A/N: Chapter 14 is here!
Review Responses:
*healeroffates*: Thank you, I am doing my best to get better in posting schedule and writing.
*Charlee56*: Yes, looking back at having the sword included, I was not doing anything right. The sword is infused with venom from Basilisk, having Harry fight Sirius with it was very stupid of me. I will be addressing the sword in the next chapter. Thank you for pointing out my flaw with the sword.
Thank you to everyone else who reviewed and read my story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling does)
The Guardian
19 October 1995
Fleur slowly opened her eyes to the ceiling of the room that she and Harry shared. It took a moment before memories of the previous night came back to her, and a rush of emotions hit her. First, sadness for Harry as he has a connection to Voldemort and is susceptible to emotional changes; That freighted her as having any mental relationship with that monster could eventually make even the most mentally healthy person go insane.
Secondly, anger coursed through her as the scene of Albus suggesting Snape teach Harry Occlumency played through her mind over and over again. Who was he to undermine her abilities as a teacher? While she could see from a certain point of view that she was not a qualified as some others with many more years of experience than her; however, she knew better than anyone that Snape would not teach Harry Occlumency properly, just acting like the vengeful, piss-poor excuse for a man he is. Looking back, Fleur was proud of herself for sending Snape into that bookcase and breaking his hand.
Fleur suddenly felt Harry stir, cuddling closer to her before becoming still again, indicating that he was still asleep. Fleur felt a smile tug on her lips at the sight of Harry cuddling up to her with a small smile. Having seen what Harry has gone through just in the past few months pulls at her heartstrings to see someone so young go through events that would haunt most adult witches and wizards. That made her want to be there for him even more, as he deserves someone who can comfort him when he needs a shoulder to lean on.
Fleur leaned down, placed a soft kiss onto the top of his head before softly running her fingers through his jet-black hair. This caused Harry to open one eye tiredly before opening both to see his face resting on her chest while his arms were wrapped around her stomach. Harry unwrapped his arms and leaned up slightly to get a better look at Fleur.
"Good morning Fleur," Harry yawned.
Fleur smiled, "Good morning 'Arry. Were you able to sleep, ok?"
Harry let out a weak chuckle, "How can I not when I have you to hold throughout the night." Fleur kissed Harry softly for that comment before pulling away with a look of concern.
"Are you ok 'Arry?"
That question made Harry sober up quickly and thought about what happened last night. For the most part, Harry knew that he was alright mentally, but something like what had happened will leave a small mental scar that will stay for a long time. Being at the mercy of emotional/mental manipulation is not easy, which made Harry very thankful that Fleur was with him as he could not think what would have happened if she were not there.
"I am alright for the most part. I know that what I experienced will leave a mental scar, and I will have to live with that, not that I am no stranger to scars that cannot be seen," Harry explained with an even tone while looking at a corner of the room.
Fleur raised an eyebrow at what Harry had said about scars that cannot be seen but did not comment on it. She knew he was talking about the treatment he had suffered at the hands of his relatives. Placing a hand under his chin, Fleur gently turned his face to look at her.
"'Arry, I 'ave said it before and will continue to say it. You will never become someone like Voldemort. You 'ave s'own me zat you will not become someone like 'im in your actions. I love you 'Arry Potter."
Harry looked into her blue eyes and saw the love that he so desperately wanted to see in someone. He leaned up and placed his lips on hers, bringing his left hand up to her right cheek. Fleur smiled on the inside as she kissed him passionately. A minute later, they pulled away and looked into each other's eyes before Fleur smirked slightly.
"You are getting muc' better 'Arry."
Harry blushed a little, "Thanks Fleur," He chuckled lightly before asking, "What happened last night?"
"Dumbledore said zat ze connection you 'ave wiz Voldemort was getting stronger and called Snape to teac' you in ze art of Occlumency," Fleur explained with a frown on her face.
Harry's face scrunched up in confusion, "Occlumency? What is that?"
Fleur explained, "Occlumency is ze way to protect your mind from Legilimency, w'ic' is ze art of entering someone's mind and looking zroug' zeir memories."
Harry became hesitant, "Wait, Snape is going to teach me?! Please tell me that is not true?"
Fleur smiled, " 'E will not be teac'ing you. I made zat very clear wiz Albus, and I even cursed Snape w'en 'e insulted me." Harry looked at her in shock while his jaw was hanging slightly open, which made Fleur giggle, "W'at? I was 'ired to protect and train you, so zat is w'at I am doing. I sent 'im into a bookcase, and I may 'ave broke 'is 'and as well."
