The Problem with Veela
Chapter EIght: Snakes and Flowers
"Wait, tell me again."
Harry sighed. Ron really didn't pay attention at times. Perhaps it was because he was too busy focusing on catching the Quaffle or staying upright on his decrepit broomstick. Either way, Harry explained,for what felt like the billionth time, his early morning chat with Daphne and how he had left the castle for an entire day with no seemed vastly more interested in his conversation with the blonde witch than anything else.
"You talked to a snake? Why?" His question was rather accusatory and slightly hostile. It jabbed at Harry. Which in turn annoyed the darker haired boy.
"Come on Ron. Houses really don't matter."
"They do if she's a Slytherin-" Ron replied indignantly but was quickly cut off by Harry's voice.
"No. It doesn't." He said with a hint of finality. "I was almost put in Slytherin."
Ron dropped the Quaffle. His mouth followed suit as he gaped at his best friend. He couldn't believe his ears. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, in Slytherin? Harry looked sheepishly at the ground. It was the first time that he had transpired what the Sorting Hat had told him on the evening of their first day at Hogwarts. Ron managed to close his ajar jaw and Harry noticed a red tinge at the back of his ears. He cleared his throat.
"Well. If you were almost a Slytherin, they can't be all bad?" He said. It was a weak attempt at humour yet Harry appreciated it greatly. It was an unsaid apology and the pair's conversation continued easily. Ron wanted to know everything they talked about but Harry was hesitant to reveal the details. Afterall, it had only been one conversation. And a brief one at that. It wasn't like they were dating. Ron seemed to read Harry's mind.
"Let's hope no one else finds out."
Harry knew by "no one else", Ron meant Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. The pair of them were notorious gossips and single handedly fueled the fire that was the Hogwarts rumour mill. They were usually the cause of the whispers and rumours that followed people. Harry did not need any rumours about him dating Daphne Greengrass to add to his problems. He chucked Ron the Quaffle, slightly more violently than he intended to, knocking the wind out of him slightly. Ron took this as the cue that they should head back inside. It was getting late, the sun was starting to dip behind the mountains surrounding the castle, and getting caught by Filch out of hours was not a prospect either of them looked forward to. Ron turned his broom towards the ground but Harry stayed in the air for a bit longer. Taking in one final deep breath of the fresh evening air, he followed suit and ten minutes later they had made it back to Gryffindor Tower without running into Snape or the caretaker.
They found Hermione sat in an armchair by the fire buried in her Arithmancy homework. She barely acknowledged them, instead opting to wave her hand at them and say "I'm really busy right now. I've got to get this done." The two boys shrugged at each other before taking seats by her that had just been vacated by two first years. Harry stared at the flames, allowing the orange light to bore into his eyes. It licked the edge of a large log before the wood caught alight. Yellow flame rose and became orange and then red as Harry watched the fire dance. A sudden movement in front of his eyes brought him out of his thoughts. Ron had waved his hand in front of his face, clearly wanting to attract his attention.
"What?" Harry asked.
"You okay? Looked a bit out of it." Replied Ron. Harry didn't feel alright but he didn't particularly fancy talking about it in the Common Room.
"I'm fine, just a bit tired." He lied. Ron nodded at him and grinned. Harry returned it but his was more subdued than he would've liked. The black haired teen rose to his feet, bade goodnight to his two friends before heading for the staircase to the boys dormitory.
"Wait Harry, you've got Snape's essay to do!" Hermione's voice followed him to the first step where Harry stopped. Quickly, he went upstairs, grabbed his Potions textbook and came back downstairs. Hermione passed him a large scroll of parchment which he took gratefully. Ron groaned as he remembered that he hadn't done it either. Grumbling and moaning, Ron pulled out his battered quill and began to think. An hour passed and both boys began to get more irritated with their essay, or rather the lack of it. Harry had scoured his textbook for anything he could on the importance of a potion's thickness yet his search had yielded nothing. Frustrated, he snapped his book shut causing Ron to draw a thick line of ink across his page. He swore loudly, which earned him a smack on the arm from Hermione.
"I give up. I'll just do it tomorrow in the library. There is nothing about potion thickness in here." Harry said, flipping through the pages rapidly. Snatching up his parchment and quill, Harry went upstairs for the second time, only this time he had the intention of going to bed. Kicking open the door in frustration, Harry threw himself onto his bed with his face down in the pillow and lay there for a while, wrapped in his own thoughts. He barely heard Dean and Seamus come in not long after him and Neville was quiet and respectful as per usual. By the time Ron came back up after managing to finish his Potions essay, Harry was already in a deep slumber. Not wanting to disturb his friend, Ron got ready for bed as quietly as he could and took to his own four poster. Not long after, the youngest Weasley son's snores echoed around the dormitory.
