Disclaimer: I own none of the things you already know of.
Harry Potter and the Smallest Change.
Chapter 27. Fourth Year, Part 9. 1994.
The next two weeks flew past for Harry as he continued his studies.
Fleur and Harry were both featured in the Daily Prophet the day after the first task. Fleur because of her dramatic win and Harry due to his being the Heir of a Most Ancient and Noble House, being in a relationship with a foreign Veela.
The drama only existed outside of Hogwarts, as the students within the ancient castle were well aware of how close the two were. However, outside the school, it was another matter, as James told him one night after reporters searching for a statement from the Lord of House Potter had accosted him.
Harry didn't care, he instead turned his attention to more pressing matters.
He watched from the Hufflepuff table as Ron and most of the Gryffindors welcomed Neville back into their fold once more. Harry blinked as Holly scoffed beside him.
'Are they really going to act as though they're doing him a favour? When it was them who were the ones in the wrong?' Holly asked, and Harry rolled his eyes.
'Yes, well, apart from Hermione and Ginny, that house seems to lack much in the way of intelligence.' Daphne sniffed.
Susan, who sat beside Daphne, covered a giggle with her hands. Hannah, who sat on Susan's other side, let out a cough to mask her laughter.
Hermione sat opposite Harry and stared down at her plate, the breakfast on it sat untouched. Her chocolate eyes locked on the cooling slice of toast.
Harry looked up and cocked his head as Neville came to a stop behind Hermione. Ron stood beside him with a smug grin.
Neville cleared his throat to draw the combined gaze of the group, including Hermione, who turned in her seat to meet the Boy-Who-Lived's eyes.
'Hermione, can I speak to you for a moment?' Neville asked, his eyes shifted from Hermione's to the others in the group before resting on Harry's.
Hermione blinked and took a deep breath before meeting Neville's gaze.
'Anything you want to say can be said in front of my friends.' She said, her voice wavering, but determined.
Neville narrowed his eyes before he closed them for a moment and he took a slow breath.
'I'm sorry Hermione. You know how I've been under a lot of pressure with everything going on and I took it out on you. I want everything to go back to the way it was before.' He said, his eyes didn't meet hers.
Hermione narrowed her gaze and tensed. She remained silent for a moment before shaking her head.
'I'm sorry, Neville, but that's not good enough. You treated me horribly, even after everything we've been through.' She trailed off and let out a sigh.
Harry watched as Neville's demeanour shifted, he stiffened, and his eyes grew wide before he took a breath.
The Boy-Who-Lived nodded to himself.
'Hermione, I am truly sorry. I admit that I treated you poorly. I should never have said those things to you. As much as I hate to admit it, I need your help. I can't do this Tournament without you.' He said in little more than a whisper.
Hermione turned in her seat to meet Harry's gaze. She looked conflicted, like she didn't want to make the choice.
'Hermione, this is your decision. We enjoy having you with us, but if you want to go back to them, we won't stop you. Whatever you decide, you're always welcome with us, no matter what.' He said, ignoring the surprise on Neville's face.
Hermione closed her eyes and let out a breath. After a moment, she opened her eyes and met Harry's gaze.
She nodded.
Hermione turned back to Neville; her eyes narrowed.
'Okay, I'll forgive you. But this will never happen again. Also, I'm almost certain that neither of you have been keeping up with your homework, so we have a lot to catch up on.' She declared, and both boys nodded and gulped.
Hermione stood from her seat across from Harry and smiled at him.
'Thank you, Harry, for everything.' She said, then left before he could say anything in return.
Harry watched as Hermione led the two boys back to the Gryffindor table. She pulled out a book from her pocket and made it grow to its normal size with a tap of her wand.
Harry grinned.
'Well, she doesn't waste any time, does she?' he asked, and Holly scoffed.
'Why does she put up with those two?' Daphne asked, though nobody ventured a guess.
In Transfiguration later that day, Harry sat beside Susan and they watched Professor McGonagall stand in front of the class.
