That Crazy Nut of a Teacher

by LoliBat

Twenty-eight year old Lord Harry James Potter-Black really didn't know how he was brilliant enough to take the business world by storm but be stupid enough to get roped into teaching rich brats for a year. Well, at least the Weasley twins weren't there.

5. Sonnet 130

That Crazy Nut of A Teacher Chapter 5: Sonnet 130

"Fleur?!" Harry gaped at her in shock.

The blond let go of Renge's shoulders and spun around. Her blue eyes widened, and her hand flew to cover her parted lips.

"Harry?!" She whispered.

Neither one made an attempt to move closer to the other; they merely stood facing each other, stunned.

Harry's thoughts were jumbled as they raced through his mind. For the first time in ten years, he felt a great uncertainty in life. In the ten years since he left the magical world, he has become a successful business man; arguably one of the best. In those ten years, he became self-assured and secure in his wealth and power; to be lost and insecure once more was unsettling. Would he have to face the world he left behind? Would he have to shoulder his burden as the Savior once more and leave behind his peaceful life? Just because he ran away from the past doesn't mean the past can't catch up to him.

In the midst of troubles, a voice of reason pieced through his cloud of unease. What is Fleur doing here? It asked skeptically. By all means, she should be happily married to Bill; just before he left, he recalled hearing about Fleur's pregnancy. The couple was over the moon, so why is she here? Judging by her familiarity with Renge, she has probably been living in the muggle world for a while; how else would a muggle family like the Houshakujis know Fleur? He had checked Renge's background thoroughly; there were no squibs in the Houshakuji line, so there should be no source of magic.

Furthermore, there was a look of hesitance shadowing Fleur's eyes; the Fleur he knew would have him trapped in a smothering hug by now. Instead, she just stood there, stunned- but cautious. She has hardly aged, he mused, but she emanated a feel of wariness and maturity that was not present before.

While the two adults were staring at each other for an unreasonably long time, the teenagers collectively stared at them in confusion. Who is this lady? The thought swirled around their minds as watched with various degrees of doubt, concentration, and boredom. Who is she to render their usually composed teacher completely speechless? The gathering swarm of question marks around their heads threatened to block their view entirely.

Haruhi observed the scene in front of her with confusion; what was going on? The blond haired lady who came out of nowhere, but why would Black-Sensei react that way? She looks like a stereotypical Westerner- tall with blond hair and blue eyes. Judging by her appearance, the lady is not poor; her dress' fabric and quality screams wealth, as does her subtle diamond jewelry. She has an air of refined elegance around her; her footsteps are unhurried but not dainty. Rather, the loud and rhythmic clacking of her high heels speaks of confidence and class.

Haruhi highly suspected that this lady was raised in a rich family; over the course of the year, she began picking up on the subtle nuances and behavioral differences between social classes- the way people laughed, the way they talk, the way they walk. The differences are not too obvious to normal people, but to someone like her, it was like night and day. There were just certain people who feel rich, as if their second cousin was the royal banker.

To her, Ouran was an excellent place to practice her observation skills; she would need them if she wanted to become a lawyer. It was also an opportunity to see the way people's body language reflect their thoughts. The twins would lean on each other even when they're not acting; they inherently trust each other as if they are closed off in their own world. Given how much they preen over each other's appearances, she knew that they were narcissistic to some degree. Kyoya is cold and detached most of the time, but occasionally he would have a shadowed look in his eyes or his eyebrows would be pulled together in deep thought. It worries her, but she knows that Kyoya would never share his worries with them- least of all the rookie- if he can avoid it. Tamaki clearly thinks the same way, for his eyes would occasionally flicker to Kyoya when his airheaded customers are busy blushing fluttering about with happiness, and his smile would fade into a frown. Haruhi knew that despite Honey's cute persona, he clearly knew what was going on; he is far cleverer than he pretends to be, just like how Mori has a warm and caring personality despite his tactiturn ways. She has come to realize that being a host is like putting on a costume; they do whatever makes their customers happy, but the girls never see beneath the superficial act.

In fact, the person who puzzles Haruhi the most is none other than her enigmatic teacher. Getting the man to not foot any bill with her name on it is a chore and a half, Haruhi thought grumpily. Despite being richer and more famous than anyone in the whole school combined, he does not flaunt his wealth or fame. He is surprisingly down to earth. His friendly and open demeanor makes him very easy to trust; it puts the students at ease and narrows the seemingly endless chasm between him and them. However, Haruhi knows that Harry is a shrewd person- an old dog in the business world, a tried and true veteran. There is no way he climbed up to the top tiers of business by being kind. The very notion is preposterous to her, and she isn't even connected to the business world in any way. He may be kind to her (and to the hosts), but she doubts he is as kind outside of school. His body language is hard to read; she has no doubts that he hides a lot of what he feels, but his actions are rather contradictory. He smiles while internally burning with the desire to eviscerate someone, and he might look burdened while insisting that nothing is wrong. He hides it well, but there is just something off about that man- a key that unlocks the puzzle, a light in the darkness.

Haruhi wonders if she will ever be privileged to know what he is hiding.

In her mind, she sighs; she might be better off not knowing the Big Secret if it will get her killed somewhere in a back alley. Just when she thinks she has her teacher figured out, something unexpected like this happens.

Tamaki took in the scene before him quietly- serious and focused. He could tell that the woman is obviously French; if her words didn't give her away, her features did. She is stunning in a classic French beauty kind of way. He is almost certain that he has seen her somewhere; her features look very familiar to him, but he simply can't remember who she is. He sneaks a glance at the twins; they clearly recognize her, if their wide eyes are anything to go by. He turns his gaze to the film crew; some of them are staring in silence, while others look confused. Perhaps she is not as well-known as his teacher? Given the mixed reactions, she might only be well known in certain circles and not others. Perhaps Renge might provide some more clues about the mysterious woman's relationship with Black-Sensei, he thought while turning his attention to her. Renge looked just as stunned as the rest of them did despite being the only person who knows the woman personally. Or not, he mused. Kyoya looks to be reaching the same conclusions; he shared a look with Kyoya.

In a nutshell, none of them had any idea what was going on, so they stood in awkward silence like sordid ducks in a row.

A loud ringing sound broke through the silence. The lunch bell broke everyone out of their stupor, including the two subjects of everyone's scrutiny. The film crew scrambled to gather their equipment when they realized that they were badly behind schedule. They gathered everything and left in a whirlwind, kicking up a dust storm as they went. Honey frowned and spat out the dried leaf that landed in his mouth. Mori bent down and brushed some of the dust off of Usa-chan, who narrowed its eyes.

Fleur quickly stalked up the Renge. "Renge, you silly girl! What were you even thinking when you ran off to Japan all by yourself? Honestly." she said exasperatedly. "You are calling your father right this moment." She said emphatically before Renge could reply. Fleur pulled out her Samsung Galaxy and quickly dialed in the correct number in a flourish before handing the phone demandingly to Renge.

Renge took it hesitantly as she waited for the call to connect. Kaoru almost suggested that she hit the speaker button so the rest of them would have something to do for once.

"Mademoiselle Delacour? Have you found Renge? Is she alright?" Her father's worried voice said quickly. It should be five in the morning in Paris, but yet her father was wide awake- as if he has been waiting for her call all along.

Renge paused before replying quietly "Papa, I am alright." Fleur watched on with crossed arms and a strict look. The twins glanced at each other- looks like the lady is all business and no fun. Harry watched the twins warily; he could only hope that they weren't scheming world destruction or anything of the like.

"Oh Renge! Thank goodness you are alright! I was so worried." His voice sounded clearly relieved.

"I'm sorry,Papa." She said quietly as she dipped her head, her bangs shadowing her face.

On the other side of the world, Monsieur Houshakuji stared at his phone in wonder. Renge, his prideful and stubborn daughter, just apologized to him of all people. "Oh my dear, it's alright. I was just worried about your safety; how could I be at ease knowing that my precious daughter is alone in a foreign country?" He sighed.

She quietly apologized once more, and he wondered if he was dreaming. Maybe he just had one glass of wine too many.

"In any case, you owe an apology to Mademoiselle Delacour. She flew all the way to Japan just to find you." He said gently while hinting at his disapproval. "About that boy…" He started. He had half a mind to call up his business partner's family if only to tell the boy that Renge was strictly off limits.

"It's alright, Papa." She said firmly. "… I changed my mind."

Despite his relief, he almost asked her to repeat herself; she flew all the way across the world for her "Prince Charming", a boy who looks like a character in her video games, and now she changed her mind? What on Earth has happened to his daughter? A part of him groaned in exhaustion- he wasted all that time and effort for a "nevermind"? He felt the oddest need to put his head through a wall. As it is, he might as well schedule an appointment with his hair dresser to dye his new white hairs.

"Are you sure, my dear?" he asked. She replied in affirmative. "Do you want to stay in Japan?" he asked.

"I think so", Renge said hesitantly. "I'm sorry for keeping you up, Papa." She apologized once more and handed the phone to Fleur, who looked at her and slowly accepted it.

She put the phone up to her ear and flipped her hair out of her way "… Bonjour?" she asked.

"Mademoiselle Delacour?"The man asked.

"Oui?"

"Thank you so much." He said softly. Fleur's eyes softened. Despite his annoying tendencies, Monsieur Houshakuji truly tries his best to be a good father.

"You're welcome," she said in reply. "It's no problem at all. It is good to see Renge after so long." She held her phone using her shoulder as she checked the time on her watch. "Renge is correct though; it is rather late in France. Perhaps we can talk after you have slept?" She said mildly, well aware that there was an audience listening to her every word. She nodded once at his reply and muttered a "Good night" and ended the call. Was that a pout she saw on one of the children's face? Well, they should learn that eavesdropping is an action unbecoming of young men their age, she thought amusedly.

---

The lunch bell rang loudly and shocked Harry out of his worries. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, his actions belaying his inner turmoil. Everything is so chaotic and out of control; the last times life had been this messy for him was when that damnable Suoh practically shoved a job offer down his throat. The same job offer that brought him to his current dilemma. Harry mentally sighed.

Why does the law of probability hate him so much? Whatever he did to upset the higher powers in the world, he sincerely regretted it. He grumbled a bit under his breath and turned around to look for his wayward students.

Only to find every single one of them staring at him with far too much interest for comfort. The hair on the back of his neck stood up with unease.

Great, now his brats are going to start asking questions, Harry thought gloomily.

"Well? What are you lot doing here standing around like lunch break lasts forever? Go on- go get lunch. I'm sure you all are absolutely ravenous after the filming." Harry half-berated while making small shooing motions with his hands.

His brats pouted at him, unhappy about being shooed off. Sensing his sensei's need for time alone, Tamaki finally made a big fuss about going to lunch and how his "family" needs to be fed right now. Bless the boy, Harry thought while conveniently forgetting that he was mentally cursing the child's father just a moment ago. One by one, they all left with Tamaki- Renge included. The twins gave their teacher one last odd look before Tamaki herded them away.

Out of sight, out of mind? Not quite. As the Marauders' heir and the Weasley twins' disciple –sometimes partner in crime- he knew better than to believe that the meddlesome kids would not try to double back and eavesdrop on his conversation. They were just that kind of unscrupulous, overly curious nuisances. Which means he has to take the confrontation elsewhere.

Now that both Fleur and he are alone, the awkward silence was more noticeable, but neither adult paid it any mind.

"Have you eaten yet, Fleur?" Harry asked, not unkindly and with just a hint of amusement in his voice. If the twins' ears were any bigger, he would be able to see them from the front gates. He had a sinking suspicion that Fleur came to Ouran directly from the airport. It would be just the kind of motherly thing she would do.

"I haven't." She shook her head, confirming Harry's suspicions.

"I figured as much," Harry mused. Had Fleur been a more childish woman, she would have pouted. She simply raised an eyebrow in reply. "You haven't changed at all," Harry remarked. "Knowing you, you probably came here straight from the airport."

Fleur laughed, instantly dissipating the awkwardness. "You do know me well, Harry." She shamelessly admitted her actions. "How have you been all these years?" She asked warmly.

