Harry Potter and the Veela Life Debt
By Jojobevco
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter story or characters. I do, however, reserve the rights for any characters I develop and the plot of this story.
Chapter 3
Conversations
As Harry walked back to Gryffindor Tower, he considered how long and life-changing this day had been. Since this morning he has: been woken up by a crazy house-elf, grew gills, saved his friend, and stupidly saved some girl he didn't know. Turns out said girl's a Veela who is now bound to him in some way he doesn't quite understand. He gets emancipated, and gets new quarters, which he is on his way to now. Hell of a day.
After reaching the fat lady and giving the password, they entered the common room. The Celebration Party was in full swing; however, miraculously no one seemed to notice them. Dobby appeared on the boy's stairs and led them up to the top of the tower. He opened the door and the group entered.
Harry sighed with relief, "Thank Merlin no one noticed us on our way up here; I really didn't want to face them yet."
Fleur's laugh was like bells ringing, "Do not thank Merlin, 'arry, thank me. Over the years I've become very good at notice-me-not charms."
"Oh, thank you, Fleur."
They all laughed again and started to look around the room.
The sitting area had seating for four and there were four rooms leading off of it. They quickly explored the rest of the suite. The first room seemed to be the Master Bedroom. It had a large king bed and was obviously decked out in Gryffindor colors. There were two nightstands and two dressers. The next room was a bathroom that was connected to the two adjoining rooms. The third room was a smaller bedroom. It only had a double bed and some furnishings. The final room was a study, with a copy of several of the more useful books in the Hogwarts library. There was a desk and a couch. Dobby revealed that the couch could easily be turned into a bed, and the room could be made a guest room.
After they returned to the sitting area, Dobby snapped his fingers and a tray of sandwiches appeared along with a pitcher of water and some glasses, "Dobby bring you some lunch. Dobby is leaving now."
Harry nodded and thanked him. Dobby, thankfully, left without suddenly breaking down into tears or the like. Harry then sat down in a comfy armchair and sighed, very loudly.
"So let me see if I have this all straight," he points at Gabrielle, "I save you from the lake, and because you were about to die due to some stupid war that took place a thousand years ago, you owe me a life debt, which is different from regular life debts because it creates a bond between us. This bond will change you, having you 'love and serve' me. Did I get that right?"
"Yes, Master, as you can see, within a few hours I have become fluent in English. I feel like I can understand you better than anyone."
Harry shuddered and shook his head, "I don't want some slave. I mean, I appreciate the bond, but I seriously do not want you bowing and scraping all the time, calling me master. Please, call me Harry."
Fleur softly answered, "'arry, The bond recognizes that you don't want a slave. But understand that this bond, in some way, is meant to reward you for your actions, She will always be submissive to you, 'arry. She will follow any command you give 'er. If you ask 'er to jump she will ask how high. If you ask 'er to get your morning tea, she will get it," she choked up here, "If you ask 'er to kill 'erself, she will 'appily throw 'erself out the window. She will throw 'erself in front of an Avada Kevadra aimed at you without 'esitation. She is wholly and totally devoted to you. You are 'er life!"
Gabrielle decided to speak, "Harry, I know what you want, I can feel it, I know that you don't want me to die. I could feel your anguish when Fleur mentioned it. But Harry, understand that if you die, I die, literally. My life is connected to yours."
"But, I don't want you to have to live my life, I don't want a shadow, I want you to be your own person. Trust me, you don't want my life! I have been almost killed every year I've been here and just wait until you meet my relatives, you won't hate anyone more in your entire life!"
"Harry, if that's what you want, then that's what I'll be. I'm not going to lose my individuality and who I am because of this bond. It just changes the focus of my life. My connection to you will change me, but only for the better."
Harry sighed, he suddenly realized how tired he was, it was only 1:00 in the afternoon, but he was exhausted. He turned to Fleur, "this has been a really draining day and I think I'm going to take a nap before dinner."
Fleur nodded and stood, "do you want me to contact my parents?"
"If you could, I'd appreciate it."
He then turned to Gabrielle, "Are you tired?"
"Not really."
"Okay, then, um, is there anything you'd like to do?"
Gabrielle thought for a moment, "I could start reading one of those books about the bond, because there are some things I do not understand."
"That seems like a good idea. I'll see you in a few hours," Harry quickly nodded off to sleep.
As Harry was sleeping, Gabrielle worked. First she read through one of the books on the bond, then she went to her room and unpacked the clothing she had brought from home. As she looked at what she had brought, she sighed, if she was going to stay here longer she would need to send for some of her clothes and other items from home.
After unpacking what she had brought she headed over to Harry's room. She opened his trunk and pulled out his uniforms, which she promptly hung up in the closet. She found herself rather confused by Harry's other clothing. They were much too big for him. But she set them in the dresser for now. Then, she took out his photo album, Gabrielle had noticed how it was tucked away in the bottom of the trunk, almost reverently, she started looking through it, she saw the pictures of his parents and friends. Gabrielle decided to place it on the bed stand. She placed his broom by the window, because her father had insisted that, "you need to always have an escape plan." She carried his non-school books to the library and filed them away. Harry's Cloak of Invisibility was hung on a hook, within quick reach. After Harry was unpacked she sat down in a lounge chair and watched Harry sleep, before nodding off herself.
A few hours later, there was a knock at the door. Harry blearily opens his eyes, sits up and crosses to the door. He opens it to find Professor McGonagall, who is staring at him in shock
"Mr. Potter!" she screams, "Never have I seen such horrible behavior from a Gryffindor!"
That woke Harry up like a shot of caffeine. But what was she shouting about?
