A.N.- Thanks for all the helpful reviews, I know some of you are quite tired of the bashing but I'm slowly gradually lessening it. And also, I'm not going to make Harry and Fleur go all lovey dovey with each other immediately, real life doesn't work like that; even if Fleur is a quarter-Veela. And no, I will not make Fleur's father the new French Minister of Magic, which has been so overused in many Harry/Fleur stories.
Chapter 12: The Unexpected, Qualifying for Mother England
Harry felt his eyes fluttering open as the rays of sunlight filtered through the cracks of his curtains. He had an amused smile on his face as he saw Little Rosy had curled in a ball next to him. He stretched as he climbed out of bed and walked into his bathroom, after a fast shower and brushing his teeth, changed into a simple black t-shirt and comfortable khaki shorts. Silently, without waking up his little redhead sister, Harry left his room quietly and walked into the living room. P
ropping down on the sofas, he sipped gently from his cup of green tea as he continued to read the Advanced Dueling book Sirius had given him. He had mastered the organ-liquefying curse quickly but it had drained him more drastically than he had previously calculated, the other curses seemed to have similar after effects as well.
As he flipped the page, he noticed something wrong with the parchment and gasped when he saw a faint, barely readable scribble as the sunlight illuminated the page. He grabbed a magnifying glass from a drawer next to the sofa to get a closer look. If you are reading this then I must congratulate you, my best and proudest spell is not to be shared around like common gossip. You must have an extraordinary mind not to use a revealing charm on this book, too obvious for a common wizard. As much as I detest those filthy muggles, their ways of concealing secrets are most intriguing especially in Vatican Italy….. Harry was utterly focused now as he read on, there wasn't much after that except an incantation, Inflictum Mactabilis and a small description of the downward slashing wand movement.
Seeing movement from the corners of his eyes, Harry quickly snapped the book shut.
"What you reading Hawwy?" Little Rosy chirped happily as she jumped on the sofa.
"Nothing, school stuff." Harry lied and remembering his promise, quickly added, "You want to visit the park or something?"
"Yeah!" Little Rosy yelled and skipped into her room to change out of her sleeping gown. Ten minutes later, after a quickly scribbled note which Rosy had insisted Harry to write, they were at a local park.
Harry just smiled as he gently pushed his sister on the swings, listening to her innocent and playful laughter. He still remembered the times where he sat alone at the swings while watching with jealousy and anger that all the other children had parents accompanying them. Then what Lily Potter had said last night came back to him and he had to suppress an urge to swear loudly for the confusion in his head.
"I HATE them, why am I feeling so guilty, they SHOULD be the ones who should be throwing at my feet begging for forgiveness." He thought as Little Rosy led him to the slides. "No, I don't think I would fit anymore. You go." Harry said shaking his head despite the pout of the little redhead.
He sat at a bench not too far away, looking on with his arms crossed in front of his chest, "In the end, its just me." He thought as he ran a hair over his locks.
An hour later, Little Rosy had found herself comfortable on her brother's strong shoulders again as they began the slow journey home, the trees on the sidewalks were green with new life and the sky a vibrant blue decorated by fluffy marshmallow clouds.
After dropping his sister back in Potter Manor, Harry walked to the nearest barbershop to get his hair cut. He arrived back to the Manor around lunchtime, his face an emotionless mask as he entered the kitchen, where his family was already having lunch. All conversations stopped as soon as he came in.
"Harry, you cut your hair?" James Potter asked rhetorically and was responded with a nod. Harry grinned at Little Rosy who couldn't help but pout sadly, she couldn't tug on his long locks now. Then after eating his breakfast quickly he excused himself from the table, deliberately not making any eye contact with his mother.
Harry was frustrated, he did not know why he felt so guilty ever since the incident last night, another thing that surprised him was that his brother avoided him ever since the incident in the Chamber, which was comforting.
Shaking his head, he returned to his bedroom to continue studying the mysterious spell that he had discovered hidden in his Advanced Dueling book. Time flew by as he flipped through the pages, more than half the spells that Harry had came across were borderline dark. Since he couldn't use his wand without alerting the whole family, he could only study the theories and wand movements.
