I don't own Harry Potter, and I'm doing this for fun, not profit. Please let that be a sufficient disclaimer!
...
Dudley was sceptical. He trusted Harry – he was family, and a good friend – but this was just ridiculous. There was no way it could possibly be true. "You're not dating any of them?!"
Harry, blushing, shook his head. "No, they're just friends!"
Dudley stared in disbelief. When Harry had started getting all those letters, Vernon and Petunia were unhappy but resigned to allowing it. Dudley, however, was curious. And once Harry told him who the letters were from, he was excited.
"So as well as your 'best friend' Fleur, and your 'sister' Cheveu...", Dudley began.
"She is my sister!", Harry protested, though Dudley ignored him and continued.
"... and both of them are older, and very hot, by the way. As well as them, you're writing to Katie – older and hot; Daphne – looks similar to Fleur so must be hot; Susan – 'pretty'... so hot; and Hermione – you didn't describe her so I'll just guess that she's hot too", Dudley listed, Matter-of-factly.
Harry just blushed even deeper.
"...but you're not going out with any of them?! Harry – why?!", finished Dudley, unable to solve this paradox.
Harry felt like his face could well be brighter than the sun. "They're my friends. They're fun to hang out with, and I don't... I mean, I hadn't really... they're just friends!", Harry finished, lamely.
Dudley thought for a moment, and tried a different tactic. "Ok, who's the prettiest?"
"What?" Harry asked, like a cornered animal.
"You heard me. Which of your hot friends is prettiest?", Dudley asked. He had to admit, part of him enjoyed teasing his cousin in this way.
Harry looked for an exit to the conversation – or the room! – but found none within reach. And then, his mouth utterly betrayed him. "Fleur".
"Aha! I knew it! Do you want to kiss her?", Dudley asked.
The earth now betrayed Harry, for it refused to open up and swallow him whole, sparing him from the conversation.
...
Later, Harry tried to put the conversation out of his mind. He'd often heard his fellow Gryffindor boys talk about girls, and it was as if they were pieces of meat! Harry did not think of Fleur, Katie, or anyone else like an object to be devoured, so he tried to forget the topics Dudley had raised – especially the more... intimate ones – and instead think about something else. Like potions, or Quidditch, and definitely not kissing.
Thankfully, there was plenty to do back home with the Dursleys. Dudley had some new video games, including one about some eco-warriors saving the world from a giant meteor; the eco-warriors bit was ok, but the fact the characters could use magic was Harry's favourite, and it gave him ideas – was there a spell he could learn that meant he could shoot lightning from his hands?
Harry also enjoyed going into Greater Whinging with Dudley, as Petunia and Vernon had decided that they were both old enough to go. The shops (including one that only sold video games!) and burger restaurant were particular highlights, and Harry had to be careful not to spend too much money.
Towards the end of his time with the Dursleys, Harry also fitted in a visit from Katie, though given Dudley's mischievous smile Harry decided it was best to spend the day out somewhere. In the end, Katie and Harry went to Greater Whinging to see some shops and try another (for Harry) restaurant; and if Katie thought it was a bit like a date, she didn't say anything, and she certainly wouldn't describe it in those terms to anyone... especially not her mum!
...
Whilst Harry was having an enjoyable time with the Dursleys, Sirius was not having an enjoyable time.
Oh, the summer had started off well enough, Sirius thought – since Susan Bones had started Hogwarts, her aunt, Amelia, had more time on her hands, and Sirius had made a move on his gorgeous former schoolmate; a move that was readily accepted.
Honestly, he had tried to start something sooner, but realised quite quickly that Amelia had to prioritise Susan, and he had to prioritise Harry (and help Remus find work, and help Dumbledore overturn centuries of Pureblood rights, and...).
But yes, the summer had started off well, especially as he and Amelia felt they could "go public" with their relationship... Not that they would have had much choice, what with Remus figuring out very quickly what was going on. Of course, it was his fault for the two of them being... busy... for a bit too long on the day they were meant to pick up the kids from the express.
But his mood had hit freefall when he picked up the Daily Prophet one morning.
"MINISTRY EMPLOYEE AND PROMINENT WIZARD ARTHUR WEASLEY WINS DAILY PROPHET GRAND PRIZE!"
Oh, he was initially pleased for the family, but as he looked closer at the picture his blood froze, and an unbridled rage flooded his veins.
"No! NO! That can't be! He can't be!"
A pause, whilst Sirius studied the picture intently, and then... "The finger! That rat-faced bastard cut off his own finger!"
