n Kadmiese oorwinning

by FieryCabbage

'n Kadmiese oorwinning deur DarknessEnthroned

52. Chapter 52

Last Christmas

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; everything is J K Rowling's. Still.

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Last Christmas

Sunlight beamed through the window, flashing and rippling along the bottom of the sink. Fleur placed her hands upon the water, then let them sink into the warmth.

"When is Harry arriving, Fleur?" Gabby bounced down the stairs clutching an armful of chocolate-stained mugs.

Maman and Papa exchanged a long look, then glanced at the copy of the Daily Prophet upon the kitchen table.

Fleur let a little heat creep from her palms and the water in the sink steamed and hissed. "Soon."

And we will be having a talk about Katie Bell. Fleur watched her eyes darken in the window and the water bubbled and frothed. Again.

"In ten minutes," Maman said. "It will be nice to talk with him a little more, it's hard to really get to know someone in such a short period of time."

Another little jab. Fleur wrenched her hands from the sink. Heat bubbled through the bones and the water steamed from her fingers. She is lucky she is Maman, or I would curse her.

Her parents grimaced.

Maman's eyes darkened and she raised her chin. "Fleur, ma Cherie."

Heat haze shimmered round her hands. "Non, Maman! One more word! One more little snide comment! One more jab! I will remind you which of us is the better!"

" Fleur!" Papa snapped.

Fleur whirled on him. "You are just as bad!" Blue flames sprang up on her palms. "And you are not resistant to heat, Papa!"

They stared.

"It's not hard for me to get to know someone," Gabby chirped, wielding hot chocolate powder, milk, cream, and spoon to disastrous effect beside the sink, then scampered across the kitchen and pressed her cold mug of hot chocolate into Fleur's flame-wreathed hands. "Merci, Fleur!"

The heat melted from Fleur's blood. "Gabby would be able to know a little about what he was like just from touching his magic." She let the flames linger until the hot chocolate steamed, then pushed it into Gabby's hands. "There you go, greedy little bird."

Maman drew herself up. "Gabrielle's empathetic magic is not something that should be used lightly, just as your stronger allure shouldn't be either. I don't want to hear of either of you using them on anyone who doesn't understand what it means and hasn't given permission."

"Harry's magic is really powerful." Gabby sighed. "His wand felt completely different to any of yours." Maman's face twisted. "What did it feel like?"

Papa held his breath.

"Not telling!" Gabby dunked her teaspoon into the mug and stirred the cream in, sending small waves of hot chocolate froth over the sides of the mug.

Maybe all that clafoutis helped after all.

"Gabrielle! " Maman drew herself up. "We just want some assurance that what the papers are saying about him is not true."

"And obviously my word wasn't enough," Fleur hissed.

"Harry is perfect for Fleur." A mischievous glint appeared in Gabby's eyes. "If she didn't love him so much, then I would steal him instead. He saved me from the lake. If he'd kissed me and woken me up it would have been the perfect moment."

Urgh. Nobody kisses Harry but me. Ever.

Fleur scowled. "You know you weren't in any danger, little chick." She plucked the mug of hot chocolate from Gabby's hands and stole a sip. "And if you ever kiss him, even jokingly, or direct your magic at him and risk leaving a lasting impression, I will scorch you to ashes, baby sister."

"You're so possessive, Fleur." Gabby giggled. "You don't need to worry, anyway. You sent one pleading look at Harry and he went and saved me. He was coughing up blood from what I heard."

Fleur turned her nose up at Gabby. "Hush, Gabby."

Maman looked thoughtful. "Is that true?"

"What does it matter," Fleur snapped. Heat flashed through her. Feathers rippled along her skin, her eyes swelled large and turned black, and her skull shifted shape. "I chose him. That's the first and last statement you need on the subject. He doesn't need to have to bleed and suffer to prove anything to anyone else!"

Maman flinched and Papa winced.

Gabby shivered and took a sip of her hot chocolate. "Fleur," she whispered. " Easy."

"Pardon." She closed her eyes and waited for the heat to fade. "I am sick of this. All this. Your stupid comments, him being far away, that stupid paper and those English idiots." Fleur ground her teeth. "And that Katie Bell," she muttered. "Cette pute, je la brûlerai avant de perdre contre elle."

Gabby shuddered. "You wouldn't burn anyone, Fleur," she murmured.

Fleur fixed her with a long look. "I'd burn her," she whispered. "No shallow little girls are going to steal anything important from me ever again."

Maman and Papa edged closer.

"We don't like you being with someone so dangerous," Papa said. "We've discussed this before, whether the rumours are true or not does not matter, either way you'll be targeted by someone who could hurt you."

"I am a stronger and better dueler than either of you, Maman, Papa." Fleur raised her chin. "If one of us is to judge, it ought to be me, no?"

Maman fidgeted. "Better than the Death Eaters of Britain? Harry Potter is not the enemy of ordinary wizards."

"Harry is not an ordinary wizard and I am not an ordinary witch."

Papa sighed. "Fleur-"

"I'm going to meet him." She pictured the willow tree and apparated away with a loud crack.

Harry stood beneath the frost-patched tree, dressed in normal, muggle clothing. "Fleur!" He stepped toward her one hand outstretched, then froze. "I'm sorry, it's not true, none of it's true, I swear. I will swear. Any vow, anything you ask." He swallowed. "I promise, Fleur. I would never. You're the one perfect wish that came true for me."

Fleur closed the distance between them, slid her fingers into his messy, dark hair and dragged his lips to hers. "Idiot. I do not need you to swear." She took a firm grip on him and held his face an inch from hers. "I'm tempted because then you'd always be mine, but no."

He sagged within her arms. "That's good." A small smile graced his lips. "I was scared."

Scared I'd leave? Fleur saw the shadow of that fear in his eyes; a deep, dark, vast thing and him just a small silhouette beneath it. I will never leave, not so long as you're mine.

"I'd never do something like that to you." Harry tugged her hands from his hair and held them. "Even if I went completely mad and decided I wanted to leave you, I'd never betray you like that. Never. And if that does happen, just lock me in a padded cell somewhere until I snap out of it, ma princesse."

Fleur smirked and freed one hand, coating it in blue flames. "I would turn you to ashes if you ever did anything to hurt me like that."

