Setting the Record Straight

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Chapter 4: Casting Calls & Coffee

In a bustling coffee shop in the downtown area of Hollywood, California, a young man with black hair jutting at spiky angles, wearing a barista's apron and uniform, made coffee for the thirsty customers who came in everyday for their fix of caffeinated liquid. This young barista was named Harry Potter, originally from Britain, he had come to Hollywood to make a career. Or at least that's what he would tell you. Truth be told, Harry wasn't sure where he wanted to go in life; it was only last year he had graduated from college in the UK and he hadn't decided what he wanted to do or be in life. He came to America on a whim and found himself in the glitzy glamorous city of Hollywood.

Harry had no interest in becoming a big name movie or tv star, so he wasn't sure why he was even in the city of many famous actors and entertainers. There were plenty of celebrities around the place, but there were dozens if not hundreds of those who wanted to break into the acting game.

Harry took a job as a barista until he decided what he want to become. And while the work was busy, it wasn't unbearable. There were many would-be actors and even writers who frequented the coffee shop Harry worked at. Most of them were wannabes; wanting to break into the industry for fame and glory and not for the passion of acting itself. The writers who often sat in corner booths penning the next big screenplay often threw out their screenplays in frustration when they couldn't figure out what to write next.

On the rare occasion, a big name celebrity would drop by to get a coffee and if/when they were recognised by the patrons, they were immediately swarmed and not long after, paparazzi would show and the day would get even longer as social media influencers looking for the next viral hit by getting tiktok video with an actor like Brad Pitt would come by and just make things worse.

Days like that grated on Harry's nerves, but there wasn't much he could do about that. He had to roll with the punches as it were.

But out of all the customers who came to the coffee shop, there was one individual who stood out from the rest. An expatriate like Harry, she was a French girl named Fleur Delacour. While Harry never considered himself a shallow man by any means, he certainly didn't have anything negative to say about Fleur; she was stunning beautiful; silver-blonde hair, deep blue eyes, a body that women would sell their own families to possess and grace & poise that came naturally to her.

Like many in Hollywood, Fleur wanted to be an actress, which sometimes confused Harry as he would privately think that she would be better off being a model walking runways in Milan than be on the silver screen. But unlike all the other wanna-be starlets wanting to make it big in Hollywood, Fleur actually had talent. Casting directors didn't seem to think so however as Harry had never once seen Fleur's name in the credits of any big screen films.

Fleur was also a regular at Harry's workplace and they immediately formed a friendly rapport with each other. Some days, Fleur came in, not to order anything, but because she wanted to see Harry himself. Harry wasn't sure why Fleur came to see him so often, but whenever the doorbell rang and he saw Fleur enter the shop, his mood, no matter dour it was in the moment, would be lifted instantly.

Soon the morning rush was over and it was starting to quiet down. Something Harry was grateful for. Just then the door swung open and the bell rang. With a sigh, Harry prepared to serve a late customer only to see who it was and smile widely. Fleur Delacour in her silvery glory. Dressed in some casual yet stylish clothing and carrying a designer tote that would've cost someone their liver to pay for, Fleur entered the shop blowing some stray silver-blonde hairs out of her face with a frustrated sigh.

Harry noted that Fleur looked tired and frustrated as she walked up to the counter. Either to talk to him, or order her usual, Harry gave Fleur a kind smile. "Morning, Fleur. The usual?" he asked knowingly.

"Oui, please, and one of your chocolate slices as well," came Fleur's tired almost terse reply.

Harry raised an eyebrow. Fleur only ever ordered a chocolate slice when she was tired and frustrated with something. "Hard morning?" he noted gently as he set about making Fleur's usual cup of coffee.

"You don't know the half of it," Fleur sighed irritably as she leaned on the counter to talk to him. "Went to three casting auditions this morning," she began and her bowed as she said, "Not one callback from any of them…" A truly upset look was on Fleur's face as her bottom lip trembled.

Harry decided to put in an extra shot of espresso and picked out a slightly bigger chocolate slice from the chilled section. "That must be hard," he offered comfortingly.

