Much to Harry's relief, his impromptu meeting with Professor McGonagall had only made him ten minutes late. With Dobby's help, he was in his rooms at Firewall within minutes and dressed in some of his finer clothes.
"Do you know where Hermione and Fleur's mom are?" he asked the elf as he finished buttoning his robes.
"Yes, Master," Dobby nodded. "They is on the long path still, almost to the gardens."
"Perfect," he sighed in relief. He hadn't missed too much. "Do you think you could bring me there?"
"Dobby can do that," he nodded, ears flapping.
"You're the best," Harry said gratefully before offering his arm to the elf.
With one more pop, they went from the upper floors of the castle to standing outside of it.
"Hello," Harry said on an exhale, catching his breath a little now that the rush was over.
There were three mildly surprised witches in front of him, one of whom gave him an exasperated look.
He noticed Hermione was carrying her DA notebook close to her chest like one might see a secretary do her clipboard.
Apolline and Fleur were dressed similarly in blue silk robes under thick, navy blue coats. They could have passed for sisters easier than the mother and daughter they actually were.
"Hello, Harry," Fleur greeted.
"Hello, ladies," he said before looking to the regal looking veela. She was clad in blue silk robes under a thick, navy blue peacoat. "Lady Delacour; thank you so much for joining us."
"Lord Gryffindor," she returned politely as she glanced him over. She could find no fault in his presentation. His tardiness, however…
"My sincerest apologies for my tardiness," he said as he executed a deep bow over her extended hand. He brushed his lips smoothly over the back of it. "I am afraid I was held up by an unexpected meeting I could not refuse however much I may have wished to."
"It is good that you are here now," she accepted, looking moderately more pleased as he'd appropriately apologized. "Fleur and Ms. Granger made for pleasant company on our walk here."
"This is our friend Dobby," Harry introduced. "Dobby, this is Fleur's mom, Apolline Delacour."
"It is very nice to be meeting Miss Fleursies mother, it is," Dobby said with a surprisingly graceful little bow. "Dobby is honored."
If the veela was shocked to be introduced to a house-elf, her face didn't show it. "Bonjour, Dobby," she said politely with a smile that only highlighted her beautiful features.
"Thanks for your help, buddy," Harry said with a genuine smile.
"Dobby is happy to help Master Harry," he said, restraining the urge to act out in gleeful hysterics.
It was too difficult to resist, however, so he gave a quick nod to their guest before disappearing to squeal out of earshot. His master had called him buddy!
"I'm glad I arrived before you began to tour the gardens," he said as he fell into step beside them. "I always enjoy the chance to walk through them."
"I can see why," she said truthfully as they passed through a layer of tall hedges and into a beautiful section of roses.
"We were very impressed by the rooftop garden at the convent," he said conversationally.
"I am pleased you enjoyed it," she said. "We have many one of a kind cultivars."
"It is one of my favorite places too," Fleur said.
"The view from the castle must be beautiful," Apolline said with a nod towards the redbrick castle towering over the gardens to the north.
"It is, mama," Fleur agreed.
"We'll be happy to show you later."
"This way, please," Hermione said when they came to a fork in the path. They took the fork that led west.
They chatted a little bit as they walked until they reached the part of the garden that was new to Harry. It had a very Baroque feel with lots of evenly spaced, carefully shaped topiaries. Harry thought the fleur-de-lis shaped shrubbery was a nice touch.
Eventually, they walked into a large courtyard dominated by greenery, colorful flowers, benches, dwarfed trees, and a huge fountain that wouldn't look out of place in the renaissance era. It was in a large quatrefoil (the most French shape possible, Harry thought).
"Welcome to our newest addition," Hermione said with a proud gesture.
"This is very beautiful," Apolline said with an impressed expression.
Maxwell had again terraced a portion of the land. However, these terraces had a much steeper ascent. That meant that he wasn't able to build multiple small, romantic stairs on a meandering path up the terraces and wide middle plateau like he had done leading up to Firewall. Instead, there was a dramatically long staircase hewn into the natural rock with terraced flowerbeds along the sides.
"Those goblins do amazing work," Harry said once he overcame his own shock. "And so does Maxwell Dunbar."
"The goblins did this?" she asked incredulously.
"Yes, they're amazing stone smiths," Harry said, not sure why she found that hard to believe. "You'll be able to meet some of the builders now, actually."
"We have a team of very dedicated elves and some excellent herbologists and landscape experts who did all of the planting as well," Hermione interjected. "I'm sure you'll have a chance to meet some of them."
Apolline seemed to be taking everything in as they climbed the grandiose stairs. The terraces on her left and right were beautifully arranged with well-tended plants. She could hear children playing somewhere else within the gardens and could hear faint ocean sounds.
"The weather here is far better than I would have expected this far north," she couldn't help but comment. "I thought there would be layers of snow, not a cold wind and a garden in bloom."
"Yes, it always seems rather calm here," he admitted. "I haven't seen any strong storms since my first summer here, before the castle was restored."