Then as the clock in his room hit four, Harry simply sighed as he took the clothes that he had gotten yesterday from his closet and began changing. He had to admit Elena did a great job with choosing his clothes.
At four thirty, the door rang, Little Rosy skipped to the door and squealed as she opened the door, revealing a regally dressed Narcissa Malfoy.
"Aunt Cissy!" Little Rosy chirped happily as Narcissa bent down and gave the little redhead a gently hug.
"Hello Rosaline, is your brother ready yet?" Narcissa asked politely. Little Rosy just giggled in response when she saw a sulking Harry coming down the stairs. Narcissa smiled approvingly at his newly cut hair but it quickly evaporated when she saw Lily Potter appear from the living room.
"Narcissa…" Lily greeted curtly.
"Evans…" Narcissa replied in the same manner, and the temperature instantly dropped drastically. Sirius had told Harry that Lily, Narcissa and Snape were the best potion brewers in their year and that their competitive natures were fiercer than the competitiveness Harry had with Elena.
"So, um…Cissy, Sirius should be expecting us at five right?" Harry mumbled, eager to get away from the uncomfortable position he was in.
Narcissa blinked and in a cold voice said to Lily Potter, "I'll be bringing him back at eleven." With that, she grabbed Harry by the arm and jerked him out of the manor with Little Rosy giggling uncontrollably as she watched her brother getting pulled away like a doll. As soon as they left the front door of Potter Manor, Narcissa apparated both of them into Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Harry grinned when he saw Elan dressed in an all black suit made of silk, with a black dress shirt and a blood red tie that accompanied it.
"I would have never thought….the color red on a Malfoy." Harry teased.
"Shove it Potter, who am I to question the absolute great authority of Lady Malfoy." Elan joked back.
"Enough you two." Narcissa snapped as she led them both into the living room where Sirius, Lucius and Draco were already waiting.
"Heya kiddo, looking sharp, but not the best." Sirius said haughtily and was elbowed mercilessly by Narcissa.
She then procured a women's high heel boot, laid it in front of them and placed a hand on it.
"I really do not get this….of all things." Sirius grumbled as he placed a hand on the boot. Lucius just shook his head as he joined in, Draco joined in seconds later. Harry and Elan shared looks and shrugged as they told hold and winced as Narcissa said calmly, "Activate."
Harry felt if the ground was opening up from underneath him as he was pulled into a vortex. Then after a 'joyful' ride, they were regurgitated back out as they arrived at the doors of the newly elected French Minister of Magic's chateau.
Harry could hardly contain the awe he felt as he looked at the chateau, it was really something out of a fairytale; it closely resembled the Chateau de Chambord that he had read about recently. They were welcomed warmly as Sirius, Lucius and Narcissa led the two young teens along with a boy passed the large magnificent doors. Large chandeliers hanged from the ceiling, expensive looking muggle paintings were hanged on the corridor walls.
"Bloody showoffs." Elan coughed eliciting a snicker from Draco but quickly stopped under a cold glare from Narcissa. They arrived at the main hall and Harry couldn't help it but shake his head as he saw the familiar gleam in Sirius' eyes as he saw dozens of beautiful models sitting on large comfortable couches, chatting idly and drinking champagne.
"Here we go again. The old dog prepares to strike yet again." Elan whispered with a smirk just loud enough for Draco and Harry to hear, after seeing his best friend shake his head. After Narcissa reviewed them over their manners, Harry and Elan walked off, Harry just schooled his face into an unreadable expression as he felt eyes boring into the back of his head. This party was different than all the social gatherings he had attended back in England, he could tell that the French was more lenient on showing public affection as he watched people snogging each other on some couches.