Harry grinned. "As long as you bury me under our willow tree…"

Fleur's insides turned all cold and the fire guttered out on her fingers. "Don't say things like that. It's not at all funny."

"What about your family?" Harry asked. "Do they believe anything about the article?"

"Gabby laughed." Fleur grimaced. "Maman and Papa are being

difficult still. I yelled at them just now. I don't think they believe it, the articles are ridiculous, but they don't like other things."

Harry's smile faded. "They won't ever approve of me, will they? I'll either be a dangerous dark wizard, or Voldemort will be coming after me and anyone close to me."

"They do not dislike you." Fleur's heart twisted and she offered him a helpless shrug. "I'm sorry, mon Cœur. It's not personal."

"It feels personal," Harry said. "I had this faint hope that I could just step in at your side and find myself part of a family." His smile turned bitter. "I should know better by now, wishes like that don't come true." One did.

Fleur pouted and squeezed his fingers. "No? Not even one of them."

A small smile slid back onto his face. "Maybe one."

She laughed. "There is no maybe. Now we must head inside and deal with the more important things, like what you bought Gabby for Christmas."

"I think she will like it. I don't really know what anyone expects so I tried to get something I felt fitted."

"I wouldn't worry too much about your present for Gabby. She loves being given things. If you gave her pebbles from the river she would hoard them just like she does everything else." Fleur linked their arms. "If anything, we should be more concerned about what she might have bought us."

"Oh no." Harry groaned. "It's going to be something awful."

Fleur laughed. "Probably." She whisked them both back into the entrance hall.

Harry surveyed the array of footwear. "I finally understand all the shoes."

"They're almost all Gabby's. She is incorrigible. Maman has given up trying to get rid of them, I think Gabby has bribed Binky to make sure that they don't get thrown away."

He chuckled. "How sneaky."

"Mon Cœur!" Gabby scampered down the hall and skidded to a halt. "Nice girlfriend! She's almost as cute as me!"

Mon Cœur… Fleur glowered at Gabby's mischievous grin. I don't know why I tell you things, you brat.

"Thanks, Gabby, I found her all by myself!" Harry slipped his arm round Fleur's waist. "Now I can't get rid of her." He glanced at the piles of shoes. "Nice shoes."

"They are all Fleur's." Gabby giggled. "Now come on, it's time for Christmas things again."

Harry gasped. "And you lied to me and told me that they all belonged to your innocent baby sister!"

"I wanted you to buy me more," Fleur quipped. She released a long deep sigh and pulled out her wand. "But I suppose it really is time I threw away all my old shoes."

Gabby squeaked and darted in front of her shoes.

"You seem very attached to your sister's shoes," Harry quipped.

"You shouldn't just throw things away." Gabby pouted. "It's not right." "Come on, mon Cœur," Fleur whispered in Harry's ear. "Putting it off won't make it any better."

Harry nudged her in the stomach with his elbow, but let her lead him into the lounge.

"Harry." Her parents offered him a thin, polite smile.

"How has your first term back at Hogwarts been?" Maman asked.

A soft sigh escaped Harry. "Not the best."

Papa stuck out his hand. "Yes, well, I'm sure there's no truth-"

"Are we giving gifts now?" Gabby sprawled across one of the more comfortable sofas and pushed her feet up against the pale stonework of the wall.

"You already gave us your gifts," Maman said. "You couldn't wait until lunch and Harry's arrival, so you pestered Fleur for an hour about her present for you."

"Harry doesn't know any of the other people who gave us things," Gabby said. "I still have my present for him and Fleur." Mischief gleamed in her eyes.

It's definitely going to be something horribly embarrassing.

Harry chuckled. "I'm looking forward to it, Gabby. Fleur will make her mortified face."

Fleur huffed at him. "You will turn red as a tomato."

"I'll still get to see your embarrassed pout." He leant to her ear. "It's almost as cute as those little gasps you make when-"

Fleur trod on his foot and fought the heat rushing to her face.

"Aww." Gabby giggled. "You've gone all pink, Fleur."

You and Harry are a bad combination.

Fleur turned her nose up at Gabby. "Here." She reached behind the nearest sofa and produced a small, thin wooden box. "Try not to break this one."

Gabby turned it over in her hands before sliding off the lid. The sparkling, white camellia Fleur'd sculpted from ice lay on dark velvet within.

"You always ask me to make them for you, so I thought you might want a more permanent one, little chick."

"It's so pretty," Gabby chirped. She took it out of the box and twirled it in the light. "It really won't melt?

"Not for a long time," Fleur promised. "And never so long as one of us keeps replacing the enchantments on it."

"Thank you, Fleur." Gabby put the flower back in the box, then spun

to Harry. "Is it tasty? It better be tasty. Your girlfriend's sister is the first person you need to make like you…"

Harry laughed and pulled a handful of tiny presents from his pocket. A faint glimmer of light came from his sleeve as he put them on the arm of the sofa, then they swelled to normal size.

Books. Two books. Fleur studied the other two. Not sure about those two.

"This one is yours, Gabby." Harry picked up one of the odd-shaped ones and passed it across.

She beamed and unpeeled the shining red and gold paper. Harry waited with a bright smile fixed on his face.

Aww, you're nervous, mon Cœur. Fleur smiled and gave his fingers a gentle squeeze.

Gabby squealed and pulled a colourful, bright, china mug overflowing with sugar quills. "It is tasty!"

Fleur laughed. Cherry flavour, too…

"You said I owed you one." Harry grinned. "They mug's enchanted to be unbreakable, to keep your drink warm, and the colours will disappear if something suspicious finds its way into your drink."

"It's perfect." Gabby pocketed the sweets before Maman could intervene. "Merci, Harry. If Fleur decides she doesn't want you, I'll keep you instead."

"Thanks." Harry chuckled. "Hopefully you won't have to stick to that."

Gabby shrugged. "It'd be ok." She giggled. "Fleur would be so cross. She'd hurl fire at me again."

Fleur swatted Gabby with a cushion. "You find your own. This one is mine. And I don't share."

"No." Gabby sulked. "You are terrible at sharing, especially tasty sweet things."

"These are for you, Monsieur Delacour, Madam Delacour." Harry passed the two that looked like books over to her parents sofa. "I thought you might appreciate them."

