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Chapter 34
The best part of being split into multiple bodies was that while one part of you was fucking up against a teenager and drawing every bit of attention, nobody was watching you, Kreacher-mort thought to himself as he snuck through the house. Being in the body of a house elf was equal parts amazing and infuriating. On one hand he could apparate through anti-apparition wards now. But while he was there the magic he had wouldn't let him do anything. Elves had some fey blood and were bound by the ancient rules of being a guest. He had a great connection to magic in this form, greater than any he ever had as a wizard, yet he was bound to serve Warlock Black and his heir. Something he had avoided by virtue of them never speaking to him. But if they ever did he knew he would be bound to obey.
Still, he watched his target invisible and undetectable to any wizard. If the man had had an elf he never would have been able to do this but his target not only didn't have an elf he lived completely alone. This was going to make things easier.
He had been watching Head Auror Williamson for over a week now. He was just waiting for the opportunity he needed. Unfortunately it looked like tonight was going to be a bust as well, as what Kreacher-mort needed was for the man to step off the property and out of the protection of the wards and instead the man was just getting ready to go to bed.
He was just about to leave when there was a crash from out the front. Nothing loud or dangerous sounding but something the auror wasn't going to leave uninvestigated. Kreacher-mort followed as Williams went to the window at the front of his house and looked out.
It truly was nothing. The wind had blown over a Neighbour's bin that was out for collection. Williams grumbled as the same wind blew some of the trash onto his yard. Kreacher-mort followed as he moved to the front door, not expecting anything to come of it. After all, why go outside when you can wave a wand from your doorway? However just as Williams was about to pull out his wand the owner of the bin stepped out of their house and started picking up the bin. This meant Williams had to stow his wand and pick the rubbish up that had blown onto his property like a muggle.
Kreacher-mort would have been disgusted, Williams clearly was, but he couldn't help but grin and rub his hands together as Williams stepped off the property to return the foul debris to the even fouler muggle. It was something so normal and everyday life mundane that Williams hadn't paid attention to security and had walked off the wards.
Kreacher-mort waited until Williams was on his way back and then grabbed him and popped them both away to a cell that had been specially prepared for what was to come.
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The Hogwarts express chugged along heading south. Harry and Hermione were cuddled up together for warmth as being only a few days before Christmas it was quite chilly. They were sharing a compartment with Ron even though most of the train was empty. A lot of families were uncomfortable with their kids travelling unnecessarily given the current climate and had decided to instead roll the dice on the safety of the Hogwarts wards.
Harry knew Malfoy and Parkinson were on the train but they hadn't tried to bother them. The Express and its platform, at least on the days they were hauling students, were given the same protection as Hogwarts itself in regards to feuds. Malfoy may not be in a feud any more but he also wasn't quite stupid enough to try and attack the three of them on his own so the trip had been quiet.
"So what are your plans this Christmas?" Ron asked.
"France with Fleur's relatives." Said Harry.
Hermione continued when it seemed Harry wasn't going to add any more. "We are meeting Fleur on the platform and then we are going straight to France. What about you what's your plans?"
Ron shrugged. "Everyone at the burrow. Mum kicks everyone out of the kitchen while she cooks so no one sees her cry. The twins are trying extra hard to make everyone laugh despite nobody wanting to. And everyone pretends they are having such a wonderful time despite the fact that we will all hate it." Said Ron. Hermione winced she had asked the one question Harry had obviously been trying to avoid.
"What are Daphne and Tracy doing?" Ron asked.
"They are staying in the castle. Apparently Daphne's little sister is staying this year and Daph plans to kidnap her for the day on Christmas and spoil her rotten." Harry said.
Harry felt incredibly awkward here when he and Hermione were off to have a family Christmas. A family that over the last four years had grown from just him to include the Grangers, the Delacour's, Sirius, and Tracy. While Ron was off to a family Christmas that was now permanently missing people who should be there. Harry knew it was stupid, he knew it was wrong, and like someone had once said to him 'emotions often are' but he felt like his good fortune was somehow stolen from Ron. He knew if he told Hermione or Fleur about it they would tell him it was just survivors' guilt. And he knew they were right, just as he knew there was nothing he or they could do to stop him feeling this way.
