Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K Rowling

A/N: Alright, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. Please leave a review if you feel like it! I'd just like to warn you that there will be a chapter from another point of view than Harry's in this one. I just reached 100 follows on this story so I'd like to thank you for…well…following this story. I hope that you've enjoyed it thus far and will continue to do so!

Chapter 7: Enchanting

Breakfast the next day was different from what I'd ever experienced before at Hogwarts. It was almost deadly quiet, the only students who spoke were the Beauxbatons students who chattered on as if everything was just normal.

The addition of men in red robes and frowns on every face added to the sober mood in the hall. They observed us like we were a pack of sheep who would try to run away at any given moment.

The Hogwarts populace was for the first time completely united in something, it was hard to find someone who didn't send the occasional death glare towards one end of the Slytherin table. The Slytherins had even created a large gap between themselves and the Durmstrang visitors.

I had never imagined that Slytherins would do something in support of me, directly or indirectly. Here we were however, Malfoy was sending death glares at Krum. All because Durmstrang had attacked me. Or well, they had attacked far more than me, but it felt better to phrase it that way.

I shoved my food down quickly and painfully had to endure Fleur Delacour complaining about how she couldn't find a date for the dance. I rolled my eyes, if she couldn't find a date. No one would. I knew for a fact that at least a dozen had asked her out, Ron was one of them.

"Have you asked anyone to the dance yet, Harry?" Neville asked curiously from where he sat in front of me.

"Nope," I said dismissively.

"Is there anyone who you want to ask?"

"Nope," I replied shortly.

"Really? A castle full of girls and there is not a single one you fancy?"

"Not really, I need someone to go with me though. Any ideas?"

"You want me to choose your date for the dance?" Neville asked incredulously.

"Perhaps you'll think of someone I haven't…" I clarified.

"I think you're going about this all wrong. You should ask someone you like. Someone you want to go with because you think you two will have a good time. I can't tell you who that is." Neville declared.

"The majority of these girls hated my guts up and until a week ago, it's a difficult hurdle to overcome."

Neville nodded understandingly. "I get that. You shouldn't forgive anyone, but you may have to learn to see past all of what happened then. You need someone to go with."

"I know Neville. I know," I sighed tiredly.

-()-

"Potter, are you paying attention?" McGonagall snapped irritably.

"Yes, Professor," I replied quickly and sat up in rapt attention.

It was the last lesson of the day. The last lesson of the week. After this, I would have the entire weekend to finally begin my real education. You really couldn't blame me if I stared out the window thinking about what exciting things I would be learning when McGonagall was going over the anatomy of a butterfly for the hundredth time.

My class' progress had been minimal on our task to transfigure the matchstick into a butterfly. It felt as if we were just treading water at this point, the highlights of each class was when someone thought they succeeded but had just repeated Bones' earlier feat.

I sighed in frustration as McGonagall prattled on about a butterfly's thorax. I had actually paid attention the first time she went over this, now it was like watching the same movie for the 50th time. Everything which made you like it the first time was just gone.

Just as I thought I was going to fall asleep, the bell rang and I gathered my things. We slowly streamed out the door and into the weekend, a weekend of studying for everyone, but more so for me.

"You want to go to the library and get started on that charms essay Harry?" I heard Hermione call out as I managed to seperate myself from the masses of students who were now crowding the halls.

"I've already got something planned. Next time, 'Mione," I answered without turning around.

A hand grabbed a hold of my arm firmly and I jerked around to scold whoever it was. It was Hermione as it turned out, with Ron standing just behind her looking a bit sheepish.

"What?," I snapped at her with a glare.

"What is it exactly that you've got planned?" Hermione asked demandingly.

"None of your business," I answered brusquely and jerked my arm out of her grip. I began to walk away but Hermione was not finished.

"Are you seeing someone?" Hermione asked accusingly and I stopped dead in my tracks. "I mean, you're always gone somewhere. You're spending all your time somewhere, with someone."

"And you think this is my secret lover?"

"So there is someone you're meeting!" Hermione stated winningly.

"No," I stated firmly. I was treading very thin ice here. A certain promise was being very close to being broken, if unintentionally.

"So what are you doing then?"

I sighed and dragged them off to a secret corridor for more privacy.

"The truth is," I began as I looked them both in the eye with a warning. "I've spent all my time in the Chamber of Secrets."

