The castle was quiet. The torches were shedding a dim light along the hallways. Darkness inhabited every nook and cranny.

Ron swore quietly when he stubbed his toe against a suit of armour, once again, internally berating himself for not getting the knack for the Disillusionment Charm when Fleur had tried to teach him.

He had known that it was an advanced spell, but even so he was disappointed by his failure. Fleur had explained that the spell was easy for her, because she so often wanted to not be seen by others. Ron, on the other hand, often found himself feeling invisible next to Harry and Hermione… and the twins… and Ginny… and, well, he'd never wanted to feel any more invisible than he already did. He was unpleasantly reminded of the vision he saw in the Mirror of Erised.

Fleur had an alternative spell that he could cast in her arsenal, though. One that caused darkness to spread and shadows to deepen. It might not be much help outside, during the day, but it was great for sneaking through the castle after curfew. It did have the slight drawback that it made it almost impossible for the caster to see in most situations. Which is why Ron was now rubbing his foot.

He considered letting the spell drop; it wasn't far now to Gryffindor Tower, but he didn't want to try his luck and risk detention, not when it was only a month away from the third task. Fleur would never admit it, but Ron knew that she needed him to force her to relax and take it easy once in a while. Otherwise, she would burn herself out from pushing herself too hard. If he got caught by Filch, or even worse, Snape, he'd be scrubbing cauldrons until after the Triwizard Cup had been awarded.

Half-limping, he made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady and into the Common Room. It was long past curfew and normally by this time, everyone would be in bed, so he was surprised to see Harry and Hermione sitting at one of the tables.

"Oh. Hey, guys," Ron said.

"Ron?" Hermione said. "What were you doing out so late?"

"Seeing Fleur," Ron said. It wasn't actually true, but now that he and Lavender had finally done it, he wouldn't need to sneak around anymore. "What are you two up to?"

Harry slammed the book in front of him closed, before taking his glasses off and rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "They told us about the third task today," he said. Ron ahhed. That was today, wasn't it. "It's a maze filled with traps and monsters, so we were writing up a list of spells I should learn in the next month."

Ron picked up the parchment they were writing on and glanced down the list. "Uh huh, ah ha. Yeah, there's some pretty good stuff here," Ron said.

"Anything you'd want to add?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe a couple of things."

"Hang on," Harry said, returning his glasses to his face. "I thought that you didn't want to get… you know… put in a conflicted position between me and Fleur."

"Oh, Harry, that's totally different," Hermione said.

"It is?"

"Yeah," said Ron. "Because the second task required a specific plan, but if this one is just a maze filled with traps and beasts then I can't see why sharing general spells with you should be a problem."

"Alright then," Harry said. He looked as if he didn't quite understand it though. "Well, if you're offering help, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth."

"What?" Ron said, confused.

"A gift abraxan," Harry clarified.

"Oh, right," Ron said, nodding in understanding.

"Are there no horses in the magical world?!" Hermione exclaimed. "Are they not given as gifts?"

"Hermione, what are you on about?"

"Nevermind," she said dejectedly. "I'm going to bed. Let's get started with some of these spells tomorrow after lessons, alright?"

Harry quickly agreed and the two boys wished Hermione good night.

Ron was scribbling down some extra spells that he thought were useful to the end of Harry's list.

"Hang on," Harry said. "Fleur was at the Quidditch pitch with me and the other champions. How did you spend time with her?"

Ah.

Ron froze, the quill hovering over the parchment, dripping ink.

"Err…"

"Yes?"

"Alright, I wasn't meeting Fleur," Ron admitted, keeping his voice low.

"Then what-"

"It's best kept secret," Ron said quickly, leaning over the parchment again. "I don't think you'd approve and Hermione certainly wouldn't approve. In any case, it's all finished now."

Harry gave Ron a shrewd look. "Alright," he said slowly. "I'll let you keep your secrets. What's that spell you're writing?"