A stream of pure vitriol poured from Sirius' mouth, and by the end he was ready to charge to Egypt and murder the rat. But just before he did, he remembered another time he had charged off with rage; he had almost lost everything, and only because of Sebastian and Appoline was he not sat in Azkaban.
And then he remembered the promise he had made; that he wouldn't do something like that again. He sat, stewing, then decided what he would do. Picking up his mirror, he called into it. "Code Stag. Get me Remus."
...
Remus had been having a lovely morning, reading a light novel and sipping a well-brewed cup of tea. He was just thinking about lunch when his mirror glowed blood red and began emitting an ear-splitting sound. Rushing over, he picked up the mirror, ordered "on!" and saw the face of a man with murder in his eyes.
"Talk, Padfoot.", Remus said without preamble.
"This morning's Daily Prophet. Front page. Look at the rat.", Sirius instructed, barely holding his anger.
Without question, Remus reached for the paper – he'd read it already, but hadn't seen anything amiss – found the rat in question, then turned back to Sirius, disbelieving. "Padfoot... It can't... How?!"
"Look at his paw. Look at the traitor's right paw!", growled Sirius.
Remus looked again, then reacted in a nearly identical way to Sirius: creatively swearing his thoughts.
"Ok, how do we do it?", Remus asked.
"Preferably without leaving a body", replied Sirius with certainty.
Remus thought for a moment. "I think we should bring Sebastian and Appoline in. I'll call ahead, you get dressed, meet you there."
Sirius looked down, then remembered he was still in his dressing gown. Nodding at Remus, he ended the call.
...
"Enculé de ta mere!", exclaimed Appoline.
"Exactly. Can Sirius and I join you and Sebastian to discuss?", asked Remus.
Appoline, feathers showing along her arms, just nodded.
As Remus' face disappeared, she called "Sebastian! I need you!", and tried to calm herself enough for her feathers to disappear. It didn't work.
...
It was a mercy that Fleur had taken Gabrielle out for the day, so the four adults could speak openly.
"So how do we deal with Peter?", Sirius asked, his rage now merely simmering, not boiling.
"I'm about to say something that will make you mad, but hear me out", began Appoline. "We must first be sure of 'is guilt."
Sirius' face showed his rage was heating up, but he held his tongue and motioned for her to continue.
"We know 'e is a coward. But if 'e was under a spell that 'alloween night, and 'as been 'iding because 'e fears Sirius, then it would be wrong for us to simply kill 'im", explained Appoline.
Sirius had wanted nothing more than to kill Peter, but if there was any chance he was innocent then it was right to check.
"So what do we do?", asked Remus.
Sebastian replied grimly. "We brew Veritaserum, we find a way to contain 'im, we capture 'im, then see where we are."
...
Peter Pettigrew, a wizard currently in the form of a rat, was content. His life wasn't as comfortable as it was before his master had died, he would admit, but he was cared for and fed. And this holiday in nice, warm Egypt was just what he needed.
He had nearly dosed off in Ron's lap when he heard a strangely familiar voice. Peter tried to remember who it belonged to, but the sun's warmth was calling and he was too tired to think. The voice talked a little longer, then Peter heard footsteps approach; he hoped it was Percy, sneaking him another treat.
But when Peter opened his ratty eyes, he saw it wasn't Percy. It wasn't any of the Weasleys. It was someone much, much worse. "'ello, little rat. Would you like to come play with me and my friends?"
Peter squeaked in panic before a jet of light hit him.
...
"How did it go, my cherished?", asked Sebastian.
Appoline held up the cage. "Very well. The Weasleys are unlikely to remember the encounter, as only one was awake and the allure hit him hard. Peter tried to run, but I'd caught him unaware."
"Good. The others have the room ready", Sebastian stated.
Nodding, the two walked into the prepared room, closed the door, then locked it.
"Now remember, 'e might be innocent. We must determine that first before we do anything we could regret", reminded Appoline.
Nods all around, Appoline took the rat out of the cage, placed it in the middle of the room, and used her wand to transform him back into a wizard they all knew very well. Then, she woke the wizard up.
Peter came to and saw Sirius, Remus, Sebastian and Appoline staring violently at him, wands drawn and ready to strike.
"S...Sirius? R...Remus? S...S... Sebastian? A... Appoline? H...Hello f...friends", Peter stuttered, his eyes racing back and forth looking for a way out.
"Peter. We are going to dose you with Veritaserum and ask you questions. If you struggle, we will be forceful. If you don't struggle, we will be kind", explained Remus.
"V...Veritas...s...serum?", choked Peter.
"Yes. Like I said, if you struggle we will be forceful. And I will let Sirius define 'forceful'."
"O...okay", stuttered Peter, trapped.
...