"I have been well" enough, Harry mentally added. "Should we catch up over lunch? The lunch break here is quite long- about two hours. The canteen should be pretty crowded by now, and there are a couple of decent restaurants nearby."

"Of course" Fleur nodded, her silvery mane following her movements. "Lead the way, Monsieur Potter" she said playfully.

The look on Fleur's face when Harry replied to her in perfect French was priceless. He should be polite and ignore her shocked expression. He really should, but he couldn't help himself- he grinned.

---

"Gramps is far too good at predicting us, Hikaru." Kaoru sulked.

"Perhaps we are becoming too predictable, Kaoru." Hikaru grumbled.

"It's not fair." They complained in unison.

Kyoya adjusted his glasses, but the hosts could tell that he was amused. He was amused when the twins came up with this half-baked plan to eavesdrop on their teacher, and he is equally amused now. Of course Black-sensei would have predicted the twins' actions. From the data he has gathered, the twins have yet to successfully land a prank on their esteemed teacher, and not for lack of trying.

To his side, Tamaki berated the "fiends" of the family for even bothering in the first place. From what Honey and Mori could gather, he was going on about morality and manners- or the lack thereof. The twins simply stuck their tongue out and pulled their lower eyelids down in blatant disrespect, much to Tamaki's frustration. Honey and Mori watched on as spectators would a sports match- really, what made Tamaki think that lecturing the twins this time would have any effect if the past couple hundred times didn't?

They both knew that Tamaki was just trying to distract everyone from the situation though.

Haruhi just sighed; of course Black-sensei would see this coming a mile away. He's not an idiot, and he must be just as hungry as the rest of them. She ignored the commotion going on behind her as sneakily she left everyone behind and walked towards the canteen. As expected, Tamaki and the twins trailed after her, shattering her hopes of having a quiet lunch.

---

In the end, both Harry and Fleur decided on the same sushi restaurant that Harry ordered from during the Christmas party. She insisted on eating authentic sushi, which was supposedly hard to come by in France. Harry didn't care much either way, but he did need to eat before taking the pain relieving potion for his back.

The duo headed to separate parking lots- Harry to the teachers' one, and Fleur to the visitors'- and met at the entrance with their respective sports cars. Harry noted that Fleur did not seem very surprised to see his Lamborghini- if the smile playing on her lips is anything to go by, she is probably amused that Harry's speed junkie ways haven't changed in the least bit. Of course, it wouldn't do her any good to call him out on it without being hypocritical; she was driving a Porche- a rental, Harry presumed. It didn't take very long for both of them to reach the restaurant since it was close by.

The waiter immediately noticed who entered the restaurant and led the duo to a VIP room. Smart waiter, Harry thought. He discreetly slipped the waiter some yen as he entered the room.

While this restaurant is no Jiro Sushi or Sushisho Masa, the food there is quite passable for a business lunch. Harry pulled out the chair directly across from Fluer and sat down with a slight wince; despite his earlier reassurances, his back was really starting to bother him. He looked across him to find Fleur casually skimming through the menu; good- she didn't see him wince. Or at least he didn't think she did; he never knew with Fleur; even if she did notice things, she hides her reactions very well. Fooling her would be a lot harder than fooling his brats.

Harry picked up his own menu; he already knew what he wanted to get since he has practically memorized both sides of the menu, but he wanted to make sure that Fleur had enough time to make her decision. He waved the waiter over when she put her menu down, and the waiter took both of their orders professionally.

Interrogation time, Harry thought dryly. Let's see how bad this will be.

Fleur sipped her tea languidly before saying anything. "I hope Renge hasn't been causing too much trouble."

That gave Harry a pause; he was pretty sure Fleur would start off with asking him about why he left or what he has been doing since he left, not about that particular thorn in his side. He's not about to complain though; it wouldn't do him any good to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth. On the contrary, he'd love to leave the past exactly where it is- behind him and not in front of him.

"She was" –a complete and utter menace "great." He lied through his teeth.

Fleur gave him a very skeptical look; guess she didn't buy that one.

"Right- that definitely explains the Hollywood film crew, the tears, and your injured back." She said dryly.

Harry grimaced; perceptive indeed, that much hasn't changed. She is much sharper than most people give her credit for; people tend to forget that out of all the students at Beauxbaton, she was the one chosen for the Triwizard Tournament. Well, at least he wouldn't have to hide his pain relieving potion.

"She did stir things up a bit here." He grudgingly admitted. Understatement of the year.

Fleur sighed and put her cup of tea down. "Really, what did she do, Harry? I know Renge's faults as well as I do her strengths."

The brunet paused while trying to find a diplomatic answer to her question. Fleur gave him that stare- the same stare she gave Fred and George when they dyed her hair neon blue for a week. She cursed their balls off for a month- literally. That was the last time they tried to prank her. Harry mentally cringed at the memory. Okay, no mincing around then.

"She declared one of my students- Ootori Kyoya- her one true love, said that my students have flawed characters, and attempted a coup d'état in the club, tried to change my students' personalities to fit characters in her video game by making them star in a film directed by herself. She attempted to pull some… wayward students into the movie, but they reacted badly to her suggestion; she almost got herself injured when they tried to shove her into a pile of metal support beams on the set. One of my other students- Fujioka Haruhi- caught her, but I ended up catching them both instead and taking the brunt of the blow myself. She hired a Hollywood film crew, as you saw. When she went too far, Kyoya smashed a rock into the camera lens- an action that was not scripted in her make belief world. She wanted to cast me into her movie, but I convinced her that I would make a good assistant director instead." Harry reported bluntly, conveniently leaving out the part where he had his own vendetta and where Kyoya stole the tape.

Fleur winced and rubbed her temples. "That girl…" she growled. "I'm sorry for what she did," she said apologetically.

Harry graciously waved her apology away; as an old friend, Fleur didn't need to apologize for Renge's actions. "It's alright; she learned an important life lesson because of this. My students forgave her, and my injury doesn't hurt that much- it will heal in time. Besides, she's one of my students now."

Fleur didn't look particularly convinced; she knew that Harry had a very high pain tolerance. However, she didn't dig. Harry was thankful that her overbearing tendencies seem to have changed; the old Fleur would have interrogated him until he all but admitted that she was right.

"You take teaching very seriously, don't you?" She asked slowly as if chewing over her words. Despite her seclusion, she would be blind to not see the impact Harry has made in the muggle world; when she first heard of his success, she was shocked. So that was where Harry disappeared to, she thought. If anything, she thought that Harry would stay out of the spotlight given his hatred of fame. Being the heiress of an old pureblood family herself, she knew that Harry had enough in his coffers to live comfortably for the rest of his life. She had to hand it to him this time; he worked hard for his success, proved his worth in a new world, and earned his reputation as a business genius. A quick search on the internet showed that he faked his background from age eleven to eighteen, as to be expected. She did the same as well though the French Ministry of Magic.

She briefly contemplated contacting him through muggle methods- she knew that owls would go unreplied- but she refrained from doing so; both of them left the magical world to start a new life, and she didn't think he would appreciate the past knocking on his door. She made the right decision, if Harry's reaction earlier had been anything to go by. Of all the jobs she thought he would take on, teaching was pretty far down on the list. How on Earth did Harry end up jumping from high end stock investor to high school teacher?

She gave the matter some thought before concluding that Harry was most likely doing someone a favor; he would never seek out the job on his own, and he is cunning enough to weasel his way out of any sticky situations.

"Yes" the subject of her thoughts replied confidently. His piercing green eyes met her sky blue ones with no hesitation or amusement- just determination. He has grown up well from the thin, fearful boy who was forced into a deadly tournament, the quarter veela thought. She knew he would too- he is a man of his word, and he would have to try quite hard to fail in teaching as much as his previous teachers. Who would let a boy face a dark lord year after year, face a thousand year old basilisk, and compete in a deadly tournament? In the muggle world, if anything remotely close to this happened, the teachers would get sued before they can even speed dial their lawyers on their way out the front door.

"I see… Then I can leave Renge in your capable hands?" She teased. As much as she loved the girl, it would be interesting to see her drive someone else up a wall for once. Her sushi arrived sometime during the conversation; she picked up a piece daintily with her chopsticks. It was delicious.

Harry laughed; it was the first time she has heard in laugh in a long time. "Not quite; she's a handful, that one." Renge may be my student now, but I am not dealing with her on my own. He thought vehemently. He is much too young for premature grey hairs. With Fleur's hair color being what it is, a couple of grey hairs would go unnoticed.

"What kind of school is Ouran?" she asked curiously. Fleur was certain that Renge would want to stay now that she found people who accepted her. If those kids are half as mad as Renge is, she would pity Harry for having to teach the lot.

Harry took his time in answering "It's certainly a very… unique school." A very pink one at that, he added. "The school is very rich- the students here all have very good backgrounds for the most part. As such, the school's facilities are very well equipped. The teachers are well trained in their fields" he continued- if a bit eccentric, he added in his mind. A certain blonde coworker rose to the forefront of his mind. "It would be a good place for Renge to make connections. The extracurricular activities are also… rather exotic." He said hesitantly.

Fleur merely raised an eyebrow in silent question.

"I'm the advisor for the host club here."

She nailed him with a completely blank stare. Harry prayed to high heavens that Fleur would give him time to explain before she started cursing his bits off. "A host club in a high school, and you're the advisor for it?" She asked incredulously. Harry could tell she was about this close to calling him by his full name. Did her hand move closer to her purse?

"It's not what you think," he said quickly. "It's more like a glamorous tea party than a real host club." In the midst of danger, he was still slightly curious as to who took Fleur to a host club.

The blank stare didn't change. Her hand moved closer to her purse.

"The headmaster more or less told me that I was "highly encouraged" to be an advisor for a club, and my kids are used to taking care of themselves."

"Yes, they are fully capable of taking care of themselves in the sense that they almost got injured." She rebutted, absently noting that Harry called them his kids rather than the kids. Did he really care for them that much?

"That wouldn't have happened if Renge didn't hire an entire film crew and dragged over a couple of unwilling kids with shady connections." He pointed out.

"Touché" She relented.

"You would like them" Harry said. "I found another pair of redheaded twins."

Fleur stared at him like he suddenly sprouted feathers and then broke out into laughter. "Are they quite as bad?"

"No, not quite as bad. They haven't succeeded in pranking me yet thanks to magic." Harry shuddered at the thought of the twins obtaining magic. "Besides, those kids love to dress up according to themes, and they don't do things by halves. You're in fashion now, right? The twins' mother is a designer." He had looked up Fleur's background information on in the parking lot while waiting for Fleur to arrive.

A smile played on her lips; clearly she wasn't too surprised that Harry pulled up her file. "Yes, I am."

"Perhaps you would find their designs… inspiring. When they did a Bali theme, I took home a toucan." Harry said nonchalantly as if that happened every other Tuesday.

Fleur laughed gracefully. "You do find yourself in the oddest situations, Harry", she mused. "Were the costumes acceptable?" She asked.

"I wanted to burn them." Was the bland reply. She sincerely hoped that Harry meant the costumes and not the twins.

"I guess not then," she hid her grin.

"They wanted me to go shirtless," he said. Fleur raised an eyebrow again. She didn't see the problem; Ginny constantly boasted about the toning benefits of Quidditch.

"I'm a teacher," he insisted. Again, she didn't see the problem. What's life without a little excitement? Besides, if Harry's old teachers can get away with homicides or attempts of it, surely a shirtless afternoon won't amount to much.

"It's unprofessional," Harry said petulantly; Fleur let the matter slide and cracked a smile.

He grumbled good-naturedly as he polished off the last of his sushi. That done, the wizard casted a nonverbal confundus charm on the security cameras as he pulled out a vial of pain relief potion from the moleskin pouch that he kept in his suit jacket.

Being a war veteran herself, Fleur immediately noticed the nonverbal spell. She looked on with worried eyes as he downed the potion. The witch frowned contemplatively; during her time in the magical world, she apprenticed under Madam Pomfrey for a short time in preparation for the war. She learned to recognize and treat symptoms of potions abuse among other ailments; surely Harry wasn't doing what she thought he was doing. Fleur only hoped that she was wrong and that Harry would exercise proper judgment.