Harry woke up early and scrambled out of bed, bleary-eyed. He pulled off his t-shirt from the day before and opted for his school robes. It was, after all, Monday morning. Harry stumbled through the Common Room, not disturbing anyone as most people were still asleep or in bed. Pushing open the portrait hole, Harry stepped out into the corridor and turned left towards the stairs. 'Hogwarts really needs a better traversal system than stairs.' He thought as he trekked through the ancient structure. After a solid ten minute walk, Harry found himself outside the Library. Peering through the window, Harry saw no one but Madam Pince inside. He was surprised that she was there so early, but deduced that she would probably be more irritable than usual so he opened the door and closed it softly behind him, rather than letting it slam like most other students did when it was more crowded. Despite this courteous move, Harry still opted for a table as far away from the elderly librarian as possible. He shrugged off his bag, pulled out his quill and supposed essay and put it down on the table in front of him. After a few moments of staring blankly at the parchment, Harry stood up and made his way over to the Potions section. He ran his hands over various spines but couldn't find anything that would help. He checked the large reference on the side of the bookshelf. His eyes scanned up and down before spotting "Density, Thickness and Volume" followed by a few titles. Harry went back down the shelf looking for The Technicalities of Brewing by Ishmael Prost. Yet his search concluded with nothing but a sense of disappointment and a crestfallen face. The Gryffindor sighed, ran a hand through his untidy hair and wandered back over to his desk, where he dropped into his seat. Harry looked down at his parchment, admitting defeat and accepting that he'd have detention with Snape later that evening, when suddenly a large book was dropped onto his desk.
"This may be rather useful." Came a female voice. Harry looked up to see Daphne Greengrass standing in front of him, smirking slightly. A small smile tugged at his lips as he saw her.
"Thank you." He replied. Daphne nodded at him, before sliding into the seat beside him. Harry pulled the book towards him and started to flip through it.
"Page 46." Daphne prompted. Harry flicked to it and began to skim the words for anything useful. He picked up his quill and began to write, ever conscious that Daphne was watching him the entire time. It was slow going at first, due to the fact that Harry had little to no knowledge of the subject but with a few prompts from the Slytherin sitting next to him, he managed to get his entire essay written in little under an hour. Satisfied with his work, Harry turned to Daphne and grinned tiredly.
"Sorry, zoned out slightly. What are you doing here?" He asked, rather dimly. She looked at him with a rather stony stare.
"I'm here to do my own work, which you have prevented me from doing with your incompetence." The Slytherin replied. Harry raised his hands in faux hurt which caused Daphne's lips to curve slightly.
"Well, thank you for your help Miss Greengrass." Said Harry. Daphne picked up her bag and stood up.
"You're welcome Potter."
Harry watched her leave, her dirty blonde hair falling into waves behind her as she walked. Then the bell rang. Harry was snapped out of his daze half caused by Daphne and half caused by sleep deprivation and sprinted out of the library, much to Madam Pince's dismay. The Gryffindor raced through the castle, narrowly avoiding a trick step on the third floor and made it to Charms as quickly as he could. Professor Flitwick was not happy with his three minute tardiness but excused him once he saw how out of breath Harry was. Harry slipped into his normal seat between Ron and Hermione and pulled out his books and quills while trying not to disrupt the lesson any more than he already had. Breathing heavily, Harry waved away their questions, signalling that he'd answer them once they got on to the more practical part of the lesson. His two friends looked at each other with confused expressions on their faces but soon turned their attention back to the Charms Professor.
After fifteen minutes or so of listening and note taking, Professor Flitwick set the class off on the physical part of the lesson. Hermione managed to successfully cast her Concealing Charm within five minutes of the task, earning her ten points to Gryffindor. The message on her parchment had completely disappeared, while Seamus Finnigan's had caught fire yet again. As Professor Flitwick hurried over to put out the flames, Ron and Hermione turned back to Harry.
"So, did you get Snape's essay done?" She asked. Harry nodded and Hermione smiled at him proudly. "Oh well done Harry, didn't even need my help."
Harry chuckled softly. "Well, actually, I did get a bit of help from someone."
"Who?" asked Ron and Hermione simultaneously. However, Ron believed he knew just by looking at Harry's expression. The redhead had recently got better at reading emotions and this had helped him avoid making social situations more awkward than they needed to be.
"Daphne." Harry replied simply. Ron grinned subtly, while Hermione looked slightly puzzled.
"Greengrass? Daphne Greengrass?" She asked. Harry nodded. Hermione blinked at him, unusually dimly. "I didn't know you were friends with her."
