This story has been bugging me to be written for a long time. Its been taking up space in my head that I could be using for my other stories, so I decided to write it down to appease my muse. It's going to be a one shot unless I get enough people wanting a continuation of the story.
I own nothing but what I create.
Regret and Redemption
It was a beautiful August day in Diagon Alley, one that Harry was greatly enjoying as he left Gringotts Bank with a happy step and a small bulge in his pocket. The bulge was actually a small ring case that held a promise ring he had taken from his family's vaults. He had recently turned sixteen and had been given a limited amount of access to his family vaults to better prepare for when he'd gain full access on his eighteenth birthday. As his hand brushed the hidden treasure in his pocket, he couldn't help but think about the girl he was planning to give it to.
For the last year and a half, Harry Potter had been dating the French Champion of the Triwizard Tournament, Fleur Delacour. It hadn't been easy and far from simple, but after he had saved her sister from the lake during the second task, the two of them had grown closer and by the time of the third task, they had decided to date and keep their relationship both alive and secret, especially after Voldemort had returned.
After she had graduated, Fleur had moved to Britain to be closer to Harry, taking a job at Gringotts as well as being accepted by Professor Flitwick in a Charms Mastery that let her visit Hogwarts three times a week, which let her be close to her younger boyfriend and go on dates to Hogsmeade with him. Keeping their relationship a secret was difficult on both of them, but Harry felt that, despite that, they had grown closer over the last year.
Harry frowned in thought as he wandered through the Alley, his thoughts on the previous year. If it hadn't been for Fleur, he was sure that his fifth year would have been far worse as she had helped him deal with Umbridge as she tried to take over the school, and when Voldemort had tried to lure him to the Ministry, it had been Fleur that had reminded Harry of the mirror that Sirius had given him. That had let them know that the vision he had seen was fake and allowed them to reverse the ambush back on the Death Eaters.
Unfortunately, Sirius had been severely injured in the ambush and was still in St. Mungo's in a magically induced coma, though he was slowly getting better. As such, as Harry was his heir, he had been given some small control over his accounts as well as the Potter accounts until such time as Sirius was able to take control back when he recovered.
Harry shook off his morose thoughts as he looked around the Alley. He had checked with the goblins as he left to see if she was working today, and even thought it was her birthday she was indeed working, though she was currently on her lunch break. Harry knew that there was a small cafe that she regularly ate at while she was working, and so he made his way there. A small smile was on his lips as he thought of how surprised she would be to see him, especially as everyone expected him to stay at his relatives house like a good little boy. However, his smile lost some of its brightness as he thought back to when Fleur and a few others had come over to the Dursley's for his birthday.
He couldn't put his finger on it, but there had been something...off with his girlfriend when he had seen her. She had been properly happy to spend time with him and they had shared some much needed alone time after the others had left. His closest friends knew they were dating, but had been sworn to secrecy. But there had been something different about Fleur that even a couple weeks later he couldn't quite understand. She had told him that she was just tired from working so much, both with the goblins as well as with her Charms Mastery, and while it was understandable, Harry had felt that she wasn't telling him everything.
With a soft sigh and hope in his heart that maybe he could figure out what she wasn't telling him when he surprised her today, Harry quickened his steps as he got closer to Fleur's favorite cafe. As he turned the corner and the cafe came into sight, his smile grew as he saw her exiting the cafe and he reached into his pocket to pull out the ring case and he hid it behind his back with his off hand. Sirius and Mad Eye would both tan his hide if he had used his main hand to do so as he was in an unsecure area and it could slow his reaction if he was attacked.
Just as Harry was about to call out to her, he saw Fleur turn back to the cafe with a bright smile that he normally saw directed at himself, but then a familiar looking man with long red hair tied back into a ponytail walked out and took her into his arms, pulling her into a deep kiss as Harry looked on in despair, his heart breaking as he watched Fleur return the kiss. His best mate's older brother, a man Harry respected and liked, had Harry's girlfriend in his arms and was kissing her deeply. Even someone as sheltered as Harry could tell that this wasn't the first time they had done so, and suddenly Harry understood why she had seemed different to him on his birthday. His flower, the woman that he loved and wanted to marry one day, had been cheating on him with William "Bill" Weasley.
Harry could feel a red hot rage filling his heart, yet at the same time a deep and powerful grief did the same. The two emotions battled against each other and left him feeling numb inside and he felt the ring box that contained a promise ring he had planned to give her fall from his hand to clatter to the ground. Harry was close enough that the sound of it hitting the ground was enough to draw their attention, the two 'lovers' turning to look in his direction, though with different reactions.
