Important: This is part one of two. This chapter was absurdly long, so I split it up. This first part is essential but would have been forgotten in a 25k word chapter. So that is why it is separate. There is also a third part, which is more of a fluffy outtake.

Chapter 20: Interlude: Fleur Delacour

Wednesday, February 15th, 1995

Dumbledore opened the letter from the Department of Magical Games and Sports with some level of trepidation. He'd been anticipating this information for quite some time now, but he still wasn't entirely sure if he was prepared to see Harry and Ginny's results.

The contents of the letter, he knew, contained the lists of the most magically significant people to each of the Champions.

Madame Maxime and Igor Karkaroff were both assembled with Dumbledore in his office. Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape were also present.

He cracked open the seal and retrieved the letter inside.

'Miss Delacour will be rescuing her younger sister, Gabrielle,' Dumbledore read to Madame Maxime, who nodded curtly and walked her massive frame out of the office. 'Mr. Krum will… be rescuing Miss Granger. Don't fret Igor, she will be there for the Task.' Karkaroff grunted and left the room.

He was pleased that neither of the foreign headmasters stuck around. He was concerned over the next two. He folded the first piece of parchment over and read the second, which had the Hogwarts Champion's results.

Harry James Potter: Triwizard Task Two: Statistics:

Ronald Bilius Weasley,

Ginevra Molly Weasley,

Lily Evans Potter,

Remus John Lupin,

Sirius Orion Black.

If none of the above-mentioned are available, please contact Ludovic Bagman for assistance.

Well, that was a bit of a surprise, to say the least. For one, Ronald was still at the top of the list. But most curiously was the listing of Lily Potter. It made sense, of course, for one to miss his deceased mother, but she was listed higher than either of his guardians. Two people with who he had truly had time to spend with.

Then it hit him. He'd just read all about it in young Nymphadora's new book. On top of that, Harry had explained it all during the summer.

The day Harry had taken the Elder Wand.

Dumbledore sighed. So, Harry had grown attached to the voice inside his head. That must be quite unfortunate, seeing as Dumbledore now knew that the voice could change.

He'd stayed at the Hog's Head with Newt for quite some time that night in January. The main topic of discussion had been Bill Weasley and the potential for danger in Austria, but a large focus had been set on Alyssa. Newt Scamander's granddaughter. Dumbledore needed as much information as he could possibly get on werewolves from a more casual point of view. Horcrux or not, the prophecy was still attached to Harry. He needed to be able to understand the boy, to help him and his friends through the troubles that lay ahead.

Newt had explained Alyssa's bite. How she was sixteen at Ilvermorny, bitten, and had earned the voice of her father inside of her head. They'd shared a telepathic connection until roughly two years ago, the voice in her head had changed. She and her father had lost their connection, and a new connection had been formed between herself and Charlie.

Dumbledore didn't know if it was wise to inform Harry of this. Growth was natural, and eventually, Harry would learn to be comforted and reasoned with by someone other than Lily. By warning him of such a thing would prevent him from accepting change.

He jotted down Ron's name for Harry's Task and eyed the bottom of the Ministry's letter.

Ginevra Molly Weasley: Triwizard Task Two: Statistics:

Tom Marvollo Riddle

Harry James Potter

Arthur Weasley (Father)

William Arthur Weasley

Elizabeth Edith Edwards

If none of the above-mentioned are available, please contact Ludovic Bagman for assistance.

Dumbledore stared in disbelief, and a twinge of fear, at what he'd just read. Remus had warned him of a possible connection between the two before the Tournament began. Something to do with a boggart haunting her even after all this time.

For the first time in a very long time, Dumbledore began to ponder whether or not he had the full story of Ginny's possession.

Harry had finally decided that he hated eggs.

Specifically, large golden ones that squealed and shrieked in ways that made glass vibrate.

For months now, he and Ginny had tried practically everything under the sun to decipher the supposed 'Clue' left within the egg to no avail.

He'd also decided that he hated people in general.

The book release had shocked the nation, to say the least. Practically everyone was reading it. Staff, students, hell, Harry wouldn't have been surprised if the Whomping Willow was somehow invested. All he knew for sure was that people were quite upset.

And not in the way he'd have expected. People were asking about it in class. Bringing it up in conversation. Apparently, lots of parents of students were up in arms over the way the Ministry was treating werewolves. There was a mass cry for change, and Harry was pleased.

He, however, was not pleased with the fake sympathy.

