A/N I had issues of writers block and such writing this chapter. You can probably tell.

Chapter 24

He'd won. He'd actually beaten the seventeen year old girl from Greece and he was actually standing in front of the crowd, with this girl and Fleur on lower podiums beside him. And even though Reece was in a considerable amount of pain due to a broken ankle, he was too happy to care. Photos were being taken, the crowd was yelling and Mr Yaxley was standing on the pitch behind all the camera men, basking in the glory because Britain had won. The duel had been a tough one, a fight until someone quits battle and although he'd had his ankle broken Reece still managed to persevere and overcome the odds to be where he was – on the middle podium and being presented with a large golden trophy. He held it up by the thin part; held it in the air so the crowd could rave even more as photos were taken of the three top competitors. Once satisfactory photos had been taken of the three on the podiums they all stepped down, getting a few group photos of the three standing together, Reece in the middle with the trophy. He flashed his signature smirk as he held the cup with one hand, and for one of the final pictures both girls kissed him on the cheek. His smug smirk emphasised as the photos were taken, and he couldn't help but think about how lucky he was to have two foreign girls kissing either side of his face.

"That's the one for the Prophet!" Rita Skeeter yelled from behind some of the photographers as she noticed her man take a good shot of the two showing the British winner some love.

"Ve 'ave to party." Fleur said to Reece as they made their way out of the spotlight. "Avant que nous sommes tous rentrer à la maison." (Before we all go home.)

"You're right." Reece grinned as he passed his trophy over to a proud Yaxley. "Vous avez une tente?" (Do you have a tent?)

"Of course." Fleur replied as she looked down at Reece's ankle. He understood that she was inspecting his limp, but it seemed a mediwitch was already on the way over to sort him out. "Je vais trouver autant de personnes que je peux. Vous saurez quelle tente est le mien." (I'll find as many people as I can. You will know what tent is mine.)

"I only understood like half of that." Reece shouted over the noise. "I'll find you later!" To that she nodded and made her way out of the stadium area, getting away from all of the ogling men. Somehow Reece wasn't affected by her and it made him one of the only guys she could hold a proper conversation with. Even if they didn't know what the other was saying half the time.

"Reece, my boy!" Yaxley howled over the noise. He didn't appear to be sober, and Reece considered just dropping him off at the tent before getting ready and going to find Fleur. "Your father would be so proud, come." He stopped in his tracks at the mention of Rabastan and was so frozen that Yaxley had to drag him from his spot. Did Reece even want his father – a man locked up for the most horrendous of crimes – to be proud? Sure, he was no saint. His boggart had shown him that. But Reece believed he could change; he could alter his fate and not manage to commit a deed so wrong that it would send him to Azkaban. "Hurry along Reece, you forget I speak fluent French." Yaxley teased, winking at Reece and smacking his shoulder a few times as the latter began to pick up his pace again.

The Delacour tent wasn't exactly hard to find and Reece was free to do as he pleased as Yaxley had stayed in the tent, playing a few magical wagers with a few new friends. Sorting out the collar on his favourite leather jacket that Yaxley had brought from the house, Reece made his way inside the tent to find the large space packed with people. Many of them appeared to be competitors like himself, and the few adults in the tent appeared to be consuming more alcohol than the teens.

"Britain!" Fleur yelled enthusiastically when she spotted him. "You 'ave found me."

"I told you I would." Reece smirked as she threw an arm over his shoulders, passing him the drink in her other hand. "How'd you find all these people?" He shouted over the noise and music as Fleur led him through a tightly packed crowd of people that at second glance seemed to be passing round something suspicious.

"Tout le monde aime faire la fête." (Everyone likes to party.) She replied happily while getting herself another concoction of magically centred alcohols. "I'm not 'zuppozed to do things like 'zis, Reece. Delacours don't party."

"So why are you doing this then Fleur?" Reece questioned as he threw back the contents of the cup she had previously handed him. As the liquid hit this throat he instantly regretted downing the drink, as it began to burn his insides so much that he felt the desire to gag. The drink helped him calm his thoughts about the part veela in front of him at least, and gave his mind easier access to thoughts about his golden girl. "Si il pourrait déranger votre famille." (If it might disturb your family.) Reece commented as she began sipping her drink while pouring Reece another one.

