When Harry decided to meet Fleur Delacour to see if she would be suitable as his sporting agent in the future, he made plans to visit France between the testing sessions at Jerez and Barcelona. With only a few days separating both, it gave Harry a small window of time to fly to France and meet Delacour.
The evening after James and Athena arrived in Spain, Harry asked him "Do you have the address of Fleur Delacour's office? I didn't find it in the file you gave me, and I want to meet with her before returning home." The file had mostly been notes and remarks written by another sporting agent who had taken an interest in the young woman, guiding and mentoring her in the business. There were also basic contact information, like an e-mail address, but that was that.
James frowned. "What do you mean, before returning home?"
"Well, I thought it would be more convenient to go to France after the test rather than go back home and then plan a new trip."
Hearing his father laugh hadn't been the reaction he expected. "France? Her office is not in France! She live in Britain!"
"What?!" Harry exclaimed. "You told me she was French!" Athena was laughing her head off.
"Yes, I said she was French. Not that she lived in France."
"Yeah, Harry! Learn to make the difference!" Athena piped in with a grin. Harry gave her the middle finger.
"No middle fingers." James sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Where did you two get the idea of giving yourself the middle finger every time you are being teased by the other?" he asked, mostly to himself.
Both of his children answered together. "You and Sirius."
James blanched, remembering all the times he and Sirius had done exactly that. He turned to look at their smirking faces. "Not a word of that to your mother, capiche?" he said. "She won't care if you're both adults. She will kill me if she finds out!"
The siblings laughed at their father.
"But seriously," Harry eventually said. "She's in Britain, fine. But where is her office?"
"It's in Milton Keynes, if I remember correctly." James answered.
"Milton Keynes?" Harry said, interested.
Milton Keynes, current home of the Jaguar Formula One team, was located half-an-hour away from the B.A.R. factory in Brackley. Interestingly, the circuit of Silverstone sat right in between Brackley and Milton Keynes. Harry quite liked the idea that his agent wouldn't be too far away from his workplace. That, and Milton Keynes was an hour drive away from Oxford, where Hermione had returned the week prior to begin her last term at university.
A plan to meet Hermione and travel to Milton Keynes formed right then and there in his mind.
After landing at Heathrow Airport the day following the end of the test at Jerez, Harry said goodbye to Athena and their dad before getting into his black Honda and driving away. He decided to first stop at Oxford to meet Hermione and spend the night with her. His meeting with Fleur Delacour would take place the morning of the next day, a meeting which Harry had arranged with her by e-mails.
But, before Delacour was Hermione. Harry smiled at the thought of her. He missed his girlfriend.
Hermione also missed Harry greatly, as she hadn't seen him or heard his voice since the beginning of the previous week. However, she forced herself not to think about her boyfriend, and to concentrate on the challenging piece of homework sitting on the table in front of her. She needed to complete for next Monday.
Hermione had gone to the library to work on her homework. Having a wealth of literary resources at her fingertips would certainly help her with her work. That, and the library was very quiet. All she could hear was the faint hum of the ventilation, a coughing student on the other side of the library (which, to be frank, was a bit annoying), and pages being turned.
It was the perfect place for Hermione to calm down and gather her thoughts. If only Harry didn't keep popping in her mind every few minutes. She kept trying to focus, but Harry inevitably came back to the forefront of her mind. His smiles, his kisses, the way he held her-
Stop!
Hermione sighed, rubbing her face. Now was not the time to act like a schoolgirl with a crush. She had an important homework to complete for her important class. She needed to research a specific law from the Victorian era and write an essay about whether the law should remain on the books or be repealed to better conform with this day and age. She already researched the law in question, but she could not for the life of her put her thoughts into words.
She was sitting her back at one of the entrances to the library. Hermione did not see the doors open to let someone in, but she did hear them open. She did not pay them any mind until she suddenly felt a pair of arms slip around her.
"Hello, beautiful." whispered a voice in her ear.
"Harry?" Hermione gasped quietly, looking around. Harry's face was right next to hers, smirking.
Seeing her dumbfounded made him smile. He gave her a quick kiss before releasing her. He sat down on the chair next to hers.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but how did you get here?" Hermione whispered. Harry wasn't a student here, and there were security guards to ensure people could not just waltz in the university like Harry had.
