The girl moved swiftly and placed her hand on his arm, her fingers brushing against the smooth fabric of his suit.
"Shall we?" Harry questioned nodding towards the castle.
Doing her best to ignore the warmth of his skin which somehow managed to send constant constant shivers down her spine, Fleur managed a weak "Oui".
As they began to walk towards the castle, Fleur found herself leaning closer to Harry.
"Please don't break up with me. I promise I've not lost my marbles, but there's a question I've been meaning to ask you…" Harry started slowly and Fleur immediately sobered up, her good mood shattered.
"What is it?" Fleur asked with concern; she felt a small knot of tension forming in her stomach.
She searched Harry's face, trying to understand the sudden wall that seemed to rise between them.
"What do you think about flying sharks?" Harry asked with a smirk.
Fleur blinked.
'No, I must have heard something wrong,' she easily concluded before Harry repeated his question.
"Flying sharks. What's your opinion on them?" Harry persisted.
She blinked again.
A laugh bubbled up from her chest, breaking the tension that had briefly formed between them.
Her angel-like sounds of joy were infectious and soon, both of them just stood laughing.
"Oh, Harry… You 'ad me worried for a moment there!" she started, shaking her head in exasperation.
"As for flying sharks, I zink they would be quite terrifying, non?"
As their laughter subsided, Fleur leaned in closer to Harry, finding her earlier spot.
"Though, I must admit, the idea is quite intriguing. Perhaps you should suggest it to Hagrid for his next magical creature breed?" she teased, shamelessly enjoying the look of pure horror that briefly flashed across Harry's face.
"On a second note, I think the world has enough of flying creatures. Adding flying sharks to the list would be meaningless. I mean there's no way they'd prefer swimming through the air instead of the calming seas," Harry said, not liking anything about his mentioned idea.
"Non, non, just think about it. A swarm of sharks gliding gently through the clouds, swimming through the countless expanse of the world without any care. It does have a certain poetic charm to it…"
She paused, then added with a playful smirk, "Perhaps we should leave such fantastical creatures to the realm of imagination, oui?"
Harry nodded so vigorously that Fleur wondered if his head would fall off.
She giggled at his enthusiasm, finding his animated reactions utterly charming.
A sudden thought crossed Harry's mind and his panic returned in full-force.
He flicked his wand onto his hand and cast an accio inside one of his pants' pockets.
"Accio Marauders map," he said hastily, grabbing the parchment as it flung out of the small container.
To say Fleur was impressed that the map Harry told her all about, came out of the pouch, would be an understatement.
'When did he even manage to find time and learn the space enlargement charms?' she wondered.
The charm was advanced, and she hadn't expected Harry to master it so quickly.
They just skimmed a text on it the day before…
"Bloody Potter and his talent," she muttered with affection.
Harry was already activating the map though, and didn't catch her words.
"Thank Merlin, Hagrid's in his hut. Heavens know what would have happened had he been in earshot during our conversation," Harry said with a nervous chuckle and stashed the map back in his pocket.
Taking Fleur's hand in his own, he guided her to the school.
As they approached the castle's grand entrance, they started hearing sounds of music and laughter and drifted towards them.
The excitement in the air was palpable as they entered the Great Hall, which had been transformed into a winter wonderland for the occasion.
Neither of the youths managed to suppress a sound of surprise from coming out.
Snowflakes gently fell from the enchanted ceiling, disappearing before they reached the heads of the students. The usual house tables had been replaced with smaller, round ones, leaving a large space in the centre for dancing.
Ice sculptures adorned the corners of the room, their crystalline forms catching the light and casting shimmering reflections across the floor.
Harry felt a gentle squeeze on his arm and looked up to see Fleur smiling down at him.
'I think being shorter than your girlfriend is a good enough reason to commit seppuku… The ritual is my last hope for that legendary spurt growth…'
Harry chuckled at his own self-deprecating thoughts and quickly pushed them aside; Fleur was barely taller than him.
Tonight wasn't about height differences thought, it was about enjoying a magical evening with the beautiful girl on his arm and that was exactly what he intended to do.
"Madame Maxime mentioned something about ze champions performing a welcoming dance. Are you ready for our grand entrance, 'Arry?" Fleur asked with mock seriousness.