"I want to be a teenager while I can." She admitted, swallowing her French pride while handing Reece another full cup. "You know, you're 'ze only boy 'ere that doesn't look at me like viande." (Meat) Fleur laughed, changing the subject. "How do you keep control ov yourzelf?"

"All I do this think of other things." He chuckled, picturing Granger's cute angry face. "I like this girl, you see."

"Ah, I 'zee." Fleur grinned fully, stroking his right cheek with her free hand and lightly slapping it a few times. "You must really like 'er." Reece simply looked away, taking in more of the scenery around them not and wanting to admit that although he liked a girl he could not be with her. "Must be strong to vaincre the veela I 'ave in me." (Overpower) He nodded slightly, embarrassed that the French witch could read him so easily.

"I can't be with her though." Reece grimaced at his own pathetic words. He sounded so weak at the moment, and he hated himself for it. "She's got muggle parents."

"Zat shouldn't matter. Mais je comprends." (But I understand) She gave him a sympathetic smile before her attention was drawn to a shattered glass, and seeing that only minimal damage had been caused, the two symmetrically rolled their eyes before turning back to their deep conversation."She makes you 'appy, I can tell."

"She does." He smiled unconsciously, thinking about how he'd never be alone if he had her by his side. "But I can't ruin her happiness just to give myself some..."

"And what if you make 'er 'appy too, hm?"

It had been a long night, partying with Fleur, other competitors and random people who knew how to have a good time. They'd all drank a lot, not caring for their age or families. At some point in the night, Reece was sure he'd even tried smoking some sort of magically modified 'cigarette' as the muggles would say. He and Fleur had bonded quickly, having many drunk heart to hearts throughout the night. She had even gone to say that he was like a little brother, and that she would be heartbroken if they lost contact with one another once going back to school. Reece had agreed of course, to owl her and stay in contact; and as the night came to an end she kissed him goodbye on both cheeks.

He managed to stumble back to his tent, not waking a snoring Yaxley but was woken early in the morning by the sound of people packing away their tents. Mr Yaxley already appeared to be up, drinking a steaming cup of tea while scanning an issue of the Prophet.

"Good, you're up." He commented as Reece groaned and rolled over on the makeshift bed. "I've got to get you to that ruddy platform soon, get up before you go back to sleep again." Yaxley was a delight in the mornings, he always had been. Reece simply made a noise of disapproval as he face was squashed into the pillow. Not messing around, Yaxley rose from his chair and when he reached Reece's bed, he grabbed a cup of water from the side and threw it over the teenager's head.

"A bit much don't you think?" Reece yelled as he threw off the covers and rolled out of bed quickly.

"Not enough by the sounds of it." Yaxley grumbled, putting down the glass and going back to his tea. "Hurry up and get up, being a champion doesn't give you the excuse to act like anything less than a model pureblood." Reece grimaced at the judgemental words as he quickly dried himself off with a spell and put his leather jacket back on over his t-shirt from the night before.

"I'm ready now." He said sharply, storming out of the tent and almost walking straight into Fleur. Before he had the chance to speak she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly as she was most likely not going to see him for a long time.

"A've been waiting for long." Fleur said thickly as they shared a long embrace. "I wanted to say goodbye, petit frère." (Little brother)

"We'll see each other again Fleur; you were the one that told me that fate has the strangest way of making us happy. It will bring us together and if it doesn't I'll be fucking pissed." She smacked the back of his head, obviously knowing that certain profanity in the language. Reece laughed slightly as the two parted, Fleur once again kissing both his cheeks as they stepped away from one another.

"You will owl me?"

"As long as you write back." Reece grinned as she laughed slightly, turning around and making her way back to her own family across the campsite. He flinched when Yaxley's hand was suddenly on his shoulder, and Reece looked round to see that everything had been packed up while he was saying goodbye to his new French friend.

"I don't like her." Yaxley mumbled, swiftly apparating before Reece had the chance to reply.