"How did you break his hand?" Harry asked, in awe of hearing that Snape had been knocked out.
Fleur smirked, "I stomped on it, made sure it made a crunch sound." Harry winced at that but did feel some kind of satisfaction from hearing that his girlfriend broke the most hated professor's hand with her foot.
"We need to get up as I have classes today," Harry said as he started to get out of bed, but Fleur grabbed hold of his right arm before he could get out of bed fully.
" 'Arry, you are not going to classes today," Fleur said with a serious expression.
"What? I need to get to class, Fleur," Harry tried to argue, but Fleur just shook her head.
"You are not going 'Arry. Your professors can bitc' all zey want, but rig't now, I need to teac' you about Occlumency and zat takes priority over your classes," Explained Fleur.
Harry sighed, "Fleur if I skip out on classes, Umbridge will give me more detentions. I do not think you would want me to go through that again."
Fleur laughed, "After last nig't, I zink zat Dumbledore will be able to come up wiz an excuse for your absence. 'Arry, w'ile I would usually agree wiz you, Occlumency is somezzing zat you need to learn."
Harry stared at her for about a minute before relenting, "Alright, fine. How do I learn Occlumency?"
Fleur smiled, "Let's get dressed, and I will start your lesson in the living room."
Harry nodded as he got out of bed and grabbed some clothes, changing into a pair of faded jeans and an oversize shirt. Fleur grabbed her clothes for the day and took off her nightie, causing Harry to stare at her nude form. When she noticed his stare, a smirk spread across her lips as she started to walk over to him, swaying her hips as her breasts jiggled from her movement. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she leaned her face down, so her lips were right next to Harry's left ear.
"Part of Occlumency is strengzing ze mind from surprising attacks from seductresses~" Fleur whispered huskily into his ear and lightly blew on it.
Harry shivered in delight and had a light blush across his cheeks but was not going to give up so easily. He raised his right hand and brought it down on Fleur's left asscheek, making a loud smacking sound and caused Fleur to squeal in surprise. Fleur gazed back at Harry, who was grinning ear-to-ear, which caused Fleur to narrow her eyes at the unspoken challenge.
"O', you naug'ty boy~" Fleur purred out before grabbing the back of Harry's head and smothered him with her chest, "I zink you deserve a punis'~" This went on for about two minutes before Fleur pulled away to see Harry breathing heavily, a healthy blush along his face. This caused Fleur to start laughing before getting dressed and leading Harry out to the living area.
Once they were out in the living area, Fleur conjured up two comfortable-looking chairs that were about two feet apart and sat in one of them while gesturing to Harry to sit in the other. Harry nodded in understanding and sat down in the other chair, facing Fleur head-on. Fleur had her wand out and gave him a gentle smile.
"Arig't, before we begin, I need to tell you 'ow to defend your mind for ze first time. W'en I enter your mind, you will feel a presence wizin your mind, and all I want you to do is try everyzing you can to kick me out. You will need to focus on the presence and find a way to remove it, understand?" Fleur asked after she explained what Harry needed to do.
Harry nodded slightly, "I understand somewhat; just focus on the presence and kick it out, right?"
"Oui," Fleur said before she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she leveled her wand with Harry's forehead. Harry noticed her wand for the first time up close, intrigued by design, especially the handle with its wavy design. Fleur opened her eyes and focused on Harry.
Legilimens!
Fleur suddenly found herself in a dark area that was not lit by anything. This confused Fleur greatly, but when she took a few steps forward, a blur of memories started to rush past her. Some of the memories that Fleur caught a glance at were ones of Harry, Hermione, and Ron messing around and laughing. That caused a smile to spread across Fleur's face as she was happy that Harry had some fun memories and not everything was terrible.
Another memory that she caught a look at was the one of an 11-year-old Harry standing in front of a mirror in a big room which was barely lit by the moonlight that showed him along with two people Fleur did not recognize at first but then she thought of a picture of a group of people that Sirius had shown her. It was Harry's parents, Lily and James Potter! Fleur gazed at the two for a little bit to see that Harry did look very much like his father but had his mother's eyes. The figment of Lily laid her hand on Harry's left shoulder; Harry went to place his hand over the top of her's but found nothing was there. Harry's shoulders slumped in depression as he would not be able to touch his mother's hand as the figment was only that, a figment.