Somehow, no one had made any connection between the book, Remus, and Harry. But they sure as hell tried to make themselves look better by sympathizing with the werewolves.

Lavender Brown had stated, quite loudly in fact, that she couldn't believe there were so many horrid people in our government! It was just so unfair how the werewolves had been treated.

This, coming from the girl who had referred to werewolves as vicious murdering animals the year prior.

Harry couldn't blame them, he supposed. They had been raised to believe a certain way, but Harry didn't really think they actually cared about change or the way the people were being treated. He was certain that people were using the news as a popularity contest.

'Oh, I care more! I care more!' That was how Harry saw it. And he found it repulsive.

It seemed Hermione, Ginny, and Ron all agreed. Though animosity between the four was still at an all-time high, they had had one conversation without having realized it.

The aftermath of this conversation was the most prolonged awkward silence Harry had ever had the displeasure of sitting through, but it had been nice in retrospect.

'Do you reckon we should just bite the curse and ask Fleur?' said Ginny. Drawing Harry out of his thoughts and focusing on the girl beside him.

The girl beside him. Because Ginny Weasley was most definitely a girl. Something he'd come to realize over the past couple of months since the Yule Ball. He was rather confused by the whole thing if he was honest with himself. So, he pushed that thought - as per usual, lately - to the back of his mind.

'Do you actually think she'll help?' said Harry incredulously. 'She hasn't said a word to me since the First Task. And that is not without lack of trying on my part, I might add!' Harry had been trying and failing to talk to the part-veela for months. She knew he was a werewolf, and with the conversation around the Wizarding World being strongly focused on werewolf rights and regulations at the moment, he felt incredibly vulnerable. Especially seeing as tonight was the full moon.

January's full moon had gone smoothly. They didn't dare leave the shrieking shack because of the fact that two foreign schools were staying on Castle grounds. But he and Remus still had fun.

Sirius, for obvious reasons, was not able to come. He'd never managed to make it, and now that the world was focused on him and his werewolf book, a disappearance on the full moon would reflect incredibly poorly.

Tonight, however, took careful planning. They were going to use the invisibility cloak, something Harry had nearly forgotten he'd owned with everything that was going on.

'Yes, Harry, I think it's worth trying to talk to her,' said Ginny, once again interrupting his thoughts.

Harry dropped his quill and slammed his hands on the table. 'Alright, I'll talk to her. Or sorry, I'll call after her like some crazed lover and watch as she continues to ignore me. You saw what Skeeter put in last week,'

'As if you care about what that ridiculous woman thinks,' Ginny snapped back. The article in question had documented Harry's many 'advances' on the Beauxbatons champion. He'd seen many people laughing at the article, and in turn, him, over the last week. He didn't care about being ridiculed. It was more the fact that Fleur was promoting the belief by complaining about him. Maybe she really didn't know what he was trying to get at, but Harry was almost certain that she knew he was trying to talk to her about more serious matters than dating opportunities.

'Just… alright… but I'm not taking to her until after the… you know what,' Harry said conspiratorially. Ever since Remus had warned him about what he said around the Tournament, he'd stopped openly referring to his lycanthropy. 'I don't think I could physically handle being near her right now. It's too close,' he said, referring to the fact that veela magic made him physically ill.

Ginny nodded and continued reading through her book on spells for the second task. They still had no idea what it was, but hopefully, that would change soon enough.

Later that night, Harry and Remus walked as one under the cloak down to the Whomping Willow. There, they climbed through the hole and walked in silence down to the Shrieking Shack.

'Do you have any idea what you're going to do for the second task?' said Remus, roughly three-quarters the way through the walk Harry had become ever so familiar with.

'Nope,' said Harry, popping the 'p' to hide his concern.

Remus sighed. 'I wish I could help. I even know what the task is… but every time I try and tell you… the words just don't come out. It's like none of us can give either you or Ginny any advice,'

Harry frowned. This was the first he'd heard of this. 'That makes no sense, Moony,' he said slowly. 'Fleur and Krum both knew about the dragons. Their headmasters must have told them.'

Remus nodded gravely. 'Oh, I have no doubt that they were informed. I'm saying that whoever entered you into this Tournament also made it impossible for you to cheat,' he stopped mid-stride and cocked his head to the side. 'Have you tried using house elves?'

Harry sighed. 'Tried last weekend. Asked Flappy and Floppy if they recognized the screeching but they both said they couldn't say… what kind of magic is strong enough to block a house elf's duty to their master?'

