Ignorance is Bliss

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

AN : On we go!

Ignorance is Bliss

Summer sun soaked into him, shining through the soft green leaves of the willow tree. Their fronds tangled "round him like a hundred slim snakes. Somewhere beyond the green and the bright, the river burbled and gushed over warm, white stones.

"Perfect," Harry murmured.

Arms slipped around his shoulders from behind. "As always," Fleur whispered in his ear. "And one day, this will be every day."

The sun wavered, the warmth faded, and Harry opened his eyes. A silver blanket covered him to the faded green arm of the old sofa beyond his toes and Fleur's warm thigh rested beneath his cheek.

The deep, cold ache crept back in where the warmth of the willow tree had been.

She brushed his hair off his face. "Did you sleep well, mon Cœur?"

"Yes." He shot her a small smile. "Kind of wish I didn't have to wake up."

Fleur's blue eyes held his gaze and she traced the line of dried tears down his cheeks with her fingertip. "Will you tell me? Will that help?"

"I don't know. Has it ever helped you?"

"Sometimes," she murmured, running her hands through his hair. "It seems to help Gabby."

"I had to seal the Chamber of Secrets," Harry said. "All of the wards bound to Salazar's blood had to be altered so that I and those of my bloodline can still enter, but Voldemort can't. I had to sacrifice someone invaluable to demonstrate intent strong enough to create such an incredible piece of magic."

"Someone?" Fleur's hands froze in his hair and her breath caught.

"Salazar," Harry mumbled into her leg. "He said there was no other way."

It was him or you. His heart twisted itself into a tight knot. And it can't be you. It can't ever be you.

"I'm sure that he was right," Fleur whispered.

"I needed him. Without him I'd still be blindly walking to my death, just as Dumbledore plans. Now he's gone…"

"But I am not." Fleur lifted his head off her legs and squirmed. "You will always have me, mon Cœur." She kissed him on the cheek, then turned his head to face her with two slender fingers on his chin.

"It hurts." Harry pressed his fingers to the point in his chest where the ache was almost tangible.

"It always does." Fleur rested her head on his shoulder. "But it will pass. What's done is done."

But it can be undone. The silver mark on his cloak, the faded, black symbol upon the white graves at Godric's Hollow and the mark above the Veil hovered before the eye of Harry's mind. I can undo it.

"There is something I can do." Hope flared anew. "I can see him again."

"How, mon Cœur?" A small, worried gleam hovered in her eyes. "He is gone."

"There is a stone. An artefact that can raise an imprint of the dead."

Fleur sighed and stood. "I know the story. The three brothers, the

Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and Death's Cloak. It is a myth." She fingered her wand. "We don't have time for you to try and convince me, either. It's time for us to find our own way or make one."

Privet Drive.

Harry sprang to his feet. "I need to go."

Fleur led him to the kitchen. "I am coming and you are eating something first."

She can't come to that place. Harry struggled with the two images, but no mental contortion he could manage would force the picture of Fleur into that house. She shouldn't be there. It's wrong.

"There isn't time," Harry said. "And if the members of the Order are there, then they can't see you."

"Why not?" Fleur tossed her hair over her shoulder and rummaged through the cupboards. "I do not care if they know we are together, in fact, I would prefer it if they did."

"But you'd be a target." Harry's heart seized. "They'd try to take you away."

"I will be under the Fidelius. Safe as can be."

"And Gabby?" Harry tried. "What about when Voldemort goes looking for our secret keeper knowing of your link to me? Will your family be safe?"

Fleur whirled on him. "He will never reach my sister when she is behind the walls of Beauxbatons. Voldemort will not dare risk provoking France's enmity while he still struggles in Britain." Her eyes darkened to pitch black. "And if you try to use my sister to manipulate me into hiding away like some shallow, little trophy of a girl again, then you will regret it, mon Cœur. I will fight, or I may as well return to France."

She knows me too well. Harry's heart sank down into the pit of his stomach. I can't lose her.

Fleur's expression softened and her eyes faded back to summer sky blue. "You didn't fall in love with some silly little girl who wanted to wait for her hero to save everyone, then sweep her off her feet into the sunset. You fell in love with me." She tilted her chin into the air. "And so you will have to get used to the idea of me being me all the time, not just when it's convenient."