Fleur's eyes started to tear up at the sight of her boyfriend wanting to grab hold of his mother's hand but could not. Her heart broke for him as he did not have a family there for him in his time of need. Suddenly, the memory faded away as other ones rushed by her, some she was only able to see a second of before it went by as well. She was able to see Harry talking to a man that she recognized as Remus Lupin on a bridge. Another one was of last year when Harry's name came out of the goblet, causing everyone, including herself at the time, to believe that he had cheated his way into the tournament.
Fleur continued to walk through many memories, then stopped when she felt some kind of force surround her, trying to kick her out of his mind. Fleur smiled as she could tell that Harry was trying to kick her out, but she had more experience when it came to Occlumency and Legilimency. So, she closed her eyes and manipulated her power to fight off his attack, and it did not take much to destroy his first attempt at defending his mind.
"Nice try 'Arry, but I am muc' more powerful zan you w'en it comes to Legilimens and Occlumency," Fleur muttered as she continued to walk through the path of memories.
Fleur stopped walking as another memory caught her attention; it was the memory of the tournament's second task. She saw that herself, Cedric, Krum, and Harry were making their way over to the edge of the platform that was right over Black Lake. Fleur saw the memory of Harry turn his head and gaze at her in the one-piece swimsuit that Fleur had been wearing. She watched him as he blushed and looked away before the memory of herself could tell that he had been looking at her.
Fleur chuckled, " 'E really did love zat swimsuit, didn't 'e?" She smirked, "If 'e blus'ed wiz me wearing just a one-piece, I wonder w'at would 'appen if I wore one of ze bikinis I 'ave at 'ome in front of 'im." Fleur chuckled to herself at that thought, then turning and walking further down, passing more memories along the way.
As Fleur continued walking past the memories, a flash of bright light caught her attention. Turning to the memory, she saw Harry and Cedric in an old muggle cemetery. Fleur was confused for a second before remembering what happened at this cemetery and continued to watch as Harry read a tomb, turning to Cedric telling him to get the cup as they needed to get out of there. However, Cedric would not get to the cup as a voice interrupted them, and a flash of green light slammed into Cedric, sending him flying back before stopping, lying lifeless on the grass. Fleur turned away with her eyes closed as she did not want to see any more. Seeing someone killed in front of you by a monster will bring even the most hardened people to tears, especially when you blame yourself for that person's death like Harry does.
Still having her eyes closed and head turned away from the memory, Fleur felt the same force from earlier, but it was much stronger this time. She was caught off guard by the power and was removed from Harry's mind, finding herself sitting in the same chair from earlier, facing Harry. He was sweating a little and was breathy heavily while looking at her with a tired look.
Fleur gave him a small smile, "You did well for your first time defending your mind. I felt you trying to force me out before, but it was not strong enoug'."
Harry nodded ever-so-slightly, "Yeah," He panted, "It felt weird having someone within your mind as I was able to see bits and pieces of the memories that you were seeing."
Fleur's smile was replaced with a sad expression, " 'Arry, w'at was zat mirror I saw in an early memory?"
Harry sobered up as a melancholy expression spread across his face, "The Mirror of Erised, it shows the person standing in front of it what they desire the most. I found it in my first year, and I would sit in front of it for hours, just staring at the mirror."
Fleur leaned forward, placing a comforting hand of his, "I'm sorry, I did not know."
Harry shook his head, "Fleur, it's ok. You don't have to be sorry for something you did not know about." Harry then looked Fleur in the eyes, "What other memories did you see?"
"I saw part of ze one of you and Cedric in ze cemetery before Cedric was killed. Anozzer, one zat I only saw a part of was one of you and Remus talking on a bridge," Fleur explained with a thoughtful look, remembering the memories she saw.
Harry had a ghost of a smile on his lips, "The one of Remus and I was in my third year when he was teaching me how to cast the Patronus Charm. He and I were talking while he was recovering from an illness. At the time, I did not know that he was a werewolf. I learned that at the end of the year, along with the truth about Sirius and Pettigrew."
Fleur nodded in understanding, "Well, I 'ave to say zat you did well, but we will be doing zis every day until you have a good practical understanding of protecting your mind."
"Are there other ways to protect your mind other than pushing the invading person out?" Harry asked, intrigued.
"Oui," Fleur nodded, "From w'at I studied if you 'ave a mastery over Occlumency, you can manipulate w'at memories ze person wizin your mind can see. You can also drive ze person to insanity wiz a sick imagination as ze person going zroug' your mind would be seeing zose images instead of actual memories."
Fleur got up from the chair and stretched, "Come on, I zink zat it's time for some ozzer training." Harry nodded as he got up as well, following her to the fireplace.
