A/N: I was planning on waiting to release this chapter till I had a bit more written, but I was so excited, I just decided to go ahead and post it now, I hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 2 - A New Day

Harry woke early, just after sunrise, and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. At first, he was confused, unsure of the strange but comfortable bed he woke up in, but it soon changed to excitement. He threw the covers off of himself and swung out of the bed, wiggling his toes on the warm wooden floor. He threw on a pair of slippers and was still in his pajamas from the night before as he headed downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Good Morning, Mrs. Delacour!" he greeted the matron of the house happily.

"Non, 'Arry, please call me Apolline," she said, smiling down at him. She offered him a plate with some toast and jam, as well as some sliced fruit and cheese. "Eat up, you are far too thin!" she told him, ruffling his hair. Soon they were joined by Minerva as well, who was followed shortly after by the two girls from the night before.

"Where is Sebastian?" Asked Minerva, looking at Apolline.

"He's already at work, I'm afraid." She replied.

"Darn, I was hoping to talk to him and see if he could put in a word with Madam Maxime for me so I could see about teaching Transfiguration at Beauxbatons. I'm in need of a job, now that I've resigned from Hogwarts." She sighed heavily, resting her head in the palm of her hand.

"I'm sure he would be willing to, Minerva. I will ask 'im tonight, it should not be a problem." She said with a smile.

Harry looked up at Minerva with curiosity in his features. "What's tran… transfig… transfiguration?" He managed to sound out the word after a few tries. Minerva just smiled at him.

"It is a branch of magic that lets you transform an object to take the form of something else." She responded kindly.

"Is that how you turned into a cat?" He asked curiously.

At this both of the girls looked at the older witch with a look of wonder, causing her to smile once more.

"Yes, and no… it is a form of magic that many consider being the pinnacle of transfiguration. I'm what you call an Animagus." She said, and Harry's eyes widened a bit as he heard the title, he thought it sounded cool!

"Can you teach me how to turn into a cat as well?" He asked.

She shook her head sadly. "Not for a few years, and there's no guarantee that you would take the form of a cat. There are many animal forms you could wind up with." She told him. He seemed to be a bit saddened by that, and she decided to try and cheer him up. "One day, when you're older, we can give it a try, okay?" she smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"Me too, me too!" both of the little girls shouted and Apolline sighed, exasperated.

"Non, little ones, Veela cannot become Animagi, we have our own forms we take," she said, giving both of the girls a knowing smile.

When Harry and the girls had finished their breakfasts, he ran back upstairs to change into something more suitable for playing in. Soon he was back downstairs and laughing and playing the day away. He found he quite liked it here, away from his family. He had much more fun, and he thought the people here were a lot kinder to him than they had been back home. That thought gave him pause. Where was his home now? He wasn't allowed to ponder that question for long, as soon Fleur engaged in a game of tag with him once more, squealing and running away from him and around one of the couches quickly.

Most of the day was spent in such a fashion, they had a few finger sandwiches and the adults had tea when lunchtime rolled around, and for a while everything was perfect. At one point, Fleur and Gabrielle ran up to Apolline and said "Maman! Maman! Can we and Harry be friends? I like him!" she said, and she was all smiles and glee as she clasped her hands behind her back and turned from side to side.

"Of course, my little flower!" she encouraged, smiling back at her daughter.

Fleur ran off immediately, presumably to tell Harry the good news! "'Arry! 'Arry!" she cried, "Maman says we can be friends! Isn't that great?!" she beamed at him, her sapphire eyes sparkling and her platinum blonde hair shining, reflecting the sunlight that was trickling in from the window, for a moment, Harry

just stared at her, and she began to pout, thinking he didn't want to be friends with her.

Finally, he replied, "I've never had a friend before…" he said in a shy voice.

Fleur gasped and she almost broke into tears before pulling the boy into a hug. "Well, now you have two!" she said and held him close before separating after a moment and ruffling his hair with a giggle as he pouted up at her in response to the action. He didn't like it when Minnie did that, and now Fleur was doing it too!

"What is the matter? You should be 'appy, you have two beautiful girls for friends!" she chided with a giggle, and finally he laughed and just nodded.