Papa unwrapped his, peeking behind the cover of a weathered, aged tome. "I can't read the date, but there's a good chance this is one of the oldest books on wizarding genealogy I've ever had the privilege of touching. This isn't something to give away lightly, Harry, there can't be more than a handful of copies of this left in existence."

Harry blinked. "I know you like history, heraldry, and the like. It caught my eye and the owner was willing to part with it."

"I shudder to think what the price was," Papa muttered, flicking through the pages. "This is a thousand years old or more if I'm not mistaken, a lot of these families were wiped out by the Normans."

"That was a terrible present, Harry," Gabby piped up. "We're not going to see Papa for weeks now. He'll lock himself in his study with your book and won't come out for anything but meals."

"I'm sure Binky wouldn't mind bringing my food to my study." Papa traced his fingers over the old pages. "This is quite fascinating." Gabby scowled.

Maman hid her smile behind her hand, then tugged the string loose from her present. "I'm not going to open this and find some incredibly rare potions ingredient am I?"

Harry shifted. "Would you have preferred something like that?"

Another book slid out of the paper. A battered, scarred cover enclosed thick, yellow pages.

That's as old as the other book.

"Obscure Potions and Unique Ingredients. I've never heard of it." Maman read through the first page, then gasped. "Do you know who this was written by?"

"Helga Hufflepuff." A faint smile crossed Harry's face. "I don't think it's the original, but it's handwritten and autographed. I wouldn't suggest trying anything you find toward the very end of the book, the magical trees you'll grow are very violent and quite dangerous."

Papa glanced up. "Your idea of normal Christmas presents are two virtually priceless books… Where did you find them? Once might be a coincidence, but to find two rare books so well suited for us can't be."

"I stumbled across a collection actually." A small smile played on

Harry's lips. "I chose two that I thought you would appreciate and I doubt I will ever value them as highly as you will, so they're better off here."

Papa laughed. "We might have to improve the wards on the chateau if someone finds out about this. This is the sort of indisputable evidence of blood relations that some wizarding families would do a great deal to own."

"It's not too much, is it?" Harry's clammy fingers shifted beneath Fleur's. "I've never really done this before."

Fleur squeezed his hand. "They're good presents, mon Cœur."

Gabby smirked. "If that's what he bought for you, I can't imagine what he bought Fleur."

Fleur's heart lurched. Oh merde. What if it's much better than what I got him?

"I think I'll give you my present first," she said.

"It's a little more than we expected," Maman murmured. "It makes our present for you seem very inadequate." She passed Harry a soft package. "Fleur mentioned that you don't actually own any dress robes, so we took the liberty of choosing some suitably stylish ones. She said that black, dark greens or blues, and silver suited you, so I hope you like them."

Harry raised an eyebrow at her.

She laughed. "I am veela. I can feel magic, not as well as Gabby, but I know when you're wearing transfigured clothing, it's saturated with your magic." Fleur reached into her pocket and pulled out a small cloth bag. "Here, this is my gift for you."

Harry dipped his fingers into the bag and pulled out a slim piece of wood. "A ring?"

"I made it from one of the branches of the willow tree." She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "It is the prettiest thing you own and you will wear it where everyone can see it."

But especially Katie Bell.

"Fleur!" Gabby stood on her tiptoes and craned her neck over Harry's shoulder. "It's too early for you to get engaged and Harry's meant to be the one who proposes to you."

Fleur flushed. I will toast Gabby later.

"It's perfect." Harry shot her a warm smile. "As always."

Her heart squirmed. "Wear it on your wand hand. I tried to imbue it with the desire to protect you, so while you're wearing it the magic I put into the ring will protect you." She cupped his chin. "I don't want you to ever use it."

"Thank you," he murmured, slipping the ring onto his right forefinger.

"My turn!" Gabby pulled her wand out and waved it at the far wall. "Ta da!"

Harry choked, a small squeak slipped through Fleur's lips, Maman's eyebrows vanished into her fringe, and Papa's book slipped shut. The willow and the river shone beneath the autumn sun on canvas within a light wood frame. Harry kissed Fleur beneath the leaves, his fingers in her silver hair and at her waist.

Fleur blinked liquid heat from her lashes and swallowed a hot fist of feeling. "I'm sure you weren't invited to that particular rendezvous, Gabby, but thank you. C'est parfait."

"I snuck down after you one day and sent the memory to a portrait maker in Paris." Gabby beamed. "Do you like it, Harry?"

He tore his eyes away from the painting and nodded. "Yes."

Gabby sidled "round Fleur with a coy smile. "Want to make another one with me instead of Fleur?"

Fleur sighed. "You are the worst, Gabby."

Harry laughed. "What would you do if I actually said yes?"

"Panic." Gabby giggled. "Fleur would murder me."

"And me, too," Harry said. "We'll have to run away together before she realises."

"Flouting all social conventions for the sake of the heart." Gabby pressed her hands to her breast. "So romantic."

"Hush, you two." Fleur's lips curved into a pout and she pointed her finger at Gabby. "You, you need to stop reading Maman's books. And you…" She swiveled "round on Harry. "You stop encouraging Gabby just because you like to make me pout."

"It's a very cute pout," Harry murmured in her ear. His lips brushed her earlobe and a little shiver rippled through her.

"Careful, mon Cœur," Fleur whispered back. "I still owe you more than just kisses."

Because what you did beneath the willow tree was very good. She fought her flush down. And if I have my way, you'll be doing it again later.

Gabby flopped back into the sofa. "What did you get Fleur, Harry?"

"I couldn't think of anything that I could make that would be anywhere near as good as something you could make yourself," Harry said. "So I thought I'd give you these instead. I'm told they're useful for holding all sorts of things."

The present he placed in her hands gave a gentle clink.

Fleur slid the paper away. A dark wooden box decorated with carved vine leaves lay beneath. She opened the lid and found a handful of small, crystal bottles stoppered with tiny, rune-engraved corks. Silver mist swirled within them.

"Those are memories…" Fleur glanced at Harry. "Yours?"

"They're very nice vials, but I wanted to put something important inside."

She kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."

