There comes a time in your life where you have to differentiate between what is vital and what is merely important. You can go through life and not have categorized things with either of those distinctions but, at some point, you will.
When you are young, the most important people to you are your parents and siblings. As you grow, you find friends and they take on an importance that is akin to family. As time moves on, some friends fall away, some families are driven apart and your own priorities shift. The day you get married, your wife becomes the most important person in your life.
More than likely, this shift happened before she became your wife, potentially when you were betrothed, but it is a new fact of life you deal with. Their safety, health, and well being are now more important to you than your own. It is important to recognize this because of the instincts that are inherent with humanity.
Magic knows. Magic will act based on your intent and will. It is a subtle thing. It makes you more aware, hyper-alert, in her presence. It is less latent and more excited while in her presence. This has been a field of study that I have considered greatly.
Several findings are less than ideal. Shielding your wife appears to have an increase in strength, responding to your stronger will and intent to protect her. Further, your thoughts and plans begin to prioritize what is best for her, not yourself. While that does not sound to be especially troubling, the detriments are insidious. What is more, is that they compound when you have children.
Emotions creep in and begin to rule over logic. If a man lays a hand on you, you do not get irrationally angry and respond more than with a proportional response. However, if a man lays his hands on your wife, your son, your daughter? A proportional response can be overridden by your need to protect and ensure the situation is not repeated, whether it is called for in this circumstance or not. There may well be times for an over the top response, however, it should not be a default setting just because your magic is over excited.
When one has undertaken the steps to increase their magical density, the issues are even more profound. Note, I am bringing up a specific and singular situation. There are many more areas in which I have studied magic, the mind, and emotions. A part of the ritual set, the one for your mind, has been designed to specifically negate this.
Before you may consider that I did not pre-warn you, my potential heir, that I would take this step, let me make it clear: you can love your wife and children. You can, and will, have progeny that you feel an obligation to protect. I am not diminishing your capability to undertake a task of such importance. I am removing, or toning down, the negative aspects.
You will still love your wife as fiercely as you would have before. However, you will not irrationally be blinded by your emotions. You will be more objective and able to recognize that her life is not de facto more important than yours.
As I've said, when it comes to family, they are of the utmost importance. Seeking power for the goal of domination over others, or for the sake of gaining it alone, are not acceptable goals. Neither is discarding your ability to analyze, plan, and execute strategies that see your family flourish and live fruitfully. Producing worthy progeny is amongst the greatest feats that one can achieve.
While the Chamber of Secrets was built for me to have a place of solitude, I have modified it and turned it into a magical marvel. Upon my death, the sole purpose will be to ensure the worthiness of my future heir. Without being a parselmouth, one will not be able to enter on their own. Without having a trace of my magical line, one cannot enter into the study on their own. Even if one is granted access, by way of another that meets the qualifications, they cannot learn or study from my library.
A parselmouth that is not of my line may be granted access based upon criteria I will not address here. Further, after additional testing, they may be granted additional resources. They will, however, never be able to receive the tutelage that is set up to test my potential heirs.
I believe it will be my crowning achievement, the training of a worthy heir. For I am not creating an enchantment that can be used for centuries. I am creating a wielder of magic that has the capacity to change the wizarding world. I am not taking clay, stone, wood, mortar, bricks, paint, or any other manner of artistic device, and creating a perfect work.
To do so would be inadequate. I am not striving for perfection. Perfection is static. It is a singular state.
Wizards are not static. They are dynamic and always in a state of change, flux.
You can achieve perfection in a single solitary moment in time. Muggles can paint a perfect portrait but it is a single snapshot in time.
Producing offspring is not difficult. Any wizard, muggle, or squib can spill their seed between a woman's thighs. There are many wizards born each month but so few are ever of consequence.
I have erred in my life. I have lived a life filled with regrets. There is a form of redemption that can be found after my soul leaves this world. It is a worthy heir.
One that has the ability to learn, study, and be diligent. One that is powerful and has a foundation that is strong enough to endure and outlast any storm that can be thrown at it. When you have completed my lessons, when you have the best of my basis for understanding and manipulating magic. Your body will be hardened, strong, and resilient, your mind sharp and quick, and your magic dense and strong.
With seven sets of seven rituals, you will have the potential to stand at the level of any other magic user alive. You will have the drive and determination to achieve your massive potential. And, most importantly, you must be the right sort of person.
All of this is only possible due to my foresight.
It is I who has created the tools to propel an heir into greatness. But, it is you who must use what I have left. It is you who must be diligent and determined. It is you who will have to make the decisions that make you worthy of such gifts.
It is you who will become greater than I. And, in doing so, it is you that will become my final and greatest achievement. Not a perfect wizard. A great practitioner of magic with the right sort of intent and will. An upright individual of character worth the esteem you will achieve.
Be worthy, my heir. Heed my lessons and become a better man than I.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
If he was a girl who had recently propositioned a boy and then found out said boy had slept with another girl, one he was kind of broken up with, and then found out about it, where would he be… Harry was wracking his brain but he had no idea where Daphne Greengrass was. The worst part was she had his bloody map and so she could use his heirloom to hide from him.
