Chapter 12 - Apolline
"Or should I say, 'Prophet of Naga?'"
The words hung in the air and Harry felt his stomach drop as Hermione gasped.
"You... you kn-" started Harry.
"I know, yes," Fleur's mother interrupted, placatingly holding her hands up. "Please sit. I'm Apolline Delacour, and I assure you, there's no need to worry."
Hesitantly, Harry and Hermione slid into two high-backed seats at the opposite end of the long table, while Fleur sat at their side. She'd not at all been surprised that what her mother had told her had been correct. If there was one thing she'd learned about her mother over the years, it was that she was very rarely wrong.
"How did you find out?" Harry asked, the nerves in his stomach threatening to betray his voicebox.
"At the start. Well, we all did, the Heads of the Grand Coven of Veela and I. We knew from the moment the photo of you coming out of the Black Lake was splashed all over the Daily Prophet. That sigil on your chest is no ordinary mark."
"There…there are others that know as well?!" Harry answered in alarm.
"Only the five of us, and perhaps a few of our daughters, but don't worry, we won't betray your secret. You bear the symbol of our Goddess, our creator, and we presume your actions thus far have come about because of a plan of hers. All we ask is that you reveal the plan to ourselves in return so that we may understand if it threatens our race. After all, she also created our enemy, the merpeople."
Harry hesitated and looked left at Hermione, who seemed deep in thought. If the Veela already knew, or at least the heads of their Grand Coven, keeping a lot of secrecy might only serve to foster enmity between them. They held all the cards here. He didn't really have much choice.
"Okay," he sighed, "I'll tell you, but it's a long story."
"I thought it might be," Apolline smirked, "Let us eat and talk."
The table blossomed with an array of foods of both English and French cuisine, and they ate while Harry told Apolline and Fleur the true story of what had happened in the Lake - his ascension to the King of Sirens, his powers, and the Silver Tongue.
When he was finished, Apolline let out a sigh of relief.
"A wonderful story, and I thank you on behalf of The Council for sharing it.," she said, taking a sip of wine. "I'm sure they'll be very pleased, but I must ask you something. We would consider it an honour if one of our own were to join your harem and aid in your efforts to grow your race."
"Coven," Hermione said, "Harem is not really a term Harry's fond of."
"Coven then," Apolline replied, batting her hand away, "Would there be any problems, fertility-wise, should mate with a Veela?"
A strange warm feeling swelled up inside Harry then, and there was a strange feeling in his head. A soft pressure at each of his temples.
"No, but the child wouldn't be half Veela, half Siren. The child born from a male Siren will always be a Siren." he said, not knowing where the knowledge had come from.
"Good, I was concerned the mixing of the two races might cause an issue. I then of course bless, or even encourage a union between yourself and Fleur. You may find that if you do not mate with a Veela, other daughters of The Veela Council's Heads may pursue you, though they may not be so… formal in their approach."
"It doesn't seem right though," Hermione said, looking between Fleur and her mother, "It feels like you're just palming Fleur onto Harry because you feel like you need to, and it's clear now that you Fleur already knew. How do we know that what you seem to feel about us is real?"
"It is, 'Ermione," Fleur added, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, "I didn't know for certain, 'Arry just confirmed it. I'm starting to really like you both for who you are, not for 'Arry's status."
"You're sure?" Harry asked, it seemed like she was a dead cert for the coven now, even though he was being strong-armed into it.
"Absolument," Fleur nodded, "I am attracted to your bravery, 'Arry, your passion, and 'Ermione's intellect and kindness. And…you are both so nice to look at."
Harry smirked at Hermione's blush.
"Okay then."
"Good," Apolline said, clapping her hands together. "Now that the more serious business has concluded, I wanted to ask you one more thing. I want to thank you properly for saving Gabrielle's life."
"Don't worry about it," Harry replied, "There's no need."
"Of course 'zere is. She is my daughter, and if Naga herself saw fit to thank you and reward you, so should I."
"Reward him?" Hermione asked. "How?"
