Book 3

Drawing the Lines

Chapter 1

After what had to have been one of the most terrifying years that two Hogwarts students could ever have experienced, first with their names coming out of the Goblet of Fire and then finding out someone was actually trying to kill them, only for Voldemort to hijack the attempt on their lives and use it to restore himself to a real body and also try to kill Harry, he and Hermione were finally home. But as terrifying as all that was, the year had been amazing as well. Fleur had at first not been a welcome addition to his and Hermione's lives, but the French veela had worked her way into the hearts of both Harry and Hermione, and she had opened the door for Harry's godfather to return to his life as well.

Harry, Hermione, Dan, and Emma were all seated around the dining table, happily munching on a couple of pizzas that they had gotten on their way back from Kings Cross. Dan was again lamenting the fact that he was surrounded by people who would put pineapples on their pizza as he did his best to get everyone to smile. The normal conversation, a catch up of everything that the elder Grangers had missed while the teens were away at school, was absent; not because no one wanted to talk about it, but because they had already had the conversation when Dan and Emma had come up to their school to witness their daughter and ward competing in the last stage of the Triwizard Tournament. Instead, the talk was aimed more at what was hopefully going to be a distraction for the beginning of the summer: their impending trip to France, where they were going to spend a few weeks with the Tuckers and the Delacours.

"Monsieur Delacour got an exception for Dan and I, so we will all be travelling magically the day after tomorrow. Apparently he was able to get the exception through his job in the French ministry," Emma explained.

"Not sure I'm looking forward to that. The trip up to the castle was bad enough. Though I have to give it to the magicals, their methods of travel may be uncomfortable but they are certainly fast," Dan added before taking a bite of his pizza.

"International portkeys are worse by far," Harry warned the two older Grangers, causing them to look a little green as they contemplated the trip.

After the family finished eating, Harry and Hermione cleaned up after the meal and carried their school trunks up to their rooms. Once the two teens opened the doors to their bedrooms,, they each had a surprise. While they were away at Hogwarts, Dan and Emma had replaced both of their single beds with new double beds. Both teens were surprised by this, but before they could say anything to each other Dan and Emma came up behind them. Dan followed Harry into his room while Emma followed Hermione.

Dan closed the door behind him and Harry got a little nervous. "Am I finally going to get the 'if you hurt my daughter' speech?"

Dan chuckled. "No Harry, that's mostly just something they do in films to build tension. We are also not going to touch the birds and bees talk, it's a bit too late for that one. No, we are going to have a conversation about responsibility." Dan drew two bottles of beer out of his pocket and after opening them passed one to Harry. He took the bottle and sat on the edge of the new bed that had a set of green covers on it for the pillow and quilt. Dan sat on a chair next to Hedwig's perch and the sleepy owl opened one eye to peer at Dan, not impressed that they were going to talk here.

"Harry, as you have no doubt guessed by the twin beds, Emma and I have accepted the peculiarities of yours and Hermione's relationship. Honestly I wasn't very happy with it when your letters first mentioned Fleur, and while I understand that the two of you didn't enter the situation originally, I must admit it threw Emma and I for a loop when suddenly you and Hermione were no longer looking for a way to get out of your betrothal to Fleur but decided that you were both going to date her. I will admit that, until I calmed down, I was planning to have one of those father to daughter's boyfriend talks with you. But I did calm down, and then at Christmas I met the young lady. I have to admit she impressed me.

"But Harry, you now have two women in your life that you need to balance with the rest of your life. Now it's not a situation I have ever been in, but you need to be aware of the potential for this to all blow up. If you accidentally give more attention to one of your partners, then jealousy and resentment could start to build up…" Dan continued to talk to Harry about the responsibilities he had in his relationship for a good half an hour, though he did also make a point to say that both Hermione and Fleur had their share of the responsibility. About halfway through, Dan sent Harry downstairs to get two more beers, and when he got back Dan laid down the new bedroom rules for Harry and Hermione and even Fleur when she visits to follow.