He pulled Hermione closer to him needing to feel her and Fleur close but only having Hermione there in the moment. Hermione, subconsciously sensing that Harry needed some comfort picked up Harry's arm kissed the soft tender spot on his wrist before laying the arm across her chest and snuggling into Harry as much as she could.
The next few hours were fairly quiet. Ron didn't really want to talk about the holidays and Harry and Hermione could respect that. The only time they got particularly animated was when the trolley witch came by and Harry took the opportunity to buy a few of all the sweets not for them but for Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle. He got a few things for them as well but nothing extreme as they each had a packed hot lunch from Dobby who had surprised Harry, Hermione, and Ron with the meals packed in foil and with charms on them to keep them ready to eat for at least until a few hours after they got of the Express.
There was a little awkwardness on the platform, Mrs Weasley was waiting for Ron and Fleur was waiting for Harry and Hermione. The two women were glaring at each other when the train arrived and didn't stop until they were occupied with greeting those that they had come to meet. In Mrs Weasley's case that involved hugging her son and making a fuss over him. In Fleur's case it involved really putting the French into French kissing, first Harry and then Hermione.
"Oh I have missed you." Fleur said, pulling them both into a hug.
"Fleur, you saw us only a few weeks ago." Hermione giggled. The joy at the three of them being back together again without it being for some plot to see one of them dead was infectious and the three of them were feeling great.
"Where are Dan and Emma? I thought they were going to be with you." Harry asked, looking around and not seeing them.
"They are in a coffee shop across the road at the other station. They said they didn't want to be in the way when we were greeting each other." Fleur said, giving Hermione's hand that was resting on her ass a significant look. Translation Dan and Emma didn't actually want to see their daughter acting like a sailor fresh in port.
The three left walking arm in arm, Fleur sandwiched between Harry and Hermione, the teens wanting to start making up for the distance between them as much as possible. It only took them a few minutes to walk from London King's Cross Station to London St Pancras Station. The two train stations were literally on the opposite sides of the road from each other as you walked out of the door to one the other was right in front of you.
The coffee shop was easy to find and there were already three steaming cups of coffee waiting for them. Hermione barreled into her parents attempting to squeeze the life out of the two of them with one of her rib cracker hugs.
Fleur, who had obviously been with the two earlier just sat down and smiled at the scene. Harry, while waiting his turn to greet Dan and Emma, wondered if Fleur would be so reserved in a few hours when it was her turn to see her parents for the first time since the summer.
Hermione soon finished with her parents and Harry had his own much more normal hug with both of them. Then when they were all sat down the questions started. They were the normal ones you would expect "how was your trip?" "How are your classes coming?" "How are you coping with the war?" Well that last one wasn't normal for most people but it was getting common enough in magical Britain.
They chatted about everything for a bit. The Grangers praised their school work and commiserated with them over everything else. It was Hermione who kept them on track. "So how long until our next train?"
Dan checked his watch. "Security opens in about five minutes but our train isn't due for an hour. We may as well get going. Fleur, you have Harry's and Hermione's tickets and passports right? They will need them now."
"Oui." Fleur said as she reached into her handbag. Pulling out the needed documents including her own and handing Harry and Hermione theirs.
"Where are your bags? Do you need any help with them?" Harry asked Emma his and Hermione's trunks were already shrunken in their pockets
"Thanks but Fleur shrank them for us." Emma told him, tapping her Jacket pocket as she spoke.
They finished up their coffee and went through the security checks. It was like what Harry had seen on TV when going through an airport, only smaller and faster. Fleur had to go through a different queue because she was a French citizen going home for the holidays but they were soon through the checkpoint and onto the platform. The train arrived not too long after that and the five of them were all sitting together.