Ron turned the parchment towards Harry. "One of Fleur's," he said. "It conjures a mirror. I was thinking that, because it's a maze-"

"I can use it to look around corners. Nice idea. And that one?"


Time marched forward, the days got warmer and the date of the third task drew nearer. Ron became aware of a tension slowly building in the castle. He'd hear excited whispers from students anticipating the upcoming task. He'd see notes passed in lessons arguing over who had the best chance of winning. Even the teachers seemed to be taken over by the spirit of enthusiasm that had infected everyone (Snape excluded of course). Flitwick was beaming throughout every lesson and paying special attention to Harry. Trelawney loudly foresaw Harry's victory whenever they were in her smokey tower, though they heard that she foresaw Cedric's victory whenever she had Hufflepuff classes. Even McGonagall, to their surprise, spent a lesson teaching them how to transfigure goblets into miniature trophies.

In contrast to the students and teachers however, the champions had become incredibly focussed and intense. Ron didn't see Cedric much, but Harry was spending all of his free time in the classroom that McGonagall had made available to him, practising spells with a singular energy. Hermione reported that Krum was hardly leaving the Durmstrang ship and had even stopped going to lessons, instead, only visiting his teachers when there was a specific spell he wanted advice on.

Ron knew that Fleur was hardly leaving the Beauxbatons carriage herself, though, unlike Hermione and the Durmstrang ship, at least Ron could visit Fleur. On Sunday, just one week before the third task, Ron had a plan to forcefully relax her though.

While he hadn't been able to convince her that the Hogwarts Library was better than the library at Beauxbatons, he had made her admit that it was probably more extensive than the library they kept in the carriage. She agreed to visit the library for a short while, but only so she could check a few things. That was part one of the plan.

In record time, Fleur had located the books relevant to her current study, found and read the important section and packed her things so that she could return to practising. Ron didn't mind that, he just checked that the Invisibility Cloak and Marauders' Map were easily available in his bag. That was step two.

Step three was… grabbing Fleur's arm and dragging her off route. Okay, so it wasn't the most complicated plan.

"Ron, stop it," Fleur protested. "I need to go and practise Wind Charms." She was pulling away from him, but not very hard. Ron had a suspicion that she knew she was overworking herself and was glad to be dragged away. Ron kept a firm grip on her.

"What you need," Ron said, "is some time to relax, Fleur. You've been pushing yourself one-hundred and ten percent for the last month. If you keep going like this, you're going to collapse the moment you step into the maze." Ron had seen plenty of Hogwarts students overwork themselves, Hermione and Percy foremost, but half a dozen OWLs and NEWTs students had to go to the Hospital Wing every year around exam time for Calming Draughts.

"I'll be fine," Fleur complained, but her heart wasn't really in it. Ron ignored her and she obediently let herself be led along.

Ron checked that the coast was clear when they reached the secret passageway that led to Honeydukes and quickly led Fleur in and closed it behind them.

"We are going on a date," Ron declared, staring Fleur down in the dark passageway lit only by their wand tips. "You are going to enjoy it and you are going to take it easy, understood?"

Fleur had a look on her face that Ron couldn't quite recognise.

"If you keep using zat tone of voice, I'm going to blush," she said.

"Understood?" Ron repeated.

"Yes," Fleur said quietly. She let out a half-laugh. "I was really overworking myself, wasn't I?"

Ron grunted affirmatively. He picked up a couple of broomsticks that he had stashed there earlier and led Fleur down the tunnel. "You haven't been brushing your hair as much lately," he said.

"Ah," Fleur said, a little guiltily. "You noticed? I've just been so busy… I'm not even wearing make-up today."

It was a long way to Honeydukes and Ron's neck was stiff from ducking down to avoid hitting the ceiling by the time they got to the trapdoor. Fleur cast a Silencing Charm and Ron pushed the door open a crack. They both froze, their breaths caught in their throat, when they saw the shopkeeper in the basement. He had his back to them and was looking through the boxes that were stored there. With a whispered ' confundus' from Fleur, the man 'remembered' that he had to go upstairs. Ron and Fleur quickly exited the tunnel, donned the Invisibility Cloak and sneaked up behind him.