Remus shook his head in apparent shock. 'I haven't got a clue. Whatever it is, it's dark,'

'No shit,' Harry muttered under his breath as the pair continued their walk to the Shack.

They reached the underside of the trap door and both of them froze. Something was wrong. Their senses were picking up on it.

'Wands,' Remus ordered. Harry drew his in unison with his professor.

Remus opened the trapdoor carefully, casting a silencing charm on it to prevent any squeaking. He hauled himself up and lent a hand to Harry before both were standing in the desolate ruined interior of the shrieking Shack.

Goose pimples erupted on Harry's neck and arms. He shivered and walked into the sitting room, ready to cast a spell.

Sitting on a chair in front of him was Fleur Delacour. Prim and proper, as always. Her hair tied back beautifully, and her eyes shone with contempt. She had a smug facial expression but something in her the way she held herself gave off a sense curiosity.

Harry stood there, dumbfounded. Remus walked in behind him and stopped dead at the sight before him.

'I must confess,' she began in her thick French accent, 'that I did not expect you, Monsieur Lupin,'

Harry lowered his wand. 'You aren't supposed to be here, Fleur,'

Fleur waved her hand dismissively. 'You are of no threat to me,'

'Maybe not now,' said Remus quietly, his wand was still pointing towards her, 'but in less than an hour, we might be,'

Fleur shook her head and stood up. 'Non, actually you are not,' Harry gritted his teeth every time she rolled an 'r'. 'I am a quarter veela. Wolfsbane, or non, a werewolf never 'arms a veela,' she smiled, and it made Harry squirm.

'Ask her why she's here,' said Lily, equally as concerned and confused as Harry and Remus.

'Why are you here,' said Harry confidently.

'Parce que… you 'ave been trying to make contact avec moi…' she was struggling over her English and Harry sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

'Mum, do you know French?' he asked in hopes of a positive reply.

'No. I'm sorry. Your father did, though. He was fluent,'

Harry scrunched up his face in bewilderment. 'For some reason, that really doesn't fit with what I know about him,'

Fleur snapped her fingers and Harry focused back on her. 'I am here because I want you to talk to me,'

'You want me to talk to you?' said Harry, raising a single eyebrow. Remus bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing.

'Just,' she threw her arms up in frustration and cursed in French. 'You have been trying to speak with me, non?'

Harry nodded. 'Yes, I have,'

'Why?' she asked.

Harry sighed. 'Because I need to make sure you aren't going to tell anyone about my condition,' he said, finally.

To Harry's surprise, she laughed. 'You think I am so cruel so as to reveal your secret? Non, Harry Potter, I am not a cruel woman,'

'Well, pity me for not getting to know you sooner then,' Harry replied sarcastically. Stuffing his wand in his back pocket.

She ignored him and turned to Lupin. 'Monsieur Lupin, you have a good reputation avec… euh, with your students, yes?'

Remus nodded, finally placing his wand back in his overcoat.

'How long do you think you can go, living in a lie, Monsieur?'

'Excuse me?' said Remus in a dangerously low voice. Harry knew this was due to the full moon, which should be rising any minute now. Remus always got more irritable or emotional.

'You have constructed your life on top of a lie. A lie that is made of the finest of glass,' she paused, clearly thinking through the sentence she was translating in her head. 'In France, we have very different laws,'

Harry's leg witched uncomfortably, and he knew his transformation was coming. Remus flinched as well.

'In France, they say you can live freely as a werewolf so long as you are honest. Yes, there is discrimination. Of course, fear of the unknown is a plague that spreads like a fire,'

'A plague that spreads like a fire?' said Harry. Laughing despite himself. This girl was such an overdramatic piece of-

'What I am trying to say… is that your lies will shatter. And you will 'ave nothing but cuts,' she said, interrupting Harry with a glare.

The pains increased, and Harry collapsed to the floor and began writhing as the transformation began to take place. The last thing he saw before things went black was Fleur's startled, yet somehow sympathetic expression, as she moved out of sight to the back of the room.

Harry awoke in his wolf form. He was getting better at skipping the urge to join his mother in his dreamscape.

Fleur was inexplicably still there, but her presence wasn't uncomfortable. It was soothing. It made Harry, ironically, uncomfortable. The sudden shift was not welcome.

'Now that you are awake, I leave,' she said. Approaching Harry and Remus where they lay.

