Chapter 16

The murder of Marcus Flint was all anyone talked about at Hogwarts leading up to the Yule Ball. The severity of the situation only increased when the ICW sent hitwizards into the investigation. There being this many foreign citizens in Britain, and signs of the darkness at every turn the confederation decided it was time to step in. They were led by an American by the name of Perseus Chase who had extensively questioned Harry, Penny, Angelina, and Roger as the four had been the ones to come upon the body. It was clear the investigation was going nowhere fast though, and Harry noticed security had been beefed up in the form of Aurors from the ICW.

Justin had grumbled about the git getting what he deserved for nearly beating him to death in his second year, and Harry had a hard time disagreeing with him. When Perseus had asked Harry if Flint had any enemies, he certainly didn't do himself any favors when he named himself, and about twenty other people who would've loved to have had a go at him, or had one in the past with the dead Slytherin. Justin had pushed many questions on Harry in the following days, but the truth was he didn't know much, and his own investigation had led to nothing.

He had written to Grindelwald about what had happened, and that he would like to meet soon, but the man claimed to be traveling and would return just before Yuletide, leaving Harry quite frustrated.

The night of the Ball had come upon Hogwarts like a storm in the blink of an eye. Girls all across the school had been putting hours into their appearances to look as beautiful as possible for their evening in the spotlight, while most of the males in the school probably barely remembered to put on their cologne.

Harry himself was one of those people. He had never cared much for how he looked, and outside of getting into his dress robes, and making sure he smelt nice for Fleur, that was going to be about the extent of what he wanted to do. At his mother's insistence he did use some of his grandfather's famous product to help tame his wild hair a bit, which only left dressing himself with wandless magic.

Rumors had gone around that Fleur had used her allure to draw Harry in, and of course that Harry had used the imperius on Fleur. Depending on which gender was starting the rumor you could find that they fluctuated quite a bit. Harry had tried not to bat an eyelash at any of these rumors, and he hoped after all this time the young woman would not pay any attention to them either.

These thoughts ran through his mind as he made his way to the Beauxbatons carriage. The winter snow blanketed the grounds, and it looked beautiful. The fresh snowfall from earlier in the day left it completely unblemished with the exception of the fresh tracks Harry himself was leaving. He knew it would not do to be late for his date, but he was surprised that no one had journeyed out thus far.

When he arrived at the Beauxbatons carriage he knocked politely, and it was answered by a young man already in his dress robes. He seemed surprised to see anyone, but his comprehension came quickly, "Monsieur Potter. I thought those that were going with people from the other schools were all meeting in the Great Hall. Merde! come in, you are going to freeze to death out there!"

With that the young man stepped aside and allowed Harry entry. Looking around after accepting the invitation, he was surprised at the extent of expansion charms. Of course he knew logically that they must be well beyond anything he had seen before, but what the French founders had done with this carriage was a magical masterpiece. In the entrance alone vaulted ceilings with stunning blue banners, and a very expensive chandelier hung high.

Harry's eyes drifted across the room recognizing portraits of famous French alumni, and possibly even headmasters and headmistresses of Beauxbatons. The young man sighed, "You are the first from outside our school to actually venture into our carriage. It's not that it was forbidden, but no one had even attempted."

This made the young man's eyebrows raise, "You did invite me in here. I could wait outside?"

Grinning, the man responded, "Non, not necessary. We were all going to walk up together in a moment, but I will let Fleur know you are here."

Giving the man a respectful nod he departed, and Harry stood in the entryway alone. His wait was not long though as a voice from his right soon called to him, "'Arry?"

Harry turned his head just in time to see Fleur in her silver dress and his breath caught in his throat the moment their eyes met. The dress was a perfect match for his all-black dress robes, and she was truly a vision of beauty. Her curves were hugged in a lovely fashion, and she had admittedly caught him staring, "So perhaps my allure does work a little on you, non?"

"Your allure has nothing to do with why I look at you this way." Harry said honestly, grabbing her hand and placing a soft kiss on her knuckles. This gesture made the girls smile light up the already lit hallway, "You look beautiful, my lady."

"You look rather nice as well, Monsieur. Though I do apologize for not telling you to meet in the hall. Jean Claude tells me that you looked frozen outside." She said apologetically.

"Some things are worth freezing for, but regardless, I train in this weather all year around, and I am quite talented with warming charms." He responded cheekily.

"But that charm only does so much. You could still freeze to death!" The girl chastised lightly.

Not answering the claim he merely smiled at the girl offering his arm, "Shall we make our way towards the castle?"

She seemed to think for a moment before saying, "Non, let us go to my room for a few moments. I would hate to arrive too early."

Before he could protest she made her way down the hall, and took a turn into a bedroom. Not wanting to be caught out alone he followed quickly, and she shut the door behind him, "Madame Maxime would be furious with me for bringing you in here, but I am a champion, so I get away with more than usual."

She began moving her wand around picking up a few spare items of clothing, rubbish, and other miscellaneous items and they began sorting themselves out quickly. He caught sight of a particularly skimpy piece of underwear, and he raised his eyebrows at the girl who blushed a little, "Desole. I was not expecting company."

