The Shadow of the Wizarding World

By: Jamnaz79

Beta: ? (Looking for one)

-x-x-x-x-x-

Note: I do not own Harry Potter for the book, movies, etc etc etc. Nor do I claim to.

-SotWW-

Before Fleur could answer her sister, Harry stepped through the curtains interrupting their conversation with a warm smile and bow as he spoke in French, "And I would be honored to get to have you at my side Lady Gabrielle. I could say that I would have the most beautiful lady at the ball at my side. I only hope that I will be found worthy of your attention that night."

The crimson that stained the cheeks of both girls was enough for Harry to forever remember that moment. After all, it was not often you could make a pair of young part Veela's blush. Now the message from Sirius was understood, his godfather had arranged for him to take two part Veela to the dance. Dear god he loved the man! Hopefully though their personalities matched their outer beauty and it would be a fun night. He could faintly feel the tug of their allures but fought them off to offer a warm friendly smile. "Please excuse my rudeness, I did not want to interrupt you both or listen in but I felt was better to show myself then show poor English manners. I am Harry Potter; it is a pleasure to meet you both."

~~~ SOTWW ~~~

It was a dinner in heaven and a dinner that was hell. Normally Narcissa would be who would plan out the dinner and seating arrangement. But, this night it was obvious that Sirius had a say in the decision. That helpful hand by his loving godfather, who would be pranked without mercy for this, was present in the form of Harry's dinner companions.

On the left of Harry sat the beautiful Gabrielle Delacour. Gabrielle, Harry had learned during dinner was more into the outdoors then her sister. She loved to play Quidditch. She was actually a beater in the sport. She also loved to race brooms, which seemed to be a more popular sport in France then Quidditch. She also loved to camp and enjoyed painting the outdoors. She was the tomboy of the family that could only be loosely applied to a young woman who had her astounding looks. Tonight with her hair, makeup and clothing picked out by her older sister one would never know her love of getting down and dirty.

On the right of Harry sat the older Delacour sister, Fleur. She was an enchanting young woman that was filled with poise and promise. She loved music, dance, runes and charms. She hoped to become a charms mistress someday and was fascinated by the new JPRecs that Harry and Hermione had created. She was a large proponent of the arts, which seemed fitting to Harry as how she took detailed care of her beauty made her almost appear a work of art. He could compare her beauty to a stature done from the Renaissance period. Still, the more curious parts of her were what were beneath her skin.

If Harry had just been surrounded t the two beautiful young ladies then it would have been a perfectly enjoyable night. After all, what is better than two beautiful quarter-Veela fighting for your attention? Nothing except if they were twins. Ahh but the situation was not wonderful for a third individual was seated directly across from Harry. A rather pissed off metamorphmagus, that was upset that Harry's attentions were elsewhere.

Tonks was already rather upset at Harry for his last prank, one she had not gotten him back for yet. It had been rather embarrassing to show off her backside to a few people in the Ministry before she realized her robes had been enchanted to see through on the back! Oh there would be hell to pay for that one and she had plans already in motion, but revenge is a dish best served cold. No, her anger right now confused her partly because it was over the fact that Harry was surrounded by not one but two beautiful young flirting Veela and they seemed to have his attention. To top that off he had been given dates with them by Sirius already. Jealous? Her? No, that wouldn't be possible that she would be jealous and want to be in their positions with her younger third cousin. Such an emotion was not fitting for her, but still she was confused about her feelings watching Harry talk back and forth with Gabrielle with French or witty comments to Fleur in English. She didn't understand the feelings she had which just increased her anger at the teenager. One word of advice to anyone in England, the last thing anyone would want would be a pissed off junior Auror Metamorphmagus.