We Veela are creatures of love and sex. What you did was a natural reaction based on who you are as a person, your love for a fellow creature. I then too, wish to thank you with an act of love."
"Er…" Harry paused as Apolline then got to her feet and walked around the table, pulling down her blouse to reveal her large round breasts, with dark, pointed, galleon-sized nipples.
"Hermione," she asked as she approached, "You are the matriarch of your coven, so… may I use my mouth on your King?"
Harry's cock throbbed painfully at the idea. After all of the teasing that Fleur and Hermione had done to him today, he couldn't help but nod feverishly, but Hermione looked at him with a slightly squinting, side-eyed expression.
She didnt know what to think. This was the first time where she'd potentially be watching another woman doing something to her Harry. It was strange though, she was surprised at how she felt about it, and that she didn't find that she was jealous. In fact, she found herself more than a little aroused by the idea. She was all for it, but then, she'd been so looking forward to reaping the rewards of the little deal she'd had with Harry for the day, hadn't she?
"I'm afraid not," she said, "Another day, definitely, but today we are… playing a game."
"A game?" Apolline said, amused, "What sort of game?"
"Well," Hermione blushed, finding that even though she was talking to a Veela, she couldn't help but be a little embarrassed. "It's just that -"
"She's winding him up. I have been, also," Fleur assisted. "He can't cum until she says so for up to 24 hours."
"Is that so?" Apolline said, with an excited twinkle in her eyes, "Now that sounds like fun."
"It is," Hermione admitted sheepishly.
"For you, perhaps," Harry said, thoroughly peeved his pent-up knob wouldn't be receiving a BJ from the maturer Veela.
"Hmm. I don't want to ruin your game, but then… I have an idea," Apolline said with a wicked smirk. "Let's tie him to his chair, then I can use my mouth on you instead."
Harry went red, saying "Hey, that's not fair, I-" but Apolline flicked her wand at him, silencing him.
"And we can keep him quiet as well," she smirked.
The other girls giggled, but the atmosphere in the room became very still.
"I…er…I'm not sure," Hermione stammered, feeling under pressure for a response. "No one apart from Harry has ever done that to me before."
"Well," Apolline said, flicking her wand again to bind Harry in thick ropes to the chair he was sitting in, "I'm sure you and he will love it very much. I of course possess a natural ability. And of course, I know that you, just like all Veela, are attracted to both genders. Fleur was correct, you are a very attractive young woman, Hermione. We can both enjoy this."
"Thank you," Hermione muttered, her blush deepening. Part of her was deeply uncertain, but she'd thrown herself into Harry's new erotic, mixed-up version of the world. She was in for a penny, in for a pound. "And…I think I'd like that."
"I would as well," Apolline replied softly, walking around the long table. "Fleur, you don't mind me having a taste of her before you, do you?"
"Not at all, maman," Fleur replied with a smile that matched her mother's, then pulled out Harry's chair so that he could get a better look and then her own chair so she could sit right next to him.
"Then please, may I?" Apolline asked, flicking her head to Harry as she got to her knees.
"May you what?" Hermione asked, frowning, but what Madame Delacour had asked was a rhetorical question. With one last flick of her wand, Hermione's wet-look leggings and lacy knickers disappeared and were folded up on a separate table.
Not ten seconds later, Apolline had knelt before Hermione, spread the brunette's legs and was slowly beginning to touch and lick her core.
Harry's mind was reeling and his cock was painfully hard, strapped to that Merlin-be-damned chair. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Fleur put her hand up her skirt and soon her soft moans began to join Hermione's. It was maddening.
He didn't know where to look, stare at Hermione's heaving, covered bosom, crane his head to see how Apolline's tongue lapped at her snatch, or at Fleur, whose light moans were getting louder and louder, her eyes fixed straight ahead of her.
Two of Apolline's probing fingers then began to massage Hermione's G-Spot and Hermione's soft moans became much louder.
