The Guardian
A/N: Holy Crap, 36 Favs, 49 Follows, and 6 Reviews within 24 hours. I never expected my story would get that much traction in that short of time. I am very happy for everyone who Fav, Follow, and Reviewed it. Now I will be answering some of the reviews. Here we go!
Reviewers:
Zeropowers0: Thank you, I will try and make sure that it stays interesting.
AaronD1: , I will admit that I tried and failed to copy Rita's style; however, I wanted the article to be in your face and not subtle as I wanted to be more intense and terrifying than it was in the canon. I understand that you may not like it and thank you for the constructive criticism.
2. Ok, now I have had other people tell me to take the snake out, I understand that it may be an overused trope, but I do have a plan for the snake. The reason I have it in there is because the stories I have read that have a snake in it, the snake disappears about halfway through it without any explanation. So please just bear with me here.
3. The hiring of Fleur will be explained in this Chapter so hold on for a second.
4. Harry is a little more mature in this story than in canon, so he will not suddenly burst or be angry so fast, but I do have a plan for that as well.
Depositaire: 1. Yes, I wanted Fleur to be more comfortable around Harry as he is able to resist her allure and treat her like a normal person. I have liked Harry/Fleur Fanfiction for a long time as I think that they can relate to each other very well.
2. The instance bashing would not sit right with me, there might be some bashing later in the story, but I will try not to make this story completely about bashing certain characters.
3. The snake (See #2 above.)
4. The fear will be explained in depth more, but the TLDR is that most of the speakers have been bigots, but again, it will be explained later.
Thank for giving me some incite and helping me understand some things!
kirios1: 1. With Dumbledore, I wanted him to be more formal with Harry at times because saying my boy or Harry does get stale after a while. Just mixing things up.
2. I made Fleur and Harry share a bed so early on is because she is very comfortable around him. It will be explained more in this Chapter so hang on.
3. The sword, again, explained in this Chapter, but I do not want him to rely on only his wand.
4. The accent is very hard to write, and I will go and fix the mistakes thank you.
5. The snake, read this chapter as hopefully I can explain it better.
A/N 2: Wow, people have been generally happy with the first chapter. Thank you!
Chapter 2: The Trial
Bright light shinned through the semi-closed curtains of the room that Harry and Fleur shared. The light hit Harry as he woke up and found out that he was holding something in his right hand, he give it a squeeze to see what it was, and a moan came from the person he was holding. That woke Harry fully as he found that his hand found its way underneath Fleur's shirt and cupped her left breast. To add to the embarrassment, a certain part of his body reacted to this and was poking her in the lower back. Harry slowly removed his hand from her chest and moved it to a safer place over her shirt on her stomach.
"Groping and run 'Arry?"
The question froze Harry in his place. His face started to heat up from complete embarrassment and tried to speak but nothing came out. Fleur was shaking with silent laughter as she turned around and saw Harry beat red and trying to speak.
"'A it's ok 'Arry" said Fleur "I know that you did not grab my chest on propose. I actually found it flattering that you like my breasts so much."
With that said, Harry looked a little more relaxed but still was a little red, so he nodded and started to get out of the bed it came o him that he still had morning wood. He hurriedly got back in the bed and turned his back to Fleur. Fleur looked at Harry in confusion, wondering why he did not get out of bed, but then she smelled something in the air, which smelled like hormones. Since she was Part-Veela, she has a much more sensitive nose for hormones. Then, it dawned on her that he still had an erection. With a sly smirk on her face, she scooted closer towards Harry and laid her hand on his chest.
"'Arry, are you 'aving a problem getting up?" Fleur asked with a devious smile.
"U-um no, I'm not having a problem getting up, I just do not want to yet" stammered Harry.
Fleur still had a smirk on her lips but decided to nod in response. As harry tried to gain control over his body, a question came to mind about why Fleur was going to train him and be his bodyguard.
"Hey Fleur, could I ask you a question?"
Fleur nodded.
"Why did you agree to train me and be my bodyguard? I mean, why bother? You are out of school correct?" When Fleur nodded at that one, Harry continued "You could do anything now that you are of legal age, why not do that?"