Soon it was time for dinner, they were having some sort of french soup called bouillabaisse, Harry wasn't sure he liked it, but Fleur seemed to love it, eating more than twice what he did. Apolline told him it would grow on him and he just nodded. For dessert, they had strawberry trifle, a light and fluffy dish that Harry enjoyed much better than the bouillabaisse. He had two bowls of it and was stuffed by the time nightfall arrived.

Sebastian finally returned from work for the day, and he assured both Apolline and Minerva that he would put in a word with Madam Maxime at Beauxbatons within the week.

Many similar days followed that one, full of playfulness and love that Harry had never experienced before, and for the first time in his life, he was truly happy. Before long the summer was over, however. Fleur and Gabrielle had to return to school, and Harry was left to his own devices for the most part while the adults tended to their affairs.

This led to a lot of exploring outside on the grounds and falling asleep in the shade under some trees. On warmer days he would go for a swim in their pond, though never without supervision from Apolline, as he wasn't exceptionally good at it yet. He was learning though.

He found he was starting to enjoy french cuisine, the more he tried it, the more it grew on him, much to Apolline's delight. That night for dinner they had boeuf bourguignon. Harry found he quite liked this dish much better than the bouillabaisse, and he ate his fill. He was finally starting to put on a little weight, but not too much, just enough that he was starting to look healthy finally.

For his tenth birthday, Minerva bought him his own owl, wanting him to be able to write to her whenever he wanted. It was a beautiful snowy owl which he named Hedwig, a name he had read in a book. Gabrielle was quite jealous of Hedwig, but Harry assured her that he would let her borrow her if she ever needed to write to anyone, and she seemed to settle down at that.

Hedwig herself was getting quite spoiled, he fed her little strips of bacon every morning at breakfast whenever any was available, and he was constantly petting her and feeding her treats, Apolline was worried she would grow fat and be unable to carry packages and letters, but Harry let her outside to fly every day and she didn't seem to get any fatter no matter how much he fed her. He seemed to really grow to love the little owl, and he refused to go to sleep at night until she was safely settled atop one of his bedposts.


Finally, Harry's eleventh birthday came, and that morning he received a very special letter, on pristine parchment penned in sapphire ink. On the back of the envelope was a blue wax seal with an emblem of two crossed wands with sparks coming out of their tips, and at the bottom a ribbon with the name Beauxbatons scrawled across it. He ripped it open eagerly, Fleur had told him it would be coming, and he was all too excited to see what was inside.

Mr. Harry James Potter,

We are writing to inform you that you have been accepted to Beauxbatons school of witchcraft and wizardry! Please find enclosed a list of school supplies you will need before you can begin term in September.

Kind regards, Madam Maxime, Headmistress of Beauxbatons.

"Apolline! Apolline! I got in! I'm going to go to school with Fleur!" he cheered. He had been worried for days that his letter hadn't come yet, fretting that maybe he hadn't been accepted.

"See? I told you there was nothing to worry about! You were just being impatient!" she chided gently. "Tomorrow we will take you into the city to buy your supplies," she said with a smile. He just nodded excitedly and ran to tell Fleur the good news.

She seemed just as excited as he was to have him attending school with her finally. She was two years ahead of him but that didn't matter to her.

"I will have to ask grandmother to give you a veela hair for your wand core!" she said excitedly. Harry's eyes widened at this.

"Really? I didn't even think about the fact that I'll be needing a wand!" he said, his excitement only growing with every minute.

"Come on, let's go talk to Maman!" she said.

She pulled him by his hand into the kitchen where Apolline was cooking dinner. "Maman, did grandmother bring a hair for Harry's wand yet?"

Apolline's eyes flared at that. "Non, he is not veela, so she won't give one for him," she said simply.

Fleur frowned at that. "But he's one of us now Maman! Even if he's not veela, he is family! He deserves to have one of our hairs for his wand!" she cried in protest.

"I'm sorry flower but it just isn't going to happen!" replied Apolline with a frown.

Fleur wasn't having this, she stormed out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom where she pulled out an empty crystal vial from her potions kit. She then went to her bathroom and a loud scream was heard throughout the house as she plucked one of the silver hairs from her own head and placed it in the vial.

"Fleur! What on earth have you done?!" Apolline exclaimed.

Fleur huffed tears in her eyes from the act. "If he cannot have one of grandmother's hairs or one of yours, then he will have one of mine! His wand will be that much more special for it!" she exclaimed.

