"I've got to say that old coot is one darn persistent stick in the mud. He does not know the meaning of giving up." said Harry, a glass of Firewhisky in his hand and a smoke in the other.
He took a small sip of the wizarding Britain's favourite beverage before taking a puff of smoke. The sun smothered them with warmth as Harry and Sirius relaxed on the long stretched-out sandy beaches of Cannes.
"That man does not also know the meaning of privacy." Sirius muttered as he burnt the latest piece of letter from Dumbledore urging them to come back to Britain. "It is the fault of that stupid bird. Is there any ward that can ward off Phoenixes?"
"You are asking me?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Oh, right. Sometimes I forget you are a little kid." said Sirius, snickering at the indignant face Harry made.
"Hey! I'm not a little kid."
"Oh, yeah. Bagging one bird and he thinks he is the man of the world." Sirius scoffed, reaching out and messing his godson's hair earning an indignant squawk of protest from the teen.
"Speaking of which, what's the deal with you, Fleur, and that Greengrass girl? You know you can't lead them both along for a spin. Life doesn't work that way."
Harry raised a curious eyebrow looking at his godfather.
"Speaking from experience?" Harry inquired.
"Speaking from a bad experience." Sirius corrected, his eyes far away and shivering at the memory. "Now stop trying to shift the topic. So, Delecour or Greengrass. Pick one and drop the other gently. It'll save you and the girls a lot of headaches and heartache."
"It's not that simple." Harry shook his head.
"Maybe not for you but trust me those girls will tear you a new one if you are planning to pull off this stunt. I hear Veelas have quite a temper and they start scorching everything before them when they lose their grip on that temper."
"Fleur won't be annoyed. She already knows." said Harry.
Sirius spat out the firewhisky he was drinking when he registered what his godson was saying.
"She knows about the Greengrass girl and she's okay with it?" Sirius asked incredulously.
"I wouldn't say she's okay with it but she understands my position. I think she sort of sees this as a challenge. I suspect she thinks I'll never choose any other girl over her."
"Huh! Veela! I've got to find me one of those." Sirius said dreamily.
Harry snickered seeing the dreamy smile on Sirius's face.
"Well, I think I should take a dip in the sea to cool off. You coming?" Sirius asked, his feet hitting the sands of the beach once more.
"No. Go and enjoy. I'll just hang out here." Harry said.
He watched from his reclining chair as Sirius ran for the sea and jump in all the while hollering like a loon along the way. Harry shook his head at the antics of Sirius but the man was right about one thing. Sooner or later, he'll have to own up to the troubles that would undoubtedly accompany with regards to Fleur and Daphne.
'I should not have asked Daphne out for the Yule Ball. Or maybe, I should not have given her mixed signals at the Ball.'
As far as he could see, the Ball was the turning point when it came to his involvement with Daphne. Then again, he could have never predicted that he'd get in deep with Fleur after the second task. It was not as if he was planning every step. Some things just happen and it was only in retrospection that you realize the mistakes that you made could have been easily a avoidable.
There was no point in thinking about what could have been at the moment. He was essentially tied up with the situation he found himself in and the only silver lining so far had been Fleur keeping an extremely accommodating outlook. He was nonetheless worried about how long will that last. That was why he went through the trouble of sneaking into France using a freight train through the Channel tunnel. It was not the smoothest ride but Sirius was quite the prodigy when it comes to charms and transfiguration which made the journey hassle-free. A few careful applications of Notice-me-not charms and apparitions later they were safely inside French territory away from some of those pesky butt buddies of Dumbledore. It was quite a smart plan and Harry was quite happy that his idea to use the freight trains to transit through the English Channel worked like a charm.
The only hiccup in their plan was the blasted phoenix of Dumbledore. They didn't consider the fact that phoenixes can travel great distances and Fawkes can somehow track Harry even across the international boundary. Thankfully, Fawkes had so far not attempted to kidnap him outright and he doubted the phoenix could communicate his location to Dumbledore. He hoped that was not possible in both cases.
Harry closed his eyes and sank into his chair basking in the sun. He certainly hoped Dumbledore and his stupid followers do not interrupt his vacation plans. The scent of the sea combined with the warm sun smothering him was enough to relax his muscles and make him temporarily forget his woes. He didn't know how long he stayed that was but he was jolted awake when he felt there was a subtle shift in the wards. They were in a muggle area and Sirius had put up some detection wards and muggle-repelling wards for some privacy and safety. Even if it was Sirius who put the wards in the place, he could still feel the shift in the wards.