"I know," Harry murmured. "But…"

"In the end, they'll all find out," she said. "Are you ashamed to be seen with me?"

"Of course not," Harry said. "Who could be?"

"Then why should I hide?" Fleur returned to rummaging, then passed him a rather flat, battered croissant. "It was under the jam."

"Thanks." Harry peeled layers off the pastry and chewed. "Is there really nothing I can say or do that would change your mind, mon Rêve?"

"Is there anything I could say to you that would keep you from helping me?" Fleur demanded, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes. "The answer to that better be no."

"Of course it is," he whispered. "But I, well, you know I'm a bit weird,

Fleur. I can't lose you. I'd do anything to stop that."

A small soft smile spread across Fleur's lips. "I know." She stole the last piece of croissant from his hand and ate it with a small smirk. "Now, we need to go. I very much want to meet your family."

No you don't. Harry caught the darkening hue of her eyes and the faint pinpricks of white along her arms. Or maybe you do.

"Well, if you get attached to any of them, I'm prepared to trade for Gabby."

"That bad?" Fleur arched an eyebrow.

"Gabby at her most mischievous is a thousand times preferable to any of my relatives." Harry chuckled. "Let alone all of them together." Fleur huffed. "You can't fool me, mon Cœur. You encourage her."

"I do." Harry grinned. "You make the most adorable pout when you get teased."

A faint blush rose onto Fleur's cheeks. "You might change your mind about that now we're both the target. I told her that we'd, well, you know, and now I can't say anything about you to her without getting suggestive looks and cheeky remarks."

"She did that already." Harry extended an arm.

She draped his arm across her shoulders and wrapped her own arm around his waist. "Shall we go? It's time for Harry to fly the nest."

"Bird references?" Harry raised an eyebrow. " You're making bird references about me ?"

She laughed. "Hush and apparate us, mon Cœur."

Harry shifted their weight forwards, apparating them both straight into the back garden of Number Four, Privet Drive.

Fleur lifted her wand from her waist. "Homenum revelio. Only three people are close enough to the house to see us."

"Perhaps my intended baby-sitter is not yet here." Relief flooded through Harry's chest and a smile crept onto his lips.

"Don't look so pleased." Fleur huffed. "I am not some secret to be hoarded away from the world. You don't shut perfect things away in the dark where you can't appreciate them, mon Cœur."

Harry apparated them both upstairs to his room with a soft snap, then disentangled himself from Fleur to gather his things into a small stack. He shrank it down with a flick of his wand and slipped the whole pile into his pocket.

"You don't have very many things," she murmured.

"My relatives are not overly zealous about spending money on me."

"I can see that." Heat haze shimmered around Fleur's palms and her eyes flashed dark as pitch. "So this is the sort of distant, empty place that leaves a child so alone he begins to wonder if he's even real."

Harry flinched. "I-"

Fleur pressed a finger to his lips. "I don't care." She kissed him on the cheek, then turned his lips to hers. Her black eyes burnt a finger's length from his. "You are mine now, despite what they did, maybe even because of what they did, but that doesn't mean I won't hate them for hurting you."

"It didn't hurt at the time. I just wasn't really there." Harry stared down at the close-trimmed lawns and roses. "I don't even remember most of it, now. It almost feels like a dream."

"Are we going downstairs?" Fleur asked.

"Will you promise not to do anything drastic?"

"What are you going to do?"

Harry studied the fierce glint in her black eyes. And I'm going to have to do something. A quiet satisfaction rose in him. I owe them eleven years of emptiness. They deserve a parting gift.

"I'm going to give them the same safety and security from the magical world that they gave me," he said.

Fleur tilted her head to one side, then nodded. "I promise."

Harry strode out over the creaking floorboards of the landing and down the stairs.

"I think he's back." Aunt Petunia's prim tone and sharp sniff drifted up from the living room.

He stepped through the door. "I am indeed back."

The muted television played an endless sequence of bizarre events. Nothing else in the room had changed once in a decade. The same potted, plastic plants squatted on the window and in the corners, flowery wallpaper spread beneath the swirl-patterned plaster ceiling, and the same collection of photos of the three Dursleys hung on the walls.