Fleur took a minute to gather all of her thoughts together but when she did, "Well, for training you, you are a very powerful wizard, raw power runs off of you if you are angered, but also limited in the knowledge of spells. I might not be as powerful as you with certain spells, I do know more than you and I want to pass down what I know to you. For being your bodyguard, you seem to get into a lot of trouble, from what Ron and 'Ermione tell me, and I would like to be able to protect and help you when nobody else is able to. Also, I agreed to this because I want to thank you for saving Gabrielle last year."
"Fleur, you do not have to thank me for last year, I did what anyone else would have done in that situation." Said Harry "And are you sure about taking this position? People around me have almost been kill or injured."
"Yes 'Arry." Fleur responded with a determined look on her face.
Harry then looked at the clock that was sitting on the bedside table as it read 8:16 AM. With that, Harry and Fleur decided that it was time to get up, take a shower, and get some breakfast. Harry looks at Fleur who is standing up and stretching, her shirt riding up to reveal her what looks like silk panties and her flat stomach. He looks away blush a bit but did turn his head back to her.
"Do you want to use the shower first?" Harry asked.
Fleur smirked a bit "We could share a shower together, you know, it would cut the time in half."
Harry stammered, turned around and bolted into the bathroom, closing the door behind him while hearing Fleur's laughter. The shower felt really nice as he was able to get himself cleaned up very well. After drying off, he looked in the mirror and found himself to be pretty fit from all of the Quidditch practices and games the past four years. However, his good mood quickly diminished with all of the scars on his chest and stomach. He hated having these as they were a constant reminder of the abuse that he suffered at the hands of his so-called family. Nobody, not even Ron and Hermione know about the scars and he hoped to keep it that way. Harry puts on an oversized shirt from his cousin and pants that still needed a belt to keep on. When Harry came out of the bathroom, the sight in front of him put a smile on his face. He saw Fleur with what looked like a very tired Serpico wrapped around her waist while Fleur petted the snake's head.
"Alright, the bathroom is all yours." Harry said as he walked towards the bed.
"Thank you 'Arry, your little friend is very cute and pretty calm with me." Fleur responded as Serpico unwrapped herself from Fleur and rested on the bed.
"Yeah she is, actually before you go, I would like to ask you something." At her nod, he asked, "Did you mean to summon up one of the world's most dangerous snakes?"
Fleur looked at the snake and shook her head "No, I did not mean to do that, I meant to summon a common garden snake, but it seems like a good fit for you anyway." With confusion playing on Harry's face, she continued "You both are calm and nondeadly when not provoked, but when the time comes, you two can be deadly at the drop of a 'at."
Harry had a thoughtful look on his face while Fleur walked to the bathroom and he heard the water turn on. He spotted The Sword of Gryffindor propped up against his side bedside table. Harry grabbed the sword, sat down on the bed, unsheathed it, and gazed at the blade while thinking back to his second year. The year that everyone thought he was The Heir of Slytherin
Flashback
Harry walked through the courtyard while students passed him glaring at him or talking behind his back. It was a few days after the so-called Dueling Club with Lockhart, where he found out that he could talk to and understand snakes called Parselmouth. Now they think he is the one responsible for the attacks on students thanks to The Daily Prophet. Harry did not know how he was able to speak to snakes, but Dumbledore did explain a reason why that might be.
"Harry, my boy, the reason you can understand and speak Parseltounge is that the same person who gave you the scar, gave you the same ability." Dumbledore said.
"He gave me this ability to talk to snakes?" Harry asked.
"Yes, although, I doubt that he gave it to you on propose." Said Dumbledore.
Flashback End
Harry was brought out of his thoughts when the door to the bathroom opened and Fleur walked out in only a towel around her as she walked over to the armoire to find some clothes. Harry felt his face heat up again from Fleur being almost naked in front of him. That brought a question to his head about how she could be so comfortable around him.
Harry turned to Fleur and asked "Hey Fleur, how can you be so comfortable around me? I mean, you are in only a towel, you tease me with your body, and just generally being more open around me."
