I don't own anything related to the Harry Potter franchise
After their overly dramatic trip to Gringotts, and then Harry's equally dramatic marriage proposal, Harry and Fleur had a fantastic afternoon in France, shopping for clothing and just walking around the countryside. Magic proved to be Harry's saving grace once again, as a full wardrobe of new clothing plus shoes were loaded into a series of bags before being shrunk down to fit into his cargo pant pockets. At first, he'd been surprised that Fleur preferred smaller clothing stores and shops rather than downtown Paris boutiques, until finally she explained that her preference had more to do with population density rather than fashion. She didn't like mundane cities because muggle men are particularly weak against allure, and almost immediately drop into a mind-broken heat...
While Harry could only nod in response to Fleur's words, he had to admit that he was bothered by their obvious ramifications. Fleur spoke from long experience, and Harry shuddered at what that might mean for a little girl just coming into her powers. It was clear to Harry why Adrien was as protective as he was, which only made him all the more nervous about meeting the man again.
In the end, despite the less than ideal reason why they were present in France's more remote locations, Harry did enjoy the scenery of small rural France, and they happily bounced back and forth by Apparition for the lion's share of the afternoon.
"Okay Fleur, it's time," Harry finally called out after watching Fleur pop back and forth across a secluded clearing via Apparition several different times, with his magical shroud out and observing how she used her magic. At this point, his magic had observed Fleur performing the spell dozens of times, so he was reasonably confident that he could replicate it without a hitch. For the most part, Harry's only issue with picking up any new spell was his tendency to overpower them in the extreme. Unfortunately for him, this time was likely going to be no exception. Harry had zero intention of using less power and then splinching himself by accident, so there wasn't much that he could really do about it.
"Okay 'Arry. If you feel confident, come here and give me a kiss," Fleur challenged, with a seductive smile on her face, and enjoyment in her eyes.
Without a word, Harry focused his magic in the way that he saw Fleur do so many times now while picturing his location and the direction that he'd be facing upon arrival…
BOOM!
Exactly as he'd pictured in his mind, Harry's body instantly appeared in place directly behind Fleur with his arms curled loosely around her waist, but his arrival ended up sounding like a cannon blast and it even produced a small concussion radius. In the end, while Fleur wasn't physically knocked over by his arrival, she definitely WAS startled clear off of her feet... Harry ended up having to catch the woman around the waist to keep her from falling onto her face.
Everything was quiet for several seconds in a row after Fleur was caught... Harry waited patiently for a reaction, any reaction at all.
…
…..
Snicker
...
Giggle
…
Snort
Harry smiled down at Fleur, who continued giggling, even as she was bent over in his arms. "I heard that love and it's a keeper."
Despite Harry's vain attempt to distract the woman away from her amusement, Fleur still didn't stop laughing, to the point that she was beginning to flush a deep and vibrant red with it. "'Arry…" she finally gasped out in a voice filled with even more laughter… "That was the single loudest Apparition in the entire history of the world!"
Abruptly, Fleur gasped for air again, and hung limply in Harry's arms as she continued to laugh like an absolute maniac... "a blast radius, 'Arry (snicker). Gods and Goddesses, 'Arry, you truly cannot do anything ordinary!"
With those words stuttered out, Fleur finally just unraveled into an out of control fit of giggles.
While Harry rolled his eyes in response to Fleur's amusement, the gesture was mostly just a token effort, because his wife could feel him in the bond and she knew that he wasn't bothered. "Okay wife, pray tell how do I make my Apparition quieter?"
At Harry's question, Fleur drew in a deep breath, straightened in his arms again and attempted to form a comprehensible sentence. "The pop from an Apparition is the sound of the air vacating the area that you just entered. The reason yours was so loud, 'Arry, is because you were too damned fast. You made the air break the sound barrier while leaving the space that you occupied."