"Well things aren't going to be the same as last summer," Vernon blustered, heaving himself out of his chair. "Your aunt and I-"

"Mais bien sûr." Fleur stepped through the door after him. "As if I would leave Harry to endure another day in this tasteless, lifeless hovel with you."

Petunia's hands darted to her hair, then curled into her pockets. "Who is this, Harry?"

"Fleur Delacour." Fleur glanced between the three Dursleys. "I am with Harry."

Dudley gawped. "With Harry?"

Harry snorted. "Well, Duddikins, when a boy and a girl love each other very much, they become partners. If you keep eating your grapefruit, you might even find out for yourself one day."

"You're married?" Petunia gasped and her gimlet eyes peered at Fleur's fingers.

What?

Fleur raised her fingers and waggled them. "No ring."

"I'm not even sixteen until the end of the month," Harry said.

"Lily married young," Petunia said. "Your kind have all sorts of strange ways."

"Why're you going out with Harry?" Dudley demanded. "You're, like, a model."

"You think I'm attractive?" Fleur's eyes flashed dark as ink.

"Yeah…" Dudley gaped. "You're so hot."

Fleur's face shifted and her nose and chin jutted into a cruel, hooked beak. "How about now?" she hissed.

Vernon swore and recoiled into his chair, Petunia let out an odd little shriek, covering her mouth with both hands, and Dudley went pale as a sheet.

"That's it," Vernon shouted, turning an interesting shade of puce. "I won't have this anymore."

"Oh?" Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you intend to do, Uncle Vernon?"

"I'll - I'll…" Vernon caught Petunia's warning glare and deflated like a punctured balloon.

"It's nice to meet you, Fleur." Petunia simpered. "Can I get you anything? A cup of tea?"

Fleur let her face shift back and smirked. "I've already got the only thing I'd ever want to take from this place."

A small smile crept onto Harry's face and his heart squirmed in his breast. "We're not staying long."

"You're not?" Dudley dragged his eyes away from Fleur's legs. "Why not?"

"I came back to say goodbye. I'm leaving." Harry grinned and raised his hands when his aunt opened her mouth. "I know it's sooner than you expected and I'm sure you'll all miss me terribly, but we've got our own house now and I did promise Albus Dumbledore I would stay where I was safest."

Vernon bristled, then drew himself up in triumph when the idea that Harry would be gone sank in past the sarcasm.

"But the protections," Petunia squeaked. "If you're gone, there's nothing keeping us safe from your kind."

Harry offered a small, thin, cold smile. "Don't fret, Aunt Petunia. I'm going to make sure you're every bit as prepared for the magical world as I was."

Vernon released a long sigh and slumped back into his chair. "Least you could do after we took you in, boy."

Petunia shivered. "What are you going to do ?"

"You know what they say, Aunt Petunia. Ignorance is bliss." Harry flicked out his wand and turned toward Dudley and Vernon. "Obliviate." He ripped himself and all magic from their memories, then smoothed Dudley's friends into the gaps left behind.

"What did you do?" Petunia shook Vernon's shoulders, then Dudley's. "Did you hurt them?"

"I modified their memories," Harry said. "They have no memory of me, magic, or anyone connected to me, and in a moment, neither will you."

"What about Lily?" Petunia whispered. "Will I still remember my little sister?"

"You'll never even know you had one."

"But our childhood together, all the happy times I have from before she left me, they'd be gone." Tears smeared the precise lines of Petunia's eyeshadow and mascara. "I loved my perfect baby sister."

"It never sounded like it to me." Harry turned his wand on her. "Obliviate."

Petunia slumped on top of her spouse.

"What now?" Fleur watched Harry levitate them back into their usual chairs.

"We walk away." He slipped his wand back into his sleeve. "Dumbledore or someone from the Order will come here when they realize I am gone, and my memory charm may be weakened by their enquiry, but I doubt it. For all Petunia's proclamations of love, they just won't want to remember me."

"And what if Voldemort comes?"

"Then they have every protection from him that they afforded me," Harry whispered. "And I suspect he won't bother saying more than a very specific couple of words to mere muggles."