Fleur let out a soft sigh as she leaned against the well muscled shoulder of her date, his arm wrapped around her waist as they enjoyed their lunch at her favorite cafe in Diagon Alley. She tried to ignore the fact that the man she was with wasn't her boyfriend, but no matter what she tried, the feelings of guilt never went away.
William 'Bill' Weasley had been flirting with her and asking her on dates ever since they first met at Gringott's. At first she turned him down because she had a boyfriend already, but when he never saw her with anyone else, he kept pushing as he thought she was just playing hard to get. Eventually, she caved in as her mother and friends kept pressuring her to accept his request for a date. One date had led to another and then to another.
She looked up at his face as he described his latest adventure as a Curse Breaker, she compared him to her boyfriend. Harry was younger and more boyish in appearance, but she could tell that when he fully matured he would be incredibly handsome. William on the other hand had already matured and had a ruggedly handsome appearance, and he liked to dress in a casual 'bad boy' manner. He kept his hair tied back in a ponytail and had a dragon tooth earring to go with his dragonhide jacket. She idly wondered what Harry would look like with a ponytail and earring.
"So, Fleur," William said as he finished his story and tea at the same time, drawing her out of her musings, "How about we head out, I have a big surprise for your birthday."
Fleur felt a small thrill of pleasure shoot through her at the thought of what he might have planned. She knew what he wanted, he had been not so subtly dropping hints that he wanted to take their relationship to the next level, something she had sworn she wouldn't do. She would never betray Harry like that...yet that determination didn't stop her mind from wondering what it might be like to be more physical with William, to feel his hands in places that not even Harry had touched yet.
She shook her head to clear her mind and gave William a small glare. "No matter what you try, I am not sleeping with you, William." She made certain to enunciate so that there was no confusion or misunderstanding. "Besides, I 'ave to return to work in 'alf an 'our."
"Now, don't be too hasty, Fleur," he replied with a laugh and dropped some coins on the table to pay for their lunch. "Just wait until you see how you feel afterwards. I guarantee that you won't want to go back to work today."
His easy confidence at his future success both worried Fleur and brought a rush of blood to her cheeks as she blushed demurely. She had little dating experience and suddenly wondered if she was playing with fiendfyre instead of regular fire. If he was that confident, maybe it would be best to call things off now. As she walked slowly out of the cafe, she felt a shiver run down her spine and a bad feeling filled her as she looked around. Hearing William call out to her from inside the cafe, Fleur turned and smiled as she saw him walking towards her with a grin. She pushed the odd feelings aside and focused on the here and now.
"Sorry, had to make sure I had everything for later," William said as he followed behind her, patting his pocket where a small bulge was.
Fleur sighed but let him pull her into a deep kiss. As his tongue explored her mouth, she decided to not go along with William's plans for the day and would tell him she was going back to work. She had made a promise to herself to never let things go too far and she would hold strong to that promise. She had already betrayed Harry too much and she wouldn't go any further.
She had just pulled away from the kiss to tell him that when she heard the sound of something hitting the ground nearby and instinctively looked in the direction of the sound. Suddenly Fleur couldn't breathe as she felt her heart clench in her chest as she looked at the face of her boyfriend. The absolute worst case scenario had come true and she knew instantly that she was in major trouble.
Bill looked at Harry with a bemused expression and a small wave. "Harry! What a surprise to see you here. Aren't you supposed to be with your family?" he asked casually as he wrapped an arm around Fleur's waist. He was relaxed and didn't seem to have a care in the world.
Fleur on the other hand looked at Harry with shock and horror, her beautiful face turning pale as she saw the heartbroken expression on his face and only growing more pale as his expression turned neutral, a clear sign that he had clamped down on his hard earned occlumancy skills. She had never expected him to show up during her date with Bill, having been told by multiple people that Harry was being forced to stay with his relatives until Sirius woke up, having been cleared of his supposed crimes when Harry had captured Pettigrew during the Ministry Ambush.
"What...what are you doing 'ere, 'arry?" Fleur stuttered out in shock, her brain struggling to comprehend the sudden turn of events. She had been enjoying her date with Bill, despite the guilt that was slowly eating away at her as she knew that with every day she spent with the older Weasley that she was betraying the one she loved. But coming face to face with Harry, and knowing that he had obviously seen her kissing Bill, she knew that she had made a grave mistake and had hurt him in the worst possible way.
"I...came to surprise you for your birthday," Harry said slowly, his tone cold and empty of the inner turmoil inside him. "Turns out I got an even bigger surprise. How long has this been going on?"