Harry shook his head at this. "We aren't. We've just spoken a couple of times."
"Ah." Replied Hermione, "She's in my Arithmancy class although she seems to keep to herself. I haven't really had a proper conversation with her."
Harry nodded. But before their chat could continue, Professor Flitwick came over to examine their work. Harry, who was still in the teacher's bad books for being late, concentrated extra hard on concealing his ink.
-line break
"Sebastian? What is the meaning of this?" Dumbledore asked, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was. In front of the headmaster stood Sebastian Delacour, along with a large stack of parchment. The Frenchman put his right index finger on the top of the pages and then replied to the older wizard's question.
"These sheets are magically sealed by you. Yet they have little to no relation to you Albus as I got them from Madam Bones when I went to her with regards to Harry Potter. So, please, would you kindly open them so I may have a look. Unless there's something in there you don't want me to find?"
Dumbledore stared at Sebastian with an emotionless look on his face, not wanting to reveal anything. Rather hesitantly, Albus chose the path of least resistance and picked up his wand and cast the spell that allowed anyone access to the documents. Sebastian nodded gratefully at him before picking up the large stack of paperwork and moving over to the sofa in the corner of the office.
"Do you mind? Excellent, thanks." Said Sebastian with an air of faux politeness in his voice. He sat down on the deep red sofa and placed the parchment stack beside him. While Dumbledore watched, Sebastian began sifting through the sheets next to him.
An hour or so passed and Albus had done nothing but watch Sebastian read. The Frenchman had pretended not to notice but he was not an unobservant man. Sebastian knew that Dumbledore was concerned and agitated by his presence.
He put the final page back on the pile and picked them all up and shrunk the parchment down. Placing them in his bag, he stood up and walked over to Dumbledore.
"Also, if I could have the Potter family vault key that would be appreciated." Sebastian said politely. Dumbledore's jaw almost dropped. He managed to keep his composure and replied to the French wizard's request. "And why would you need that?"
Sebastian smiled. It was a wry and cunning smile that sent unease through Albus.
"Well you see Albus. The vault technically belongs to me, or at least until Harry turns 17. For you see, I'm his legal guardian now."
"That's impossible, Vernon and Petunia Dursley are Harry's guardians." Dumbledore replied.
"Not anymore." Replied Sebastian snarkily. He withdrew the papers he had given Amelia earlier in the week and showed it to the headmaster allowing him to take in the new information.
"Well, I'm still his legal guardian. The vault is still under my control."
Sebastian smiled at him yet again. He shook his head and chuckled softly.
"Oh Albus, you think of yourself so highly, maybe that's why some things manage to pull the rug from beneath you. I've had you struck off as a legal guardian and replaced you with Apolline.
You have no legal power over Harry anymore."
Dumbledore's usually calm face twisted into one of subdued rage. Yet Sebastian did not cower or cringe away from him.
"Everything I ever did for Harry was for his own good. I never did anything wrong." Albus said slowly. Sebastian's expression turned too, into one of stony seriousness.
"Well you did leave him abandoned in a family who never wanted him and took two seconds to sign the papers. But I'm sure Harry agrees that what you did was more than okay." Sebastian jabbed back at the older wizard.
"Sebastian I-"
"Ne baise pas avec moi Albus. I promise you, it will end up worse for you than for me."
With this final remark, Sebastian strode over to the door, wrenched it open and walked out of the headmaster's office, slamming it shut loudly behind him. Meanwhile, just behind the closed door, Dumbledore sat down in his chair, deflated. He stroked his beard solemnly. It was a rare occasion in Albus' life when he didn't know what to do. He knew what he had done was wrong. He had turned a blind eye to Harry after leaving him at Privet Drive and not involved himself more in the boy's life. It was his mistake and the damage that would inevitably be done was his fault. Albus could only blame himself.
Sebastian flew through the castle, seething with rage. He had allowed it to boil over during his confrontation with Dumbledore and it now fueled his pace as he walked through the castle. Wrapped in his own thoughts, Sebastian didn't notice the student in front of him until he wandered straight into them. "Oh! Oh dear, I am terribly sorry." Sebastian said as he helped pull the boy back to his feet. He recognized the hair and then the face as the teenager turned to face him. "Harry! Oh, just the person I was looking for. May we talk? If you have somewhere to be, we can rearrange."
"Uhm. Hi Mr Delacour. Uh, yeah. I can talk. Although I'll have to be in Potions in about twenty minutes."
Sebastian waved his concerns away.