Soft, classical music could be heard as Harry and Elan neared the food. Most of the adults were far away from the young people as possible, some looked on disapprovingly whilst others looked on with indifference. Harry had been spooning bouillabaisse into his mouth quietly when he saw a figure walking towards him from the edges of his eyes. "I like the new hair, very stylish and creative." Judging by her voice, she was definitely a woman in her teens, Harry calculated and had to bite back a groan, he had hope that no one approached him tonight.
"Thank You." He said curtly and proceeded to walk off when he felt a hand stop his shoulder. He glanced back at the owner of the hand and was immediately drowned in her piercing blue eyes.
"You are as interesting as they say you are, Harry Potter." The dark haired beauty whispered in Harry's ear, her cool breath on his bare skin sending shivers down his spine. Then she released the hand on his shoulder and before Harry could get his mind in working condition, she was gone. His eyes were darting from corner to corner, why did he feel so infatuated.
"Hey Harry, what's up." Elan said holding out one of two lamb kebabs in his hand towards him.
"Nothing." Harry said taking a bite, eyes still scanning everywhere.
"This is so boring." Elan said as they politely gave their plates to a waiter. Harry just nodded in acknowledgement and willingly signed several autographs to a few giggling models then they made their way to drinks stand and poured themselves a glass of tropical fruit punch since they weren't allowed to drink just yet and had a reputation to hold.
Harry grinned when he watched Elan getting dragged off by a group of gorgeous models and simply mouthed a 'good luck' when Elan pleaded for help. Harry was leaning against a polished white marble pillar when he suddenly found himself pressed against the pillar and a pair of soft, moist lips gently caressing his.
Slowly, as if Sirius was right next to him, yelling chicken in his ear, he wrapped his arms around the woman's slim waist and began kissing back since he didn't wish to cause a scene and was glad that people didn't even looked once in his direction. The woman in his arms elicited a loud moan as Harry demonstrated his skills of French kissing. He opened his eyes slightly and saw the woman straddling him had familiar looking dark hair, a tanned complexion, a perfect nose and pink colored full lips.
He blushed slightly when his eyes trailed towards her chest, he could tell that her breasts were big but not obnoxiously so. In addition, she was fit and had a perfect hourglass body. When she opened her eyes, Harry was surprised to see her sharp blue orbs staring intently back towards him.
"We meet again…" Harry breathed as the woman's lips left his.
"So it would seem…Mr. Potter." She replied, her eyes filled with fascination and dare he say it, lust?
"I'm Ashley, Ashley Taylor." She introduced herself in an American accent.
"Pleasure to meet you." Harry said, playing along…for now. "My God, her scent is so intoxicating." He thought as he caught the fragrance of Channel perfume dulling his senses.
Slowly, he looked over Ashley's shoulder and he could see the envious looks all the other models shot at Ashley, Sirius was grinning stupidly at him, which made him roll his eyes.
"So, what do you do, Ms. Taylor?" Harry asked causing said girl to widen her smile.
"Do you not know or just miserably failing to charm me, Potter?" She whispered in his ear, brushing his earlobe with her hot tongue.
"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Ms. Taylor. And no don't think just because you kissed me, I will fancy you." Harry replied curtly and was on the verge of releasing his arms around her when he was pulled into an even tighter embrace.
"Don't be so fast to judge…Mr. Potter, I have a way of…getting whatever I desire." Ashley whispered before placing her lips on his again as their tongues battled for dominance. She had kissed a lot of boys but none of them were as good as Harry in technique and she could deduct that he had probably kissed as much or more girls than she had boys.
Reluctantly, she released her arms around his neck in an agonizingly slow pace, her grayish blue eyes never once stopped staring into Harry's emerald green much to his annoyance and after giving him a seductive wink, walked away, adding a bit more swaying then necessary in her hips.
Harry felt frustrated and somewhat violated but he couldn't help but stare at her long gorgeous legs and Elan quickly staggered next to him,
"I can't believe it! You were snogging Ashley Bloody Taylor!" He said loudly, he had lipstick all over his face, neck, the collar of his shirt and his tie was missing but he didn't seem to care.
Harry just gave him a confused look and Elan immediately palmed his face.
"Merlin Harry, you're bloody hopeless."