Bill let out a laugh and hugged Fleur closer to him, failing to realize that she was frozen in shock and despair. "We're celebrating our two month anniversary as well as my Flower's birthday," he said in delight. When Fleur looked up at him sharply and tried to pull away, he just gave her a happy smile and kissed her temple. "Relax, luv, it's just Harry after all. No need to worry."
Harry's face grew grim at the knowledge that this had been going on for that long and he had had no clue. Another sharp dagger of pain pierced him as he heard Bill call her 'his flower'. That had been his pet name for her, and he knew in his heart that he had lost her. He closed his eyes, trying to stay calm and organize his thoughts and feelings. He had never been the best at occlumancy and right now he was calling on every scrap of skill he possessed. "I see..."
"'arry, please...I can explain," Fleur managed to get out as she pulled herself free of Bill's grasp. Her English had greatly improved over the last year, though occasionally she still slipped. She held out her hand towards Harry, but recoiled as he turned sharply from her. "'arry, please..."
Bill walked up behind her, now starting to pay attention at the tension between the two of them. "Hang on...were you two...together?" he asked curiously. When he saw the flash of guilt on Fleur's face, he let out a chuckle. "Oh, now this is awkward. The ex meeting the current. Look, Harry, I'd say I'm sorry it went down like this, but Fleur's with me now and I'm not giving her up. She's mine so you better get used to that."
Fleur spun towards Bill and shoved her finger into his chest, forcing him back a step in surprise. "I am not a piece of property to be claimed, William! And we've only gone on a few dates, zat is not enough to claim zat I am 'yours'!"
"Aw, come on, luv. Don't be like that," Bill said as he rubbed his chest were she had poked him. "Tonight was supposed to be special. I have it all planned out and I'm going to make it a night you'll never forget." The gleam of anticipation in his eyes and the clear look of lust made his intentions perfectly clear.
Harry choked back a groan of pain at that, his face lowered and he could feel some tears well up in his eyes. "I see."
"'arry, s'il te plaît, 'et me explain," Fleur was practically begging him now, but Harry refused to look at her.
"What's there to explain? You chose him over me...and didn't even have the decency to let me know," Harry told her, his voice trembling as he tried to suppress his raging emotions. "You told me that you were different from other Veela, but I guess that was a lie. You cheated on me, with my best mate's older brother. We're done, Fleur. I hope the two of you are...happy together." Harry turned away, wiping his eyes swiftly and started walking away from them, his heart shattered into a thousand pieces.
"'Arry! Wait, please!" Fleur shouted as she tried to rush forward to stop him, but she stepped on the fallen ring box and slipped, falling to the ground with her hand still outstretched to her now ex-boyfriend. "Come back, s'il te plaît!"
"Relax, Fleur," Bill said softly as he kneeled down to help her back to her feet. As he helped her back up, she absently grabbed the small item she had tripped over, her eyes widening as she realized what it was. "He's gone now, so you don't have to worry anymore. Hey, maybe we can take our relationship out into the open now? I'm guessing that was the reason you wanted us to keep things quiet?"
Fleur ignored him as she slowly opened the case to reveal a simple yet elegant ring, the band made of white gold, similar in color to her hair, with a small sapphire gem inserted into the metal with Celtic symbols etched into the metal surrounding the gem. It was beautiful and tears started to fall from her eyes as she realized just why Harry had been carrying it with him. "Mon dieu, it's a promise ring...he was going to...and I...what have I done?" Fleur thought to herself as she held up her free hand to cover her mouth, feeling faint and nauseous. Suddenly all the good times she had with Bill, all the kisses they had shared, were like ashes in her mouth and left her feeling hollow.
"Well, seems Potter had some good taste. Though considering that he had been dating you, that's to be expected. Too bad for him, huh?" Bill said with a chuckle as he wrapped his arms around her shocked body and pulled her closer to him as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. When she failed to react, he frowned and turned her around to face him. "Fleur, what's wrong? I know this was unexpected and really bad timing on his part, but that doesn't mean that we can't be happy now that he's out of the picture, does it?"
Fleur felt something inside her snap and her hand lashed out, a thin layer of fire coating her hand, and slapped Bill hard enough to send him to the ground in shock and pain. His hand reflexively went up to his now burned cheek. "What the bloody hell, Fleur! What was that for?" he demanded before going silent at the rage burning in her eyes.
"Fils de pute! I curse the day I gave into your constant requests for a date!"
