Lal wasn't surprised when she heard Barty Crouch Jr. was "permitted" by the Wizangamot to serve under the house of Black as a Steward, rather than sending him right back to Azkaban. His father had been promptly fired the moment it came out what he had done, and this way they could all save face.
Not to mention Dumbledore had highly approved of the idea, thinking it would help in his efforts to 'redeem' former Death Eaters.
He was unaware of the true culprit behind Barty's sudden change of heart, and Lal wasn't about to enlighten him as to her reasons for it.
At the Third Task...
By a landslide, Lal was the first to go in after her showing during the second task. Not only had she rescued two hostages, but the way she got them back up had Professor Flitwick putting her under evaluation for a Charms Mastery.
Apparently they really liked her ice elevator, especially since it allowed one to go to the depths of the lake without actually getting wet. The mermaids were less than pleased, but the wizards were terrified of accidentally breaking a hole in the tube to bother them too much.
Lal was pretty sure the mermaid chef was thrilled when the thing finally melted enough that the wizards had to give up on using it.
If she did get the Mastery, she was sure her mother would have been thrilled.
So what if she wasn't the youngest seeker in a century like last time? She would rather be the youngest Charms Mistress in history, which would last much longer.
She really hated the entire tournament...the only good thing that had come out of it was the fact that Colonello had shown up and they were able to officially start dating. Other than that, she wanted nothing to do with it.
Seeing the goblet, she gave the enchanted artifact the stink eye.
Barty had already warned her that it would be a portkey as he had spelled it to take her to a prearranged destination at the end of the third task. More to the point he was to sabotage the other competitors so that only Lilac would make it to the very end.
To that end, Lal had hidden a literal rabid badger into her bag. If she got to the goblet first, she was going to levitate the cage and remove the bottom, dumping the rather pissed off and diseased thing onto the cup directly.
She almost wished she could see the expression on Voldemort's face having to deal with an angry rabid badger trying to eat his face off.
She made it to the center, and as she had hoped the rabid animal and the cup disappeared at the same time. The hedges slammed down, revealing her to be in the center.
"Where's the goblet? We can't end this without the goblet," said Karkaroff.
"How should I know? I threw a rock at it to make sure the pedestal it was on wasn't trapped and the thing disappeared. You people never told us that the goblet was a portkey."
Karkaroff paled.
"I believe we can agree that Ms. Potter has won the tournament, yes?" said Madam Maxime. None of the other champions were remotely close to where the goblet was.
And with that, the tournament ended.
(The goblet was found over a month later and the poor auror who picked it up got a rather big surprise when he was flung against the wards of Hogwarts. The rookie learned a valuable lesson that day.)
Colonello bemoaned having to leave his lovely girlfriend, but contented himself with the fact Fleur and Gabrielle absolutely adored Lilac. Not only was she completely immune to his allure (even when it wasn't being restricted at all), but she fit all the criteria of women who were allowed to join the Sisterhood as potential members.
That being said, quite a few of Lilac's friends had a good laugh at the monumental blush on her face when the carriages for the French delegation left, threatening to hex her boyfriend.
The first clue Lal had that the Marauders were up to something was the smirk Sirius had on his face when he announced they were heading to Italy for a proper vacation.
The second clue was the abrupt kidnapping and the way Sirius was too busy snickering to protect his pup from the mystery intruder.
The final clue was Colonello's grinning face.
She kicked him in the shin.
Colonello winced, but was still grinning.
"Where are we?"
"We," said a familiar voice, "Are currently in the territory of the Sisterhood. The matriarch and Colonello's grandmother wishes to meet the young woman her grandson wishes to court."
Lal brightened upon seeing Fleur and grinned when Gabrielle rushed up to hug her.
"Too bad Luna isn't here."
"She'll be here by tomorrow. Grandmother wished to meet you solo so that she has a better understanding of the young witch who captured his heart," said Fleur with a smirk.
"I sense far too many hours of shopping on Sirius' money."
"You would be correct so long as Grandmother agrees to the match."
"Are you..." started Lal, but Fleur shook her head.
"Any Veela that rises to the status of matriarch is automatically referred to grandmother. Colonello just happens to be related to his."