So here was Harry between a rock and a half place, or would it be better to say two rocks and a hard place? Or perhaps he was the hard place from the teasing he was getting. Either case he tossed more than a few glances towards Hermione for pleas for help. But, the look that was returned silently was amusement at his predicament, not to mention she was too busy in detailed talk of the laws and regulations of Wizarding Britain to be distracted. The boy let out a sigh knowing he would have no chance sooner or later trouble would start. He plucked up his knife to butter his bread only to feel the distinct pain under the table in his shin.

"Opps my steel-toe boot must have slipper. I am sorry Harry. Tell me again your plans for the Yule Ball?" The far too sweet tone of the young Auror when she spoke from across the table told him she obviously had meant the kick. Her smile was so bright and white it screamed run and hide from this predator.

A grimace passed from the young man as he sliced open the bread roll and started to butter it carefully. He licked his lips as they felt dry not noticing that the eyes of all three young women followed the path of his tongue. Finally he opened his mouth to speak but before he could voice his answer another voice came from his right.

"'Arry are you alright? I thought I 'eard a groan of pain." The beautiful blonde haired bombshell questioned. Her eyes though were not at Harry but instead towards Tonks. Her lips curled into a grin of a cat that ate the canary knowing that she was stealing the young man's attention from the older woman. Her finely tuned senses had picked up the tension at once between Harry and the pinked haired beauty and nothing excited her like the chase. Her eyes shifted back towards Harry's own emeralds as she put on a look of concern, "If you are 'urt I will be 'appy to 'elp you soothe your injury."

On his right Gabrielle watched in confusion, her English not very good. Instead of speaking she merely reached out and touched the fingertips of her left hand onto the teenager's elbow and gave him a smile. When the boy offered a smile and nod back she turned towards her venison to enjoy her meal.

It was an amusing sight. Fleur seemed to only eat dainty foods like salads and fruit. On the other hand Gabrielle seemed to actually enjoy hearty English food. He would have to remember that detail in the future. Again his thoughts were distracted from the question across the table posed by a certain angry metamporph, "I heard Harry that you have been the center of attention for many different ladies this semester. Word has it you have been playing the field even spending time alone with two Slytherins in unused classrooms."

One eyebrow rose as he chewed on his piece of venison. Once finished he offered his most charming smile at his beautiful cousin, "No I have still never been on a date before. I thought there was a young woman that might want to go out with me but she believes that I am far too young for her taste. I would have been willing to give it a try. Of course that will assume she will not find some forty or fifty year old to shack up with instead."

He glances towards Gabrielle then Fleur and offered both of them a bright smile, "I guess tomorrow may count as my first date. It seems Fleur gets to have my cherry."

Harry never noticed down the end of the table Sirius glance his way with a slight frown for the briefest of seconds at the exchange by the two. Nor did Nymph get to respond as the attention was drawn towards Mr. Delacour speaking up, "Harry, I am told you enjoy Quidditch? Gabrielle is quite the fireball on the broom herself. Perhaps sometime you might both want to do a little flying."

The young man turned towards the younger Veela offering a smile before speaking up in French for her, "I would love the chance to go flying with Gabrielle. I have a few nimbus here on the island. Perhaps after dinner we can enjoy a flight?"

The beautiful young French witch turned a hint of crimson in her cheeks as she raised her chin and returned in French, "Only if you accept that you will lose in a race to me Harry."

"You are on." He flashed a bright grin at the teenager then turned his gaze to Fleur speaking in English, "What are your hobbies Fleur?"