"Hey, I didn't force you to go out with me," Bill retorted as he stood up, his ears turning red as his temper flared. "And I certainly didn't tell you or ask you to keep it from your boytoy! That's all on you."
Tears streamed down Fleur's cheeks as the truth hit her. He was right, in a way. She hadn't been forced to cheat on Harry, she had done that willingly due to the pressure she had felt from others who didn't approve of her dating Harry, like her mother, or those that thought she was wasted by being single. And she also couldn't deny that while she had felt guilt from hiding the truth from Harry, there had been a thrill of doing something bad and getting away with it...something that now filled her with shame and loathing towards herself.
"Come on, Fleur," Bill said soothingly as he slowly approached her. "I know this all seems bad, but now we have the chance to be happy together. Forget Harry, he doesn't deserve someone like you. And you deserve someone better than him anyway...someone like me. I'll take care of you, treat you right, and you and I can build a life with lots of little ones to keep you busy."
"Is zat all I am to you? A 'rood mare to keep at 'ome raising children while you go off on adventures?" Fleur spat out at him, her anger growing with every word.
"Well, yeah. I know you want to be a curse breaker, but that's no job for a woman. Besides, a woman's place is in the home raising the kids, everyone knows that." Bill seemed to be genuinely confused as to why that only made her more upset.
There was a moment of silence as Fleur looked at Bill with new eyes, now seeing beyond the dashing and handsome facade to the sexist and old fashioned man inside him, and she felt a new wave of shame for falling for his act and deception. Harry had freely accepted her dreams and desires to be something more than what society expected of her. He had even sworn to help her become anything that she wanted to be...and she had thrown all that away for a fling with a man that had zero respect for what she wanted out of life and expected her to be just like his mother and be happy about it.
"Ve are done, William. I can't believe zat I fell for your lies and charming words ven I love 'arry, and he is truly ze better man between ze two of you. I never want to see you again!" she snarled, feathers beginning to appear on her arms as a deep rage filled her.
She spun away as Bill looked at her in shock at being rejected, something that had never happened before to him, and Fleur dashed down the Alley towards the Leaky Cauldron where she had seen Harry heading towards, the ring case still gripped firmly in her hand. She prayed to every god and goddess that she could think of that she wasn't too late to stop him from leaving. But it was already too late as he was gone. As she stumbled out of the entrance to the pub and looked around desperately for any sign of Harry, she fell to her knees and let out a wail of despair and heartbreak, only made worse by the fact that she had no one to blame but herself.
"'ARRY!"
While Fleur and Bill had their argument, Harry had quickly sped up until he was running out of the Alley, shoving his way through the pub before escaping out to muggle London. He took a sharp right and kept running, his heart pounding in his ears and the image of Fleur kissing Bill passionately filling his eyes. Every breath he took felt like he was breathing ground glass, his broken heart introducing him to a new level of agony far worse than Voldemort's crucio as at least with that the pain would eventually fade.
Eventually Harry slowed to a stop, the tears he had shed while he ran had finally dried up, and he wiped his face clear of the remaining wetness as he looked around to see where he had ended up. He let out a scoff as he found himself in front of a bar. He had always heard about how people would go to bars to drink away their pain and sorrows, yet it was only now that he understood the urge. Without any hesitation he walked into the bar, and though he was surprised by how loud it was despite being the middle of the day, he ignored that and headed up to the counter.
When the bartender turned to look at him, Harry used one of the few spells he had learned to use wandlessly to confound him into thinking he was old enough to drink. "What'll it be, lad?"
"Just give me something strong," Harry muttered as he took a seat.
"Huh, work or women, lad?"
When Harry gave the bartender a confused look, the man let out a bark of laughter that reminded Harry a bit of Sirius, which made his heart clench as he suddenly wished his godfather was awake so that he could go to him for advice. "When a man comes in here and asks for something strong like that, it usually involves his job or some woman. So which is it?"
Harry let out a pain filled sigh. "I just broke up with my girlfriend after finding her cheating on me," he told him sadly.
"Damn," the bartender replied with a soft shake of his head. "That'll do it fer sure. You ever had rum, lad?" When Harry shook his head, the bartender turned around and grabbed a bottle from the top shelf that was clear and had a picture of a sunset on the label. He then turned around and poured him a glass from the bottle and then poured him another glass from the soda gun behind the counter. "This here is called Sunset Rum and it's some of the strongest shite I have here, and this soda is coke to chase it down."
Harry gave the man a small grimace that might have been an attempt at a smile before taking the glass of rum and gulping down a decent amount before coughing at the burn, though he could feel a slight numbness as the alcohol quickly took effect.