"Dad and Sirius taught me a few tricks when I was younger. It helps that I am the age to attend university, so the students and professors I encountered didn't pay me any mind." he shrugged. "Also, the security guard in the entrance was a big fan of Formula One. I just had to say I was there to see my girlfriend, and he let me right in."
"Of course." Hermione groaned. It made sense now that Harry could just slip him in if the security guard let him do it. While she was happy to see her boyfriend, she could not help but feel like his presence was a huge breach of security. What if Harry wasn't such a good person? What if they weren't dating? What if Harry was a bad person who wanted to harass her? The security guard didn't even think to look for an ulterior motive. He just saw a Formula One driver, and let him right through.
She was at least reassured to know there were only twenty-two Formula One drivers in the world, and only one of them (Harry) had any reason to show up at the University of Oxford. Chances of such an incident happening again were minimal.
Well, unless it was Harry. But she wanted him here, so he didn't count.
"Anyway," Harry said very quietly to not disturb other students. "What are you working on?"
"An essay on an obscure law." she answered with another groan.
"Can I help in one way or another?"
She shook her head. "No, but thank you for offering." she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Harry smiled and nodded. A few moments passed, before something crossed Hermione's mind. "Actually, can you go get a book for me?"
"Sure. What is the name?"
Hermione took a bit of paper and wrote the name. "Here." she said, passing him the piece of paper. "There are computers that can find the book for you. Just type the name in."
"Alright. See you in a moment." Harry said. He stood up and walked away, piece of paper in hand.
Hermione smiled. She was glad Harry was here, despite the way he got there in the first place. Maybe now that he was here, she would finally be able to concentrate on her piece of homework.
Hermione and Harry remained in the library for another few hours. Hermione could tell Harry was bored the whole time. And yet, like a champ, he never once complained. He stood up multiple times to go get a random book from one of the shelves to read and pass the time with.
She became used to seeing him stand up every fifteen-or-so minutes to put his book back on the shelves and get another one. When she realized she hadn't seen him move for the last hour, she turned to see what he was doing, only to find him deeply engrossed in a book about engineering – specifically on internal combustion engines.
Hermione chuckled fondly. Of course Harry would be interested by that.
When Hermione put her homework in her backpack and finally called it quits for the day, Harry was very grateful. Together, they left the library and made their way to her dorm room, where she dropped her bag. It was then they were finally able to speak freely without fear of disturbing others.
"So, why are you here, Harry?" Hermione asked him, removing her coat. "I thought you would be in Spain for the next week."
Harry, who was sitting on her bed, answered. "And I will be. I'm leaving back for Barcelona Saturday morning."
"Oh. Then why bother come back here? Don't get me wrong, I am very happy to see you. I missed you like crazy. I just don't understand the detour." Jerez and Barcelona were in the same country, after all. So why was Harry in Britain? And why come in the middle of a school week, when opportunities to visit her were limited due to her classes?
"Well, like you said, I missed you." he grinned with a charming smile.
She moved to stand in front of him. "But there is another reason, no?" she asked, seeing right through him.
Harry's smile fell. He sighed. "Yes, there is another reason." he revealed. "I have a meeting planned with my potential new sports agent tomorrow in Milton Keynes."
"That's a bit far away." Hermione muttered, her hands raising to play with Harry's hair. He leaned forward closer to her. She could practically see his eyes rolling back in pleasure.
"Yeah..." he whispered dreamily. "But if I didn't come here, it was either spend the night at home and leave at six in the morning for a two and a half hour long drive, or go to Milton Keynes directly after landing and renting an hotel. I didn't want to miss on the opportunity to see you, though. So here I am."
She hummed. "You know, last time you slept in my dorm, you were almost caught by security when you left. You could get in trouble."
"Worth it." he muttered, making her smile. "Or maybe we won't be in trouble, if the security guard is the fan I met earlier."
"Hope it is him for the comfort of having you around? Or hope they aren't him for the comfort of knowing the security guard will actually do their job? Which to chose?"
"Aww, Hermione!" Harry moaned. "I'm starting to think you don't want me around!" he pouted.
Grinning, Hermione leaned down until they were face to face. "Really? How can I convince you otherwise?"
"Well, I can think of a few things." he smirked.