They were pretty standard and could be shortened to three points: one, Harry, Hermione, and Fleur were to take every reasonable precaution against becoming parents; two, Harry, Hermione, and Fleur were to be mindful of any other people trying to sleep; and three, Dan really didn't want to know any details unless it was important. The last one wasn't anything Dan actually said, just the impression Harry got from how uncomfortable the man was when he offered to be there if Harry needed any help or advice.

Meanwhile, in the other room Emma held up two bowls of Hermione's favourite ice cream as she closed the door with her foot. "Got time to chat with your old mum?" Hermione quickly swiped one of the bowls of ice cream and retreated to her new bed that was covered in a sky blue bed set and sat cross legged on the side towards the headboard. Emma winced a little before saying. "Try not to get chocolate ice cream on your new bedding, love," before she sat on the bed as well.

"Thanks for the new bed mum," Hermione said after about thirty seconds of silence.

Emma smiled at her before replying. "Well you're 15, almost 16 now, that's when I switched to a double. And let's be honest you really don't fit in a single all too well anymore."

"So is that what you want to talk about? That I'm with both Harry and Fleur now?" Hermione smiled as she asked between spoonfuls of chocolate ice cream swirled with a rich caramel sauce.

"Well yes, there are a few things we should probably talk about. For one when we had the same conversations in the past we never needed to talk about balancing two partners…" Hermione proceeded to have a very open but embarrassing conversation with her mother and was surprised to learn that her mother, while still studying to be a dentist, had a short relationship with a woman. Unknown to Hermione, her mother was parroting a lot of the same points that Dan was giving to Harry in the next room, though the two women were more used to having these conversations and thus were a lot more comfortable.

One question that Emma asked that Dan didn't was how likely did Hermione feel that she would call off the betrothal, and she gave the question some serious thought before answering. "Considering how I felt about Fleur when it was revealed that she was betrothed to Harry and how I feel now, honestly I think the three of us are in this for the long run. It's only been a few days since Fleur went back to France and I already miss her. I'm not sure what we will do as she completes her last year at Beauxbatons."

"So you still feel the same even though you're apart? I heard about the abilities her race has. Is it a race? It sounds terrible and I know what you said at Christmas, but are you sure your feelings are your own?" Emma sounded awkward asking the question but she was obviously asking as a concerned mum.

Hermione sighed. "I did plenty of reading up on Veela back before the first task and before I understood Fleur's goal was the three of us rather than her taking Harry. One of the things I checked thoroughly was the Veela allure, as I didn't want her to use her allure and just walk off with Harry. However, the bond Harry and I have makes us both immune to Veela, which is something they prize in their men as it means that they are genuinely in love with them. But even if we weren't, Veela allure, while potent, disappears quickly after a few days and its effects are entirely gone. Also, people under the allure are easy to spot; they are drooling idiots."

That night, Hermione pulled Harry into her room just to sleep; not only were they tired, but the change in temperature from Scotland to London made the idea of getting hot and sweaty less appealing than normal. So they only talked as they cuddled.

"I didn't think the Ministry ever let mundane people travel by portkey, and now in the last few days they made an exception for the Triwizard Tournament and so your parents can go on holiday," Harry remarked as he struggled to find a spot were he could cuddle up to Hermione and not overheat. The two of them had striped down to the bear minimum of clothes, they were on top of the quilt*, and they had an electronic fan going, but there was nothing they could do about body heat.

"Well, both times involved a foreign ministry. If they had excluded Steve, then the French ministry would have been upset, and Monsieur Delacour pulled some strings to get my parents permission to travel with us. My guess is that it's because France is so close to us that most magical imports and exports for Britain pass through France. The British ministry can't afford to risk upsetting the French," Hermione guessed as she tried to rest her head on his chest only for her to overheat quickly. The news was warning of an approaching summer heatwave that was going to hit the country.