As she watched Hermione throw her head back, rather than bring herself to a crescendo, Fleur got up from her chair, stepped behind Hermione and leant down to lock her in a long, passionate kiss.
Harry nearly burst right there as Hermione's orgasm hit her like a freight train, her loud moans muffled by Fleur's mouth as her legs trembled. Soon, the orgasm abated and Apolline pulled away. Blushing furiously and still panting, Hermione summoned her divested knickers and leggings and quickly redressed herself.
"Th-thanks," Hermione stammered, not really knowing what to say.
"A pleasure," Apolline said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, stepping back around the table and smirking at her little pun. With a quick 'Finite,' she removed the charms on Harry, who stretched and massaged his recently bound wrists, "Though I must ask, how do I compare to him?"
"Honestly?" Hermione said, glancing at her boyfriend, "Just as good."
"Only as good?" replied Apolline indignantly, taken aback. "I am Veela, we are creatures of passion."
"Part of my powers," Harry replied casually. "Conception of Sirens can only happen through mutual orgasm, I instinctively know the best ways to bring a witch to hers."
"How fascinating," replied Apolline, "Then you must visit me again before the tournament is over. My husband is rarely up to the challenge."
"Your husband?" Harry asked, having completely blanked on the fact that Apolline might be married, "But won't he—"
"No, we have a special arrangement also. He may also sleep with whomever he wishes. As a high-ranking member of the government, he is not without female attention."
"Well then, perhaps a visit might be on the cards." Harry replied with a flirtatious smile before looking to his right, "That was mean, Hermione."
"Was it?" Hermione smirked, "I had no idea."
Then, Harry had a thought. Apolline had believed everything that he'd said without question, and Fleur had also completed the star jumps before outside the lingerie shop. Did that mean—?
"The Silver Tongue," he said, "It still works on you, doesn't it?"
"It does, to an extent," replied Apolline, "We just know the changes you've been making you have said weren't from the Goddess of Magic and came as a result of your powers, but when you tell us we should believe things, we still believe them."
"Hmm, tricky," Harry said, "A rule I've set is that those in my coven need to know the truth and are not able to be subjected to the Silver Tongue."
"B-but Harry," Fleur stammered, "Those powers are from Naga! I like the idea of you using them on me. If you tell me to do something, I would trust you that it would be the right thing, or else Naga wouldn't have bestowed the powers on you. She trusts you, and so I do. I find it… erotic…"
Harry swallowed excitedly and glanced at Hermione, who nodded.
"Very well, I won't remove it, but as an insurance, to both of you," he said, looking to both Fleur and Apolline seriously, "You should know that it would be a very very bad idea if word of Naga should get out past the Veela circle, or to others that I haven't permitted you to tell. You should keep the secret safe."
"We will," Apolline replied, and Fleur nodded in response.
"Good," said Harry, 'stiffly' getting to his feet, "Thanks for the food, Apolline. Now you two, why don't we go and stop at Honeydukes? Hermione has a sweet tooth for chocolate."
At the very word 'chocolate', Fleur's eyes lit up, so after their goodbyes, they headed back out onto Hogsmeade's busy cobbled streets.
The trip to Honeydukes took longer than expected, owing to the fact that the shopkeeper was invariably besotted with Fleur and offered her free tastings of pretty much everything he had to offer. The two girls each left with large paper bags filled with treats, gifted by Harry of course, and then they headed to the nearest bookshop when Hermione had asked if Fleur had any recommendations on Enchanting. As Harry had expected, once Fleur and Hermione started talking about schoolwork, it was hard for him to get them to be distracted by anything else and he couldn't be bothered looking for books himself. After fifteen minutes of relentless chat, with Spintwitches Sporting Needs just next door, he told them he'd leave them to it for a little while. He was honestly happy for a moment's break. Being around the two chatty gorgeous girls, combined with Hermione's use of the Potter Points and what had happened at the Three Broomsticks had left him in dire need of an arousal-free moment or two.