"Or snow, now that I think about it," Hermione said, tilting her head a little.
"Interesting," the older woman said musingly. Weather wards were notoriously difficult and extremely limited; she wondered how they managed to accomplish such a feat.
"Here we are," Fleur said as they came up the last few steps. They were face to face with a large, round canvas tent. Behind it, however, was the building site.
"Mon dieu," Apolline said, placing a hand over her chest for a moment.
The grandiose building almost looked like a small palace. The rectangular building had a gothic undertone that was offset by delicate arches and sweeping lines. Aside from its red coloration, the most prominent feature was the large, square bell tower that formed the cornerstone of the structure. A couple small spires could be seen here or there as well but they weren't so tall as the bell tower.
"It's really coming along," Harry said quietly as he whistled through his teeth.
Though the roofing was largely incomplete and none of the windows had any glass, the majority of the major construction seemed to be in order.
"It doesn't clash with the castle either," Hermione responded in the same low tone. The two buildings were made of stones from the same quarry which helped bridge the gap between their wildly different architectures.
"No, the styles are different but they both fit in," he agreed.
"Welcome to the Château de la Flamme," Fleur said grandiosely, smiling brightly at her mother.
Apolline had to admit that the name was fitting given the red bricks it was constructed from.
"We named it already?" Harry asked from the corner of his mouth.
"Yeah, Fleur did. The Flame Chateau," Hermione said, wiggling her fingers to add a little razzle-dazzle.
"It sounds better in French," he mused.
"Most things do," Fleur teased with a wink.
"As you can see, we're quite far along though it probably won't be entirely complete until the first or second week of January," Harry told their guest.
"I see," Apolline acknowledged. It was slightly later than the had initially estimated but that was the nature of building projects.
"Come, come," Fleur urged. "The designs are inside; I picked them myself."
The other woman was so distracted by taking in the way cream colored stones were used to form distinctive arches, doorways, and window framing that she almost missed that statement.
"What do you mean, you picked them?" she asked after a beat.
"There were a few other options but I liked this one best, so then we build this one," Fleur answered brightly.
The older veela restrained the urge to raise a brow, instead humming in the back of her throat. Though she was still baffled by her daughter being given decision making power with a project this expansive, she could understand why she had chosen this style. It had an understated elegance that was grand without being gaudy. Plus, all of its balustraded terraces along the upper floors surely provided spectacular views.
"You will like it," her daughter assured as she grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the tent. "Come inside."
She let herself be pulled along; she never could resist her oldest daughter (or her youngest, for that matter).
"After you," Harry said as he held the flap open for three ladies.
"Thank you," they said as they stepped into the heavily expanded space within.
It seemed to double as an office and break area, judging by the small kitchenette and the array of tables and chairs. The people in the room seemed to be congregated around the largest, parchment covered table.
"Everyone, this is Lady Apolline Delacour," Harry introduced as she looked at the odd, assembled group.
"Hello," a handsome, middle-aged wizard said as he extended his hand to her politely. "Maxwell Dunbar, of Dunbar Construction. This is my wife and partner, Georgia Dunbar."
"Pleased to meet you," the short blonde witch said with warm, friendly smile as she also shook her hand.
"Nagnok," Harry greeted the rugged looking goblin standing near the table containing the blueprints. There were a dozen or so goblins fanned out along the tent wall behind him. "Nice to see you again, sir."
Apolline was surprised to see Harry hold out his hand for a shake.
"Lord Gryffindor," the builder greeted, returning the shake much to her continued surprise.
"Thank you for scheduling your break today around our meeting," he said sincerely. "We appreciate your time."
The goblin nodded shortly, making a grunting sound that could almost be construed as 'ah, no problem.' Harry turned to face the slack wearing, waistcoat-clad goblin on Nagnok's right. If possible, he greeted this goblin even more warmly.
"Riptuck, great to see you out of the office."
"And you as well, Lord Potter," the goblin said, shaking his hand firmly as if it were a regular occurrence. She couldn't help but notice the use of his other title.
"Nagnok is the senior builder on this project," Harry explained for Apolline's benefit. "And Riptuck is my accounts manager and trusted advisor; he's familiar with most of our projects including this one."
"We are responsible for the construction of the structure you see outside," Nagnok spoke up.
"And of a great deal more of the island as well," Harry added honestly. "Dunbar Construction is responsible for filling in the shell, so to say."
"We'll install all the fixtures, flooring, interior non-load bearing walls, and amenities," Maxwell explained.
"To give you an idea of where we're at in the construction and where we'll end up, I'll cast a spell to display a three dimension model," Hermione said, stepping up to the table and drawing her wand.
"Fleur and these fine people will explain the finer details," Harry said with a nod towards the Dunbars and the two goblins.
"You've seen an example of how we work together on your walk up here," Maxwell took over.
"Yes, I must compliment you all on the effect you've achieved. It is spectacular."
"Thank you," Maxwell said with a pleased look. "The goblins do, admittedly, the most labor and magic intensive portions of the construction like hewing those stairs out of solid rock or cutting terraces into cliff faces."
