Disclaimer: I own none of the things you already know of.
Harry Potter and the Smallest Change.
Chapter 31. Fourth Year, Part 13. 1995.
Harry sat in the Great Hall on Monday morning, Fleur beside him. They'd already gone for a run outside and huddled close together on the Hufflepuff table while they waited for the others.
'How are you feeling about our preparation for the Third Task?' Harry asked and Fleur smiled at him.
'I'll have no troubles in the maze. We've worked out how to navigate the maze and our training has given me the confidence to defeat any foe inside.' She said, her ice-blue eyes sparkling.
With a smirk, she snapped her fingers and a flicker of flame erupted and disappeared in an instant.
Harry grinned as other students entered the Great Hall. Among the first were Susan and Hannah, who strode toward them looking worried.
As Susan sat down, she looked between Harry and Fleur with an apologetic expression, mirrored by Hannah.
'Have either of you seen the Daily Prophet?' Susan asked.
Fleur scoffed, and Harry shook his head.
'No, we've been busy. What happened now?' Harry asked.
Hannah handed the newspaper to Fleur like a letter of expulsion.
Fleur took the newspaper and cocked her head as she read the headline, then froze.
Harry frowned and leaned over to peer at the headline before the newspaper burst into flames in Fleur's hands.
'Beauxbatons Champion, a Cheater?'
Fleur's body was tense, like a spring ready to snap.
A book Fleur had given him years ago for Christmas, written by her grandmother about Veela, sprung into his mind. It had explained an event in every Veela's life that he'd thought was far off.
He looked into her blazing eyes and saw an unnatural rage in them. It danced in her blue eyes like fire.
Harry leaned forward and whispered in her ear as he put his hands on her shoulders.
'Fleur, we need to go to the Room. Now.' He urged.
He helped her stand and gave both Susan and Hannah an apologetic smile as he led Fleur out of the Great Hall.
Once outside, Harry led them away, one hand on the small of her back while the other held her hand.
Her Allure, normally so pure and gentle, like a soft breeze, raged like a storm. Harry felt her magic in the air. It was oppressive, and he felt her trembling under his touch.
Draco walked around the corner just as Harry led her away from the Great Hall.
'Why do you sully yourself with a Half-Breed? Is she really that good in bed that you would share her?' the blonde Slytherin crowed before Fleur turned her icy gaze toward him.
Draco stared at her in slack jawed awe as her wild Allure dominated his mind in an instant.
Fleur's hand caught aflame, and her long silver hair waved in the air as if in the wind.
Harry tightened his grip on her hand and flicked his other hand at the boy and hit him with a wandless Silencing Charm.
He led her away, up some stairs, headed toward the seventh floor.
Halfway up the stairs, a handful of seventh year Ravenclaw boys stood in blank faced fascination. One even fell down the stairs after missing a step.
A Ravenclaw boy stepped toward Fleur and Harry stuck his feet to the stairs with a wandless Sticking Charm before he hurried Fleur toward the Room of Requirement.
Once inside the Room of Requirement, Harry set it to a configuration to something they rarely used.
A wide-open field, filled with green grass and wildflowers in every direction, as far as the eye could see.
He sat her down before joining her, cross legged, facing her.
Harry took her trembling hands in his.
'Look into my eyes.' He said.
Her Allure flared, wild and uncontrolled.
For an instant, the idea of goading her into a duel to release her frustration entered his mind before he remembered the book she'd given him. It had said it was one of the worst things to do.
She looked up and met his gaze, her ice-blue eyes blazed, and he felt the full force of her Veela heritage.
The Allure is a Veela's unique magic in its passive state. It flows around the Veela, seeping into the world around them and influencing only the weak minded.
But a Veela's full heritage was something rarely seen until she is pregnant with her first child, when her magic and hormones react with the stress she is under in that time. This potent mix triggers a state where the Veela's full heritage comes out, the book Harry had read years before referred to that state as L'appel du vide, or 'The Call of the Void'.
In this state, the Veela's heritage creates inexplicable thoughts to pop into their and other's minds. Thoughts that make no sense in context to the situation but have a powerful pull to experience it just the same, like if waiting for a train–what if you just jumped off the platform? Or if flying on a broom–what if you jumped off? It creates an unnerving, shaky sensation of not being able to trust one's own instincts.