Half an hour later, Peter was stunned and bound, Sebastian and Appoline were appalled, Sirius was livid, and Remus had thrown up. They all expected that Peter was guilty of betraying James and Lily, but the other crimes he had committed during his Death Eater initiation... those sick, sick acts he had forced a poor family of muggles to endure...
Once Remus had rejoined the group, all that was left was to decide Peter's fate.
"The obvious option is to turn 'im over to the Aurors", stated Sebastian reluctantly.
Remus shook his head. "No, too risky. We used to practise escaping capture during the war, and Peter is very good at it."
"Besides, what do they do with him? Put him in Azkaban? During my brief stint there, I was able to transform into my dog form, and no-one even noticed. He'd escape within a week", Sirius stated, assuredly.
Appoline's face hardened. "We deal with 'im ourselves, then? But 'ow?"
Sebastian's face took on an evil grin. "Is there a way to force Peter to remain in 'is rat form?", asked Sebastian.
Sirius looked confused. "Yes, I think so. But why would we want that?"
"I want 'im to meet two of our friends", Sebastian replied, a glint in his eye.
...
"Geoff! Wake up! It's feeding time!"
"Oh, bloody hell! I'm not ready, Barry. I can't eat another rat yet! Can't we just hiss at Idiot Simon and make him go away?"
"It's not Idiot Simon, Geoff", replied Barry, teasingly.
"It's not...? VOLE WIZARD!"
"Yep! Aren't you glad I woke you up?"
"SO glad! I feel starving already!"
A brief pause, and then Geoff asked an important question. "Wait, where's our Harry?"
Barry blinked. "What? He must be there somewhere!"
"Also, who's the new girl with Vole Wizard?", Geoff also asked.
"Whaaaat? What's going on, Geoff?"
"Hello Geoff, Barry. I am Selina. I'm here to translate today", explained the witch.
"Hurray! Dinner translation! Geoff, you're saved!", cheered Barry.
"What do you mean, I'm saved?", asked Geoff, confused.
"Well, Vole Wizard knows what I always have, but he can't know what you want to eat unless someone tells him", explained Barry, with surprising insight.
Selina chuckled. Did they just call Sebastian 'Vole Wizard'?!
"If I may interrupt, Vole Wizard has come today to ask you for a favour", stated Selina, sniggering a little as she used Sebastian's title.
Geoff and Barry cocked their heads. "What is it?"
"I'm told you know young Harry?", asked Selina.
"Wooo! Harry's the best!", cheered Barry.
"We're planning to adopt him one day", agreed Geoff.
"Well, this is a favour for him, too. You see, Harry's parents are dead, killed by an evil wizard but betrayed by one of their best friends – a wizard called Peter", began Selina.
"Booooo! Peter sounds a hundred times worse than Idiot Simon!"
"Yeah!"
"Well, Vole Wizard and his friends all believed Peter was dead, but really he was hiding as a rat for the last twelve years", continued Selina.
"Whaaat?!"
"See! Bloody rats!"
"A week or so ago, Vole Wizard and friends captured Peter. He's currently held captive in that cage Seb... Vole Wizard is holding", stated Selina.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"
"Serves the rat right! But what does Vole Wizard want from us?", asked Geoff, curiously.
"Put simply, he was hoping you would be willing to devour the rat"
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"
"We hate eating rats. It's all we ever get fed", began Geoff. "But every now and then, Harry and Vole Wizard appear, and treat us like snake royalty, feeding us whatever we like", he continued.
"For them, I'm willing to get rid of their problem", Geoff finished.
"Are you sure, Geoff? You hate rat; I'll do it", offered Barry.
"No Barry, you have your vole. As for me... I've heard I get try wizard today."
Sebastian hadn't wanted any of the children to get involved in vengeance, so none of them knew what was happening, Harry included. He was lucky he had found Selina, another Parselmouth, to help talk to his favourite snakes.
But as Sebastian levitated Peter into the snake enclosure and woke him up; as he watched as rat-Peter fled in terror, only for one of the snakes – Geoff? – to devour him whole, seemingly savouring the experience, Sebastian thought that maybe one day he would share the memory. But only when the children were much, much older.
...
Harry had enjoyed the rest of his summer. After his four weeks with the Dursleys, he had spent his usual two weeks with the Delacours. He had made many cherished memories – taking Fleur and Gabrielle to Celeste's together, brewing more potions with Sebastian and Appoline, hearing all about Sirius' new (or not so new) girlfriend and practising his flying, going sightseeing with Remus, and best of all having a delayed joint birthday party to celebrate Fleur turning fifteen, Harry turning thirteen and Gabrielle turning seven.
