Chapter 81: All You Need is Love
Content Warning: end of the chapter includes a lemon. Beginning is marked
"This is pointless," Hermione huffed as she pushed the book away from her. "We've been at this for hours and none of these books have anything regarding dealing with a dragon. We've nailed down the breeds- can't believe they brought a horntail- but nothing about dealing with them."
"There's got to be more than this, especially something more recent," Harry casually flipped through a book on what parts of dragons are valuable.
"Recent," Hermione froze mid-gesture. "Of course! Dumbledore's birthday present. Don't you remember? The book Dumbledore gave you."
"I'll be right back," Harry stood, ready to sprint to the dorms when the book popped onto the table.
"Thought you might be needing this," Dobby said. "I am glad you found them. I was just about to warn you."
"Thank you, Dobby," Harry said as Hermione picked up the tome to read through it.
"Oh this is much better," Hermione said. "Dragons are among the most feared creatures in the wizarding world. Their razor-sharp teeth are perfect for tearing through flesh and their talons can slice through even the toughest substances. Their hide is resistant to spells to the point it takes no fewer than five stunners to put them down. Their vision is great, though they are sensitive to bright lights, preferring to hunt at dawn and dusk when the light is at its lowest. They also have an incredible sense of smell so they can smell even an invisible person.
"There are three known weak spots for a dragon: its eyes, the roof of its mouth and joint of its wing where it folds at its hand, where the wing can be pierced, though the angle has to be straight on, otherwise the attacks will simply glance off."
Harry digested the information and stroked his chin, trying to think of a way around the dragon.
"Oh this is interesting," Hermione said sarcastically as she flipped a page. "Nesting mothers are the most dangerous of any dragon. They will fiercely protect their clutch from any outsiders though they will not attack unless provoked or they consider someone a threat to their nest."
"So they shouldn't react until we make a move for the nest, which is undoubtedly where those golden eggs will be," Harry said. "This is great. I think I know what I want to do. I'm just glad I have time to put it all together. I'll talk with Flitwick at the next meeting to help with a few spells. There's one I would like but I'm not sure it exists which I think you could help with. What about the others? Do we tell them?"
"The rules state that you cannot help a champion solve any clues or prepare for any of the tasks. This would be considered collusion and you both would lose your magic."
"Well shit," Harry sat down heavily with a huff.
"That means you can't tell them," Hermione's eyes scolded him on his language. "Nothing is keeping me from telling the. It just means we can't help them with planning."
"We're meeting tonight," Harry leaned his chin on his hands. "Cedric and I are teaching them the Patronus. That would be as good a time as any to inform them of our discovery."
That night, Fleur was questioning Luna as they climbed the steps.
"I 'ave never been zis high in ze castle before," Fleur constantly checked over her shoulder, as if fearing she wasn't a place she was supposed to be. "Are you sure zis room is this way."
"Oh yes," Luna skipped up the stairs without a care in the world. "I've been to the Room of Requirement before. It's a perfect place to learn a spell."
"What are you doing?" Fleur liked Luna but her behavior she always found odd. The girl reached a rather odd tapestry and decided to pace in front of it.
"I am asking for the Room," Luna replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I zhink I need to lie down," Fleur scoffed.
"Well I'm sure the room can provide you something to lay on," Luna finished pacing and a door appeared on the stone wall.
"Mon dieu!" Fleur staggered backward as Luna wrenched the door open.
"They're waiting for you," Luna looked over her shoulder and cocked her head for Fleur to follow her. As if on autopilot, Fleur staggered into the room. Upon crossing the threshold, her breath left her. She stood in the atrium of a huge room with wide arches and marble columns. Soft light filtered through the windows and when Luna shut the door, the door disappeared into the wall.
"Fleur," Luna smirked at the older blonde's state. "Welcome to the Room of Requirement."
"Zis iz incredible," Fleur exclaimed. "How did you find zis room?"