"We are also able to provide a lot of the materials needed to finish the project," Nagnok added.
"With our contacts, we are able to secure them at a lower cost than on the open market," Riptuck explained.
"That they're able to have those materials onsite before turning the project over to my team makes our partnership even more effective," Maxwell explained.
"And cost saving," Riptuck nodded in agreement.
"Not to mention time saving."
"That's what I said," Riptuck said with a sharp toothed grin. "After all, time is money, isn't it?"
"Too true," Maxwell said, matching the goblins grin.
For a moment, Apolline wondered what she would find it she walked back outside of the tent. Surely she was on some other world now? Had she witnessed a goblin show some good humor? While talking about helping wizards cut costs?
If it wouldn't be far too unladylike, she would have pinched herself. Instead, she watched and listened attentively.
She was clearly the intended audience of a well-thought out briefing. It wasn't just the content of the briefing as much as it was the contents of the tent.
A young muggleborn witch held the projection of a beautiful miniature chateau while a pureblood wizard explained some of the features. A young halfblooded Lord asked questions for the benefit of her, a veela elder, while two goblins and a veela answered them all.
In the end, the only reason she didn't pinch herself was because she knew she would have to share this memory later and she didn't want anyone to notice.
This was far, far more than she expected to see and the tour wasn't even halfway done.
"…any questions?" Harry asked once Hermione ended the projection.
Apolline gathered herself for a moment before speaking.
"You have certainly thought out nearly every aspect of our stay here."
"I would be a poor host if I did not," Harry said.
"Certainly no one can say you are that," she complimented.
"Non," Fleur agreed for him, knowing he would be too humble to respond. "Harry takes wonderful care of us all."
"I do not think I have any further questions at this moment," she admitted. "The presentation was quite thorough."
"Thank you for taking the time to be here today, all of you," Harry said as he looked around the tent.
"It's no trouble at all," Maxwell said with his usual easy smile.
"Gringotts is always happy to be of service to you, Lord Potter," Riptuck said with a stiff nod of his head.
Apolline could have been knocked over by a strong breeze right then.
The wizard in question didn't seem to think that statement was surprising in any way. However the brunette witch, Ms. Granger, seemed to notice as her knuckles went white around her journal when her grip tightened.
"We can continue our tour of the gardens and then the main castle, ma'am," Harry said respectfully. "If you are ready?"
"Yes, please," she agreed as she stood from the chair that had been conjured for her.
"It should only take us an hour and a half," Harry said before looking towards Riptuck. "We'll finish with lunch on the rooftop balcony of the central tower; you would be welcome to join us if you have the time, Riptuck."
Now Apolline could have been knocked over by a feather. It made her feel better to notice the old goblin was caught off guard by that as well.
"Alas, I have other appointments within the bank today, Lord Potter."
"Maybe another time then," Harry said easily.
"Perhaps."
"I'll see you just before Christmas, yes?"
"At the usual time, Lord Potter."
Harry nodded. They bid their farewells before leaving the tent.
"So, mama," Fleur began as soon as they cleared the flaps of the tent. "What do you think?"
Apolline knew that she was here as a representative of the Matriarchs but she couldn't disappoint her daughter.
"I am very impressed, Fleurette," she said honestly. "C'est magnifique."
"Yes? You think so?" she asked, practically bouncing down the first few steps.
"Quite," she assured her.
"I hope you will be as impressed with the castle," Harry said.
"I am sure it will not disappoint," Apolline said simply, allowing her daughter to loop their arms together.
She might be here on business but there was no reason she couldn't enjoy a nice walk through these lovely gardens with her eldest daughter.
…
They had only been walking for a few minutes when they saw someone kneeling in a flowerbed around the base of a small sundial. He was a rather well-built (albeit dirty) young man from what she could see.
"Look, it's Neville," Harry murmured to Hermione quietly.
"Always with his plants," Fleur said in the same low tone.
He looked to be fussing with an odd bed of flowers. They had tulip-like stems and leaves but rather than buds or blooms, there were large green pods that looked somehow ready to pop.
"Come on, ladies," he said as he tickled the sepals around the pods. "Don't clam up on me now."
Apolline was not versed enough in Herbology to be sure what this odd young man was trying to achieve. The pods remained stubbornly unchanged, however.
"Maybe the sugar water…" he mused as he pulled out a spray bottle and spritzed all of the leaves and stems. "Aha!" Before their eyes, the pods began to peel open into large, beautiful red flowers with wide waxy petals that tapered to a soft point.
"Wow," Hermione said. She'd only ever read about these before.
"That did the trick," Neville crowed, leaning back to sit on his heels. Thin, silver filaments stretched out from the center of the blooms, getting longer and beginning to curl in tight spirals. They stuck out from the petals for six or so inches, bouncing and tapping against each other. The sounds they produced were like the tinkling of a thousand tiny bells and all seemed to harmonize with one another.
"Those sound nice," Harry said loudly. "Surprisingly loud for their size."
The startled teen visibly jerked with surprise before turning to look over his shoulder.