"My perspective," he murmured. "I won't tell you what they're of, though, that would spoil the surprise." He shot her a grin. "Though I was very tempted to make one of them me winning the Triwizard Tournament."

"Cheat." Fleur stuck her tongue out at him. "You cheated."

Harry laughed. "I seem to remember you stalking all your rivals and knowing an awful lot about that dragon task before you were supposed to."

"I will win next time when we do some dueling." She turned her nose up at him. "You'll see."

"Can I see the memories?" Gabby pleaded.

"No." Fleur shut the lid and crossed her arms over the box. "They're mine."

Gabby pouted. "Why're you such a rubbish sharer, Fleur?"

"Greedy little bird," Fleur shot back. "You've got enough sugar quills for a small school, you should be happy with those alone."

Maman looked up from her book. "Lunch will be in an hour, ma cherie. If you want to go watch the memories together, we'll keep Gabrielle from mischief."

Fleur shot Gabby a broad smirk, then stood and led Harry to the basement. I'm going to beat him at dueling. See if you're so happy about being Triwizard Champion then, mon Cœur.

"This seems an odd choice of place." Harry glanced around the small room and out through the door at the racks of wine. "There aren't an abundance of seats."

"I'm not going to watch the memories now, I have you here already."

"So what are we up to?"

"I'm going to duel you." Fleur smirked. "And beat you."

Harry laughed. "Ok, ma princesse." His smile gained a sharp edge. "You can try."

"First, where did you really get those books from? I know you didn't realize how rare they were."

"I stumbled across them at Hogwarts. I had three copies of the one I gave your mother and five of the book I gave your father."

"You stumbled across them." Fleur scowled and stepped close to him.. "You're keeping secrets from me, mon Cœur."

"I have a few left," he murmured. "Not many, though."

Fleur's stomach twisted and turned. "I want you to tell me." She huffed. "And I want you to want to tell me."

"You're so wanty," Harry teased. He bumped her nose with his. "Such a demanding veela."

"Whose fault is that?" Fleur whispered, brushing her lips against his. "I think you like making me ask, no? You did before…"

Heat crept onto Harry's face. "Maybe a little," he murmured. "But I think you liked asking, too."

Fleur stepped back and smirked. "Alas, lunch is only a short time away, mon Cœur."

"Alas." Harry's tone turned dry as sandpaper. "So if you didn't lead me down into your dungeon to have your way with me, ma princesse, what did you want?"

Fleur pushed her lips into a pout. "You know what I want."

"Secrets." Harry tried to keep the smile from his face, but failed. "Ok.

I'll give you two, but…" A bright, little glimmer welled up in his eyes. "You have to ask."

"Oh now he wants to play games." Fleur swept her hair over her shoulder. "Let me think."

What do I want to know most? She weighed things up. Katie Bell? This mysterious collection of invaluable books? Whatever he's up to back in England?

"What're you up to in England?"

"Ah." Harry winced a fraction. "Can I answer that one last?"

Fleur crossed her arms. "Fine. Where did you really get those books?"

"A secret chamber." Mirth glittered in his green eyes. "I will take you there to meet what's left of my family soon, I promise. Is that enough?"

She rested her arms over his shoulders. "Promise?"

"I do."

Fleur's heart lurched. "Careful with that line, mon Cœur," she whispered. "Put that ring somewhere else and I'll never let you go again."

Harry swallowed. "Right. Aren't I supposed to get some say in it, though?"

"As if you'd disagree." Fleur slid her hands into his hair. "Now, you owe me another secret."

Harry sighed and the humour faded from his eyes. "Do you remember the prophecy I mentioned?"

"Of course."

"I did some digging about the Department of Mysteries and I tried to get people to realize Voldemort's back by casting the Dark Mark over where my parents died - I might have to do that again, since it didn't work too well. Anyway, Dumbledore's followers are guarding something in the Department of Mysteries. Voldemort's are trying to get in. One of my friend's parents died trying to stop them a few days ago…"

"So you're going to kill two birds with one stone." Fleur's abdomen shrank into a tight ball. "You're going to try and break in."

"I have to oust Dumbledore first, then my godfather will help me. And I need to get rid of that malevolent worm, Umbridge." Harry clenched his jaw. "Once she's gone, I can find the prophecy and learn whatever it says, then destroy or steal whatever people are dying over in the Department of Mysteries, too."

He means dead, not gone. She could see the ice in his eyes. He's going to kill her.

"Gone?" Images of Harry flanked by aurors, wandless and shackled, swarmed through Fleur's thoughts and her voice shook.

Harry froze. Every one of his muscle's tensed. "I think you know."

She took a deep breath and banished the thoughts. "Do not get caught." Fleur tightened her grip on his hair. "Do not get caught throwing out Dumbledore. Do not get caught killing this horrible witch. Do not get caught breaking into the Ministry. And do not get caught afterward." She rested her forehead against his. "You are mine. Heart, mind, body, and soul. I'm not sharing any of those with anything or anyone, let alone one of those terrible creatures in Azkaban."

"I'd really rather not spend any time with them, either."

He speaks like they're some annoying family relation. He's no proper concept of danger at all.

Fleur huffed. "In fact. I don't trust you not to do something stupid. I am coming with you."

"No." Something close to panic crept into Harry's tone. "You can't."

"I can and I will."

"Fleur," he whispered. " Please. I need to know you're safe and waiting. I need it."

She let go of him and crossed her arms. "I will be safe and waiting and with you."

"Please, Fleur." An awful emptiness loomed in Harry's eyes. "I can't lose you. I can't even risk losing you. Never. There's nothing else I have if you're gone."

Ah. A twist of guilt pierced through Fleur. Of course. You would see it like that, wouldn't you, mon Cœur? One perfect wish for a boy who never got anything else.

"Fine." She jabbed a finger into chest. "Fine. I understand. I don't like it, but I will wait. And you, you will come back." Fleur swallowed a hot lump of emotion. "Because it is not so different for me, either."

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One in the Chamber

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; everything is J K Rowling's. Still.

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One in the Chamber

A clear, crisp sky hung over the Great Hall. Faint wisps of winter cloud drifted across it above a scatter of students and teachers. Harry sliced his chicken and leek pie into bite-sized pieces and arranged them in a neat row across his plate.

Katie plopped down on the bench beside him. "Heya, Harry!"

