Title: Wisdom From The Dark 11
Author: Jyrnn
Spoilers: All four books. Wait, can't say that now can I? Okay, PS, CS, PoA, and GoF. I'll probably pilfer whatever bits I can from The Order of The Phoenix. Incidently some of it can fit. Thank you J. K Rowling. Well except the part about Sirius, for that you can ...
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor any of its characters. They are the sole intellectual property of J. K. Rowling and Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. I gain no monetary reward for this exercise and do not intend any copyright infringement.
Summery: A child has suffered enough, an intruder encounters unexpected resistance, and the careless words of Voldemort have the most unexpected results. Harry Potter is about to take a stand.
Chapter 11: All Things Concerning Heavenly Bodies
The pair had slipped back to the table and Philippe bade Harry goodbye after wrangling the promise that he would seek a sword master to train under. Harry beckoned for a servant to clear the table and suggested they adjourn to one of the sitting rooms to take dessert. Now sitting on a plump, plush couch in the "balcony room" as Harry had taken to calling it, the young exile was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. It was approaching Midnight and the day's excitement had taken its toll on Gabrielle. The small French girl had curled up and nestled into the crook of his arm and was presently snoring delicately. Her own veela charms were yet dormant with youth and sleep. Fleur was another matter. She had taken the right cushion as her seat and placed her hand familiarly on his arm. Without a doubt she was breath-taking in the candle light and had not changed from the confident girl who had robbed many boys of coherent thought during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Being alone in a hotel room with a beautiful French girl would normally be a problem, either insuring trouble or misunderstanding. Of course her parents were out holding hands on the balcony and she was concerned with one thing: Bill Weasley.
"But you must tell me, what does this Bill do?" Her eyes were keen and speculative. Obviously the long haired, cowboy boot wearing, dragon fang earring bearing Bill Weasley had left an impression on the silver-haired girl. Harry struggling for breath to mange speech and to quell the rising surge of amusement he felt. Eventually he managed to describe some of Bill's tomb-raiding antics which he had heard from Ron to his old rival. The idea of the irresistible Bill Weasley donning a fedora dodging traps and rogue goblins in Egyptian tombs proved too much for Fleur. She excused herself and all but ran to her house where she wold write her first letter of correspondence with the eldest Weasley son. With Fleur gone Harry was free to chuckle.
"Bill will not know what hit him." He said to no one in particular. " And how about you Gabrielle, will you forget all about me shall I wait six years to run away with you ?" He asked the dozing form of Gabrielle Delacour. He began to ease her towards the cushioned arm of the couch when she mumbled the name "Micah" in her slumber. With mirth in his eyes Harry brushed an errant lock away from her eyes and retorted to her nocturnal admission, "Traitor, I guess not."
Rising from his seat of the past two hours Harry stretched his stiff joints. Content with the course of the nights event Harry strode out to the dais to speak with Montrose and Angelique. The couple were specking in low, reverent voices as they admired the lantern-lite view of midnight Marseilles. It was quite spectacular. The warrens and random turns of Rue de la Sorc that had baffled Harry on the trek to The Pillar were themselves a strict pattern. The outlying paths of the magical district traced the shape of a bird with wings unfurled. Also if one looked close enough one noticed that the lantern lights mirrored the summer time horizon. Even with his less than scholastic efforts at astronomy Harry could discern a number of constellations depicted by the district's lights. For some reason order being buried in what seemed chaotic uplifted Harry's spirits.
"Remarkable is it not?" came the distinctly feminine voice of Angelique Delacour. The dulcet tones overrode his thoughts and he was forced to pay attention to her. His curiosity regarding Philippe and his discourse with Montrose and Fleur had prevented him from truly seeing the woman. Now in the pale moonlight he could only applaud the good fortune of Montrose Delacour. If Fleur had been stunning at first glance, Angelique was radiant. Garbed in a simple white robe, the clothing provided no distraction to the beauty of her appearance. Ivory skin and sharp yet flowing features screamed her Veela heritage. If she was only one half Veela than it was no wonder he was willing to throw himself out of the box to impress the Bulgarian team mascots at last year's World Cup. Yet a night in close quarters with Fleur had dulled him to her supernatural charms. Had she just walked up to him he probably would have fallen to knees in adoration. She was aptly named, truly and angel on earth.