"Shut it or I might just tell Anna that you broke your promise…." Harry said softly in a frighteningly similar way Snape did when he was annoyed but it worked, Elan pipped down instantly.
"Harry, you lucky pup….Ashley Taylor was voted Most Beautiful Witch two years in a row, including this year!" Sirius said.
"Not you too Sirius? That's just disturbing, aren't you too old to be-" Harry never got a chance to finish as Sirius just laughed merrily and patted his shoulders before walking off.
"You know Elan, I think I'm starting to regret hiring that mongrel as my agent." Harry said which made the Malfoy heir to snigger loudly.
Meanwhile, not far away, a silver haired goddess dressed in a simple dark blue dress that went a bit over the knees looked on sadly, Fleur Delacour couldn't help but feel an unfamiliar sense of anger and jealousy towards the dark haired woman who had just left Harry's arms. From the way they conversed, they didn't seem to know each other but then why was he allowing her to kiss him. It did make her feel happy that Harry didn't see all that please to kiss the dark haired woman.
All her thoughts were disrupted when she felt something nudging the edge of her dress. She looked down and tried to smile at Gabrielle who was obviously upset that her idol and hero had been kissing somebody else.
"Gabby, quit sulking and go over and say hello if you don't want him to kiss anymore girls." Fleur said and yelped when the small veela grabbed her hand and pulled her away from their parents with a surprising force that a five year old shouldn't normally have.
Fleur couldn't help but feel as if the temperature had risen when Gabrielle pulled her several feet within the dark haired youth. His eyes were more entrancing then ever as they gazed strongly at her, she couldn't help but feel disappointed when she gazed at his hair, it looked nice enough in its current faux hawk style but she very much prefer his original, long, messy locks.
"Hello Harry, I hope you haven't forgotten me." Gabrielle chirped while looking at him with her big, innocent baby blue eyes.
Harry just laughed and replied fluently along with his signature smile which can make witches from all over the world swoon, "Of course I haven't, my dear angel Gabrielle, how are you?"
Gabrielle blushed bright pink and promptly hid behind Fleur who just rolled her eyes.
Harry was about to say something but then quickly smacked Elan in the back of his head realizing that he was totally entranced by Fleur's allure as it was with all the male guests around them.
"What, you were saying Harry?" Elan said confusingly.
"See you in a bit. Watch over Gabrielle for a bit will you?" Harry said simply and before Fleur could react, yanked her into the balcony, which was much quieter.
"There, much better don't you think?" Harry asked as he rested his arms on the railing and gazed at the bright city lights far away. Fleur had to agree, she was used to men drooling at her but still it was nice to be in a quiet environment.
Again, that reminded her that Harry was the only one who could ignore her allure, feeling dangerous, Fleur decided to focus all her allure on the handsome dark haired wizard in next to him but to her shock and somewhat disappointment, he remained nonchalant as ever.
"Harry, can I ask you something?" Fleur piped, slowly Harry turned his head towards her, his entrancing green eyes studying her before nodding.
"How is that you can resist my allure? I have just focused all my powers on you and you didn't feel anything…" Fleur asked.
"I don't really have an answer for that but I'm glad I'm not making a pathetic idiot out of myself." He replied with a small smile on the edge of his lips before it quickly vanished. A brief lapse of silence ensured afterwards before Harry suddenly asked, "You want to dance?" Fleur was stunned, Harry wanted to dance with her.
"Sure." She replied with a true happy smile on her face. Her heart fluttered when she watched Harry take her hand and after giving it a kiss, placed his other hand on her waist causing her to feel very warm all of a sudden.
Before she knew it, she was being waltzed around the balcony, she was a ballerina but Harry wasn't bad at dancing either, in fact he was leading the dance; his sincere looking green eyes never once leaving hers.
"I never knew you could dance so well, Mr. Potter." Fleur whispered.
"I never said I couldn't only that I don't like to." Harry retorted.
"Not even if that girl who has been kissing you asked you?" Fleur asked and mentally slapped herself for asking so directly.
