Harry groaned as he opened his eyes. When he couldn't recognize his surroundings he tried to remember where he was and how he got there. Thankfully, his brain started to show him memories of the last day.
6 months had passed since he defeated Voldemort, and he was yet again at a party. They'd been celebrating his 16th birthday for a week already, going from one party to another, he and his friends spent the entire week enjoying the virtues of youth. After de dark lord's defeat, Harry decided to enjoy the life that he never could in the last 7 years of training and war. It started with small things like getting drunk and causing mischief, he even convinced Fleur to sleep with him 2 days after his victory. Now, months later; he had already slept his way through half of Hogwarts, he couldn't remember most of his weekends, and he even almost died of an overdose when a muggleborn brought all kinds of drugs to the party. He was still the same prodigy that did everything in his power to help those who needed it, but he was so desperate to forget about the horrors of the war that he numbed himself in the pleasures of the flesh, and that's what brought his end.
He was having sex with a married police officer when he heard the sound of a shotgun being fired. Her husband had arrived earlier than expected and was welcomed by the sound of moaning coming from the master bedroom. Without thinking twice, he picked up his shotgun and climbed p the stairs. Opening the door as stealthy as possible, he watched as his wife was being pounded by a young man and asking for more. He didn't even blink before shooting the youth and his wife.
At his funeral, everyone mourned his death and regretted encouraging his behaviour. They all knew that this kind of life always ended in tragedy, but after sacrificing so much in a war that he didn't even start, they decided to let him enjoy life a little before correcting his attitude.
After dying, he met death who decided to give him a chance to live the life that he always wanted, a life with a family, a life without the weight of being everyone's saviour, a life where he could make his own path, and win recognition based on his own merits. That, and some other benefits were the things that death offered him in exchange for one simple thing, If this world's saviour proved himself to be worthless, he would have to step in and kill Voldemort again. He accepted almost immediately, which is why, he now found himself in the body of a 10-year-old, in a place he didn't know. He was about to get up when the memories of the Harry of this universe attacked him out of nowhere. It would be 2 hours later when he would finally be able to wake up and meet his family.
Harry got up and started to classify the information that he just got. His parents and the marauders were alive, except peter, but he was redundant. He now had 4 siblings; a twin named Aria, two 8 (soon to be 9) year old twins named Lyra and Lynx, and a little 4-year-old girl named Hera.
The boy who lived in this world was Neville, but thanks to them being arseholes, our families weren't on speaking terms. That means that I will have to wait until Hogwarts to judge his worthiness, even if I can already guess the answer. His musings were interrupted by the knocking on his door
"Harry, sweetie, are you alright?" He heard the melodious voice of his mother ask from the other side of the door. He wanted to open the door and hug her, but hugging her so suddenly would be weird, so he just answered without opening the door.
"Yes mom, I'm doing what every healthy 10-year-old boy does in the solitude of his room on a Sunday morning." He heard his mother mumble something about being too young, and the bees and the birds. Geez, mom, I'm only ten. Masturbation begins at 12. Deciding that his mother had suffered enough, he clarified."I'm sleeping 'till noon." He heard silence, and for an instant, he thought that his mother had left. That was until he heard her reply.
"It's okay honey, I'm asking because you never sleep this much."
"I'm about to turn 11 mum, things are bound to change. My sleeping habits are just the tip of the iceberg." He heard her snort and leave.
After that, he just got up, cleaned himself up and went to have breakfast. He was about to enter the dining room when he felt a familiar pressure against his mental barriers. The previous meetings of this version of me with the Delacour women ended with him making a fool of himself. They're in for a big shock. With an easy smile and a casual pose he entered and greeted them while stretching his arm above his head.