Harry grimaced as the potion's taste burned itself into his taste buds. Seeing Fleur's frown, he reached for the dessert menu beside him and grinned.

"Dessert, Fleur? They make a killer pumpkin ice cream here- my treat."

She smirked and flipped her hair. She gently liberated the menu out of Harry's hands and mockingly glared at him. "You really do know me too well."

She may have left the magical world, but her sweet tooth did not shrink in the slightest. By the time they left, Harry's wallet was a good deal lighter.

---

Back in Ouran, another group of people was having lunch. The host club occupied their usual table with Renge in tow. Nearby, the students whispered quickly to one another; why is the new student sitting with the host club members? Is she someone important? The hosts ignored their petty chatter.

Hikaru chewed on his fork thoughtfully while ignoring Honey, who was vacuuming up strawberry cake after strawberry cake.

"-karu, Hikaru!" Kaoru called. He blinked.

"What were you talking about?" He asked. His twin looked worried.

Tamaki sighed and repeated the question to the whole group. "Who is that French woman?" He leaned on the palm of his hand and picked at his food listlessly. "She seems to know Black-Sensei."

"Fleur Isabella Delacour, age thirty-two, graduated from Beauxbaton Academy of France, a school notable for the arts- fashion in particular. She was admitted into Parson's, the New School of Design in New York upon graduation. She is known in the fashion industry as an upcoming designer of great talent and has been called the second coming of Coco Chanel. Her brand is called "Fleur de la cour", meaning "Flower of the Court" in French; it is also a play on her name. Her designs are increasingly worn by notable figures all over the world. She is also known for her modelesque beauty and figure. It is rumored that she has turned down a number of offers to model for famous brands, instead choosing to create her own brand. Her latest interview confirmed that she is considering Ecole de la chamber syndicale for further studies in the future." Kyoya read out robotically. The hosts frowned- when did Kyoya do the research?

"Ah…" Most of what Kyoya said flew over Haruhi's head- Eco what?

Tamaki, who have heard of the school in passing from his father, looked impressed.

"How does she know Kuro-sensei though?" Honey tilted his head to the side; there was a leaning tower of plates beside him... which was leaning precariously in Hikaru's direction.

Kyoya merely adjusted his glasses and said nothing. Even the Shadow King was stumped.

"She probably met him during her exchange trip to England." Renge mused. The hosts all turned to stare at her. They clearly forgot her existence; it was easy to do when she wasn't making a nuisance of herself. "She mentioned that she went on an exchange trip to Great Britain- Scotland, to be exact- for a year in secondary school. Potter-Black Sensei went to school in Scotland, right?"

They looked to Kyoya for confirmation- he nodded.

"I didn't realize she knew Potter-Black Sensei though; she has never mentioned him before." She finished contemplatively.

Improbable but not impossible, Kyoya mused as he adjusted the data he had on his teacher. The social value of his sensei rose even higher; if what Renge said was true, then he has at least one close non-familial connection not related to his primary sphere of influence- something that was rather rare.

"You seem close to Ms. Delacour," Haruhi stated. "How did you meet her?"

Renge did not mind sharing the information at all as Kyoya listened in keenly with his pen poised to jot down new information. "I met her when I was eight. My family and I took a summer trip to a small town in France, and I got lost there. I lost the hair ribbon that my mother bought for me the day before, and I went back to find it; when I realized that I was lost, I just sat on the ground and cried. That was where Fleur found me; she found my ribbon for me and looked all over the town for my parents. Back then, my mother was still alive," she said quietly, touching the pink ribbon on her head. "We kept in touch, and now she is the closest person I have to a mother."

The host club members looked surprised- with the exception of Kyoya, of course. Renge suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find Haruhi looking at her with understanding in her eyes.

Her heart felt lighter that day.

---

Host club that day was relatively quiet; the members had originally planned to create an Arabian theme, but given the filming and subsequent drama in the afternoon, all they wanted was a quiet day.

Frankly, Harry wouldn't have minded much if things stayed nice and quiet for the rest of his stay in this crazy asylum of a school. Loons, the lot of them.

He managed to get a nice break away from the children when Fleur told him that since Renge decided to stay at the school, she would stay as well. Fleur, being as motherly as she is, adamantly refused to leave Renge alone now that she has flown all the way from France to Japan. As such, Fleur needed to speak to the headmaster of the school for further arrangements. Being the good sport he is, Harry was only happy to ditch his duty and show her the way to the headmaster's office. Fleur saw right through his ploy as expected but wasn't mean enough to subject him to daily dose of madness.

The meeting there had gone rather smoothly; Suoh was over the moon to have Fleur in the school. In name, it is his duty to look after every single one of his students, and if having Fleur on campus would make Renge's transition from France to Japan any easier, then so be it. However, his excuse was utterly unconvincing; he slyly offered her a job offer- having not one but two famous entrepreneurs would be wonderful for the school's reputation. Unlike Harry, Fleur was smart enough not to get tricked into a being a teacher. She smoothly went around the offer by neither declining it nor accepting it; her excuse: she wanted time to see what the school was like- the teachers, the classes, the students, the facilities, the clubs- before she made a commitment.

Harry looked on ruefully- if only he had thought of that excuse in the first place, but then again, Suoh had not exactly given him time to think. He had hoped that Fleur would stay.

Suoh graciously gave Fleur a month of time for her to consider his proposition. In the meantime, Fleur was a guest at Ouran and will be treated as such.

She inclined her head in agreement, and the duo left the office. Seeing that it was still too early to return to the third music room (Harry had no intentions of returning before the host club session was at least halfway over for the day), he generously offered to give her a tour of the high school part of the campus. He figured he could save the elementary and middle school sections for another day since Fleur's charge will most likely stay in the high school section where her classes are.

The walk through the lobby, the four wings of the school, the garden, the four libraries, the canteen, the gym, and the outer parameters took a little over an hour. By now, the host club session should be halfway over. He led her towards the music rooms, saving the third music room for last.

"This is the third music room, home of the Ouran High School Host Club, where Renge will most likely be spending most of her after school time." He said dryly.

Fleur looked a bit wary as Harry grasped the handle of the heavy door to open it for her. Unless he happened to have suddenly developed a liking to studying pureblood etiquette, the move was completely unnecessary; she had opened all the doors herself throughout the tour. The mischievous smile on his face was definitely not comforting.

With a mocking bow, Harry yanked the door open for her and quickly ducked behind said door.

Faced with a storm of rose petals that bodily assaulted her and pooled beneath her feet, Fleur suddenly understood Harry's change in behavior. She quickly scowled at a grinning Harry before her first sneezing fit hit.

He had known all along that Fleur was allergic to roses.

---

A week into Fleur's stay, the costumes Tamaki needed to pull off the Arabian theme finally arrived. Since he delayed the shipping the first time, he had to wait while the sellers reorganized the order and reshipped everything- he ordered in bulk after all.

During this week, Fleur managed to convince Tamaki to keep the thrice-damned rose petal attacks. When he discovered that Fleur was indeed allergic to roses, he had insisted on changing the flower in question to accommodate the school's guest.

Knowing that Tamaki's actions were exactly what Harry wanted, Fleur slyly said that her allergy is quite easily manageable, and a change on her behalf is completely unnecessary. Blowing tulip or lily petals in people's faces would not have the same effect and would most likely just make visitors and customers alike confused.

Still, Tamaki replied that as the son of the host, he ought to accommodate to every need of his guest, including medical ones.

Fleur's reply was as sharp as a sabre. She rebutted that what he ought to do is respect the guest's decision rather than bend over backwards for something completely unnecessary.

That shut Tamaki up pretty quickly.

Her argument won, she smirked victoriously at Harry, who scowled at having his plan foiled.

Two can play at this game, she thought and flipped her hair back.

---

Once again, the third music room was in complete chaos. Harry considered it a perfectly normal state for the room to be in given what it is usually used for. He had half a mind to dump everyone in it- with the exception and Fleur and himself, of course- in the closest loony bin.

He was stuck directing the deliverymen again, but it was better than being forced into yet another costume; the twins wisely cancelled their order for his Arabian costume after the filming. He would be quite glad to soak the devious duo repeatedly in ice cold water a second time if they didn't cancel the order. Water attacks are quite fun; he would bring them back as many times as he need to in order to get his point across.

Harry absentmindedly pointed to where the elaborate backdrop and the Persian carpet needed to be. To his side, various movers were busy setting the wallpaper and adjusting the position of the miniature palm tree. Thankfully, there were no exotic animals this time around, though it had taken quite the effort to convince Tamaki that importing a camel is beyond ridiculous.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His success was temporary though; he eyed the golden sheathe and knife that laid on top of Mori's costume. He felt like a horrible teacher for condoning the presence of a dangerous weapon in a school.

Well, at least someone's having fun, Harry thought Fleur and the twins' heated discussion caught his attention. He was right when he told Fleur that she would find the costumes interesting; between the twins and the quarter veela, costume fitting took twice as long as it usually did. The twins probably thought that Fleur was the greatest thing since sliced bread. The two redheads proposed giving Honey a head wrap rather than a full turban; Fleur wholeheartedly agreed with them, much to their delight. In turn, she proposed that Haruhi's turban should be worn down. She pulled out a red scarf, saying that it would match Haruhi's outfit more than gaudy gold accessories. Both Hikaru and Kaoru nodded in tandem, agreeing with Fleur's verdict. The two were the ones responsible for coordinating the outfits, and while their mother is a designer, having a world famous professional with them lessened their burden.

However, that doesn't mean they don't have their fair shares of disagreements. Harry massaged his temples and resisted the urge to down a couple of aspirins.

"No, no, the turban should be worn down with the loose fabric trailing down the back." Fleur said, rubbing the dark blue fabric between her fingers.

"It should be wrapped around the neck to frame our faces." Hikaru insisted, tugging at the other end of the fabric.

"But then you lose the view of the neck line and collar bones. Your bangs frame your face enough," Fleur rebutted; her hold on the fabric tightened.

Kaoru picked up the rough sketch Fleur made of their outfits. "Why is that diagonal? Shouldn't that be horizontal?" He pointed to the gold band that ran under the middle of the vest.

"The diagonal angle accents the belt by leading the eyes toward it." She elaborated.

"But wearing it horizontally would form an H shaped silhouette and enhance the funneling effect that the wide collars give." Kaoru insisted.

"It makes you look like you're wearing a bra," Fleur finally said bluntly while crossing her arms.

The twins looked at each other in amusement as they considered her points.

Most of what the fashion trio said flew over Harry's head. While he knew how to dress himself appropriately, he held no particular love for fashion or design. His true talent lies in numbers. Give him access to any market in the world, and he'd be able to make a killing in stocks alone. What he did know was that the twins aren't truly mad; their eyes shone with excitement, and they didn't shout- they merely debated. Harry wondered if he should expand his yearbook folder beyond just photos; perhaps audio recordings should be added as well.

He really didn't see what the problem was; there are two twins, two sets of clothing, and two different ideas.

He walked over to where the Fleur and the twins were still pointing at fabrics and defending their ideas stubbornly.

"Fleur," Harry said gently, catching her attention. She swung around with rage in her eyes. "Fleur, there are two twins. Just dress each one differently." He said pointedly.

All three of them stared at him with the same mortally offended look plastered on their face. Did he say something wrong?

They looked at each other and grumbled. They agreed with his proposal and called a truce.

One problem solved a million more to go, Harry thought with a sigh.

---

All in all, it took quite a long time for everything to be set up and properly adjusted. When the hosts got in proper position to welcome their guests, Fleur insisted on taking a picture- for archival purposes. She promptly whipped out a suitably professional looking camera and began taking pictures at all angles. Kyoya, of course, insisted on obtaining those photographs; she agreed readily.

Harry hoped that the day would pass without any more trouble, but it seems like fate was not on his side this time.

"Welcome!" All the hosts exclaimed as rose petals blew outwards. Fleur sneezed once in the background.

All of them looked on in surprise as a young boy stumbled back in utter horror.