"Easy there, lad. If yer not used to it, it'll knock you on yer arse right quick," the bartender said with a laugh. "By the way, the name's Mike."
"Harry," was the muttered response as Harry took a smaller sip from his glass before taking a sip from the glass of soda, which helped ease the burn in his mouth and throat from the rum.
"So, Mr. Harry, want to talk about it?" Mike asked curiously as he started to wipe the counter with a rag he pulled from the apron around his waist. When Harry gave him a cautious look, Mike let out another laugh. "They call us bartenders 'stool side therapists' fer a reason, lad. Now come on, you'll feel better fer sharing, trust me."
Harry thought it over, not really wanting to share his pain right now, yet the possibility of it helping ease the agony raging inside him was appealing. After a minute of thinking it over, he was nudged into sharing when Mike offered to make the first round on the house. So, after thinking out how to explain things without revealing anything about magic to the man, Harry started to talk.
"Well, I guess it all started a couple weeks ago during my birthday..."
Once Harry opened up about what happened, he couldn't stop even though he had to be careful about what he said, and Mike was a good listener and only interrupted to ask clarifying questions or to prompt Harry to continue when he was lost in thought.
"So, you went to surprise her for her birthday and ended up being the one who was the one getting a surprise instead," Mike said with a commiserating look, his large hand patting Harry on the shoulder as the boy was leaning forward over the counter, his drink now half empty and he had a very strong buzz going. "I'm sorry you had to find out that way, lad, but maybe it's fer the best? At least you found out before things got too serious, eh?"
"I loved her, Mike," Harry muttered with a slight slurring to his voice. "Hell, I still do, but it just hurts so damn much!"
"I know, lad, and it probably seems hopeless," Mike told him kindly, though he looked away as another customer came up and signaled that he needed another drink, "but I can promise ya that the pain will eventually fade and you'll find some other bird that will fill the hole in yer heart. Now, if you'll excuse me, I got some work to do." Mike refilled his glass with a wink before walking over to the other man to get his order.
Harry just shook his head, unable to imagine finding someone that could ever take Fleur's place in his heart, yet knowing that she had ripped out his heart and shattered it into a thousand pieces. Both his head and his heart with confused and he just wanted to stop feeling. As he continued to sip his drinks, alternating between the glasses as he slowly got used to the burn, Harry slowly became aware of the various conversations going on around him. Most were pointless bragging or talking about sports, but one conversation stood out to his buzzed mind.
"So there I was, blood dripping from my mouth and nose after going through half a dozen so called Royal Marines, and the last one standing had the nerve to say he could handle anything I could!" chuckled an extremely fit and well muscled man at a nearby table with three other men. All of them were just as fit as the first man and had buzz cuts and matching tattoos of an inverted sword with wings flaring upwards from the blade and a ribbon cutting across the blade with the words 'Who Dares Wins' on the ribbon. Even to his sheltered upbringing, these four men just screamed 'military' to him.
"So what did you do, mate?" asked one of the other men curiously.
"I challenged him to do the Fan Dance!" the first man said with a loud laugh.
While Harry had no idea what that was, the other three obviously knew and they all started laughing before raising their glasses in a toast. "So how'd he do?" one of them asked after he took a gulp of beer.
"The bugger got half way up the mountain and gave up. Had to carry his lazy arse back down."
"Classic! Bet that taught that nancy boy a lesson he won't soon forget."
"He should have known better than to challenge the SAS, eh lads?" the first man said boisterously as he raised his glass.
"Who dares wins!" the four men all said together before clinking their glasses together and taking another drink.
Something about the four men called to Harry, igniting a small spark of hope inside him as an idea started to form in his tipsy mind. He had no desire to spend any time around Fleur, which was going to be damn difficult considering that she was part of the Order, worked at the only Wizarding bank in Britain, and was constantly at Hogwarts completing her Mastery in charms. But if he could find a way out, maybe he should take it...besides, despite his best efforts, Dumbledore still refused to give Harry any real training, and despite their best efforts, there was only so much that Sirius and Mad Eye could teach him last year with all the restrictions the Headmaster had placed on them.
Even Harry had heard of the legendary SAS, the best of the best and one of the oldest Special Forces in the world. He picked up his glass and made his way over to the group of soldiers.
"Um, sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help overhearing. You lot are SAS, right?" Harry asked cautiously.
"What's it to you?" the first man asked with a grin.
"Well, I was hoping that if you were, you could tell me how to join up?" Harry said with a wince at how lame that sounded.