'Before we begin today, I wanted to announce that this year, Hogwarts will host a Yule Ball. We will hold it on Christmas Day at eight PM.' She said and whispers filled the room a moment later.
'Now, more information will be released closer to the date, but I feel it is important to give you all fair warning in case some of you neglected to bring a set of dress robes.' She paused and narrowed her eyes as she met the gaze of Wayne Hopkins, a Hufflepuff boy in Harry's dorm who he'd never gotten to know.
'For now, however, we will turn to the Switching Spell, a spell that is normally tested on your OWLs.' Professor McGonagall said, turning from the class to face the board, where with a flick of her wand, detailed instructions appeared, written in chalk.
Harry smiled and pulled out an empty notebook and a pen. Within minutes he'd sketched a design of a robe and Susan peered over his shoulder to see what he was doing.
Harry jumped in surprise as McGonagall cleared her throat behind him.
'Mister Potter, are you having trouble with the transfiguration?' The Professor asked, her voice only a step away from dangerous.
Harry turned his gaze to meet her imperious stare and grinned, he rubbed the back of his head.
'No, sorry Professor. I just had an idea from your announcement that I had to get down before I forgot it.' He admitted.
He watched her eyebrow quirk, and her eyes narrowed. She waited for him to continue.
Harry looked around and saw that everybody had a bird and a rat in front of them on their desk, except him. He glanced at the board for a moment and noticed that he was the centre of attention and sighed.
He flicked his wand at the two animals on Susan's desk. In an instant, the bird's left wing and the rat's left foreleg had switched places.
Both animals looked startled for a moment before Harry waved his wand again and returned the two to their normal state.
Professor McGonagall gave him the smallest hint of a smile.
'Five points for Hufflepuff Mister Potter. Now, please spend your spare time in my class assisting the other students, rather than dabbling in the fashion world.' She said, and Harry grinned and gave her a quick nod.
'You're right Professor, a Potter should probably never enter that world.' He admitted, and the hint of a smile on her face remained, and her eyes sparkled with hidden mirth.
She turned away from Harry and narrowed her eyes at the rest of the class.
'Back to work class, Mister Potter, please assist the class as you see fit.' The Professor ordered before returning to her rounds.
Susan tapped Harry's shoulder and looked at his notebook.
'I was positive that you were about to lose us points or get detention or something.' She hissed, and Harry shrugged.
'It was definitely a possibility, but it seems like she appreciated my design.' He mused and Susan reached out to take the notebook, looking at it from a few different angles.
'It's pretty good, but it needs a woman's touch. Hannah and I will look over it tonight. Then we'll give it to Fleur and see what she thinks about it.' She said, then narrowed her eyes at him, meeting his eyes.
'You are going to ask her, tonight, right?' she asked, a hint of danger in her tone.
Harry stared at her, incredulous.
'Do you think I'm mad? Of course I'm going to ask her tonight.' He hissed, and she giggled.
'You're a very strange boy Harry.' She grinned as he frowned.
'What? Why?' he asked, and she patted his shoulder.
'Nothing to worry about, Harry. Now, help me with this Switching Spell please?' she asked and fluttered her eyelashes at him.
He frowned, cocking his head to the side, and he opened his mouth to say something before he shook his head and sighed.
'Okay, where do we want to start?' he asked, and Susan grinned.
That night at dinner, Harry leaned over to whisper in Fleur's ear.
'Would you like to join me in the Room of Requirement after dinner for a short while?' he asked, and she turned, a small smile on her face.
'Oui, I would love to.' She whispered back, then blinked and looked over Harry's shoulder at Holly.
Harry turned to see Holly wearing Fleur's slanted blue hat.
'It's not fair, we're not even going to the Ministry Ball this year. How is that fair?' she sulked.
Harry shrugged; it had become somewhat of a tradition.
'How about you find a fourth-year boy to take you? McGonagall did specifically say that younger years could go if accompanying an older student. You could then ditch the guy and hang out with us.' Harry suggested.