"I know!" Fleur exclaimed in despair. "I go to all these auditions and casting calls and not one of them asks me to come back!" she almost shouted. "Is there something wrong with me? Am I not a good enough actress?" Harry's heart almost broke at seeing the unhappy expression on his favourite customer's face.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with you, Fleur," Harry said to her firmly as he passed her coffee and slice. "You just gotta keep trying. I know next to nothing about the acting business, but do you think the likes of Julia Roberts didn't get where they are because they gave up?" he told her.

Fleur did not respond and Harry continued. "They kept going because they knew that if they persevered, they would land the part they wanted. And that's what you gotta do, you have to keep trying."

Fleur sighed despondently and said, "I don't know if I can…"

"You can and you will," Harry rebutted. "Even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming to every audition because I know that you have the talent to make it," he told her. "So, are you gonna sit around moping and give up on your dream? Or are you going to keep trying?" he asked.

Fleur looked at Harry for a long moment, before taking a sip of coffee and speaking slowly. "There is a casting call for a part in an upcoming production," she began tentatively.

"And?" Harry asked as he looked at Fleur evenly.

"I was wondering if maybe you would… help me?" Fleur asked looking very nervous. When Harry raised an eyebrow, she quickly said, "I need some help to get inside the character's head as I'm struggling to get in their mindset!"

Harry looked at Fleur for a moment before nodding. "Alright. I'll help you," he said. "See me after I get off work and we'll see what we can do to get inside the head of the part," he instructed.

Fleur looked relieved and gushed, "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

After Harry finished his shift for the day, he met Fleur and went to her flat. True to any working actor looking to make it big in the industry, Fleur's flat was close to all the casting studios so as to be within walking distance when casting directors were looking for actors for new parts.

Harry then helped Fleur with the process of learning the inner workings of the character's mindset. The part wasn't the lead role or the love interest, but it was a major character in the cast. The movie was going to be a murder mystery of people meeting in a remote mansion invited by a mysterious host who was blackmailing them with incriminating evidence on them only to be murdered by one of them.

Harry and Fleur spent nearly the entire night getting inside the character's head. And throughout the whole time, Fleur sat inordinately close to Harry, so close that she practically melted into his side. And whenever she asked Harry a question, she looked at him with something akin to admiration.

"Fleur?"

"Hm?" Fleur blinked at Harry in surprise. "What is it?" she asked.

"You've been looking at me oddly the whole time I've been here," Harry pointed out. "Is there something I'm doing wrong?" he asked in concern.

"No, you're doing nothing wrong," Fleur flapped a hand at him dismissively but the blush on her cheeks told Harry otherwise.

"I am and you're not telling me what I'm doing wrong," Harry retorted. "Is it me? Should I leave you alone to figure things out?" he asked kindly.

Fleur bit her bottom lip and blushed even harder. Harry took this as a sign that he should leave and he stood from up his seat. "Well, I think I know when I'm not wanted. Let me know how the audition goes." As he prepared to leave the flat, Harry felt Fleur's hand wrap around his wrist and he was suddenly pulled back.

"Wait! Please don't leave!" Harry turned his head to see the desperate expression on Fleur's face.

"What?" Harry asked stupidly.

"I find you… distracting!" Fleur blurted out, her cheeks going red as cherries.

"…What?" came the less than intelligent response from Harry.

"You distract me," Fleur said more succinctly. "I look at you and find myself mesmerised by you," she told him.

"You… think I mesmerise you?" Harry in disbelief.

Fleur nodded and said, "Yes. I've found you so distracting ever since I met last year. All the times I came into your shop and didn't order a coffee from you just to talk to you? It was because I wanted to… to…" she faltered.

"Wanted to what?" Harry asked feeling a little nervous himself.

"I wanted to ask you out!" Fleur proclaimed. "I always found you attractive in so many ways! The way you work so patiently, even when it is busy and you always take the time to talk to me even though you have other customers waiting on you," she listed off. "But I hesitated because I thought you might already have a girlfriend, or you weren't interested in me that way," she said sadly.

"Fleur. I don't have a girlfriend," Harry said to her firmly. Fleur looked at him in surprise.

"You don't have a girlfriend?" she asked slowly and Harry shook his head in response. "I… never knew," Fleur mumbled as she looked at her feet bewildered.