Harry raised an eyebrow in amusement. He could recall a certain someone doing the same some time ago. A quick glance confirmed that Kyoya shared his amusement. He is one of my more astute students, Harry thought.

"What the? A boy?" Hikaru muttered in disappointment.

"On top of that, a boy." Kaoru quipped.

Fleur's gaze scanned the boy up and down from her position next to Harry. He would make a decent model, she thought. Decent body proportions, good facial features, flexible expressions. She mentally smirked as she glanced at the scandalized expression on his face. Flexible expressions indeed.

"What's wrong, little boy? What brings you here to my palace?" Tamaki said regally.

Harry couldn't help it; he laughed- quietly. If Fleur's shaking shoulders were anything to go by, she was equally amused. The two veterans shared a long-suffering look. Teenagers and their overinflated egos.

"You're the king here?" The little boy stuttered while picking himself up. Tamaki looked taken back; he didn't expect the gullible child to actually believe him. Who would?

"Ah, come closer." The yet unidentified child came forward. "What did you call me?" Tamaki beckoned.

"… King?" He repeated hesitantly as Tamaki broke into raptures, rambling about being the king of the host club.

The two adults watched with unending amusement though with different thoughts. If you're king, then I must be god Harry thought before drop kicking the megalomaniacal thought to the very depths of this mind. He will not turn into another Tom Riddle.

You're the face of the club, not the king, Fleur mused. Really, the boy was nothing like the other ordinary French boys that Fleur was used to seeing. She was quite certain that Tamaki is part French; Japanese people do not have blonde hair and blue eyes naturally. Normal French boys are rather down to earth and serious about their relationships- not quite like Tamaki, or at least the part she has seen so far. If anything, real French boys would probably call this side of Tamaki uncultured.

"Elementary school class 5-A, Takaouji Shirou!" The kid brashly declared. "I am here to ask the Host Club King to take me as an apprentice!"

Harry sighed. Here we go again, he thought. Fleur looked on in interest. The kid has guts, and he's kind of cute in a stubborn kind of way, she thought.

---

Tamaki was oddly serious about the training the little brat; in fact, he insisted that close observation is the best way to learn. Harry leaned against a pillar and crossed his arms as he looked on. However, the kid might just have taken the offer a bit too literally. Cute little third wheel they've got there, he thought with a predatory grin.

Fleur sat a table near the wall; she decided on her first day here that she simply would not stand motionless against a wall for two hours when there were plenty of empty tables and chairs. Harry left her to her own devices, but she would wave him over occasionally. He never refused her, seeing no reason to.

He took a seat next to her, with the chair angled towards the rest of the club.

"Tamaki's quite the charmer, isn't he?" Harry murmured.

"His flattery is cavity inducing, yes." Fleur quipped while sipping her tea. Really, she wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Renge and Harry. She had better things to do than to listen to teenage girls get charmed by flattery with the subtlety of an elephant.

Harry's bright green eyes crinkled in silent laughter. "He doesn't even know how bad it is; I suppose he's just telling his customers what they want to hear."

Fleur hmmed in agreement while serving herself a slice of triple layered black forest cake.

"It would be amusing to see the day when he realizes that such obvious flattery and cheesy pickup fail in impressing older women." Harry said slyly.

Fleur did something rather unlady like- she snorted. She easily picked up on the direction Harry was going. "You would know all about that, wouldn't you?" She snarked back.

He said nothing in reply, but the smirk never left his lips.

Fleur rolled her eyes and served him a slice of cake too. Of course he would play around; he didn't even have the heart to berate Harry. He's young, rich, and handsome- who wouldn't be trying to crawl into his bed? If he's getting a front row seat to this drama, then he might as well get the snacks too.

"Age does not matter in romance." Tamaki said while gently touching is customer's chin.

"Does he even realize what he's saying?" Fleur raised an eyebrow.

"I suspect not; he just implied that pedophilia is acceptable because age does not matter." Harry said cheerfully. He casually took a chunk out of his cake.

"No, if you were to make love with me sincerely, my heart would beat so fast before you that I'd revert to a young child any time." Tamaki said dramatically.

He completely missed the "are-you-serious" and "you've-got-to-me-kidding me" looks that both adults gave him. They looked at each other, sighed exasperatedly. Harry suspects Tamaki has never done anything of the sort; despite his silver tongue, Tamaki would never pick up and drop a girl just for a warm night.

If he did, he would certainly understand the inaccuracy of his statement.

Well, at least someone else has common sense, Harry thought as he spied Haruhi conversing with Kyoya. He got up, leaving his cake half finished- he'll be back. Fleur followed him, having nothing better to do.

"Isn't it difficult if he lets him observe from that distance?" Haruhi asked.

"He's always been a strong advocate of the saying that people are perceived to be be more beautiful the closer they are viewed. Anyways, just leave them be," Kyoya advised.

"Well, the closer you look, the less you see." Harry grinned roguishly next to Haruhi, surprising her with his presence. She didn't even notice that he had left his usual spot near the back of the room.

"Sensei!" Haruhi turned around to face her teacher. "That's from the new movie, and it's rude to eavesdrop." She accused.

He shrugged unapologetically and ruffled her hair.

"Oh, naughty person who let me taste this forbidden fruit, you are like a mermaid princess who has brought me light unto a sea called solitude," Tamaki said gently as if reading from a poem.

Fleur disguised a laugh by coughing. "Which book did he get that from?" she asked sarcastically.

Kyoya smirked and flicked his pencil to a hidden bookshelf in the back of the room.

"Of all the similes he could have used he picked mermaid princess." She said, resisting the urge to facepalm.

"He should have picked Sonnet 130 by Shakespeare instead." Harry said innocently. Fleur barked out a laugh, and Kyoya scoffed. He had a smile on his face though; both of them clearly knew the sonnet's content. Haruhi just looked confused. Upon detecting her confusion, Harry cleared his throat and began reciting dramatically.

"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; coal is far more red than her lips; if snow be white, then her breasts are dun; if hair be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, but no such rose see I in her cheeks; and in some perfumes is there more delight than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know that music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; my mistress when she walks treads on the ground." Harry recited with all the grace of a traveling bard.

Realizing what the sonnet meant, Haruhi laughed heartily. She couldn't imagine Tamaki saying anything of the like; even if he did, he would be slapped about three lines in.

"And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she belied with false compare." He finished with mock bow. His eyes met Fleur's, and their gaze held until Fleur rolled her eyes and flipped her hair. Honestly, she thought with a smidge of annoyance and humor.

"That's almost a jab at Suoh-sempai," Haruhi mused.

"Indeed." Kyoya adjusted his glasses, a smirk on his lips.

"You have such a good memory," Fleur's reply was dripping with sarcasm.

"Why yes, it's a talent of mine," Harry said smoothly.

"And I'm sure you put it to good use." She shot back.

"Only for important matters, of course." He said, not missing a beat.

Kyoya and Haruhi looked on as the two traded teasing –but sharp- comments.

"They get along well, don't they?" Haruhi observed. Kyoya said nothing but started writing in his notebook.

"Heck, you actually look more like the carp in my pond." Takaouji said bluntly. "I'm not going to give compliments that are this blatant."

His comment hit the girl with the force of a sledgehammer and cut off whatever reply Fluer was about to make. Instead, all four of the spectators blinked at the unexpected nature of the comment. Fleur couldn't help it this time; she tossed her head back and laughed.

Her laugh sounds like bells, Haruhi thought. Thankfully, the "mermaid princess" did not hear Fleur.

"Ah, it's just a kid saying this," Tamaki attempted to comfort the crying girl "you know, kids are frank." Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, for the girl sobbed even louder. Tamaki tried a different route. "Ah, but that doesn't mean you're a carp. Even if you're a carp, you're a beautiful car-" He didn't get to finish his statement; the girl bolted out of the room in tears.

Fleur tsked. "Really, crying over being called a carp." She said while shaking her head. She really couldn't see the girl making it out there in the real world; people are going to call her names much worse than that regardless of her looks. If she can't even take that much then she can't get anywhere in life. Thought she had to admit; being compared to a carp is a once in a lifetime thing.

Haruhi deadpanned. Says the one who puts the majority of models to shame, she thought.

"The kid would pull off the sonnet well," Harry nodded, completely serious.

"Quit crying, crybaby." The kid said without mincing his words. Tamaki gritted his teeth and glared living death at the brat.

"What is this sound? It sounds like slabs of stone grinding against each other." A random girl remarked. Her friend shrugged it off and paid it no mind.

"Great that you have a new cute baby brother, my lord!" the twins laughed at Tamaki's expense.

"Hikaru, would you have preferred a brother like him?" Kaoru asked, faking the insecurity in his voice.

"You idiot, even if I searched all over the world, there wouldn't be a better brother than you, Kaoru." Hikaru whispered while hugging his twin close.

As usual, the twins' two favorite customers fluttered out and squealed at the sight of "pure brotherly love."

Harry, who had been desensitized to the Hitachin twins by now, didn't pay their little act any mind. Fleur looked amused, but there was a haunted glint in the back of her eyes. To Harry, it was obvious she was remember the Weasley twins; the resemblance is uncanny. He laid a hand on her shoulder as a gesture of comfort. She causally brushed his hand off her shoulders.

"They are quite the jokers," she mused, fully aware that the twins were simply bored.

"They are, aren't they?" He laughed.

The little brat on the other hand looked horrified at the twins' oh-so-scandalous incestuous behavior. Harry quickly took out his phone and captured the look- another addition to his yearbook folder. To his side, Fleur shook her head in exasperation. Some things just don't change.

Maybe Harry would be in a sharing mood later, she schemed.

"Shirou-chan!" Honey tackled the boy from behind and clung onto his arm. "Want to eat cake together?" he asked cutely.

"What grade are you?" Takaouji asked harshly as he threw Honey off. "Why are you wearing a high school student's uniform?"

Both Fleur and Harry frowned severely in disapproval. He went too far, Harry thought angrily. He has no manners; it was funny at first, but now it's not. Again, Honey didn't mean any harm, and calling him out based on physical appearance of all things is unfair and hurtful. He always did get the short end of the stick whenever such things are concerned. The boy is causing quite the ruckus; normal club activity was disrupted, and he chased off one of the girls.

Fleur frowned for a similar reason. She was quite fond of Honey and his child-like demeanor- she found them quite endearing. She knew from the moment he tackled her that the child is not what he seems. The strength and posture that he has clearly indicates an extensive background in martial arts; it was as clear as day to a war veteran like her. When she looked into his warm brown eyes for the first time, she saw incredible intellect; she thought that Honey was an adult in a child's body- albeit willingly so. She thought it must be quite uncomfortable for him to have the soul of an adult but the body of a young boy, but the senior showed no sign of it. To see the ignorant child just waltz in and insult Honey like that was unacceptable. Like Harry, she too thought that the child was without manners.

She was about to stride over to give the child a piece of her mind when Harry sent a slight pulse of magic to her telling her to wait. She obliged- partially out of shock- with the harsh words still on the top of her tongue.

Mori's shadow fell on them both, and it was immensely satisfying for both Harry and Fleur to see the idiotic child yell and gape in fear. He backed up and bumbled into Haruhi, who was carrying a tea service tray. Thankfully, Haruhi didn't spill the tea.

"What's wrong?" She asked kindly. "Ah, you're surprised because of all the weirdos here? I also had a hard time understanding the atmosphere here and was quite confused at first." She smiled. His expression became less guarded.

"Are you an okama?" He asked bluntly. Haruhi blanked. Both twins and Tamaki rushed to action as if they were disposing a live bomb, covering the boy's face and reiterating the façade that Haruhi is in fact quite manly. They looked fairly sick of the boy's behavior as well.

Fleur shook her head at the antics of the uneducated. Who are they trying to fool, honestly? She knew at a glance that Haruhi is a girl. Being a designer, she is used to seeing models of all body types and facial structures. Beyond her slightly androgynous appearance, she lacked many characteristic male traits. Her voice is not deep; her shoulders are not wide; she has no Adam's apple. Her cover-up methods are not enough to disguise her gender- that much is certain. The quarter-veela knew better than to say anything, and Haruhi's complete lack of interest in anything related gender or romance intrigued her. Besides, it was obvious that Harry cared for her; in fact, she could see that he cared for every one of the host club members. If Harry wanted to protect her, then she wouldn't mind playing along.