The young man shrugged, trying not to think of the woman before him wearing that particular article of clothing. He walked towards her desk where a few pieces of jewelry were laying out. He frowned as he picked one up and immediately realized it was magical in nature. What surprised him even more was Fleur's magical signature being all over it. She was attempting to make enchanted jewelry. Very few could do it to real precious metals, and it was a very sought after skill. He spoke quietly, "These are very impressive attempts. I had heard you were quite the enchantress, but this is beyond anything I thought you capable of. Defensive magic inlaid in the jewelry as well as comfort charms? This must have been very difficult."

The girl was by his side in a moment watching him inspect her work carefully. After a moment of observation she said, "I am impressed you could detect the enchantments. They are very young, and early in the process. My main problem is they don't last as long as I want them to. A few days is the most I have managed so far."

"Then it's just experience you lack. The more you do it the longer they will last. Enchanting is-"

"You are going to lecture me on enchanting?" She asked with amusement in her voice.

This made the man grin, "I know a few things that most might overlook. Perhaps I could help you. I have accomplished my fair share of magical wonders. You are very close, I can sense it."

She looked at him appreciatively, but said nothing further. She then pulled out a notebook, and placed it in front of him. Without needing prompting he opened it up, and was quite surprised to see many ideas of magical enchantments. Some things he had already done, and others were ingenious things he had never thought of. He was speechless for several moments, "Much more than a pretty face indeed. I admit some of your ideas I have already worked out for myself, but others like the defensive magic in the armor are things I never even thought of."

When he turned to face her the smile on her face was huge, "You like?"

Nodding quickly she laughed, and he said, "I will have to show you mine. It is quite the array. I have thought about wizarding warfare a lot due to my family's history, and I think you will like what I can show you."

This made her smile widen even more, but before he could say more she grabbed him by the arm, "Come on, we can talk shop at the Ball, but we are going to be late if we don't get going."

Pouting slightly he rose to his feet, and offered his arm to her as they left the room. The carriage was abuzz earlier behind the walls in each room, but now it seemed silent. It seemed likely they would be the last to leave, and when they made it outside the fresh footprints confirmed their suspicion. He began casting as many warming charms and variations of the charm he could think of to make her comfortable on their walk as they crossed the grounds in the direction of the Great Hall.

The walk was peaceful, and their conversation was filled with ideas of how they each got into enchanting. She sighed softly as they made it to the courtyard, placing her head on his shoulder comfortably, "Your talent in charms is impressive. I must thank you for being so considerate."

The young man only smiled at her in answer as they finally made their way into the hall. Most of the couples seemed to have already gathered inside and each of the champions were now in some sort of circle chatting quietly among themselves as McGonagall looked at Harry and Fleur disapprovingly, "You two are late."

This made the young man shrug, "A thousand apologies, professor. I didn't mean to keep our esteemed company waiting."

McGonagall pursed her lips at him, but said nothing further as she rounded back into the hall to speak with Dumbledore, and likely inform him the festivities could begin.

Harry quickly took in the other couples. Justin and Susan were looking at Harry and his date with big grins, while the older brother merely winked in response at the two. Fleur whispered into his ear quietly, "Viktor Krum taking a fifteen year old muggleborn girl to the ball will make the front page tomorrow. We may just avoid the trouble."

Harry's eyes shot in the direction of the Durmstrang champion and realized she was right. On Krums arm was a radiant Hermione Granger. Harry was quite familiar with the girl as she was best friends with his brother, but still questioned Krum's tactic of taking a 15 year old fourth year Hogwarts student regardless of how she looked tonight. That would certainly cause some shaking heads this evening, but quietly promised he would help Hermione with any problems that may come from it. After all, boldness had to be appreciated, especially if it would take some of the heat off of him.

The other two champions were with people from their own schools, and the ladies looked exquisite as he gave them each a nod of recognition. Aimee bit her lip and looked him up and down with a wink, making Fleur clench his arm tightly and laugh lightly at the girl's antics.

Professor McGonagall came quickly back to the group, "Champions, are you ready to enter the hall? The professors are rounding up the students. You will soon be able to make your entrance and conduct the opening dance."

The champions all gave nods of acknowledgement, and with a curt nod returned the professor disappeared out of sight, and Fleur whispered in his ear, "Is this where you embarrass me because you don't know how to waltz?"

Harry gave the girl a surprising smile, "When have I ever let you down before, my lady?"

"There is always a chance for a first." She said jokingly.

"Jokes aside, have a little more faith. I would never purposefully embarrass you, unless you really annoyed me." The boy said with a wicked grin at the end.

The girl huffed slightly at this, and then the doors opened for the champions to strut forward to applause. Harry kept only the slightest of smiles on his face as they entered the room, and he knew that Fleur was actually radiating her beauty at the moment, so he let her enjoy the limelight for a while as they made their way to the center of the room.

After a moment the champions made their way to the center, and the room quieted allowing the music to begin. No longer caring what the rest of the room or even the other champions were doing, Harry focused on everything he learned in his pureblood etiquette classes and made a low bow to his partner, while Fleur matched him with a curtsey. With that Harry took the girl's hand with his other going on her waist and the two began to dance.