Harry looked into Fleur's eyes as her heritage shook them both. The L'appel du vide affected her just as much as it did him and it was one reason why Veela had to work so hard during their maturation to control their Allure, to prepare them for L'appel du vide.
He remembered the book hadn't gone into detail about the heritage, only conjecture that it was thought to be an intrinsic part of the curse that affects them, that created their race.
Harry wondered why it was happening now, she couldn't be pregnant, was it the stress she was under with the Tournament? Was the article really so bad as to upset her enough to trigger the L'appel du vide so early?
While he seemed to be immune to the Allure for whatever reason, the L'appel du vide was another story. His only defence was his willpower and budding Occlumency skills.
Thoughts bombarded Harry in the instant her eyes met his, thoughts he'd never had before, and the Room interpreted them.
A broom appeared beside him, and the urge to fly seemed irresistible.
A moment later, a yawning chasm opened on his other side and he wondered what it would be like to just jump in.
The next moment, a rearing Acromantula appeared over Fleur's shoulder before it fled from a Basilisk.
His thoughts raced and Harry gritted his teeth and cleared his mind, like Remus had taught him as a child. He created a white void in his mind, much like when he'd started learning occlumency.
The Room turned white, a reflection of the blank void in his mind. There was no variation between the floor, walls, or ceiling.
The Acromantula and Basilisk faded away like smoke in the wind. The chasm and the broom disappeared, leaving no trace they were ever there.
Fleur's icy blue eyes bored into him, her heritage fully realised, long before it's time.
Harry's mind burned like an inferno; her heritage tore into his defences.
The Room interpreted his stray thought, grew warm and the pristine white void flickered into flames that burned everything.
Sweat beaded on his brow before it evaporated, leaving a powdered layer of salt on his skin.
Harry let out a breath and refocussed.
The flames guttered out and were replaced again by the white void.
Still, Fleur's eyes bored into his, her face an emotionless mask.
Harry flinched as his mind was wracked with pain. He locked down every thought in his head. The effort involved was far more than he'd ever imagined as he hid every stray thought behind his novice Occlumency barriers, keeping them from her heritage.
'Fleur.' He whispered, and it seemed as loud as a shout.
'Even though this is happening earlier than we thought. You are prepared, you are strong enough to control this and I will not leave you.' Harry continued as random images and thoughts filled his mind and he struggled to contain them all.
'We are a team, Fleur, and I would do anything for you.' He whispered.
A flicker of 'Fleur' flashed in her eyes, and she blinked.
The pressure of her heritage faded.
Fleur buried her face in her hands and sobbed, her shoulders heaved as she collapsed in front of him.
Harry moved forward and wrapped her in an embrace.
'It's going to be okay.' He murmured into her ear.
He held her in his arms for a few minutes before Fleur sniffed and sat back. She took a deep breath before she let it out.
Fleur reached out to cup a hand on Harry's cheek.
'The thoughts that flooded my mind, they were so strong.' She murmured and looked deep into his eyes.
'I thought that I'd have years to prepare for the L'appel du vide.' She admitted and broke away from his gaze and stared at their joined hands.
'I saw such horrible things. All the choices in my past flashed in front of my eyes and I questioned every one of them. What would have happened if I'd never met you at that Christmas party?' she asked, still staring at their joined hands.
Her thumb traced over his wrist.
'What if I had scorned you? Not replied to your letters. What if you had succumbed to my Allure at my birthday party? What if you had not saved us at the World Cup?' she continued, then fell silent.
Harry watched as she struggled internally with something.
She looked up and met his eyes.
'Everything that went through my mind came back to the greatest question I have in my life. Who would I be without you?' she asked.
Harry cupped her cheek in a hand and held her gaze.
'You will never have to find out. I will always be with you, as long as you will have me.' He whispered.
A beaming smiled broke through tear-stained cheeks, and she threw her arms around him.
He held her tight.
'As long as we are together, nothing will stop us.' He said, and she nodded against his neck and let out a sigh.
After a few minutes, he pulled away to look into her eyes.
'Fleur?' he asked.
'Hmm?' she cocked her head to the side and wiped at her eyes.