"Ah."
Colonello waited, almost on pins and needles as Lal went in to face his grandmother. He was rather nervous, despite the sympatethic looks Fleur was giving him.
And then...it happened.
One minute he was worried, the next there was a veritable wave of power coming from the room that definitely didn't belong to his grandmother.
It was hard to describe the feeling, but the predominant ones felt almost like a rain that drenched the ground through thick clouds and created a dense mist on the ground...and under it was the sense of a vast sky above the cloud lines that stretched as far as the eye could see.
It took calling his name twice before he scurried into the room to find a less than amused Lilac and his very intrigued grandmother.
"You neglected to tell me that your lady love had the ruling aspect."
"To be fair, I had no idea I had it," said Lal. "I thought I was just a Rain with a strong Cloud/Mist secondary."
The idea of her being a Sky had honestly never occurred to her. Though in hindsight it was pretty obvious her willingness to sacrifice herself had done something to her original primary. It also explained why she found it so much easier to use Cloud...it had been her original primary, but when her Sky was shattered her Rain must have filled the void, with the Mist representing her magic.
She vaguely recalled Viper mentioning that Mists often came from strong magical bloodlines.
Then again, Flame theory wasn't really her thing. Who knew how she suddenly developed Sky flames of all things?
Lal looked at the odd orb the older woman had tossed her.
Actually, now that she was observing her flames properly it seemed her Cloud had become her new primary with the Rain and Mist being secondaries. The Sky flames were weak, but well hidden by the first three, which she found a blessing because the mafia had a nasty habit of forcing unknown Skies to join up with their famiglia.
Now that she knew it was there, it definitely explained the awful feeling she used to get around Iemitsu. It always felt like his flames were rubbing fresh sandpaper on her soul every time he brought them out to dominate someone.
"What's the verdict, Nonna?" asked Colonello.
"I like her. She would make a very suitable wife for you, my little deluge. She can keep your less impressive habits well in line, as a woman should," said his grandmother with open approval.
Lal had met her gaze head on, and didn't back down.
Now for the final test...to see if Lilac Black truly was immune to her grandson's full allure.
Colonello let his control go completely and without a single warning. Lal raised an eyebrow, but unlike any other woman without veela blood she didn't try to rip his clothes off or her own in an attempt to sleep with him, willing or not.
A normal veela's allure made the men around them act like idiots in an effort to impress them...including some rather unfortunate instances where the men lost control and tried to assault the veela in question.
Which was the main reason the wizards acted as though Veela were beasts sent to lure perfectly reasonable pure bloods into infidelity through their 'unnatural powers'.
It was a different story for male veela. If they weren't born with an inherit control over their allure, they would be assaulted by women and certain men the second their unfortunate victims came within range. It was too strong for anyone without enough veela heritage to handle, thus finding a wife outside the Sisterhood was almost impossible.
The fact Lal wasn't trying to rip his clothes off and looked decidedly bored, despite the fact his allure wasn't being inhibited at all by his natural control meant she was a very rare find indeed.
Colonello carefully put his allure back under control.
"I have said it before and I'll say it again. I find it ridiculous that people seem to think you used your natural abilities to make me fall in love with you," said Lal flatly.
There was one other test that they hadn't bothered to try.
He allowed his natural veela form out, which amusingly enough looked quite a bit like his animagus form.
Lal stared for all of three seconds before a soft smile appeared on her face, and she gently stroked his beak in a way that made him croon with delight. That felt way too good, and it was clear she had practice thanks to her owl.
It made him wonder how good she was at preening feathers...
"Well?" demanded Fleur.
"Grandmother approved," said Colonello with relief.
She had not only approved of Lal, but she had given him full permission to surprise his beloved by transferring to Hogwarts for his final year.
From what he had found out from Lal's head of house, it would likely be her final year as well. She had shot ahead of her fellow students like a rocket, so there really wasn't much point in keeping her in the school when she could easily pass her N.E.W.T.'s two years early.
She didn't even need to take her Charms or her Defense Against the Dark Arts exams... the second task and that odd ice elevator she had made resulted in her being the youngest ever Charms Mistress since she was able to provide a thesis on how she pulled it off that impressed five other Masters.