He needn't have worried because she promptly continued, "I can understand that you are in a difficult situation, but how dare you take advantage of a young girl like that!"
"Professor what makes you think- that?"
"Your disheveled appearance, your bloodshot eyes, it's clear that something's been up."
Gabrielle, who was awoken by the Professor's dulcet tones chose to make herself known, "Professor, nothing happened Harry and I were napping, that's all. Harry was very tired after the lake and everything that happened. I read for a while, unpacked everything, and then I nodded off too."
McGonagall became somewhat flustered. "Oh, well in that case, Mr. Potter, I apologize for jumping to conclusions about you. It's just this situation, it's highly unusual. I came by to make sure you had settled in and ask you how you wanted to settle the issue of telling everyone?"
Harry was thoughtful for a moment, "Perhaps we can make an announcement at breakfast tomorrow morning."
"Well, that what I was thinking, until I ran into the other Miss Delacour on my way up here. Her parents will be visiting tomorrow morning. Harry started getting worried again until Gabrielle ran her hands up and down her shoulder. He calmed down and invited the Deputy Headmistress in.
"Well, how about dinner, tomorrow instead, that will give us enough time."
"Dinner is a good time, it's well attended. Have you found your accommodations to your liking?"
"Yes, Professor, they're great." Gabrielle nodded in agreement.
"Very well then, I just wanted to see how you are doing, and let you know that my door is always open to you. Will you be coming to dinner?"
"No, professor, it will lead to questions that I don't particularly feel like answering right now. Is there any way we can have dinner here?"
"I'll contact the kitchens and have send up something, do you have any preference?"
"No," then Harry remembered to ask Gabrielle, "Do you have any preferences, Gabrielle?"
Gabrielle was genuinely surprised that Harry wasn't just saying he had no preference, he actually didn't care what he ate, so she asked, "Perhaps something light for me? All this British food is going straight to my stomach." Gabrielle was horrified at what she said.
Professor McGonagall smiled slightly and nodded. She turned to leave, and then stopped, "Oh, I almost forgot, Mr. Potter, the Headmaster gave you the rest of the week off from classes, I trust you can see Miss Granger for the notes."
"I'm not sure we're exactly friends at the moment."
"She's just confused Mr. Potter. She's confusing this bond, for house-elf bonds, which in turn she is confusing for the Muggle concept of slavery. She's been in the common room since you came back; reading over those books the Headmaster gave her. I believe she'll come around. Have a good evening, Mr. Potter." The Professor then left.
Harry then blearily went to his room to unpack. However, as soon as he arrived, he realized that Gabrielle had already done it, so he called her into the room.
She was at his side in moments, "Is something wrong, Harry?"
"Why did you unpack my stuff?"
Gabrielle was nervous, "Well, you were sleeping at the time, and I had already read through one of the books on the bond, like you requested. Then since I had nothing to do, I went and unpacked my things. Then I just went to unpack your things," she fell to her knees similar to how she did when she came out of the lake she started crying, "I'm sorry, Master, I didn't mean any disrespect, I was just trying to help."
This behavior was extremely uncomfortable to Harry; it reminded him of the Dursley's. He gently crouched down next to Gabrielle and helped her stand. Then he looked her in the eye. "Gabrielle, I was just curious as to why you would bother to unpack my stuff. I'm grateful that you did, I appreciate it. And if you ever want to borrow or look at any of my things, then you just have to ask."
"Thank you, Master, and I'm sorry."
Now Harry was just confused. Had he not explained himself well enough?
"For what?"
"For referring to the things in the other bedroom as 'my things', when they are in fact, yours."
Harry remembered the contract he signed that morning, "Gabrielle you may continue to think of those things as yours. Anything that you purchase or have for your use is yours."
"Thank you, Master."
Harry drew her into a hug and whispered, "Harry, remember, not Master."
Gabrielle nodded into his shirt.
At this point Dobby popped into the room. They broke apart and looked at him.
"Dobby is sorry to be interrupting Harry Potter Sir and Harry Potter Sir's Gabby, but dinner is ready.
They walked back out into the sitting room to see that the lounge area had been replaced with a dining room set for two, and was set up with food and beverage. For dinner they had Escargot, a chicken dish, and crepes with chocolate for dessert.
Over dinner they talked about their respective lives. Gabrielle came from a life of wealth and privilege, apparently Veela were much more respected in France than in England. Her father was a former Auror who had gotten involved in politics. Her mother was a very popular fashion model. Their family resided at an estate along the French Riviera. They were a very close family.
In turn, Harry shared parts of his history; however he very much glazed over the Dursley's actions. He told her about Mrs. Figg and her cats, and about the time he siced a Boa Constrictor on Dudley. He told her the story of how he met Dobby, about his many adventures over the years, and about his godfather.
He decided to leave the truth about the Dursley's and Voldemort until later. Gabrielle knew he was hiding something, but she didn't press him.
Eventually they realized they had been talking for several hours before they felt exhausted again. Harry was curious, why was he so tired. He voiced the question aloud.
"It's the bond forming. It's going to be taking up much of your energy for a while. However she added, "It is lessened by us being close. I would recommend sleeping together." After seeing Harry's eyes widen she added, "Just in the same bed I mean."
Harry gulped, "Right, then, Gabrielle, why don't you go to your room and get ready for bed. Then, join me in my room. The bed is bigger, more room to spread out."
"I will join you there soon."
Harry went to his room and slipped into his pajamas, shortly after Gabrielle joined him. She was dressed in a tank top and pajama bottoms. Harry slid into bed and invited Gabrielle in. She curled up into his side.
"Gabrielle?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you comfortable?"
"Harry, I've never been more comfortable in my entire life."
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