'What was it in the Prophet that set you off years early?' he asked, and she blushed.
'It will seem silly after what just happened.' She muttered, and refused to meet his eyes.
Harry smiled and kissed her hand.
She met his gaze.
'The article said that I was only winning the Tournament because I have bewitched you with my Allure. That there were countless boys in this school that I was using for my own debauched ways, that you, an heir of an Ancient and Noble House, was only one of many whom I took to my bed.' She whispered.
Harry sighed and squeezed her hand.
'It said that you are merely the first among many, which is why we are publicly together.' She murmured; tears welled in her eyes.
'Fleur, the article is wrong in too many ways to count.' Harry said and kissed her hands again.
Then he smirked.
Harry pulled out his Potter mirror from his robes.
'Sirius Black.' He said and Fleur blinked in surprise.
Sirius' face appeared in the mirror with a wide grin.
'Harry, what a pleasure it is to see you. What can your dear godfather do for you on this wondrous day?' Sirius beamed, only for Orion's face to push in front of the mirror.
'Harry? You need to come back from school already. I want to play.' Orion complained.
Harry grinned at the six-year-old.
'I'll be able to play with you in a few months, but it won't feel like that long. I'm sure Charlus would love to play with you.' Harry said, and Orion's eyes widened before he turned to Sirius.
Sirius laughed and nodded.
'Yes, you can floo over there now, just don't get in your Aunt Lilly's way, okay?' Sirius said and Orion cheered before he waved at Harry.
'Bye Harry.' Orion called before disappearing.
Sirius turned back to Harry and gave him a lopsided grin.
'What can the most handsome Marauder do for you, Harry?' Sirius asked again, and Harry smirked.
'Can you help me pull a prank?' Harry asked, and Sirius' eyes lit up with glee.
'What finally pushed you over the edge? Did your dad pick on you too much about your lovely French lady too much?' Sirius asked, almost bouncing in anticipation.
Fleur quirked an eyebrow at Harry over the mirror, and Harry winked at her.
Sirius paled.
'Is Fleur there with you?' he asked, and Harry nodded.
'I'm sorry, Fleur.' Sirius said as Fleur moved to sit beside Harry, who angled the mirror to show both of them.
'One day Lord Black, I would like to have a conversation about what the two of you say about me.' Fleur said and Sirius looked to Harry, who shrugged.
'Only good things, I promise.' Sirius assured before turning back to Harry.
Harry's face turned hard.
'Sirius, what do you know about a reporter named Rita Skeeter?' he asked, and Sirius' eyes twinkled.
He shifted in his seat.
'Was it that toxic woman who finally pushed you to pranking?' Sirius asked, and Harry nodded.
'The woman went too far. She said some hurtful things about Fleur and implied too many damaging things. Just read the latest Prophet for the details.' Harry explained before he shared a quick glance with Fleur and turned back to Sirius.
'Now, Padfoot. What I want to know is how much of the Daily Prophet is owned between the Blacks and the Potters?' Harry asked, and Fleur's eyes widened.
Sirius sighed and deflated.
'I'm disappointed in you, Harry, for going straight for the kill. You have to toy with your victims first.' Sirius explained and Harry shook his head.
'But that's not my style.' Harry contested.
'Kid, you have no style, not yet. But with the help of the most attractive Marauder, we'll get you up to speed.' Sirius said, and Harry rolled his eyes.
'What do you have in mind then?' Harry asked and Sirius grinned.
'Leave it with me and I'll soften her up first before we unleash the hammer blow.' Sirius' eyes shone.
'What do you mean?' Harry asked with a frown.
Sirius huffed.
'You don't yet have the pranking skills to take on Skeeter, not on her turf. The next target I will guide you through every step, but this one requires a bit of finesse.' Sirius said and Harry groaned.
'Maybe I should have called mum.' Harry groaned.
Sirius pouted.
'Leave your mother out of this, she's like you and doesn't understand a good prank. You know, there was this one time in third year when Remus and I-' Sirius started.
'Sirius, this is important.' Harry interrupted and Sirius paused and met his gaze.
'I know it is. All pranks are important. Just, leave it with me for a while and you can finish her off before the Third Task.' Sirius said with a solemn expression which gave way to a wicked grin.