"Well then, it's heavy. Be careful, okay?" Haruhi hesitantly passed the tray to the boy. Harry, who already guessed what would happen in a few short seconds, was already sprinting over to the duo.

As expected, the boy dropped the tea service. Luckily, Harry's seeker reflexes kicked in, and he barely caught the tray of porcelain tea ware. He sighed. Crisis averted. Suddenly, the twins and Tamaki became the target of his ire. Really, what on Earth made the think that a young, spoiled, and bratty child would be able to hold anything that Haruhi, a commoner who was used to doing chores and carrying groceries, would consider heavy? He knew very well that if the tea tray dropped, Kyoya would put the expenses under Haruhi's very long tab. He would not let that happen if he can help it.

He gently set down the tea set on an empty table. He noted that Kyoya looked rather put out.

Not happening, boy, he half glared at the bespectacled brunet. Kyoya merely pushed his glasses up and tilted his head in reply- at least the Kyoya took his losses well.

"It's your fault for making me do this," the boy insisted without remorse. "Hey, let the okama do the trivial chores! Instead, hurry up and teach me how to make women happy!"

"That is quite enough!" Fleur stalked over and firmly gripped the boy by the shoulders, to his surprise. She paid no mind to the customers who were staring at her. Let them stare; she has committed no crime. "You are in no position to make demands. You were the one who asked to be apprenticed to Suoh-kun. As such, you will do what he tells you to do or you can consider your apprenticeship nullified. You are the one asking for help here, and yet you are rude, ungrateful, and refuse to do what you are told. You make baseless accusations and disrupt normal activity here without even knowing what you are saying. Even if you are a guest, you have overstayed your welcome by far. Who do you even think you are?" Fleur's fiery temper raged.

Whatever Tamaki had been about to say was forgotten as he stared at Fleur in surprise. All of the hosts were taken back by her sudden outburst. They were used to Black-sensei's secretive, sly, and cunning ways. His friend was the exact opposite- straight forward, fiery, and sharp-tongued. The difference was jarring. Furthermore, she defended them with great passion even though she had only met them for a week- to the point that she called everything the boy said "baseless". They were quite certain that the designer saw through Haruhi's disguise, but she chose to keep the big secret.

The rude boy snapped out of his trance when her words registered; he was astounded at the beautiful women before him.

"What right do you have to say that to me? You are as much of a guest as I am!" He yelled back. It seems like word at Ouran travels quickly if a boy like him knows of me, Fleur thought.

The blonde looked like she was about to reply when Harry cut her off.

"Well then allow me to say it as the official advisor of this club." Harry's voice was quiet, but it carried. It sent chills through the young boy's body. "Lady Delacour is a guest of the school and was made such by Headmaster Suoh. I personally invited her to the host club; she has every right to be there. On the other hand, you are not. Section 3.B of the student handbook clearly states that students from the elementary and middle school campus are strictly prohibited from entering the high school campus at any time unless otherwise permitted by a teacher or the headmaster. It is well within my duties as a teacher to politely ask you to leave or escort you back to your campus." The boy gulped in fear as Harry continued as if he was casually chatting about the weather. "Of course, I understand your urgency, so I allowed you to stay. However, your hospitality may expire in the near future if you continue your actions." He said diplomatically.

The boy was quiet, and Harry was completely unaffected. He mentally frowned; why was the boy so desperate anyways? A mother or a sister, perhaps? Or is it something more?

It seems like Tamaki has had enough of the boy anyways; a steel cage dropped from the ceiling and trapped the elementary schooler, much to his displeasure.

"Is this really a music room?" Haruhi deadpanned.

Harry raised an eyebrow and turned to Tamaki. "You really have to talk to your father before making structural changes like this, Tamaki."

He waved the teacher's concerns away. "Father permitted it."

Harry blinked. What kind of headmaster lets his kid install a metal cage in a music room? Obviously an unhinged one, a voice in his head replied. Bonkers, the lot of them.

"Let me out!" The brat cried.

Fleur's face looked pinched. To Harry, she looked to be either nursing a headache or trying to rein her temper in. It was truly heartwarming to see someone else suffering at the hands of those barmy brats, Harry thought.

"Really, Fleur, losing your temper over a kid?" Harry said to her side.

"I don't want to hear that from you, Lord Potter." She said tiredly.

"Actually, it's Potter-Black now." He said offhandedly while taking out pain-reliving potion laced candies. The Order developed them; they were consumed by the bucket at every meeting. The red ones are laced with pepper-up, the blue ones with calming draught, and the yellow ones with pain-relieving potion.

She gave him an annoyed look but took the candies anyways while thanking him quietly.

"I'm serious, totally serious!" The boy screamed and sank in defeat. "I don't have much time left… Teach me please. You make girls happy, right? I beg you, teach me please" he said despondently. Haruhi looked up, having noticed the child's desperation. Tamaki too, paused. For a second, his gaze sharpened; the overdramatic blond prince persona was gone. In its place was sharp intelligence and keen observation.

It was just for a second, but Fleur had caught it. She smirked. So she was correct; the blonde ponce did have a different side to him. It's not to say that his princely persona is just an act- it could very well be a part of the boy's personality- just a different part of him. Her curiosity piqued.

Harry's frown deepened. What could the child possibly be rushing for? No time? Nonsense- kids have all the time in the world. Perhaps someone is moving soon? It wasn't unusual for children enrolled in Ouran to transfer in the middle of the year- for obvious reasons.

"Our host club makes use of our individual features." Kyoya appeared suddenly and introduced each of the types available at the club. The first time he tried that with Fleur, she was completely immune to their charms and unimpressed. If anything, she sneezed.

"Age wise, he would be a shota-type, but he would overlap with Honey," Hikaru thought out loud. Honey's eyes grew watery.

"Am I a nuisance already?" he sniffled.

Fleur bent down and patted his bunny on the head. She pulled out a handkerchief for the boy and carefully dried his tears

"Of course not." She said gently, her tone daring anyone else to say otherwise. To the twins, she added, "He might fit age-wise, but he would never fit personality and appearance wise. His tongue is much too sharp, and he is not cute enough to be a loli-shota like Honey is. You will have to find another category for him." She stated.

Harry blinked. He didn't know she was familiar with the "types" found in a host club. Honey's type would be a bit of a stretch since such establishments are definitely not child friendly.

All of a sudden, a weird whirring noise started in the center of the room. Harry started before catching his own reaction. Fleur was barely half a second behind him; their tensing went unnoticed by the host club members. The sound is getting closer.

Underground? They thought.

"Oh ho ho ho ho" an eerie laugh echoed through the room. Oh. It's just Renge. Harry took out a yellow candy from his suit pocket and popped it into his mouth.

"I didn't know you host club members were this poor in analyzing characters. Auntie Fleur is quite right; he does not fit the loli-shota type." She said haughtily.

"Well, Renge, how would you bring out his qualities?" Tamaki asked.

"Listen to me! While it's true we call girls who experience an unexplainable throbbing at the sight of younger boys and babyfaces "shota-cons", the categorization is rather sloppy, and further categorization requires delicate handling." She began. The hosts were hanging on her every word, and Kyoya seemed to be taking notes.

I'd just call them pedophiles, Harry thought absently. If they were middle aged men rather than teenage girls, there would be no argument. He absently noted that Honey still hasn't allowed her to call him by his nickname- perhaps the boy holds more of a grudge than he previously thought.

Harry looked on with apathetic eyes as Renge started coaching the boy how to fit the "naughty-type" mold. It seems like having a lady manager for the club is not completely useless if it means that he would not have to deal with such nuisances himself. It was quite amusing for him when Fleur gleefully offered to make the boy look black and blue through makeup; he didn't know she was a qualified makeup artist, but it did not surprise him in the slightest.

Would you look at that- the boy tripped over a rope and fell face first. Once again Renge seemed to have crossed the line with the physical injuries part. As the boy seemed to be fine, he let the incident slide.

"Forget it! There's no way she'd become happy from this." He cried and ran off.

"She?" Haruhi asked.

Well, good riddance, Harry thought and hid a yawn. He didn't particularly care for the boy or his plans, but he just knew that Tamaki definitely would, being the sap he is.

"Did you notice what he said earlier?" Haruhi asked. "'I don't have much time left… Teach me.' I wonder what he meant by that. And he also mentioned 'she'…"

"Perhaps someone close to him is transferring?" Harry suggested. They turned to look questioningly at him. "It happens quite frequently here especially since a number of students have business backgrounds. Ambassadors are required to change positions every once in a while, and directors are required to move fairly often as well. If the parents have to move, they most likely won't be leaving their child behind. Ouran is not a boarding school." He pointed out.

Tamaki hmmed and looked thoughtful.

---

Of all the half-baked, ridiculous, round-about plans, it just had to be this one, Harry mentally raged. He half suspected that someone dropped the Suoh spawn on the head at birth.

The boy decided that in order to investigate the issue at hand, Haruhi and Honey have to sneak into the elementary and middle school sections. When Harry first heard of their plan, he nearly choked on his own shock. First of all, Haruhi can barely even pass for a middle schooler; she is much too tall. Secondly, being a high school senior, it is possible that some of the older teachers might recognize Honey. Third of all, everyone would stare at them since they aren't actually students there, and they wouldn't even have classes to go to. All in all, Tamaki and the twins probably just wanted to see Haruhi in a skirt. Harry scowled.

He half-expected Fleur to follow his train of thought, but it turns out she was more interested in transforming Haruhi into a proper girl. She insisted on styling the wig first; she side swept the bangs and trimmed them to frame Haruhi's face then gave the rest of her hair some shape through layering and a judicious amount of hairspray. The twins proceeded to dress Haruhi up.

It was like terraforming Mars.

Furthermore, the plan rendered completely unnecessary when the rest of the members strolled in like they owned the place- in their high school uniforms.

"She's like a little doll!" Tamaki blushed bright red. Harry's scowl deepened. Lay your hands on Haruhi, and you'll lose them, Harry thought viciously.

"In other words, you just wanted to see her dressed up like that." Kyoya remarked dryly, unknowingly sharing the same thought as Harry. The teacher absently noted that Kyoya was late in his observation; however, the fact that he followed the train of thought at all marks the boy's competency.

"No one's here" the Hitachii twins didn't even have the decency to look ashamed.

"If you all come here, then what's the point of having us wear disguises?" Haruhi whispered fiercely.

"It's alright; no one's here." Hikaru shrugged, unknowingly jinxing himself in the process. Moments later, Haruhi spied a teacher; all of them ducked quickly under the desks. Unfortunately, the club members' blue uniforms aren't exactly inconspicuous.

Harry didn't see a need to hide despite Haruhi's frantic gestures. He merely held up a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. He whispered to Fleur, who nodded. The two of them made their way to the front of the classroom where Harry began talking to Fleur in normal conversational tones with his back to the door. He grabbed the attendance booklet off the podium and tucked it under his arm. Fleur's expression shifted from amused to intensely focused in a blink of an eye. She acts very well, Harry thought.

The teacher passed right past them without even sparing them a glance, to the host club members' surprise.

When Harry caught them staring, he merely shrugged "I'm a teacher; I don't have to hide. Since I had my back to the door, he didn't see my face. With Fleur here acting as the concerned parent," he pointed to his mildly amused counterpart, "I'm just an anonymous teacher having a conference with a concerned parent after class."

How unfair, the twins thought gloomily. Oh what they could do if they had unlimited access to the entire school campus.

"You guys really aren't supposed to be here, but I'll find an excuse to cover for you if you do get caught." He said.

"So what was the point in hiding?" they chorused.

"It's fun to see you squirm." The two adults grinned wolfishly. Besides, if they are going to drag him into this mess, the least they can do is provide free amusement, Harry thought.

Haruhi sighed. "Besides, even if we infiltrate the school, how are we supposed to find Shirou-kun?" she asked.

"There's something interesting here." Kyoya called out. He pointed towards a photograph mounted on the wall- it was one of the boy and a girl playing the piano together.