Holly glared at him.
Harry raised his hands in surrender.
'Whatever you do is your business, but if he hurts you, he'll regret it.' He said, and Holly's glare turned into a pout.
'You make it so hard to be mad at you.' She complained and Fleur laughed, her eyes twinkling as she met his gaze.
'You are right 'Olly, he does.' Fleur winked at him.
Harry frowned and cocked his head.
'Why would anyone want to be mad at me, what did I do?' he asked, and Daphne rolled her eyes at him while the others laughed.
Susan looked around the group and sighed.
'Are we going to wait for the boys to ask us to the Ball or not?' she asked.
Fleur shrugged; her eyes locked on Harry's.
'I will wait a short time, but I am not known for my patience.' The Veela said and Harry grinned, earning an eye roll from the other girls.
A cough from behind Fleur gained their attention and Harry turned in his seat to see a sixth year Gryffindor boy, Lee Jordan. Harry recognised him as one of the Weasley twin's friends.
'W-will you g-go to the Ball w-with me?' Lee asked, sweat beaded down his brow as he stuttered, lost in her constrained Allure.
Fleur sighed.
'I am already considering another, so it will have to be a no. But I am sorry.' She said and Lee's face collapsed into a frown, before he slumped forward and walked away, back to the Gryffindor table.
Holly put a hand on Fleur's shoulder.
'That kind of thing must happen all the time. I'm sorry.' She said and Fleur sighed, she tucked a stray strand of silver hair behind her ear.
'You get used to it.' She muttered.
Daphne sighed and turned to Luna, who sat beside her.
'Will you go to the Ball with me?' the Slytherin asked, and the group froze, staring at the two blondes.
Luna brightened, her blue eyes shining.
'Are you sure?' she breathed, and Daphne nodded, her face impassive.
Luna beamed at Daphne, nodding emphatically.
'That would be wonderful.' Luna gushed, and Daphne cracked a small smile before she returned to her meal.
After dinner, on their way to the Room of Requirement, Fleur was asked to the Ball by two more boys, whom she denied.
Once inside the Room, Harry set it up as their cosy library with a fireplace in the middle.
Harry turned to Fleur, whose face was stained red in the firelight.
'Fleur, will you go to the Ball with me this Christmas?' he asked, holding her hands in his.
She beamed at him and threw her arms around him, she pulled him into a tight embrace.
'I would love to go to the Ball with you 'Arry.' She gushed and her lips crushed into his.
He fell back onto the yellow loveseat that he'd conjured earlier in the year as she ravished his lips with her own.
She pulled back for air and he gave her a lopsided grin.
'I think it was worth it just for that.' He whispered, and she crawled off his lap to sit beside him on the loveseat.
'I think you said that after we agreed that you won the couch conjuring contest.' Fleur purred.
Harry wore a goofy grin at the memory.
'Yeah, I think I did. It was totally worth it.' he whispered as he kissed her brow.
She snuggled into his side.
'It was perfect.' She murmured, looking around the cosy room.
'I could live in a place like this.' she whispered and Harry tightened his arm around her shoulder.
'Me too.' He breathed, twisting his head to kiss the top of her head.
The two fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Harry cleared his throat.
'I have an idea for my dress robes.' He said and Fleur turned to face him, she quirked an eyebrow.
'Susan and Hannah are looking at it tonight, something about a woman's touch before they show you. I assume that will be tomorrow.' He explained and met her gaze.
'Do you know what you will wear?' he asked,
She smirked and leant forward to give him a soft kiss before she pulled back.
'I have some ideas, but I will have to have you match me.' She grinned, and Harry shook his head with a smile.
'Of course, my only aim is to not be outshone too much by my lovely date.' He grinned, and she rolled her eyes.
The two left the Room just before curfew, Harry walked her to her carriage before he ran back to the Hufflepuff common room with moments to spare. He received a glare from a seventh-year prefect as he entered.