Harry grumbled at the heat. "If this keeps up I might just Apparate us both to Hogsmeade. I bet it's way cooler there."

"No Apparating until you get a licence unless it's an emergency." Hermione mock-scolded.

"It is an emergency. I feel like I'm going to melt." Harry groaned good-naturedly. Eventually the two got to sleep cuddled up together, refusing to let go of each other while they slept even in the heat.

-ϟϟϟ-

The first full day of the summer holidays was normally one to relax, but the Granger family had a lot to do. Dan was going to be working a full day in the dental surgery, and Emma was going in as well even if she was only going to see two patients: Harry and Hermione. The Grangers apparently wanted to get the two's yearly checkup done before going on holiday. Luckily, both Harry's and Hermione's teeth were fine, though Harry was advised to watch out for a few spots where he had apparently not been brushing properly.

After that, Emma dragged the two teens around London looking for a list of things she wanted before they went to France. One thing Harry noticed was absent from the shopping was clothes, which filled him with a sense of foreboding as he remembered what shopping in Paris had been like last year. One thing that did surprise them was that they stopped by Diagon Alley so that Emma could exchange just over £200 into Galleons. Harry took the opportunity to run down to his vault and refill his bag of Galleons as well, as with both Fleur and Alison around, now that they all knew the others were magical, they might get to visit some of the magical places in France. Harry guessed that it would be easier to exchange Galleons for whatever the French equivalent was than Pounds or Francs.

When they got back home, instead of relaxing they were told to go sort out their suitcases. The two tired teens groaned as they forced their aching legs to climb the stairs as they carried their new suitcases with them. However, when they got to their rooms to start separating out exactly what they planned to take with them, they each found a pile of clothes there ready to go into the suitcase that definitely hadn't been there when they left that morning.

"What the?" Harry asked no one in particular, but got an answer anyway when Dobby popped in.

At the same time that Dobby popped in, Hermione came through the door behind him. "Harry, someone has been in my room and sorted all my…oh hey Dobby. Was it you who sorted through my clothes for me?" The tone of worry left her voice the second she saw Dobby.

"Dobby is doing some of the sorting, Miss Grangy, but it was being Sassy who was sorting through Miss Grangy's clothes." Dobby snapped his fingers and all the stuff that was set aside to go in Harry's suitcase popped from the neat pile on the bed, and by the sudden heaviness of the suitcase Harry was carrying it was easy to tell where they went. The little elf then went and did the same to Hermione's pile of clothes and the piles they had sorted for Dan and Emma, and then the luggage all vanished. A quick investigation found that all four brand new suitcases were set by the door ready to go tomorrow.

Happy that they suddenly had some time to relax, Harry and Hermione went and told a surprised Emma that Dobby and Sassy had already sorted everyone's clothes for them. Emma smiled at that, as her next job on her list had been to sort out what to take for her and Dan, and that would have taken her at least an hour. That the elves had done that for them had really taken the pressure off. "That's amazing, I just need to make sure I have all the paperwork together now and then I can start dinner."

Sassy suddenly popped in. "You is not needing to worry about dinner. Sassy already has it covered. I is cooking you a garlic and herb butter roasted chicken with baked potatoes and salad. Is that okay Missis Granger?" Emma looked at their oven in confusion, because it was most definitely not cooking anything. Sassy, seeing where Emma was looking, said, "I is not using the muggle oven Miss. Sassy is not testing them or knowing how. Sassy is cooking the food at the Potter townhouse and I will pop it down here when you're ready to eat.

Seeing her mother hesitate and not know what to say, Hermione stepped in. "That sounds lovely, Sassy. Thank you for this and for helping with our packing. You are amazing." The little elf beamed at the praise and popped away.

-ϟϟϟ-

The next day started early. France was an hour ahead of Britain, and while the Grangers had a quick bite to eat before they left, they planned to have their real breakfast in Paris. Hermione had an idea just before they left and called Dobby, and then asked him to shrink their luggage for them so that their suitcases now all fit in Emma's handbag.