"I love to dance. I 'ave been in formal training for years and I 'ad considered for a time possibly becoming a ballerina after school. But, I am not certain now' I am considering doing something more exciting like curse breaking or join the French Ministry." The blue eyes of the older teenager sparkled with a rare enjoyment. She had found the young man to be interesting. Not the least of reasons was for the fact that on the balcony earlier she and Gabby had both not been holding back their allure. The young man did not seem to be affected by it hardly at all. The same could not be said for the Malfoy heir at the end of the table that she had caught twice already at dinner despite controlling her allure staring while drooling into his pea soup. The fact that young Lord Potter was a powerful wizard, had the potential to become very handsome and was not affected by her allure made him instantly desirable. Add to it that it seemed not only was her sisters interested in the boy but she senses that the metamorphmagus across the table was as well. She had hit the jackpot for a hunt! She had never been in a competition before for a man, perhaps this might be a good testing ground for the future.

"I hope I do not cause too many broken toes for you or your sister Fleur. I have never been to a formal dance before. Please accept my apologies now ahead of time for any awkwardness that my two left feet may provide." Harry offered both of the French wishes the comment with a smile and conspiratorial wink. "You know, if you find Curse braking not to your liking perhaps you would consider someday working with the JP Foundation. I believe we are always hiring talented witches, correct Aunt Cissy?"

Narcissa broke her conversation with Andromeda to smile at Harry. "Indeed Harry, we are looking for witches that are good with runes and charms for our research division. I believe your mother Fleur mentioned you are exceptional in both of those areas."

The beautiful quarter Veela allowed a hint of crimson to touch her cheeks at the praise. It was rare when someone outside of her family or teachers would notice and provide praise for anything except her appearance. Normally any female would be distinctly uncomfortable around her due to her nature. But, it seemed the females of the Black family were far from normal when it came to their sense of worth for their own beauty. There was not a hint of jealous in the face of either Black sister and even the jealousy from the young Auror was more directed for the competition for Harry than anything else. She raised her chin with a hint of pride, "Thank you Lady Malfoy. I will keep in mind that possible offer. I will have to see how the rest of the year and next will go. I hope to be considered for the Tri-Wizard tournament champion selection when it is held next year."

"What is the Tri-Wizard Tournament?" Harry inquired politely unsure about what it might be.

"Mr. Delacour spoke up, "The Tri-Wizard Tournament is a competition that used to be held three years by the premier schools of Europe. It was held to determine which school had the most powerful graduating wizards and witches. It would be a competition inspired with three events that would contain dangerous, life threatening stunts in the competition."

"And you wish to be a part of this Fleur?"

"Yes, I do." The beautiful witch replied quickly with a smile. Then leaned close to whisper, "It seems to be planned to be held at 'ogwarts too 'arry. Perhaps make certain that I am comfortable and safe? I am told that English castles are very drafty."

The young man was caught off-guard when he realized what she might mean by her teasing flirt. His cheeks went crimson. Before he could answer from across the table came the voice of Nymph, "I will have to get you a sweater. It will keep her warm so she doesn't have to worry about drafty castles. I am sure Hogwarts will be perfectly safe for you Ms. Delacour. But, I would be concerned if you need a third year to defend you, yet you are going to enter this tournament."

Harry eyes flashed with anger as they looked towards Nymphadora. The young woman met his gaze with a raised eyebrow almost daring him to speak out.

"Third year, 'arry you are older than… You aren't just a little boy. You look far older." The French wizard saw the glare on Harry's face then the look that he provided her at the comment of little boy and started to backtrack.

Down at the other end of the table a snort came from Malfoy from the comment. He resisted the urge to make a comment though as he politely turned back towards his own conversation with surprisingly Hermione and Narcissa.