The four men all shared an amused glance before laughing as they looked at Harry, who had switched from looking embarrassed to looking defiant at their laughter. "You got stones, kid, I'll give you that. Not many people would walk up to us and just ask how to join, so color me impressed. Pull up a seat, lad. My name is Jason, these here twats are Jack, John, and Steven," Jason said as he pointed to each man in turn.
Harry gave them all a nod of his head at the introduction as he grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it up to their table. "I'm Harry...Black," he told them, deciding to give a slightly different name just in case this actually worked. Everyone would be looking for Harry Potter, but few would think that he'd go by Harry Black, they'd probably expect him to go by Evans to honor his mum. Then again, they may think he'd go by Black too...he cursed his alcohol influenced mind as he was stuck now and had to deal with things as they came.
"So, why you want to join up, lad?" Steven asked curiously as a waitress came by with another round of beers for the group.
"I've got my reasons," Harry told him as he took another drink of his rum.
"Uh huh, let me guess...girl trouble?" Jason said with a cocky smirk.
Harry gave him a shocked look before rubbing his face in annoyance. "Bloody hell, is that printed on my bloody forehead or something?"
"Sorry, lad, but it's kinda obvious," Jack chuckled in amusement. "A kid as young as you, sulking in a bar, and wanting to enlist in the toughest military unit in the world? No brainer."
"How old are you anyway?" Jason asked curiously as he gave Harry a shrewd look.
"Uh, eighteen?" Harry said cautiously before coughing as he saw them share another look. "Really, I am. I just, uh, look younger than I really am!"
"Bet that's why his girl dumped him," Steven said with a laugh, elbowing Harry who was sitting next to him.
Even though Harry knew the other man was joking around, he felt a raw surge of rage flood him. It was obvious that joke hit a nerve to the other men, and Jason let out a low whistle. "Shite, that's what happened?"
Harry let out a long sigh as he felt the anger drain away as fast as it came, leaving him numb again. He took another drink, draining the last of the rum as he did, before shaking his head. "Actually, I broke up with her after I found her cheating on me...with my best mate's older brother."
The four men all groaned as they heard that. It was something they weren't unfamiliar with, having known many guys in the service that had that happen to them. "Bugger, that's a tough go for you, lad. I don't envy you right now," Jason told him sincerely, the others nodding in agreement. He then waved to get the waitress' attention and motioned for her to bring another beer for their new friend. She quickly provided the new drink and after she left, Jason slid the beer across the table over to Harry, who easily caught it as it started to tip over.
"Thanks, mate...for the drink and the sentiment. Yeah, it hurts," Harry said, not wanting to even consider just how much he was hurting at the moment, "and I can't go back to my old life as she was a very big part of it. So, how do I join up with you guys?"
The four men were all willing to let Harry change the subject and they decided to go with it. "Well, normally you'd have to already be enlisted in the military. SAS only recruits from active service," John said lowly, his voice having a slight rasp to it. Judging by the 'extra mileage' on him, Harry guessed that he was the oldest of the group. "But there is a way for civilians like you. The SAS Reserve."
"True, they get almost all the same training as us, so it won't be a walk in the park, mate," Jason told Harry seriously. "The drop out rate is extremely high, but if you make it through, you'll be worthy of being called a 'blade' like the rest of us."
Jason looked to his fellow SAS with a questioning gaze, tilting his head towards Harry before giving them a shrug. The other three men glanced at each other before giving a shrug. If the kid wanted to try, who were they to tell him not to? If he failed, well at least he tried. If he passed, then he had already proved his worth. Seeing their agreement, Jason turned back to Harry who had been following their non-verbal exchange with interest.
"Alright, tell you what, mate, if you really want to join up then I'll help you get started. I know the recruiter for the Reserve, he and I are old mates," Jason said to Harry. "It won't be easy, and I assume you have the proper documents to confirm your identity?" The way he said it told Harry that he didn't buy his 'I just look young' story.
Harry fought back a flinch, but his alcohol buzzed mind quickly came up with a solution. He had heard from Sirius the previous year that the Goblins could get someone anything they needed if they had enough gold. He would have to see if that included muggle identities for wizards. "That shouldn't be a problem."
"Right, well as long as you can prove who you say you are and pass all the basic requirements and tests, then you shouldn't have any issues. Meet me here in two days, say about noon, and I'll take you to get started, sound good to you?" Jason said with a smirk, throwing down the gauntlet to the boy.
Harry just smirked back and raised his beer in a salute. "Sounds perfect."