Harry waved at the prefect, who huffed and re-joined their friends.
Harry sat beside Susan on the couch and leaned in front of her to meet Hannah's gaze.
'How did it go?' Hannah asked, and Harry chuckled.
'Fleur said yes, and she is looking forward to seeing what you guys can do with my design.' He said and watched both girls' grins grow.
Hannah stood and moved to sit on Harry's other side. She held out a piece of parchment. He looked down at it to see his drawing side by side with a similar one.
'See how in your design, the lining does that?' Hannah gushed, pointing at his design, then to the one beside it.
'We think if we do it this way, it'll be more comfortable and give you more of a lordly look. What do you think?' Hannah asked, and Harry grinned at her, then at Susan.
'You guys are way better at this than me. This looks brilliant.' He said, and Susan scoffed.
'Of course we're better at this.' Susan said with a grin.
That weekend, Fleur joined Harry in the Room of Requirement at sunrise on Saturday and the two fell into their routine of completing any outstanding schoolwork.
Fleur sat opposite Harry on a large desk in the middle of the room. Open books littered the desk and every few minutes either of the two would rummage through their open books to find some hidden gem for their work.
Harry scribbled in his notebook, having completed his classwork in the time before Fleur joined him.
Fleur glared at her work on an advanced transfiguration equation. She huffed and pushed away her parchement. She leaned back in her chair and stretched. The sound of her joints cracking filled the room.
Harry smiled, enjoying the view of her stretching.
She let out a sigh and rubbed her eyes.
'Are you finished?' Harry asked, and put down his notebook.
Fleur shook her head.
'Almost, but it needs some finishing touches. But I don't have the energy to do them just yet.' She said, and Harry nodded.
'Well, have a look at this for a moment then, take your mind off it for a few minutes.' He said as he handed her his notebook.
She peered at the page he'd opened it to, looking at his annotated sketches of the golden egg she'd received from the first task.
Fleur tucked a loose strand of silver hair behind her ear and groaned.
'I think I actually hate that egg.' She complained and Harry laughed.
'Look closer.' He said.
Fleur frowned and looked closer at his diagrams, then up at the egg that stood on a pedestal on the other side of the room.
'Do you think it's that simple?' she breathed.
Harry shrugged, then leant over to tap on his diagram.
'There are markings on the eggs, nothing from any human languages. But writing. So, I've been looking through non-human languages, specifically those that have written forms.' He explained, and she smiled.
'You're working up to something, I can tell. What did you find?' she asked with a grin.
Harry's face fell, and he ran a hand through his hair.
'Nothing yet. But I've ruled out any forest-dwelling species. It's not Elven, or Goblin. It's not even old Dwarven or High Elven.' He groaned and ran a hand down his face.
'It feels like I'm missing something obvious.' He admitted and Fleur clapped her hands together, making him jump in surprise.
'If it's not a forest dwelling species, or mountain dwelling species. Have you tried underwater languages?' she asked, and Harry blinked.
'No, I haven't.' he said, then froze.
Harry's eyes met Fleur's and together they both spoke.
'Mermish.'
An hour later, Harry lay back against the edge of the swimming pool the Room of Requirement provided.
Despite the view in front of him, his thoughts were anything but positive.
Fleur stood half out of the water wearing a white bikini that clung to her curves, though her face was almost the same shade as she held the now closed golden egg in her hands.
'They're going to take something important from me and hide it in the lake.' She deadpanned.
Harry nodded; his face grim.
'I can't think of another interpretation. Do you think it'll be an object, or will they go far enough to take a person?' he asked.
Fleur turned a light shade of green and dropped the egg in the water like it had burnt her.
Once the egg hit the bottom of the pool, it sprung open, and the haunting speech echoed out of the water.
'Come seek us where our voices sound.'
'They will take a person, the first task we faced Dragons, of course they'll take a person.' She breathed.
'It will be Gabrielle.' Harry said and Fleur's gaze locked on his.
'How did you come to that conclusion?' she whispered.