They're not worth hating. Just like all the other selfish hypocritical people who begged for a hero, then loathed him for not vanishing after they were saved. Harry took one last long look around. I have Fleur now. She's all I'll ever need.

Fleur's eyes remained dark blue. "I hope they're not as lucky as you were."

"I should thank them, really." Harry kissed her on the nose and smiled at her glower. "Without them, I might not've ended up with you."

"You would've loved me anyway." Fleur slipped her fingers through his. "I am perfect for you, non?"

"As always," he murmured.

Privet Drive twisted and Harry found himself spilling across the hall floor in the Meadow. Fleur draped herself over him.

"You did that deliberately," he accused through a smile.

Fleur sat up and straddled him with a smirk, leaning back until he could feel the heat of her through his clothes. "Shall I show you the house?"

"Is there anything to see yet?" Harry tried to ignore the warmth of her pressed against him.

She rolled her hips over him until a groan slipped from his lips. "The bedroom?" Desire smouldered in her blue eyes, then she vanished. Something soft and warm slid over Harry's face.

He pulled it away and sat up. Fleur's clothes pooled on the floor around him. Dark blue silk lace dangled from his fingers. "That seems like an excellent place to start."

AN : Sadly, this scene doesn't continue onto my website this time… Discord is still a thing. Audiobooks are also still a thing. All the links are on my profile and on discord, including how to support me and read my original works!

But if you don't fancy hunting, there's always this one below.

discord. gg / 7D7dWjzKac

The Unyielding Shield

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

AN: Some parts of this scene only exist on my website, and we all know what that means…

The Unyielding Shield

The leaves of the elm trees whispered in the wind as the sun set beyond them in a wash of orange, pink, and red light. Swathes of meadow grass rippled like waves on the sea, glistening with dew. Harry waded toward the sunset with a broad smile on his face.

He's not stopped smiling since we left that awful house. Fleur quickened her pace to return to his side; a damp chill soaked through to Fleur's toes and legs, drenching her dress from the knees. He will never go back there, not if I have any say in it.

Harry paused at the bank of a small stream and turned his small half-smile on her, reaching for her hand. Fleur's heart squirmed beneath her breast and she slipped her fingers through his.

He pointed their linked hands at the crest of the woods where the trees" green melted into the bright sunset. "That's as far as it goes?"

"Yes."

"It's quite a lot of meadow." He glanced back over the long grass to where the white-washed walls of their small house sat at the top of the hill. "I quite enjoy walking through long grass. Vernon always made me cut the grass very short."

A faint pout crept onto her lips. "More wet grass than I would ever care to walk through."

Harry laughed. "We can apparate back, mon Rêve, but I was going to suggest creating some wards."

"Across the whole area?" Fleur swept her hair over her shoulder and studied the meadows. "It's not a small space…"

"Of course," Harry said. "It's all ours."

"I can do it." Fleur turned her nose up at him. "If you watch, you might learn something, mon Cœur."

"I thought you didn't like being watched?" Harry teased.

"I make an exception for you." Fleur stole a kiss from him and pushed her chest out just enough to catch his eye. "You can watch me as much as you like."

"What will you show me?" A teasing glint hovered in his eye. "Something… exciting? "

A faint heat crept to her cheeks. "Warding. In its most common form, then something exciting."

"Oh?" The little gleam in his eye started to smoulder. "And what's my role in this? Helpless innocent wizard ensnared in the woods and seduced by the wiles of the veela?"

A soft chuckle escaped Fleur's lips, but the heat in her cheeks crept south and curled in her abdomen. " Maybe… but not today. Today: wards. They're not going to find you and force you back to that ugly little house with your relatives."

A flicker of disappointment crossed Harry's face and warmth burst beneath Fleur's breast. She pressed her lips to his cheek. "We've all summer to enjoy each other's company," she murmured. "But I want to cross off all the rooms inside the house before we move outside."

Harry laughed. "Now that's a plan I can get behind."

"You better." Fleur offered him her cutest pout. "Now, let's sort out some wards before you distract me any more than you already have."

Harry's brow creased. "We don't want anyone turning up before we can at least prepare ourselves or slip away."

Fleur pulled her wand out. "Anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards are a must, then we'll need actual protections to stop people just walking up to the door."