After checking the Great Hall, under his cloak, and then the library Harry decided it wasn't worth pursuing. He'd taken his cloak off before entering the library and now was making his way out of the castle. He'd done a cursory search and didn't have time to scour the castle looking for the enigmatic Hufflepuff.
The last Potter had just made it out of the castle when he caught sight of Susan and Hannah. He quickly changed directions to jog after them and see if they knew where she was. It didn't take them long to notice his approach. Any chance at a pleasant greeting was squashed from his mind. Susan and Hannah looked pissed, their fair complections already gaining a pink tinge that was darkening far quicker than was probably good for Harry.
"Potter," Hannah spat his name like it was a curse word.
"Do you know where Daphne is?" Harry asked politely, his wand in his hand and quickly putting up privacy spells. He knew this wasn't going to be a quick easy conversation. Daphne had probably let out something about him and Fleur.
"Haven't you done enough to her?" Susan hissed at him, her face twisted in anger.
Harry's jaw set. It was how he feared and he was going to sort this out now before it grew to become more. Having Susan hate him or paint him in an ill light could have drastic political actions with her aunt, the future Minister.
"And just what have I done, hmm?" Harry challenged back, his green eyes blazing.
"What have you done?" Hannah parroted back, almost screeching in disbelief.
"Fleur. You fucked her, didn't you?! You fell to her beauty, her allure, and did it just after leading Daphne on!" Hannah exclaimed.
"I warned you!" Susan snarled, poking her finger into his shoulder. "Don't play around with Daphne. And what did you do? You took her advances, you led her on and then betrayed her."
"Is that what she told you, is that the story she's going with?" It probably wasn't wise to scoff but he couldn't help it.
"She told us. She's been trying to get your attention, she was trying to be provocative and put herself out there for you and you just ignored her advances," Susan seethed, and with her frustration boiling over, Hannah jumped in to continue.
"Daphne was getting frustrated, almost to the point of tears, that you were outright ignoring her. Both she and her father made it clear they want her in a relationship with you and you just kept ignoring it, putting it off and leaving things in limbo," Hannah added harshly, her one free fist clenched and the other arm on Susan's back, showing support and giving comfort to her friend.
"She watched as you pursued Fleur, as you mooned over Natalia and ignored her. It was our advice to just be blatant about it! You're so thick-headed that she had to act!" Susan's face was as red as her hair and the head of steam she had built up was about to climax.
"Daphne's been trying to work towards what's best for you! She's accepted it wouldn't be just her, with you, and has tried to get the other two, the two girls you fawn and moon over, to come around to it! She's been nothing but loyal and done far more than one should ever expect and then you spit on her attempt. You openly mock the first time she's actually asked for something and do it the very next day!"
Harry rolled his eyes and then began his retort, "I'm not sure what she told you but wearing slightly provocative clothing doesn't mean she likes me. Did Daphne ever tell you that she talked to me about how she feels? Did she ever say anything about it because all I've ever known is that it's a good political match and she doesn't want to inflict the contract on her kids, or grandkids."
The anger of the two Hufflepuff's hadn't abated, it was still there in full force. There was, however, doubt creeping in now as Harry wasn't backing down.
"I'm not sure about what you expect in a significant other but I'd sure like to know that they like me and want to be with me. It's always contract this or contract that. If Daphne liked me, she should bloody well tell me!"
"It wasn't fair for her to just kiss me and demand to be my first. I'm not some fucking chess piece to just be moved around to her whims. I'm a person, living flesh and blood, with actual emotions. I don't want a marriage that's just a fucking business agreement, I want an actual relationship with someone who is going to be my wife."
"Until very recently, I had no idea that she might want to be with me. Did you think I was going to start trying to date Daphne when I was kind of seeing Fleur and Natalia? Can you honestly blame me for not acting like a pervert and trying to get into Daphne's knickers? Do you want me to apologize for it, cause I will!"
By now, Harry was breathing heavily, having worked himself up emotionally to the point that he was physically reacting to it. He breathed in and out, taking quick deep breaths through his flared nostrils. "Is that what you want? I'm sorry I'm not a cad," he stated too cheerfully and then gave a leer at the pair of them.
"I've got a silver-blonde, two girls with dark hair but no red-head or blonde. You've got nice bodies and I'm sure we can come to some business arrangement. How about we all just cancel our plans and go fuck somewhere? Maybe bring Daphne along and join the harem. That better? Does that sound good? Does that sound agreeable?"
"That's how this works, right? I've gotten to know you two this year a bit, I've dressed well in your presence and I've told you I want to be with you. Now I kiss you, demand to be your first and you two have to go along with it? That's how this works, right?" He reiterated.
Harry had motored over their attempts to respond to what he had said. His words coming too quickly and his words flustering them. He'd lost his patience and wasn't going to stand outside of Hogwarts and hear these two berate him when they didn't even know the full picture.
"I can admit my actions were rash and I didn't think of how Daphne would take them. But let me warn you. If rumors start that something private happened between Fleur and me, I'll know exactly who to blame," he was glaring at them and trying to convey how seriously he meant it.