Fleur was mildly impressed; Kyoya is quite observant. Over the past week, she learned that Harry intends to pick up a couple of talents at the school; she was not surprised. From a businessman's perspective, it would be fairly idiotic to waste a full year without accomplishing anything. The host club members are at the top of his list, and she was willing to bet that Kyoya is at the very top.

It's smart of him, but if worse comes to worst, she would call dibs on the twins. They have potential.

Unfortunately, Fleur is wrong. The one at the top of Harry's list is in fact not Kyoya. Unless he could prove that he can show compassion with no ulterior motives, Harry would not make an offer to him. He could tell that Kyoya was slowly warming up though; the old Kyoya would have left the members to flounder about despite seeing the photo. It would have been quite amusing for him.

"The classical music club, huh?" Kyoya muttered.

"He looks so happy. This is the expression Shirou-kun smiles with, huh?"

Tamaki's expression softened. You're such a bleeding heart, Harry thought. It might just cost you one day.

They found the boy staring out of a window pensively in the music room there; they saw him talk to the girl in the picture. While they couldn't hear the conversation, they could tell by body gestures that Takaouji refused the girl.

Harry wondered why no one cared that a group of high school boys were staring at a bunch of children like creepers. He glanced at Tamaki and saw the dead serious expression on his face. He briefly wondered if Tamaki had a personal connection to the issue at hand; the blonde was observing the scene with sharp eyes and a pensive frown- all business and no tomfoolery.

Fleur looked at him questioningly; he shrugged. He didn't know what was going on with Tamaki either. She turned her sights back to the scene; the smile on the boy's face made him look like a different person. She sighed; she did not regret giving him a good tongue lashing, but her soft maternal heart had already forgiven him.

Mozart's piano sonata for two flitted through the air gently; it was muffled by the window, but the notes were clearly discernible. She closed her eyes and gently drifted off with the music. Piano sonata for two- one of her favorite pieces, she thought with a smile. He missed the odd look Harry gave her; she was unaware that she looked completely at peace.

"Excuse me, my lady, I wasn't able to find a rose more beautiful than you, but please accept it." He knelt down next to a small girl.

Charming little children for information now, Tamaki? Harry thought as his lips twitched upwards.

"By the way, I was wondering if you could tell me about the girl playing on the piano there."

"Kamishiro Hina-chan?" She asked. Bingo, now they had a name. It would take about three seconds to dig up her file and get to the bottom of this nonsense,

"No, it wouldn't do you any good to fall in love with Hina-chan. You know, Hina-chan is going to move soon. Hina-chan will be going to Germany next week because of her dad's job." She said. The club members all had sympathetic expressions on their faces.

Harry crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. So he was right. His keen eyes caught someone quickly moving towards the door. Uh-oh, here comes trouble.

"What are you doing here?" The kid rushed out the door and demanded. Looks like the brat is back, Harry thought ruefully. He didn't hold a grudge against the child; he managed to forgive Renge, and the child was never quite as bad as she was. Besides, the club members seem to have forgiven the child as well.

Tamamki wordlessly picked up the child and threw him over his shoulder. The child was screaming questions all the way, but Tamaki remained silent. His silence was a testament to how seriously he was taking the issue.

For what seemed like the umpteenth time, Harry sighed. Time to pick up the pieces as always. He knelt down next to the confused girl and spoke gently. "We'll be borrowing Takaouji-kun for a while; there is only one grand piano here, so he can't practice his part alone. There is an extra grand piano in the high school section that no one is using, so we thought that he could practice there instead." He said smoothly. Hearing his explanation, she brightened instantly and nodded. Kamishiro heard part of the explanation and smiled shyly at the teacher.

"Thank you for letting Shirou-kun use the piano," she said politely.

"No problem," he gave her a winsome smile. "Now run along, you have a piece to practice, right?" She nodded enthusiastically and raced back into the room.

"I'll catch up with you. I need to tell the teacher." Harry told Kyoya, who nodded.

The teacher was surprisingly compliant, stating that the boy wanted to quit the music club. If extra practice would make him stay, then so be it. Harry went along with the half-formed excuse, but if his suspicions were correct, then the boy would end up quitting the music club anyways.

"What are you doing here?! You're not even supposed to be here!" the boy accused.

"Harry –that's Potter-Black Sensei to you- generously offered to show me around the elementary and middle school campus as well. Since the host club members are very familiar with this section, they tagged along." Fleur lied eloquently. None of the club members called her out on the lie, though they were a bit surprised at how competent she was at lying.

"They are allowed here- now stop kicking and screaming. You're just going to make Suoh-kun drop you by accident." She said sternly but not unkindly. Fleur laid a hand on the boy's head gently.

"My teacher isn't going to allow this." He said with a petulant pout.

"That has been taken care of; don't worry yourself over it." Harry said from the back while adjusting his tie. It didn't take him too long to catch up with them; he can spot them anywhere.

The boy scowled at the teacher in question but said nothing.

---

Tamaki unceremoniously dumped the boy onto a couch when they arrived at the third music room.

"What's the meaning of this, you stupid king?" the boy yelled.

"You're the stupid one." He said harshly. Clearly, the boy was taken back at Tamaki's tone. "You wanted me to teach you how to make girls happy? Don't make me laugh! You think we'll be able answer you no matter how much you ask us? Who you want to please isn't many, unspecified girls but just Kamishiro Hina… her and only her, right?"

Harry shrugged. Tamaki certainly doesn't play around when he drops that persona of his. It seems like he managed to impress Fleur though, the man thought. Right, because everyone should strive to meet Fleur's oh-so-high standards. Her approval is so vital to the life of society, he thought sarcastically.

The boy looked stricken as Tamamki continued relentlessly.

"You're the only one who can figure out how to make her happy. Listen, our job as hosts is to make girls happy. But for a girl whom you personally love, you cannot approach her as a host. You can only approach her as a man! What you should aim for isn't a fully-initiated host, but a fully-initiated man, right?" The members gathered around the couch and listened in silence.

Despite the serious atmosphere, Fleur found it ironic that Tamaki was telling a nine year old kid to man up.

"I don't have time left… I just wanted to watch her play the piano as much as I could. So… " he said despondently.

"The practice piece just now… That's Mozart's Piano Sonata for Two, right?" Tamaki cut him off. He pulled back a yellow curtain to review a grant piano. The child looked on in awe.

"Was there a grand piano in this room before?" Haruhi muttered.

"This is a music room," the twins shrugged in unison.

"Of course. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't there." Harry said while pulling out a chair. Why wouldn't there be a musical instrument in a music room? The hosts settled around the piano. Both Harry and Fleur did the same. The child stood, transfixed by Tamaki's performance.

Fleur sipped her tea peacefully as she tilted her head in the piano's direction. Tamaki's playing is very, very good, she thought. She had no idea that he could play at all. A smile played on her lips as she listened to the beautiful piece of music. She was wrong about him; the boy has a good heart and an even better mind behind all the pomp and circumstance.

Harry adjusted his chair and sat back to enjoy the performance. It was truly impressive to watch; Tamaki was playing the piece by himself without the aid of a second pianist. Suddenly, a strange feeling bubbled up in his chest. Harry paused- what is this feeling? Pride? He is proud of Tamaki? Is he really that attached to his students? Still, the business tycoon smiled. Perhaps that is not a bad thing, he mused.

Soon enough- too soon for Fleur's taste- the performance came to an end.

"For all mornings, lunch breaks, and afterschool times next week, you'll be having concentrated piano training. You'd better prepare. You came to be my apprentice, right? Plus it appeared to me the girl wanted to play with you." Tamaki said.

Everyone- even Kyoya had a smile on their faces. It was just like Tamaki to give up his valuable time to help a person in need.

Harry's gaze flickered to Kyoya. He knew that as the face of the club, Tamaki drew in the majority of the customers. With Tamaki occupied throughout the week, the host club's revenue will surely decrease for the month. Would Kyoya account for that fact; how will he handle it? He expected Kyoya to start making calculations right away, but the boy just smiled at the scene; he did not oppose Tamaki in the slightest. Harry was pleasantly surprised.

Well, he deserves a reward for good behavior then, Harry thought. Besides, as the club advisor, I can't let the club fall to ruins.

When he told Kyoya the next day that he would cover for Tamaki all of next week, all of the hosts were caught completely off guard. He further explained that he will not be renegading on his promise regarding being an actual host; he made it clear that flirting between teachers and students is strictly prohibited. However, communication between teachers and students regarding classes and extracurricular advice is allowed.

Kyoya was surprised enough that he paused in his writing. He knew that club revenue would take a nosedive during Tamaki's absence, but he would not oppose Tamaki's decision if he truly wills it. His teacher's offer was a great boon; whether Black-sensei would be an official host does not matter. He knew very well that the customers were practically dying to be able to chat with the handsome teacher, flirting or not. They were able to sneak in short conversations between host changes, but long conversations were not possible most of the time. With the normally distant teacher filling in Tamaki's position, revenue for the month would increase greatly.

What really caught them off guard – Harry included- was when Fleur offered to do the same.

Harry blinked in shock. He knew better than try to change her mind- she has a will of iron. He didn't expect Fleur to volunteer as well. Kyoya must be very happy right now, he thought dryly. During the last week, many of the host club's customers were over the moon at seeing the world class designer at their school. Given that Renge was the one who brought her here, the girls quickly made an effort to befriend the otaku. With Fleur's presence, Renge quickly rose to the top of the social ladder here as a stepping stone to reach Fleur. The designer had seen the ploy for what it was and treated the students coldly; that started the rumor of Fleur being icy. Since Harry occupied most of Fleur's time, the girls were not able to talk to either Harry or Fleur. Forget an increase- between the two of them, they might just set a new record for the host club's revenue.

Indeed, Kyoya's smile widened at the news. It would be a good month.

---

The week passed quickly; as expected, revenue skyrocketed for the host club; by the end of the week, girls were pulling up chairs to listen to the two of them talk. The twins jokingly complained that the duo was stealing away all their customers; more often than not, Honey would just join the two adults in their discussion, bringing his customers with him.

To Harry's surprise, Fleur was more popular than he was. Apparently the girls enjoyed receiving fashion and makeup advice from a professional for free. Fleur was quite smug about the whole ordeal but continued to talk anyways; the more she talked, the less Harry did. However, Fleur's tone was at most professional and never warm. On occasion, she would even ignore the downright stupid questions. At the end of the week, Kyoya asked if Fleur could be a permanent part of the club during her stay; she turned down the offer on the spot, much like how Harry did. She made it perfectly clear that this will not be a regular occurrence.

During the week, Fleur and Harry's easy interactions spawned many rumors- mostly speculation about the relationship between the two. When confronted with those rumors, both adults flatly explained that they are merely good friends who met in high school and eventually lost contact. Both parties denied the rumors, but the whispering continued, much to Harry and Fleur's displeasure.

Still, it would take more than the occasional whisper to cause a rift in their friendship. If anything, Fleur seemed to be greatly enjoying her time at Ouran.

The time has come; Kamishiro would be moving in two days. With Honey and Mori's help, another grand piano was found and carried to the third music room. Fleur coordinated and adjusted everyone's outfits, and they got in formation for the Big Event.

The door creaked open and in walked a suitably awed Kamishiro Hina.

Harry watched as the hosts bowed in welcome and directed her towards the pianos where Takaouji waited nervously. He can honestly testify to the effort the boy has made; he came to every session and practiced diligently.

Tamaki pulled out a chair for the enamored girl, she walked over to him, but her eyes were glued to Takaouji, who smiled at her.

"We did something nice." Tamaki said.

"A single-minded love, huh? Does that part of Shirou-kun resemble you?" Haruhi observed.

"Yeah, absolutely." He turned around and smiled handsomely at Haruhi.

She paused for a moment before smiling back.

Faced with such a heartwarming scene, Harry grudgingly excused younger Suoh for his words. Perhaps Tamaki deserved a reward as well; the teen worked very hard during the week, drilling the brat in the same piece repeatedly. Was it just him, or does the piano sound lighter than it usually does?