They couldn't share the Invisibility Cloak while on separate brooms, so they walked away from the village and into the forest before Ron stuffed the cloak back into his bag and they took to the air.

It might not have been as satisfying and exhilarating as mountain hiking, but at least flying to the top of the mountain gave them the same spectacular views.

"Lunch?" Ron asked, pulling sandwiches and fruit out of his bag. "It turns out that raiding the kitchens is easier than I thought." In the end, he'd struggled to get away from the helpful house-elves before they gave him more food than he could carry.

" Merci," Fleur said, looking out over the Scottish mountains. Ron had picked the tallest mountain nearby, which was far enough away from the castle that it would hopefully put the tournament out of Fleur's mind. It was June and the sun was shining, but it was still Scotland and they were at the top of a mountain. Fleur shivered, so Ron pulled a blanket from his bag and wrapped it around her.

After Fleur transfigured a couple of rocks into something they could sit on comfortably, Fleur wrapped the blanket around both of them and they munched on sandwiches while looking down at the scenery.

"I've got you a gift," Ron said, his voice catching in his throat. He was suddenly rather nervous. He wasn't sure how she was going to react.

"You keep getting me gifts," Fleur said. "I'm going to 'ave to get you something, one of these days."

"That's alright," Ron said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a box. He'd transfigured the box himself, but he was still self-conscious about how it looked. Fleur froze when she opened it.

"'ow did you find it?"

She slowly pulled out her grandfather's knife that she had lost in the second task.

"You taught me the Bubblehead Charm, remember?" Ron said.

"You mean to say zat you went into zat lake alone? Zat is both stupid and dangerous," Fleur said, her voice full of emotion. "I would 'ave gone with you."

"I didn't want to get your hopes up," Ron said. "I wasn't sure that I'd find it in time and you were so busy… But I wasn't alone. Lavender Brown caught me sneaking out and when I told her what I was doing, she thought it was the most romantic thing she'd heard of, she likes that sort of thing, and demanded to come with me."

Fleur frowned, looking up from the knife to look at Ron.

"Which one is Lavender?" she asked.

"Gryffindor. In my year. Brown hair," Ron said. Fleur was still looking at him blankly. Ron sighed. "The good-looking one."

"Ah," Fleur nodded in understanding. "'Er."

"It took dozens of trips into the lake, but we eventually managed to retrace your journey towards the mer village and find the Grindylow nest." Ron paused looking at Fleur's face for any indication as to how she was feeling. "Are you… okay? Happy?"

"Ron, I…" tears began to well up in Fleur's eyes, somehow she even made crying look beautiful. Seeing it, Ron began to panic.

"Fleur, what's wrong?"

"Nothings wrong, you idiot. This is the nicest things zat anybody 'as ever done for me."

Now the tears were falling freely. Fleur closed the box and flung both arms around him, squeezing him tightly. After a moment, she pulled back to kiss him.

By this point, they had kissed hundreds of times, in greeting, in passion, but this time something was different. Ron couldn't explain it, but there was some extra energy present that had never been there before. Her allure flowed into him, not particularly powerfully, but now it seemed to be reaching some inner part of Ron that it never had affected him before.

They broke apart and, smiling, Fleur brushed away her tears that had landed on Ron's face.

"I, uh…" she said, but she didn't finish her sentence, choosing to smile at him dopely instead.

They sat on that mountain for a long while, happily basking in each other's presence.


Ron woke up early on the day of the third task and couldn't fall back asleep. He stared at the canopy of his bed while the light slowly filtered in through the window. It was summer now and the sun rose so early, as far north as Hogwarts was. Ron had always struggled to sleep when it was light out. Back at the Burrow, as soon as it was light, somebody was up and about, either mum was making breakfast or dad was tending to the chickens. On hot days, his brothers would go out to play Quidditch early, so that they didn't have to suffer the worst of the heat.