"Hello, Neville," Hermione and Fleur said.
"Hey, Nev," Harry greeted with a grin.
"Oh, hello," he said as he scrambled to his feet with as much poise as he could manage. "I thought you'd be a little longer, I'm sorry. Must have lost track of time."
With a flick of his wrist, he unholstered his wand and cast a quick nonverbal charm to clean all of the dirt from his skin and clothes.
"It's no trouble," Harry waved off as Neville put his wand away. "Lady Delacour, this is Heir Neville Longbottom."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, my lady," he said as he bowed deeply and kissed the back of her extended hand much like Harry had. He had been trained by his grandmother from a young age for these sorts of situations.
"Well met, young man," she complimented. "What was it you were doing to those plants?"
"Coercing the silver tongued lilies into blooming; they're stubborn plants and hardly bloom without a bit of incentive."
"You make it sound as if plants have personality."
"The first time a Venomous Tentacula wrapped itself around my neck, I learned that plants have personality," Neville laughed lightly. "Although you won't find any plants like that around here."
"We're on our way up to the castle," Harry told his friend. "Would you like to join us?"
"Oh no," he said, shaking his head. "I've got loads more to do here before I have to get back to Hogwarts. But it was very nice to meet you; Fleur has told us a lot about you."
"All good things, I hope."
"Yes," he said honestly. "Every word."
"Oh, hush," Fleur said demurely.
"See you around then, Neville."
They waved before continuing on through a meandering path through the garden and up the terraces. "If you look there," Hermione pointed to an area roughly between the new construction and Firewall. "That will be the site of our next project, terraced patios and a swimming pool."
"It will be amazing," Fleur said exuberantly.
"And ready in time for summer, we hope."
"I see you keep very busy here."
"It does seem like the island is constantly under construction," Harry admitted.
"And do you intend to continue expanding the way you have been? There seems to be a lot of potential here for long-term habitation."
Hermione and Harry shared a look between themselves.
"Well," Harry said, drawing the word out. "There may be some plans in the works for the future…"
…
By the end of the tour, Apolline was beginning to regret wearing a pair of short heels even with the inbuilt cushioning charms.
Still, she found Firewall Castle to be oddly charming (in a rustic way) and definitely Scottish to its red sandstone bones.
"This is beautiful," she said as she took in the huge entryway.
A magnificent Christmas tree stood in the center, fully bedecked in sparkly baubles and live fairies. Garland was wrapped around every possible surface and beautiful red poinsettias had been placed in various nooks.
"The elves really got into the Christmas spirit," Hermione confided.
"Wait until you see the tree in the main sitting room," Harry told her.
Ron came in from the direction of the DA ballroom wearing their casual robes.
"Hey guys," he greeted. "And you look like Fleur's sister so you must be her mother, Lady Delacour. It's very nice to meet you, ma'am. I'm Ron Weasley."
"Charmed, Ron Weasley," Apolline said with a smile.
"Smooth," Fleur agreed. "Like my Bill, but smaller."
"Oi, I'm not that much smaller," he protested with a squawk.
"No, no, of course not," Hermione soothed him in a pacifying voice.
"I'm not," he reiterated sullenly.
"Are you joining us?" Harry asked.
"If Lady Delacour doesn't mind."
"It is no imposition," she said.
"Then please, follow me," Harry said with a small smile, getting them back on track as he gestured towards a wide corridor.
"Right," Hermione shook herself. "You'll want to be familiar with this corridor; this is the medical wing and the landing point for our emergency portkeys."
Starting with the infirmary, which was impressive in its own right considering the healer they had on staff, they worked their way up and around the castle in a wide circle. She was shown around the gyms, hobby rooms, game rooms, and sun rooms. She was also given a tour of an empty family suite and single guest room.
"Most of the individual bedrooms share a bathroom with another room," Hermione explained.
"Normally people share with a friend or sibling," Ron added.
"Most of the couples have rooms with private baths though," Fleur said. "Like mine and Bills."
"So this is where you live, Fleurette?" Apolline asked, voice a little sharper than it had been before. "I thought you had said you had your own flat."
"That had been my plan," Fleur nodded with some mild reticence. "Until I was introduced to the DA."
"What prompted the move here?"
"It is a fortress, mother," the young French woman said as she looked around. "And all of my friends are here. Bill and I both moved out of our apartments and came here together."
"What of your friends at the convent?"
"You know that there are not many," Fleur huffed. "Most of those girls, well…ils sont con comme une valise sans poignée."
Harry couldn't help but laugh slightly at the insult. He hadn't ever heard the phrase 'they're as stupid as a suitcase without a handle' before.
"Fleur," Apolline scolded. She also made note of the fact that Harry Potter spoke more French than she previously thought.
He'd taken a private interest in the language following fourth year. He understood more than he could speak, however, due to a lack of practice. He was actually excited to have the veela at Firewall just for that reason.
"You know they do not like me because I am more beautiful than they are, and more powerful," she sniffed. "And the convent is not close to Gringotts, mama, to my work."