The first bit of fun that day was the Knight Bus. Harry and Hermione had tried to tell Dan and Emma just what the bus was like, but apparently their words just weren't enough. After only a few minutes of sliding around the bus as it zipped around the country, both elder Grangers looked a little green. About halfway through their trip, Harry thought he saw Sirius getting on the bus, but when he looked again it was a woman carrying a guitar (or at least something in a guitar case) and Stan the conductor called her 'Miss Boardman*'. She looked so much like Sirius that Harry wondered how closely they were related (because the purebloods were all rather closely related), and he considered asking her but before he could decide how to approach the stranger they pulled up outside the visitor entrance to the Ministry of Magic.

The Ministry was just the same as it always was. Harry and Hermione had to register their wands at the front desk, and Dan and Emma got a few looks when they told the Ministry greeter that they didn't have wands, but then the man just shrugged, and without even looking at their badges that said why they were in the Ministry he directed them to the squib liaison office. As they made their way to the lifts, Dan asked what a squib was, and Hermione explained that it was the opposite of what she was: a child of magical parents who couldn't use magic themselves.

The two teenagers remembered their way to the international portkey offices, so they quickly led the way through the Ministry. The process was longer this time, as the forms weren't pre-filled out. There was some tension when Harry and Hermione were asked to sign new forms with a blood quill after the record of their magical signature couldn't be found. Apparently the Clerk was relatively new and didn't know that the magical signatures that bound Harry, Hermione, and Fleur to the Triwizard Tournament had all come from this office. The man they were talking to rushed off to get his boss, who instead of coming went to get her boss. The person who was in charge of the entire Department of Magical Transportation came and personally assured them that they had made a lot of improvements to their security since the signatures were traced back to his department, and Madam Bones had her Aurors doing random tests of the security now that such a dangerous problem had been found.

In the end, both Harry and Hermione signed the forms with a blood quill, wincing as it cut into their hand. After that, it was just some waiting before they were on their way. They were soon directed to the departure room and were given the exact same specs they were given the year before. They all grabbed a hold of a large loop of rope that was dyed red white and blue, the same colours as the French flag as well as the British flag. Not that that helped too much, as those were probably the most commonly used colours on flags around the world. Soon, the four of them were off spinning through a vortex of air as they made their way to France.

Harry collapsed as soon as he landed in France. The downside of the Potter family gift, added to the effect of an international portkey, was just too much for his stomach and he lost the few bites he had had for breakfast. He wasn't the only one to be sick, though, as Emma also lost her food, though she was able to keep her feet. Dan and Hermione, however, while looking a little queasy, were fine. A greeter came over to them and casually with a flick of her wand cleaned up the mess. Judging by the fact that she looked bored while doing this,, Harry guessed that arrivals throwing up was something that happened often enough that she was used to it.

[Welcome to France, are you a citizen or are you visiting?]

[We are visiting], Dan replied in what sounded to Harry like good French, although what did he know, he could only pick out a few words here or there.

The French woman switched to English and then directed them to a desk for foreign arrivals. There, they had more paperwork to fill out and passports to stamp, before they were able to leave the French Ministry and were out in muggle Paris.

Hermione remembered the way to the Eiffel Tower from the instructions and so directed them, and together the family of four made their way through the city. They stopped at a cafe and had breakfast, and Harry was so used to French pastry being available for breakfast now that he didn't even think twice about ordering them, the French names and pronunciation for them came from him easily after hearing the words from Fleur for so long. He did stumble over the word for orange juice, but Hermione was quick to fill in for him. Sitting and eating breakfast in a Parisian cafe with people they loved was like a dream for Harry and Hermione after the school year they had just had. The only thing that could have made it better was if one of the people they were due to meet up with in about an hour was with them.