"Yes, I am in my third year Fleur. Actually, I am planning to take my OWLS at the end of the year though and skip ahead." The young man bit back any sarcastic reply and instead offered that tidbit of knowledge.

But, as soon as those words left his mouth a shriek came from Hermione, "WHAT? Harry James Potter, you are not taking your OWLS early just to skip ahead. The OWLS are the most important test of you life except the NEWTS and Masters. You will not try to just pass them with low grades just to jump ahead. Plus, how could you think about leaving me behind like that!"

Harry realized he had not mentioned to Hermione about his future plans to try to progress a bit faster in classes. After all of the late night study secessions with his teachers, he figured it might be a good surprise to unveil to her. Unfortunately that would have been a surprise in private not to be aired in the middle of a political dinner table. It seemed that the cat was out of the bag though now. He cleared his throat and placed down his napkin to the table. "Hermione, this is not the time or place. A family gathering with guests is not the correct place to have this conversation. Perhaps we can speak together on it in a few days?"

The girl turned a hint of crimson on her cheeks as she realized all of the gathered Black family and guests were looking at her after her outburst. She gave a quick nod of the head and a meaningful look that it would be a conversation very soon.

The young man turned his gaze towards Gabrielle with a smile, "Now that is settled. It looks like a nice night for a flight. What do you say?"

"I do not have my broom with me." The young French girl spoke up with sad pouted lips that could cause any brave man to tremble.

"I think I can provide one a few brooms that could be interesting to try out." Sirius spoke up in French from the head of the table. He gave a wink at Harry then called out, "Kreacher!"

A loud pop and then appearing next to the table was Kreacher. Except the House elf was dressed up with full pirate regalia including an eye patch. In one hand the ancient elf held a bloody dagger and the in the other he had a map. "Master called?"

Sirius stared at the House elf for a moment in surprise. He blinked once, twice, and then blinked again. "Kreacher… what are you…"

The House elf looked down at him then blinked in surprise. He disappeared with a pop only to reappear with a pop back wearing his normal clothing of rags. "Master called Kreacher?"

The Lord Black was about to comment but had a trickle of a memory of running off of the pirate ship and telling Dobby he was Captain. It was an image that he felt he would regret when he caught the raised eyebrow of Narcissa aimed at him. He quickly cleared his throat, "Bring Draco and Harry's big presents."

The elf popped away only to reappear seconds later with two wrapped long gifts that were obviously brooms appearing in the laps of the two young men. Harry looked up and met the eyes of Draco and both shared a rare smile. That was immediately followed by both of them ripping into the paper around the gifts and revealing a pair of broomsticks. Not just any broomsticks but the Firebolt. The fastest, most maneuverable quidditch broom sold in the world.

Harry looked at the broom that literately was sold for over ten thousand galleons and blinked in surprise. It was astounding to feel the broom. Just at the touch he could feel the power vibrate under the surface of the broom. It was a sight and feel that only brought out one emotion in the young boy. He leapt up from the table, grabbing hold of Gabrielle's hand when not even realizing it and pulling her out of the room at a run.

For a brief second Sirius watched his godson run off pulling along the pretty young Veela. He could swear that for a moment there was a cloud of dust like a muggle cartoon that Lily once showed him. The older man shook his head back and forth with a laugh. The laugh was picked up by all of the adults at the table with amusement dancing in their eyes. "It appears Harry liked his gift."

"Draco are you going to join…." Sirius stopped his question as he noticed that the boy was no longer there. Instead he noticed that Draco was gone from his seat along with Hermione and Fleur missing too. He let out a sigh then put on his best winning smile while pulling out a deck of cards, "Now that the kids are away, how the parents shall play?"