"House elves," Fleur's head snapped toward Harry who was striding toward her with Hermione, wearing their dark blue battle robes. "I have a friend named Dobby. Last year, when Hermione and I were keeping our relationship on the down low, I asked Dobby for a place in the castle I could take Hermione on dates. He told me about this room, which adapts to whatever the user wants it to be. For instance…"
Harry furrowed his brow in concentration and the scene outside changed from a mountainside to a beach.
"That's just a taste," Harry said. "Come on. Cedric and Krum are waiting."
Still in shock, Fleur watched the duo walk away until Luna grabbed her hand to drag her along in their wake. As they walked, doors at the end of the hall opened on command wherein Krum and Cedric traded spells in a light sparring session.
"Protego," Harry cast a shield between them. "We're all here."
"Finally," Cedric rolled his eyes a little, a smile removing any sting from his words. "Any longer and I'd have thought Luna was giving you a tour of a broom closet."
"Wouldn't have minded that," Luna said blandly while Fleur blushed. "However, our delay was much less exciting. Every brute with half a brain decided to climb over themselves to 'win' our beloved Fleur's affections. I'd have kissed her but that would only have driven them further over the edge."
"Easy, Luna," Hermione chided softly while Fleur's pale cheeks darkened further. "Fleur isn't used to your particular brand of humor yet."
"Only exposure will get her used to it," Luna flicked her hair over her shoulder, locking eyes with Fleur. "You wouldn't mind me being exposed would you?"
"She never stops, does she?" Fleur asked while the others laughed.
"Not so far as we've discovered, no," Neville said through his chuckles.
"Alright well thank you for coming," Harry deftly changed the subject. "First things first, Hermione has something to say to you all."
"Harry went flying on a hippogriff known as Buckbeak today and when he did, he found something four creatures in four constructed pens near the base of the mountains."
Hermione whipped out her wand and three books floated from her bag into the hands of each respective champion.
"Merde!" Fleur's pupils contracted and her face paled.
"You're joking," Cedric looked from Harry to Hermione, wishing and pleading for one of them to smile and say "gotcha!"
"Excellent," every head snapped to Krum in shock. "My brother vorks at a reserve in Romania vith dragons. They're truly extraordinary creatures once you get to know them. It is most exciting. I guess ve are not fighting them?"
"No," Hermione shook her head. "Best Harry can figure is we are meant to retrieve something from them
"So that means nesting mothers," Cedric collapsed into a chair before he fainted. "Why are you telling us this?"
"Well, Harry felt you all needed to know," Hermione said. "As a champion, he cannot tell you about anything he discovers about any of the tasks. However,"
"Since you are not a champion nothing is preventing you from telling us," Fleur said to which Hermione nodded.
"Guess I know what my headmaster wants me to see tomorrow night," Krum said.
"Okay now that that's out of the way," Harry turned toward Fleur. "Could you show me the spell you used at the dueling tournament?"
Fleur drew her wand, flicked her wrist and a golden thread came from the tip. As she moved the golden whip around, angelic music sounded from the movement.
"It is called the Veela's Song," Fleur said. "It is a spell only Veela can make and they can only make it if they have a Veela hair core in their wand. I feel the magic of my ancestors connect with the magic of my wand, the magic of my past and present melding into a single line. It is powered when my magical core and my allure work in concert."
"I can feel it!" Luna exclaimed, her eyelids becoming heavy as her body swayed to the music. "It feels like I'm being filled from the outside in with love!"
Fleur pulled the thread back into her wand before the poor girl fell over.
"How do you do it?" Harry asked, trying his best to cast his lightning whip. "I've been trying to get this one to work. It's a family spell that I'm working on but it's not working."
"You are close, 'arry," Fleur said. "Your magic is reaching out, creating the electricity but it is fading once it gets back to your wand."
"That's what I'm struggling with," Harry said.
"You are thinking too 'ard," Fleur said. "Zhat extra effort and thought iz resisting your magic from casting the spell. The spell may be too advanced for you as you currently are."
"How is that possible when I can do this?" Harry's Patronus filled the room. "This is a spell that's beyond the seventh year and yet I can do that no problem."