He stepped back now, not wanting any part of this anymore. He gave a harsh slash with his wand and ended the privacy spells. He strode off, walking so fast he was almost jogging, and waved off their attempts to call him back to talk. He'd caught them off guard with his venomous replies and didn't want to get into anything more with them. If they pushed him hard enough right now he might snap and do something he'd regret.
Before he knew it, he was outside the gates and apparated. Only the spot he took himself to wasn't where he had planned to go. Yet, as he looked up at 12 Grimmauld Place he felt that maybe this is what he needed. Talking to Horace would get him right back into the politics and he wasn't sure he could handle that.
Harry knocked on the door and didn't have to wait long for Sirius to answer.
"Harry?" he asked, surprised by his arrival.
"Hey Sirius, free for a visit?" he grinned up at his godfather.
"Of course, of course, come in, come in," Sirius stepped out of the doorway.
Harry walked right in exchanging a quick hug with the older man and was not expecting what he saw. Gone was the horrid portrait of his mother and the dark oppressive atmosphere of the home. It looked like the home had been gutted down to the frame and rebuilt to be welcoming and bright.
"Like what I've done with the place?" Sirius asked, clapping his hand on Harry's shoulder, the two of them overlooking the room.
"Yeah. Wow. It's...bright," he blinked, as there was now an artificial window which was magically allowing sunlight into the room, even though it had no exterior walls.
"I'm debating selling off the place. Figured I'd get rid of the doom and gloom feel first and make the home of the Blacks as bright as possible," he beamed. "I was going to just buy another place and sell this one off to some muggles but the place is kind of growing on me...I might not sell it now."
"But, enough about that, what's brought you here unannounced, kiddo?" Sirius quirked his head in askance.
Harry opened his mouth but no words formed on his lips. Why did he come here, he wondered. "I'm...not really sure."
Sirius blinked, "You just up and decided to apparate here for no good reason?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Harry confirmed, "I was going to go elsewhere but I was annoyed, upset, and left in a rush."
"Girl problems?" Sirius asked, his face passive but his grey eyes betrayed his keen interest in Harry's response.
Harry sighed and then went and flopped down onto the closest armchair. If he was about to get into it then he would at least be comfortable.
"Actually…yes," he answered with reluctance as Sirius went and made himself comfortable on the couch, his feet up and spread across the length of it. "Is Remus around?"
"No," Sirius said, his face dropping into his hand. "He didn't want any more 'charity'," Sirius spat the word, "and so he's gone and buggered off somewhere, only dropping in every other day here and there."
Harry frowned since there was more to it than just that but not wanting to call it out. "And he's not back today?"
"No, he's not."
"Are you two...okay?" It felt odd asking, while he was trying to be both empathetic and hoping that his godfather was coming around to his side.
Sirius shrugged and stayed silent.
"Are you okay, Sirius?" Harry asked after no response had come and the man had looked uncomfortable, running his hands on his forearms.
"Fuck no," he barked a humorless laugh after responding. "The best friend who thought me guilty isn't getting on well with me. And...and...my…godson is distancing himself from me, us," he threw up his hands, palms up, as he said the last word. "And the worst part is that I can't blame you for it," he whispered, his grey eyes resolutely stared at the couch, his chin tucked to his chest.
Harry felt distinctly uncomfortable, not knowing whether he should say something or try and physically comfort the man. He felt he should but didn't know what to do.
In the end, Harry didn't do either. He waited for the man to recompose himself.
"I think you're doing well, Harry," Sirius said after shaking off some of his melancholy. He swallowed, "You look like James but you're all Lily. You've got her brains and temperament but James' heart. Follow it, it won't lead you astray."
Harry smiled, this was why he wanted Sirius around. The man had made mistakes. But, he cared. He cared for Harry and the younger man understood why his parents had made the renegade Black his godfather.
He'd trust his parent's instincts and give the man another shot. "Want to come along with me today, to the Delacours? You'll learn something I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss." When Sirius' hopeful eyes met Harry's, he explained the qualifier, "I can't have any of this getting out yet. I'll need a vow from you for it. It's not so much that I don't trust you; it's that it removes the possibility of accidentally revealing any information."
Harry hoped, by softening it, that Sirius would agree and he was elated when the manchild did. After all the experience and help from Ackerly, it wasn't so hard to fashion and reuse a previous one. Sirius had gone off to prepare for spending time with the Delacours and Harry realized there was one more task he could accomplish here.
Sirius came back down, looking dapper and ready for a social gathering, and Harry went for the blunt approach. "Before we go, I was wondering if you'd share some of your memories with me. I have access to a dueling pensive…"
"Of your parents? That's a great idea!"
"No, though I'd really appreciate that too," Harry frowned, for a moment, wondering how he had missed that, and then clarified. "I'm going to have to do, or ask, for some things to be done that aren't going to be very...pretty. I need some of your darker memories to prepare myself for what to expect and plan out some strategies ahead of time."
Sirius gave him a flat stare but was uncharacteristically non-emotive. "You're certain this is necessary and that it will help?"
Harry nodded slowly. "Of course. I wouldn't ask otherwise."
"Fine. Let's go upstairs, there are some empty memory vials there. After you have what you need, we'll head to the Delacours. But I want you to tell me why you are so nervous if I'm doing this for you. Tit for tat is only fair," Sirius gave him a mischievous grin.