The door of the sporting shop jingled as it opened, and Harry quickly made his way through the shop to look at the broom maintenance supplies they had on offer. After his little joyride vs. the Hungarian Horntail, his Firebolt was in dire need of trimming and some of the twigs needed replacing entirely. The overly enthusiastic shopkeeper bustled over and talked to him for a good twenty minutes more. Even once Harry found what he needed the man was just too happy to have the Prophet of Magic in his shop, and was relentless. Finally, when the shopkeeper realised Harry was beginning to look impatient, Harry gathered everything he needed into a basket and turned to head to the counter when he came face to face with Hermione and Fleur again, who were both looking sheepish. Each of them carried a new bag of spellbound to sink their teeth into, and a separate bag, in different stripes of pink.
"Sorry about that," said Hermjone awkwardly, "I didn't think it would take so long, and we went to another shop while you were gone. Just for a little surprise."
"Yes, we got a bit carried away," said Fleur, reaching out an arm to touch his bicep.
"It's okay," Harry replied in earnest, but wondering what other shop they'd been to, "You were both having fun and I needed to head in here anyway. Didn't think you would be bothered."
"Well I am!," said Fleur, "I don't like Quidditch, but I love to fly around ze chateau whenever I am 'ome."
"Really! That's cool, what broom do you have?"
"A Danseur de Lune," the pretty blonde replied proudly, "It was a gift from my mother for my birthday last year."
"I see, very nice," Harry said knowingly, though he had no idea whether the French broom was any good or not.
"I didn't get to see yours properly," Fleur said, "Do you have a nice broomstick?"
"Oh it's exquisite, Fleur," Hermione said with a smirk, "You really feel like you're flying."
Fleur snorted, "I wasn't talking about his cock, 'Ermione."
"I was," Hermione grinned, "Can we get out of here? All this polish is gonna make me sneeze."
"Sure, just need to buy my stuff" Harry replied.
Hermione waited outside while Harry went to make his purchases, and he spent the time in the short queue chatting with Fleur.
"Ze Firebolt sounds very nice, and of course, zey used it ze World Cup." she said as they got to the front of the queue, "Maybe you will let me ride it while I am 'ere?"
"Sure, no problem," replied Harry, handing over his coinage and then thanking the shopkeeper who handed over his bag of purchases in return.
He reached for the door and held it open for Fleur to pass, and as he did, he planted a chaste kiss on her cheek and said softly, "Only, after you've ridden me, first."
Fleur blinked as she processed, noticing Harry smirk as he walked to where Hermione was huddled under an overhanging roof from the rain, which thankfully had just about stopped. She shook her head and sighed as she joined them, thinking about the damp cobbles and how they were nowhere near as damp as her knickers right then.
With it now very nearly dark, they decided to head back up to the castle, but rather than walking back the way they'd come, Harry and Hermione decided it would be fun to show Fleur the way back to Hogwarts through the Shrieking Shack. As they ambled up the high street, Harry spotted a group of girls walking out of a new shop, each carrying small pink tote bags, the same as Hermione and Fleur were carrying. While the windows were darkened for privacy in the remodelled shop, the hot pink sign reading 'Zabini Negligee' was unmistakable. He glanced at Hermione, who gave a knowing smirk, but said no more. Harry told Fleur the story of his parents and of what had happened in his third year, with Hermione jumping in at odd moments for good measure.
They'd just spotted the broken-down fence on the outskirts of the Shack when Hermione slowed and reached into her pocket, nervously grasping her wand.
"What is it?" asked Harry, suddenly on full alert.
"Just glance, but don't look directly," Hermione murmured, "It's Lottie, she's been following us all day. She's been in or outside nearly every shop we have, on her own or outside at least."
"Following?" Fleur frowned. "Why?"
"I dunno," Hermione replied uneasily, "But I've got a weird feeling about her."
"Well most people are terrified about the Shack," Harry said casually, guessing Hermione was just being paranoid, "We'll just wait inside and see if she follows us in."