"Morning everyone." He said simply, and the rest answered accordingly without noticing the lack of fawning that they were so used to. Only Fleur had a frown on her face, which was to be expected. Before she developed her allure 2 years ago, they were best friends. He was her childhood friend and the year that she had to spend in her house learning how to control her bigger-than-normal allure created some sort of distance between them. They still talked and joked, but she had to restrain herself to avoid making him act like a fool, and he didn't like it. It made him feel weak, and he hated what his weakness did to their relationship. This distance between them hurt her a lot. She liked how he reacted because he was the only one that her magic found compatible as of yet, and beyond his own magic reacting to hers, his outward reactions were the only way to know that he still cared for her, hence the feeling of dread that his lack of response towards her was causing. They were young to think about relationships, but everyone loves knowing that their friends care for them. So absorbed was she in her rambling thoughts, that she didn't even realise how different his magic felt. The usual soft blanket of devotion that she got so used to, was now replaced by an overwhelming sense of protectiveness, care, and a love so deep it rivalled the deepest of the seas.
Unconsciously she started to focus her allure on him to which he just chuckled softly and let his magic play around hers while working on his breakfast. Apolline started to feel this interaction and sighed relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with a brooding daughter anymore. The eldest veela looked at Lily and signalled discreetly to the young friends. She seemed to understand because her eyes turned from amused to mischievous almost instantly.
"Harry, dear, why don't you let me handle breakfast and help Fleur here find the book that she came for in our library?" She saw Harry turn to her and when his face turned as mischievous as hers, she knew that he had read her perfectly.
"Sure mom, It's been some time since I had some alone time with my favourite veela in the world." He washed his hands and started to walk toward the door, and then, when he didn't find Fleur following him, he looked at Fleur who was still in her little world. Clearing his throat was enough to bring her back from her dwellings. To say she was shocked by what she felt when she came back was a serious understatement, but before she could dwell on it, Harry asked. "You coming?" She saw the amused glint in his eyes and scowled before getting up and following him.
The walk was short and silent, but since the 2 of them were kinda lost in their own minds, it gave them time to think.
Harry's thoughts were simple. She's not my little flower, she feels the same, and our magics react the same way, but my relationship with her is not the same. I'm also just about to turn 11, even if in my mind I'm 16, this body is underdeveloped for the things that I wanna do.
Fleur's thoughts weren't so simple. It's not only his attitude that changed, his magic did as well. She didn't know how to feel about it; For one, I'm very happy that Harry isn't going to abandon me anytime soon. when I saw how he practically ignored me back in the kitchen I feared for the worst, I thought that the distance that my allure caused between us had finally made our relationship snap, fortunately, I was wrong. But for the most part, I'm afraid. What if this is a fluke? I don't think I can relinquish this, he's finally able to ignore my allure, and he is smiling at me again. She felt his magic trying to soothe her worries, but the thought of losing her friend after getting him back still plagued her thoughts. She just sighed and decided to enjoy it while it lasted.
He heard her sigh and decided to cheer her.
"What troubles your mind, my little flower? 13 is quite young for a lady to sigh like that. Are boys causing you trouble?" he asked cheekily. Even if she wasn't his Fleur, it just felt right to use the same nickname that he used with her in his old life, and with how her magic responded, he knew that she liked it. They may not be the same person, but it seems that they still liked the same things.
If he only knew. she sighed again. Wait! Did he just call me HIS little flower? What is it with the sudden pet name? he never called me that. It feels nice though. She suddenly felt the corners of her lips twitch upwards and a pretty blush crept to her face. "yes Harry, a boy is causing me trouble." She admitted to him.
"Give me the name and I shall endeavour in taking care of him the marauder way." He said posing in mock chivalry, which caused Fleur to laugh.
"You don't even have a wand yet," she said clearly amused.
"Oh, but I have the mutt that is prone to cause my mother's ire, I just have to make him owe me a favour. I assure you that after the mangy dog takes care of him, he won't bother you again." He offered, completely unaware that he was said boy.
"And what would this mutt of yours do to him?"
"Oh, a lot of things. Imagine having his parents find pictures of him in female lingerie posing sexily, or make him bald and tattoo the badly written runes for 'hair growth on his head. Those are the tamest things that I can think of." Fleur started to laugh while imagining Harry in those situations. Once they got to the library, the two of them were laughing at some weird joke that involved gobbling playing with barbies while wearing pink dresses and receiving foot rubs from oversized dwarfs.
Half an hour later, Aria came to tell Harry that breakfast was ready but stopped when he heard 2 voices.
Having summoned the required courage during the length of their conversation, Fleur decided to deal with the elephant in the room.