Twirling her once, Harry pulled her close suddenly and whispered; "There's nothing between Ashley Taylor and I." Fleur couldn't help but swallow; his well-sculptured face was only millimeters away from hers. She couldn't help but feel disappointed when he pulled away and resumed leading her in short circles.
Not too far away, a certain mischievous blonde troublemaker was spying on the unsuspecting pair with a smirk on his lips.
"Big bro, what are you doing?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow as he saw his big brother staring with a smile at the balcony.
"Nothing, Draco, just enjoying the view." He replied and muttered, "Ashley Taylor and a Veela, you lucky sod." Gabrielle just huffed beside him, crossing her arms with a crossed expression on her face.
Speaking of said lucky sod, Harry was having a tough time remaining his cool façade as the moonlight enhanced Fleur's already white, porcelain skin making it glow. Even though there were a lot of beautiful women at this party he had to admit, Fleur was one of a kind, she never acted in a fan girl fashion which he really didn't like and understood him in a way that no one, not even his three best friends could.
Slowly but confidently, Harry drew the goddess closer to his chest, causing her to gasp out with surprise but she adjusted quickly, burying her face in his chest, her slender arms and finely manicured hands on his chest. Fleur sighed contentedly as she heard the gently rhythm of Harry's heartbeat, normally if any other boy ever did this, they would be on the floor all curled up and holding their genitals in pain but Harry was no ordinary boy; he was so charismatic when he wanted and his eternal aura of mysteriousness always sparked her curiosity, his dashing looks and his ability to nullify the Veela charm certainly didn't hurt.
Much to her dismay, Harry broke contact as he pulled his face away from her wondrous silk textured hair and led her back inside without saying a word.
Apolline Delacour smiled mirthfully at a corner when she saw her eldest daughter with her hand linked to a striking, green-eyed young man. She had to admit, Fleur had great taste for someone who rarely dated.
"Good Evening, Mrs. Delacour. Please extend my gratitude to your husband for inviting me tonight." Harry said formally as he released his grip on Fleur's hand, to be honest to him; Apolline Delacour couldn't have looked over thirty five, she could have passed off as Fleur's older sister with the same silvery blonde hair, a perfect hourglass figure snow colored skin and baby blue eyes.
Apolline was impressed by his French and returned the greeting. "I like your style very much." Apolline commented as she took one of Harry's hands and started inspecting the quality of his jacket.
"Thank you, I am happy that my friend did not waste her efforts." Harry replied smoothly. Apolline was impressed, her eldest daughter had spoken the truth, being half veela, her allure was more powerful than Fleur's but it too, was simply useless against the emerald eyed superstar before her; no man save her husband could stay in a civilized conversation with her for less than half a minute before their eyes trailed somewhere else.
Harry was surprised when Apolline introduced her husband who seemed to be calculating and analyzing him, Alain Delacour was tad bit shorter than his wife, but seemed to be good-naturedly. But to Alain's disappointment, the lad standing before him seemed to be impervious to intimidation and just greeted him politely thus the two began a conversation about the differences between the Ministries of Magic between the two countries, making Apolline groaned with boredom.
She turned to Fleur, "Did you danced with him tonight?" Fleur just widened her eyes as she tried to enunciate a response but her voice was lost as she remembered Harry holding her near his chest as they danced in the moonlight. "I take it was very romantic also non?" causing a pink tint appeared on Fleur's cheeks.
Apolline had to suppress a chuckle when she saw her youngest daughter sulking, "It seems someone isn't too happy." She remarked and then watched with mirth as Fleur sighed and walked over to the little Veela who was obviously upset about her idol not giving the same attention he gave her elder sister.
"Interesting so French aurors can actually use Unforgivables when chasing down suspects?" Harry asked intriguingly while gazing out the windows after Alain had explained that he worked as an Auror captain before being promoted to Head of the Auror Department while he sipped on his punch.
"Yes BUT, only if the suspect is resisting cooperation or self defense." Alain said, standing next to Harry as he observed the bubbles in his glass of champagne.