Well technically Fleur's seat was across from them, Hermione however didn't like that arrangement and decided that this would be her first bit of legal magic outside of school. She did a bunch of charm work including charms so that nothing would be noticed but by the end of it the four seats that had a table in the middle of them could now comfortably sit six people. She also added a privacy ward so that they could openly talk about magical topics.
"So Fleur, how has everything been at the bank since last week? Any news on ViperClaw?" Harry asked in a hushed tone. Despite the privacy ward keeping their conversation private he still half whispered the question.
"Well the goblins who work at the bank are frustrated that the goblin nation still won't denounce Voldemort. Pretty much anyone we are feuding with is having massive delays to access any banking services. ViperClaw has a brother who is a teller and he set a competition that's running until new year. The teller who can delay any of the blacklisted people the longest will get a fifty gallon prize. I think the longest delay so far was thirty-eight minutes when I looked yesterday."
"As to ViperClaw's health, I haven't heard anything officially but the rumour is that he is doing better. From what I heard he is in some reputable goblin hospital with a name I can't even hope to pronounce. Don't know if he will want to come back to the bank though." Fleur answered as her two lover's cuddled into her sides, desperate to make up for the physical contact they had missed out on.
"I wouldn't blame him if he stayed away." Harry mused. "I mean consider what being back would be like. This is my office where a madman used me like a meat puppet, this is the break room where I sat with my colleagues who never noticed me being used as a meat puppet. This is the lunch hall where the person who used me like a meat puppet kept eating the sandwiches I don't like everyday. It's got to take a toll."
"Harry can you please, please stop saying meat puppet, please." Emma begged. "It's giving me chills." And when Harry looked she really did look uncomfortable.
Harry had to hold back a wince. "Sorry. I'll try not to say it again."
"Thank you. I know you use humour to deflect but that was just conjuring some horrible images in my head." Emma gave him a weak smile.
Harry could understand, considering what he now knew what the thing in his scar was. He was just glad Hermione had pointed out he was actually not officially a Horcrux. He was very similar and he worked as one but he was different enough that he wasn't one. He was like Ginny, a person with a part of someone else's soul in them. Luckily that meant the vows he took to destroy Horcruxes didn't affect him. It was still a problem that needed solving, but he wasn't going to drop dead of a broken vow for not committing suicide.
The trip to Paris didn't even take three hours. Which, while not long by itself, at least by muggle standards, was for Harry and Hermione tacked onto an already long trip on the Express. With how late they left London and the time difference from going to France it was already eleven o'clock at night. They filed off the train and through customs. This time as they were in France it was Fleur who got the quick line.
One thing that did surprise Harry was that their group was pulled aside by an immigration officer. "Excuse me, can you join me over here for a moment. Yes, all of you. I need to do a spot check of your luggage." He said in heavily accented English. Presumably the fact that they had just gotten off the train from England was enough to tip him off that French wasn't their first language.
They all shrugged and followed him over to a desk only to look surprised when he pulled out a wand and cast a privacy ward. "Now can you tell me why three magicals and two mundane people are travelling to France using the train?"
Fleur took charge. "My name is Fleur Delacour, I am a French citizen," she handed over her passport, "I have come home for the holidays to visit my parents. These two are my betrothed Harry Potter and Hermione Granger." Harry and Hermione waved hello as they were introduced. "And Hermione's parents Dan and Emma Granger." They also waved and the four Brits handed over their passports.
Fleur continued. "With the current civil war in magical Britain and our belief that the British ministry has more leaks than a shower head we decided to use a type of transportation that wouldn't have our travel records available to anyone with five galleons and a problem with us.
The names Fleur Delacour, Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger were enough to have the wizard staring. Harry may not have been the most famous when he first came to France to meet the Tuckers but between then and his next trip they were all Triwizard champions in a tournament that was heavily publicised in France. With that and the end of year duels Harry had had with Voldemort for the last two years, their names had made a splash in the magical French news.