"Yeah, well my work doesn't leave me too much time to find a steady girlfriend or even a casual hookup," Harry admitted.

"Me neither," Fleur said sheepishly. "But when I saw you the first time, you were someone I wanted to be with," she added sincerely.

"So, was all this just a ruse to get me to your place?" Harry joked.

Fleur shrugged and replied, "Yes, and no. I do need your help to get ready for the casting audition. I actually do need help in that regard."

"And the no?" Harry prompted.

"Well, I would be lying if I said I didn't want to have some… fun with you," Fleur's cheeks went pink.

Harry felt himself blushing and smiling as well. "So, what do we do now?" he asked.

"Well, we could continue with the creative process, or we could get creative in other ways," Fleur said to him. Harry opted for the latter.

Fleur practically threw Harry onto the bed in her room and pounced him and the rest of the night was spent writhing against each other and moaning to high heaven. Then morning came where Fleur went in for the audition and she didn't come back.

Harry went back to his day job, figuring Fleur was just busy with more casting auditions. But he had to admit that he wanted to see his favourite customer in the shop again.

Then three days later at the ending of the working week, Fleur came back. Harry couldn't help notice that there was a bounce in her step. Hell, she was practically glowing with the way she smiled radiantly. She came skipping up to the counter, presumably to order a coffee.

"Hey, you're in a good mood," Harry remarked as he prepared to make Fleur's usual. "Any reason why?" he enquired.

"Something amazing happened!" Fleur gushed excitedly.

"Really? What? Did you get the part you auditioned for?" Harry asked feeling happy for Fleur.

Fleur shook her head in response. "You didn't get the part," Harry concluded, now wondering why Fleur was so happy.

"I got the lead role!" Fleur informed him excitedly. Harry couldn't stop himself as he suddenly kissed Fleur on the lips in excitement and happiness for her.

"That's amazing! I'm so proud of you!" Harry shouted as he removed his lips from Fleur's.

"I know! It wasn't even the role I was auditioning for you!" Fleur exclaimed. "I couldn't have done without you!"

"Well, I'm glad you got your big break after all," Harry said with a happy smile. "So, what now?" he asked.

Fleur's face fell at this. "Well, filming takes place on location in Canada. I will have to move away for filming… I might not come back," she said softly.

Although happy for her, Harry would be lying if he said it didn't sting to realise that he might not ever see Fleur ever again. "I guess this means goodbye…" he said reluctantly and he turned away to wipe away a tear of melancholy. But Fleur's grasped his cheek to turn his head to look at Fleur.

"Don't be absurd, Harry," she said to him sternly. She then smiled slyly. "I need my acting coach after all."

Harry blushed as he stammered out, "I-I don't know what to say. I'm not qualified to be an acting coach!" he protested.

"Of course you are!" Fleur argued passionately. "You helped me get the lead role. That's more than enough for me," she said as if it were fact. "Besides, are you really going to spend the rest of your life here?" she pointed out as she gestured around the shop.

Harry looked around the shop. While he had grown to like working here, he had to admit that he didn't see himself doing this for the rest of his life. He'd only taken this job until he could figure out what to do next.

"Well?" Fleur asked him.

"Well… why not?" Harry said. "When do we leave?" he asked.

Fleur smiled at this and kissed him.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: There! After two years I've finally updated this. I apologise for the long wait, but I was struggling to come up with another chapter for this story and I was even contemplating deleting this, but I was then hit with some inspiration. Admittedly, the inspiration was a NSFW art piece which was I think one of the potential future wife/girlfriend hentai art cards that I found on a Discord server that I am part of, but it provided the necessary inspiration for this chapter and I felt it appropriate.

In other news, I've got the idea of an Elder Scrolls/Highschool of the dead crossover and I've set up a voting poll of what the setting could be, so if you haven't already, feel free to vote.

What's next on the update list? Don't know. But some people are asking me to update my Harry Potter/The Mummy crossover, so I'll need to watch the Mummy Returns to brush up on what to write next, so that story might be getting updated next. But we'll see.

And that's all I have, so I'll see you next time.

Be kind to one another,

Angry lil' elf.