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.
Harry Potter and the Veela Life Debts
By Jojobevco
Chapter 18
Fleur's Tale Part Two and the Flyby Month of August
Fleur looked down at her arm, now without the glamour charms she usually kept on it. The words that only she could make out, engraved into it with knives. Then the obvious web-like series of lines that crisscrossed her arms, like some sort of twisted art, that were really just scars from an experience that ruined her, that made her useless.
Fleur looked down at her other arm, at her wand. It would be so simple, a quick charm to end it all. Fleur looked back at the street, she needed to think some more.
She could feel their hands all over her, She could feel the cold sharp blade of the knife as it carved a web through her skin.
"Fleur, Fleur?"
11:33 PM
Fleur's Room.
The Headquarters of the Joint Magical Counterterrorism Task Force
12 Grimmauld Place
London, United Kingdom
In the moonlight, Harry saw Fleur's head jerk as he suddenly brought her out of her thoughts. He looked down her back and saw what he thought was some sort of dress, before looking down further and realizing she was naked. Harry quickly brought his eyes up to her head.
Fleur must have heard him because she sighed, "Come in, Harry."
Harry walked over to the balcony where Fleur was leaning, naked, surveying a London that couldn't see her. He carefully made sure he only gazed at her face, which was clear and unmarred.
"Go ahead and look, Master, really my only use to you is as some corrupted piece of art." Fleur then spun and faced him so he could get a better look.
Harry did. Fleur looked like she was wearing a sheer, invisible, dress of crisscrossing lace. She looked like an evil version of Charlotte's Web.
"They're permanent, you know. They did it with a dark knife, something that magic and my Veela powers can't counteract." She sighed, "It was horrible, a dark, scary room, with scary people. They needed a young, untouched veela. They were trying to increase their power. To grow more steeped in the darkness. What they wanted to do was unnatural at the truest sense of the word, they wouldn't have been human anymore."
"You are still here though, they are not. You are an incredibly strong woman, Fleur."
"I agree, Fleur," they both turned to see Tonks standing in the doorway, "You are an excellent witch, you are magically strong."
"But, I'm useless, you saw me in front of those dementors today, I practically fainted."
Harry chuckled in a self-depreciating manner, "Fleur, I actually fainted the first time I saw a dementor. As for the rest, I've seen your training, Tonks has as well; what do you think, Commandant?"
"She's good, Harry, she's just lacking self-confidence. Fleur, what you went through is terrible, but the important thing is that you're still here, you survived."
"But, I can't even go to a party without freaking out at someone brushing my arm! And look at me, I'm hideous! I'm not me anymore; I'm just a hollow shell of who I used to be."
"Fleur, you are not, you are still the same person. You still laugh and smile with Gabrielle and me, you still are an intelligent person who knows more about government than I ever want to, and you are an amazing witch, you just need to recognize that. As for your scars, we all have them." Harry pointed to the scar on his head, and rolled up his sleeve to show her the one on his arm. He then realized that this was the make or break moment with Fleur, ether he grabbed her here, or he lost her forever. He decided to grab her, literally.
Harry took his right hand and ran it up and down her left shoulder, slowly, tracing the crisscrossing scars that ran over it. He took his left and put it behind her neck, slowly pulling Fleur toward him. Something, whether it be her shock, or the bond kept her from resisting
He gently touched his lips to hers.
Fleur felt as though fireworks were exploding in her head, for the first time in almost four years she felt whole again. The kiss lasted just a couple of seconds, but for Fleur and Harry it was a long moment they would never forget.
Harry leaned in and whispered in her ear, "You are beautiful."
If anyone else had done that, Fleur would be in the middle of a panic attack, but this wasn't anyone, this was Harry, someone she felt so completely that they were almost resonating in harmony. She knew Harry would never harm her. Unlike the rest of the time where she "knew" someone wouldn't harm her, here she knew it.
That night changed her life and Harry's life as well.
The Next Day, August 1, 1995
10:30 AM
En Route to Harrods, Knightsbridge
London, UK
This time as Harry, Fleur, Gabrielle, Tonks, and Agent Smith drove through town the sirens did not wail. Discretion was the word of the day. A second Range Rover followed them while the Eurocopter subtly flew overhead at high altitude. They arrived at Harrods and quickly moved out of the vehicles and into the building. Agent Smith and Harry were dressed in black suits, Harry's was transfigured. The ladies each wore a black pantsuit. They looked more like a Diplomatic Protection Group detail, than the entourage of the Eighth Richest Man in the World. They quickly were met by several members of the personal shopping service which then separated the group into two. The women went up a floor to the womenswear section, the men, stayed on the ground floor and went to the menswear section. While Fleur only had to "update" her closet with the latest fashions, Gabrielle needed a whole new wardrobe and Harry did as well. Suffice it to say, they left Harrods with the Queen's birthday gift exhausted and Harry more than a few thousand pounds poorer.
4:00 PM
An Interrogation Room
The Headquarters of the Joint Magical Counterterrorism Task Force
12 Grimmauld Place
London, United Kingdom
Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter were standing in this room, about to start their Occlumency lessons, but Albus wanted to show him something first.
"You see, Harry, it's a mirror."
They walked out the door and into the adjoining room.