"This will take five minutes of your time." He reassured the boy. Harry nodded and they set off together towards the Beauxbatons carriage in a rather subdued silence. Harry's mind was racing at 100 miles an hour, desperately trying to think of a reason why Sebastian would want to see him. Too many thoughts of disaster filled his head and it became blank instead. The Gryffindor mustered up all his courage as he stepped into the powder blue carriage and followed Sebastian down the corridor to his quarters. The French wizard held the door for him and gestured to the seat in front of his desk. Harry gratefully took it and made himself comfortable as Sebastian sat down in front of him.
The Frenchman surveyed the teenager before him, taking in his nervous expression and darting eyes. Intertwining his fingers together, Sebastian spoke.
"Harry, I have some news. No, please, do not be worried. It is to do with your aunt and uncle. I went snooping around the Ministry of Magic for information to do with you, I hope you can forgive me for that. Merely the actions of a curious and caring father."
Harry nodded at him, signifying that he both understood why and that he accepted the apology.
"Anyway, back on topic. I visited your relatives' house and used Veritaserum to get them to tell me the truth. Harry, I know everything they did. They will be punished for it. But the most important thing is that you are no longer under their guardianship. Along with this, Albus Dumbledore is equally powerless when it comes to your legal guardians. Myself and Apolline are now your guardians, by law, if you'll have us." Sebastian finished with a strong sense of finality. Harry stared at him, his mouth slightly ajar. Many emotions flitted across his face, confusion, anger, shock and finally acceptance.
"So.. I never have to go to the Dursley's again?" He asked rather tentatively.
"No Harry, you do not." Replied Sebastian kindly. Harry's eyes watered slightly. He stood up and crossed over to the window. Staring out of it, he saw the sun breaking through the grey clouds that lingered in the sky.
"Thank you." He said softly, turning back to Sebastian; who had crossed the room to stand closer to Harry. The Frenchman nodded at him. Harry, reluctantly, moved closer to Sebastian and allowed the older wizard to wrap him in a hug. Harry squeezed his eyes yet this couldn't stop the small tears from falling out of them. Once they separated, Sebastian held out a Gringotts key to him.
"Access to your family vault. Got it off Dumbledore." Sebastian winked. Harry was gobsmacked.
"I have a family vault?"
Sebastian blinked at him. He was now as confused as Harry was. "Harry, you do know that your family was one of the richest in magical Britain right?"
Harry shook his head.
"Merde. That old goat really told you nothing? Well then, when are you free next?"
Harry shrugged. "This weekend I suppose."
"Excellent. I'll take you to Gringotts and we can sort this out. Along with this, I'll take you to your new family home. Although, I imagine Fleur will want to join us for that part. Will that be okay with you?"
Harry nodded. Sebastian smiled and patted him on the shoulder. He walked with Harry to the carriage exit, bade him farewell and returned to his office, a satisfied grin on his face. Harry stood still for a few moments after the door closed, before he raised his hands to the sky and cheered with delight. He would never have to set foot in that house ever again. He would never see Dudley or Vernon's fat faces again. Petunia would never be able to inspect every aspect of him with distaste again. He would spend his summers with people who actually wanted him to be there. People he could trust, depend on and maybe, just maybe learn to love. He almost skipped to Potions and even grinned at Professor Snape as he walked into his classroom, much to the Potions Master's disgust.
Harry slid into his seat, still beaming. He shook his head subtly, mainly out of disbelief. He looked up to see the rest of the class filing in. His eyes darted through the students with green and silver ties, looking for the one Slytherin he didn't mind. Their eyes locked as she sat down. Harry grinned at Daphne from across the classroom, which she returned. Unfortunately for Harry, his least favourite Slytherin sat next to her. Malfoy evidently tried to engage her in conversation, which Daphne clearly didn't want to be part of and turned her attention towards Snape. Malfoy looked slightly put out but quickly regained his usual smug expression. The blonde boy looked over and saw Harry looking at him. The two of them glared at each other, not wanting to give an inch to the other. Snape saw the pair and as per usual berated the student outside of his house.
"Potter! Pay attention. 5 points from Gryffindor." He barked. Harry turned his angered expression to the blackboard at the front of the room. The rest of the class passed relatively undisturbed. Harry kept his mouth shut so Snape couldn't punish him for no reason and Malfoy kept trying to get Daphne to talk to him. Harry couldn't help the smirks and grins that came to his face whenever he saw Daphne tell Malfoy to leave her alone. Towards the final part of the lesson, Daphne finally snapped. "Bugger off Malfoy! I don't care who your father is, I'm not going out with you." The room was silent for a moment, before a couple of cheers came from the Gryffindor side of the classroom. Seamus Finnigan snorted loudly. Harry turned to Ron and the two of them shared a grin.