After a lazy breakfast, they started towards the Eiffel Tower. Even if they weren't going up it, the landmark was a great spot to meet up with someone who wasn't familiar with the city. There probably wasn't a resident in the entire city who couldn't point you in the direction of the world famous landmark, just like Harry could point a tourist to London in the right direction to get to the Elizabeth Tower* and the Grangers could probably give you exact directions including bus numbers.

They never made it into the park that the tower was in. By coincidence, both the Tuckers and the Delacours were entering the park by the same gate. Fleur noticed them first and came running up to them calling their names. They had just enough time to register that it was Fleur before she pulled Harry and Hermione into her chest.

"Harry, Hermione, I missed you so much," Fleur said as she tried to crush them in a hug.

Harry and Hermione both wrapped an arm around their girlfriend, their other arms whe currently trapped between them. "We missed you too, Fleur," Hermione answered as Harry kissed Fleur where the corner of her mouth met her cheek.

They were soon joined by a group of French people (and one British expat) and Harry, Hermione, and Fleur's hug was set aside so that everyone could engage in the strange French custom of kissing the air next to each other's head while they said hello. Harry still felt awkward doing this, but had enough experience with it that he no longer felt as though he didn't know what he was doing. Harry felt relieved when Fleur's father instead opted for a handshake.

The three families spent the day shopping in Paris, with the plan afterwards of using the French Floo network to Floo directly to the Tuckers' home in Nice. From there, Harry and the Grangers were going to check into the same hotel as last year, the one Steve worked at as a chef. Having Fleur with them while they shopped took some of Hermione's attention away from using Harry as her own personal dress up doll, but what he lost from Hermione he more than got back from Fleur. However, they both had slightly different ideas over what would look good on him, so Harry had to try on more clothes this time than he ever had before, and that was before they went to the French equivalent of Diagon Alley. In the Place Cachée, the girls dragged Harry around the robe shops and made him get both casual and less casual robes (but nothing as fancy as his dress robes). By the end of the day, Harry had enough clothes that he was sure he was going to need magic to get even half of them in his suitcase, including if he threw out the clothes he had brought with him.

The flip side of this was that Hermione and Fleur insisted on modelling every outfit for each other and Harry, and they looked amazing in a lot of those outfits. The two girls egging each other on got the two of them to tried on smaller and skimpier outfits in the mundane section of France, but even in wizarding France (where the robes were far less conservative than their British counterparts) the robes were at their shortest no more revealing than a summer dress that came to just above the knees and shows no skin more than two inches below the collar bone.

Another reason it was great to have Fleur with them was the silly game she made up, based on the child's game tag. Snog tag was simple; whoever was "it" had to pull one of the others into a place they wouldn't be disturbed, like a dressing room, and snog them. The person who was snoged would then be "it" and had to do the same thing. But, if you were caught or you went too long without snogging someone if you were "it", you lost a point. The person who lost the most points had to buy the other two lunch tomorrow. It was stupid fun, and Harry really didn't care that he lost.

They were able to floo from the Place Cachée once they finished shopping. Sarah was kind enough to unshrink their luggage for them, and after that Steve helped them pack it into his car before he drove them up to the hotel. Alison and Sarah stayed at their place for the drive, because there wasn't enough room in the car. Just like last time, they stayed in two couples rooms, only this time it was what Dan and Emma had intended to book for them. Harry and Hermione took their keys, and after a shower they both climbed into bed and fell asleep after their long day.

A/N

Quilt - by quilt I mean what I believe Americans call a duvet. Not sure if this is a difference in what they actually called or if it's just a common slang in the UK but they are often called quilts here.

Miss Boardman - Miss Stella Boardman, formerly known as Stubby Boardman of the Hobgoblins. Stella is a trans woman who retired from public life to transition in peace.

Elizabeth Tower - that is the name of the big clock tower in London. Most people think is called 'Big Ben' but Big Ben is actually the name of the clock's largest bell not the tower

Snog tag - I made it up but wouldn't be surprised if this was actually a thing that happens sometimes, especially in relationships of three or more.