"'Arry!"
Harry looked up to see Fleur standing there, her silver-blonde hair dancing in the wind. The glare from the sun made her hair look like they were crafted in the crucibles of the stars.
'It's a dream.' he thought.
Fleur shook her head muttering about English wizards and their inability to take on a little sun. She walked around his chair and placed herself on his right side.
Harry blinked a few times as he adjusted to the sun and took in Fleur dressed in a white flowery summer dress.
"Am I dreaming?" he whispered as he slowly sat up straight.
"You are not 'Arry." Fleur let out a tinkling laugh as she sat beside him while enveloping him in a hug.
Harry breathed in the scent of her hair which sort of cleared up his head a little bit. Her smell had the effect of drinking tea as his mind got kick-started to work efficiently.
"You're really here." Harry whispered.
Fleur pulled back from the hug to smile at him in a way that made him grin like a loon.
"Of course, I am 'Arry."
"You look beautiful." Harry breathed out the first thing that came to his mind.
He barely stifled a gasp as he felt Fleur's soft hands pressing against his abdomen, her nails dragging over his skin making him relive the last time this sort of thing happened. He could feel her hands climb over his abs, and his chest until finally settle on the back of his neck. Soon he felt Fleur's warm lips pressing against his own stealing away his breath away. His hands didn't stay idle. He took hold of her hips, the white fabric of her dress being the only layer that shielded her skin from his touch.
The moment their lips parted for much-needed air Harry pulled Fleur into his lap while pressing a kiss against her neck. Harry flipped them over so that Fleur was lying on his beach chair on her back while slowly sliding over her. His hand which was on her hips slipped inside her skirt and steadily moved toward her inner thighs.
"This might sound weird coming from me but can you two behave until we have a roof over our heads?"
Harry stopped what he was doing and sat back as he looked at Sirius eying them with a smirk.
"You could not have just turned around and given us a few minutes now, could you?" Harry harrumphed.
"I don't think you were going to be finished in a few minutes, Harry." Sirius deadpanned.
"Mr Black." Fleur adjusted her dress before hugging Sirius.
"You can call me Sirius." he said while returning the hug.
"'zank you. You can call me Fleur. Come, my Papa and Maman are waiting for us."
XXXXXXX
Voldemort was not having a good day and the reasons were multifaceted. The reviving ritual was carefully designed not just to restore him to a physical form but also to achieve a physical form that allowed him to go beyond his original body. A wizard's body has certain limits and he had augmented his body by using a series of rituals, alchemy, and potions. However, there was an extent to which all those augments can take him.
The new body he had devised taking the blood of his mortal enemy, the bones of his dead father and the flesh of his servant should have been far more powerful. It should have allowed him to exert more of his dark magic and thereby grant him an overwhelming advantage over his chief adversary, Albus Dumbledore. But things were happening detrimental to his intent. He could feel the power he had so painstakingly amassed over the years diminishing day by day. Well, his magic was as strong as it possibly could but his body on the other hand was getting weaker.
No matter how much he thought about it he could not see where he had gone wrong with the ritual. Everything had gone smoothly as far as the potion that was prepared was concerned. The bones of his father and the blood of Potter were undoubtedly used without a doubt. He had revisited his memory and he had clearly seen blood leaking from Potter's hand. The only part that could have gone wrong was with Pettigrew.
'Could that traitorous rat have botched up something?'
It was a question that'd remain unanswered as the fool had died in the graveyard. The Ministry had even released a formal list of all those who died at the graveyard and he could no longer feel the traitrous rat through the Dark Mark.
There was however another possibility to consider. The mudblood mother of Harry Potter had given the boy protection using her death as a sacrifice. It was old magic binding through blood.
'Did I underestimate the nature of protection? Could it be that the protective magic cast by Lily Potter is acting against the enemy of her son?' Voldemort mused, eyeing his shaking hand speculatively.
If he looked carefully enough, he could see his veins starting to bulge in his hands and they were slowly gaining a dark tint. Whatever magic that insufferable mudblood had gifted Harry Potter it was not circumvented as he had hoped. He did not even get a chance to test the protections in the graveyard because Potter had blasted him away before he could touch the boy.
'Perhaps that was for the best.' he thought grimly.
If he was right about Potter's blood being the cause of his deterioration then touching the boy in the graveyard would have most likely ended up undoing him completely. It'd have been his shortest return to power and he'd have been exactly where he was before Pettigrew found him, alone and as a powerless spirit.