Fleur stopped rummaging for some clothes and walked around to Harry. She sat on the bed for a moment before speaking "The reason I am comfortable around you is that I know that you are very noble and would not leer at me like most men would. Also, you treat me as me and not some sex object that is only there for her looks. The reason why I was so cold for a while was I had my mask of indifference on. The mask is there to ward people who have bad intensions off or it might show arrogance because people treat me like I am only pretty face and nothing in the head in terms of brains."
Harry listen to Fleur explaining and nodded in agreement with wanted to be treated differently from how they actually treated. He could remember her mask on for most of last year, except for after the second task and beyond. Fleur then had a naughty smirk on her lips.
"Also, I can tease you with views of my cleavage and you look away turning bright red which never gets old." And to emphasis her point, she leaned into Harry and showed off her cleavage, which was on full display. Harry's darted down to see the valley of her breasts that had some droplets of water falling down, he swallowed hard and he tried to look away, which he did after a minute of looking. Fleur giggled at his reaction and got up to get a shirt, jeans, bra, and panties, then went back into the bathroom to change.
With Fleur dressed, she, Harry, and Serpico who was on his shoulders went downstairs as quietly as possible to the dinning room for some breakfast. They found only three people awake, Sirius and Mr. Weasley reading The Daily Prophet while Mrs. Weasley was making breakfast. Sirius looked up from the paper when he heard someone coming down, and smirked when he saw Harry and Fleur.
"Did you two behave yourselves last night?" He asked while having a huge smirk.
Biting back a retort, Harry grabbed a spoon of the table instead and hurled it at Sirius, hitting him square in the forehead. Harry smirked triumphantly while Arthur chuckled, and Molly and Fleur giggled at the exchange between the godfather and godson. Fleur lightly slapped Harry on the back of the head, telling him to behave while Sirius was rubbing his forehead and glaring playfully at Harry.
Fleur then turned her attention to Sirius "What 'appened last night is for 'Arry and I to know and for you never to find out."
Sirius gapped at the two of them like a fish out of water, then shook his head with a smile on his lips "Pup, you are truly henpecked, and you are not even in a relationship."
Harry glared at Sirius, grabbed another spoon of the table, but before he could throw it at his childish godfather, Fleur grasped the utensil out of his hand, hitting him lightly on the forehead; telling him to sit down. He sat down with a huff while she sat down with a smirk on her face when Mrs. Weasley placed a plate full of eggs, bacon, and sausage in front of the two of them. He dug into his food when a thought came to his head. Harry turned to Sirius and asked "Sirius, why did Dumbledore want me to train with you on wielding the sword, couldn't I just rely on my wand?"
Sirius looked up from the paper again and said, "I have seen your ability with spells and your wand, but I think that you should learn how to wield a sword as it can have its advantages against the opponent. For example, Death Eaters will mostly stick to using spells, but if you can sneak up on them, the sword can be very useful and effective. Also, I do believe that the sword can deflect spells."
Harry looked in awe with that explanation and thought that it could be useful to know how to use a sword in combat. As he chewed on his food, another question came to mind. He looked at Sirius again and asked, "With my trial today, shouldn't there be someone to represent me?"
"Yes, as Jean will represent you while Dumbledore will be there, but only as a part of the court. Fleur will also be there as your bodyguard."
As Fleur and Harry were finishing their plate of breakfast, other people started to file into the dinning area for something to eat as well. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny came down looking pretty tired and grumpy. He greeted them with a nod and Fleur did the same while the three of them very tired smiles in response. Fred and George came down seconds later with Jean and Appoline in toe. Harry was a little shocked by this as he thought that they went back to France after last night. When Jean sat down, Harry turned to him.
"Mr. Delacour how will this trial go, I've seen the articles of the paper saying that this was not about underage magic, but about Voldemort's return?"
"Harry, please call me Jean" Jean stated, "And for the trial, unfortunately the papers are not completely wrong. While they cannot put you on trial for the claims, what happened with you and your cousin was their chance for them to try and convicted you. Essentially character assassination and making sure that the public would not go into hysteria."
Harry nodded at this while his annoyance grew at the state of the government and the corruption.