As the fireplace swung up, Fleur turned back to him with a sly smirk, "I also saw zat you loved ze one-piece swimsuit I wore last year in ze second task." With that, she walked into the room with a sway of her hips. That statement caused Harry to go cherry red and gaping at her before following Fleur in, muttering under his breath.
Getting on opposite sides of the room, Fleur transfigured her clothes into her training gear while Harry had done the same for himself. Fleur got into her stance, which was having her right foot slightly ahead of her left as her wand was to her side, at about a 15-degree angle from her side. Harry stepped into his stance, his footing was the same as hers, but he had his wand pointed at a 25-degree angle in front of him.
"Are you ready 'Arry?"
Harry nodded, "Yes, Fleur."
Fleur smirked at that answer. With that, they started the next training session of the day.
|X|
26 October 1995
A week later found Harry and Fleur were walking the halls of St. Mungo's, visiting Mr. Weasley after Voldemort's snake, Nagini attacked him. During the week that led up to this visit, Fleur continued to teach Harry Occlumency, and while Harry had gotten better with forcing Fleur out of his mind, he still had a long way to go before his mind would be ready to defend against most attacks. The day after Harry's first exposure to Occlumency, Umbridge tried to give him detention for not attending class the day prior; however, after going to Dumbledore and having Fleur threaten him when he tried to say that Harry needed to attend her detention; Dumbledore told Umbridge that he was not able to participate in the class that day due to some health concerns.
Umbridge started to throw a fit about how Harry gets special treatment and how he is just a brat who needs to be taught his place. Albus shut that down immediately as he stated that the students' health was more important to him than missing a day of classes. Fleur knew what Dumbledore said was mainly correct and knew that he was trying to make sure that she would not attack the sad excuse for a teacher.
As Harry and Fleur walking hand-in-hand through St. Mungo's, they saw people who were treated for different injuries and illnesses. Nurses walked pasted them, doing a double-take once they recognized Harry. As the couple got closer to the room that Arthur was being held in, Serpico, resting on Fleur's shoulders, was hissing at the people passing by them.
$Serpico, no one is going to attack us here$ Hissed Harry, taking a sideways glance at his snake.
$I do not trust these humans$ Serpico responded, glaring at the nurses.
Harry sighed $Serpico, just stop hissing. They will not attack us within a place like this$
$Alright, Master$ Serpico hissed back before settling down.
Fleur chuckled, "W'at was zat all about?"
"Serpico does not trust the people here, but I told her that no one was going to attack us here and to stop hissing," Harry responded with a shake of his head.
They stepped into the room that Mr. Weasley was in to see Molly and all of the Weasley kids. Harry and Fleur hung back to watch Molly talk to Arthur with Ginny. Fred and George were talking with Bill, Ron, and Charlie. When Arthur noticed the couple standing in the doorway, he waved them over.
"Harry, come on. I am glad to see you."
Harry walked up to the bed to see Arthur had some gashes on his face, his left arm in a sling, and his right leg in a cast, "I am glad to see that you are alive, Mr. Weasley," Harry said with a small smile.
Arthur chuckled, "Well, I would not be here if it weren't for you, Harry. Thank you for saving me." He smiled at the young wizard.
Harry shook his head with a frown, "I did not save you. I was the one who attacked you and is responsible for you ending up here."
Arthur, along with his wife and kids, was confused by what Harry had said. Arthur spoke up, "What are you talking about, Harry? You were not there at the Ministry; it was a snake that had attacked me."
"It was not just a regular snake; it was Nagini, Voldemort's familiar," Harry explained in a severe tone, "I had a vision the night of the attack that I was the snake, attacking you…"
"Harry," Arthur interrupted, "You did not attack me. It was the snake. You may have had the vision that you were indeed the snake, but you were not there at the Ministry, were you?"
"Non, 'e was wiz me, Mr. Weasley," Fleur said, speaking for the first time since they had arrived at Arthur's hospital room.
"See, Ms. Delacour says that you with her so, in my eyes, you are not to blame. Do not worry about it, Harry, without your quick thinking; I would not here right now," Arthur explained with a smile.
Harry did not say anything but nodded with a small smile as he still felt somewhat responsible for what happened to Arthur; however, he knew that continuing to argue would be futile, so he just kept quiet. Ron came up with a smile before grabbing his shoulder in a friendly manner, then going back to his conversation with the twins and Charlie. Harry then spotted Bill talking with Fleur, and he noticed that while Bill was able to resist her allure for longer than what most men were able to, he was slipping every-once-in-a-while.