"Fine. I'll give you something happy to think about while I bring up less pleasant memories for you," Harry conceded. With a vow in place, he looked forward to talking to Sirius. Though the man was on the immature side, Harry didn't think he would ever turn on him. This was the man that his parents trusted to look after him and he felt good letting their wishes be honored right now.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
"Welcome, mon coeur," Fleur whispered in his ear after she gave him a peck on the lips and pulled him into her bedroom.
Harry looked around and smiled. It was a tastefully decorated and elegant kind of room. Soft blues, whites, greys, and silvers comprised the refined color scheme and Harry found the room more sparse than he might have guessed. It was impeccably clean and organized with a good balance between space, furnishings, and utility. There were two doors and Harry assumed they led to a large closet and ensuite bathroom.
Fleur pulled Harry over to a loveseat style sofa that was sitting in front of her own personal fireplace. "I'm glad that is over and that it went well," Fleur commented, wanting to go over the dinner and evening they had just had with her parents and Sirius.
"Well?" Harry questioned. "I thought I was going to die when your mother greeted me and said 'welcome to the family'.
Fleur laughed, "You think that was bad? What she said to me was far worse when I had come home earlier."
Harry raised his eyebrow, "She said, and this is word for word, 'Bienvenue à la maison ma fille. Tu as l'air bien. Si bien en fait qu'on devine que tu as été bien baisée la nuit dernière'.
Harry blinked and then stared at her blankly. "And that means?"
"It means: 'Welcome home my daughter. You look well. In fact, so well, that I'd have to say you look like you were well and thoroughly fucked last night.'"
Harry's eyes bulged and he choked, even though there was nothing in his throat to choke on. "What?!"
"She knew. She knew right away that I 'ad done the ritual," Fleur laughed at Harry's gobsmacked expression.
"And here I was thinking that you'd tipped her off…" He had been a bit annoyed, believing that to be true but it wasn't that surprising, in retrospect, that Apolline had figured it out immediately. She had pushed him towards this and had probably done the same with Fleur.
"Maman was kind enough to not say it so Papa could 'ear."
Patrice hadn't been happy with how Harry and Fleur had handled it but he was pleased with the end result. "Your mum is too smart for that," Harry idly commented.
"I liked your godfather. Sirius was fun, though I think 'e is not fully well," Fleur said, changing topics.
"I think he wants to be a part of my life. I'm about the only family he has left and I guess it weighed on him that I wasn't keeping him a part of it."
"I think so too. I believe he really enjoyed tonight," Fleur commented.
"Are you okay with what your dad was outlining?" Harry asked, shifting to sit more upright.
"I knew and, though I do not like it, I understood it and accepted it... But, I'd prefer if it was just you and I, no Natalia or Daphne," Fleur said. "But do you want to talk about this when there are other things we could be doing, 'arry?" Fleur basically purred at him before lifting her gorgeous dress up and over her body, leaving her in just a sheer bra and knickers.
"Uhhhhh…" Harry tried to speak but his sorta-wife had him rather distracted. "I uh… need…to talk more."
"Talk more?" Fleur said, arching her eyebrow delicately. "You want to talk more?" Fleur asked, wanting clarification.
"I need to. I don't want to," Harry responded quickly. He wanted to get onto the activities that would follow this but it was important.
Fleur pouted her lower lip and crossed her arms under her bust, her breasts just happened to become more prominent, drawing Harry's eyes.
"This entire thing is to allow me to win, to live past Riddle and his force's destruction. If...when we do that, I'll be happy to spend my life experimenting with magic and working to make you, and any other wife I have, happy. With Patrice, Cyrus, and Horace working the financial side, we won't be hurting for gold."
Fleur sniffed but didn't interrupt, she was never going to have monetary issues being a Delacour. "I know that what I'm going to press for, next, is going to be shot down from Patrice, Horace, and Cyrus. It will make me sound crazy and be too risky. But I want your support and I'm going to ask for Viktor's too," Harry told her, his eyes resolute and face hardened with determination.
"What is it that you are asking me to do?" Fleur asked with narrowed eyes, stopping her teasing of him.
"Nothing you would do, haven't done, already. Watch my back and follow me into a situation that will get hairy," Harry smirked and waggled his eyebrows at Fleur.
"That was 'orrible, 'arry," Fleur smiled and shook her head at his terrible pun.
"But seriously, I'm going to ask Viktor to repay his debt and join us."
"Repay his debt…? What will we be doing, or where will we be going?" Fleur asked, leaning forward slightly.
"I won't say yet. I just need to figure out the logistics and, if they work out like I expect it will, then I'll bring you in first."
"Before your advisors?" Fleur asked for clarification.
"Yes."
"Will you do this even without their approval?"
Harry sighed and ran his hands through his hair, then down the back of his neck before he sat back in his chair, slumping into it. "Look, it sounds bad, it looks bad. But I trust my gut more than them when it comes to this," Harry began slowly, "I know that there is an opportunity that we can't pass up and that we have to act, to act now." Harry was trying to convey just how much he believed this and he hoped Fleur would back him unconditionally in this. He'd need her, he knew that much.