The group of men shared a laugh and the five of them spent another couple hours just chatting and sharing jokes. Harry even shared some of his adventures, changing the parts about magic to something they'd understand. Harry found that he liked the older guys and the four soldiers found something of a kindred spirit in the young man sitting with them. They eventually had to leave and Harry made his way back to Diagon Alley to rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the next couple days.
The next day he found that his assumption had luckily been correct and the goblins were able to create a new identity for him as Harry Black, with all the necessary documents, records, and identifications he would need. His luck had also held in avoiding Fleur for the next two days as she had requested time off so that she could try and find him, though she had given her work a different reason that was more acceptable for them.
The following morning he collected the supplies he had purchased and his new identity and headed off to meet Jason. It was the last time he would be seen in Diagon Alley for a very long time.
Fleur was wallowing in despair following her absolute fuck up. There was no other description for what she had done. She had taken the most amazing gift she had been given, Harry's trust and love, and she hadn't just thrown it away...no, she had ripped it apart, spit on it, and then flushed it down the drain.
"I really know how to make myself feel worse about myself," Fleur thought to herself with a sigh. Even though Veela were naturally beautiful and always looked amazing, Fleur knew that she looked how she felt. Absolutely horrible.
She had spent the last two weeks searching high and low for Harry, but she had come up empty every time. After spending three fruitless days searching, she had found out that he had been seen at Diagon Alley and so she had questioned people who had seen him, only to find out that he had left before she had come back and hadn't been seen since. After that, she had to let the Order know so that they'd have a better chance of finding him before something happened to him.
Every night she had nightmares about both the day he had found her cheating on him as well as nightmares about what might happen to him out on his own with Voldemort and his Death Eaters looking for him. Dreams of him being tortured and killed haunted her when she wasn't dreaming of the pain on his face or how he had looked at her like all his hopes and dreams had died.
However, even with all the various Order members searching for him, none of them had any luck as by that point Harry had been accepted into the SAS Reserve training and was nowhere near where they were looking. Eventually, days turned into weeks with no sign of their lost hero. And seeing as the story of why Harry had vanished eventually came out, Fleur was dealing with the scorn and derision from everyone in the Order, either for simply breaking his heart or for dating someone so young and then breaking his heart.
Bill had been of no help as he hadn't taken her dumping him well and had made it seem like she had seduced him instead of him actively pursuing her and wearing her down until she accepted. Nothing she had said made a difference to them and she had found herself shunned by most of the Order. The looks of disgust and hatred from the pink haired Auror Tonks were especially harsh whenever the two women met.
When Sirius had eventually been woken up from his coma, he had been furious and had torn into her. He had thought the two of them had been perfect for each other and that they would go the distance, and to find out that she had cheated on his godson had made him feel betrayed by her. He had been about to ban her from his home forever when she showed him the ring box that Harry had dropped, sobbing her heart out as she did.
"I know you 'ate me, Sirius, and I don't blame you at all. I 'ate myself even more zan you can imagine," she told him softly, tears flowing from her eyes as he slowly opened the box to see the ring that Harry had meant for Fleur to have. "I juzt want to make sure he iz safe."
Seeing the amount of pain and self-loathing that Fleur was feeling managed to break through his rage and he found himself slowly pulling her into an awkward hug. Fleur grabbed onto him and sobbed into his shoulder, grateful beyond belief for the smallest shred of sympathy even if she knew she didn't deserve it.
"Fleur, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you for this. What were you thinking?" he couldn't help but growl out his question.
"I...It was stupid," Fleur eventually managed to get out. "William 'as kept asking me out for dates since I started working at Gringotts, and I never 'ad a problem telling 'im no. When my mozer heard that 'e wanted to date me, she kept pressuring me to accept. She never liked zat I was dating zomeone younger zan me, she zaid it wazn't proper and zat I should find zomeone more respectable."
"So you caved to them? Why didn't you tell Harry? Why didn't you break it off after the first date and tell your mother that it didn't work out?" Sirius asked her firmly as he pulled her back slightly so he could look her in the eyes.
"I 'ad planned to do zat, I swear," Fleur told him earnestly, desperate for him to believe her. "But...it was different zen when I went out with 'Arry. It was...nice and 'e was charming and funny. I zought that one more date wouldn't do any 'arm...and zen zere was more dates..."
"And then you let him kiss you? Why would you do something so stupid?" Sirius snapped at her, though he felt some regret when he saw her flinch inwards on herself, her arms pulling away to wrap around herself in a self hug.