"Yes. Such subtlety. I should have known though. I passed such streets as Orion's belt and the corner of Vega and Deneb." She laughed with delight.
"The summer triangle," she motioned to a triangular ward of the district. "That is where our home is. No one in Marseilles fails their astronomy, they have only to remember their home. Such cheaters we are." She grinned a mischievous little grin.
"Ah but does little good for the winter sky my love" interjected Montrose. "As found out in my first year at Beauxbatons." They both laughed, reminiscing of years long past. The trio stood that way for a few more moments before Montrose sighed. "We must depart, I am afraid. Philippe is only in for the week, he has duel two days hence. You will come?" Angelique had ducked in to check on Gabrielle.
"If I can. I fear I've much work to do. I must prepare myself for the journey east. "
"Ah. That is unfortunate, Philippe must really like you to be as open as he was. His parents worry so unnecessarily about him." He whistled under his breath. "You should see him duel. It is bad luck that the only bout his family witnessed was the one when..." He made a motion across his cheek to symbolize the scarring of the Frenchman. "He is formidable."
"I can imagine. If I can I will be there, but..." he trailed off. Montrose understood.
"Well I must thank you. Dinner was exquisite and the view, well how often does one get to see his home as it meant to be seen?" He patted Harry's shoulder affectionately. Soft music wafted out from the suite. Angelique had picked up her youngest and was humming a lullaby as she stroked the small girl's ringlets. The picture of mother and daughter struck Harry quite violently. It reenforced the long accustomed ache that he felt when he saw another's family.
"You are truly blessed Monsieur Delacour." Harry said as he tried to hide his growing loneliness. The man merely beamed at the swaying form of his wife and grasped Harry's hand by way of farewell. How nice, he'd managed to hide his sorrow from his guest.
***
After the Delacours had left Harry settled down into a fitful sleep. Old pains reemerged and his scar woke him out just as the sun was rising. There was no vision of Voldemort merely a sense of triumph. Harry guessed Riddle had learned of his exile, though how he could only guess. The names Falstaff or Malfoy sprung readily to mind. He could not be certain. After that galling awakening Harry found peace elusive. Restless he arose from bed and bathed. After opting to take an early breakfast downstairs Harry found himself being ushered to a secluded nook of the dinning area. The tasty meal of cheese, porridge and coffee revitalized the young wizard. For a while he was content to watch the mounting activity around him. The stumbling of early rising wizards and hung-over muggles returned to Harry a sense of normality that had long escaped him.
Quite suddenly he was interrupted from unrolling the newspaper that the waiter had given him after clearing away his dishes and refilled his coffee. A loud, reprimanding hoot disturbed the dull morning atmosphere as a snow white owl swooped across the dinning area. It was Hedwig! She circled his sitting from and landed heavily on the table. She was too thin, with ruffled feathers from the long journey. Before Falstaff's attack he had sent her with a message to Sirius. Obviously she had flown the long distance from England to Marseilles, using the bond formed between wizard and familiar to locate him. He quickly lifted her to his chest and promptly received a sharp nip on his nose.
"Don't be like that. I couldn't very well help being exiled now could I?" Hedwig hooted contemptuously and twisted out of his grasp. She landed back on the table and turned her back on him. After much cajoling and pleading she eventually gave in and nipped his finger affectionately. She stuck out her leg to give notice to small document she had borne across continental Europe. It was letter from Sirius! Desperately Harry untied the missive form the leg of his owl and read.