Time Skip
Harry stood in the middle of the main floor of the Ministry of Magic. His nerves were pretty high at the moment, but with Jean on his left and Fleur on his right, Harry knew hat he would be ok. He had the sword strapped on his left side while his wand was in the right-side pocket, while Serpico laid across his shoulders hissing at people quietly.
$Sserpico, do not worry, most of thesse people will not attack usss, but if any one of them do, I will give you the ok.$
$Ok master, I do not like any of these humansss.$ Serpico responded as she stopped hissing.
Jean lead them to the lifts, got in, and rode the lifts until the female voice announced, "Level 10: Wizegamont Courtrooms."
The three of them walked up to the doors to the courtroom but a guard stopped them "I'm sorry young man, but you cannot have any weapons on you while you are in the room."
Harry scowled a little but complied as he unclipped the sword from his hip, wand, and Serpico, handing them to Fleur who smiled when the snake curled around her waist and started to hiss that sounded like purring. Walking into the room, the front was filled with ministry officials who were talking amongst themselves. Jean lead Harry to a large chair right in the middle of the room while Fleur took a seat in the stands. He looked at Jean, who was standing a foot away from him. Minister Cornelius Fudge bagged his gavel in order to quiet the room down, then looked at Harry who saw a sinister look in the Minister's eyes, but his face remained neutral as possible.
"Order in the court. We have called this meeting today for the offences committed by Harry James Potter on the Second of August 1995. The charges are as followed: Using magic out of the premise of Hogwarts under the age of 17 and using magic in the presence of a muggle. How does the defense plead?"
Harry tried to keep his voice as level as he could when he answered, "Not Guilty."
Fudge then turned to Jean and asked, "Witness, please state your name and occupation for the court?"
"Jean Sean Delacour, Deputy French Minister of Magic here to represent Harry Potter." Jean said in a clear and loud voice.
Harry turned his head to look at Jean in complete shock when he fully introduced himself. However, when Harry looked back up at Fudge, he had a scowl on his lips and his eyes had a disgusted look in them. "Ok minister, you have the floor." Fudge said while trying to look neutral, but Harry did notice how he said minister like it was poison on his tongue.
Jean nodded his head, "Thank you Minister Fudge. I would like to say that this hearing is nothing more than a show and a try at character assassination. Mr. Potter did indeed fight two Dementors off with a Patronus …"
"Preposterous! No 15-year-old boy can produce a Patronus Charm, let alone one powerful enough to drive away two Dementors." Hissed Fudge with a face of outrage.
"How can it be preposterous?" asked Jean, who was unfazed of Fudge's outburst "I have seen the charm with my own eyes, even my wife and two daughters saw it. Besides. I think we all know why this hearing is happening Minister, but what I want to know is why? Voldemort did indeed come back to life on that fateful night last year."
When Jean said Voldemort, most of the people in the room gasped in horror and flinched. Harry shook his head at their blatant stupidity of being afraid of a made-up name. But, Fudge saw Harry shacking his head and narrowed his eyes at him.
"What are you shaking your head at Mr. Potter?"
"All of you are scared of a made-up name, every time someone flinches or gasps in horror, you are giving him his true power." Harry said while trying to be polite.
Fudge and almost everyone else in the court had a look of confusion on their face. "Made-up name? His true power?" Fudge asked.
'Really? How stupid can you people be?' Harry thought as he looked at the people who made up part of the magical government. "Voldemort's real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, he was a student at Hogwarts some 50 years ago and for his true power: Fear. He thrives on fear and when someone gets scared of the name, that gives him more fear."
The chamber became deathly quiet, Fudge was still like someone stunned him, but someone cleared their throat. Harry turned his head to the person, who was a woman that had a pink hat and wore pink under her ministry robes. She stood up and smiled sweetly which made Harry shivered a little.
"How can we believe anything you are claiming when there is no evidence to support the claims that The Dark Lord is back?"
Harry's blood started to boil at the woman. These people are trying as hard as they can to push this under the rug and then prosecute him as a madman and murderer. He looked at Jean who was silent for most of the trial. They nodded at each other, agreeing about something. Harry then turned back at the woman and asked, "Alright, if the courts will allow me, I could provide some proof to the claims, would that be ok you?"