Ron let out a breath. He felt silly that he was so tense. All he had to do was sit in the spectator stands and wait, so why did he feel such immense pressure bearing down on him?

From the sounds of movement coming from elsewhere in the dorm room, it seemed as if Harry was awake, too. Ron spared a concerned thought for his friend. The plot to enter him into the tournament still hadn't been unravelled and there had been other strange things happening throughout the year. Crouch had apparently disappeared at some point, but somebody had still been writing instructions to Percy, so it wasn't clear when. Karkaroff had been acting more and more erratic and suspicious as the year drew on. Moody had been watching him closely, he had confided to Harry at one point, but Moody hadn't worked out who had put Harry's name in the cup, in the first place, so Ron wasn't feeling confident. They had all been waiting for the other shoe to drop and it pretty much had to be today.

Resigning himself to the idea that he wouldn't be getting back to sleep, Ron got dressed and got out of bed, catching Harry doing the same. They both went down to the Common Room. If Ron looked out of the far window, he could just about see the Beauxbatons carriage, far beneath him. He didn't expect to see Fleur, of course, but looking at it helped him. It made the pressure he was feeling leak away, slightly.

"Urgh," Harry said, looking at the Common Room clock. "I'm not waiting two more hours for breakfast. Want to sneak into the kitchens with me?"

Ron shrugged. "Alright, but don't blame me if the elves feed you so much that you can't fit into the maze."

"That's my plan, see," Harry said, grinning. "You give me a big push and I'll roll through the maze. Genius, right?"

"That's one word for it."

They reached the portrait hole, but were caught off guard when it opened without a touch and revealed Hermione just about to enter from outside. All three of them stopped, surprised to see each other.

"Hermione?" said Harry. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I… I mean…" she was visibly flustered. "I could ask you the same thing!"

"We're sneaking to the kitchens," Ron said. "Why are you up so early?"

"Early?" Hermione asked in confusion, then her eyes widened. "Oh, right. I was just going to wish Krum good luck."

"Hermione, it's four in the morning," said Harry. "You'll have plenty of opportunities to see Krum before…" Harry stopped, his own eyes widening. "Have you… have you just got back?"

"Uhh."

"You were out all night?!" Ron exclaimed.

"Uhh."

"With Krum?"

Hermione froze, they could almost see the gears in her head spinning, thinking of excuses. Instead of protesting her innocence, she straightened her back and, without another word, walked past the boys and into the Common Room.

"Hermione!" said Harry. "You can't just ignore us and go up to… she just ignored us and went up to her dorm!" Harry said in outrage to Ron.

Ron ran a hand through his hair while letting out a deep breath. "Or worse expelled," he said to himself.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"Hmm? I was just wondering what happened to the goody-two-shoes Hermione we used to know."

"She met us, remember?"

"Oh, right." Ron gave a final look towards the girls' dorms before climbing out of the portrait hole, Harry behind him. "Do you think that she and Krum… you know?"

"I don't know," Harry said thoughtfully. "Have you and Fleur… you know?"

"Hey!" Ron protested. "You can't ask me that. It's one thing to gossip about Hermione behind her back, but another to just ask me outright."

"Okay," Harry said defensively. "Don't get upset."

"I don't ask you about you and Ginny."

Just for a moment, a look of panic flashed on Harry's face, before he schooled his features, but Ron saw it.

"Have you and Ginny… you know?"

"A gentleman does not kiss and tell," Harry said serenely.

"But if you haven't kissed her, then you can tell me that, can't you?"

"Well, I can tell you that I have kissed her."

"I know that you've kissed her," Ron ground out through gritted teeth. "I was asking if you had- hey! Get back here!"

But Harry had already taken off at a run.