Harry had to admit immediately that Fleur was an excellent dancer, and the picture of graceful. He remembered dancing with a young red-headed woman who was teaching him and his brother how to dance years ago, but Fleur was as good, and likely better than her. The way she swayed to the music, and allowed him to lead unquestioningly. He was sure every spectator assumed they had danced together for years, and quite honestly it's what it felt like. They were in perfect sync with every step. It seemed each one took them to a new level of connection, and Harry spun her around the floor gently, and very smoothly. He was lost in her blue eyes when they were face to face, and her smile nearly took his breath away.

Before they knew it the music stopped, and Harry was once again bowing to his partner, and this time his smile was not nearly as sarcastic as others he had displayed that evening. The two champions took a seat at the head table with the headmasters of each respective school, along with several foreign diplomats and some domestic diplomats from their own Ministry. He recognized Fleur's father among them, and greeted him with a nod, while Fleur left his arm to embrace the man briefly. Amelia Bones was among the diplomats and was the first to greet the Hogwarts Champion, "Mr Potter."

"Madame Bones. I was unaware you would be at this function tonight." Harry said evenly as he pulled out a chair for Fleur to take a seat in.

"To be honest, I was beginning to think I wouldn't be either due to the time it took your brother to ask Susie to the Ball. I thought we would be sitting at Bones Manor, but it seems it was not meant to be. I am thankful for that though, as the last thing I wanted was a crying teenager on Christmas Day." The woman said with a bit of an accusation.

Harry bit back his sarcastic retort, and instead said, "You can blame it on his Potter genes. I actually asked my date a few days after he did. I like to say we like to keep our women on the edge, but in truth I think my brother was foolish, and myself indecisive, and after that first dance that makes me foolish as well."

At that he smiled at Fleur, who beamed at him happily for the compliment. Madame Bones merely smiled at the two this time, "Well, I hope you two will enjoy yourselves. I would ask that you make yourself available to me sometime after the holidays, Mr Potter. There are some things I would like to discuss with you in private."

Harry gave the woman a slight nod, and only put a little bit of sarcasm behind his words when he returned it with, "I will make it my top priority."

At this she gave him a curt nod, and turned to the conversation that Fleur was engaging in with her father who was famous to even Harry. The man was a very powerful Auror that crushed a rising Dark Lord's faction in France nearly single-handedly. Jean Delacour was quite the formidable wizard, and he had gathered quite the following in France that allowed him to ascend to Head of Magical Law Enforcement. From the first time Harry had met the man he had an inkling of respect for his considerable power. The conversation was about international politics, and Harry only understood some of what was being discussed.

Also around the table was Ludo Bagman, and several heads of important ministry departments, and much to his surprise, Percy Weasley, "Percy? How is it you got invited to the champion's table?"

Harry had tried to ask this as politely as he could, but the two had turned into quite bitter adversaries after the Penny Clearwater incident. Percy held his nose up at the boy infuriating the Hogwarts champion when he said, "The Minister invited me. It was why I came with no escort. I was invited to sit at the high table with him since I interned for him over the summer, and intend on working for him straight out of Hogwarts. He thought it would be a good time to broaden my connections."

The boy was quite a pompous git, but realized that Fudge was as well. Perhaps the two were just a match made in hell. Seeing the Minister sitting nearby, Harry turned to him, greeting the man, "Greetings, Minister. I hope the re-election campaign is going well?"

Cornelius Fudge boomed with laughter lightly, "Ah, it is good to see you as well, Heir Potter, and yes the election is running quite well. Your father, Lord Potter, has yet to throw his support behind me yet, but I suspect when he does I will be in office for another four years at least."

Harry wanted to laugh at that. There was no absolutely no way Fudge was going to get James Potter and his voting block to vote for him. That would mean the Bones', The Black's, The Longbottom's, The Abbot's, and the Peverell's votes would be going against the man. Somehow Harry suspected the man would still come out on top, however, so Harry spoke, "I will speak to my father about it tomorrow afternoon. He always feels like talking politics on boxing day."

What he really meant was that he would be assuring that his father and allies did not vote for the idiot, but he did not voice this out loud. Turning to his date as the food was being laid out he whispered quietly in her ear, "You can speak you know. You are my date, and no one will disrespect you. Between your father and I, I don't think anyone would dare."

She muttered quietly back, "And if they do?"

"Then it will be a bloody Christmas. I have to admit I have a preference." The boy said, grinning at his date.

This caused the girl to blush, and smile. Dinner was a calm affair as it came and went, and Harry made eye contact with his brother a few times throughout the night giving him a wink or a grin to tell him things were going alright on his end, and he would get a wave or a head nod back in return each time. Subtle things that no one was catching on to, but the two brothers. They could only hope that the night would continue in peace.

(A/N) Not much to see here today as far as my notes readers. Short chapter, but big things are in the works. If you want to read all the way through chapter 22 you can follow me on Discord! Just delete the spaces below, and feel free to chat with me at any time. Cheers!

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