Warning: For Mature readers only!
Harry found out why Fleur wanted to close the booth off from the auction after sitting through five items getting sold. Other than doing it so she could kiss him.
It was boring.
Fleur told him that she only arrived so early because of his presence. Otherwise, she would have skipped the worthless baubles being fought over by nobodies. Those were her exact words, though she added that Harry was excluded from that.
"I need to bid on the next item, Fleur. Stop distracting me." Harry's mouth might have said one thing, but his hands refused to let her move from his lap.
"Don't worry about it, my love," Fleur replied airily as she nuzzled her cheek against his, "That item won't be in the auction."
"What?!" Harry asked in shock, "That's why I even bothered attending the auction!"
"You mean that was the reason before you met me, right?" Fleur asked with narrowed eyes.
"W-Well, that should be obvious," Harry replied, flustered that it was actually the truth before reiterating, "Still, Fleur, I needed that pendant."
"I know," Fleur said with amusement, "I saw how much time you spent looking at it at the public showing."
Harry sighed and slumped in the chair, tightening his arms around Fleur's waist in an attempt to get some sort of comfort. An alarm was going off somewhere in his mind about his rapidly increasing dependency on Fleur's presence. An alarm that Harry willfully ignored.
"Why did you need it?" Fleur asked as she traced a finger on his jawline, "It's a silly little thing."
Harry flushed in shame, not liking the feeling of having to admit that he desperately wanted something Fleur called 'silly.' It made him wonder if this was what most boys go through, wishing to seem impressive in front of the girl they had a liking for. It was exhausting.
Luckily, or unluckily, Fleur was far too wealthy for Harry to ever hope to impress by flashing his gold. So why did it matter even if he felt ashamed of needing the pendant?
"Is it a secret?" Fleur pouted when Harry still hadn't answered her, "I promise I won't tell anyone."
Harry sighed, figuring he might as well tell her since it was lost to him. "Nothing that interesting, I'm afraid. I wanted it so I could get warned of any attacks. My mind was almost breached recently without my knowing."
"Oh."
Harry shivered when the air went cold around him, with Fleur again being the reason. "Fleur? What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry, my love," Fleur couldn't stop herself from deeply kissing Harry before pulling away after he was in a daze. "I thought wrongly of you. I assumed you might have a witch you fancy back at Hogwarts, and the pendant would be a gift to her."
"What?" Harry asked dumbly, "Why did you think that?"
"It's rather feminine, isn't it?" Fleur said as she reached into her dress and pulled out the very pendant they were talking about, "I was going to throw it away if you told me it was for someone else."
"You're… something else, Fleur." Harry stared at the pendant hanging casually between Fleur's slender fingers and then at her guilty face. He also wondered how she could keep anything in her tight dress, but that was a thought for another time.
"How were you able to get it before the auction started? I thought once Mansion Sorcellerie announces what is up for bidding, they won't change the list."
"Really, Harry?" Fleur arched her perfect eyebrow, "Gold is the solution to most things, my love. I'm sure the owner of this thing fainted in shock once I gave him my offer."
Harry blinked when Fleur placed the pendant in his palm and closed his fingers around it.
"This can be a little gift from me to you, but I'm almost ashamed to give you something so… cheap."
Harry burst out laughing at how disgusted Fleur looked. It was starting to look almost adorable instead of snobbish to Harry at this point. "It doesn't matter. I appreciate it all the same. Thank you."
Fleur hummed as she turned her focus back to the auction and relaxed in his arms. It felt to Harry like this was where she belonged. He was so lost in the comforting feeling that he almost missed the auctioneer bringing out what Zabini wanted him to buy.
"… one of the ten available in the world! The starting bid is at a low twenty thousand galleons!"
To Harry's shock, the beautiful witch in his arms straightened up in interest for the first time in the auction. "I always wanted one of these. It could make for a fun adventure if we use it. What do you think, Harry?"
Harry imagined the glamorous Fleur Delacour in rugged clothing, tangled hair, and a smudged face from wading through a forest. He liked that image, a little too much, actually.