Harry gave a half smile.
'I'm sure that both of those mysterious women will show up again. I'm going to have to stop them from interrupting the task.' He declared.
Fleur's colour returned to her face, and she frowned.
'Why do you think they'll return?' she asked, and Harry sighed.
'It's just a hunch. But I think you are the target for these two women. Though I think one of them, at least, is trying to protect you.' He said, and she blinked.
'I am unaware of any bodyguard assigned to me. I will have to write Papa about it.' She mused, and Harry nodded.
He stood and moved toward her, he bent down into the pool to close the egg that neither of them had paid any attention to this time around. Harry stopped in front of Fleur, his hands on her hips.
'We can either get to work on preparing for this task or try to relax. Either is fine for me.' He whispered in her ear.
Fleur's hands moved to his broad shoulders, then trailed down his arms. She took a step closer to him.
'We shouldn't waste this opportunity to relax.' She purred as her long fingers trailed up his muscular back.
Harry gave her a lopsided grin before capturing her lips in a kiss.
A few days later, Harry stalked across the green grass beside the Black Lake. With every step he took, the grass withered and died while his emerald eyes flashed with rage.
Fleur walked beside him, watching the grass die in his wake.
'How do these stupid guys think it's a good idea to flirt with you right in front of me? Even asking you out to the damn Ball. The whole damn country knows that we're together thanks to the Daily Prophet.' Harry snarled.
Fleur stopped and reached out to take his hands in hers, stopping him. He turned to face her and blinked in surprise. She watched him close with a calm gaze and a raised eyebrow.
'Will you be able to handle this happening in the future?' she asked, and Harry froze.
'As much as I hate having this attention, my passive Allure will always affect the weak minded. There is nothing to be done about it. Believe me, Veela have long sought a way to control our passive Allure.' Fleur said, her voice low.
Harry blinked and let out a breath.
Fleur eyed him, then her gaze moved past him and Harry turned to see a line of dead grass leading straight to him from the castle.
He gasped, then turned to Fleur, who nodded.
'Oui, that was you. I wonder how you did that in your jealous rage.' She whispered the last part in French beside his ear and he shivered, then turned away toward the dead grass again.
'It was somewhat disconcerting, really; I could actually feel the magic radiating off you.' She continued and Harry turned back to her and saw a flash of hunger in her eyes, which disappeared as soon as he noticed it.
Fleur's gaze returned to his.
'You didn't answer my question. Will you be able to handle the unwanted attention a Veela will always attract?' she asked, her voice soft, as if she feared the answer.
Harry watched her shoulders slump as her ice-blue eyes bore into his, as if searching for something. He reached up a hand and cupped her cheek, all his previous anger forgotten.
'I will find a way for you to live your life without being accosted at every turn. I don't want to take away your heritage, only give you the means to control it.' He whispered.
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head, her eyes haunted.
'It can't be done.' She said and turned her face away from him.
Harry grinned and stroked her cheek.
'I already have some plans in my notebook, they'll just be moved forward.' He said, and she frowned.
'What do you plan to do?' she asked, wary.
Harry released her cheek and drew a notebook out from his robes and sat down beside the lake. He patted the grass beside him and smiled up at her.
She blinked and sat down; her gaze drawn to the notebook as he flipped past his other projects.
'Are you working on a time turner?' she breathed, and Harry paused.
He left the page open for her to examine.
Harry sighed.
'According to my latest research, it'll work to travel back a few years at a time, but the size of the turner and the amount of magic and resources it would take to create it would be massive. But I think I'm getting close to a workable design.' He explained, and Fleur stared at the page.
'Merde.' She breathed.
Harry continued to flick through the notebook, he flipped past pages dedicated to their mirrors and the charms he'd given to each of the girls. He noticed a quick smile flicker over her face as he flipped past a few pages, detailed the charms he'd made for her.
'Ah-ha.' Harry crowed and handed her the notebook, open to a page showing an annotated diagram of a bracelet.