The fact that only a handful could pull it off due to the power requirements was a minor note. The important part was the written thesis and that the theory was sound. That plus the fact she had mastered the Patronus to the point she could cast it wandlessly.
Anyone who mastered such a difficult spell like the Patronus to the level she had was worthy of earning a Charms Mastery.
As for the Defense...well, she had already been at the head of the pack and the patronus did earn anyone who could cast it during the exams an instant Outstanding. Most of Defense was learning offensive charms with a few hexes, jinxes and curses thrown in for good measure, along with how to identify and deal with the common magical pests. And her unconventional use of spells during the Defense practical, when she had requested that she be allowed to duel one of the examiners rather than the usual spells had made it clear she knew the subject inside and out.
The only thing that had stopped her from getting a defense Mastery was the fact she needed to study under a recognized master. She had only gotten Charms because of Flitwick and the fact he had been tutoring her in advanced spells for a few years now and vouched for her.
"By the way...was that your animagus form I saw, or your natural veela form?" asked Lal curious.
"A bit of both. Male veela have the natural knack for the transformation. The girls can do it too, but most generally don't bother since they can get so vain when their veela side is exposed around others," admitted Colonello. "What about you? Ever thought of becoming an animagus?"
Lal snickered.
"I'm saving that for my Transfiguration N.E.W.T.'s. Animagi get an automatic Outstanding because of the difficulty involved, and thanks to all the things I've been exposing on the years Madam Bones decided to save herself the headache and had me listed on the 'secure' list of known animagi, which isn't available to the public. Which means when I show my animal form out, I won't automatically be fined for not having it registered."
"Really? What's your form?" asked Colonello with interest.
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," said Lal cheekily.
Colonello shifted, and a peregrine falcon sat calmly on Fleur's shoulder.
He very nearly dropped in shock when Lal turned into a gryffin of all things!
Fleur snorted.
"Of course you would become smitten with one of the few women who can turn into a magical creature as her animagus form," said Fleur dryly.
Lal switched back, absolutely smug.
"So when does Grandmother want to introduce the newest member of the Sisterhood?" asked Fleur to her cousin.
"Wait, what?" said Lal in shock.
"It's an unspoken rule that men must marry only to those in the Sisterhood," explained Fleur. "Which is why Grandmother's approval is so important...it means we can perform the ritual and make you an official member, even though you're not a veela at all."
Lal was silent for a moment.
"What does the ritual entail?"
"Basically it's acknowledging via a magical pact that you are one of us, which means that should something happen to you the Sisterhood would happily rise up to defend you as family should. It also means that if you see one of the Sisterhood in trouble, that you are highly encouraged to help them if necessary...so long as pride doesn't get in the way," said Colonello. "It was created as a defense against the Ministries who kept labeling Veela as 'evil' simply because their men couldn't control their baser urges and kept insisting that they were 'coerced' by the allure."
Lal snorted at that.
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and that goes double for women who are sneaky enough to use their sex to make men dance to their tune when pissed."
"The Ministries don't like to acknowledge it, especially in England, but our influence rivals the goblins," said Fleur.
"So if I were to highlight a plan that would effectively allow werewolves to own businesses by proxy..." said Lal.
"So long as it's viable, most of the Sisterhood would support you. Veela and werewolves have been aiding each other for years," said Fleur. "Most of them are immune to our allure and they almost never attack us during the full moon because our scent is different enough not to set them off."
"What plan did you have in mind?" asked Colonello.
"Law states that magical werewolves can't own a business and most of the stores are pure blood owned. But there's nothing against them acting as a 'proxy' owner for someone else."
Fleur smirked.
"I get it. You agree to act as the official 'owner' on record and have them enter into a partnership with you, but in reality they're the ones responsible for the business. And since you already know about their condition, you can hire muggleborns or squibs to handle the business during full moons, allowing them to earn a living without having to deal with English idiocy."
"Exactly! Not only is it a good source of gold, but it also means that I earn a lot of allies from a source that has been relatively untapped. The Dark Lord offered them equality, but it's clear to anyone with a brain he doesn't really mean it. Meanwhile I work around the system and give them a fair chance at a normal life despite their furry little problem."