Fleur looked as though she was carefully deciding on how to respond, her eyes darting around. "'Arry, I mean this respectfully. Your three advisors are all smart, brilliant even. 'Ow could you think you know better than them?" It wasn't accusatory and nor was her tone anything but neutral.
Harry shook his head and tried to figure out how he could explain what was in his head. "Because they aren't playing this to win. They are playing to not lose," Harry said, as the idea continued to form in his mind. "When you play to not lose, you make sure any action you take can't hurt you. You keep your keeper on top of the hoops and you pull your chasers back in tight to him. The beaters disrupt the other chasers and protect your defensive lines. When you are up by more than a snitch catch, then you have your seeker run interference too. You don't let him chase when it is normally a good move because you've already won."
Fleur nodded, this was a well-known tactic in quidditch when you had the game won. It rarely happened in school games but was standard practice when up by two hundred or more points in the professional leagues.
"But they don't see the big picture. Right now, we are winning, we might have even 'won'. But there is more than what is immediately in front of us. They don't get that when, and it is a when, Riddle gets a body, the entire game changes."
Harry was breathing deep heavy breaths, his fists were clenched and his jaw set. "We are gaining in finances and supplies. We are creating a political bloc that will weigh things to our side but all these moves are just pawn maneuvers. They can sacrifice them because, at some point, they are going to get an overwhelming piece that can turn a losing position into a winning one."
"Why don't you think they see that?" Fleur asked impassively, not giving away her opinion on the matter.
"Because of Malfoy. They didn't see that as a risk worth taking. They didn't trust that I would back away if I was concerned. It was a risk, more of one than I'd wanted to admit to myself, but it needed to be taken." Harry vehemently believed that.
"We need to take their position and make it so unplayable that even with the return of their strongest piece, that it is still a losing position. And, it is far easier to do that when you are in a winning position. We need to knock them down and then step on their necks," Harry said, eyes ablaze.
Fleur slowly stood up. She locked eyes with him and slowly stepped toward him. She turned and give him an up-close and personal view of her pert derrière. With her legs together, she bent her knees and sat on him and then swung her legs up over the opposing arm of the chair.
"I am yours and you are mine," she said forcefully and then Fleur captured his lips. Her tongue pushed into his mouth and Harry's hands began rubbing along her body, one up and down her back and the other up and down her silky-smooth legs.
Fleur broke off their heated kissing. "The world will learn of our engagement but we both know we are far more than that, don't we," Harry nodded. There was no potential future that now did not involve the young woman sitting on his lap.
"I'm not a pretty trophy wife. I will challenge you, I will 'ave my own opinions," her blue eyes shining with such sincerity as she spoke on, "I will always support you and 'ave your back. Never worry about that, as it will never change."
Harry's green eyes stared into hers but his mouth didn't open. His eyes searched hers, his magic interacted with hers.
"I will go with you. You'll 'ave my wand and I'll 'ave your back," Fleur stated.
Harry felt a welling up of emotion and he couldn't put it into words. His throat constricted and his eyes threatened to water. He didn't tell her anything. They were touching and she knew just how much this support meant to him.
This was why he had chosen Fleur. With her, there was no doubt. There were no games.
"Thanks, Fleur. Really...just…" He inclined his head, making their foreheads touch and he rolled his back and forth on hers, shaking his head. "I love you," Harry just had to try and say something, even if it was so inadequate for what he was feeling.
"I know," Fleur told him and it was more than just a response to his words, they both knew that.
"I want you to train with me and Flitwick. If you are going to accompany me, you'll need to train harder. Joining my lessons and working out with me in the Chamber are what we should start with."
Fleur giggled on him. "Only you, 'arry, could have a mostly naked part Veela sitting on your lap and be talking about training," Fleur's musical laughter rang out through the room.
It was music to his ears and removed any lingering tension that he might have still been feeling. His eyes couldn't help but notice how see-through her bra was and how magical her laughter was as her chest kept bouncing in front of him. Fleur was sitting on him and her torso was higher up than it normally was.
Fleur noticed his change in demeanor and undid the strap keeping the last part of her upper body covered. "I've waited long enough, 'arry. It's time to christen my bed."
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
He could feel it already. There was a nervous tension within the Chamber when he came back down to it after another thoroughly pleasant night with Fleur. It kept a smile on his face even now. It might have just been his senses playing tricks on him, that he was nervous to find Daphne in the study this morning but he didn't think so.
After he had laid into Susan and Hannah, he couldn't well imagine not having a confrontation with Daphne. Harry just hoped that it would be direct and not turn into a cold war, especially not one where things appear to be cordial between them when they were anything but.
When Harry entered the office he saw Daphne curled up with a book in the seat she often liked to read in. Harry took a deep breath and resigned himself to knowing the best thing to do was to not let the discord between them an opportunity to fester.
"Morning," Harry said, with a little warmth.
Daphne didn't respond right away. Her eyes stayed focused on her book before she nodded to herself and then closed it. After the book had been closed she lifted her chin and responded, "Harry."
With an incline of his head, he acknowledged her greeting and went to sit opposite her.