But with his suspicions answered and a probe waved over them to check for anything being smuggled in their shrunken luggage they were allowed to go on.
Outside the tunnel that led from the immigration area two figures were waiting for them. Apolline and Sébastian Fleur's parents smiled as they saw the group walking out. True to Harry's earlier prediction, Fleur darted forward and channelled Hermione as she tackled her parents in a hug. Harry didn't even need the lessons he had on French vocabulary to know that Fleur and parent's words were all about how much they missed each other.
Harry and the Grangers hung back for a few minutes to let the Delacour's catch up but it wasn't long before there was hugging and cheek kissing for everyone. Sébastian had a portkey that took them all to the Delacour's back garden. Harry considered refusing and just Stepping himself but it had been a long day and he was tired so he agreed to take the portkey. Predictably Harry fell on landing, but Fleur was expecting that and caught him. She even quipped "why Harry are you falling for me?" before she burst out giggling.
Harry kissed her on the cheek and said. "Definitely."
It was late and everyone wanted to get to bed. The Delacour's had converted Fleur's old room into a guest room. So that was where Dan and Emma were staying while Harry, Hermione and Fleur made their way up to the little chateau they had a stone's throw away up the hill. The three soon collapsed into bed together, too exhausted from the day of travel to do more than change into night clothes.
-ϟϟϟ-
Harry was woken up by a sharp knocking sound. He looked around and Fleur and Hermione were both in bed with him, each a little out of focus because he wasn't wearing his glasses. Hermione was just waking up like he was and was rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she looked around for where the sound had come from. Fleur was already awake and had just been watching them sleep. One hand idly fiddling with a tuft of Harry's bed head hair while her other rested lazily on Hermione's hip.
The knocking sounded out again and Fleur groaned. "Go away Gabby!" She shouted at the bedroom window that was over the back of the house and looked towards her childhood home.
Unfortunately either Gabby didn't understand the English go away that Fleur had used instinctively, she didn't hear It through the window, or quite possibly in the manner of little sisters everywhere just didn't care. So not even two seconds later another sound of knocking came.
Harry grumbled and slipped out of bed. Somehow his pyjama shirt had come unbuttoned in the night and he was bare chested. He wanted to blame either Hermione or Fleur but the truth was he didn't know if he could. While he wouldn't exactly call it warm in the south of France in December, it was about five hundred miles south and even if Harry couldn't give you a temperature Hogwarts was below freezing and Nice wasn't. Add to that sharing his bed with two living hot water bottles and it was entirely possible he had done it himself in his sleep.
He walked over to the window and opened it. Hermione and Fleur grumbled at the chilled air that blew in as Harry stuck his head out. Indeed Fleur was right it was Gabby knocking on the french windows. Harry grinned down at her because she hadn't seen him yet and called "Pourquoi autant de bruit si tôt dans le matin ? (What's with all the noise so early in the morning)
Only he must have said something a little off because she looked up at the window and giggled saying. "Pourquoi il y a autant de bruit si tôt le matin?" Then she said " Il est déjà 9 heures. C'est pas tôt, c'est toi qui dors trop." (It's not early, it's already nine o'clock. You sleep too much.) She answered cheekily. "Ta sœur, Hermione et toi devriez tous vous lever et nous rejoindre pour le petit-déjeuner. (You, my sister and Hermione all need to get up and come join us for breakfast) with that she gave him a wave and retreated back down the path that led to the Delacour's house.
Harry closed the window and there was good-natured grumbling from the 3 of them as they got dressed. Luckily it was just breakfast with family so they didn't have to do anything fancy. Jeans, t-shirts, a quick brush through the hair, a few cleaning charms and they were ready. They could have a shower after breakfast. Fleur was wearing a new t-shirt neither of them had seen before and Hermione commented on it. "The Weird Sisters? Didn't know you liked them." The t-shirt was a black one with the cover of the Weird Sister's latest album cover on the front.
"It was a gift from Tonks. She wanted me to wear it yesterday when I met you for some reason. But I wanted something warmer for travelling." Fleur told them.