"I think I understand now- why you stayed to teach these children, why you care so much for them," Fleur said quietly, drawing Harry's attention.

"Do you now?" Harry raised an eyebrow, thinking back to the ridiculous circumstances that led him here. After a week at Ouran, he vowed to never step on another golf course again.

"I do. Even if you didn't want the post to begin with, you stayed for them." She mused. Harry blinked; he never told her about the circumstances that led him here. She puts things together far too quickly, he thought.

Harry remained silent, acknowledging the truth of her statement.

"They're worth it." She said quietly.

"… Yes, they are." He whispered.

They smiled and turned their attention back to the piano duet.

---

Omake 1: Acceptance of Laughter

"Hey, do you think there's something odd about Black-Sensei?" Kaoru asked.

It was the third day of Fleur's visit; the tension present earlier between the two adults seems to have disappeared entirely. In fact, they were laughing chatting like old friends.

"Yeah," Hikaru agreed.

The hosts watched in silence; seeing their normally stoic teacher so happy and talkative was rather unusual. It was as if a heavy burden has been lifted from the businessman's shoulders.

As a whole, they weren't quite sure what to make of Renge's "aunt"; she was definitely not like Renge- if anything, she kept Renge in check. She had typical French features- a heart shaped face, blue eyes, blonde hair, and a straight nose, but there was something ethereal about her… an aura that draws people in. With her looks, it was hard to believe that she was not a model.

While her appearance may draw people to her in droves, her personality repels them just as quickly as they come. True to her occupation as a designer, she had an artist's temperament. She was cold but protective, curt but never rude. Above all, she always had closed off look in her eyes. She was clearly grateful towards them for taking care of Renge, but she seemed quite curious as well.

However, Kyoya had no doubt that the woman knew how to market her abilities well. Her disposition may seem… mildly disagreeable at times, but in a market like design where there are many surplus graduates, being able to differentiate herself from other people is a feat in itself. He held back a sigh. Why was everything related to their esteemed teacher so troublesome?

Still, it was interesting to see his teacher be so open and relaxed. It was always a treat to see the more human side of the tycoon; Kyoya knew the business mogul was very protective of them- Haruhi most of all- but he has also demonstrated his cold and ruthless side on many occasions. To see him laugh so openly was truly a treat- not only for him, but for everyone else as well. Perhaps it was due to the age gap between them, but their teacher has been strict and distant at times- an observer more than a participant.

He shared a glance with Tamaki; the twins looked a bit uncertain, and Honey looked perfectly at ease. Black-sensei has clearly accepted her presence regardless of the duration of her visit. If her presence made their teacher happier, then perhaps they can learn to accept the equally enigmatic woman as well.

---

Omake 2: For the Sake of a Name

Kyoya opened the door in front of him quietly with no small amount of dread; a small part of him objected that he should not feel that way towards his home. Life at home was dreary to say the least- it was like clockwork. He would return home quietly, lock himself in his room and not reappear until dinner.

To his surprise, someone greeted him. "Welcome back, Kyoya. How was school?" a feminine voice called out from the living room. It was Fuyumi, and she was learning how to fold clothes.

"It was fine." He said succinctly while taking off his shoes. "If you need me, I'll be in my room." As much as he loved his sister, he can't afford to waste time. He ignored her concerned glance and secluded himself promptly. He quickly booted up his laptop and began analyzing the earnings and expenses of the host club. He had orders to fill out and spreadsheets to update. His time before dinner was devoted solely to the host club and unfinished schoolwork; however, the more efficient he was, the more time he would have left for other pressing matters.

Time passed quickly, and soon he heard Fuyumi knock on his door. "Dinner is ready, Kyoya."

He pushed his chair back. "I'll be there soon." He replied. The bespectacled boy took one last look at the updated spreadsheet in front of him. Revenue skyrocketed after Fleur Delacour started visiting the host club. The day both Black-sensei and Delacour-san substituted for Tamaki brought in the most revenue; it was easily the most profitable day of the month. Adding a more feminine touch to the host club clearly proved to be the right choice.

Dinner was a quiet affair; Kyoya aimed to finish his meal as quickly and politely as possible. He had better things to do. His father berated Fuyumi for coming back to the Ootori home once again. She is a married woman; she ought to spend time with her husband and not with them. As usual, Fuyumi looked down at her lap and stayed silent. Kyoya wondered about the logic in the statement; Fuyumi's current marriage was an arranged one. She insisted that she is in love with her husband, but her target of affections conveniently happened to be one of their biggest business partners. Regardless, Fuyumi's husband should be away on a business trip at the moment, so why can't she visit? Has she been sold to her husband like livestock in a market?

He then moved on to question his eldest and second eldest sons. Here Kyoya listened quietly; more often than not, they would discuss the family business. As of late, the discussions were tense- they only grew tenser as the company finances worsened. Kyoya recalled several heated arguments over the issue; however, knowledge is power. He must pay close attention to the words of his father and brothers.

As the youngest son of the Ootori family, he was used to being ignored. His father never paid attention to him, never thought of him as anything but the backup of a backup heir. He resented being the shadow of the family, but he grew used to it as time passed. All of that changed swiftly when his father caught wind of Lord Harry Potter-Black teaching at Ouran. Immediately, he ordered Kyoya to form close connections with him and his associates if possible. His father would question him about the lord unfailingly every single night. Oddly enough, over the past month and a half, his father's questioning more or less turned into an interrogation; he asked more precise and sharper questions. His brothers too, would listen keenly and even ask questions of their own- something that they never did.

Kyoya frowned. Why the sudden interest in his teacher?, Kyoya thought. He was no fool; his father and brothers clearly hoped that they can gain access to the tycoon's influence though Kyoya. Unbeknown to any of them, Kyoya had no intentions of letting them do so; he would not lose the one advantage that he had over his brothers- over his father, even. He endured the questioning and answered their inquiries curtly without giving any useful information. With a nod, he quickly excused himself and went back to his room.

He sighed and adjusted his glasses- time to get to work. With great diligence, he began pulling up stock chart after stock chart, article after article, paying particular attention to any news regarding the medical industry. He catalogued his findings systematically and analyzed how each piece of information can possibly affect the Ootori group. It was tedious work, but he told himself that it would all pay off some day. The key is in determining how the funds will flow and how the markets will turn- something a lot harder said than done. Still, he would do it- he would jump through whatever hoops he has to in order to claw his way to the top. He has to be the head of their corporation; he would prove himself worthy of the position- all for the sake of the Ootori name.

---

Omake 3: Candies and Choices

Fleur accepted Harry's candy gratefully. With a practiced gesture, she unwrapped it and crumbled up the wrapper. Harry was right; those kids are a headache and a half.

She knew she really shouldn't have lost her temper like that, but she couldn't help it. On her good days, she likes to blame her veela blood for her volatile temper. On her bad days, she'd answer with a fireball.

In her defense, the child is a right hellion; she would never fireball anyone unable to defend themself, but the brat was just asking for a scolding.

Victoire would have been around the same age, Fleur thought before cutting off her traitorous mind. Her heart beat painfully at the thought of Victoire. She unclenched her fist and stared at the wrinkled piece of plastic in her hand. Why did Harry have these on him anyways? She thought in an effort to distract her mind.

Fleur frowned. When Harry showed her his classroom, the first thing she noticed was that the room was positively Spartan, which she supposed made sense since Harry did not intend to stay in the school more than a year or two. The second thing she noticed was that the trashcan next to Harry's desk was full of red wrappers.

Red… Pepper-up candies, she thought. Her heart sank to her stomach. Surely teaching –or policing- a bunch of teenagers can't be any worse than running a business.

Unless he was trying to do both at the same time, she thought with no small amount of horror. She had half a mind to grab him by the shoulders and shake the very magic out of him for being an idiot, but she knew that the act would be caught on camera and thus embarrass both of them. Plus, according to a certain someone whose name she would not even care to think of, she is overbearing some days and completely unbearable at others.

If Harry is stupid enough to make such a mistake, then she would gladly fireball his ass into next week.

---

Omake 4: And I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids

All in all, the piano recital was a success- more so than anyone could have imagined. The two children bowed together once they were finished playing and left hand in hand. Since it was rather late, Harry excused the hosts from their usual clean up duties.

"Haruhi, your father must be expecting you back by now," Harry said firmly as he shooed her from the pianos. She looked at him gratefully; she still had to go grocery shopping for dinner. The rest of the hosts followed suit, picking up their bags and leaving the room.

When the door closed behind Kyoya, Harry let his normal persona fall; he staggered over to the couch and collapsed on it. He let out a world-weary sigh; suddenly he felt like his bones weighed more than all the books in Hermione's memory combined.

Maybe he would just nap for a while, Harry thought tiredly.

Suddenly, musical notes reached his ears; his eyes snapped open in surprise. Fleur sat in front of the piano with her eyes closed, her long fingers elegantly dancing over the keys. Mozart's Piano Sonata for Two, Harry's mind supplied. Oddly though, she was only playing one part. Harry dragged himself off the couch and plopped himself down on the other piano.

"The piece is meant for two people, you know." He said. As he expected, Fleur paused in her playing.

"It is. I didn't know you played." She said pointedly, knowing that the Dursley denied Harry any opportunity to learn.

"I picked it up a year ago after I heard Noda Megumi and Chiaki Shinichi play it in Berlin. I had plenty of time to learn; retirement disagrees with me," Harry admitted. "Of course, I can't say that I'm as proficient at it as you are though."

She hmmed in recognition of the famous pianist and conductor duo. "It is my favorite piece, but I don't play it often since I can't play both parts at the same time," she confessed. Which is perfectly normal, her mind rebutted.

Harry smiled. "In that case, shall we play, Mademoiselle Delacour?" he said teasingly, making a mockery of traditional pureblood manners.

"It would be my pleasure, Monsieur Potter." She replied happily. She would take the first part as it is more complicated.

After a silent count of three, both hands began playing in unison. The music filled the room and escaped into the hallway.

A certain group of teenagers froze upon hearing the familiar notes. They were halfway to the entrance when Haruhi realized that she left one of the assignments in the room; she had been working on it earlier and forgot to put it back in her bag. Being the gentlemen they are, the hosts offered to walk Haruhi back to the third music room. Despite multiple reassurances from Haruhi, they refused to take no for an answer.

"Who-?" The twins placed on hand each on Haruhi's mouth as Tamaki silently pushed open the door just enough for all of them to peek inside the room.

What they saw in the room took their breath away; the room was dark except for the ray of light illuminating the two piano players. To their surprise, it was their teacher and their guest. Haruhi noted that both of them had their eyes closed; both of them were swaying to the melody, but their hands never stopped moving in unison. Both of them looked relaxed and completely serene.

The hosts stayed and listened to the same piece they have heard all week, but something about it sounded… magical. There was no other way to describe it; the melody lit up the whole room.

When the piece was over, the hosts quickly scrambled away from the door and closed it before either adult noticed.

To Haruhi's surprise, Tamaki had an oddly contemplative look on his face. Haruhi felt uneasy; she had come to associate that particular look with trouble. It was the same one he had during the Kasugazaki incident. Her horror tripled when she saw the same look echoed on the twins' faces.

She mentally sighed at the antics of her meddlesome friends. Hopefully Black-Sensei would stop them before anything permanent happens.

---

Omake 5: Fleur's First Day

"Irasshai!" The hosts intoned when the third music room's majestic doors opened. Once the storm of rose petals died down, they were greeted with a rather odd sight: a beautiful blond woman was sneezing nonstop. On a closer inspection, it was the same mysterious woman from before.

"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!" She sneezed. The hosts looked at each other in confusion- when will the lady stop sneezing? They wondered. Out of the corner of their eyes, they spied their wayward teacher peeking into the room from behind the doors. He grinned mischievously at the sight before stepping out of the shadows.

"This is Ouran's very own Host Club, which I am the advisor of." He bowed and introduced the still sneezing lady. She didn't bother acknowledging the statement except to glare accusingly at the speaker.

"This had better not be" –Achoo!- "your idea," she growled in between sneezes.

"Of course not. Why would you think that it would be my idea?" His grin widened. He quickly swiped a box of tissues from a nearby table and offered it to her. Hopefully, that would stop Fleur from turning him into a Harry-sized dinner roast.