"Anything I can help with?" Harry asked.

Fleur arched an eyebrow at him. "Not unless you've managed to learn a great deal about enchanting and warding in the last few months?"

"I can't say that I have." Harry's green eyes sparkled with amusement and his gaze trailed down through her cleavage to her hips. "I suppose I'll just have to watch you."

A little shiver rippled through her and she curled her toes into her damp shoes. "Stop that." She pouted and turned her back on him. "I need to focus."

He stepped close behind her. His warm breath brushed the nape of her neck. "If you want me to stop, you probably shouldn't pout like that…"

Fleur reached over her shoulder and patted him in the face with her hand. "Be good. The ward I'm about to cast isn't something most people can manage." A touch of pride coloured her tone.

Harry's arms slid "round her waist. "Astound me, then, mon Rêve."

Fleur closed her eyes, gathered her magic, then thrust her wand into the air and twisted. "Fianto duri."

A crackling, glowing beam of bright light burst into the sky. The torrent of magic rose almost a hundred feet into the air before tendrils spread away from its tip like the petals of a vast flower. They arced upwards, feeding the spreading, translucent barrier growing above their heads.

Fleur inspected it and let the feel of the magic wash through her.

"Perfect." A slow, deep ache crept upon her as the magic took its toll.

"As always," Harry murmured in her ear. "Does that mean I can distract you now?"

"I need to do it on the other side." Fleur pointed her wand at where the edge of the barrier slowed to a crawl halfway back to the house. "But first I need to do the other wards."

"How do they work?" Harry asked.

"Anti-apparition wards are easy enough," she said. "Do you know what apparition is?"

"Probably not in enough detail to understand your explanation of the ward," he said.

"Madame Maxime told me that apparition was like travelling from one edge of a piece of paper to the other by magically folding up all the paper in between until the distance between the two edges was a single step."

"Salazar told me that it was like spinning the distance past me as I stepped," Harry murmured.

"Perhaps there are different ways to apparate." Fleur shrugged. "But both methods involve using magic to manipulate the space in between the beginning and end of the journey." "How can you prevent that?" Harry enquired.

"The ward I am about to cast prevents any manipulation of space or distance around its edge. If someone tries to compress the space, my ward tries to stretch it back. Nobody can apparate across the border without breaking the ward."

"That's quite simple."

"It is one of the most basic wards." Fleur flicked her wand and a brief shimmer fell over the meadows and house. "It can be overpowered by compressing the space either side of it until the ward itself covers so little space it is ineffective, but that's no easy feat and beyond most wizards or witches."

"Voldemort did that," Harry said. "He broke the anti-apparition wards over the Ministry."

"He is a powerful wizard. These wards, even my Unyielding Shield Charm, won't keep a wizard like him out if he really wanted to get in, but I'm sure it would tire even Voldemort."

"Could you break through?"

"Of course." Fleur waved her wand at the fading shimmer of the antiapparition wand. "I can rearrange wards like this, re-enchant them, if you like, but most would struggle. The Unyielding Shield is another matter, it repels all magic, even attempts to change it, and while I could exhaust it, that would also exhaust me."

Harry opened his mouth, but Fleur put a finger to his lips. "Antiportkey wards before I try and explain that ward."

"How do they work?"

You just like listening to me talk, don't you. Fleur caught the small smile hovering on his lips and her heart lurched. I could probably spend an hour describing Beauxbatons's different carpets and you'd sit there smiling.

"If you imagine the same piece of paper as before, then instead of folding it many times, the portkey bends the paper so that the points are next to each other on opposite sides of the paper. It then pokes a small, temporary hole through the surface of the paper to join the points, and that is what the user travels through."

Harry's forehead furrowed. "I don't understand how you can make a hole? Or how you could stop it?"

Fleur smirked. "You just do."

Harry rolled his eyes at her and grinned. "It's a good thing I've got you to do this for me, then."

Fleur gathered her magic and raised her wand; it glimmered with turquoise light. "To prevent someone from making a hole for a portkey, you make the paper tougher. The more magic, the harder it is for the portkey to make the hole."