"What, no Fleur this morning?" She commented acidly.
"What, no Susan and Hannah this morning?" Harry retorted, though there was no real heat to his words.
Before the Greengrass heiress was able to say anything Harry cut her off. "We can snipe at each other all morning here or we can actually discuss things without being rude. Care to do that? Cause I'd rather be productive."
"Is that what you'd call it? Being productive with Fleur?" Daphne hissed back. "Trying to make my best friends productive?" She sneered.
Without a thought of commenting back, Harry turned on his heels and went to leave the room, only stopping at the door to say one more thing. "I'm going to train. Come chat if you want to talk, not do-" Harry just stopped talking, sighed, and shook his head as he resumed his path to go and train.
He hadn't gotten more than a few steps out the door when he heard Daphne call for him. Stopping, with another sigh, he dipped his chin in, rolled his head around to the left, and let it pull his body back in the other direction.
He re-entered the room and went to sit.
Daphne had her arms crossed and she was staring at him, glaring at him.
"I told Susan and Hannah and I'll just tell you this first. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for acting without thinking of how you'd see it. That you offer yourself and then I run off with Fleur the next day. While the two things are not connected, at all, it would have looked that way to you and I apologize for that," he meant it sincerely. He hadn't been thinking about Daphne when everything with Fleur went down.
"Then explain how it is...not…connected."
"I'll get there but let's back up a bit first," Harry said, knowing they needed to talk about some of the things he had brought up with her friends.
"Before this year, I've never dated. I didn't grow up being told what dating or relationships looked like. From what I saw, growing up with my…relatives I only saw a man work and then sit on his fat arse and watch the telly. The wife stays home, gossips, goes to the grocer, and makes all the meals. Beyond that, though? Nothing. Just what guys say in the Gryffindor tower," Harry rolled his eyes at this last part. Listening to Dean, Seamus, Fred, or George was just a recipe for a disaster, in his opinion.
"So I go from that to having Natalia and Fleur interested in me," Daphne did not look impressed at his point with his long-winded explanation but he continued on anyway. "Then I'm told that there is a marriage contract for my children if I make one of them the Black Heir. There is such a presumption that I will do such a thing. It's not like I'm the only one left. And no, I don't mean Malfoy."
With Narcissa having left the Malfoy family she could birth a Black. Nymphadora or Andromeda Tonks might be candidates to birth son or daughter and, the most likely circumstance, other than Harry, was Sirius having children.
"For this to all lead to some conclusion that I must marry you…it feels crazy to me. You're amending the contract for a regent, instead of the heir, and it should just be a done deal?"
Daphne opened her mouth to speak but Harry wasn't about to let her jump in until he was finished. "No. Let me finish, first."
"I'm sure you know what I told your friends. I'm not a business transaction, I'm a person. I like you, Daphne, you're gorgeous, enticing, smart and devious, and I mean that in the very best of ways." Harry said seriously with a thin, encouraging smile.
"But I have no idea if you like me and by asking for my virginity, which you knew was going to have to happen soon, you were telling me that you had no interest in dating and getting to know me. You just wanted to use the unstableness of my unfinished ritual set and hope that it would create something between us, something you hadn't bothered to try and develop naturally."
Harry took a deep breath, he was just kind of flinging this all at her on a whim. He'd thought of this conversation, more than once, but he didn't have a definite plan, other than to level with her and be honest.
"You're pragmatic, the most pragmatic girl I've ever met, and, I do believe you have been working, the entire time, to my benefit. I don't doubt that if Natalia joins Fleur, being with me, that it would be a whole lot easier for me if you were a mediator between them. But, I don't know if this is strictly business for you and I knew, for Fleur, it wasn't."
Harry wasn't looking at Daphne now. He knew he would be able to glean something from watching her reactions to his words but he just didn't care to do so. He wanted to get his thoughts out in the open and then let Daphne respond.
"I was selfish. I chose Fleur to be first. I knew that and won't apologize for the action, just how it went down, how it affected you. I know I love her and she loves me. Her family treated me as I've always dreamed of..." His voice trailed off at the end, this was difficult to admit.
"Gabrielle is the little sister I've never had, one I could have had. Apolline, while not my mother, somehow respects that and has become a second mother at the same time. While there is a business aspect to our relationship, even when we told them that Fleur mated to me, they were beyond pleased to welcome me to the family, even if the circumstances by which it was done were not something they were wholly ecstatic about."
"I chose family first. Just as you are wanting to fulfill the contract, so your child won't have to worry about it. I know, with the Delacours, that I have a loving family, for now, and through the future. If I need to make other arrangements for business or politics then so be it."
Harry looked up, taking in Daphne's face, meeting her eyes, and he wasn't sure what to make of it all. Her eyes were guarded, her jaw clenched but her eyebrows weren't pinched. So, he sat back and waited for her to respond.
"I'll accept your apology. I was livid," she informed him. "I can understand it better, from your perspective, why you made the decisions as you did, even if I loathe them," her eyes were as cold as ice and her voice calm, cold. "Now let me tell you mine."
Harry quirked his eyebrow at that, not sure what was coming and remained silent, as Daphne had done for him.