"Settle down." Snape's icy voice rang through the dungeon. "Miss Greengrass, Mr Malfoy, if you would kindly leave your relationship status out of my lessons, it would be appreciated."
Malfoy's face had an obvious pink tinge to it and when the bell finally rang, he was one of the first people to leave. Harry deliberately slowed down so he could catch Daphne before they went off to their next lesson. He left the dungeon and slipped into step beside her. "Well, that was eventful." Harry said, grinning. Daphne sighed and tucked a loose strand of her dirty blonde hair behind her ear. "Tell me about it." She replied. "God, he's so infuriating. Daddy this, daddy that. Sometimes you could just-"
"Throttle him?" Harry suggested. Daphne chuckled.
"Maybe a bit more than that Potter."
"Well, I don't want to be involved in that. I get in enough trouble as it is." Harry said.
"Yes, you do have a knack for that." She retorted snarkily. Harry smiled. The two of them were interrupted by Ron, who had just received a detention from Snape for his essay.
"What an absolute-" Ron muttered angrily. "I did the homework! Just because it wasn't good doesn't mean I need the detention."
Harry spoke up at this, "You should get Daph to help. She's the reason I managed to get my essay done."
The Slytherin blushed slightly at the shortening of her name. Ron looked at her, rather blankly.
"Would you do that?" Ron asked, tentatively. Daphne sighed dramatically.
"Fine, I can help you. Although that doesn't mean I'm coming to your detention. I'll just tell you what you need to know."
Ron smiled at her. A genuine smile. Harry noted this and felt proud of his friend, he really was trying to improve on himself. He looked out of the doorway to the Entrance Hall and saw a familiar blonde head.
"Sorry guys, I'll be right back." He said to Ron and Daphne. The two of them were slightly puzzled.
"Harry! I thought we were going to go on the brooms mate!" Ron called after him.
"We will! Just give me a sec!" Harry shouted back. Ron turned back to Daphne who was looking at him.
"You guys have a free period now?"
Ron grinned and nodded. Daphne groaned. "I have to go suffer in Arithmancy while you two muck about on brooms." She turned to leave. "I hope you fall off." She said as she walked away from the redhead.
"Nice to meet you too." Ron shouted to her vacating back. Daphne waved without turning round and soon disappeared down a corridor.
Harry walked out of the castle and into the grounds, pulling his cloak tighter around him as he did. The weather had gotten worse compared to yesterday. A nippy Arctic wind bit at his face as he walked after the person he was following. Harry sped up slightly and once in hearing range he called out.
"Fleur!"
At the sound of her name, the French witch turned round and beamed as she saw it was Harry who was calling her name. She waved as he walked over, slightly out of breath. The lack of Quidditch this year had taken a slight toll on his athletic ability and he made a mental note to try and get into better shape. This decision may have been affected by the fact that Fleur was standing in front of him looking as radiant as ever.
"Harry." She replied, "Papa has told me about your plans to come back to France with us this weekend. I do hope you are looking forward to it as much as I am."
Harry nodded. Fleur's smile widened even further at his clear enthusiasm. "Well, a word of warning. Gabrielle will seem sweet at first but will become more and more irritating. And my mother. Oh, do not get me started." Harry's face understandably paled slightly at the thought of an angry mature French Veela setting his head on fire. Fleur noticed his expression change and put a hand on his shoulder. His shoulder tensed instantly but relaxed slowly.
"Do not panic, Harry. She will like you, I am sure of it." Fleur reassured him, her sapphire eyes looking directly into his emeralds. Harry smiled back at her, evidently more relaxed. Fleur looked behind him and saw Ron standing in the background, evidently waiting for their conversation to finish. She smiled at the redhead and his eyes glazed over slightly before he snapped himself out of it and waved. He pointed to his wrist, signalling to her that they needed to get a move on. She nodded before looking back at his friend.
"Go, your friend is waiting." She said, gesturing to Ron. Harry looked at her, to Ron, and back again. "Go." She said, with a firmer tone to it, "I'll see you on Saturday. Oh, bring your broomstick. I imagine Maman will enjoy watching you fly. And, so do I." With this final statement, Fleur turned around and continued on her way towards the powder blue carriage, leaving Harry to beam and stare after her.
A/N: There we are guys, girls and anyone in between, chapter 8. Many apologies for the delay. I know this chapter was slightly shorter than chapter 7 but I can assure you, chapter 9 is going to be a larger one. Many thanks for all the tips by the way, they do not go unnoticed, especially my shoddy spelling of McGonagall. Until the next time, make sure to follow, favourite and leave a review!
-A Headful of Ideas