And if you layer the magic in the right patterns, you can make it strong enough that it's all but impossible for anyone but the strongest wizards. Portkeys are blunt pieces of magic.

Fleur cast a web of magic across their property, folding and twisting it over and over until a thick mesh of her power covered the whole thing. An odd, cyan tint filled the air, then faded away as the ache settled deeper and her legs shook.

Harry took some of her weight and drew her back against his chest. "Will you be ok?"

"I'll be fine. Very tired, especially after adding the other enchantments, but fine." Fleur leant her head back on his shoulder. "So you won't be able to distract me."

Harry tutted. "How disappointing. What's the point of being with a part-veela, sex-craving bird-witch if you can't screw her all the time?" Fleur huffed. "You are lucky I know you know better and have to finish the wards or I would burn your clothes off-"

"Sounds good to me-"

"And leave you out here in the cold," Fleur finished.

"Sounds less good."

"Exactement." Fleur twisted "round in his arms and buried her face in his shoulder, breathing in his soft scent. "Now apparate me over there, mon Cœur, and I will finish the Unyielding Shield Charm."

"As you wish, ma Princesse."

The world spun back past them.

It is different. Harry whirls the world to meet him, compressing his destination to him for an instant, whereas I crumple the points together.

Fleur swayed, but Harry's arms pulled her back against the heat of his body. "You'll have to take me back to the house after this. I might not even be able to stay awake."

"Do you want me to cast it?" Harry stared up at the bright, glowing flower of magic that shone above the house. "Would I be able to?"

"I don't have time to teach you. And the protection will be better if I cast both halves." She pulled herself upright and stepped away. "Besides, I'm better at wards than you, so this is my part to play."

A small smile crept onto Harry's lips and he stepped after her to wrap his arms around her waist. "In case you fall," he murmured into her hair.

"Fianto duri." Fleur thrust her wand skyward, pushing every drop of magic she had through it, then twisted.

A second torrent of magic erupted from the tip of her wand, crackling and sparking as it ascended into the dusk sky. The two vast flowers of her magic melded together with a faint shimmer, then the stems fed into the translucent shield and the whole thing faded from sight.

Fleur groaned as the toll sapped the strength from her, and sagged back into Harry's arms.

"Back to the house with you." Harry bent and swept her up into his arms. "A good thing we're under the Fidelius, or that piece of magic would've had every auror in the country here."

"It wouldn't have mattered." Fleur leant her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. "I will have to keep reinforcing it to keep it at full strength, but it's the sort of ward that can stop entire squads of aurors in their tracks. I had to steal a book from Madame Maxime's private collection to learn it."

"What a brilliant, devious, accomplished bird-witch you are." Harry laid her down on the sofa, then disappeared into the kitchen.

Fleur listened to the creak of cupboards and the clink of china, settled herself into the cushions and smiled. "I'll make you regret those bird-witch comments, mon Cœur."

Harry's footsteps returned. "You'll never make me regret any time I spend with you."

Fleur wrestled with the weight of her eyelids, cracking one eye open. "What're you up to?"

Harry lifted her head, sat down, then rested her back onto his lap and waved the last piece of the religieuse under her nose. "I'm going to eat your cake while you're too tired to stop me."

"You better not," Fleur muttered. "Or this part-human, sex-craving bird-witch is going to set you on fire and peck out your eyes." Harry laughed and bent to kiss her on the forehead. "Can you sit up? Or shall I feed you?"

Fleur's stomach squirmed and she curled her toes into the cushions. Her tired mind conjured fragmented images of Harry's fingers and the sweet taste of raspberries and cream.

Harry's eyes flicked down to her feet. "That looks like you'd prefer to be fed." He plucked one of the raspberries off the top and dipped it into the cream.

Fleur parted her lips and raised her head.

"Nuh uh." He dangled it just out of reach. "You've got to ask."

A faint pout crept onto her lips. "You are far too fond of making me ask." She caught the flash of desire beneath the playful glint in his eyes and smiled. "But since you're so keen, I will ask. Feed me, mon Cœur. S'il. Te. Plaît."

Harry slipped the raspberry between her lips. His thumb traced the curve of her pout as the sweet taste of sugar melted on Fleur's tongue.