'No matter how weak I have a body of my own.' Voldemort thought.
He was in a bind but Lord Voldemort was nothing but resourceful.
If one child's blood was trying to bring him down then he'd just have to counter that with the sacrifice of a thousand children and their blood.
"My lord." Lucius walked forward and knelt before him.
"Lucius. Have you completed your task?" Voldemort asked silkily.
"My lord, I've tracked down Greyback as you ordered."
"And?" he prodded, his grip on his yew wand tightened.
"I've relayed your orders but…" Lucius trailed off visibly gulping in fright.
"My patience wears thin Lucius. Say what you have to say." Voldemort ordered sharply, his magic rising to convey his displeasure.
"Forgive me, my lord. Greyback demands gold for his services. He says he'll require gold to sway more of his kind for the work you have in mind." Lucius hurriedly said, fearing the sting of the torture curse from his master.
"Hmm… I see." Voldemort looked thoughtful for a moment before his red eyes bored into the kneeling figure of Lucius Malfoy.
"Those rabid creatures have no finesse. But I require finesse in this particular job. Arrange the gold Greyback requires Lucius." Voldemort ordered. "Don't forget to play your part, Lucius. I expect you'll be instrumental in the Ministry."
"As you will, my lord."
A sinister smile blossomed on his lipless face as he imagined the chaos that'd be unleashed on the muggles and wizards alike. The werewolf packs shall make enough ruckus so that he can safely function in the shadows. It was time to seek out the Giants and the Dementors while also seeking out his precious Nagini. For some reason, she had eluded his attempts to track her. He assumed it had to do with the Aurors hanging around Little Hangleton.
'Those fools won't be hanging around that place for long.' he thought amusedly.
XXXXXXXX
"Harry has changed so much this year in ways I never imagined." said Dumbledore, looking sadly at his avian companion who refused to send another message from him beseeching Harry and Sirius to return from wherever they were staying.
He had tried bribing Fawkes with some of his favourite sweets but the phoenix won't budge an inch. The sad fact was that he was nowhere near divining Harry's location. He just knew Sirius and Harry were somewhere south but that was an arbitrary position on a map.
"I told you the boy was getting insufferable and arrogant. You coddle him too much." Snape said, a displeased frown marring his pale face. "No doubt it is the influence of that stupid mutt."
"No. The fault lies with me. Sirius blames me for not trying to defend him while I've seemingly stood up for you after Voldemort's fall. I think Harry is also of a similar opinion."
Snape scoffed upon hearing that.
Dumbledore also shook his head at the fact that Sirius was behaving so short-sightedly at this juncture. Voldemort had risen from the dead and instead of gathering together his allies were busy nursing old grudges or behaving irresponsibly. He was more than aware Sirius had been the one playing Fudge like a fiddle for quite a while now. He just never imagined the last Black would use his influence in the Ministry against him for some petty revenge when the Dark Lord was on the loose. It made him worry how far Sirius would go to get revenge especially when Harry's safety was at stake. This recent stunt of Sirius spiriting away Harry from Kings Cross was another headache that will have serious consequences. The Dursleys were now in muggle custody and he was hoping to discreetly get them out from muggle authorities with none the wiser.
However, all his attempts would be for nought if he can't get Harry back to live with the Dursleys. The blood wards would come down if he was unable to get Harry in time.
He shook his head at what was at stake here.
"What can you tell me about Tom, Severus? Is he gathering his followers and allies?" Dumbledore asked, steepling his fingers and looking curiously at his sole spy among the Death eaters.
"He is very interested in having the werewolves joining his side at any cost. I know for a fact the Dark Lord barely blinked after Greyback asked for gold for his services. The Dark Lord I knew wouldn't do that." said Snape.
"You suspect something?" Dumbledore noted sharply.
"I suspect something went wrong with the Dark Lord's resurrection." Snape admitted, sitting up straight in his chair. "He has been experiencing spontaneous tremors in his limbs. The Dark Lord hides them well but his line of questioning on some obscure potions and potion ingredients the other day made me take a closer look at some of my previous interactions with the man."
"Hmm…that's interesting. Could it be…?" he mused thinking of the Diary that was destroyed in Harry's second year at Hogwarts.
The loss of one Horcrux could have some adverse reactions on the main physical body. Although, that was pure speculation at this point. There had never been anyone in all of wizarding history who dared to create multiple Horcruxes. So, he was more than aware of the limits placed on any speculation when it comes to Tom.