"You figured out the way to do it," Cedric said. "Remember when you were pushing yourself to master this? You pushed so hard, the Patronus got weaker, not stronger. Even at the dueling tournament, your spell was closer to happening because you were just running on adrenalin."
"It will come in time," Fleur soothed Harry's frustration. "I couldn't get ze Veela's Song to work until March after working on it for two whole years. Now you promised to show us how you do zis Patronus."
"Okay," Harry put the lightning whip to the back of his mind and entered his teaching mode. "You both know the wand movements and the theory correct?"
"Oui," Fleur said. "You 'ave to zhink of zomezing happy, yes?"
"The happiest you haff ever been?" Krum added.
"You've read the theory," Harry said. "Now throw the theory away. I tried to think of everything to do this spell. I thought of getting my Hogwarts letter, of the family who adopted me, my first broom flight. Nothing worked until I received a Firebolt for Christmas."
"Your memory is a broomstick?" Fleur scrunched her nose at the superficial memory powering his spell.
"You haff a Firebolt?" Krum focused on the wrong details.
"Yes," Harry said. "However, I also have a lot of powerful enemies and had what we assumed was a madman at the time after me. With all those forces trying to get to me, Hermione was worried and went behind my back to have Professor McGonagall confiscate it.
"I was furious," Harry glanced at Hermione who still felt shame at her decision not to communicate her concerns with her boyfriend. "Furious that she went behind my back without talking to me.
"When I asked her why she did it, she said '"If I am going to watch the boy I love play this infernal sport, then I am going to make damn certain the equipment is absolutely safe.'
"You see, growing up, I had a terrible childhood. I was raised by my mum's sister and her husband. Together with my cousin, they made life a living hell for me. Most notable, I had never been told I was loved. 'Freaks don't deserve love,' they said the few times I asked. By the time I was seven, I stopped believing myself worthy of love.
"To hear Hermione say those words to me felt me with such pure, raw emotion and I was able to cast the spell. She did the same when I told her I loved her too. It wasn't happiness that fueled my Patronus; it was love."
Fleur had tears in her eyes, as did Luna at the beautiful simplicity of Harry's story. Neville always suspected but never had full confirmation about Harry's life before Hogwarts, his heart breaking at how he grew up.
"Stop thinking about happiness and instead think of love," Harry said. "It can be a person or memory or time where you felt loved from your head to your toes. You can also think about someone you love so much you'd want to protect from the Dementors."
"Zat makes sense," Fleur thought back to this summer when Gabrielle had a nightmare and sought out her sister.
"It was horrible," Gabrielle cried as she climbed into her sister's waiting embrace. "A group of mermen kidnapped me and held me underwater until I drowned, trying to steal my magic."
Fleur worked overtime to keep up with Gabby's rapid-fire French, describing
"Shh little one," Fleur stroked her hair. "You're okay. Nobody will harm you while I'm here and if they do kidnap you, I will descend to their village to pull you out."
"Zhank you seesta," Gabby said as Fleur embraced her and sang to make the nightmares go away. "You are my everything."
"Expecto Patronum," Fleur cast, a white light erupting from the wand, molding into the shape of a bird. In no time, a Phoenix flew over their heads.
"Expecto Patronum," Krum cast next, his thoughts on the days his brother got to watch him during the World Cup.
"You fly vell, brother," Nikola embraced him after their victory against India. "Not many dragons could outfly you…. Though please don't try to test that one. I am proud of you, brother."
Another light filled the room, this one larger than the last. Cedric gasped when the Patronus melded together in the form of a dragon.
"Outstanding!" Harry clapped for the two of them. Both champions let the spell go, gasping for air as they did. Knowing just how much that spell takes it out of you on the first casting, Harry stood ready with a bar of Honeydukes finest chocolate for each. "I am impressed. Especially with you, Viktor. Didn't think we'd have a Patronus to rival Vinny's for size but a dragon? Wow."
"Zis is incredible!" Fleur jumped up and down in excitement. "No longer do I 'ave to fear zhose creatures attacking my sisters. Dementors are foul, especially to a Veela."
"Glad to help," Harry beamed. "Now it's almost time for dinner. Obviously, we cannot help one another prepare for the tasks however, I do wish you all to be safe and whole at the end of this task."