~~~ SOTWW ~~~

Harry released the hand of the beautiful young teenager and flashed his best smile at her. A hint of crimson touched his cheeks after he realized what he did. He cleared his throat before speaking up in French, "I hope you do mind flying together?"

"A chance to fly on a firebolt broom? I would ride in only bra and panties before a crowd just for the chance to fly on one of those! They are saying it is the fastest broom on the market. It was even outlawed in the European National League of Races after it posted times that were so superior to every other broom!" The girl started to ramble quickly as she spoke up with pure excitement shining through her eyes.

Harry noticed she seemed to fluidly dance from one foot to the other with nerves. He barely bit back a retort to her comment of bras and panties. For a moment he almost requested the change out of her. Instead he pulled out two pairs of black little earplugs. He offered one set towards Gabrielle, "I hope you do mind muggle rock and roll. I listen to it whenever I fly now for a bit of fun."

The young man flashed another smile then flipped on the JPRec to random which started up Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas then mounted the hovering broomstick. He glanced back as he felt arms of the beautiful young woman wrap around his waist and spotted her smile. Then the young Lord shot like a rocket into the night sky.

The next few hours late into the night the pair enjoyed flying around the Caribbean island. They flew up into the sparse cloud cover and down to skim over the dark ocean waters. The partial moon and stars sparkled down on the pair as they raced the waves and wind. Never did they speak, instead they just enjoyed the flight, the night and the company pressed together as they braved the skies.

The night ended with Gabrielle retiring back to her room with a pack on the cheek for Harry. Both of them were exhausted and it seemed that all of the adults and families members had already passed to rest. Harry left the beautiful young French girl to travel back to retire then went to his own room. There he found his Godfather seated on his bed with a package in his hands.

"Sirius, what are you doing up?" While completely exhausted the young man didn't want to be rude to his father figure.

For a brief second a mischief filled grin passed the lips of Sirius Black before he shook it away, "I was watching my godson enchant a young Veela. Plus, I rather enjoyed watching that flying. I cannot say I have seen the like outside of professionals. It is a shame you aren't playing quidditch this year."

"You know I am not going to have that conversation again. I don't want to play with the Weasley family. Perhaps in the future I will join one of those Summer League teams. But, there is just too much to do. Too much training that needs to be completed. When the possibility of my future death is hanging in the balance, quidditch just loses some of it's luster." He let out a sigh as he pulled off his shirt and tossed it into a bin for cleaning. He turned to gaze back at his godfather, "You didn't come here to debate my quidditch career though correct?"

"No, I didn't Harry. You were up there so long that I fear you missed Hermione and Nymphadora leaving for the night." A slight glint of amusement came into the eyes of the man as he leaned back watching his godson. "I don't suppose that was purposeful?"

The question was rewarded with a shrug and sigh, "I will deal with them both soon. I promise. I know that I need to talk to Nymph and straighten things out. I am not certain what I should do."

Sirius placed down the wrapped gift then stood up to walk over to the record player in the corner. He flipped through the crate that was filled with old records that Harry had taken out of Gringotts. They had belonged to James and Lily. He slowly plucked up one of the records and smiled at it warmly for a memory, "It can be difficult to understand. Magic, school, responsibilities, all of them are easy to understand compared to women."

Harry rolled his eyes at the comment and kicked off his boots to the corner, "Agreed. I have learned that already. Perhaps Nymph will like my Christmas gift. But, I doubt I did myself any favors tonight?"

The older man flipped the record onto the player and pulled the needle over to allow it to start to play softly. Dark Side of the Moon, one of Lily Evans favorite records started to play. "I don't know. Seeing two Veela via for your attention may have made her realize things she didn't want to think about. You might be surprised someday. You two are rather fitting together."

The boy rolled his eyes a second time and let out a sigh. He walked over and picked up a quill and wrote out a simple line then attached it to a wrapped box. Next Harry walked over and held it to Hedwig. The owl nipped at his fingertips. She was still rather upset about the lack of attention he had given her this year and this summer. He leaned down and whispers a name to bring the package to, then she took off quickly towards her destination.

Sirius watched the bird fly away and did not question who his godson was sending the package to. Most of the gifts had already been sent out from the boy, but this one seemed different. Still he wouldn't pry unless it was brought up. "You know you are going to have a fight between sisters for attention if what I saw tonight was any indication. Fleur doesn't seem to be the type that will want to lose."

"It is one night, I doubt I will get to see them again too much in the future Sirius." Harry waved off the idea with a smile.

"Not quite Pup. The Delacour family will be handling our French and Italian portion of the JP Foundation. Not to mention the release of the JPRecs in those countries. Plus next year the Tri-Wizard Tournament will have five schools present all learning at Hogwarts. Not to mention this summer we might be staying with them for a week or two." Sirius tossed in the last bit with a smile that now Harry was certain was filled with amusement.

He let out a sigh at the comment accepting his godfather was up to some trouble, "alright, I will bite. Why are we staying there with the Delacour family this summer?"

