorry, what?"
"You are an idiot if you think that Harry, I see what this school is doing to you. I would never turn my back on you." Fleur felt a little calmer now, talking to him again. "This school's staff failed to keep you safe, your relatives failed to give you a home, but I am not one who fails, Harry Potter. It is not pity…" The girl said as soon as he opened his mouth to protest, silencing the young wizard. "I would not dare pity you, I can see what you could have been and what you've become and even feel a little jealous." Harry was about to ask why, but refrain himself from it.
"Fleur, you must know how dangerous it is to be around me, how dangerous it can be and how alienating too. But I want to fix my life and myself, I want to find my own place in all of this, not the one they choose for me, so I will say this, I would never drag anyone into this shit with me, but if after knowing and seeing it all, you still want to try, I will never push you away… I will never do that to anyone anymore, never again. I am done being alone. So, it's your choice. Just know that whatever you choose, I know you are more than a veela or the daughter of a politician. We are not the circumstances of our births." Harry took a deep breath. "That sounded way better in my head…"
Fleur looked deep into the wolf's eyes and was not afraid. The witch quickly closed the distance between them and gave him an embrace and he hugged her back. They stood there for several minutes, enjoying the feeling of each other. Harry was certainly smelling her, she realized. And Fleur now knew she liked it.
"Fleur," Harry said, still with her in his arms. "I owe you a butterbeer. Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?"
"Yes Harry, I would love to…"
.oOo.
Harry heard the voice in his head, the one he came to identify as the wolf, as his instincts. It never really used words; it was something subtler, almost primal. It strongly manifested itself when Fleur embraced him, when he caught her scent, with one powerful feeling that could only be translated as...
"Equal."