Harry,
Stop blaming yourself. IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT. I'm sure you did all you could. Can't talk for long, I think one of the locals is on to me. Time to move on. Don't let your bloody Uncle badger you anymore. Tell him I'm going to hex his face off.
Stay safe,
"Snuffles"
How trivial his past concerns seemed. He had bothered Sirius with his guilt, distracted a fugitive from his flight. Now as an exile he could appreciate the enormity of his mistake. Poor Sirius, Harry doubted his godfather had heard of his exile being as isolated from the wizarding world as he was. He would definitely need to draft a letter to inform Sirius of his state. For a minute he sat pondering the plight of both his godfather and himself and was overcome with melancholy. With a sigh he opened the discarded newspaper and stroked Hedwig. Idly he perused the headline.
His fingers stopped moving and his eyes widened in shock. The paper read "BRITISH FUGITIVE APPREHENDED BY DUTCH POLICE." Under the headline was a picture that was unmistakably of Sirius struggling in the custody of law enforcement officers. The moving image depicted the anger and rage of his godfather as he fought to escape from the clutches of his captors.
End 11
Author's notes:
Well there's Hedwig and Sirius all in one chapter. The summer triangle, according to some, consists of the three brightest stars of the summer sky: Deneb, Vega, and Altair. As to his broom, it was taken from him when he was charged and confiscated because of the manner of his defense against Falstaff's attack. Ten points to anyone who catches the three implications of the title.
To my reviewers I must bow and offer my most profuse thanks. That means you all: Nighttime Sunshine, peeweepotter Relle, AJaKe, cricket, sil, Zaln, Lady FoxFire, Them Girl, fan, Otaku Freak, Saiyan Seker88, bostonian, ADJ, Webster, Star Mage, Lilybee2003, ZeonReborn, gallandro-83, Paul, pablo5280, Imaginaryfriend, Destruxion, kapies, rosie. Bill Weasly, Myrddin Ambrosius and Rachel A. Prongs. You feedback is greatly appreciated. I consider all of you suggestions.
Author: Jyrnn
Spoilers: All four books. Wait, can't say that now can I? Okay, PS, CS, PoA, and GoF. I'll probably pilfer whatever bits I can from The Order of The Phoenix. Incidently some of it can fit. Thank you J. K Rowling. Well except the part about Sirius, for that you can ...
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor any of its characters. They are the sole intellectual property of J. K. Rowling and Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. I gain no monetary reward for this exercise and do not intend any copyright infringement.
Summery: A child has suffered enough, an intruder encounters unexpected resistance, and the careless words of Voldemort have the most unexpected results. Harry Potter is about to take a stand.
Chapter 11: All Things Concerning Heavenly Bodies
The pair had slipped back to the table and Philippe bade Harry goodbye after wrangling the promise that he would seek a sword master to train under. Harry beckoned for a servant to clear the table and suggested they adjourn to one of the sitting rooms to take dessert. Now sitting on a plump, plush couch in the "balcony room" as Harry had taken to calling it, the young exile was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. It was approaching Midnight and the day's excitement had taken its toll on Gabrielle. The small French girl had curled up and nestled into the crook of his arm and was presently snoring delicately. Her own veela charms were yet dormant with youth and sleep. Fleur was another matter. She had taken the right cushion as her seat and placed her hand familiarly on his arm. Without a doubt she was breath-taking in the candle light and had not changed from the confident girl who had robbed many boys of coherent thought during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Being alone in a hotel room with a beautiful French girl would normally be a problem, either insuring trouble or misunderstanding. Of course her parents were out holding hands on the balcony and she was concerned with one thing: Bill Weasley.