"Glisseo!" Harry said quickly, whipping his wand at the floor behind him. Ron slipped as he entered the charmed area, the floor having become unnaturally frictionless. He crashed into the wall and had the breath knocked out of him. He struggled for his wand in his robes to cast the counter-charm while Harry got away.

"This isn't over, Harry. I know where you sleep!"


They two boys still went to breakfast, even though they had already eaten. They had come to a quick ceasefire regarding their previous discussion. Ron wasn't actually upset with Harry and neither of them had wanted to spoil the mood while they ate the lavish breakfast that the House-elves provided. They came to a silent agreement to not mention girlfriends or sisters.

"Morning," Ron said to Hermione as they sat down opposite her.

"Good morning," Hermione said as she buttered a crumpet. She said it without a hint of embarrassment or shyness, so both boys decided to put the whole matter behind them.

"Oh look, it's Cedric's dad," Harry said, nodding his head towards the older man they had met at the Quidditch World Cup. He was walking along the hall and entered the room behind the staff table.

"Must be here to see Cedric perform," Ron said.

"Well, I'm sure that the Dursleys won't be showing up," Harry said

"Oh, I almost forgot about that," Hermione said, looking at her reflection in the back of her spoon.

"What, the Dursleys?"

"No, Krum's family," Hermione said distractedly, transfiguring a teaspoon into a brush and attacking her hair.

"Oh, right," said Ron. "Good luck with that."

"Won't Fleur's family be here?" Harry asked Ron. "And won't she want you to meet them?"

Ron's hand slipped as he was pouring himself tea and he spilled tea over the tablecloth.

"As if this day wasn't stressful enough," Ron said, cleaning up the spilled tea with a wave of his wand.

"Don't forget we have that History of Magic exam in ten minutes," Hermione reminded him.

Ron dropped his head into the table in front of him.

"We should probably get going, if we don't want to be late, actually," Hermione said, finishing her crumpet in two quick bites and shouldering her school bag.

Ron reluctantly raised his head, slurped down his too hot tea and stood up to leave as well.

"Later, Harry," he said.

"Later."

Ron and Hermione joined the stream of people leaving the Great Hall.

"Are you nervous?" Ron asked.

"I'm always nervous about exams," Hermione said, pouring over a page of History of Magic notes while she walked.

"No, I mean about meeting Krum's family."

"Oh," she looked up from her notes. "I mean, not really? Krum has promised me that his parents aren't blood supremacists. I'm not so unlikeable that they'll disapprove of our relationship, am I?"

To Ron, Hermione appeared to be genuinely distressed by the idea.

"What are you talking about, Hermione? Of course not."

"Well, if you say so," Hermione said unconfidently. "He is a famous sportsman, remember, and there are probably plenty of single witches in Bulgaria. I bet that they speak Bulgarian, at least."

"Ah." Ron winced in sympathy. He had found an Introductory guide to French in the library, but he hadn't made much progress at all.

"You don't speak French, do you, Hermione?"

Hermione thought about it for a moment. "Well, in my last year of primary school, we did one lesson a week. I think I can remember the numbers up to twenty and some of the colours… so, no. I don't speak French. What do you think Fleur's family will make of you?"

"Nothing good, I reckon," Ron said glumly.

"Don't be like that, Ron. You're great," Hermione said, but she was already looking back at her notes.

Ron sighed and went into the History of Magic classroom with her.

For some reason, he found it difficult to concentrate during the exam.


"How was your exam, Ron?" his mother asked, when Ron sat down for lunch.

"Mum? What are you doing here?" The sight of Molly Weasley sitting at the Gryffindor table was such an anachronism that Ron wasn't sure what to make of it.

"She came to see how you did on your History of Magic exam, obviously," Ginny said, sitting next to mum. Ron gave her a withering look.

"Don't be silly, Ginny dear," mum said. "No, I came to cheer on Harry for the tournament."

"Oh, right."

Harry seemed to be happy about it, at least.