Seeing Fleur smiling at what Bill was saying to her brought up ugly feelings within Harry's chest. Insecurities started to surface about how young he is compared to Fleur, especially to Bill, who was even older than Fleur. When Harry and Fleur started dating, Harry had insecurities about how immature he was at times and seeing Fleur and Bill talking and laugh at times brought up the thought of Fleur leaving him for someone like Bill. The latter was not seen as a deranged, lying boy and a reminder of the war that had taken his parents among so many others.
Fleur turned to see Harry looking at her; she gave him a bright smile and waved him over. Seeing that bright smile, the insecurities slowly faded as Harry could see the love and affection that Fleur showed him throughout the time they have been together. Walking over to the two, Harry gave Fleur a smile when she interlaced her fingers with his, kissing the top of his head.
Bill saw the interaction between the two of them and smiled, "Harry, I cannot tell you how thankful I am that you were able to save dad."
Harry waved it off, "Don't worry, Bill, you don't need to thank me."
"Well, I would like to say thank you anyway," Bill held out his hand.
Harry grabbed his hand in a firm handshake before Bill stepped over to Arthur along with the rest of the kids. Smiling at the family scene altogether, Harry turned and walked out the door with Fleur in toe. Fleur saw that something was bothering Harry; she gave his hand a gentle squeeze to convey that she was there for him. As they walked through the halls, a man with blonde hair unkempt and, in a straitjacket, came up to them and spoke incomprehensible things to them before being taken away by a nurse.
Harry was surprised, then started to laugh lightly. Fleur looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow, "W'o was zat 'Arry?"
"That was Lockhart, Fleur."
"W'at?!" Fleur was shocked, "Zat was 'im?"
Harry nodded, "Yeah, I had heard that he was moved here, but that was just a rumor around Hogwarts until now."
"Wow," Fleur spoke, "You 'ave some weird people 'ere in England."
Harry laughed, "That we do." With that, the couple made their way out of St. Mungo's and back to Hogwarts.
|X|
17 December 1995
During the close to a month and a half between visiting Mr. Weasley and Winter Break, Harry and Fleur were very busy with the D.A. meetings. Since the first meeting, Harry made sure that everyone's shield would be able to withstand a barrage of attacks, along with making sure that everyone could dispel the shielding charm quickly. After he was satisfied, Harry moved on to the Disarming Charm, Reductor Curse, Stunning Charm, and the Levicorpus Jinx. In the middle of teaching the group these spells, Harry made sure to have them learn how to dodge an attack or levitate an object in the way of an attack.
Harry had become a Pseudo-Drill Sargent as he would be hard on the group to get through to them that he is training them for war. While at first, Harry did not want to become this hard on his classmates, it seemed to be the only way for him to get his classmates to listen to him. Harry was very thankful for Fleur being there to help out with particular topics like how much power you put into the spell will determine how effective the attack will become. When he was working with someone one-on-one, Fleur would then take over the overseeing of the group.
During this time, Harry saw much progress in everybody except one person being Zacharias Smith. He took almost every chance he could to insult Harry or try to undermine his teaching abilities. Smith had thrown insults at Fleur, too, even calling her a cunt after she wanted to show him the correct way to cast the Levicorpus Jinx. That caused Harry having to be physically restrained by Ron and Neville, so he could not give Smith a well-deserved arse-kicking. Fleur told Harry that Zacharias was not worth it, but that did not stop Harry from cursing at him under his breath whenever Smith opened his mouth.
Harry was seriously reconsidering having Zacharias in the D.A. His attitude was terrible, and nobody seemed to want to partner with him when going through drills. Even the other Hufflepuffs did not want to be near him, which just showed how horrible Smith was acting. The problem that Harry was facing is that Zach knew too much about the D.A. and, while Harry knew that there would be a punishment for someone blabbing about the group, he did not know that would happen. It was ironic, Zach was a part of the house that highly valued loyalty, and he was not loyal to one of two small groups that knew the truth about Voldemort's return.
On the last day before Winter Break, The Allegiance was in the Room of Requirement for their previous meeting of the year. Two red lines were running parallel to each other in the middle of the room, with each D.A. standing on that line, facing one another. They were standing straight with their wands in hand as Harry stepped slowly down the line with Fleur a step behind him.
"Alright, we have covered a lot throughout the past two months or so. I want to know if what I have taught you has stuck. Greengrass!" Harry called out in a semi-commanding tone while still looking forward.