Harry laughed and explained how he had asked Tonks to show Fleur around and how Tonks had joked that he couldn't blame her when they saw Fleur again at Christmas Fleur dressing more like Tonks.
"Wait, you had your cousin befriend me out of pity?" Fleur asked her tone to be cool and detached rather than the almost musical quality it normally had.
It was enough to set off a few warning bells for Harry. "No, I asked Fleur to show you around so that you'd have more places to go than just work and home. If you have more than that it's between you and Tonks. Nothing I did." Harry played his role a little. Yeah he had asked Tonks to show her around a bit and maybe hang out a few times but it wasn't like Tonks or Fleur would keep it up if they didn't work as friends. He pulled Fleur into a hug. "I just didn't want you to be stuck at home lonely. I worry about you being separated from Hermione and me, and your family in a different country."
"I'm sorry. It's just I had some issues with people pretending to be my friend before. I guess it left a bit of a sore spot for me." Fleur said as she melted into his arms.
Hermione smiled at the two of them. "So what places has Tonks been showing you?"
"Muggle places mostly. With the death eaters being so active a lot of the more fun magical spots have closed up. They are too tempting as a target. However there are so many muggle places that the chances of any of them being hit are low. There are some nice places to eat, a few places to grab a drink. Though we have agreed to no more nightclubs." Fleur said resting her head on Harry's shoulder just enjoying the moment together.
"What happened at the nightclubs?" Harry asked a rumble of anger in his voice as he pictured needing to go burn down a few nightclubs.
"Don't go all caveman on me, I'm fine. Just mundane men plus alcohol, and my allure. Nothing serious happened, but there was a constant level of harassment. At one point they literally formed a queue. Of course the other woman who was looking for a night of fun got angry at the 'full of herself French tart' and it just wasn't fun." Fleur explained, calming Harry.
Not long after that while looking out the window at the Delacour's back door Harry Stepped them directly from the bedroom to the doorstep saving them all from an uncomfortable trip through the cold or having to wrap up.
Apolline was in the kitchen working on breakfast. She was toasting a few baguettes and a tray of pastries while a spoon was stirring itself through a large pot of hot chocolate. Gabby was bustling around her mother collecting plates, cutlery and anything else they would need.
Hermione took the open space next to her dad and Fleur sat between Hermione and her father. As Harry was slipping into an empty seat next to Emma she asked with only the slightest hint of hesitation. "Sleep well?" The question was asked to all three of them.
"Like a log." Harry answered. "It was a long day yesterday and we were asleep almost as soon as our heads hit the pillows."
"Are there any plans for the next few days?" Hermione asked just as Gabrielle took an empty seat next to Harry.
"Well your mother and I were going to go visit Steve and Sarah, seeing as they live just down the mountain. Maybe do some shopping." Dan added with a sigh, giving his wife the side eye. Harry had to agree with Dan, Emma could sometimes be excessive when she went shopping. Not so much about how much she spent but with how she treated it like a military operation trying to visit as many places as physically possible in one trip. It was exhausting. Still, Harry was wise enough to keep his thoughts inside his head.
"What about you three?" Emma asked Harry, Hermione, and Fleur. "How do you plan to spend the next two days?" Hogwarts had let out on Saturday, it was now Sunday and Christmas this year was on Tuesday.
Harry looked over at Hermione and Fleur and saw from their slight rabbit-in-the-headlights look that neither really had anything planned. So he answered. "Well with Fleur so busy at the bank, and Hermione and I stuck in the school most of the time, we haven't had much chance to simply relax together. I'm sure Fleur has also missed her family. So I think we are mostly going to take it easy. Take the time to reconnect."
Everyone understood where Harry was coming from and it was quickly agreed that they would be spending most of their time in the Delacour's home where Fleur could spend time with her parents and sister at the same time as Harry and Hermione. It looked like it was going to be exactly what they needed, a nice quiet Christmas.