"But you must tell me, what does this Bill do?" Her eyes were keen and speculative. Obviously the long haired, cowboy boot wearing, dragon fang earring bearing Bill Weasley had left an impression on the silver-haired girl. Harry struggling for breath to mange speech and to quell the rising surge of amusement he felt. Eventually he managed to describe some of Bill's tomb-raiding antics which he had heard from Ron to his old rival. The idea of the irresistible Bill Weasley donning a fedora dodging traps and rogue goblins in Egyptian tombs proved too much for Fleur. She excused herself and all but ran to her house where she wold write her first letter of correspondence with the eldest Weasley son. With Fleur gone Harry was free to chuckle.
"Bill will not know what hit him." He said to no one in particular. " And how about you Gabrielle, will you forget all about me shall I wait six years to run away with you ?" He asked the dozing form of Gabrielle Delacour. He began to ease her towards the cushioned arm of the couch when she mumbled the name "Micah" in her slumber. With mirth in his eyes Harry brushed an errant lock away from her eyes and retorted to her nocturnal admission, "Traitor, I guess not."
Rising from his seat of the past two hours Harry stretched his stiff joints. Content with the course of the nights event Harry strode out to the dais to speak with Montrose and Angelique. The couple were specking in low, reverent voices as they admired the lantern-lite view of midnight Marseilles. It was quite spectacular. The warrens and random turns of Rue de la Sorc that had baffled Harry on the trek to The Pillar were themselves a strict pattern. The outlying paths of the magical district traced the shape of a bird with wings unfurled. Also if one looked close enough one noticed that the lantern lights mirrored the summer time horizon. Even with his less than scholastic efforts at astronomy Harry could discern a number of constellations depicted by the district's lights. For some reason order being buried in what seemed chaotic uplifted Harry's spirits.
"Remarkable is it not?" came the distinctly feminine voice of Angelique Delacour. The dulcet tones overrode his thoughts and he was forced to pay attention to her. His curiosity regarding Philippe and his discourse with Montrose and Fleur had prevented him from truly seeing the woman. Now in the pale moonlight he could only applaud the good fortune of Montrose Delacour. If Fleur had been stunning at first glance, Angelique was radiant. Garbed in a simple white robe, the clothing provided no distraction to the beauty of her appearance. Ivory skin and sharp yet flowing features screamed her Veela heritage. If she was only one half Veela than it was no wonder he was willing to throw himself out of the box to impress the Bulgarian team mascots at last year's World Cup. Yet a night in close quarters with Fleur had dulled him to her supernatural charms. Had she just walked up to him he probably would have fallen to knees in adoration. She was aptly named, truly and angel on earth.
"Yes. Such subtlety. I should have known though. I passed such streets as Orion's belt and the corner of Vega and Deneb." She laughed with delight.
"The summer triangle," she motioned to a triangular ward of the district. "That is where our home is. No one in Marseilles fails their astronomy, they have only to remember their home. Such cheaters we are." She grinned a mischievous little grin.
"Ah but does little good for the winter sky my love" interjected Montrose. "As found out in my first year at Beauxbatons." They both laughed, reminiscing of years long past. The trio stood that way for a few more moments before Montrose sighed. "We must depart, I am afraid. Philippe is only in for the week, he has duel two days hence. You will come?" Angelique had ducked in to check on Gabrielle.
"If I can. I fear I've much work to do. I must prepare myself for the journey east. "
"Ah. That is unfortunate, Philippe must really like you to be as open as he was. His parents worry so unnecessarily about him." He whistled under his breath. "You should see him duel. It is bad luck that the only bout his family witnessed was the one when..." He made a motion across his cheek to symbolize the scarring of the Frenchman. "He is formidable."
"I can imagine. If I can I will be there, but..." he trailed off. Montrose understood.
"Well I must thank you. Dinner was exquisite and the view, well how often does one get to see his home as it meant to be seen?" He patted Harry's shoulder affectionately. Soft music wafted out from the suite. Angelique had picked up her youngest and was humming a lullaby as she stroked the small girl's ringlets. The picture of mother and daughter struck Harry quite violently. It reenforced the long accustomed ache that he felt when he saw another's family.