They trudged across the slushy, snow-white field, hopped over the fence and carried on into the dilapidated building. It was eerily silent inside, and the three of them stood just inside the doorway, wands pointed in anticipation. Then, Harry caught a glimpse of shimmer out of the corner of his eye.
"There!" Harry shouted, raising his wand shoulder-level, "Drop whatever charm that is, Lottie, I see you."
There was a loud sigh and the little form of Lottie materialised before their eyes.
"Hey guys," she said nervously at the three of them.
"Why are you following us?" asked Harry.
"I wasn't following you," she said, as if he was being silly, 'I wanted to come to the Shrieking Shack I've heard so much about and just disillusioned myself in case the rumours were true."
"Oh come off it!" snapped Hermione, "You've been following us all day!"
Lottie glanced down and around her, chewing her lip.
"And it's a bit weird isn't it?" Hermione continued, "A new girl, introduced by Dumbledore, who we don't know, mysteriously starts in 4th year after being supposedly homeschooled, the same year Harry becomes the Prophet. I've checked. The incidence of homeschooling in Britain is miniscule, and there's a list that I doubt you're on."
"Ze disillusionment charm is very difficult as well, especially one as near perfect as that was. It makes 'omeschooling more unlikely," added Fleur, her nostrils flaring.
"Maybe she's under polyjuice," Hermione suggested with a hand on her hip, "We should just stun her and wait an hour."
Thinking back to his and Lottie's brief incident on the Grand Staircase the other day, Harry sighed and chose to speak. "She isn't, she's a metamorphmagus."
"She can't be," said Hermione, "I've read all about them. There are only two in Britain, one is a really old bloke and the other is an…"
She trailed off.
The others looked at her.
"An Auror," she finished.
Lottie audibly ground her teeth, sighed and then her whole body morphed. Before their eyes she turned into a pretty, buxom Auror with a heart-shaped face, growing about six inches in height, making her just a bit shorter than Fleur. It was the very same Auror that had helped Harry on the day of the Second Task.
"Auror Tonks, at your service," she said weakly.
Harry's tall, broad form and piercing green eyes were intimidating as they bored into her.
"Talk," he said, "Why were you following us?"
"I'm protecting you," Tonks said, "I'm your bodyguard, assigned by the Ministry."
"For how long?" Hermione asked, "Were you in the Three Broomsticks?"
"I was," Tonks said evenly.
"Upstairs?" Harry asked.
"Yes."
"And you heard…?" Fleur asked.
"Everything," Tonks said, before stammering, "B-but don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
"How do we know her hearing about Naga didn't negate the Tongue like it did with me?" asked Hermione nervously, glancing at Harry.
"Ah, but I only got around that by explicitly telling you not to believe everything that I said automatically," Harry replied. "It still works on Fleur."
"We don't know for certain," Hermione challenged, "Get her to do something."
"Like what?" Harry asked.
"Get her to show us her breasts," suggested Fleur with a smirk.
Tonks blanched, "But how would you know I wasn't doing it to pretend it worked?"
"Damn," said Hermione, "She's got us there. We'll have to Obliviate her."
"I could make a magical vow," said Tonks, panicking, "Not an unbreakable one, in case I'm tortured or something. Then you could take off the Silver Tongue as well."
"That is much better than Obliviation," Harry said, staring off in thought, "But Hermione writes the vow."
Five minute later there was a flash of light as Tonks' vow set into place.
"Why are you guys here anyway?" she asked, wrinkling her cute button nose, "Not much to see."
"Why don't you wait and find out?" Hermione, "You've got to follow us anyway."
"She can just walk with us Hermione," Harry said. "We should probably get to know her a bit if she's got orders to tail us."
Hermione acquiesced and the four of them made the walk through the long, dark passage towards Hogwarts, chatting. By the time they got to the Whomping Willow, Harry had already decided he liked her. Tonks was pretty much the same person Lottie had been, down to earth but with a dirty sense of humour and an infectious laugh. He warned her when they were about to exit onto the grounds and so she turned into Lottie again a moment later. As they got out of the safety of the Whomping Willow, Harry stopped them all and spoke solely to Tonks.