Then, there was the visit to Gringotts to surprise Fleur.
"But why do you want to check our account?", asked Fleur, curious.
"Uncle Sebastian said the goblins were going to... invest?... our money. I want to know if we have enough for a big house yet!", said Harry, with a convincing deception.
Together Harry and Fleur, accompanied by Appoline, made their way to the front desk. "Hello Mr. Goblin, can we see our vault?", asked Harry politely.
Shredscalp, the goblin at the desk grunted. 'Not kids!', he thoughts, unknowingly mimicking a colleague from a few years ago. Unfortunately for Shredscalp, that other goblin made an appearance. "I will manage the children, if you wish", came the surprising offer from just behind Shredscalp.
"Oh by all means, Smashface", began Shredscalp. 'waste your time', he finished, in his head.
Smiling a shark-like grin to his colleague, Smashface then turned to the children. "Mr. Potter, Miss. Delacour, Mrs. Delacour, this way, please"
Fleur, remembering this goblin vaguely and having paid attention to the conversation, replied politely, "thank you, Smashface".
Shredscalp looked half outraged, half horrified as Smashface led Harry, Fleur and Appoline to their vault.
After they arrived and the vault opened, Fleur was stunned. "Smashface... where did all the extra gold come from?! That looks about twice as much as we had before!"
Smashface looked towards Harry; at his nod, he continued. "A large transfer was made from Mr. Potter's London vault. The rest has come from investments – which have done well over the last four years. Most of the gold you see is not actually available – it is invested. Magic allows you to see the value of your vault, but you can only remove the galleons that are not invested – about 10% of the value"
Fleur managed to overcome her shock, then asked the important question. "How... how much...?"
Smashface grinned. "Approximately 187,000 galleons."
Appoline, who was similarly shocked, managed to add, "Far more than you need for a house."
Fleur looked to Harry, conflicted. "'arry... How did you...? This is too much..."
Harry shook his head. "Uncle Woof said it was from convicted Death Eaters who had no family left or something – the money from their vaults was given to people who lost family in the war, like me. And like we agreed, half of all the money we receive goes into the vault", Harry replied confidently.
"But 'arry..."
Harry shook his head. "I don't need to have all this for myself. I want to share it, with you."
"Besides", interjected Appoline, "I'd guess about half of the money in the vault is because your Papa negotiated it for 'arry from the Basilisk corpse – Harry wouldn't have received anything otherwise. That means half the money came from your parents, and half came from his, if you think about it."
Harry hadn't thought about it like that before, but he was happy with that reasoning. Changing the topic, he turned to Appoline. "How much do we need for a good house?"
"No more than sixty-five or seventy thousand galleons", Appoline replied.
Harry turned to Fleur, and grinned. "Let's get Gabrielle a vault of her own!"
Both Fleur and Appoline started to feel wetness in their eyes; Harry was just so sweet!
...
Unfortunately, right at the end of the holidays, something terrible had happened. Harry had done something awful, and Fleur would never forgive him, he knew. He didn't plan for it to happen, but he was sure he had now betrayed her in the worst way. He had betrayed his best friend, and he felt awful.
It had happened that last morning before Harry returned to school. The night before, he and Fleur had gone to sleep as usual, though the night was unusually hot. In the morning Harry had woken up first, and he had looked across the room to where Fleur slept in her bed.
But that's where everything went wrong. For Fleur wasn't wearing her pyjama top. She must have taken it off in the night because of the heat, and she must have moved her sheet off of her as well, as Harry could see the smooth skin of her back and shoulder; he even had a teasing view of the side of something that looked very interesting. And in that moment, Harry's hormones hit him like a freight train.
He couldn't tear his eyes away. He was feeling something deep within him – like a hunger – that he'd only ever felt hints of before. Harry shook himself. He shouldn't be staring at Fleur like that! What would she think? He had betrayed her without realising, staring at her like some of his fellow Gryffindors would. Moving as silently as he could, Harry got dressed and fled the room.
...
Fleur was worried. Something had happened to Harry, and she didn't know what. He looked... guilty? Embarrassed? Whatever it was, he had been avoiding her all morning – which was unheard of! – and he wouldn't even tell her Mama or Papa what the problem was!
She knew it had to do with her, for she was the one he was avoiding, but she had no indication what could be the matter! Her Papa was due to take Harry to the station in half an hour, so she had nearly run out of time. Making up her mind, she decided she would have to corner him. They were best friends, and whatever it was they would deal with it together.
Finding him in their room, packing, Fleur walked in and shut the door. "'arry?"
Harry jumped at her voice, and turned slowly. "Fleur?"