A little heat pooled between her thighs and she sat up and swung herself into Harry's lap. "I've changed my mind."

A dull thud echoed through the house.

Harry tensed.

Fleur huffed. "That is the sound of someone failing to apparate past the wards."

"Sirius or Gabby." Harry sighed. "What awful timing."

Fleur gave him a light squeeze. "I'll make it up to you later, mon Cœur. I promise. "

Harry hauled himself to his feet. "I'll hold you to that promise," he teased. "Is it Gabby?"

"Gabby can't apparate alone and she won't have told anyone the secret, especially without telling us she has." Fleur rose to her feet, pulled out her wand, and let Sirius in through the wards. "So it must be your godfather. He's probably feeling a little bruised, bouncing off anti-apparition wards can hurt."

Harry grinned. "I know."

A sharp knock echoed from the door.

Harry waved his wand at the door and it creaked open to reveal Sirius. A bright red smear marked his upper lip and chin, glistening beneath his bent, broken nose.

"Hi Sirius."

"Decided to put up some wards did we?"

"Just now, actually," Harry replied. "Episkey."

Sirius winced as his nose straightened with a soft crunch, and blinked hard. "Thank you."

"We can't leave you with a crooked nose." Harry chuckled and waved him onto the sofa. "Think of the outcry when the world hears Sirius Black's face has been marred."

"Witches everywhere will be devastated."

"The wanted posters will not be half so attractive," Fleur added, settling back into the sofa on the other side of Harry.

"Don't joke, Fleur." Harry smirked. "I've had to use magic to stop hundreds of attempts to kiss Sirius."

"Really?" Fleur ran her eyes over Sirius's pale face.

"Oh, yes." Harry's smile dripped innocence. "Dementors can be such persistent creatures."

"No witches?" Fleur matched Harry's expression.

"Not even one." Sirius sighed. "I should consider myself fortunate really, my mother is lining up candidate after candidate to continue the most pure bloodline of the Blacks."

"Your mother's still alive?" Fleur asked.

"No. She's a maddeningly annoying life-size portrait."

"So she can't actually arrange you a marriage then," Fleur murmured. "Not for lack of trying, I'd imagine," Harry quipped.

Sirius snorted. "You laugh at my misfortune now, Harry, but you're the only other possible heir to the family my dear mother will consider."

"So?"

"Her attempts to direct the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black might soon be your problem rather than mine."

Fleur sniffed. I pity anyone foolish enough to try and steal Harry's perfect wish from him. He'd burn this whole country to ashes before losing it.

"Speaking of your mother's painting and its picturesque placing, how has everyone been?" Harry's question carried the faintest touch of malice.

"You caused panic." Sirius laughed. "Your disappearing act was a good prank."

"Panic?" Fleur retrieved the plate of cake and helped herself to another raspberry. "Vraiment?"

"Oh yes. You instigated the largest meeting of the Order of the

Phoenix since Voldemort returned. Snape promised us that Voldemort knows nothing about this."

"What did Dumbledore say?" Harry murmured.

"He sent a letter to the meeting that expressed grave disappointment in you," Sirius said.

"Only a letter?" Fleur asked.

"Dumbledore's disappeared off somewhere on his own. He only told us that it was very important."

Off hunting horcruxes. Fleur smothered the heat welling up in her bones and finished the cake off, one cream-crowned bite at a time. And hoping to hurl Harry to his death the moment he finds them.

"Mad-Eye Moody wanted to drag you back to headquarters and imprison you until the summer ended," Sirius said. "Dumbledore assured us that you'd have to be returned to your relatives."

"There's a small snag with that," Harry quipped.

"Your memory charm. Dumbledore mentioned it in his letter. It will be left as you made it until you're found, then he intends to undo it and return you to your relatives under stricter rules."

"Rules," Fleur hissed. "Albus Dumbledore has no authority over Harry."

"Try telling him that," Harry muttered. "What did the rest of the Order think?"

"The Weasleys were angry." Sirius sighed. "I know that you and Ron have drifted apart, but they took your disappearance as irresponsible and were furious. Molly fears your actions will cause more members of the Order to be put in danger."

"They volunteered to be put in danger when they joined. The

Weasleys are angry because of Arthur's death, they can blame Dumbledore or me, and their choice is obvious."