"As ready as I'll ever be. Shall we show them how it's done then, my lady?" Harry replied with a charming smile, bowing as a gentleman would.
Wordlessly, Fleur took Harry's arm in her own and started heading towards the raised stage in the centre of the room.
The couple didn't get to do so peacefully though…
"A halfblood and a halfbreed… How fitting," a sneering voice came from the crowd, its owner's face twisted in disgust as he walked in the front.
Harry felt Fleur tense beside him, her grip on his arm tightening ever so slightly.
He turned, green eyes blazing.
Of course, he didn't have to actually see the offender to know who it was.
Draco Malfoy was as rigid as a stone after all and his voice had haunted him since their first year…
He stood there, his pale aristocratic face twisted into a sneer.
His voice must have been quite loud as everyone stopped chatting and paid attention to the as-of-yet, one-sided verbal showdown.
Flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, no surprise there, he looked ready to spew more venom.
Most Gryffindors looked excitedly, waiting for Harry's inevitable blow-up.
Harry's temper was a legend in itself.
But before the two wizards could utter any other word, another voice cut through the palpable silence of the hall.
"Well if it isn't our resident attention seeker and the Veela whore," Ron spat, his face contorted with anger and jealousy.
The venom in his words was undeniable and it caused a collective gasp from the surrounding people, students and professors alike.
In an instant, Harry held his wand and cast a nonverbal spell.
Two youths didn't manage to react by the time Harry grasped his wand and hastily walked backwards.
Thankfully, for the two offenders, Harry simply cast a spell that stopped the sound from coming in, effectively creating a bubble of silence around them.
"Thanks for that," Fleur whispered.
She could have been shouting her lungs hoarse and no one would have heard anything, albeit they would have still been able to see it.
Harry gave her a reassuring smile, his hand gently squeezing hers.
With a calm demeanour, he guided Fleur away from the commotion that the two heads of houses would no doubt cause.
Just like Harry predicted, in the next moment Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape descended upon Malfoy and Ron like hawks, their faces stern with disapproval.
One had to wonder how they managed to move so swiftly.
The two boys' expressions quickly shifted to alarmed as their respective heads confronted them about their actions.
Meanwhile, the attention-catching couple reached the centre of the dance floor, ready to begin the champions' dance.
"I wonder who the other two champions brought with them," Harry mused out loud, his eyes scanning the room for familiar faces, pushing the earlier encounter into the back of his mind.
He spotted Cedric entering with Cho, both looking dashing in their formal attire.
"They look like a good match," Fleur commented and Harry couldn't help but agree with her.
Viktor Krum followed shortly after, accompanied by a girl whom Harry took a moment longer than he should have to recognise.
It was Hermione, looking beautiful in a periwinkle blue dress robe.
Suppressing an exclamation—as Harry wasn't in the mood to bear a cold shoulder—he gawked.
Hermione's usually bushy hair was sleek and shiny, elegantly styled into a sophisticated updo.
Harry blinked in surprise, stunned by her transformation.
He exchanged a quick glance with Fleur, who seemed equally impressed by Hermione's appearance.
"Well, she can clean up pretty well," Harry remarked carefully.
Fleur nodded in agreement, her eyes still on the last pair to arrive.
"Oui, she does look lovely. It's nice to see everyone making an effort for the occasion," she said and turned back to Harry, a soft smile playing on her lips.
"We still look better than them though. Shall we join them, mon cher?" she asked with mock haughtiness, prompting Harry to grin.
"Absolutely, my lady. Let's show them how it's done."
Harry took Fleur's hand in his, placing his other hand gently on her waist as they assumed the traditional waltz position.
Eventually, the others reached the centre and assumed similar positions…
The music swelled around them, a gentle melody that seemed to guide their steps.
Harry felt a surge of confidence as he led Fleur through the intricate steps of the waltz, their movements perfectly synchronised.
"The practice's paying off," Harry whispered, his eyes twinkling with amusement as Fleur smiled.
After that, the rest of the world seemed to fade away and they danced for what felt like hours, simply enjoying each other's presence.
They finally broke off when Neville walked in front of Harry's gaze and started waving his hands to catch their attention.
They belatedly realised that Harry kept up his silencing bubble…
.
[https://www.patreon.com/Mr_0ne] -> "Ch. 45 - Awakening into a new reality"
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