Not avoiding me, then.

"I thought you were meant to be at home for Christmas?" he asked.

"I came back. Angelina and Alicia were taking their plans for my wellbeing a bit too far, so I told them I'd go home when they did. I went home, had a really interesting conversation with my parents, and came back today."

Harry grimaced. She seems happy, though. It can't have been too bad.

"What did your parents say?"

"They cancelled their subscription to the Daily Prophet." Katie beamed. "Dad told me that I could go out with whomever I damn well pleased as long as he was kind, good-looking, rich, and polite."

"Good," Harry said. "It's about time more people realized how kind, good-looking, and polite I am."

Katie giggled. "Are you rich? Should I warn Daddy that I might have found someone who has designs on his darling daughter and fits his criteria?"

"I have a trust fund," Harry said. "My family's old and pure-blooded apparently, but I actually have no idea."

"I guess it doesn't really matter until you're seventeen and emancipated."

"Voldemort will have killed me long before then. It's not going to be a problem."

She thumped him on the arm and scowled. "Don't joke about things

like that."

Harry feigned a bow. "Yes, Dark Mistress."

"Good boy." Katie patted him on the cheek, then glanced up and down the table. "How's Frenchie? Did she get upset over the article?"

Harry shook his head. "She's fine." He screwed his face up. "Well, she didn't say anything, so she's not that upset, but I doubt she liked

it."

"As long as the two of you are happy." Katie stole a piece of pie from his plate. "Frenchie seemed kind of haughty, so I was worried she'd get mad and try to get back at you."

Harry glanced down at the willow ring. "Yes, I suspect she has."

"You think she's going to try and start something with someone else to make you jealous?" Katie whispered.

A point of ice clenched beneath Harry's ribs. "No. She'd never do that. She gave me this." He waggled his right forefinger at her. "Told me to wear it where everyone would see it…"

"Everyone being me," Katie murmured. "I see."

Harry finished his pie in slow, measured mouthfuls. "Did you like your present, then? If you're back, you must've found it."

Katie gave him a wide grin. "Oh, yes, but you ought to be careful, if you keep giving a girl things like that, then she's going to start thinking you want to be more than just friends."

"Just don't tell Rita Skeeter," Harry muttered. "No, it's good. I can't use it and I'm sure it was only a matter of time until Umbridge tried to confiscate it. Better I lend it to you."

"I might not give it back even if your lifetime ban gets wiped away," Katie said.

"I knew I should've made you sign something in blood…"

"For a Firebolt I would've signed almost anything, too." A wicked gleam appeared in her eyes. "If you thought I was willing to do whatever you wanted to get out of a trick step, you've no idea what I'd do for a boy who gave me a Firebolt."

"Well, if you're willing…" Harry fished a scrap of parchment out of his pocket. "We can write something up? How does eternal slavery sound?"

"To you?" Katie gave him a coy look and bit her lip. "Do I get to call you Dark Master ?"

Harry chuckled. "If you want."

Black ink marked the parchment beneath his fingers. Rita Skeeter's address. Harry read it once, then slipped it back into his pocket. That's close to Diagon Alley, I saw that street name on the way there with Uncle Vernon.

"It's a shame you already gave it to me for the foreseeable future." Katie gave him a shrug. "Guess you'll have to lure me into the trick step after all."

"You"d"ve been a terrible slave anyway." He put his knife and fork down. "I can't say I like the sneakoscope you gave me, though. It seemed cool to begin with, but it whistles constantly."

Katie laughed. "Been doing untrustworthy things, have you?"

"Every other second of every day?" Harry asked. "It starts whenever I get near it. Even when I'm sleeping."

"What did Nev get you?" Katie asked. "I know you bought him that really rare, unpronounceable cactus. He sent me a letter that had the damn thing's name twice in every sentence. It took me hours to read without tying my tongue in a knot."

"Mimbulus Mimbletonia." Harry extended his forearm and tugged up the sleeve of his robes to reveal the slim, dragon-hide dueling holster his wand was now in. "He got me this. Aurors use them, I think."

"Cool," she exclaimed. "How does it work?"

"It's enchanted. I flick my wrist and think about wanting my wand in my hand…" He did so and his wand appeared in his grasp.

"What happens if you don't catch it?"

"I drop my wand and look like an idiot. Presumably, I also lose whatever duel I was about to fight in." He grinned. "No, it's enchanted so it literally appears in my grasp. I don't think I can drop it."

It was probably fairly expensive. Harry glanced at the clock. Time to get Fleur. I did promise.

"Enjoy your lunch," he said.

"Leaving me already?" Katie pouted. "That's not nice, I only just got back."

"I've a promise to keep." A small smile crept onto his lips.

"Frenchie, then." She busied herself with a goblet and a jug. "You only smile like that when you're sneaking off to see her."

"Guilty as charged."

Katie thwacked the jug back down. "Well, off you go, then. I'll see you

later."

Harry slipped back toward the Chamber of Secrets through empty corridors. Silence hung over Myrtle's bathroom, so he stepped over the puddle and hurried down into the chamber.

"I thought you were spending the rest of the day with Fleur," Salazar said.

"I am, but we've been together for six months. It's about time she met my family, don't you think?"

Salazar drummed his fingers on the top of his snake's head. "You've never referred to your muggle relatives as your family before… You intend to bring her here."

"You're the only real family I have, painting or not. Nobody else helped me like family is meant to." He studied the golden sand in the time-turner. "And I promised Fleur no more secrets."

"Well, I don't remember Tom ever bringing a girl to meet me." Shadows clustered in Salazar's eyes. "Actually, I don't remember him ever really speaking to one."

"Do you think it's a bad idea?" Harry asked. "I trust her. She won't betray me."

"No, I think it's a very good idea." Salazar's green eyes softened. "However, without our bloodline, she can only enter here by invitation."

"Then how could Ginny, Ron, Lockhart, Fawkes…" Harry sighed. "I invited them all in, didn't I? I intended or wanted them to enter."

"The Weasley girl was possessed by Tom, so that likely counted in her case." Salazar peeled his snake off his neck and coiled it round his arm. "As for the phoenix, they're annoying creatures, interpreting odd meanings from anything if it benefits them. Helga's once came to give me aid in the middle of a feast, it relit the fire when it went out, but I'm certain it was just hungry and wanted an excuse to get past the wards to the food."