She slowly approached him, but Harry looked terrified. "'arry? What is wrong? You've not been yourself this morning, and I'm worried."
Harry tried amateurishly to deny it. "Nothing's wrong! I'm fine! Everything's fine!"
Fleur gave him a stern look. "No, you're not. Tell me what's bothering you!"
Harry's resolve broke. "I'm really sorry, Fleur! I've done something terrible, and I feel really guilty, and I didn't mean to! It just sort of happened, and I stopped as soon as I could, but I've betrayed you, and you're being so nice, but you'll hate me when you find out!" Harry was panicking quite effectively at this point.
Fleur looked very confused. "What did you do?"
Harry was trapped. He had no option but to forge ahead, and let the judgement fall. "I woke up first, and when I looked over to you, you... you...". Harry took a deep breath. "You didn't have your pyjama top on, and your bedsheet had slid down, and I saw your back, naked, and I might have seen part of your... erm... and I tried not to look, but I couldn't! I really tried! And then when I realised I was staring I knew I had to leave the room.
"I'm so sorry, Fleur! I didn't mean to! I don't want to lose my best friend, but I was just awful!", Harry finished, despondently.
Fleur stepped right up to Harry, and he winced, waiting for the verdict. Suffice to say, Fleur's reaction was not what he expected. Leaning forward, Fleur whispered seductively in Harry's ear. "Did you enjoy the view?"
Harry's mind was adrift. "W...what?"
Fleur continued, with a huge grin on her face. "I said, did you enjoy the view, my cherished?", she whispered, her voice hot in Harry's ear, and her arms wrapping around his waist.
Harry had to hold Fleur just to stay upright. He felt like the world was spinning around him, and he couldn't keep up. He knew he must be ill, as his body felt so hot. "I... I don't..."
Fleur gently nibbled Harry's earlobe. "Did you enjoy seeing my naked back? Did you, my cherished?"
Harry moaned. He couldn't help it; what Fleur had just done to his ear had felt so good! "Yes", Harry admitted, his voice dry.
Fleur continued the torturous whispering in his ear. "Good. It's about time you found your desire, 'arry. You've kept me waiting a long time."
Harry couldn't think. Fleur's words and actions had blended his brain to mush. But at that moment, Harry's sanity was saved by a voice calling from downstairs. "Five minutes, my little fly!"
Harry regained a small portion of his senses. He took a step back, so he could look into Fleur's eyes. "Fleur, I... I don't know what's going on, but... but I think I really like it."
Fleur smiled joyfully at Harry. "We can talk later, through the mirrors. We have something important to decide."
Harry tried to blink some sense into his head – he mostly failed, of course. "What do we have to decide?", he asked dumbly, throat still very dry.
"How patient we are", Fleur replied enigmatically.
"Fleur! Stop stealing all of 'arry's time again!", came the seven-year-old whine.
Fleur kissed the very corner of Harry's mouth, and felt the shiver that ran through him. "We will speak soon, no?"
Harry nodded, blushing deeply, then steeling himself he leaned forward and copied Fleur's action – kissing the corner of her mouth. As Fleur's eyes filled with joy, Harry had no doubt she appreciated the action; perhaps as much as he had enjoyed performing it.
...
Author notes:
I will admit this is the first of two chapters I've been particularly looking forward to writing (the second will be a little while yet); I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
A huge thank you to those who favourite or follow Delacour Godparents; you help me write faster.
Now, a note on reviewers – you guys are amazing. Within hours of posting a new chapter I get a score of reviews, and it really encourages me to jump straight into the next one. There are now so many I even have a problem... I am going to forget someone who has already reviewed, and class them as a new reviewer. Sorry in advance, and please ping me if/when I do!
Thanks to jouve25, rashio, sh777 and qwe123 for reviews; and for the forces of nature that are Arnie1701, MauserTeleri, Spider of Dreams, PhantomKnightPercival, magitech, bahnannah, Urgazhi, Z-Arc34, Magnus Whitlock, Earth Guardian 28, alix33, SKFF, rishi547, DanT-00, minerdude, and justareader21 for re-reviewing since last chapter.
Rashio – Thanks; this is where I have to admit I'm only really aware of what's in the books, so sorry I've missed something in wider canon / forgot part of the books!
Magnus Whitlock – regarding year four: spoilers :-P (PM me if you're really curious). Regarding the other point, I wasn't planning to; trying to avoid romance-type drama.
Earth Guardian 28, alix33 – thanks both, I'll get to them!
SKFF – I'd finished writing the chapter, then figured, "why not?", and went back to add the Gringotts scene. Hope you enjoyed it!
justareader21 – I might try to include, though due to the tone of the story it'll focus on the sunshine parts!