"Oh, my!" Fleur giggled as she wriggled on his lap on purpose, making it even worse for Harry, "I never imagined this would be the thing to crack your control, my love. Now I must get this for us."
"No!" Harry pulled down Fleur's arm when she raised her card to bid on The Wizard's Seeker.
"No?" Fleur repeated with a frown.
"As much as I like the thought of you in that outfit, I need to buy this." Harry lifted his card high to get his bid accepted.
"Eighty thousand galleons from the booth upstairs!"
Harry blinked in shock, unaware that the cost had risen so high.
"You need to?" Fleur's eyebrows were raised high. When Harry raised the card again to bid a hundred and forty thousand galleons, she said, "Forgive me, my love, but I was under the impression that the Potter wealth was, well, gone."
"You're right about that," Harry frowned when the price exceeded the two hundred thousand mark, "But this isn't for me. It's part of a job, as you call them."
"Shame," Fleur sighed, "I suppose I can let this one go if you require it. I wanted to find out what outfit you imagined on me."
"Unfortunately, I do…." Harry froze, wondering when he had become so foolish. He ignored Fleur's questioning gaze and closed his eyes to review his contract with Zabini. Luckily, nothing mentioned collusion in any of the clauses, which he sometimes included when necessary.
Since Harry was going to France and to an auction house that he had little to no knowledge of, he didn't see the need to add an unnecessary restriction on himself. The only thing Zabini required was for Harry to do his best to win the auction with the deposited gold.
"How much would you spend to get this, Fleur?" Harry asked as he raised his hand to bid again. It was well past the auction estimate and was above the three hundred thousand mark.
"Since I want it? As much as I wish."
Harry wished he could one day also be as casual as Fleur when talking about sums of galleons that most would never save in multiple generations. "I suppose I can't stop you from bidding if you want to."
Fleur smiled slowly before kissing the corner of his lips and saying, "That is true, my love. I am a very independent witch."
To Harry's surprise, and relief, the collusion wouldn't have been needed at all. The price had somehow gone above what Zabini reserved for the auction.
"That stupid bitch," Fleur snarled in anger as she got off Harry's lap, "What the hell is she doing here?"
"Fleur?" Harry already missed having her on his lap, which was why he didn't try to get her to come back. He needed to stop being an absolute sap before he ruined himself.
"The witch bidding against me is Camille Rousseau, an absolute cunt, as you Englishmen would say. She loves to make my life difficult because her fiancé is a weak-minded fool."
Harry wasn't sure what Englishmen Fleur was talking about, but it certainly couldn't be him since he had never even used the word cunt before. "How do you know she's the one bidding? And how would she know about you?"
"These booths are reserved for the same people every year, Harry. It's impossible not to know."
Harry saw Fleur raise her hand again, and this time it was the winning bid. The only thing was that it was for well over half a million galleons.
"Sold! For Five hundred and thirty thousand galleons!"
Harry thought he felt faint at hearing that number.
"What an utter waste of oxygen," Fleur grumbled before dropping herself back onto Harry's lap, making him grunt in surprise. "At least she didn't goad me into buying something useless."
"This is a common thing between you two, then?" Harry wondered what kind of witch could get this reaction from Fleur.
"Unfortunately, yes," Fleur sighed, "Camille always hated me ever since I told her how ugly she was when we were kids."
Harry snorted in laughter, having expected something far different as an origin story.
"What?" Fleur turned to him with a pout, though he could see the amusement in her eyes, "Am I supposed to lie and say she didn't have horrid skin?"
"No, I suppose you shouldn't," Harry chuckled and hugged her to him.
Fleur was ready to settle into what was quickly becoming her favorite spot to sit in before she thought of something. She moved Harry's hands away from her waist and said, "I have to go take care of something, my love. I'll be back soon."
Harry assumed it had something to do with this Camille. He asked, "Do you need me to come with you?"
"No need," Fleur denied as she waved him off. Harry didn't fight her since he doubted anything serious could happen with so many people around.