"So I can just apparate us both here?"

"Yes." Salazar sighed. "I need to teach you a lot more about the magic of the Chamber of Secrets."

"You've taught me next to nothing about it."

Salazar's expression darkened. "I know. I will soon. Go on, then, Harry. You have my permission, approval, or whatever it was you wanted from telling me."

Harry picked up Fleur's drawing. "Argent."

Gabby sat on the white pebbles, tossing the small ones into the water and watching the ripples spread.

"Fleur! You've shrunk!"

Gabby twisted "round. A brief shadow of a smile passed across her lips. "Fleur's in her room at the chateau." She chose another pebble and threw it into the middle of the current.

I know that smile. A younger version of me wore it when he saw the other children with their parents.

Harry watched the fish scatter from the ripples. "Lonely?"

"It's part of being veela." Gabby sighed. "I imagine we all think we'll be different, that our friends are better, but they're not. Girls like boys" attention. They don't like it when it's suddenly snatched away." She lobbed another stone into the water. "And you've stolen my sister, so I don't have Fleur to spend my time with instead."

"Sorry." Harry took a seat on the shore beside her. "I didn't intend to steal her from you."

"I don't mind," Gabby murmured. "It's good Fleur has you. She smiles properly a lot more now."

"I'm sure she'll come and kidnap you." Harry bumped her shoulder with his. "And if she doesn't, I'll try to. Just don't tell Fleur, ok? She'll think we're finally eloping."

A quiet laugh burst from Gabby's lips. "Thank you, Harry. I think you'll both be busy, though. And I'm not the same as Fleur. She's stronger than I am. I can't ignore everyone around me as easily as she does. I can feel their emotions in the magic they cast, their jealousy, their pity, their anger." Her fingers tightened on the pebble in her palm. "They affect me."

"If there's anything I can do, you only have to ask," Harry promised.

Gabby shook her head. "I will survive. Maman says it's just a few years. Once the other girls have grown up a bit more, they start to see past things."

"She probably knows."

Gabby nodded. "She's not as powerful as me and nowhere near as powerful as Fleur, but she probably does know." A glimmer of her usual mischief appeared in her eyes. "My sister's been waiting for you very impatiently since Christmas, what did you promise her?"

Harry chuckled. "Well, if you want to find out, you can try following us and making another picture?"

"I think Fleur really might murder me." Gabby giggled, stood up, and stuck her arm out. "Can you apparate me back? Fleur added you to the wards."

"Of course." Harry took her hand and spun the world back past them with a soft snap. He kept a tight grip on Gabby until they stood still amidst her hoard of shoes. "There we go."

"Thanks." She flashed him a grin. "I'll get Fleur for you." Gabby bounced up the stairs, calling Fleur's name and casting all sorts of aspersions on what they might be about to do.

Harry shook his head and grinned as faint blue light flickered down the stairs. A pink-cheeked Fleur appeared, trailed by a soot-streaked Gabby.

"Keeping your promise?" she asked.

Gabby giggled.

"Not like that." Fleur trod on Gabby's foot. "Maman needs to take the adult bits out of those books."

"But they're the best bits! You even folded all the corners of the pages down to mark them, Fleur!"

Fleur's face turned bright red. "You're dead!" Gabby bolted for the kitchen with a squeal. "Well, that sounded interesting." Harry offered his hand. "Want to tell me about it?"

"Tell you? Non." Fleur stepped right against him and wrapped her arms round him. The heat of her pressed into him from her knees to her breasts. "But one day, mon Cœur, I might show you."

Harry choked. "Well-"

"I think you like the idea." A smirk settled on Fleur's lips and she pushed her hips against him a little more. "In fact, I can tell you like the idea a lot."

Heat rushed onto Harry's face. "Right, off we go."

He pictured the oversized bust of his ancestor and the serpent effigies of the main chamber, holding tight to Fleur as the world swirled past them. Harry went sprawling across cold, hard stone, pulling Fleur after him. "How do I always end up on the floor?"

She sat up and straddled him. "I think this method of apparition works well." Her smirk returned. "So do you, it seems, mon Cœur."

Harry sat up and kissed her. "I'm sure if I wanted to find out, I'd find you like it a lot, too."

"Perhaps…" Fleur rolled her hips and Harry's breath caught as she pressed herself against him. "But not now." She jumped to her feet. "Where is this?"

Tease.

"The Chamber of Secrets."

"Is it actually called that?" Fleur wrinkled her nose. "And I don't know what that means."

"The wizard who named it had a few issues with his ego." Harry pointed at the giant bust of Salazar Slytherin.

"I heard that." Salazar's parseltongue hiss echoed from the study.

Fleur tensed at the sound. "I don't particularly like snakes, Harry."

Harry chuckled. "No snakes. Well, no real ones." He waved a hand at the décor. "The Chamber of Secrets was built by Salazar Slytherin to house a guardian to protect the school from attackers. It slumbered here until his descendant was able to enter the chamber, but Voldemort had his own purpose for it and set the basilisk on the students instead."

"Who puts a basilisk in a school full of children?" Fleur demanded. Her face paled. "It's not still here, is it?"

He laughed. "I asked the same question, and no, it's gone. In my second year, Voldemort managed to unleash it on the school again; it petrified Hermione, one of my friends at the time, and dragged Ginny Weasley down here."

"You went after it. Of course you did."

"I came down here and I killed it with a sword in a very dashing, heroic manner."

Salazar's painting muttered something that sounded a lot like brainless Godricness.

Fleur scowled. "That explains why Ginny Weasley likes you. I guess there was some truth in that article about you, her, and Katie Bell."

Harry winced and pointed at the faint, seventy-foot shadow. "There's not much left of the basilisk. It was taking up too much space."

"Merde," Fleur whispered. "You're such an idiot, anyone less lucky would've died."

"He nearly did," Salazar called. "The idiot was bitten and had to be saved by phoenix tears. Fortunately, he's far less keen to play the hero these days."

Fleur flicked her silver hair over her shoulder. "Who is that, mon Cœur?"