"I think that's what every Ministry should follow similar procedutes but in England, Dumbledore believes we should all be forgiving. And Fudge certainly doesn't help with his idiocy, God bless us all." Harry muttered softly as he turned his head around and saw the British Minister of Magic attempting to sweet talk his newly French counterpart.
Alain let out a throaty laughter surprising Harry, "I like you, you like to speak your mind." He said, giving Harry a pat to the shoulder.
"So I take it that you would be joining the Vratsa Vultures this summer then?" Alain asked.
"I do not know yet, I still have the World Cup Qualifiers to get through before worrying about potential transfers, that I can let Sirius handle." Harry replied.
"Sirius?" Alain asked with a raised eyebrow.
"My agent and godfather, or in this case, dogfather. I'm sorry to inform you he might not be available at the moment." Harry said with amused smirk on his lips as he watched Sirius laughing loudly with a bunch of young women giggling around him on a bunch of sofas not far away.
Beside Harry, Alain chuckle and joked, "Well suited name indeed." Soon as midnight neared, guests began to say their farewells, handshakes and future lunch/dinner meetings. Harry bade the Delacours good night and was shocked when Fleur embraced him tightly and gave him a kiss on the cheek, he was pretty sure he had stopped breathing at that particular moment. "You're very lucky Arry, I do not usually give kisses on the first date but since you gave me that dance…." Fleur whispered softly into his ear, emphasizing his name deliberately. Harry was still in shock when Fleur released her hold on him and could only feebly nod when Fleur asked him to continue writing to her.
The entire time, Apolline had a dreamy expression on her face while Alain tried to look annoyed but failed miserably and Gabrielle…well, lets just say she was glaring angrily at her sister. Harry watched the Delacours pull out a portkey and waved back weakly after Fleur had blown him a kiss.
Then with a sigh, he went over to Sirius who was sprawled across a sofa, murmuring incoherently.
"Why do I feel so fluffy and ecstatic whenever she does that? I've kissed more women then I can remember." He thought puzzlingly.
Rolling his eyes, Harry managed to pull his drunk, unconscious godfather around his shoulder with much ease and guided them both towards a sniggering Elan, who quickly grabbed Sirius' other arm and placed it around his shoulder to lessen the weight on Harry.
Lucius just shook his head with a sigh and Narcissa had a glare that promised a lot of pain as they saw Harry and Elan carrying a semi-conscious Lord Black in between them.
"You both had fun?" Narcissa asked, noting the lipstick marks on her son's face.
"Yeah but I think the dogfather had too much." Elan joked causing Draco to burst out laughing.
"Let's go so you two can rest early." Lucius remarked and Narcissa immediately procured their boot portkey. "Activate."
Immediately, the familiar spinning feeling came back as Harry watch the ground open beneath them. They landed back in Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, after dropping a snoring Sirius on the couch, Elan and Harry stretched out their limbs and laughed when Draco snorted, "Wow, Uncle Siri just slept through a portkey journey."
Lucius just palmed his face while Narcissa had a huge grin on her face.
"Let's get you home Harry dear. You look tired." She commented and immediately, Harry went into the kitchen and returned with his trunk, which he shrunk with a flick of a wrist and stuffed it into his pocket.
"I'll see you in a few days, yeah?" Elan asked as he took his father's arm. Harry just gave him a look that said, "Duh!" and disappeared as Narcissa apparated them out of the house.
"Thanks for bringing me back Aunt Cissy, I can take it from here." Harry said after they appeared back in front of the gates of Potter Manor. Narcissa just smiled at him and stroke his cheek,
"You're growing up so fast, it seemed like it was only yesterday when you first stepped into our manor."
"Oh yeah, remember when you caught Elan and I sneaking into the attic…." Both of them laughed lightly about the incident, poor Elan ended up with pink hair for the entire week.