There was complete silence for a few moments.

"The Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked incredulously. "The one with a basilisk in it?"

"Do you know of any other 'Chamber of Secrets'?" I asked sarcastically.

"Why would you spend time there?" Hermione interrupted before Ron could answer.

"First off, I only went there because I was safe there. No one else can reach me there," I paused as if contemplating my next few words. "But now, I am studying for the tournament there, it is like my base of operations."

"Alright, that's good," Hermione replied a little hesitantly. "Could you show it to us?"

"I don't think that would work," I lied easily. "There are wards protecting the inner part of the chamber from anyone who isn't a parselmouth. We were lucky the roof exploded in second year," I continued tiredly. "If you had gone inside Ron…"

Hermione looked far from happy but Ron looked jubilant at the prospect of not having to go into the chamber again.

"If that's all?" I demanded and left as both remained silent

-()-

I practically ran back to Gryffindor tower, changed out of my Hogwarts robes quickly and outright ran under my invisibility cloak to the fourth floor. Arriving there out of breath wasn't ideal and I was a little bit too early. She didn't have much else to do though, all she did was sit with her face buried in a book.

As it happened, her face was not buried in a book when I entered. For she sat in her usual armchair with her eyes closed and did nothing. I walked assuredly to the armchair reserved for me and was about to sit down as a flash of red light appeared from her previously unseen wand.

The familiar sensation of being hit in the gut came and I glared at her venomously.

"You need to have con…"

"Constant vigilance," I interrupted irritably. "Got it, I'll keep it in mind."

"See that you do," Rowena stated with a wrinkled nose and stood up.

I followed her out of the main room, to my disappointment not into the room made for duelling. Instead we went inside the room built for enchanting things. She had briefly shown me this room before but I hadn't really paid any attention.

The room had the same pair of purple armchairs as all the other rooms but it was otherwise completely different. Racks filled with an assortment of random things were raised against the walls. I saw a plastic toy and a burnt piece of parchment. The space reminded me of how Dudley's second bedroom had looked before I got it, filled with things thrown away.

The thing which stood out among everything else was something I knew though. It was my golden egg I'd forgotten the night of the first task. I hadn't thought about it since then, it was months until the second task after all.

The girl sat down in one of the armchairs and folded her hands in her lap. "I will tell you how to solve this clue," the girl asked confidently as I sat down in front of her.

My eyebrows rose at her statement. I rarely got anything for free from her, therefore I should have realised it would not be as straightforward as she made it sound.

"They obviously want you to crack the egg by listening to the sound in the right way," the girl lectured quickly. "That doesn't teach you anything though, so I want you to solve it in another way."

"Is this way harder or easier?" I inquired hesitantly. I already suspected what the answer would be.

"Depends how good you are at enchantments."

"I'm awful at it," I deadpanned.

"Might be slightly difficult then," Rowena said with a shrug. "You will solve it my way. I don't care how long it takes."

"Right. So what is your way?"

Rowena levitated the egg in front of us and cast a spell to make small strings and lines of different colours appear around the egg.

"This egg is heavily enchanted. These things you see," Rowena explained and gestured to the mess of colours. "Are all the enchantments placed on the egg. Unenchant," she instructed firmly.

She then stood up and was going to leave before I called out, "Row… Master, I don't even know the simplest of enchantments, how in Merlin's beard am I supposed to solve this?"

"Begin researching 'the third revealing spell'. Perhaps some of the objects in here will help you as well," Rowena answered without turning around. "Good luck."

The silver door swung shut behind her without a sound and I sat still in the room for several minutes before I recovered.

This was not how I expected apprenticeship to work.

-()-

Considering that I was in a room owned by Ravenclaw, there were surprisingly few books. The only book on enchanting was beginners guide which briefly explained 'the third revealing spell' and how to use it. Using the spell was easy enough, the egg lit up in all the colours I had seen earlier on my first try.

I was supposed to somehow dirk the different threads and lines apart and then cast to 'finish the purpose of the enchantment'. Whatever that meant. I worked on this for what must have been over two hours with nothing to show for it when I realised that this would take time. It should take time, the egg was most likely protected from people trying to just do what I was doing now. I sighed frustratedly and threw the egg out of my lap onto the floor.