She peered at the diagram and her eyes widened.
''Arry? Is this made of platinum? How could you carve runes into it that small?' she breathed, then frowned.
Fleur looked up from the notebook met his gaze.
'What runes are these? I've never seen them before.' She asked, and Harry smiled.
'These are runes used by the old Dwarven kingdoms.' He said and at her blank look, let out a soft chuckle.
'My dad got me a few books out of the Potter vaults.' He explained, and she leaned closer to him, so her face was only inches away.
'Show me.' Fleur demanded, and he smirked before gesturing with his right hand, using wandless magic to call it to him.
Fleur stared at his outstretched hand with a small frown.
''Arry, what are you doing?' she asked, and he only smiled.
''Arry?' she repeated, a frown marred her features.
A few moments later, a small leather satchel sped out of the entrance to the school, as if propelled by magic.
The satchel slowed in the air as it approached the two of them. Harry held out his other hand toward it, allowing him to pluck it out of the air.
Harry turned to Fleur, who stared at him with narrow eyes. He chuckled before waving his right hand in front of him.
'Summoning charm.' He said.
He waved his left hand in front of himself.
'Banishing charm.' He explained.
Fleur sighed.
'You're impossible. I was sure you wouldn't have any secrets from me.' She said, and Harry rolled his eyes.
'How could I show you that over the mirrors?' he asked.
Fleur inhaled, as if ready to lecture him, then froze and sighed.
'Fine, you're right, I probably wouldn't have believed you could do controlled wandless magic.' She admitted, and he smiled and nodded.
'My mother made me promise to keep it a secret outside of the family.' He said, then paled.
Fleur stared at him, a small smile on her face.
'Uh, I mean…' he stuttered as he realised what he'd just said.
Fleur covered her mouth as a giggle escaped.
'It's cute when you're nervous.' She said, and Harry let out a breath.
'Is that a good thing?' he asked, and she beamed at him.
'Its one of the best things.' She said, and stared into his eyes.
Harry blinked.
'Oh, right. Where was it?' he muttered as he broke eye contact and rummaged through the leather satchel.
A moment later, he drew out his hand, in it he held a tome about ten centimetres thick. On its cover, in faded gold lettering, it read 'Iron Script.'
He handed the heavy tome to Fleur, who gazed at it with awe.
'May I borrow it for a while?' she breathed, and Harry smiled.
'As long as nobody knows you have it, then sure. Technically, it should always stay in Potter Manor and only be read by the Lord Potter, but dad said as long as nobody knows about it, then it should be fine.' He explained.
Fleur tore her gaze from the book and placed it on her lap, then turned back to his notebook.
'How would the bracelet work?' she asked and traced the design of the bracelet with a finger.
Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
'If it works, it will nullify the Allure by determining the exact magical signal it sends out that affects people.' He started, before his eyes roamed out to the middle of the lake as thoughts rushed through his mind.
'The bracelet would need to be customised to each Veela individually, unless the Allure is always the same, regardless of which Veela sends it out?' he asked, and Fleur blinked at him and gave him the smallest of shrugs.
Harry smiled at her.
'Its still a work in progress.' He admitted and noticed a look of hunger in her eyes.
'Are you okay?' he asked, and she jerked up, as if waking.
'I'm sorry, I was lost in thought.' She murmured, a blush crept up her cheeks.
She looked at his wrist, not wearing the bracelet he'd made for the others, then met his gaze.
'You truly don't need your bracelet to resist the Allure?' she whispered, and he shrugged.
'I suppose not. I can feel it, but it's like it finds nothing to take hold of?' he mused.
Fleur moved the Dwarven tome and Harry's notebook to the side and leapt on him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she crushed her lips to his with a passion that took his breath away.
He felt her Allure flaring, bouncing off him like water on a rock.
After she pulled back from the kiss, the hunger he saw in her eyes returned and it clicked in his mind. That hunger he'd seen in her eyes for the last few years was for him.
The realisation made him capture her lips with his again.