Apolline, though her eyes may have rolled slightly skyward at her eldest's arrogance, did agree. The girls in Fleur's age range had quickly closed her out once they realized that Fleur was the number one competitor for attention without truly trying.
"This is true," the elder woman agreed. "So tell me, where is it you stay here?"
"I had a room in one of the towers," she answered. "However, I think that Bill and I will move into the chateau with everyone else, if he is welcome."
"Really?" Apolline asked.
"Oui," Fleur confirmed.
"Of course he would be welcome, ma belle," Apolline said. "To have everyone under the same roof together once more would make me very happy indeed."
"Would you like to see our room?" she offered.
She thought about accepting but she had heard Fleur say the phrase 'one of the towers.' The idea of backtracking to the higher floors had her feet recoiling in horror.
"Perhaps another time," she said instead. "We can continue the planned tour."
"It looks like the library is next up," Hermione said after consulting her ever-present journal.
"Your favorite room," Ron teased.
"Then we'll go down this corridor here," Harry said as he steered them in the right direction.
When they reached the library, she found herself impressed once again. It seemed to take up the first three floors of the eastern tower.
"There must be thousands of books here," she said as she looked around.
"The ceiling is my favorite," Fleur said as she looked up.
It was colored the same deep midnight blue as the walls and had the stars mapped out with faintly glowing, fist-sized crystals. Gold veining connected them to form constellations.
"And it's astronomically accurate," Hermione added.
"As well as aesthetically pleasing," Apolline complimented.
The display beautifully complimented the golden chandelier, gilded mahogany shelves, and sparkling sconces decorating the room.
"More than I ever expected from the English, yes?" Fleur asked brightly.
"Fleur," Harry sighed in a reproachful tone.
"Oh, sorry," she said with a contrite look. "I was doing the thing again, wasn't I?"
"You were being xenophobic, yes," Hermione agreed.
"We got Blaise to agree to lay off of the French jokes if you let up on the English ones."
"Yes, yes, I remember," she said with a small pout. She had agreed to it only because the Slytherin's tongue was somehow sharper than hers.
"You have quite the collection," Apolline said, bringing the attention back to the topic at hand.
"We house over 60,000 items here," Hermione said with a proud grin. "But we're constantly expanding."
"Should anyone move here, they would all be welcome to use the library at any time," Harry said.
Near the door, a brunette witch with a pixie cut was sitting behind an antique desk which was pushed up against an even older lectern.
"This is Verona Thatcher," Hermione introduced. "She's somewhat taken on the role of librarian here."
She was the wife of one of the mercenaries, Kitty, and Harry thought she was definitely a better librarian than Madam Pince.
"Hello," she said in a cheery tone. "I can help you find anything you'd like — just make sure to write down whatever you checkout or bring back in this book here."
Privately, Harry thought that he'd never met two more different women. Verona was calm, kind, and studious while her wife was mercurial at best, harsh at worst, and dangerous almost always.
"You can also call on Bippy, the library elf, if you need help or if you ever want to add a book to the master catalog," she told them.
"Thanks, Verona," he said.
"Happy to help, Harry!" she chirped. "And nice to meet you, Lady Delacour."
"You as well," she returned.
Apolline had lost count of how many quick introductions had already been made.
She'd met young wizards, adults, a surprising number of house-elves, and a few highly recognizable figures from the British Ministry. She definitely understood why they'd been so insistent on everyone signing security documents.
"Oh hey Harry," another bright-eyed young witch said as she walked out from between some shelves.
"Hey Penny," he greeted.
"Lady Delacour, this is Penelope Clearwater," Hermione introduced for the nth time.
"She and Percy Weasley had recently moved into the castle together," Harry said.
They had turned out to be quite happy to get out from under the Weasley matriarch's thumb. Percy, it seemed, wasn't as enthused with Dumbledore as they had thought. He had seen far more in the Ministry than any of them had realized. He knew quite a bit, enough to realize that he was caught between a corrupt minister and a great wizard who was out of touch with reality.
"Very nice to meet you, ma'am," she said respectfully. "You guys headed downstairs?"
"Yeah, the only thing left to see is the main dining hall, I think," Harry answered.
"Then lunch, I hope," Ron said quietly, his stomach grumbling almost louder than his words.
"That's correct," Hermione confirmed, checking the library off of her tour checklist (because of course she had a checklist).
"I'll head down with you," Penny said.
"I still think we should spring for a Quidditch pitch," Ron muttered. "That would've made a far better end to the tour. We could've flown there after a rooftop lunch."
"Maybe one day, Ron," Hermione said in a tone that told everyone they'd had this discussion more than a few times.
"Would you like to join us for lunch, Penny?" Harry asked.
"I was actually going to see about flooing over to my parents house," Penny answered as she stepped away from the group. "It was lovely to meet you, Lady Delacour."
"And you, dear," the woman said kindly.
"What about you, Susan?"