The man smiled and pulled out an envelope that was addressed to Harry. The handwriting he recognized as Professor Flitwick. Quickly he opened it up and found an entry form inside for the European National Duelist Tournament. The form was for the under seventeen tournament. "This came for you Pup. I gave my permission to your Professor already. So I expect since it is being held in the French Riviera you may want to stay with the Delacour summer house with them. Congrats Pup; I am very proud of you!"

Harry smiled brightly at his godfather for the praise, "Thank you Sirius."

"You are welcome. Now I can see you are exhausted so get some sleep. You can open the gifts I am leaving here tomorrow together. For now get some sleep." Lord Black smiled and gave the boy a hug then walked off to his chambers for rest.

Harry watched him go then glanced at the two packages that Sirius had left. His curiosity was acting up as he wondered what might be in them. He shrugged off as he took the packages from his bed to place onto an empty chair to open tomorrow. He could wait one more day. Then the young man quickly slipped into bed and closed his eyes thinking about the fantastic night and the feel of flying through the air with Gabrielle hanging tightly pressed to his back. It was definitely an interesting dream that night.

~~~ SOTWW ~~~

The Christmas gift had arrived to the dungeon on the wings of a white owl. It was a bird that Snape felt that he should remember from somewhere. At first he figured the package must be from one of the fifth of seventh years trying to garner favor for extra lessons before their exams. But, as soon as he saw the card on the side of the package he knew it was no Ravenclaw. The man would remember that scratched handwriting anywhere. The boy who wrote this was a menace, a massive headache for him and a complete dunderhead. The potions professor hissed at one word that summed up all of his hatred for that boy, "Potter."

Still there was curiosity for the package, despite who had sent the gift. Did the boy actually think that he could be bought? That he would care one bit what the foolish, stubborn, egotistical child might give him? With a snarl he snatched up the gift and read the writing. There were only a five words but they were five words that made the man give pause halfway before releasing the gift as a projectile towards the fireplace.

She wanted you to have this.

The glare the man gave the gift could have caused a flower bed to wither with frost in the dead of summer. He did not notice as his hands shook slightly as he started to open the wrapping paper to show a small wooden case. The case was sealed with a series of runes over top of the latch. He recognized the runic combination. They had created it together before their falling out. Severus did not notice his breath catching, nor did he feel tremble of his hands he slowly turned the three separate dials to the correct positioning. The needle pricked his finger and the lip of the wooden box opened.

The Professor did not dare to breathe as he looked down into the box. He did not move for a full two minutes as he only stared in wonder. There before his eyes were a small vial that was sealed tightly. Contained in the vial was a thin, white flutter of magic, a memory that was sealed and contained just for him. The potions master felt as if the world had stopped as he stared at the memory. Who knew what it might contain? Could it be words of condemnation from the woman he had loved from a distance all of his life? Could it instead be all that he had hoped to hear? No matter what, it was a whisper from the grave. A last breathe of someone he cared for dearly. It was someone he had never expected to see, or hear again except in his own memories. He carefully walked over and poured the memory into the pensive with trembling hands then placed his head into the magical container to find out what his Lily had left him.

Author Note: I had a lot of problems writing this chapter. I promise I will pick up the pace again but I wanted to get a few things right. I still don't like some of the interactions and I might go back and change things. Overall it wasn't too bad. If anyone would like to beta for this story I would still welcome the help. I have the next chapter written up by hand for another 5k just waiting to happen. I am going to try to keep the chapter lengths around there as I noticed I was starting to get close to 8 to 10k per chapter. Which of course increases the length of time between chapters being released and nobody wants that. Please review and let me know your thoughts, if you hate it, or it is horrid or anything else. I expect the second half of school year will only be a few chapters. Then again originally year three was supposed to only be 20,000 words. Unfortunately I can't help myself. Sorry if the story moves too slow for those that feel that it does. My apologies

Author Note 2: I will have a Dobby the Pirate Omake next time