"Oi Gramps, who is she?" Hikaru asked amusedly. He knew very well who the lady was; what he wanted to see is how much information their teacher was comfortable with telling them. The lady paid him no mind as she fumbled with something in her purse. She paused in her search and raised an eyebrow at their teacher.

Gramps? she mouthed silently to him. Her lips twitched upwards. The tip of Harry's ears turned slightly pink as he coughed. She's never going to let me live this down, he thought.

"She is Fleur Delacour, an old friend of mine. We fell out of contact some years ago, but I believe she is a designer now. I had no idea she knew Renge." He shrugged.

Fleur wordlessly stalked over to an unoccupied table where she quickly poured herself a cup of tea and downed a pill of some sort- most likely for her allergies, Kyoya thought. He adjusted his glasses to hide the laughter in his eyes; he had no doubt that their teacher knew about the lady's allergies beforehand.

"I apologize; I had no idea that there were roses here," She glared at Harry once more before returning to his side. "I am Fleur Delacour, as Harry said. I am indeed a fashion designer. I met Renge many years ago in France and became quite close to her family. As her father cannot leave his work at the moment, I offered to look after Renge in Japan," she explained once she stopped sneezing.

"My dear lady, welcome to Ouran High School Host Club," Tamaki said smoothly. "We are honored by your presence. This club consists of seven members of six types; our aim is to make the ladies of this school happy. Allow me to introduce each host."

"Morinozuka Takashi, class 3A, of the wild type." She nodded politely at the taciturn boy.

"Haninozuka Mitsukuni, class 3A, of the loli-shota type." Honey waved happily at her. "This is Usa-chan!" he chirped. Fleur smiled and patted the bunny on the head. How adorable, Fleur inwardly cooed over the small boy. Did the bunny just smile at her? She thought, suddenly a bit wary.

"Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru, class 1A, of the devilish type." The twins linked their arms together and grinned roguishly at her. The blood drained out of Fleur's face at the sight of twin shocks of red hair. Her eyes widened before her brain caught up with her eyes; Hitachiin, not Weasley, she thought. "Are you related Hitachiin Yuzuha by any chance?" She asked to cover up her reaction. The twins shrugged as one and answered blandly. "She is our mother." She nodded in recognition.

"Fujioka Haruhi, class 1A, of the natural type." Tamaki continued as if he didn't notice Fleur's out of place reaction. Fleur scanned the slight figure in front of her with clear blue eyes. She could clearly tell that the girl in front of her was crossdressing. She looked rather out of place, Fleur mused. Haruhi ignored the gaze that seemed to go through her and glanced up at Fleur with her doe-like eyes. The girl has a steel core, Fleur observed. She noticed that the other members, especially the twins, tensed slightly at Haruhi's introduction. She nodded her head politely; she knew when to keep her mouth shut. If they cared about the girl's "secret" so much, then she would humor them.

"Ootori Kyoya, class 2A, vice president of the club, of the cool type." Kyoya observed Fleur closely. Judging from Renge's backstory and Fleur's introduction, the two families must be very close. It may prove to be beneficial to the Ootori family if he can form connections to those close to the Houshakuji family. Fleur met his analytical stare dead on; she could tell immediately that the boy in front of her was the mastermind behind this club. So this is the boy who captured Renge's heart; he does bear a striking resemblance to Renge's obsession, she thought.

"And I am Suoh Tamaki from class 2A, the president of the club." Tamaki gallantly offered Fleur a rose. "This rose pales in comparison to your beauty, fair lady. It is my honor to be graced with your shining presence," he said smoothly, thinking that Fleur's allergies have been controlled.

It has not. Fleur sniffed for a moment before sneezing at the rose, blowing the petals to the ground along with what's left of Tamaki's pride. Fleur was vaguely aware that the twins were grinning in the background. She nodded and casually accepted the bare stem. She absently wondered about the sparkles around the younger Suoh's hair; wasn't the boy too old to be playing with glitter? The boy did seem taken back and a bit forlorn that his words and looks have absolutely no effect on her.

"It is my pleasure to meet all of you," she said while politely extracting her handkerchief. "Thank you for taking care of Renge. In order to help Renge adjust to her new surroundings, the headmaster has graciously allowed me to stay with her for one month." She did not tell them that the offer could be potentially extended.

"So… Gramps?" She said, unwilling to let the issue drop. Her lips quirked upwards again while the twins grinned.

"I'm not that old," Harry grumbled. Even Kyoya cracked a smile.

"Yes you are," the twins chorused good-naturedly.

"Fleur's older," he replied.

Delacour-san is older than twenty-eight? The twins looked at each other; she certainly didn't look her age then. "Oh yeah, how old is she then?" They goaded mischievously.

"She's-" Harry started before wincing in pain. Fleur subtly jammed her four inch pumps into Harry's foot.

"Not very old," Fleur said happily. She smiled and jammed her heel in deeper. Really, Harry knew better than to mention her age. The twins grinned widely at their teacher's misfortune while mentally making a note to never call Fleur "Grandma".

Haruhi sighed when she head a slight whimper coming from her teacher's direction. Was she really the only normal one here?

---

Omake 6: Something Wicked This Way Comes

"Ne, Hikaru, did you notice Delacour-san's reaction?" Kaoru mumbled as he cuddled close to his twin.

"Ah." Hikaru replied and wrapped an arm around his quieter half.

When they casually mentioned that Fleur Delacour was visiting Ouran, their mother was absolutely ecstatic. The twins wouldn't put it past their mother to personally invade the school just to find and talk to the famous designer. Nonetheless, it made for an interesting conversation at dinner. What the twins were more curious about was the designer's reaction to their introduction.

She literally looked like she saw a ghost. Oddly enough, Black-sensei sometimes looked at them in the same way; they hadn't missed the way their teacher would sometimes mistake them for someone else. They never got the exact names, but they pieced together the initials- G. and F. W. A quick search revealed absolutely nothing; even Kyoya didn't know of them. They dismissed the odd occurrence at the time for what it is- something out of place and inexplicable. However, Delacour-san's reaction gave them another clue; she knew them. Both adults confirmed that they had fallen out of contact a number of years ago, so the twins inferred that they met the mysterious duplicates a rather long time ago. Still, what did the duplicates do to warrant such a reaction? Silence met their question, leaving it unanswered.

"Kaoru, we still haven't managed to prank Gramps." Hikaru said quietly.

"No, we haven't." Kaoru confirmed. He hesitated for a moment "We've been trying to prank him for so long. He stopped returning our stuff after a while- did he throw everything away?"

Hikaru groaned in frustration and turned over. "How does he do that?"

Kaoru remained silent. There was just something off about their teacher- something abnormal. Whatever it was, Delacour-san clearly knew about it, but they instinctively knew that the blonde lady would be just as tight-lipped as her acquaintance. Oddly enough, the two adults seem to share certain camaraderie with each other- the glances, the banter, the trust… None of that matched up with their story; would they really have that strong of a bond if Delacour-san only went on exchange for a year?

Hikaru turned back over and patted Kaoru on the head. "We'll get him", he muttered.

"Ah. Hopefully we'll get some answers then." Kaoru mumbled tiredly.

When they get Gramps –because they know they will eventually- hopefully he will feel like sharing the answers that they are dying to know.

---

Mandy: Hallelujah! I am finally done with this chapter. I promised you guys that I would update the story before the summer's over, and I kept that promise. School doesn't start for me until next week, so technically it's still summer for me. I know this chapter might seem boring to some of you, but I really needed to flesh out Fleur's character and make her not seem so flat.

I had a really hard time writing this chapter because I couldn't decide on how to write Fleur; I wanted to bring out her more feminine side at first, but then I realized that I really can't do it. In the end, I looked up her profile on Harry Potter Wikipedia, and it said that she has a very blunt nature and comes off as snobbish and arrogant at times. I already had her slated as a fashion designer, so giving her a typical artist's temper is a piece of cake. I figured that she would be a good foil for Harry personality-wise, but I still need to get a better grasp on her character.

Besides, I was going to skip this episode like I did with the physical exam one; it's not like anything important really happened in this episode… Some kid barged into the club because of some puppy-love crush, and Tamaki saved the day by playing piano. In the end, I decided to make it half character development and half actual plot. Hopefully it wasn't too horribly boring for you all.

To put it bluntly, this chapter was pretty boring for me. It was long, dry, and necessary to advance the story and character development. It was boring for me to write, and it was boring for me to edit. I kind of zoned out twice while editing this chapter, to be honest. I wasn't too enthusiastic in writing this, and I think it showed. I edited this chapter just once to catch the blatant typos and put a few more interesting or sarcastic comments in, but the whole thing still came out as rather dry to me. I'm sure I still have grammar mistakes, but I'll leave them be for now. I'm fully aware that the name orders or spelling gets switched up sometimes, but I'm too lazy to fix everything.

Now, about Fleur… her back story will be revealed sooner or later; I just didn't want to do it so early on. As it is, I think this chapter moved a bit too quickly character development wise, but it is a rather long chapter. I will say this: Harry doesn't know what happened to her. He doesn't know why she left the magical world, but he is willing to wait until she is comfortable enough to reveal it to him rather than asking her about it right away. He considers Fleur an old friend at this point. He acts a bit more mischievously around her because he's not the oldest one anymore; with her here, he can lean on her a bit. As I have said before, I'm only changing one thing- the change I made regarding Fleur, Bill, and their kid will snowball into Fleur leaving the magical world for good. I dropped a hint in the chapter as to what I changed.

Right, so as some of you might notice, my verb tenses don't really match. It's definitely a problem for me, but my English has been progressively worsening ever since I returned here. Most people don't speak English fluently where I am, and I haven't been reading any novels lately. I apologize for my English; I really hope that it won't degrade to the point when I can no longer write properly.

Why it took me so long to write this chapter: Firstly, I hit a writer's block with Fleur. Secondly, I bought the textbooks for next year's courses in May and began reading them. If any of you happen to know Moore's Anatomy, then you know why I haven't been in the mood to write. Thirdly, I had summer school. I had it three days a week (3 hour lecture), and I had at least two long readings per day on top of papers. While I appreciated reviews, asking me to update sooner isn't going to do anything.

Next update: By the end of next summer. I'm sorry that it's such a long wait, but I will have the chapter up by then, I think. Yelling at me to update sooner won't do you any good, so you might as well save it. Flames will be ignored as usual and maybe used to sterilize some equipment. As I've mentioned multiple times, I'm a med student in med school; I'm not on a pre-med path (it doesn't exist here). I'll be starting the pre-clinical stuff next year, and my planned schedule was going to be pretty much packed; all my classes start at 8:30 in the morning and don't end until 4:15 at earliest (latest at 6:15). The only break I have is the standard lunch break- nothing really long. I might have an empty block on Fridays, and some of my afternoon classes end a bit earlier, but I'll be using those blocks to study. I love reading fanfics as much as the next person, but fanfiction takes a back seat to real life. On the flip side, I do have some scenes planned and a general plotline/ending in mind. I'm kind of impatient, so I'm thinking about skipping some of the flashback-y episodes to get to the Éclair arc.

Note: I do have a short interlude planned for after this chapter, but I'm not sure if I should add it as an omake for the next chapter since the events that happen in it aren't based off of anything in the actual anime. Either way, the interlude will probably be pretty short- maybe around 5-10k in words. I have the notes written up, but I haven't actually typed it out yet. I'm not even sure when I'll have the time to do that since school starts in three days, but the scenes are floating around in my head.

Mandy

P.S.- I didn't change the format for Sonnet 130 because I hate changing formats like that unless the format change serves as bookends of sorts. Also, my inner AP English nerd is very happy that I remembered the sonnet. AP English is actually quite fun now that I'm not pressured to do well on multiple choice practice or timed papers.

P.P.S- I think this chapter qualifies as a monster chapter? The word count is quite large.

P.P.P.S- Anyways, chew over this ridiculously long chapter until I get the time to write something again. I dislike writing under pressure anyways.

Word Count: 21,352

Last Edited: 8/29/13