Petty. Fleur swiped the last cream off the plate and licked it off her finger. Harry's not to blame.

"Insensitive," Sirius chided. "Even if it's true."

"The Weasleys are not the only members, despite their number," Harry said.

"Dumbledore suggested they look for you whenever and wherever they can."

"Even Snape?" Ice crept into Harry's tone.

Fleur put a hand on his arm.

"No. Not Snape. He actually seemed…" Sirius struggled with himself for a moment. "Impressed. Snivellus is a sneaky sort. He probably admires your ability to disappear as much as he envies it."

"Envy?" Fleur arched an eyebrow. "Why?"

"If Snivelly could disappear and escape both his masters, he probably would," Sirius said.

A flicker of disagreement crossed Harry's face. Fleur made a careful note of it.

"So Dumbledore is off secretly doing something important and the Order searches for me fruitlessly instead of actually fighting." Harry rolled his eyes. "Fantastic."

"Be careful if you leave the Meadow," Sirius said. "My cousin, Nym, is adept at tracking down fugitives and is capable of altering her appearance. She was Andi's and Ted's little girl, and she's not even stopped working to sleep recently…"

"I'll be careful," Harry said.

Fleur hid a smile. Only Dumbledore and Voldemort are a threat to us.

"I need to return," Sirius said. "The Order's at Headquarters more frequently now. Someone will notice if I'm away for long."

"Bye, Sirius." Harry wrapped the arm Fleur wasn't holding around his godfather in a brief but strong hug.

"I'll let you know as things change." Sirius jumped to his feet. "But for now the Order is simply trying to combat the rising wave of attacks however we can." He leant forward, then smiled and straightened up. "I'm going to have to walk past the wards, won't I?"

"Yes," Fleur said. " Walk to the road, that's far enough to be beyond them."

"If I break my face again you'll be hated by hundreds of witches," Sirius joked.

Harry grinned. "I'm sure." The humour faded from his face. "Take care, Sirius."

"You know me." Sirius stepped out into the hall. "I never do anything rash."

The door creaked open and shut, then Sirius's footsteps faded away down the path.

"You have things you wish to share?" Fleur asked. "You did not agree with him about Snape."

"With you?" Harry wrapped an arm "round her shoulders and pulled her close. "Always." His expression grew dark and his eyes turned to chips of ice. "Snape was the one who passed the prophecy to Voldemort and condemned my parents. He was fond of my mother and I have little doubt his true loyalty is to his quest for vengeance." Fleur studied the gleam in Harry's eyes. "He's not the only one who wants vengeance for what happened, is he?"

"If he'd not done what he did, I would've never been at Privet Drive." Harry's eyes turned distant. "And the reason he did it…"

He will kill him. Fleur recognised the cold gleam in his eyes. And rightly so. The damage those muggles did…

"I have a confession, mon Cœur." Fleur wriggled into his side. "There's a small part of me that's a little glad you endured everything you had to endure."

Harry squeezed her close. "There's a small part of me that's glad, too," he murmured. "I can't even imagine what things would be like if I'd not found you."

Fleur pressed her lips to his jaw. "Don't get caught up in hating all these other people. We just need to be free, that's all. Leave them behind, kill them if that's what it takes, but don't waste our time together on chasing people who aren't worth caring about. There are always more shallow, little people to try and drag you down to their level."

"I'm going to leave Hogwarts as soon as possible," Harry said. "I'll study to take my NEWTs early, this winter, hopefully, and then do whatever research of my own I can manage. Anything I can do to make myself stronger before facing Voldemort, I must do."

Fleur huffed. "There were a lot of pronouns in that sentence that should have been we." She drew his lips down to hers. "And speaking of we, which room do you want to cross off our little list first?"

Desire gleamed in Harry's eyes and his lips curved into a smirk. "You did make me a promise…"

"I always keep my promises," Fleur murmured, toying with the top button of her blouse until his eyes dipped to her breasts. " Always."

Discord is still a thing. Audiobooks are also still a thing. All the links are on my profile and on discord, including how to support me and read my original works!

But if you don't fancy hunting, there's always this one below.

discord. gg / 7D7dWjzKac