"My ancestor," Harry replied. "His painting hangs on the wall through there, presumably to perpetually irritate all of his descendants who find his Chamber of Secrets."

"You're descended from Salazar Slytherin?"

"Without a doubt." Harry led her into the study. "I'd imagine it's complicated, otherwise everyone would know."

"This is where you got the books from."

"Yes." Harry waved a hand at the shelves. "My Latin's pretty poor, but I know enough to get by, and most of them were helpfully translated by my predecessor."

"So this is Fleur," Salazar said. "It's a pleasure to meet you face to face."

"In the flesh, so to speak," Harry quipped.

"Brat." Salazar folded his arms. "Even this paint and canvas shadow is a greater wizard than you."

Fleur glanced between the two of them. "I can't see too many similarities."

"There aren't many," Salazar said. "He has my wife and daughter's nose, there's a little of me in his cheekbones and jaw, and perhaps the colour of the hair, but little else."

"It has been over a thousand years," Harry said.

"So this is where you kept sneaking off to last year." Fleur picked the time-turner up and inspected it. "No wonder I could never figure out where you were going."

"Were you following me the entire time?" Harry asked.

"I was curious." Fleur turned her nose up. "You ought to have been more curious, then you would've come and talked to me sooner."

"It does explain where Gabby learnt her stalking behaviour from." Harry shrugged. "You wouldn't have been able to get past the wards, anyway."

Salazar rolled his eyes. "The chamber is protected by blood magic wards. You have to be a blood relation to me, or invited by one, to enter my chamber."

"Are there any others?" Fleur asked.

"Just one," Harry muttered.

"Voldemort."

"He will not be visiting, he hasn't in a very long time," Salazar said. "And we will seal him out soon." "So, is this the last of your secrets?"

Harry gave her a broad grin.

"I didn't think so."

"You'd get bored of me if it was."

"I would not." Fleur crossed her arms. "You would only make more secrets, anyway, mon Cœur."

"Well, I can't share some of the last ones unless you can protect your thoughts."

Salazar nodded. "Occlumency."

Fleur nodded. "I am passable. It's a requirement for applying to the Bureau d"Éngimes. My magic helps as well, the natural pull of it affects the mental connection. It is hard for most wizards to manipulate my thoughts with such a handicap."

"Could you defend your thoughts if someone tried to steal from them?" Harry asked.

"Of course." She shook her hair down. "Maybe not against the most skilled wizards and witches, but the allure's pull gives me a big advantage."

"Avoid Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort, and it'll be fine," Salazar said. "I assume this is the discussion about horcruxes."

"Well if it wasn't, it's going to be now, isn't it, you senile crayon-work?" Harry glowered at the painting.

"So I'm right either way, then." A smug smile spread over Salazar's face.

Fleur blinked and cocked her head. "What are horcruxes?"

"Complicated." Harry frowned. "A very abstract piece of soul-based magic, but basically an anchor to the world. If you have one, you can't be killed, even if your body's destroyed."

"So that's how Voldemort survived." Fleur picked up the time-turner and inspected the tiny runes etched into it. "We need to destroy it, then."

"There's been more than one," Salazar said. "But I think there's probably only a couple left. Tom would've chosen a magically potent number, probably three."

"The prophecy's just the first step," Harry murmured. "A powerful wizard trying to kill a baby after hearing a prophecy that involves him? I doubt Voldemort is going to stop trying to kill me."

"What do we do?" Fleur demanded.

Salazar laughed.

Harry scowled at him. "I need to see the prophecy and I need to get the Ministry to accept the truth before Voldemort launches a surprise attack and crushes the majority of his opposition. It will get a bit tricky if it's just me against the entire country."

" We." Fleur's blue eyes darkened by a few shades.

Harry's heart twisted. Chill fingers clamped "round his spine and his stomach churned. "You promised."

"It is still our goal."

"Well, our goal is to be stronger than Dumbledore and Voldemort, but they're so far beyond what I can do, I wonder if I'll even have time to get there."

"Why do you need to be stronger than Dumbledore?" Fleur asked. "Is he not on your side?"

"He believes I'm part of his side." A bitter heat crept onto Harry's tongue. "But like with all his pawns, he's just waiting for the best time to trade pieces."

Her eyes darkened to midnight blue, then faded back. "We should duel, then." A small smirk curved Fleur's lips and she strode from the study. "Let's see how long you last against me before you start thinking about Dumbledore or Voldemort."

"Proud, isn't she?" Salazar said.

"With good reason." Harry shrugged. "I kind of like it." "Oh, just kind of ?" Salazar stroked the head of his snake.

"Shut up." Harry glared at both his ancestor and his serpent.

Salazar laughed. "She's good for you." He waved a hand at Harry. "Now go spend some time with her. She's more important than talking with some dusty old painting."

Fleur stood in the centre of the chamber, her rosewood wand held upright before her face like a blade. "I almost thought you'd decided to forfeit…"

"As if I'd miss the chance to beat you at something." Harry pointed at the serpent effigies. "Don't worry about breaking anything. It fixes

itself."

"Normal rules." Fleur drew a glowing circle in the air with the tip of her wand, then tossed it over the floor like a loop of ribbon; it stretched out to seven metres. "Nothing too dangerous and no saying anything but spells."

Her wand snapped up. Harry flicked his into his palm.

"Good reflexes. Did you do the other ritual?"

"I haven't done that yet," Harry said. "I should soon, but I don't want Madam Pomfrey talking to Dumbledore, and the rituals kind of take it out of you."

"Shall we begin?" Fleur raised her wand.

Harry mirrored her. Let's see if I can't beat her again. He smothered a smile. She'll pout so much.

Fleur unleashed a trio of red jinxes, twirling the wand motions together. Harry deflected two of them back and side-stepped the last. He threw all the useless school hexes he'd taught Nev at her. She danced through them, redirecting a few back at him, turning and twisting him along the perimeter of the circle, testing his deflection to its limit.

Harry sent his spells hissing from the tip of his wand as fast as he could manage. Fleur's spells ricocheted and burst against his hail of magic, but she bent, leant, and swayed through the storm, batting away anything that came close to her. Her silver hair billowed as she folded in half at the waist, then bounced back up off her palm and swatted away another jinx.