"What happened to you, Harry? Last month we could barely stay in the same room without you being tense. No, don't bother denying it. You played your part well, you remained friendly and you made an effort to not just ditch me, but I could feel it in your magic. You didn't want to be in the same room as me, Your magic was tense, guarded, distant, and even if it still had some of the warmness towards me that it used to have, it wasn't the same. Now, it feels even warmer than before. I feel cared for, safe, loved, and your magic has been playing with mine ever since you entered the dining room. Not only that, but you've been resisting my allure as if it was nothing, and I've been focusing it on you to see if it was some fluke or something for the last 15 minutes. I don't know what happened, but if it's not something that will continue please stop it. I already lost you once, I don't want to hope and then lose you again." The sadness and hopefulness behind her serious façade broke Hary's heart. The last time he saw that expression she was asking him if he really loved her or if he was using her for her body. It was 4 months after the war and 1 year after they started dating. She had permitted him to sleep around because she wanted him to enjoy the pleasures of youth, it also brought more lovers and variety to their bed, even if they were all female. But between parties, different partners, school and everything he started to neglect her. After he spent 2 weeks without even looking at her she decided it was too much, she had never felt so insecure in her life, and she hated it. They had the best relationship and as soon as he started to sleep with other women he forgot about her unless it was to have sex. Harry felt like shit after realizing that she was indeed correct and that he was an idiot, after that, he spent 15 days only paying attention to her and didn't do anything sexual with her unless she started it. He started to sleep around again at her insistence and because she wanted to meet his different partners and share.
So it was no wonder when seeing that hurt expression on her face again made him feel like he was the lowest scum alive.
"My little flower" he began softly while grabbing her hands tenderly. "I know that I was less than pleasant this last year, but I was weak-minded and the desire of closeness that our friendship gave me didn't help with your allure. It turned into resentment, but not to you, but to myself and my weakness. I was losing my best friend and I couldn't do anything about it. With time I decided to stay as away from you as possible until I was worthy of being your friend again. I kept on talking to you because I know how much I would hurt you if I just stopped being your friend and because your magic kept on calling to me. It wasn't until last week when I got the boost that all magical children get at 10 or 11, that I started meditating and was able to surround my mind with magic." What he was saying was true, the old Harry really cared for Fleur and would have walked through hell for eternity if it gave him his friend back. If the fact that's how he died, He had found a meditative process that would surround his mind with magic to protect him from every foreign influence. It was an extremely dangerous process that could cause brain death if not done correctly and of course, the Potter luck struck again. He was about to complete the process when a rumble of thunder shook the house and made him lose concentration. He died and was replaced with me. "Now I can resist your allure and a lot of other stuff without a problem. Also, my magic feels different because of the boost and because I don't have to feel bad about our relationship again, in fact, I feel elated. After almost a year of not being able to enjoy my best friend's company, I can finally be close to her without feeling miserable. Fleur, I promise I will never abandon you. We grew up together, and I pretend to die, if not by your side, with a life full of memories together."Fleur was straight up crying now. She got up and hugged him tightly. He was finally with her again, she got her best friend back and nothing could ruin this moment. The tenderness lasted until she smelled him and her inner Veela went into alert mode. Unconsciously she hugged him tighter and asked in a somewhat steady voice.
"Harry, you know that even if I'm human, I'm also a magical creature right?" Harry was confused at her question but nodded on her shoulder. "well, did you know that magical creatures have the inherited ability to smell other magical creatures or certain substances, especially the stronger ones?" At this, he panicked and tensed. Fleur felt that and decided to get to the point. "now that we made that clear, I'd like you to tell me why is it that I smell basilisk venom and phoenix tears running within you." She slowly parted to look him in the eye and waited for his answer. When she looked at him, she saw wide eyes and panic. I'm not going to like this. She thought and sighed.
Harry felt like a rat facing a very hungry cat. If she was anything like the older Fleur, which seemed to be the case, She was going to either scream or punish him in a way that would most certainly hurt. He closed his eyes and thought about how to answer that question.