"Oh, I think Fleur wanted to see you before lunch ended," Harry told Ron.

"Who's Fleur?" Mum asked. "Your girlfriend?" Her voice had a slight teasing tone to it.

There was a clatter as Ginny's fork fell to her plate. Harry began coughing violently.

"You mean you didn't tell mum?!" Ginny hissed.

"It never came up," Ron said defensively. "I thought you might have."

"I don't discuss your lovelife with mum and dad!"

"Wait," mum said, waving her hands to get some attention. "Ron's actually got a girlfriend? Who?"

"Fleur, the French champion," Harry said, having taken a sip of water to clear his throat. "She was the blonde girl in the room earlier."

Mum looked faint.

"... And now that the expedition in Egypt is over, I'll be working in the London branch until they send me off again."

"Bill!" Ginny cried, scrambling to her feet and barreling into him. Bill hugged her back affectionately, turning away from Fleur, who he had been talking with as he had approached.

"Hello, Gin," he said. "Hi Ron."

"Hey, Bill."

"Ron," Fleur said, cheer in her voice and a smile on her lips. "Why didn't you tell me zat you Weasleys grow up to be even more 'andsome?"

Bill chuckled in faux embarrassment. "You two know each other?" he asked.

"I'm 'is girlfriend," Fleur said, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she said it. The smile dropped from Bill's face and was replaced by shock. "'E didn't tell you?"

Bill shook his head dumbly, collapsing onto the bench next to mum, her face mirroring his.

"Fleur, this is my mum, Molly Weasley," Ron said.

Mum stood up as if in a daze. "It's nice to meet you," she said mechanically. She raised her hand as if to offer a handshake, but Fleur instead kissed her on both cheeks.

"It is wonderful to meet you, too," she said. "Ron's told me so much about you. I'm sorry, but I must steal Ron away. I want to introduce 'im to my family before lunch is over. Shall we?" Ron nodded and quickly finished the rest of his sandwich. He stood up, but Bill reached over and gripped his arm before he could follow her.

"Hey Ron?" Bill glanced at Fleur's retreating back. "Well done."

Emotion exploded in Ron's chest. Pride and victory and the feeling of familial acceptance threatened to erupt out of him, just because his big brother was impressed by him. Ron didn't let any of it show on his face though.

"Thanks," he said simply.


Madame Delacour cut a very imposing figure. Ron had seen her from afar when he had visited Paris with Fleur, but he hadn't quite realised how tall she was, almost as tall as him. She was beautiful, of course, but not in the same way that Fleur was. While Fleur was like spring, full of youth and vigour and the promise of joyful times to come, her mother was like the end of summer, when the trees are just starting to turn golden. She was still full of life and strength, but it was a softer strength than Fleur's, a gentle warmth instead of unclouded sunshine, calming and inviting instead of fiery and challenging. Ron didn't know how old she was, and he certainly wasn't going to ask, but if Fleur was seventeen, then she was at least approaching middle-aged, but not a hair on her head was grey, nor was there a single wrinkle on her face, much unlike his own mother.

Fleur's father, likewise, was quite intimidating. He was surprisingly short and rather plump, but he had a very neat beard and a sharp intelligence behind his eyes.

But, contrary to Ron's expectations, both of Fleur's parents were immensely kind and welcoming to him. When they said that they were pleased to meet him, he believed it. He was kissed on both cheeks by Fleur's mother and had his hand shaken very enthusiastically by her father. No, it wasn't Fleur's parents who were glaring at Ron coldly, it was her eight-year-old sister.

" Parlez-vous Français?" she demanded, standing right in front of Ron, hands on hips, as if to bar him from the rest of her family. She had to strain her neck to look him in the eye.

Ron stared right back at her, meeting her challenging look impassively.

" Je ne parlez pas Français," he said flatly.

Gabrielle accepted this with a nod, before frowning a second later and speaking at him in rapid-fire French that he couldn't follow at all, her voice full of accusation.