Daphne Greengrass stepped forward and spoke in a respectful tone, "Yes?"
"How can a disarming charm fail?"
"It can fail under three circumstances. One, the person casting the spell is weaker than you: two, a person side-stepping the spell. Three, a person casting a shielding charm," Daphne answered in the same respectful tone.
"Correct!" Harry said with a small smile before going back to a more rugged look, "Those are ways that most charms, hexes, and jinxes can and will fail." Harry nodded to Daphne, and she stepped back in line.
"Bones!" Harry called out.
Susan Bones stepped forward and, in the same tone as Daphne, replied, "Yes?"
"Why is dueling in the real world very different than what we have been taught?" Asked Harry, knowing that she would answer the question correctly due to her aunt being Amelia Bones.
"What we were taught is that dueling is a formal matter as we would bow to one another in a sign of respect of sorts, but in the real world, your enemies will not do that as they will go for every opportunity that they can find; playing dirty is often what they will resort to," Susan answered, thankful that her aunt taught her the difference.
"Correct again! Your enemies will not bow to you, they will try and get the jump on you as soon as they can, and you need to be ready for it." Harry nodded at Susan, and she stepped back into the line.
"It seems like some things have stuck. That is good. Now, can you tell me why I made sure that your shields were in tip-top shape before moving on? Thomas!"
Dean Thomas stepped forward, hesitated before answering, "It was to teach us that our shields were critical?" The end came out more like a question than a response to the original question.
"That is part of it, but not all of it," Harry answered, "While your shield charm is an essential part of your repertoire, I was more speaking on the concept of the best defense is a strong offense. With a show of hands, how many of you have heard of that saying?" Only a handful raised their hands, showing that most of the group have not heard the saying.
"The saying means that if you have the best defense, you will have the advantage to defeat your enemy. Since your shields will be at the maximum, you will be able to focus on attacking your enemy, and they will be too busy fending off your attacks; they will not be able to attack you." Harry explained, "However, that does not mean you completely forget your defense as that could save your life one day."
Harry walked back to the front and looked upon the group with a small, proud smile, "I am proud of the progress that all of you have made; however, I still want all of you to practice if you can during winter break as I will be testing you when we come back next year…"
"Really? You are going to test us?" A voice spoke up from the line, and Zacharias Smith stepped out of line, facing Harry.
Harry raised an eyebrow, "Yes, I will be testing you to make sure that you have been practicing. Is that a problem, Zacharias?"
"Yes!" Smith nodded, "You have no right to test us. We have been following your stupid directions about defense and attacking, and now you still do not have the confidence in us not to test us."
Harry shook his head, "No, I do have confidence in you, but that does not mean that having some practice runs would hurt."
Smith scoffed, "Yeah, right. You know what, I still do not believe that you fought You-Know-Who and lived. How about a duel to see if you are all that you like to think you are?"
Fleur stepped forward and spoke in a warning tone, "Smiz!"
Zach sneered at her, "Shut up, half-breed!"
"Smith!" Harry barked out, "You will not talk to Fleur like that! Why do you want to fight me?"
"I want to show everyone here that you are not what people say you are, especially how you fought dark wizards and lived. To make it even better, I put forth a wager. If I win, you have to disband this group and go to every paper, saying that You-Know-Who has not returned and that you were lying all along."
Fleur started to make her way over to Smith but was stopped by Harry, who waved at her to stop. Harry looked at Zacharias with a hard stare, "And what if I win?"
"Like you will win against me!" Smith laughed haughtily.
Harry walked forward until he was about 15 feet away from Smith, "Would you wager your life on a duel like this?" He said in a solemn tone.
"Facing you, of course I would," Said Zach arrogantly as he pulled out his wand, leveling it at Harry.
Fleur grabbed Harry's shoulder, "Do not do zis 'Arry!" She hissed at him.
Harry turned to look at her, "Do not worry, Fleur, I will be fine. Just take everyone off to the side and erect a shield, alright?"
Fleur glared at him for a few moments before sighing, "Fine!" She then turned to everyone else and yelled out, "Everyone, wiz me now!"
Fleur gathered the group, leading them to the right side of the room, and cast up a protective shield. Fleur looked at Hermione, Ron, and Neville to see them gazing at Harry with worried looks. Fleur did not blame them for being concerned for Harry; though, she was more concerned if Harry would activate Magical Overdrive to intimidate Smith. Harry had his wand out, hanging lazily at his side while Smith still pointed at him. Harry looked at Zach expectedly, as if trying to tell him to make the first move.