"You are truly blessed Monsieur Delacour." Harry said as he tried to hide his growing loneliness. The man merely beamed at the swaying form of his wife and grasped Harry's hand by way of farewell. How nice, he'd managed to hide his sorrow from his guest.
***
After the Delacours had left Harry settled down into a fitful sleep. Old pains reemerged and his scar woke him out just as the sun was rising. There was no vision of Voldemort merely a sense of triumph. Harry guessed Riddle had learned of his exile, though how he could only guess. The names Falstaff or Malfoy sprung readily to mind. He could not be certain. After that galling awakening Harry found peace elusive. Restless he arose from bed and bathed. After opting to take an early breakfast downstairs Harry found himself being ushered to a secluded nook of the dinning area. The tasty meal of cheese, porridge and coffee revitalized the young wizard. For a while he was content to watch the mounting activity around him. The stumbling of early rising wizards and hung-over muggles returned to Harry a sense of normality that had long escaped him.
Quite suddenly he was interrupted from unrolling the newspaper that the waiter had given him after clearing away his dishes and refilled his coffee. A loud, reprimanding hoot disturbed the dull morning atmosphere as a snow white owl swooped across the dinning area. It was Hedwig! She circled his sitting from and landed heavily on the table. She was too thin, with ruffled feathers from the long journey. Before Falstaff's attack he had sent her with a message to Sirius. Obviously she had flown the long distance from England to Marseilles, using the bond formed between wizard and familiar to locate him. He quickly lifted her to his chest and promptly received a sharp nip on his nose.
"Don't be like that. I couldn't very well help being exiled now could I?" Hedwig hooted contemptuously and twisted out of his grasp. She landed back on the table and turned her back on him. After much cajoling and pleading she eventually gave in and nipped his finger affectionately. She stuck out her leg to give notice to small document she had borne across continental Europe. It was letter from Sirius! Desperately Harry untied the missive form the leg of his owl and read.
Harry,
Stop blaming yourself. IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT. I'm sure you did all you could. Can't talk for long, I think one of the locals is on to me. Time to move on. Don't let your bloody Uncle badger you anymore. Tell him I'm going to hex his face off.
Stay safe,
"Snuffles"
How trivial his past concerns seemed. He had bothered Sirius with his guilt, distracted a fugitive from his flight. Now as an exile he could appreciate the enormity of his mistake. Poor Sirius, Harry doubted his godfather had heard of his exile being as isolated from the wizarding world as he was. He would definitely need to draft a letter to inform Sirius of his state. For a minute he sat pondering the plight of both his godfather and himself and was overcome with melancholy. With a sigh he opened the discarded newspaper and stroked Hedwig. Idly he perused the headline.
His fingers stopped moving and his eyes widened in shock. The paper read "BRITISH FUGITIVE APPREHENDED BY DUTCH POLICE." Under the headline was a picture that was unmistakably of Sirius struggling in the custody of law enforcement officers. The moving image depicted the anger and rage of his godfather as he fought to escape from the clutches of his captors.
End 11
Author's notes:
Well there's Hedwig and Sirius all in one chapter. The summer triangle, according to some, consists of the three brightest stars of the summer sky: Deneb, Vega, and Altair. As to his broom, it was taken from him when he was charged and confiscated because of the manner of his defense against Falstaff's attack. Ten points to anyone who catches the three implications of the title.
To my reviewers I must bow and offer my most profuse thanks. That means you all: Nighttime Sunshine, peeweepotter Relle, AJaKe, cricket, sil, Zaln, Lady FoxFire, Them Girl, fan, Otaku Freak, Saiyan Seker88, bostonian, ADJ, Webster, Star Mage, Lilybee2003, ZeonReborn, gallandro-83, Paul, pablo5280, Imaginaryfriend, Destruxion, kapies, rosie. Bill Weasly, Myrddin Ambrosius and Rachel A. Prongs. You feedback is greatly appreciated. I consider all of you suggestions.