The woman's mouth dropped open and was about to protest when another woman, who looked to be about mid-40s stood up and interrupted "If you can truly provide some evidence, I would very much like to see it."
Until now, Dumbledore sat there silently proud of Harry not losing his temper with the Ministry, now he stood up and spoke "I agree with Madam Bones, Mr. Potter, if you could please show the court your proof."
Harry nodded with a hint of a smile on his face. He turned and walked over to Fleur who understood what he was going to do and gave him his wand back. Next, Harry went back to the middle of the room and wrote TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE in the air. He then waved his hand in front of the writing and the letters started to move until they spelled out I AM LORD VOLDEMORT.
"See, he made an anagram out of his real name. Voldemort is not even a pure-blood, he's a half-blood…"
"Stop this! These are lies that are being spread by you!" screeched the woman, interrupting Harry. Even Fudge, who was silent throughout the exchange looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel at what Harry was saying.
"Oh really? If these are lies as you say, I could swear on a wizard's oath or how about giving me Veritaserum? Would that work for you lot?" hissed Harry as he was getting tired of these idiots.
Fudge got sick of this exchange, so he banged his gavel to some order and get back on the right track while Jean walked over to Harry, putting a hand on the teen's shoulder. While all of this was going on, Fleur was sitting there with a small scowl on her face as she witness the British Magical Government doing anything they could to discredit Harry, even if that means charging him with false crimes. This boy, no man who has seen horrors that would haunt the darkest corners of their minds. Serpico started to hiss quietly at Fudge and the body who wanted to throw Harry in prison as she sensed that these people are two-faced. Fleur noticed the snake's hissing and tried to calm her down by petting her head, which did work a little.
Fleur then started to think about Harry and how much he has changed, matured, and grown up since last year. Yes, he was still rough around the edges, but even that pales in comparison to what he has accomplished in the past four years. She cared a lot about him as he treats her like Fleur, and not some sex object only good for her looks. 'Could I start to love him?' Fleur asked herself in her thoughts. 'He may be a few years younger than me, he is very mature for his age, especially compared to other males the same age or twice his age.'
Back with everyone else, Harry was sitting down in the chair, clutching his wand in his right hand so tightly that the knuckles were stark white. 'How can these morons justify trying to convict a teenager defending himself?' He thought as he was trying to keep his anger in check.
Fudge looked at Harry "You said that you are willing to be questioned under Veritaserum about the Dementor attacks, if that correct Mr. Potter?"
Harry looked at Fudge in confusion for two reasons. One, Fudge's voice sounded off, like he was scared or something. Two, that is not what Harry was talking about or showing, but he nodded anyway. Fudge turned his head to a guard that was standing near the entrance and asked "Ok, guard, could you please get a small vile of truth serum and bring it back here?"
The guard nodded his head and went to go get the potion. During this period of waiting, Harry turned to Jean and whispered, "Could you make sure that they only question me about the Dementor attack please?" Jean nodded with a smile.
The guard came back a minute later with a small bottle of clear liquid. He handed it to jean who dropped three drops into Harry's mouth. Harry's eyes glazed over, but other than that, nothing was wrong. Jean looked at Fudge who nodded, though reluctantly.
"Please state your full name and birthdate." Jean asked
"Harry James Potter, July 31st, 1980." Harry responded in a monotone voice
"Is it true that you can produce a Patronus Charm?"
"Yes, since my third year."
"Ok, did two Dementors attack you and your cousin yesterday, and if they did, where did it occur?"
"Yes, two attacked us in a tunnel in Little Whinging."
"Alright, administer the antidote." Jean said after he was done questioning Harry.
The guard who gave the potion to Jean dropped three drops into Harry's mouth. He gained focus in his eyes, then looked at Fudge, who was scowling at him, with a hard look.
"Alright" Fudge spat "After being questioned under Veritaserum, Harry James Potter, you are cleared of all charges. However, this does not mean anything about The Dark Lord, he has not returned!"
Harry glared at him for a second but smiled at Jean and Fleur who were smiling back at him. He won the small battle, but still needs to win the war.
A/N: Alright! Chapter 2 is done. Very sorry for delaying this several times, I needed time to refine somethings. Anyway Read & Review. Swat303810 signing off!