"Well, there are a lot of ways to protect one's mind, but only two that can against the allure." He started slowly. "one of the ways that I found could've ended with me completely brain dead, and the other could've killed me unless done fast." He saw her close her eyes and flare her nostrils. I'm most certainly dead. "anyway, I got pierced with a basilisk tooth and then phoenix tears poured over the wound." He heard her gasp and saw her pupils turn to slits, but he wanted to finish his explanation so he just kept on talking. "now I'm immune to every venom and heal faster. It also fortified my mind against attacks from lesser beings. Humans are certainly lesser than basilisks and phoenixes, so veela allure doesn't affect me." it had other perks and consequences that he discovered through the years in his previous life, but this was enough information for now.
While he was waiting for his punishment, he didn't notice his twin running from the library.
I have to tell mum and dad, Harry could be in danger. HOW CAN HE BE SO STUPID! If mum and Fleur don't kill him I certainly will. She ran into the dining room where the rest of the family was having breakfast.
"MUM! CALL AUNT DAI FAST, HARRY IS IN DANGER." They needed their godmother to check on him fast, the idiot could die if not checked. She saw her family panic and her frantic mother asked while dad was going to the floo.
"What happened to him? Where is he!?" Lily was already up and was hysteric. The last time something like this happened Harry had jumped from the ceiling trying to fly like a superhero breaking his legs and 5 ribs.
"I heard him and Fleur talking about his sudden change, and while explaining he said that e found 2 methods to block her allure." Apoline had a frown on her face, she only knew 1 method and it wasn't dangerous after succeeding, and if Harry used that method he had succeeded. "one involved surrounding his brain with magic but he didn't use it because it could've caused brain death, so he used the second method that involved Basilisk venom on a wound and then applying phoenix tears in it fast." She heard everyone, including her father and godparents who were behind them, gasp. They reached the library in less than a minute.
As soon as they opened the doors they heard a very angry veela screaming.
"- THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? HOW COULD YOU CONSUME, NO, INJECT YOURSELF BASILISK VENOM AS IF WAS NOTHING?" When she said 'inject' he heard a collective intake of air from behind them and knew that he had more furious people to deal with soon. Meanwhile, Fleur just continued with her rant or would've done so had his mother not interrupted her.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER DID YOU REALLY INJECT YOURSELF WITH BASILISK VENOM?" Guess it's time to see the legendary Evan's fury that everyone told him about. Harry just sighed, his first day wasn't going as good as he had hoped. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? WERE YOU EVEN THINKING?" the yelling continued until Nadai, Sirius' wife and the eldest twins' godmother, asked them to stop yelling so she could check him.
"He seems alright. And other than a very big magical boost I can't see anything wrong. And I don't even know if the boost is his natural and due boost or a product of the venom and the tears constantly running through his body, maybe it's a mix of both. This Is the first time that a child has both substances inside him. Hell, I don't even know if it will affect his growth. Magic has never clear outcomes with the unknown." Everyone looked worried and Lily was hugging Harry caressing his hair. Apolline was also hugging her daughter, although it was to calm her and avoid a murder.
Eventually, Apolline asked curiously.
"I think we all know why you did it, and even if it was reckless and stupid, it is somewhat understandable. What I'm curious about is where you heard of such a method? Even the veela ourselves know of only one way to stop the alluring effect not naturally." Everyone turned to him waiting for an answer, and he gulped loudly.
"I didn't hear about it anywhere" he didn't even raise his head from where it was resting.
"where did you read about it then?" this time his father asked.
"nowhere." Was his short reply, to which his sister frowned and tried to confirm.
"if you didn't hear nor read about it anywhere, how did you know that it would work? Or better, where did you get the idea?" She loved her twin dearly, but sometimes she just wanted to strangle him.
"I didn't know about the effect it would have, nor do I know the extent of the other effects. I only confirmed its effectiveness when I entered the room and I didn't feel like I wanted to ask for Fleur's hand." The adults looked stupefied at his answers. They didn't know what to say or how to react, although they did share the desire to both tie him to his bed and kill him a few times and then resurrect him.
When no one talked for a minute he tried to defuse the situation.
"so, mother dearest, is breakfast ready?" He looked at her with a smile but instantly regretted doing so when that broke her out of her stupor. Soon the yelling began anew and he couldn't do anything but face it and sigh.
'What a lovely first day in my new life… lovely indeed.'