"I don't know. I didn't expect it, and it was nice so...I let 'im do it again," she told him sadly, knowing that there was no excusing that part, no one to blame but herself.
"From what I heard you two were doing more than casual kissing in the Alley," Sirius said with a glare, his words piercing her like a knife.
"I 'ave no excuse, Sirius," Fleur told him, unable to look him in the eyes. "I got caught up in ze thrill of it and let zings go too far."
"I'm going to ask you something personal, Fleur, but I want a straight answer from you," Sirius told her grimly, his tone cold and hard. "Did you sleep with Bill?"
Fleur's head shot up to look at him, indignation and shock in her eyes. "No! Of course not! I may have let zings go too far but I would never do zat to 'arry. Never!"
Sirius let out a soft sigh of relief. While he was still furious with the girl, and that wouldn't be changing any time soon, at least she had kept herself from making a truly unforgivable mistake. That thought made him pause and consider that in a different light.
"Fleur, right now I am struggling not to say or do anything I'll regret later. I know how much Harry loved you, this ring is clear proof of his feelings for you, but until you make things right..." he trailed off as his mind struggled to put his thoughts and feelings into words.
"Please, 'ow can I do zat?" Fleur blurted out as she latched onto his words like a drowning person would grab a lifeline. "'ow can I fix zis? Seeing how much he 'urt and watching 'im walk away from me made me realize just 'ow much he meant to me."
"I don't know, Fleur. Maybe if I hadn't been hurt so badly I might have been able to stop him from leaving like he did, but I wasn't around to do so," Sirius replied as he shifted away from her before standing and walking over to a bottle of firewhiskey. He poured two glasses and brought them back over to where Fleur still sat, looking like the most miserable person in existence at the moment. He pushed one glass into her hand before retaking his seat to look at her while he sipped from his glass.
"Harry left, no doubt because of you, and no one can find him. We've looked everywhere we can think of where he might have gone, hell I even went to Godric's Hollow to see if he had gone to his parent's old cottage there. At this point...I think we have to accept that he's not coming back any time soon," he told her with a stern look as she slowly started to drink. "If you want to make things right, then you will find him and do whatever it takes to fix what you broke, though I don't know how successful you'll be with that. We both know that Harry isn't one to trust easily and when you lose his trust, good luck getting it back."
They both had seen that in regards to Ron Weasley. While him and Harry had reconciled after the Triwizard fiasco, Harry had never trusted Ron the same again. And the same held true for every student that had worn the 'Potter Stinks' badges. Harry would be perfectly polite to them, but he was also very obvious about keeping them at arms length.
Sirius shook his head and took a drink before continuing. "Way I see it, you've got two choices. First is that you accept that it's over between you and Harry and you move on with your life," he told her bluntly. The glare that she leveled at him almost made him smile in amusement, but he was in no mood for that right now. He was honestly surprising himself by giving advice and support to the girl that had so brutally betrayed and broken the heart of his godson, but there was a small part of him that thought that just maybe they could make things right. "The second option is that you do whatever it takes to find Harry, no matter where that might take you, and you get down on your knees and beg him for forgiveness and do your best to explain what happened before accepting whatever he decides...even if that means having nothing more to do with you. At least that way you'll have some closure and know that you did your best to fix things."
Fleur grimaced at the two options, as neither one gave her much hope of fixing things between herself and the man she loved. "Where do I start to look for 'im?" she asked softly, staring into the glass of firewhiskey.
"Hell if I know," was the frank response from Sirius. "But if we haven't found any trace of him by now, he might not be in Britain anymore."
Fleur nodded in agreement as that thought had come to her a few times recently. The two of them sat in awkward silence for several minutes, each lost in their thoughts as they sipped from their drinks. Finally, Fleur finished her drink in one go, set the glass down, and then stood up with renewed purpose.
"I will find 'im, Sirius. I swear zat I won't give up until I do, no matter 'ow long it takes or where my search may take me. I love 'im," she said resolutely, though she looked guilty when Sirius scoffed. "I know I messed up, I don't deny zat and I will regret what I did for ze rest of my life, but I truly love 'im and I will do whatever it takes to prove zat."
Looking at the young blonde Veela, Sirius somehow found himself believing her despite how angry he was with her. He raised his glass in a silent toast to her as she left. "Good luck...you'll need it."
Ok, so this was a plot bunny that refused to leave me alone...along with a crap ton of other ideas for stories I've had over the last year. I may continue it or I may just leave it as is. If anyone wants to continue it on their own, just let me know and give me credit when you do.
"s'il te plaît" - Please
"Fils de pute" - Son of a bitch