Monsieur Delacour, Fleur hadn't introduced him by name, laughed good- naturedly and said something in French to his youngest daughter, patting the seat next to him. Gabrielle sat down, but not before glaring at Ron one last time.

Apparently, Hogwarts had at least one comfortable sitting room that guests to the castle could use, or maybe this was just an empty room that had been furnished just this day. Either way, the Delacours were enjoying a private lunch away from the whole school.

"Now Ron," Monsieur Delacour said. He had the barest hint of a foreign accent. "May I call you Ron? Wonderful. Our daughter has been telling us that you have had a somewhat peculiar reaction to her allure and I must admit, it has left the two of us quite curious."

"There have been very few relationships between Veela, or part-Veela, and wizards," her mother took over. "Before my father climbed into the Veela's mountains 'alf-a-century ago, there had been none. Occasionally, Muggle men and the odd wizard would disappear when wandering the mountains but they would never be 'eard from again. Recently, in the last couple of decades, some Veela communities have tried to coexist more peacefully with magical society, but not all of them. In that time, very little research has been done on the allure that we produce."

"What happened to the children of those men who disappeared?" Ron asked, frowning. "Hang on, wouldn't they be half-Veela, too? Wouldn't each generation, err… dilute… the Veela ancestry and- Merlin's beard, I'm sounding like a blood supremacist, aren't I? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I swear."

Fleur's mother held up her hands placatingly. "Not to worry, we know what you mean. The truth is that we don't know. My own mother was always tight-lipped about it. I've kept a suspicion that Veela communities 'ave some way of transforming 'alf-Veela into full-blooded Veela, but there are other potential explanations."

Ron nodded along. "And my reaction to Fleur's allure is strange?"

"Very," Monsieur Delacour said. "I myself have always been strangely immune to my wife's allure, though not her charms," he added with a smile. "Fleur's aunts have children of their own, but have never married."

"Ah, so they just…" Ron glanced at Gabrielle. The young girl glared at him again over the top of a book titled ' Le Japonais'. He didn't think she spoke English, but he still didn't want to say what he wouldn't normally say around an eight-year-old . "I understand. Wait, how did your father cope with it?" he asked Madame Delacour.

"The way 'e told it, 'e jumped into the middle of the Veela village, grabbed the most beautiful one there and escaped with 'er. I think what is more likely is that 'e very almost died and barely escaped with 'is life. 'E was a very powerful wizard, though, and they often cope with the allure better than others."

"Ron and I first bonded over chess," Fleur said. "By the time 'e realised zat I liked 'im, 'e was already quite resistant to mine."

"Chess?" Monsieur Delacour said interestedly. "And you don't know any Occlumency?"

"No," Ron replied. Fleur had mentioned that to him before, but he still didn't know what it was.

Monsieur Delacour drew his wand casually. "Do you mind if I-"

"Papa," Fleur said warningly.

"Just a little!" he protested. "In the interests of academic research."

"It's okay," Ron said, desperate to be compliant, even if he didn't know what was being suggested. "I don't mind."

Fleur frowned, but appeared to back down.

Monsieur Delacour turned to face Ron head on and pointed his wand between Ron's eyes. Ron tensed.

" Legilimens."

Ron felt his head begin to spin. A thousand images appeared in his mind's eye, the bacon he'd eaten at breakfast, a question that he hadn't known how to answer on his History of Magic exam, a paper dragon roaring above the lake.

Fleur. Think about Fleur.

Fleur? The sun illuminating her as she walked across the grounds. Her tear stricken face as she sat on top of a mountain. Time stopping as she walked into the Entrance Hall on the night of the Yule Ball. Her hands grabbing his robes and pulling him in for a kiss as he set up the chess board. Oh, right. He was meant to be thinking about chess, wasn't he.

e4, e5. Nf3, Nc6. Bb5, d6. Castle…

Qf6

Huh? Where did that idea come from? Aggressive, but weak. d4 is good, then pawn captures, knight captures and blacks knight is pinned, Bd7. Be3, Qd8. Nc3, Nf6…

"Ow."