"I've got to get back to Hogwarts," she said, giving Apolline a polite curtesy. "Ma'am,"
Harry thought everything had went well so far. Ron didn't seem to be struggling with any of the allure radiating off of Apolline either.
The dining room wasn't that full since it was slightly late for lunch by now. Apolline was shown around the large room which was, like the rest of the castle, well used but impeccably maintained.
"There's four meals served a day," Hermione recounted. "There's early breakfast then late breakfast and then of course lunch and dinner."
"We would be happy to serve meals in the chateau on the same schedule or on your own chosen schedule; the elves are flexible."
"And if we should want to dine in the main dining hall here?"
"That is, of course, always open to you and the elves are happy to provide meals at any hour of the day or night," Hermione hurried to say.
"Fleur explained to me that younger veela cannot always control their allure or do not always want to be around other people," Harry added. "She thought it would be a good idea to have meals in the chateau as well so that life can still continue on as normally as possible for everyone."
Apolline nodded in understanding; that was well reasoned. It was just nice to be sure they weren't being excluded. Honestly, even if they had been kept to the chateau and gardens, that was still a remarkably good deal for them.
Knowing that they had a fully operational hospital, an excellent library, and a number of luxurious amenities that were fully available to them would have most of her people clamoring to live here.
"One last flight of stairs," Harry said with a small grin.
She was too poised to outwardly groan but if her feet could, they would have.
Thankfully, the trek wasn't as long as she feared with her daughter's litany of distracting conversation, ideas, and fun facts.
"You seem to have very many elves here," Apolline said when she was given the name of yet another elf to call on.
At this point, she was going to need a written directory of elves around here so she knew which one to call on for help with books, gym equipment, enchanted muggle devices, gardening, animals, armor and weaponry, or whatever else. That last one had certainly thrown her through a loop.
"Because Harry cannot help himself," Fleur said with a delicate snort.
"Pardon?"
"It's not that I can't help myself," he protested immediately. "I just don't like the idea of some family like the Malfoy's adopting an elf and treating them like they did Dobby."
"Harry has been purchasing every house-elf before they can go up for auction for the last five or so quarters," Hermione filled the confused veela in. "That's why we have so many."
"There's plenty of work for them," he sniffed.
"I just don't know how you've managed to get every single one."
"I think the goblins are helping him," Fleur speculated. "And just not selling to anyone else."
"I pay more," he said with another sniff. In truth, the goblins were still selling house-elves to good families and businesses but if they suspected someone of mistreating elves, then Harry ended up with an influx.
"And there is enough room for all of these elves?"
"Oh yes," Hermione agreed. "They have their own dedicated quarters."
"There will be more than enough space to house any house-elves that may travel with you," Harry added.
"This is good to know."
"We'll furnish their quarters as well," he said. "If you'd believe it, the muggle world has many different styles of children's furniture that is the perfect size for elves."
"Interesting," she said without reacting. She imagined that the elves quarters here looked far different than she would expect. His elves were far better treated than she expected from a British lord.
"Here we are," Fleur said as they reached the final floor of the tower.
They were standing in a sparse round room that held a few plants and an antique writing station. It was fully stocked with parchment, ink, and quills. It made sense once she looked up.
"Oh," Apolline said in surprise.
The ceiling was very tall; it was at least a couple stories high with a conical roof. Many crisscrossing beams supported it and served as roosts for dozens of birds (mostly owls).
"This also doubles as the owlery," Harry said with an amused smile.
Numerous glassless windows were built in just below the exterior eaves of the roof. Between those windows, perches and boxes were built into the stone.
"Enchantments vanish any droppings or feathers before they get within six meters of the crown moulding," Hermione assured the veela.
"I see," Apolline said as the younger witch pointed towards the point where the ceiling met the roof and the cream colored paint gave way to natural stone.
"A creative use of space," she said instead. "And cleaner than any owlery I've ever seen."
A matching set of glass doors with cherry wood frames sat on the east and west walls. They led out to a wide, wraparound balcony that was bursting with as much greenery they could fit.
"Welcome to our rooftop gardens," Harry said.
Numerous stone planters held a variety of plants and large pots held small trees. There were a few proliferous vines growing up trellises on the walls as well as a few comfortable benches and seating areas.
"Shall I assume your friend from outside had a hand in these plants?" Apolline asked as she took in her immediate surroundings before taking in the view of the island.
"Oh definitely," Ron answered.
"They are not quite as grand as your rooftop garden at the convent," Harry said.
"This is still very beautiful," she said. "Heir Longbottom is a credit to himself."
"You should see the gardens at our family manor," Fleur joined. "They are incredible — my grandmother on papa's side called them her crowning glory."
"I would love to see more of France, actually," he said.
"Me too," Hermione agreed with Harry. "Even having been once on vacation, I feel like I haven't seen enough."
There were only a few other people on the roof. Brando was watching his children play with finger paint sets on the other side. It was the most docile Harry had ever seen the mercenary.
"Hey, Brando," he greeted the quiet man.
"Harry," he said with a nod, eyes flickering back towards his children.
Harry always got the impression that he was on alert at all times.