'Hang on!' Harry cried mentally. To his surprise, she turned to face him. 'Can she understand me?' he thought.

'What is it?' she asked. Harry noticed Remus rising from his collapse and Harry attempted to do the same, but his joints were still sore.

'Do you know what the second task is? Me and Ginny can't figure out how to solve it! At least give us a clue?'

She paused and laid a hand on the doorframe. 'You will have to retrieve what you will miss the most,' she spoke softly, 'Your secret is safe with me, Harry Potter,' was the last she said to him before turning around and leaving through the trapdoor. It crashed to its frame loudly and Harry slammed his head to the floor in frustration. Clearly, she could tell him mor than that, seeing as she'd been able to give him a hint, unlike Remus.

Harry had never hated Fleur Delacour more than in that moment.

'Go to sleep, Harry. You'll need to be well rested for the next couple of weeks,' said Remus through wolf-speak.

Harry curled up, wrapping his tail around his face, and quite successfully fell into deep sleep.

They danced and he spun her around, letting her drift away from him before he pulled her right back up against his chest. Her hair flew around her, whipping the side of his face but Harry didn't mind. It was soft, and it smelled wonderful. Like the flowers of the Burrow.

'Sometimes I don't feel like the child I'm supposed to be,' she whispered into his chest. Harry rested his chin on the top of her head and hummed in agreement. The purple swirl and delicate twists of the Milky Way shone bright through the night sky. The colours plainly visible so far away from any muggle pollution. Snow drifted lazily down to where they danced. Even through his wolf senses, he could not hear them fall. The world was ever so quiet.

'Sometimes… I feel like I'm stuck in the body of a thirteen-year-old… but then I have these moments where I react to something so immaturely and it just betrays my lack of any life experience,' she chuckled at herself and looked up at Harry, who removed his chin from her head and stared back down into the brown dilated pools that drew away all his focus. Sound drowned out; the distant mutterings of his mother gone. All Harry could do was feel the calm breeze blow through his hair and against the fingers on his right hand that rested against her waist.

'It is strange… don't you think? I look around and I see the things people are worried about and I think to myself 'oh these people are so immature how can they be bothered by that'… but then I'm bothered by the same things… I just have more pressing matters at the forefront of my mind,' said Harry quietly. Ginny nodded slightly and rested her head back up against his chest.

They swayed together for a long time.

'We're the only two like this,' said Ginny quietly.

'Yes,' said Harry, once again leaning down slightly with the intent on resting his chin on her head but instead she looked up.

'We're the only two who can understand,'

'Yes,' Harry repeated, his throat seemed to dry up.

'So then why do we pretend?' she said, standing on the tips of her toes and-

Harry sat bolt upright and groaned. His body hurt. The transformations always took a lot out of him, but this one was a real bitch. It didn't help that he'd slept through the reversal to his human form and had slept on the hardwood floor.

That was another of the many dreams that had been plaguing his sleeping hours over the past couple of months. The first one he'd passed off as a fluke. A strange dream, maybe even nightmare, playing off the first girl that came to mind.

But then it had happened again.

And again.

And each time the conversation always ended, and she'd stand up to reach him…

And then he'd wake up.

It was frustrating for a multitude of reasons. One, was the fact that he really shouldn't be thinking about Ron's sister in that way.

Two, why did it always cut off then? But then he'd punch himself for thinking that.

But the more irritating matter was the fact that that conversation had never happened. They'd joked and laughed, especially after Ginny had pointed out that it was really Harry's mum she was dancing with. But no manner of conversation that… layered, had taken place.

But it was precisely something Ginny would say. Hell, it was even something that he thought he'd say.

Then again, it was his own dream, so if he thought Ginny was acting in character, then yeah… that would make sense.

Originally, he'd thought his mum was planting these dreams in his head similar to what she'd done during the summer, just to fuck with him. But she'd staunchly denied it. Not that Harry had any way of checking whether or not she was telling the truth, but Harry didn't think his mother would lie to him.

And so, these dreams which continued to taunt and confuse him persisted. And unfortunately, they left behind an echoing thought that refused to leave his mind.

He might fancy Ginny Weasley.

At first, he'd denied it. Anyone would. The number of things he could name that should forever swear him off thinking about Ginny that way was astronomical. Him and his mother had stayed up late a couple of nights ago discussing them all.