"Could it be what…?" Snape asked.
"Nothing. Just some speculation on my part. Have you managed to glean anything about how Tom assumed a physical form?" Dumbledore asked as that was something that truly bothered him.
"I'm afraid not Albus. I've tried my best to appear as useful as I can to the Dark Lord but he is cautious. He is not willing to trust anyone at this point especially if my suspicions about the Dark Lord's condition are true. But I think I know who knows more on the subject of the Dark Lord's resurrection."
"You think Lucius knows?" Dumbledore asked, standing up from his seat and moving towards the cabinet that holds his pensive.
"Yes, but he is not the only one. I suspect Black and Potter know more than they pretend to." said Snape, joining Dumbledore near the cabinet.
Dumbledore merely eyed the Potion master keenly before opening the cabinet. The silver light of the Pensive shined brightly before his eyes as he took out the pensive.
"Your memory Severus. I'd like to see Lord Voldemort with my own eyes."
"As you wish." Snape shrugged, pulling the memory from his mind with the tip of his wand. "There is one other thing that I found curious. The Dark Lord's familiar Nagini is nowhere to be found. It's not much but I thought you ought to know."
"Interesting. Very interesting." Dumbledore muttered before pouring the memory into the pensive and diving in.
XXXXXXXX
Harry drained the whole glass of wine in one go earning a snicker from Fleur.
"I don't think your father likes me, Fleur." he whispered.
"I like you 'Arry."
A squeaky voice joined in making him jump in his seat. His heart raced in fright but it turned out to be Fleur's younger sister who was looking upon him with a star-struck look in her eyes.
"I appreciate that." he said awkwardly earning another snicker from Fleur who was amused at his situation.
"You worry for nothing, 'Arry. Papa thinks I 'ave bewitched you with my charms." said Fleur.
"Your English is getting better." Harry noted.
"Mmm… I'll be much better after this year." she said happily.
Harry couldn't also but help to be happy. Fleur would be coming to London and working part-time at Gringotts and at the joke shop the Weasley twins were planning. He had floated the idea with Sirius and he was quite happy to open the shop in partnership with the Weasley twins. Once they finish up here in France setting up the shop in Diagon Alley will be the first on the agenda. They'd have to finalise certain matters with the twins before that but Sirius was more than happy to get involved hands-on with the joke shop. With the shop all but confirmed to go up once they lease the land and set up the shop along with filing some paperwork in the Ministry, he promised Fleur a job at this recent venture that should see her stay in London engaging.
"Although, I have to ask why you want to find a job in London when you have this…" Harry waved his arm at the large vineyard that stretched across for miles.
The Delacours were loaded with money and he doubted they'd have to send out their eldest daughter to find a job when this big ass vineyard gave them quite a nice bit of profit. They were even supplying their less magical wine to muggle markets as well which he assumed settled their accounts way above break-even point in a financial year.
"I'm not ready for 'ze business. Papa and Maman look after 'iit well. I need something more challenging." said Fleur, draining the last drops of wine from her glass.
Harry shook his head at Fleur's attitude.
"If I was in your place, I'd have taken the vineyard and settled here."
"You are just saying 'zat because of 'ze sun." Fleur laughed.
"Well, that also helps." Harry nodded.
If he had a choice, he'd pick France over Britain any time of the day. He liked it here in France where the warm sunny beaches were aplenty and a wide variety of cuisine, as well as wine, can be found in abundance. It also helped that France does not have a genocidal maniac running around killing people who hate his guts. All in all, an ideal place to bunker down.
'Even Sirius seems to be enjoying the place.' he thought eyeing the older man who was enthusiastically chatting away with one of Fleur's distant cousins from her mother's side.
"Say, Fleur, that all-translate charm you cast on Sirius, can it be used for reading and writing as well?" Harry asked, impressed by the ease by which Sirius was conversing so easily with Fleur's folks.
"No. It'll only help with reading and speaking so long as there are people nearby that know the language or even a source like a dictionary or even a book."
"Oh." He was still impressed by the spell nonetheless. "Can you teach me?"
Fleur smile and pressed a kiss on his lips.
"I can teach you many things, mon amour." Fleur whispered suggestively into his ear while playfully nibbling at his ear stirring him.
Harry looked suggestively at her and Fleur nodded before leading him away into her room while the small party in the Delacour manor went about without a hitch.