I regretted this immediately as the egg opened and a shrill shriek sounded through the little room. The button was quickly pushed again and the sound disappeared, leaving me in silence again. Perhaps Rowena's way of solving the problem was a better one after all. At least I wouldn't be left with a hearing impediment.

I left the room with my head hanging and plumped down into my armchair with a sigh. The girl was reading a book this time, but shut it with a bang as I sat down.

"Do you have any tips on how to solve it… Master?" requested with a pout.

"The only hint you get is that you won't get any hints. Solve it by yourself or don't solve it at all."

"Aren't you supposed to teach me things? Not just tell me what to do."

"My teaching methods aren't for you to question," Rowena answered sharply.

"Understood, Master." I rolled my eyes.

We fell into silence as I contemplated how to bring up the next subject. I didn't need to though because Rowena did it for me. Was that something she knew I would ask about because she could read my mind?

"You have issues finding a date," Rowena stated simply.

"Yeah… I can't think of anyone to ask. I kind of fancied someone earlier, but seeing them with a 'Potter stinks' badge doesn't do wonders for a potential relationship," I answered honestly.

"I see," Rowena stated before she paused briefly. "I think the question you need to ask yourself is whether you want to go with someone for enjoyment or for benefit."

-()-

Why did I do what he said?

Here I was at the highest tower in all of Hogwarts and felt fooled beyond relief.

I rarely left my room at the Beauxbatons carriage since the incident which had come to be known as 'The Battle of the Great Hall', this was the one risk I took. All for nothing.

I'd actually been delighted to receive an owl from Roger Davis earlier in the day. I still hadn't found a date for the upcoming ball. Not that no one had asked me, I must have declined about twenty boys since the ball was announced a few days ago. The one thing which made me decline every single one was that they stuttered and staggered over every move and word when they reached my vicinity.

So I had made it my goal to find every student who could resist my allure completely. It wasn't that difficult to do really, just have my friends note every head which didn't instinctively turn towards me as I entered.

The result of my small research experiment was that four students of the entire combined student bodies of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were resistant to my allure. Thus I had four candidates for the dance. One would never accept solely due to the fact that I had personally hexed and ordered hexes on him. My stomach twisted at the thought of doing something like that to a fourteen years old boy. He wasn't any normal fourteen year old boy, but still.

Another candidate was eleven, which was an immediate pass. The third candidate was a Durmstrang student and already had a date. So no chance there. The fourth and last option was Roger Davis.

The owl had arrived at breakfast in the morning and romantically asked me to come to the highest tower at eight in the evening. I wasn't stupid. I knew what he wanted to do. The only problem was that I was currently watching Roger Davis playing quidditch at Hogwarts' quidditch field.

"I'm going to kill him," I declared angrily and spun on my heel to carry out my vengeance.

I jumped in surprise as a familiar voice spoke up from the shadows. "You alright there, Ms. Delacour?"

I spun around to the source and there he stood, the fourth champion. He smiled a little hesitantly, as if he wasn't quite sure if the threat was directed at him.

"No, I'm not alright," I snapped angrily. "What are you even doing here? Were you spying on me?"

"N…No," he spluttered quickly. "I just like to come here sometimes, it's a good place to think," he clarified absently.

"You can't think anywhere else in this huge castle?" I asked with a scoff.

"You'd be surprised at how difficult it is to find a spot where you won't get jinxed to Mars," he grimaced painfully and looked at me a little pointedly.

I flushed slightly and looked towards the ground. "Yeah… sorry about that," I apologised timidly. "You did almost kill my headmistress though."

"Let's chalk it up to the tournament, yeah?"

I stared at him and he squirmed a little under my scrutiny. He dragged a hand through his hair, which messed up his already messy hair even more. It was kind of adorable.

"Sooooo…" he continued. "What are you doing up here? I am not the one soon to be dead right?" he questioned with a nervous chuckle.

"You're safe… for now," I emphasised and smirked at him menacingly.

"Good to hear," he laughed and walked up to stand beside me looking over the grounds. "If you don't mind me asking, who is it that you want to kill?"

"Roger Davis," I ground out with a snarl.

He blinked at my sudden aggression and was silent for a moment.

"Did he stand you up?"

For the second time this evening, I looked at him in surprise. Perhaps the second Hogwarts champion was sharper than he let on.

"Yes, promised to meet me here and didn't show," I confirmed with a nod. "He's down there playing fucking quidditch instead."