After a hug, Narcissa watched as the boy she regarded as one of her sons walk into the dark manor before disapparating into the cool summer breeze. Upon entering his room, Harry stroked and apologized to Rina for leaving her alone for so long and earned himself an affectionate nuzzle to the cheek, smiling, Harry fell down heavily on his four-poster bed and dropped into the realm of Morpheus quickly with the image of a silver haired goddess being the last thing he remembered.
The next morning, Harry was awakened by an extremely hyper Rosy who was squealing for him to wake up and promptly ran down the stairs with a fake scream of terror after he pretended to be the boogeyman.
He grunted as he got up from bed, picked up his discarded tie and jacket from the floor and neatly placed them accordingly into his closet. After changing into a pair of black Nike shorts and a faded khaki AC DC t-shirt, he walked down the stairs and was surprised to see a hangover free Sirius Black beaming at him from at the door.
"About time you got up squirt." He said making Harry roll his eyes.
"Look who's talking, Elan and I had to haul your fat arse out of their last night...we deserve the extra sleep. Anyways how did you get over here so early? By the amount you drank, you should still be snoring in the couch." Harry retorted and was responded with a ruffle of his hair.
"Tut tut tut, a magician never reveals his secrets, young apprentice." Sirius replied cheekily.
"So what're you doing here?" Harry asked as they walked into the living room.
"Some things I would like to discuss with you as your agent." Sirius replied seriously for once and pulled out a thick stack of letters. "First of all, Honeydukes Chocolate wants you to do a ad for them, Butterbeer wants you to be their official spokesmen along with Elan, Nicole Hartman, Captain of the Hollyhead Harpies and guess who, ASHLEY TAYLOR!" He all but shouted, causing James and Lily Potter to come running into the living room.
"What's going on?" Lily asked. "Nothing concerning you." Sirius replied with a snort and laughed when Harry moaned.
"Harry, its ASHLEY BLOODY TAYLOR, I didn't see you complaining when she was giving you the snog of a lifetime." Sirius exclaimed.
"It was more like me giving her the snog of a lifetime, after all, I am your apprentice." Harry grinned back.
"That you are." Sirius said sagely, ignoring the scandalized look on Lily's face and sighed. "Look you do want to do this or not?"
"Fine, fine….Malfoy won't last ten minutes in there alone." Harry retorted as he picked up the contract and looked over it thoroughly. Harry was seriously impressed with the negotiation skills Sirius had after learning the amount of money he would get out of the ads.
Then knowing that the first World Cup Qualifier was tomorrow, Harry summoned his Nimbus 2000 in its case and a suitcase with two months of clothes packed inside. And after a rather tearful, long farewell from his little sister and a good luck embrace from Sirius, Harry slipped on a ring portkey and disappeared.
The gentle summer wind gently caressed his face as Harry appeared before a large stadium that he wasn't particularly familiar with.
"Harry, how've you been?" Harry smiled when he saw Ray Anderson striding towards him, with two Quaffles in his hands.
"Heard about the transfer rumors, of course, since you're the best chaser England's ever produced since Edgar Sullivan himself." The former U-17 England Manager commented as he led Harry to a tent just a bit right of the stadium.
"Oh and just so you know, we're borrowing the stadium of Puddlemere United." The coach said as he held the flap of the tent open as Harry went inside.
"Magical tents never cease to amuse me." Harry said to himself as he looked around. Behind a curtain was a team meeting room, and another part, he presumed was the kitchen as he could smell the scent of bread wafting from behind the curtains.
"You're room is the third one on the left. Be out after you get settled, the rest of the team is already warming up." Ray said. Harry nodded and was pleasantly surprised, all rooms were individually cut off from the rest, each like a cubicle at an office with a curtain acting as a door. There were also individual showers not too far away from the sleeping quarters. There was a bed designed for one person, the cover and pillow were both an Ecru color, along with it were a desk with a lamp, a chair and a small drawer to place his suitcase upon.
Satisfied with the bed after trying the mattress, Harry smiled when he saw his England Jersey with the number 7 and his surname sewn flawlessly on the back, neatly folded, already ready on the bed. After putting up a poster of his favorite football player, George Best on the wall and changing into an England Training Jersey, he freed his Nimbus from its case and bolted into the stadium.