Ron suddenly found his attention returned to the room at large. Monsieur Delacour was rubbing his temples, Madame Delacour was rubbing his arm sympathetically, Fleur was smiling at him and Gabrielle was looking bewildered, as she didn't understand what had happened.

"Very well done," Monsieur Delacour said a little weakly. "Perhaps I can understand how that works for you."

Ron nodded, not really sure what to say. He has only just realised that 'legilimens' was a mind reading spell and that 'occlumency' must be the defence against it.

"But it's more than just zat," Fleur said. "More than just his unusual resistance to it. When 'e focusses on me and my allure, 'e can… affect me back."

Fluer's parents raised their eyebrows.

"It's like… I pull where she pushes," Ron said.

Monsieur Delacour gave an apologetic shrug. "Well, as to that, I have no idea," he said. "I am not affected by my wife's allure at all, so I have no experience affecting her back."

Somewhere above them, the bell began to chime one o'clock.

"I should go to my next exam," Ron said, standing up. Fleur's parents both stood up too and told him again how happy they were to meet him. So far as Ron could tell, they were both being perfectly genuine.

"Will I see you again before the task?" Fleur asked Ron.

"Of course," he said and then, very self-consciously, kissed her on the cheek. As he stepped back, he saw Gabrielle staring at him very seriously out of the corner of his eye.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the door closed behind him, then rushed off for his next exam.


"How did it go?" Ron asked Hermione as they left the classroom.

"I still think I could have written more about the Summoning Charm," Hermione said. "But there was only so much time."

"I'm sure you did fine," Ron said. "But I was actually asking about meeting Krum's parents."

"Oh!" Hermione said in embarrassment. "I mean, it went okay, but when I went to say hello, I started babbling for a good thirty seconds before Krum reminded me that neither of his parents speak English. I was so embarrassed, but other than that, I think it went alright. How about meeting Fleur's family?"

"Yeah, it went okay," Ron said nonchalantly. "Her father attacked me with a mind reading spell and I think her sister is plotting my murder… so, not bad."

Hermione gave him a bemused smile. "What about her mother?"

"Uhh, she regaled me with tales of how Veela murder the men they abduct."

"Really?"

"Really, but it was more of a history lesson than a threat. Although, perhaps we should come up with contingency plans before I go on any dates, 'if I'm not back in two hours, send out a search party'."

Hermione laughed, but she stopped when they saw Cedric walking towards them. They nodded at him and he nodded back warily. Ron and Hermione waited until Cedric and his Hufflepuff entourage were out of earshot before continuing their conversation.

"Are you worried about the task?" Ron asked her seriously.

"Of course I am!" Hermione said forcefully. "Krum puts on a brave face, but I know he's stressed. I'm worried about Fleur too, of course and Cedric, I guess, but Harry! We still don't know why Harry was entered in this bloody thing, or by whom!"

Ron nodded. "I guess all we can do is wait and watch," he said.

Hermione frowned. "I wonder if Madam Pomfrey will let me take a Calming Draught."


Fleur ignored the roar of the crowd as Harry and Cedric entered the maze first, instead she focussed on her breathing. She had been working herself to the bone the last few months and now was the time to give her all.

Another bang and Krum sprinted in. Fleur ignored that, too. Earlier, her family had wished her good luck and Ron had told her to do her best. She knew that they were in the stands now, surely they were looking down at her, but she didn't open her eyes to search for them. She wasn't going to let a single thing distract her.

The moment was soon approaching. Despite her best efforts, the tension was building up in her again. The events of the rest of the evening would end up being so important to her, she just knew it.

She opened her eyes just a moment before the final bang sounded. The crowd screamed in excitement again as she ran into the maze. Fleur gripped her wand tightly. This was a night that would go down in history.