Then, to her surprise, Harry grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in her bed with him. She yelped. And then giggled.
"Haarrrry!" she whined.
Harry merely smirked before kissing her full on the lips.
The next morning, after dodging a security guard who was definitively not the same man he met the day before, Harry left Oxford for Milton Keynes. He arrived two hours later, after making a pit stop by the BAR Factory at Brackley to do some quick paperwork. He arrived at nine in the morning, an hour before his meeting with Delacour was scheduled to take place.
To pass time, Harry drove to the Jaguar factory in the south-east of the town. He avoided spending too much time there, least someone recognized him and accused him of either spying on Jaguar, or trying to defect to another team. He really didn't need Autosport to headline with "Potter seen at Jaguar factory!". That would cause more problems than it was worth.
Finally, after forty minutes of driving around Milton Keynes uselessly, Harry finally made his way toward the small building where Fleur Delacour's office was located, which was right outside the city centre. The first floor of the building was occupied by a clothing store. It's architecture was the only thing that hinted how old the building really was, as it looked very well maintained.
Harry parked his car in front of the building and stepped out. He entered through the only door. Inside, he found a large glass door leading inside the clothing store to his right. There was also a staircase facing him. On the left wall was a small plaque saying DELACOUR OFFICE with an arrow pointing upstairs.
Following the directions, Harry walked up the stairs and landed in a small hallway. Once more, he found a plaque, this time leading him toward another door. He found a third plaque on the door.
Fleur Delacour
Sports Agent
Harry knocked.
There was a moment of silence. And then...
"Come in!" came an accented voice.
Harry entered the office. It was surprisingly big, with large windows on one wall, allowing those inside to see the street below and the buildings facing them. In front of the windows was a large desk, behind which sat a very beautiful woman. He could tell just from the way she looked that a lot of men (and women) would throw themselves at her feet just for a chance to spend some time in her company.
"Hi, I'm Harry Potter. I'm a bit early, so I hope I'm not disturbing you?"
"Fleur Delacour. But call me Fleur." she introduced herself back with a polite smile. "And you are not disturbing me. It was a slow morning." He nodded and closed the door. "Take a seat." she said, nodding toward one of the two chairs facing the desk.
Harry sat in one of the chairs.
"So," she began. "You are interested in my services?"
"Yes." he confirmed.
"I did a bit of research on your before our meeting. You are a Formula One driver, right?"
"Indeed, I am." he confirmed again. "As of right now, my father has been my sporting agent since I was a child. A few years ago, we came to an agreement where I would find someone to take over the management of my career and allow him to retire from the position once I completed my first season in Formula One. Here we are."
"I see." she frowned. "Z'ere is something I am curious about. Why me? I have no experience in Formula One, or knowledge in motorsports in general. You had to know z'is when you asked for a meeting with me. So, why?"
Harry leaned back in his chair. "There were a few factors that pointed me toward you. I wanted someone close to my age I could more easily relate to. Someone who didn't have a lot of work on their hands as I didn't want me or their other clients to suffer from their manager being overworked. Finally, I wanted someone with a no-nonsense attitude, someone who could smell the crap and call out others for it, who wouldn't hesitate in a contract negotiation to use everything she could to get the best deals possible." He then shrugged. "In the end, you were the only one in our list of sporting agents who fitted all the requirements.
"As for you not having experience, that's not necessarily a bad thing, in my opinion. Sometimes, what you need is someone with a fresh perspective. And, I have no problem answering any questions you have about the sport."
It was Fleur's turn to lean in her chair. Her hands played with a pen as she thought. "Okay." she said. She smiled. "I am interested. Let's negotiate further."
Harry returned the smile.
They spent the following two hours discussing Fleur's employment contract and made a draft on the computer. Once they had every detail figured out, they printed the contract and signed it.
And, with that, Fleur was now hired.
After shaking hands, Harry departed Fleur's office and made his way to Brackley where, in his office at the BAR Factory, he sent an e-mail to management to announce the change of sporting agent, and to redirect everything to Fleur rather than James.
A/N: A shorter chapter, I know. But, this part was supposed to be in the previous chapter.
Next chapter will feature Hermione's reaction to Fleur. Thought I just want to remind you all that this is a light-hearted fic, so there won't be a lot of angst, that's just not the type of fic. ;)