It was truly a shock when their coach pitted the recent U-17 Champions against the current England team and the final result ended up with the young champions winning by a whooping margin of 890-280. It was clear to everyone present that the current England National Team could no longer keep up and that new blood was needed thus, everyone save a few individuals were left behind.
"Merlin, they were pathetic. No wonder England hasn't won anything in the last forty years." Elan said, brushing strand of pale blonde hair from the front of his face, several glares were thrown at him from the few players from the previous English team.
"Malfoy's got a point, no talent and not hardworking at all. I'm surprised that most of them are still employed." Jason Bale agreed as he calmly observed his newly acquired Nimbus 2001.
"Alright enough bickering…Potter, you take Malfoy, Davies and Jones with you. You know the drill." Ray said as he took out his wand and with a swish, five wooden dolls, two of which were holding out beater bats took off into the air. "Just like old times." Roger muttered before kicking off on his Nimbus 2000.
Later that night, the players went back into their tent exhausted and sore.
"Damn Harry, that last shot was ruddy brilliant." Daniel Jones exclaimed recalling a spinning shot that had curved its way around his hand. Harry just smiled, after a quick shower, he quickly returned to his room and promptly fell asleep as soon as he hit the mattress.
The next few weeks was full of action, England had proceeded to a five game winning streak and easily held the number one spot of their group, since it was only the World Cup Qualifiers, the teams that they faced were mediocre at best. What's worse, in between his matches and training, Harry had to do ads and it turned out to be a complete nightmare.
"Alright, good, good, now, Mr. Potter, wrap your arms around Ms. Taylor's waist from behind….excellent…" The director exclaimed as Harry groaned but did as he was told; after all, he was paid good money and Ashley was indeed a female fatale. Since the Butterbeer ad was based on a summer theme, Harry found himself in a secluded section of Newquay beach wearing a pair of dark blue swimming trunks, around his arms was a the lean, female fatale, otherwise known as Ashley Taylor, clad only in a white bikini which fully revealed her perfect figure.
"Am I really that unpleasant, Mr. Potter? Many men would have sawed off their arms just to get a second glance from me." She whispered softly after their last shot was done, Harry had immediately released his grip as soon as the director shouted cut.
"I see." Harry replied simply and quickly donned on a t-shirt and his usual sunglasses. And before Ashley could continue, he disappeared with a nod as he activated the silver ring portkey around his finger, leaving her on the beach.
Her carefully manicured hands were now curled into fists, normally any guy would be begging for a date but Harry Potter had proved her wrong again, he was truly an enigma. After their encounter in France, she'd been shocked to find herself feeling jealous that Potter seemed to be more friendly and interested in the silver blonde haired girl than her, all her life, Ashley got whatever she wanted and being rejected the first time did not sit well with her.
Meanwhile at Potter Manor, a little redhead was playing dolls by herself, ever since her big brother left, Rosy had been very moody. Her parents were very loving to her but it just wasn't the same without riding on Harry's shoulder, playing together with her toys, going to the park just the two of them. With a sigh, Rosy went over to a folded Daily Prophet sitting on the coffee table in front of the family sofa because the Prophet would often times have moving pictures of Harry and it was the only way she could see him but she was happy that he would be back very soon.
Speaking of said superstar, Harry raised his fist in triumph as they pummeled Croatia by an 895-250 margin, with Harry scoring at least half of their total points. It seemed that dropping most of the senior players had been a correct decision, the press was outraged that Ray Anderson had the guts to field a team only consisting his former U-17 players and dropping the majority of the experienced players in the previous team, however it turned out to be a blessing in disguise; England had successfully revolutionized and now had a team that was consistent and morale in the dressing room had never been better.
To put it simply, the current team was the Quidditch Version of Real Madrid in the 1950-60's. Harry was swarmed by white at once when he landed on the ground, getting the life squeezed out of him as the entire team embraced him. They had done it, England had finally qualified.