"Winky has set a table for us over here," Hermione said as she led them to the southernmost part of the rooftop balcony.
An elegant but casual lunch spread was waiting for them. Ron's eyes were already on the food. Apolline's were on the plush chairs just waiting there to get her off her feet.
"Thank you, Lord Gryffindor," she said as the young Lord politely pulled out her chair.
He did the same for Fleur as Ron did the same for Hermione. Once the ladies were seated, the two young men took their seats.
"So, ma'am, I hope you don't mind if lunch is a little more informal?"
"Not at all," she agreed after a glance at her daughter.
"Excellent," Harry grinned. "Ron and I were hoping you could settle a bet for us."
"Oh?"
"Boys," Hermione groaned.
"Okay now Ron thinks-"
"Really, Harry?" Hermione interrupted with visible exasperation.
"What?" Fleur asked in confusion. "What is this about?"
"Ron thinks that Fleur never had an awkward phase growing up," Harry said. "I think every kid has that phase at some point. Like Ron was super awkward and disproportionally lanky in third year-"
"Oh shove off, you tosser," Ron protested.
"Excuse me, I was never this 'awkward' like you say," Fleur gasped at the same time.
"And I," Harry said loudly over his friend. "Did not do well between the ages of 6 to 8 — my knee to leg ratio was all wrong. I grew into it, don't worry."
"No one was worried," Hermione said passive aggressively as she buttered a scone. Apolline had begun serving herself as well, listening to the banter with amusement.
"Why have I not heard of this bet?" Fleur asked, mostly to herself as the others ignored her grumblings.
"More like ages 6 to 16," Ron grumbled.
"Please," Harry huffed. "At the most, 14. After that I bulked up and evened out."
"Sure, sure."
"Anyway, the point is, we were wondering if Fleur ever had an awkward phase like that?" Harry continued.
"Non," Fleur answered herself, crossing her arms.
"Well of course you're going to say so," Harry told her teasingly. "That's why we wanted to ask your mum."
"It is true," she insisted. "Have you seen Gabrielle? Veela are always beautiful."
"And if so, do you have pictures?" Ron tacked on, also ignoring Fleur's protests. "I can gracefully lose this bet if there's pictures."
"Fleur has always been beautiful," Apolline answered as she sipped her tea.
"See?" Fleur crowed. "I tell you this, see?"
"But," her mother continued as she delicately set her cup back in the saucer. "There may have been a period when she was six where she lost her two front teeth at once. I would say that was a little awkward."
"Mama!" Fleur said, aghast. "Non!"
"Of course, we gave her the potion to encourage her adult teeth to grow in as soon as we were able," she said, enjoying her daughters head shaking denial. "But the family portrait was already scheduled months in advance and potions take time to brew, you see."
"Oh we would love to see," Hermione said with interest despite her intention to stay out of this silly bet between the boys. Speaking of.
"Ha!" Harry crowed. "I win."
"Oh fine, whatever," Ron conceded.
"You must never tell anyone," Fleur said firmly. "No one can find that portrait."
"So it does still exist?" Ron asked with a grin. "We would love to see that."
"Non," Fleur protested.
"We do still have it in storage at the manor," Apolline said with a teasing smile of her own.
"Not for much longer," Fleur muttered under her breath.
"Come now, darling," Apolline chuckled.
"I shall burn that whole place to the ground if I must," she continued muttering aggressively.
"Would it be so bad for someone to know you had one entirely natural awkward moment when you were six years old?" Hermione asked with a raised brow.
"Non," Fleur said with a bit of a pout. "But if my little sister got ahold of it…"
"Say no more," Ron said, miming that his lips were sealed. "I know all about annoying little sisters."
"Oh hey Ginny," Harry said, looking over Ron's shoulder.
"Bloody hell, l didn't mean it I promise," Ron squawked as he ducked his head to avoid the hit or spell he was sure was coming.
The outbreak of laughter from Harry and Hermione had the tips of his ears turning red as he saw that there was no one behind him.
"Oh real funny."
"We thought so," Harry chortled.
Even Apolline laughed, the musical sound complimenting Fleur's chuckle.
"You're only laughing because you haven't been caught by her bat-bogey hex," the redhead huffed as he pulled a few consolation sandwiches onto his plate.
"I'm pretty much the favorite brother," Harry said with a winning smile, playfully tilting his chin up like he was posing for a photo.
"Honestly that might be true," Ron sighed. "It's possible even my mum likes you better."
"Not just possible," Hermione said. "It's likely."
"Aren't you supposed to be on my side, woman?"
"I'm just saying, the only two people to get a cashmere sweater last year were Harry and Ginny."
"Which was an outrage, by the way," Ron said, immediately more animated. "She punished me for doing a runner but I did a runner with Harry so I don't know why she's giving him fancy sweaters, letting him get off scot-free without so much as a single howler. Fudge! He got fudge."
"The minister?" Apolline whispered to Fleur.
"Non, the confection," Fleur answered. "Mrs. Weasley sends homemade gifts for Christmas."