"This will be easy," Smith commented with a confident smirk while Harry did not say anything other than raising an eyebrow at the boy's comment.
Neither of them made a move for what seemed like forever as they were sizing up each other. Smith had a confident smirk, and Harry had a more serious look on his face. The suspense was figuratively killing the audience before Smith made the first move, stepping forward and waving his wand at Harry.
Expelliarmus!
The spell flew through the air in Harry's direction, but it missed its intended target as he stepped to the left. The charm whizzed by and dissolved into thin air; Smith's confident smirk twisted into a look of anger.
"Of course, you would side-step it instead of facing it like a man!" That statement made Harry shake his head in disappointment.
Reducto! Reducto! Reducto! Expelliarmus!
Zach shot off several Reductor Curses and another Disarming Charm while walking sideways to the left. Harry waved his wand in front of him in an ark, casting up a shield, and watched as the spells crashed into the guard with a decent amount of power. Harry then dispelled his shield and shot a relatively powered stunning charm straight at Smith, sending him through the air and landing on his back. Zach had the wind knocked out of him as he tried to get back onto his feet. Smith was able to get back onto his feet and once again leveled his wand at Harry.
Stupify! Reducto! Bombarda!
Zacharias cast more curses and charms, trying to catch Harry off guard. It did not work as Harry ducked out of the way, and the spells slammed into the shield that Fleur had put up. Harry turned to look at Fleur and the group to see if they were alright, which they were, so Harry turned back to Zach, who has become more agitated.
"Are you going fight back!?" Smith shouted angrily.
"Against you, no," Harry retorted in an even tone.
Zach gritted his teeth in anger as nothing has affected Harry in any way. He was trying to think of something that would give him the upper hand against Harry. Looking past Harry to the group of students watching with interest, Smith got an idea, thinking it would defiantly give him the upper hand. Moving his wand from Harry to the shielded group, Smith closed his eyes and gathered all the energy he could before opening his eyes, firing off spells.
Reducto! Bombardo! Incendio!
The spells shot through the air, slamming into Fleur's shield, causing her to put out more magical power to keep the protection up. The rest of the D.A. took a step back when the attack collided as they were shocked that someone like Smith would outright attack them. Harry growled at what the Hufflepuff was doing before running in front of where Smith was attacking.
Protego!
The shield roared to life, stopping the barrage of attacks. Harry grounded his teeth as the torrent of flames continued, he could not see, but Smith was smirking. Zach kept the fire going as Harry poured more magical power into the shield so it would not break. Harry knew that he needed to subdue Smith, and an idea came to mind. Taking a deep breath, Harry dispelled his shield and rolled to the right, ensuring that his wand was level with Smith.
Aguamenti!
The jet of water clashed with the fire, and for a second, both spells were in a stalemate before Harry's won. The fire was quickly put out, and to avoid being hit with the water; Smith rolled to the left. Both combatants got back onto their feet, glaring at one another.
"What the hell were you doing, Smith?" Harry yelled out in an angry tone.
"What does it look like I am doing?" Zach scoffed, "I am making you take me seriously as you should have from the beginning. That proves that you do not take anything seriously until someone's life is on the line!"
Harry narrowed his eyes at the boy, "Really, do you think I did not take this seriously from the beginning?"
"Of course!"
Harry took a deep breath before looking at the Hufflepuff with a hard stare, "I was taking you seriously from the beginning, but now I see you as a threat." With that, Harry got into his stance that he uses when he and Fleur duel.
"Finally!"
Harry zeroed in on Zach, and before he could think, Harry started to shoot off spells at a fast rate.
Reducto! Bombardo! Incendio! Expelliarmus!
Zacharias' eyes widened at the speed that the spells were coming at him, just having enough time to cast up a shield before the Reductor Curse slammed into it. That caused Smith to wince at the force of the impact and heard his shielding charm start to crack. Once the torrent of flames made contact, Smith's protection shattered before he was disarmed. His wand flew through the air, landing in Harry's left hand. Zach was in complete shock as his only way of defense had been ripped from his hands.
Harry stood there with Smith's wand in his hand, staring at the boy with a look that was daring him to make another move. Zacharias did just that as he started to run towards Harry. He figured that Smith would do this and raised his wand.
Levicorpus!
The Hufflepuff let out a scream as he was dragged into the air by his ankle. Harry then shot a stunning charm at the boy, causing him to crash into the wall behind him, sliding down into a crumpled heap. Harry slowly made his way over to Zach but stopped when the boy shakily climbed to his feet. Harry sighed as Smith would not give up.