She's really flexible. Harry tore his eyes away and ducked a couple of his own spells. Focus. If I lose because I was staring at her, she'll never let me forget it.

He switched tactics, sending spells slicing past Fleur's shoulder and forcing her closer to him along the edge of the ring. She scowled, then smirked and released a flash of light from her wand.

Harry's spells hung amidst a faint shimmer, caught in it like flies in a web. What the hell is that?

Fleur side-stepped "round it and sent a yellow spell hissing at him. Harry ducked and felt it sear through his hair. Her laughter floated after half a dozen more yellow spells.

He batted the first two away, and let the others whistle past. Plan B, then.

Harry animated the effigies along the walls, pouring magic into them, then shielded, weathering Fleur's barrage of spells and keeping his distance, backing along the outside of the ring. The stone snakes curled around Fleur's legs and she gasped, thrusting her glowing wand tip at them. The marble coils tightened, and she scowled, turning them to dust.

Damn. He hurled a few more jinxes. Ok, new plan.

He conjured his swarm of butterflies and unleashed a stream of transfigured projectiles at Fleur, forcing her to throw up a shield of her own. Harry drew the water from the pool behind Fleur into a basilisk and coiled it about her shield until the pressure burst the shining white bubble. A flash of bright flame severed the basilisk and Fleur dived through.

"Expelliarmus," Harry murmured, snatching Fleur's wand out of the air and waving it aloft.

Bright blue flashed before his eyes and a burst of heat struck his chest, knocking him out of the circle and across the floor.

"I do not need my wand to conjure fire, mon Cœur." Fleur waved a hand coated in azure flames at him and wiggled her fire-wreathed fingers.

"I'd already disarmed you and won." Harry dusted himself off and stood up. "You said normal rules, so that includes no sneaky veela attacks."

Fleur scowled, then shrugged.

"So what did you think?" he asked.

"What do I think?" A huge pout crept onto her lips. "I am a talented duelist, eighteen, and did the best I could, but I still got overpowered by a fifteen year old. It's annoying."

Harry shot her a helpless look.

"I'm not angry with you, mon Cœur." She stepped forward and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. "I just don't like losing."

"So I did well?" Harry enquired.

Fleur waved her wand at the fragments of the serpents and restored the chamber. "I use a counter-attacking style. I don't have the brute force to break through defences, but I can dodge, deflect, and defend very well. It's effective in the ring and more effective outside it when I've more room, but I only created one opening. It's frustrating." "That's pretty much how I felt while watching you weave around everything I did, no matter how fast I tried to go." He wrapped his hands "round her waist. "And whatever you did to freeze my spells."

"Wards." Fleur smirked. "I am good with wards, I think the right way for them."

"Salazar says I'm good at abstract magic, like blood, soul, and mind magic." He smiled. "Salazar expects all his descendants to be good at the same things he was, though."

"And transfiguration." Fleur sighed. "I tried to turn your serpents back on you by re-enchanting them, but imbuing my magic over yours was like pouring water onto glass."

"Is Gabby good at wards?"

Fleur nodded. "She is good at all the same things as me, but she has a… softer touch. It works better for some things and not others, depending on the intent of the magic. Her enchantments play nicer with other people than mine."

Harry conjured a seat for them and settled into it.

Fleur draped herself over his lap. "What now?"

"Well, I'm going to talk to Rita Skeeter tomorrow, I'm sure you remember her…"

"Oh yes," she muttered. "I remember her. She deserves anything and everything that happens to her. Such a spiteful, petty, shallow little

girl."

"She's an animagus and likely an unregistered one." Harry slipped his wand away and ran his fingers through Fleur's silver tresses. "I owe her for that article about Katie and Ginny. Potshots at me I can ignore, but that was a step too far. I'm going to twist her arm into doing something more useful, like raising awareness about Voldemort's return or discrediting his followers in the Ministry."

"I am coming," Fleur said. "I promised not to come when it was dangerous, but I'm definitely coming this time."

Harry wrestled with the sharp, tight, cold fingers clutching at his heart. "But…"

"But what?" Fleur twisted in his lap and glared up at him.

"It's not worth the risk. If things go wrong, you might get hurt, or worse. Your actions would have huge repercussions for your family and nobody knows you're connected to me yet, so you're completely safe so long as you aren't seen with me again."

Her eyes narrowed a fraction and darkened a few shades. "Then I will come with you under your cloak and nobody will know."

Harry wrestled with the fear, but caught the unyielding gleam in her near-black eyes. "You can come, but you have to promise me you'll stay hidden."

She pursed her lips. "Fine. I promise."

"Thank you." Harry bent and kissed her on the cheek. "I know you hate it, but I need you to be safe."

"I won't keep promising things like this." Fleur's eyes shifted a few hues darker still. "I refuse to hide while you take all the risks. I am not some sunset for you to walk toward. We will walk there together."

"I'd have to be an idiot to refuse the help of a witch like you every time."

"You are an idiot," Fleur muttered. "You tried to kill a basilisk with a sword."

Harry chuckled. "In my defense, I didn't have my wand."

Fleur let out a peal of laughter. "When are we going tomorrow?"

"Probably in the evening." Harry shrugged. "It doesn't matter."

"Do you even go to your lessons? Don't you ever have something important to do at school?"

"Well…" Harry eyed her from head to toe. "I can think of one thing…"

Pink blossomed on Fleur's cheeks. "Be careful, mon Cœur. I'm going to take you up on that sooner or later…"

"I'm fairly sure you're meant to wait until I'm sixteen, cradle-robber."

Fleur laughed. "I'm not the cradle-robber you need to be worrying about, it's the one who gave you this scar who's the threat." She traced the line of it down his forehead with her fingertip. "It's faded now, less red. I think it may disappear completely."

"The rituals, maybe."

Or when I tore my soul.

"Mmm." Fleur closed her eyes and huffed her hair off her face. "I'm going to take a nap. You can run your fingers through my hair, if you like. It feels nice."

Harry chuckled and slipped his hands through her hair, massaging the back of her neck.

"Warming charm please, mon Trésor," Fleur murmured.

He laughed. "Of course, mon Rêve." He cast the spell upon his hands, then cradled her head in his lap. "Better?"

"Much better." She nestled close and tucked her knees up into his side. "Now hush, this is nice."

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