"And she sends Lord Gryffindor better quality ones than her own son?" Apolline asked.
"See?" Ron slapped the table lightly. "She gets it!"
"Just call me Harry, please, Lady Delacour."
"Then you will call me Apolline."
"Perfect," Harry said. "I hate the formalities."
"I hate that my sweater was maroon while you got some fancy Gryffindor red one and fudge. And tart! Treacle tart, Hermione!"
"I know, I know," Hermione said, patting his hand.
"It's my favorite," Harry shrugged. "And I shared with you!"
"Yeah, yeah."
"My grandmama made the bestBûche de Noël," Fleur remembered with a sigh.
"What is that?" Ron asked curiously.
"It is a spongey cake," Apolline answered. "The log of Christmas?"
"Yule log cake, Ron," Hermione provided.
"The icing makes it look like a little log for the fire," Fleur recounted.
"Mmm," he said. "That sounds nice right now if I'm honest."
"Oh, have you had one before?" Fleur asked curiously.
"No but I like all cake," Ron answered.
"He can say that with confidence since he's made it his mission in life to try every dessert he encounters," Harry muttered.
Ron elbowed him slightly before smiling nonchalantly at Fleur as if nothing had happened. The veela hid a smile in response.
"It is a tradition in our family to share a slice of the Bûche de Noël on the eve of Christmas," Apolline told them as she took a small savory tart.
"We light an actual Yule log," Ron offered. "My mum and dad keep a piece of last year's log to relight the new one."
"I didn't know that," Hermione said. "Did you know that was originally a Nordic tradition that a lot of cultures adapted?"
"No," Ron answered, managing to sound sincere. "That's interesting."
Harry was impressed with the redheads genuine attempts to be a better listener. A few years before, he probably would have made a bookworm joke and forgotten what they had been talking about within a minute.
"I believe France has their own tradition as well," the brunette continued.
"Yes, in Provence mostly," Apolline agreed. "Some families all help cut down the tree for this Yule log."
Lunch went on as they all shared a few more stories or traditions. The two veela had a chance to enjoy some time together while they all enjoyed good food and a beautiful view.
…
As soon as Fleur escorted her mom downstairs, Harry was up from his chair and undoing the buttons on the robe.
"I thought this thing would be cool enough considering it's December but I was bloody wrong," he huffed.
Hermione rolled her eyes at his antics and poured herself another cup of still steaming tea.
"He's not wrong," Ron said. "It's weirdly warm up here."
"The wind blocking ward doesn't help much," Hermione said. "You'll never feel more than a weak breeze."
"That went well," Harry said as he sat back down.
"I thought so too," he agreed.
"She seemed to like it," Ron said. "Especially the bit about Fleur moving into the chateau. Masterstroke on her part, telling her mum that."
"Huh, you're right," Harry realized.
"Hopefully the other Matriarchs are as impressed as she seemed to be," she said.
"We'll just have to wait and see."
"I'm sure they will be," Ron snorted. "You're literally building them a castle."
Harry nodded before pausing thoughtfully.
"How are they doing on the budget over there?" he asked as he looked towards the construction they could see to the west.
"Well…" Hermione hedged, drawing out the word in a higher pitch.
"Hermione," he began, mild worry beginning to grow on his features.
"Luna assures me we can afford it," she hurried to say.
"How much?"
The number she quote gave Harry the urge to fall into one of the no doubt expensive chairs lining the upper balcony.
"What?"
"Bloody hell," Ron said at the same time.
"A lot of that is the cost of the goblins masonry," Hermione explained. "The rest is their other costs, the building materials, and labor."
"How much of the total is the goblin's fee?"
"About 45% for the masonry work, which is obviously the largest portion, then about," she waved her finger in the air like she was writing out a math equation. "17% for their labor on the interior."
"Crikey," he said, shaking his head while aligning those numbers with some of his financial statements. "Luna's right though, we can afford it."
"She's expecting quite the windfall next quarter too," Hermione told him. "Seeing as Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is about to get an auror contract for some of the devices we're already carrying, she's definitely right."
"The twins are over the moon about that," Ron said.
"She thinks we'll make our money back on this project by this quarter?"
"With a profit margin, apparently."
"I'd like if she were right," he said. "It won't hurt us if we don't but I didn't think this project would be quite so…expensive."
"We're building a huge architecturally complex building…of course there's quite a price tag."
"Anything done in a French style is gonna be expensive," Ron snorted.
"Fair enough," Harry acknowledged.
"All in all, I think everything went very well."
"Cheers," Ron said as he held out his tea cup.
Hermione and Harry both reached out and clinked their cups with his. They were toasting to a successful meeting with what was effectively a French ambassador (even if she was Fleur's mum).
"So…" Harry trailed off as he and Ron glanced at Hermione.
"Yes?"
"You're writing up the report on this one, right?" he asked hopefully.
She chunked a biscuit crumble at him then shook her head. "Yeah, I've got this one."
"You're a lifesaver."
"Uh huh."
Harry and Ron just grinned at each other.