Petrificus Totalus!
Zacharias's body became completely paralyzed, his body slumping against the wall. Harry stepped right next to the body, leaned down. He could see that Smith's face now twisted into one of horror, which Harry found slightly funny as the boy had been very confident.
"You are a disgrace!" With that, Harry knocked Zacharias Smith out cold with a stunning spell.
Seeing that the fight was over, Fleur lowered her shield, and the rest of the D.A. slowly walking forward. Harry motioned for Fleur to come over to where he was standing. When she stepped over to him, Harry pointed at the unconscious Hufflepuff.
"Obliviate him of everything that has to do with the D.A."
" 'Arry?" Fleur was questioning whether obliviating Smith was the best idea, but when she saw the look on Harry's face, Fleur knew that it was the best option right now. Pointing her wand at Zach and focused.
Obliviate!
Once Fleur opened her eyes, she nodded at Harry, signaling that she had erased all memories that had to do with the D.A. Harry waved his wand and summoned Zach's coin. Harry and Fleur turned to see the rest of the D.A. group looking at the two of them. Harry walked over to Susan, handed her Zacharias' wand.
"Can you take him back to your common room when we are done here?" Harry asked. Susan nodded as she took the wand.
"Harry," Ron called out, "Did you, you know…?" He made a slicing motion with his hand across his neck.
"No," Harry shook his head, "I just knocked him out and had Fleur erase everything that had to do with the D.A. from his mind."
"Harry? Was erasing his memory of the D.A. necessary?" Susan asked with a concerned look on her face.
Harry nodded in confirmation, "Yes, it was vital as if I had not, he would have gone to Umbridge and had this entire group disbanded. I can understand why some of you might see it as unnecessary, but it was essential. There is a war that has been brewing for years now, and you all will be right in the middle of it. I am trying to prepare you for what is out as the adults would rather bury their heads in the ground."
"If ze adults 'ave a problem wiz it, zey can go pound sand!" Fleur quipped with a smirk. That caused some eyebrows to rise in confusion, and even Harry looked at her with a confused face. "An American expression to get lost," Fleur explained with a sheepish smile.
Harry sighed, tired from what had just happened, "Alright, is there anything else any of you would like to say before we end the last meeting for the year?"
When everybody shook their heads, Harry smiled, "Ok, I will see you all next year, and don't forget to practice!" With that, students started to exit out of the multiple doors that lead to their specific common rooms. Harry saw Susan and her friend drag the unconscious Smith with them.
Once everyone except Harry and Fleur was gone, the couple walked through the door to their living area. Fleur led Harry up the stairs and into their room to pack for Winter Break. While they were putting their belongings away, Harry turned to Fleur.
"Fleur, do you think it was right to Obliviate Smith?"
Fleur stopped what she was doing and stepped over to Harry, "Yes, 'e was too muc' of a liability." Fleur leaned down and kissed Harry before pulling away.
After putting everything away, Harry and Fleur changed into their nightclothes and climbed into bed. Harry cuddled up to Fleur with his head resting on her chest and arms wrapped around her waist. She wrapped her arms around Harry, bathing him in her calming scent. Fleur looked up to see Serpico resting on Hedwig's perch with the white owl herself on it as well. She turned out the light, placing a light kiss on top of Harry's head before closing her eyes, allowing sleep to take over.
A/N: That is the end of Chapter 14. I would like to point out a few things. First, with Harry's attitude during the duel and teaching, he will be harder on the students than the canon. However, he will not be a psychotic drill instructor. Hopefully, I was able to find that balance, If you think otherwise, please let me know what I could to find it. Secondly, something that a reviewer, Charlee56, brought up, a Beta Reader. For 14 chapters, I have proofread each chapter and still have something fall through the cracks, even on this chapter probably. I am THINKING about looking for a beta reader. Now, if I do, a few things I want to get out. First, I will not be able to pay anyone if that is what you are thinking, it is not in the cards at this point in time. That might turn most people away and that is fine for now, think of it as free-lancing work. Second, if I do go with having a beta reader, it is still my story and will stay that way. I would love to hear more suggestions and if that is a way to get them, then I will happily read them.
After all of that, I would love to hear what you all have to say about the chapter, a beta reader suggestions, send me a PM and I will do my best to get back to you. Please Read & Review and I will see you all next time!
Swat303810 Signing Off!
Posted on 2/23/21