Apolline shook her head, amazed that her daughter would go to such lengths for the boy. "Your magic will take weeks to settle again after that you know."

Fleur shrugged. "I'm happy to wait if it means Harry's wand will have a veela hair core like mine." She walked over to Harry and handed him the little crystal vial with her hair in it. He took it and held it like it was the most precious thing in the world. Nobody had ever made such a profound gesture for him before.

"I'll take good care of it, I promise," he said, giving her a tight hug. She smiled and leaned into it feeling a bit tired and weak.

"You better…," she said, her voice quiet and gentle and full of an emotion Harry had trouble recognizing. Having so seldom been on the receiving end of it, the emotion he had trouble placing was affection.


The next day, they made their way into the city and the first place they stopped at was the wand shop. Since the wand had to be made fresh, it would likely take most of the day so it made sense to get that out of the way first.

Harry made his way inside followed closely by Apolline, Fleur, and Gabrielle. "Madam Roseline?" Apolline called out for the wandmaker that had been making their wands for generations. She was an elderly wizened woman with curly black hair in a messy bun and pale grey robes.

She made her way out from between the stacks. "Ah, and how can I help my favorite family of Veela this fine day? Didn't break one of your wands, did you?"

"No, no, nothing like that. We need a new wand fashioned for Mr. Potter here," she said, placing a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. The woman nodded and adjusted her glasses before making her way over to him and guiding him to a selection of wand woods.

"We'll have to make sure to pick the right wood first, I assume you have something suitable for the core?" she asked. He nodded and handed her the crystal vial with Fleur's hair in it. She raised an eyebrow. "I should have known," she said with a chuckle.

Harry ran his fingers along several pieces of wood, wondering how on earth he was supposed to decide. "Just try to feel out which one feels right to you dear." said the wandmaker.

He had held Fleur's wand before and thought it felt nice and warm. He remembered that she said it was made of rosewood. He smiled at the memory and settled on that. His hand brushed along the grain. "Hmm, that settles it then, you seem to have your heart set. That was quicker than I expected," she said with a smile. He nodded. "It'll be ready in a few hours, come back then," she said as she waved them out of the shop and set to work.

Next, they made their way to the French branch of Gringotts, Minerva had made sure to transfer all of Harry's gold here a few years back and entrusted Apolline with his vault key so he was all set. They made their way down to the vault in a minecart and he withdrew a large sack of gold galleons, it was definitely more than he needed but Apolline didn't want to have to return here for a while and said it would be for the best.

With gold in hand, they made their way to a clothing store to pick up his powder blue Beauxbatons robes. Once they had those they moved to the apothecary to pick up his cauldron and potion kit, before moving to a book store to pick up his reading material.

Once they had everything Apoline shrunk the purchases down with her wand to make them easier to carry. It was a warm day so they stopped for some ice cream while they waited for Madam Roseline to finish making Harry's wand.

Harry was eating a strawberry sugar cone with rainbow sprinkles while Fleur and Gabrielle opted for vanilla and chocolate respectively. They finished the ice cream in short order and made their way back to the wand shop shortly after.

"Hello, Madam Roseline! Is my wand ready?" Harry called out timidly. A loud explosion came from the back room and smoke could be seen coming from the cracks in the door. A moment later it swung open with a coughing Roseline stepping through it.

"Yes, yes, terribly tricky material Veela hair, very temperamental, but I've made it work. Now, let's see if the wand is a fit, non? It would be terrible if I went through all of this trouble to make it only for it not to choose you, but I doubt it will be a problem since the core was given willingly," she made her way over to him and presented him with the wand.

"Rosewood with a Holly handle, 10 and ¾ inches, inflexible with a veela hair core." she rattled off the specifications as she handed it to him, and immediately he began to glow with golden warmth and a magical breeze ruffled his hair. He had never felt so…complete before. Like he had been missing a part of himself for his entire life and had just now found it.

"Yes," she said, "A perfect fit, I daresay. Better than I had hoped." She smiled at him. "That'll be fifteen galleons," she said and he happily counted out the coins.

Later back at the Delacour Mansion they'd had a large dinner to celebrate Harry getting into the school and now he was struggling to sleep in his bed as he tossed and turned in excitement and clutched his wand to his chest, cherishing the warmth it gave him. He would forever cherish it since it held a hair from his best friend's own head.