After Fleur left the room, Harry sighed and slouched in the chair. There was another reason he didn't insist on accompanying her. He wanted to see how he viewed his actions with Fleur without her present.
Harry could definitely tell that the allure had a real effect on him. Still, it was nowhere close to the point of making him act so agreeable toward her. In fact, the only thing it did was make him more relaxed in her presence. It caused him to be more willing to listen rather than automatically question and suspect, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Other than the frighteningly short time they knew each other, Harry couldn't come up with a reason to fight against what Fleur wanted. Besides, while it might seem like a hasty whirlwind romance at the moment, that would quickly change when Harry left France.
With the English Channel separating their countries, and more importantly, Fleur's father blocking her from leaving France, their' relationship,' as Fleur calls it, will immediately be put under a strenuous test. If that wasn't enough to break them apart, Harry saw no reason to decline what Fleur confidently declared about them being in a relationship.
Harry nodded to himself in satisfaction, happy with his decision. It would let him enjoy his time with Fleur while also testing if it could be something more.
*tap tap*
And just in time. Fleur had come back.
"Come in!" Harry called out before frowning when he realized Fleur wouldn't have knocked. He turned around and froze in shock, wondering who had cursed him for this to happen.
"Ah, Mr. Potter, what an unexpected pleasure to find you here. I had assumed you were still safely ensconced within the walls of Hogwarts. How foolish of me to presume such a thing."
"… Headmaster Dumbledore, I can't say I expected to meet you here." Harry ruthlessly shoved the spike of fear into nonexistence. His future days in Hogwarts wouldn't be so smooth sailing.
"In truth, I should not be here. Despite receiving an invitation every year, I have always politely declined. However, circumstances have led to some pressing matters that require my attention, and thus, here I am."
"That's… brilliant, Headmaster," Harry had resigned himself to whatever might happen. There was nothing he could change at this point.
"Alas, I must say the situation is rather unfortunate," Dumbledore sighed and shook his head, "Might I trouble you for a moment and request a seat? My aging bones have been put through their paces by standing for hours on end."
"Of course, Headmaster," Harry waved his hand to the free chair before him.
"Ah, that was more relaxing than I had anticipated," Dumbledore leaned back into the plush cushioning. "Now then, let us delve into why you are not currently within the halls of Hogwarts."
Harry might be resigned to being on a short list in the Headmaster's mind, but he didn't think this was anything that would get him expelled.
"I apologize, Headmaster," Harry said earnestly, "This was the only time I could visit a… friend."
Dumbledore hummed in thought and stroked his beard. "And I take it this friend of yours might happen to be a certain French champion who once graced the halls of Hogwarts?"
"Ah, yes," Harry said sheepishly, "How did you know?"
"It would have been quite difficult not to notice," Dumbledore chuckled. "The two of you made no effort to conceal your fondness for one another during your time in this room."
"Right… sorry again, Headmaster," Harry tried to look even more ashamed. Technically he truly was ashamed, but it was for getting caught skipping school by the damned Headmaster in a foreign land.
"I hardly blame young people for their passions, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore remarked. "No apologies are necessary. Besides, we both know that you will not mean them."
Harry's reaction was to apologize again, but he bit it back and simply nodded.
"Now, while I, as an individual, may not hold you responsible for your actions, as the Headmaster of Hogwarts, I am afraid I must insist that you return to the school with me immediately." Dumbledore halted Harry's response with a raised hand and added, "Naturally, I will permit you to bid farewell to your lovely companion before we depart."
Harry thought he would have more time to spend with Fleur before he left, but this might be better for him to take control of his erratic feelings. "Yes, Headmaster… as for punishment?"
"Ah, I shall leave that matter to Professor Snape. I have no doubt that he will act impartially," Dumbledore replied.
Harry sighed and resigned himself to his fate. At least the pendant hadn't warned him that his mind had been attacked. So that was something positive.
This story is 8 chapters ahead for my patrons
P atreo n . com (slash) MarkusEllis (Remove spaces)