As they walked toward dinner, Hermione leaned into Harry and kissed him on the cheek.
"What's that for?" Harry asked.
"Oh nothing," Hermione grinned mischievously. "You're just really sexy when you're in professor mode."
"Really?" Harry cocked an eyebrow. "Me teaching turned you on?"
"I don't know what you mean, Mr. Potter," Hermione bit her lip as she widened her eyes and looked at Harry through her eyelashes. "I mean Professor Potter. Do you have any time to teach me?"
"Maybe, Miss Granger," Hermione shuddered as jolts of electricity went through her when Harry addressed her that way. "You've been such a good student. Maybe I have some time to give you some hands-on…"
Harry stepped closer, driving Hermione back toward the wall
"…Personal," Harry kissed her cheek.
"…Individual," a kiss on the neck.
"…Instruction," finally a kiss on her lips.
"Room. Now," Hermione grabbed the sides of his head, the fierceness of her tone met with the ferocity of her gaze.
Hermione dragged him toward the room. As if sensing her need, the door materialized in front of her. Throwing open the door, the room formed into a classroom.
Lemon starts
"So Professor," Hermione purred as she brought one leg up to sit on the corner of the teacher's desk, leaning back on her palms. "What kind of instruction do you have in mind?"
"You will do as I say, Miss Granger," another shudder went through Hermione when Harry spoke. Harry, to his credit, did not pounce. Instead, he paced closer to her as Hermione leaned back onto the desk.
"Miss Granger, you did very well on your last test," Harry paced in front of her. "So well that I wonder if you had a study guide hidden. You didn't cheat did you?"
"No Professor," Hermione recoiled at the idea and recovered to sound innocent. "I don't have anything on me except what you taught me."
"We'll see about that," Harry closed the distance, and softly stroked up and down her arms and thighs. "Nothing obvious but perhaps there's more to you than meets the eye."
Harry unbuttoned Hermione's sleeve to check her forearms. Seeing them clean, he reached up, uncinched her tie and pulled it from her collar. Reaching for the buttons of her shirt, Harry locked eyes with Hermione, asking silently for permission. When she nodded, Harry started to unbutton at the top.
"Well it looks like you're clear so far," Harry trailed down the front of her shirt, popping button after button off. At the middle button, her lacey red bra came into sight. Quickly, Harry unbuttoned the rest of her shirt pulling it from her shoulders so it rested at her elbows. "I guess you're just a good student."
"And good students deserve to be rewarded," Harry kissed her neck heatedly, eliciting a moan from her mouth. With deftness, Harry relieved Hermione of her shirt and unlatched her bra. Hermione shrugged it off her shoulders, her breasts bouncing a little as they were freed, their rosy tips stiffening with arousal and the cool air hitting them.
Harry palmed her left breast and kissed her right, his tongue swirling over the nub. After a time lavishing attention on her sensitive peaks, Harry began kissing his way down her torso. When he arrived at her legs, he pushed the skirt up. One scrap of fabric was all that separated Harry from her sex. He looked up at her; they had never gone this far before now so he felt it prudent to ask.
"May I…" Harry let the question hang.
"Harry James Potter if you don't rip my panties off, I swear to Morgana I will fucking hex your bits," Hermione screamed.
Not willing to incur her wrath, Harry pulled the red lace down her creamy legs, a scent of feminine arousal wafting through the room as he did. Not willing to take his time, Harry dove right in.
"Oh Harry," Hermione threw back her head and moaned his name. "You don't have to doooo… oh do that again. Yes right there. Don't stop."
In the end, neither teenager ended up making it down to dinner that night.
(A/N: I held onto this chapter, going back and forth on including the last scene in all its detail. Ultimately, it was the last part which I found humorous for Hermione to curse and threaten Harry that made me decide to leave it in. Hopefully it was enjoyable to read. Special thanks to Jodaviz2 for giving input on the final scene
Next chapter, each champion battles their dragon. It is written but in need of editing. Hopefully real life slows down a little and I can have more time to write.)