"Right Tonks," he said, measuring the Silver Tongue carefully, "You need to know that I'm happy for you to keep up your work as my bodyguard, but you can't be following me at all hours of the day. I can cast a Patronus and send a message with it if I need you. Keep reporting to your superiors and Dumbledore that everything is fine and if you need to act like you're shadowing me when you're being watched, that's fine too. Otherwise, just take Hogwarts classes again. You can come hang out with us sometimes, but otherwise, me and my coven need our privacy, got it?"
"Absolutely Harry," Tonks beamed, "Not a problem."
"Great," he nodded back, "Now you should run ahead and report to Dumbledore that there were no problems, and I'll see you at the feast."
"Rightio!" she chirped, and then walked briskly off ahead towards the castle, leaving just Harry, Fleur and Hermione together once more.
"What made you keep 'er?" asked Fleur, "You could've announced that you didn't need an Auror bodyguard tomorrow."
"It's obvious isn't it?" Hermione said, noticing Harry's blush, "What boy wouldn't want to have a witch in his coven who could morph her appearance?"
Fleur laughed, "She's right, isn't she?"
"She's not wrong, but I still don't really know her," Harry replied with a bashful smile, his heart warmed by how close he and Hermione had become and how well she knew him, "I like her sense of humour though, she's feisty."
"She is," Hermione admitted, "And just imagine, we could have two Fleurs at once!"
"I assure you, one is more than enough," scowled Fleur, but good-naturedly.
"That remains to be seen," Harry grinned.
They wandered back through the grounds and came across the Beauxbatons carriage, its diamond-paned windows throwing bright yellow illumination across its sturdy frame.
"I should go and get ready for the feast," Fleur said brightly, "And I need to drop off all my things. I had a lovely time."
Then, she stepped forward and planted a soft kiss on both Harry and Hermione's lips in turn, leaving the three of them slightly breathless.
"We did too," Harry said.
"I hope we can do this again," she replied.
"It was over far too soon," Hermione admitted.
Harry frowned.
"Fleur, can you give us a sec?" he asked, "I just want to ask Hermione something."
She was a little puzzled but nodded and stepped away and out of earshot, standing near the light of the carriage.
"So," Harry said, turning to Hermione at his side, "What do you think? Is she in?"
"I like her," Hermione replied, "But even if it is soon with how little we know her, it's not like we have much choice. Though I don't think you'd mind having a pack of horny Veela after you, it might make things difficult."
Harry nodded.
"Plus, she's hot as hell," Hermione said, "If a bit… bossy."
"There's the pot calling the kettle black," Harry jibed.
Hermione stuck out his tongue at him, and said, "I just need to be in charge of… well not of you but… if I'm gonna be head and we're adding a Veela, I'm staking my… I mean, I would like to stake my claim to the Matriarch position, my Lord."
"No problem, what do you have in mind?" Harry asked curiously.
"So she's in?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah."
"Then you'll have to wait and see," Hermione teased, before walking away from Harry, towards the carriage and calling "Fleur!"
"Oui?" the blonde replied with a smile, but feeling nervous. All the time she'd been standing there she'd been feeling like she was waiting to see whether or not she'd passed her exams.
"If you would like, you could come to Harry's room tonight, about nine?" Hermione asked with a single raised eyebrow and a smirk.
"Certainly," Fleur said, "But I don't know where."
"Gryffindor Tower, so go up the Grand Staircase but watch out for the trick step on the third floor. It's off the seventh floor. Just ask the portraits if you aren't sure. Ask for the Nemean Lion portrait opposite the old charms classroom."
"No problem, I think I know where that is," Fleur replied.
"You won't be staying the night, so you might get into trouble if you're out past curfew." Hermione clarified before chewing the corner of her lip in arousal, "Wear something… special. Like something you bought today."
"I have just ze thing in mind, and don't worry. I can disillusion myself as well, see you then."