"But from the other side, it's a window. Muggles real are ingenious." Albus turned to face Harry, "This is what we are going to do to your mind. Your experiences with visions of Voldemort last year shows that you two share some sort of mental connection. What we want to do is make sure that you can observe these visions, but that Voldemort can't look into your mind. You will still monitor the connection, just not be as connected to it."
"So, like a television set?"
"Exactly."
They left and went to an empty room and sat on the floor.
"First things first, Harry, I want you to clear your mind, imagine an empty room…"
This was going to take a while.
August 31, 1995
7:59 AM
Harry's Room
The Headquarters of the Joint Magical Counterterrorism Task Force
12 Grimmauld Place
London, United Kingdom
As he moved down the corridor, he could see flaming torches, and the dark door. He didn't will himself to keep moving, or to try to stop he just went with the flow.
BRRRING! BRRING!
Harry awoke and started sitting up, automatically bringing his left arm out from under Fleur and using his right to shuffle Gabrielle off his body.
"Harry?"
Harry turned to look at Fleur who was now resting on her shoulder looking at him. Although they hadn't been intimate yet, Fleur had started sleeping with him and Gabrielle, and cuddling a bit more than she used briefly glanced down to see the crisscrossing scars on her arm before looking at her eyes.
"Did you have that dream again?"
Harry nodded, this wasn't the first time he'd have this particular dream it had been reoccurring for the past month. His newly completed Occlumency training showed him that it was a projection being sent to him by Voldemort. The question though was, why? He mentioned it to the Headmaster who said he'd tell Harry about it when he was "ready."
That was today. Last night, the Professor had said that his training was complete and that today he'd be briefed on exactly what was happening and what "The Plan" was.
He looked back at Fleur, "Come on, time to get up, we've got training in an hour."
9:00 AM
Training Room
The Headquarters of the Joint Magical Counterterrorism Task Force
12 Grimmauld Place
London, United Kingdom
Harry arrived in the Training Room after getting dressed, ready and having a spot of breakfast. He was expecting to see Tonks, Moody, or even Snape, who had been emulating the styles of various Death Eaters.
Instead, he was met by the short form of Professor Flitwick, who was conjuring various tables and statutes, and bric-a-brac.
"Hello, Harry."
"Professor, I'm surprised to see you here."
"Yes, well, Albus told me you had finished your Occlumency training, so we will have to fill your time with something else. Welcome to Advanced Dueling. Today, we will be discussing and practicing using charms in combat situations. So far, you've mostly been taught spells to cast against your opponent. Now, you will learn to use your environment against your opponent. Let us begin."
The lesson was interesting; Flitwick conjured a target of Voldemort that Harry was supposed to throw things at. Harry banished, summoned, levitated and locomotored things into the statute which Flitwick kept repairing, with occasional shouts of, "Faster!" "Harder!" "More Power!" "Do it again, silently!"
At the end of the lesson he smiled, "Well done, Harry, you will do well in this. Now, here is a book that Albus asked me to give you."
Harry glanced at his watch and realized he was late for his next meeting, he thanked the professor and left. On his way down he briefly glanced at the title of the book and stopped in his tracks.
Epic-Class Dueling and You
How to Defeat Dark Lords like a Professional
And Make it Look Easy
By
Albus Dumbledore, Grand Sorcerer, Order of Merlin, 1st Class
With Commentary By
Fillus Flitwick, Dueling Champion and Charms Master
Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration Mistress
And
Gellert Grindenwald, Dark Lord (Retired)
August 31, 1995
11:00 AM
Hallway outside the Conference Room
The Headquarters of the Joint Magical Counterterrorism Task Force
12 Grimmauld Place
London, United Kingdom
As Harry paced, waiting for the occupants of the Conference Room to get him, he reflected on everything he knew about what was happening.
Headquarters had also been very busy, Professor Dumbledore, besides teaching him Occlumency, was also working on something secret in the "Planning Room". Harry was told that he would be told what was happening when his Occlumency was good enough. Harry had also seen Agent Smith, Tonks, Hermione, and a bunch of other people he didn't know come in and out of that room. They were always discussing, "The Plan," or something called "Operation Dependence Repatriation". But they would always stop when he was around and smile apologetically.
Another two "people" he saw coming and going from the room were Dobby and Winky, along with a whole flood of house elves that were muttering things about "construction" and "covery inserssions." The house elves were acting odd to say the least. The wizards and muggles that accompanied them were even odder. One had stopped and asked him whether he would want an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a Quidditch Pitch, or both. The next week he passed the same wizard who was muttering something about "Wet 'n Wild" and "Helipads and Flak Cannons". Another had him say "open" into a magical tape recorder, in parseltongue.
Just as he was about to turn and pace again, the door opened and the Headmaster poked his head out.
"Harry, we're ready."
With that, Harry entered the room.
AN: Please review, thanks to those who have.
AN2: For those wondering about the Eight Richest Man in the World comment, I took the 1996 Forbes Richest List (the earliest I could get my hands on) and compared the 1.0018 Billion Galleons I gave Harry to the rest of the people on the list. He ended up as number eight.
AN3: You will not find out what happens in the Conference Room for several chapters, so don't ask. But rest assured, all will be revealed!