"We've been in the same school, the same classes, for years now. We've never interacted and I have stayed away from the limelight. There was always the expectation that Lucius Malfoy would gain control of the Black family, through his son, and that was never going to end well for our family. I played my part, I did what could be done. At least, that was, until we were gifted an out," Daphne stated and there was something in her voice that was hard to place for Harry. It was like relief but it had an aggressive edge to it, almost vindictive, which was an oxymoron.
"Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, saved the wizarding world and waltzed in to flip the future for our family," Daphne rolled her eyes at Harry's snort of derision. "Father threw his support behind you, finding you to be intelligent and cunning."
Daphne sat back in her chair now and after scrunching her nose briefly she continued on, "I got my first glimpse of the new mysterious Harry Potter at the Yule Ball. While I know less about you than I probably should have, through our first few years here, I just had not been interested. If you were likable I couldn't be friends with you because of darling Draco. If you were as bad as some painted, then I had no interest. It was lose-lose as far as I was concerned," Daphne shrugged, not concerned with her admittance while Harry waited for her to get to the substance.
"Then I start getting to know you and learnt about all... this," she indicated their surroundings. "You present me with a priceless locket that lets me learn from Salazar Slytherin's ritual library and are the only political option for us. Our family was going to stay neutral with plans to flee, abandoning our home and chances at breaking the curse on our family."
"And it's not just that," she growled and threw up her hands. "You have a Pavlov interested in you. You have the Delacour Heiress chasing after you, one that is impossibly beautiful and incredibly talented. Natalia herself has excellent grades and is an exceptional dancer. Both are so beautiful, are foreign, have accents, and...ugh!"
She crossed her arms and let out a frustrated sigh. "But I tried, tried to compete with them. I dressed to get your attention. I spent as much time down here as I could. I tried to make what you wanted to happen, happen! I worked on Natalia and then Fleur after it was clear how miserable you were without her." As she said this last part, annoyance flashed in her eyes.
"I found you a horcrux, a legendary item that nobody had seen for centuries," pride shone on her face as she brought up that immense accomplishment, "but what did I get for it?! Nothing!" Another heavy breath left out her nostrils and the annoyance that had been in her eyes, earlier, turned to anger.
"I threw myself at you! I degraded myself and acted like a wanton whore!" she hissed, her knuckles whitening as her fingers dug into her arms. "And what did you do?!" She asked, her eyes ablaze. "You barely acknowledged my work and put me off! Again!" She stood up now and towered over him. "I'd done what Susan and Hannah suggested! I made it so bloody clear that even a brute could understand! Then what do you do? You go and fuck Fleur the very. Next. night!"
"You didn't even have the balls to reject the offer you fucking spat on! You left me hanging for an entire day. When I come to find you, after you weren't around in the morning, nor at lunch, I find Fleur. The bloody little miss perfect french veela sitting in Salazar's study reading a parseltongue book!"
Daphne stomped her heel and threw her hands to her side, clenching her fist, and, for just a moment, Harry wondered if Daphne was going to hit him. It seemed so unlike her but this was pushing Daphne past her limits.
"Then you berate my friends, proposition them, and then storm off?!" She shook her head and glared at him. She huffed in annoyance and abruptly turned and threw herself down into the chair. "I've never dated Harry. I don't know what to do and I couldn't get your attention. I didn't know what to do so I just did what you would have wanted."
There was a caveat there that Harry almost rolled his eyes at, but he was worried how Daphne would take that. She had worked to his benefit but never sacrificed what she wanted to get it.
"I get it, now, Daphne," Harry started gently. "I've apologized for it but I didn't know if you were trying to entice me, just for the benefits of a union for your family, or whether you liked me. If you'd just told me, this wouldn't have happened the way it did."
Daphne's eyes narrowed and she didn't give up glaring at him, clearly not mollified.
"So where does this leave us?" Harry asked after the conversation had lulled into silence.
"I don't know, Harry…"
At this point, Harry didn't know what to think or feel for Daphne. It sounded like their issues stemmed from poor communication. He would have been open to her advances had she made it known that she liked him, the teenager, not the wizarding icon.
Fleur and he were a package deal now. You were not going to get one without the other. Per Veela traditions, they were already married. Normally, Apolline had informed him that that ritual was usually completed on the honeymoon, not before a betrothal agreement had even been signed. Slughorn was going to complete the previous negotiations but there was little to do there. Both parties were keen on it and the only sticking point was the progeny from their union. Patrice wanted the second daughter to be a backup heiress for both of their families.
This would lead to the largest issue of where they are educated, more than anything else. Constantly visiting the Delacour home wasn't going to be an issue. He planned to spend more time there, after graduating, and could not imagine Fleur and he not visiting regularly. Harry wanted a family and the Delacour's were rapidly becoming that, more so than he had ever experienced before. While he had even begun to bond with Fleur's younger sister, he hadn't even officially met Daphne's.
This was the type of contrast he noticed between the two families. It was what Fleur's had and what Daphne's was missing. Fleur's family was warm and inviting. Whereas Daphne's had been cold, clinical, and kept things more distant, at the personal level. Perhaps it was just the differences in culture or the way the family functioned, but it was something that hadn't made him as comfortable with Daphne.