'Well, she's Ron's sister,'

'Realistically that should be number one,'

'He'd probably support you two though, wouldn't he?'

'Not at the moment, no,'

'He'll come around, sweetheart, I'm sure of it,'

'Right, well… then there's the fact that her mother is like… the kindest woman in the world and treats me like another son…'

'Again, I'm sure she'd support you,' Lily paused, 'If I'm honest, I'd say the bigger problem would be the twins,'

'Right, add that to the list. Would you say their threat level is higher or lower than Ministry action from her father,'

'Higher. The twins can deal a lot more damage than Azkaban,'

'Yeah, prison you can just break out,'

Lily laughed. 'Yes. Simple, really. Just become an animagus in a month. That way the dementors won't deal any permanent damage,'

'The twins on the other hand…'

'Permanent damage.'

'Let's not forget Charlie and Bill,'

Lily paused. 'Am I reading your thoughts correctly right now? You're worried Bill is going to lock you up in a tomb?'

'Tell me that isn't a valid concern,'

'Well…'

'Exactly,'

But he still wasn't entirely sure of how he felt. Hell, he didn't even know if he was feeling anything.

He had been in Arithmancy when the thought had first occurred to him. They'd yet to progress to anything practical in class, so Harry and Ginny were sitting beside each other while Colin sat a row ahead taking notes. Ginny grabbed Harry's discarded piece of parchment and scribbled something on it and handed it back to Harry.

'You reckon Colin fancies Hermione?' The note said.

Harry picked up his currently unused quill and wrote back. 'Well, yeah. He asked her to the ball, did he not?'

Ginny gave up on the note and instead decided to lean in and whisper into Harry's ear. He hadn't heard a word of what she'd said.

He didn't know if it was the smell of her hair, or the fact that she was so close, but her voice, – quiet and soft – and the tickle of her breath on his face, made his mind go blank temporarily. Not blank as in no thoughts, just blank in the fact that all he could think about was Ginny, and more importantly, the incredibly random stray thought of, 'I could totally kiss her right now,' It wasn't a statement of desire or anything, simply a fact.

Then, startled by his own thought, he'd taken a nice long moment to think over what the actual fuck was going on.

Of course, Lily found the whole thing hilarious.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and rose to his feet shakily and was pleased to see that Remus had brought him fresh clothes. Probably earlier that very morning. Remus was nowhere to be found, so Harry dressed and dropped through the trapdoor with his rucksack hauled over his shoulder.

It was later that day, in the security of the restricted section, that Harry finally got a chance to speak with Ginny.

'So, I spoke to Fleur,' said Harry in a non-cholent voice.

Ginny slammed the book she was reading shut. 'Please tell me she gave you the clue!'

Harry shook his head. 'No, she just taunted Remus and watched us transform,' Harry hissed in parseltongue.

Ginny's jaw dropped. 'Are you shitting me?'

'No,'

'So… did she say anything else?' hissed Ginny, hopefully.

'Yes, actually, she did,' said Harry switching back to Engish, smiling at Ginny's relieved expression. 'Don't get your hopes up. It isn't much,'

Ginny frowned but waited for Harry to speak. 'Apparently, the objective of the task is to retrieve what we would miss the most,'

Ginny's puzzled expression persisted, and Harry nodded. 'Yeah, so, that's like describing the first task as 'Get the golden egg' and not mentioning the dragon you'd have to face to actually get the egg!'

Ginny stared off into space, her mouth still in the shape of a perfect 'o'. Her empty gaze turned to the bookshelves. 'I think I hate the French,' she said quietly.

Harry snorted and nodded. 'Yeah, I'm starting to think along the same lines, actually,'

'You know, I reckon if the other Hogwarts champion wasn't a bloody third year, you'd know the egg's clue by now,' said Ginny dropping her head to the table with an audible 'thunk.'

Harry nodded grimly. 'Well, here we are. At least we have somewhere to start. Spells that could be used to protect and retrieve objects and or people.'

'People?' Ginny asked, raising her head from the table. Her hair falling out of its messy knot and hanging in front of her eyes a bit. She kept brushing it back only for it to fall back in her face. It was actually quite-

Harry shook himself.

'Yeah, people. I don't know about you, but the things I'd miss the most are people around me,' said Harry, clearing his throat slightly and looking back down at his book. 'Anywhere but at Ginny. Anywhere but at Ginny,'

'Yeah… I think I'd agree with you on that,' she agreed, softy.

Part 2 is being edited now.