He actually had the audacity to chuckle at this and I reeled at him in anger. He stopped abruptly and held his hands up in surrender.

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just so typical for a quidditch captain to practice quidditch over everything else, when the season is cancelled," he explained quickly.

I sent him a glare which would have many cowering in fear but he met my eyes with an amused glint. Turning back to the ground with a scowl I huffed indignantly.

"How did you know?" I asked eventually.

"How did I know what?"

"That he was going to ask me out."

He contemplated my question before responding. "Two things. He is one of two students I know of which are resistant to your veela allure," he explained casually. "There may also be a betting pool in Hogwarts that he'll be your date to the ball."

I let out a long sigh, "there is a betting pool on who I am going to the ball with?"

"Yeah, Davis was the favourite. That's all I heard. I'm not too into all that gossip stuff. I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to place a bet, champion and all," he explained with a dark chuckle.

"Okay, but why would he being resistant to my 'veela allure' make it more likely?" I remarked demandingly. I had noticed that he had specifically said 'veela allure'. It was nice of him to differentiate between my heritage and my own appearance. Even if I had to acknowledge that they went a little hand in hand.

"For about the same reason as for me, I expect," he stated tiredly.

"Really?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, for you, it's your veela allure. For me, it's my fame. People don't want us for our personalities," he explained.

For the third time this evening, I looked at the boy in surprise. No friend had ever understood what I went through. My mother had been understanding and all, but she was my mother, of course she would.

But here was this man, only fourteen and seeing right into my soul.

"So you do understand," I said with a sad smile.

"Yeah, I haven't really been able to find a date either. It's hard to know what is real and what is something they do to brag about," he said bitterly as he looked over the grounds. "Look, I managed to score 'the boy who lived'! Look at me!" he continued in a mocking imitation.

I chuckled darkly and understood him completely. It was hard not to when people who asked me out never looked above my shoulders.

It was a freezing December evening and our breaths froze as we breathed slowly. We must have stood for half an hour next to each other in comfortable silence. Both of us lost in our own thoughts.

"A good place to think indeed," I thought to myself and chuckled.

A few minutes later, Potter cleared his throat and broke our moment of silence. "I think I'll be off Delacour," he said with a yawn. "It was… nice talking to you."

He gave a small wave of goodbye and was about to take his leave.

"Wait!" I called out at the last moment.

He turned around questiongly, "What?"

The idea suddenly didn't seem as great. He would probably laugh at me. I had literally hexed him purple a week ago.

"I… Uhh. I have an… an idea," I began and I cursed myself inwardly for appearing like a lovestruck little girl.

He watched me with an amused smirk on his lips. "And that idea is?"

"We both don't have a date for the dance… we both have problems finding a date for the dance. So I thought..." I trailed off with a gesture between us.

"That we should go together?" he finished with a small smirk.

I blushed slightly, furious that I was the one behaving like a teenager with a big crush. Not him. "Yes," I tried to state confidently and met his eyes determinedly.

He held eye contact for several long moments, his amused smirk still in place.

"Alright. Ms. Dealcour, would you like to be honoured by being my date?" he asked haughtily and raised his chin as if addressing me condescendingly.

I giggled a little before I played along. "Of course Mr. Potter." I began adoringly and smiled at him widely. "I would be so honoured to. So very honoured Mr. Potter," I finished with a slightly exaggerated curtsy.

He laughed and did a small bow in return. Our comfortable silence continued for a few seconds before I broke it when I pulled a piece of shimmering blue textile from my pocket.

"Here you go," I said and offered the small sample to him. "It's the colour my dress will have, so we can match," I clarified at his confused look.

"Great," he responded shortly, as if not certain how he was supposed to react.

He stuffed the small piece in his pocket and gave me a small smile. "Just one thing Delacour.."

"Call me Fleur, I think you can call me by my first name if we're going to the dance together."

"Call me Harry then," he replied absently before he once met my eyes with a determined stare. "I would greatly appreciate it if you could make sure that your schoolmates stay off my back. It causes a lot of… discomfort," he replied with a pained smile.

"Of course, I'll make sure Durmstrang doesn't touch you either," I replied with a smirk. "I won't show up to the ball without a date."

He nodded gratefully.

"Great. Good night Dela… Fleur."

"Good night Harry."