I do not own Harry Potter and do please read the note from Chapter 1 for Ignorance is so NOT BLISS

Chapter 71


Greyback 1

Dungeons, Hogwarts

Confusion blossomed for a moment as Bill heard the words Fleur had spoken; it took a moment for the implications of what she had said to sink in.

Shaking, he could not help but approach her to turn her around, to see in her eyes that it was not so. Her bright blue eyes trembling, the young woman just looked away, even as he attempts to get her to admit the mistake.

"You're kidding right?" Bill whispered. "Please tell me you are."

"Non..." Fleur whispered softly. "My people have experienced this before when our kind and the shifters went to war, hundreds of years ago. They did something like this to us then and it is what caused many a shift among the eldar that almost exposed us to the muggles."

Knowing that the veela were extremely careful about how they go out and about in the real world, the fact that Fleur tells him they almost revealed themselves shocked him deeply. "My god...you are not kidding,"

"No Bill," She replied softly. "If the others are right, it is a potion designed to...to..."

"What, Fleur...?"

"It was designed to create skin walkers, Bill." She said softly. "But it backfired badly on the shifters. God..." Tears were running down her cheeks, she places the ingredients on the table only to be pulled into the older Weasely male's embrace. "The screams, the pain..."

To those who would not understand, there is a reason why almost all Veela are female and look so much alike in some shape or form.

They are a race where the memories of the past play as big a part in their lives as the experiences being made in the present. It is what makes them wise, while at the same time beautiful, much like their cousins, the elves. For within them, the knowledge of their past lies, both dormant and very much
alive...

So to say Fleur did not know would be true and, yet, a lie at the same time.

She remembers the feelings, the horror and the pain of that dreadful time. Where once they as a species felt much like the Darkness does at this moment. That they were superior to all else.

Invincible...

"It won't come to that if we can help it, Fleur. It won't."

Saying nothing, Fleur finds herself curling into Bill's embrace. She has missed his strong arms around her so much over the years. Taking it in, drinking it like it was air into her very body, she separated reluctantly from his firm support and turned back to the potion she was making.

Bill reaches out and supports her still. She gives him a soft smile which he returns with warmth. During their search for clues about a possible Horcrux, as Voldemort had spent a surprising amount of time in Albania, they both had become very close, and shared a tight bond as they once had.

Working steadily side by side, neither one of them notice the pained hope that rises in their hearts over the next couple of hours. As the Veela and the others rapidly worked, the songs being sung upstairs reached down, giving them all a little hope.

No one saw the arrival of the elves or of more Veela, with whose aid the three singers continue to buy time.

But then the hope dies, as Fleur pales when the potion turns a deep blue. Bill wraps her tightly in her arms, as Hermione and the others soothe the Veela who tremble with fear, their aura flaring despite the pendants around their necks. Bill tells of what Fleur has told him.

Shaking, Fleur nodded her head at a singular question that Hermione had asked, the same uttered by Bill moments earlier, as Remus listened in. The answer caused the young woman, not to give in to despair, but to throw herself into her work even harder, searching for a solution other then the only way offered to them. The werewolf, on the other hand, slowed as he began to think.

In the end, it wasn't until others came running down, to state that the elves had arrived and placed stasis charms on the affected victums, that anyone breathes even a small sigh of relief.

Even then, that did not last long for moments later Harry came down the steps, tired and hoarse.

"How is it going? Have you...?"

"We know what's going on. The Veela have encountered something like this before and...there is a...cure."

"Well, what is it?"

"Us, Harry..." Remus replied quietly. "Or should I say, our hearts..." He looked at Alexandre as he spoke. The older man had just arrived behind Harry and the others. He, and the new arrivals, listen as Remus explains.

A singular look passes between the two shifters, and they nod their heads. The other shifters around them grow restless as their instincts rise with anticipation. Harry, not liking what he hears, somehow understands what they have planned.

"Remus...are you sure?"

"Yes. It's time we settled this...I settled this... with him."

Nodding his head, Harry hugs both men tightly. "If you two don't win, I swear I will find a way to bring you back and kill you myself."

"Why wolfing you doubt moi?" Alexandre teased as he ruffled Harry's hair. Despite being as tall as he was, the growl of irritation for the despised act was not missed and yet at the same time, expressed feelings of deep affection.

Sirius himself, having realized in part what they intended to do, began making protests. Remus merely shook his head.

"This is my fight my friend."

Somehow, with those six words, the former convict understood and then nodded his head. "Like Harry said, if you two don't come back, we will both bring you back and kill you ourselves. And I am damn certain that Tonks and Isabelle would be happy to help."

Giving a shared gulp at the mention of the two women, love to one and mother to both, they both nod their heads and leave.

To those who had heard the exchange and did not understand, Harry states a single name that helps them understand as he speaks.

"Greyback. They are going after Fenrir Greyback, and what is left of those who still support him."