"Are we still going to the ball together?" Harry blurted out the question, he wanted to know if he needed a new date or find out what she was thinking, for going forward. "I can find someone else but we were going together and I'd get if you didn't want that anymore…" He gave a half-hearted smile and awaited her answer.
Daphne opened her mouth but didn't start speaking right away. She pressed her lips together and then decided upon what to say. "We can go...together," she stated slowly, her eyebrows scrunching.
"Okay," Harry said, unsure of what she was trying to say. "You're wanting to give this, us, a try?"
"I do," Daphne admitted with a small voice. "I like you, Susan and Hannah do, even with your recent issue. I'd rather pursue something I think I can be happy with than risk having future generations to be tied to something they may not like too."
"And you are good with Fleur being around, Natalia too if it comes to that?" Harry asked. He'd always been somewhat worried about that.
"I think so," Daphne said. "I think we all fit around each other."
"How so?"
"Well," Daphne began, sitting forward and dropping her chin slightly as she began to explain, "Natalia's pursuit is ballet. She can have a long and fruitful career because she's a witch. If she wanted, she could do it well into her eighties, possibly longer," Daphne mused.
"Myself, I'm more inclined towards business and politics. It is where I've enjoyed learning and you'll need someone with that. Not that I'm gainsaying Fleur and Natalia's political acuity; both of them are more than adept while not having a passion for it."
"Fleur is too action-oriented and, I suspect, she'll follow you around as neither of you will be happy relaxing and living off your laurels."
"Do you think the three of you could be with me?" Harry asked, somewhat skeptically. "I still get flashbacks to the Yule Ball and have a hard time seeing Fleur and Natalia together.
Daphne shrugged in an uncharacteristic type of move for her. "You won't know 'till you try."
"I've had Natalia sleep with me twice, just sleep, and I don't even know how I'd handle if she wanted to do that again right now. Fleur will want to spend every night with me and I just need to tell her no or schedule specific nights? Like I'll need to create a schedule, or we'd all have to share?" Both eyebrows lifted and his voice wasn't convinced of that option in the least.
"Ah no. There will be no sleeping in the same room as you and another woman having sex. Silencing spells, or not. I can respect that it happens but I'll sleep with no-one other than my husband," Daphne said primly.
"That's not an issue. I wouldn't suggest it. It'd be awkward," Harry grimaced as he thought about that. Wouldn't it be weird to have sex with two others in the same room, or bed, that had no interest in partaking?
He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to think of such things.
"Where do we go from here, then?" Harry asked Daphne, she always had plans.
"We proceed like normal, don't we?" Daphne asked rhetorically. "I like you and you like me. We both want to explore what we could be but don't know if it will work. Isn't this the exact point of dating?" Daphne asked with a smirk and mischievous glint in her eye.
"We'd get to know each other that way too," Harry agreed, liking this course of action.
"I can put this behind me provided you never do something like that again."
"Other than Natalia, I don't think there is anything else even on the horizon at all," Harry stated with a roll of his eyes. He'd have to be more cognizant of how each action with one of the girls could impact the others but that was something he should do anyway, especially if he wanted this to work.
"Though we don't have a ton of time…" Harry remarked after he had begun considering what it will be like to date Daphne too.
"You're going to have to work for it if you want that. I know the effect is muted if you aren't a virgin." Daphne stated. "You've missed your opportunity to show you'd put me first."
Harry nodded slowly. Things had been repaired between them. Their relationship had taken a couple of steps back but it wasn't bad. There was a fault in the foundation. With clear communication now they could build to something. If Harry had just gone ahead and shagged her, he would have assumed this was all business.
It wasn't. And that was a good thing.
"Don't you have to go meet with father, Slughorn, and Delacour now?" Daphne asked, looking up from the book she was studying.
Harry cast a quick tempus and noticed he did indeed have to leave, "Yeah, thanks. I'll be going now then."
Harry strode away but Daphne called out his name as he was about to exit the office.
"Just one more thing," she said and the look in her eyes worried Harry.
"I modified it a bit but I think you'll find this meets the dress code down here?" She asked, taking off her robe to reveal what was underneath.
There wasn't all that much. Daphne had only a black thong covering her lower body. On her upper body, there was what looked to be a modified quidditch jersey. As Daphne spun on the spot he was able to pull his eyes away from her shapely arse long enough to see his name and number on the back. It was a jersey but it had been tailored to dip down the chest, be skin tight, and no longer reach the length it should have.
"Don't you have to be going now, Harry?" The devilish minx asked, a coy smile on her face as she bit her finger. The pose must be something she had practiced because it was too alluring to be natural.
"Try to stay focused and not think of little ol' me sitting down here studying by the oh so very hot fireplace," she went and sat back down, making sure to exaggerate her movements.
"See ya around," Harry said as he turned on his heels. Women, the source of such pain and pleasure. As much as they were, at times, difficult, he'd not even consider living without them. Daphne had known exactly how this was going to go. She'd planned her outfit just so she could tease him more than she'd ever done before.
She might have been re-sorted into Hufflepuff but there was no doubt that the girl was a born Slytherin...
What a minx.
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