At this point, Fleur giggled and bent over again, shoving her knuckles into her mouth in order to try to control the violence of her amusement. Then, when she was finally back to a semblance of control again, she drew in a breath and continued. "If you want to be silent, 'Arry, you actually have to focus on being much, much slower. I know, moving slowly sounds absurd when you're aiming to travel instantaneously from point A to point B, but it's really not. Apparition is rapid transport, not instantaneous. There's an interim step in the process, a single split second where your body is only partially corporeal, and this moment is necessary to prevent what just happened."
"How slow am I thinking?" Harry was legitimately interested now.
"It should be less than a fraction of a second, 'Arry, just the briefest of moments." Fleur looked over her shoulder at her new husband for just a moment, before looking away again, and barely maintaining her composure. "One thing it definitely should not be… is every damn atom comprising your body exploding into existence all at once like a damned Hadron Collider."
Once again, Fleur started giggling, and this time it was completely impossible to stop.
Harry was about to reap a tickle vengeance the likes of which Fleur had never experienced before in her life…
Fleur caught a warning through the bond, and she dove forward in a roll… "No, no, 'Arry, I give, have mercy," she called out, while still red faced and gasping for air in the grass. "I am at your mercy..." Fleur paused for just a single moment longer before smiling evilly and continuing. "I seem to be having trouble breathing because of all the laughter at your expense."
Harry advanced on Fleur like a biblical plague of tickles after that.
POP!
A satisfied smile slipped across Harry's face, as he successfully performed his very first side-a-long Apparition with Fleur on his arm. The pop that his Apparition gave off was still quite loud, but he was thankful that it was no longer TnT blast loud because of the location of their arrival… Harry and Fleur were currently standing at the end of the drive of the Delacour home, and a safe distance away from Adrien if he happened to be home at the moment... Thankfully, after peering in through the gate, they saw that the man's car was currently missing from the driveway.
Of Course, Adrien actually Flood to work every day, but he maintained an illusionary Peugeot brand sports sedan in his driveway to explain how he gets around to all of his Muggle associates. For that reason, the driveway being vacant was an indication that the two of them could visit without Harry being in mortal peril.
After Fleur pressed her hand against a smooth bronze plate embedded within the masonry of the gate, the metal barrier slid to the side in response to her magical signature. Harry had been keyed into the wards as well, so he could've done the same, but since his arrival would be noted by the wards, which were attached to Adrien through his magic, they decided it was best that Fleur do the honors.
As the two teenagers walked up the driveway holding hands, Harry turned his attention to Fleur through the bond. He was curious how much his wife actually wanted her parents to know about the last couple of days... A lot of it was quite dangerous, fantastical and or… extraordinarily personal.
Fleur felt the direction of Harry's thoughts and she looked over at him with a smile on her face. The man was rapidly improving at communicating with her empathically, and she loved the way that his spirit felt in the bond. Harry Potter was her mate, her husband, he loved her, and he felt like bliss soul-deep inside of her. Then Fleur shook off her rapidly escalating, manic happiness, so that she could actually answer her lover's question. "I will be dragging out the family Pensieve and showing my mother several different things. She will need to see the scene in the Great Hall's atrium with all of the Headmasters, Krum's attack on me, and your ascension to Lord Peverel. I also wanted to, but don't need to, show my mother the scene of your piano recital." Fleur looked just a little bit bashful, while admitting that last one.
While Harry only squeezed Fleur's hand in physical reality, in the bond, he started hugging the stuffing out of the woman, because she was being both cute and vulnerable at the moment, and he couldn't get enough of it... "I don't have a problem with any of that, love. How will you describe our bond to your mother though? It may make her happy that ours is so strong, but it might also make her sad that her own bond is completely normal."
Almost immediately, Harry knew that his concern was completely misplaced, but he was just so inexperienced with this stuff…
Fleur felt Harry's emotions as well as his fears, so she turned the man in her direction and then pulled him into a hug. "'Arry… My mother will be ecstatic that I have become so connected to you... She is my mother and will be proud of me. She also loves you, sees you as the catch that you are, and is extremely relieved that I was able to sort out my feelings…"
Harry smiled in response to Fleur's words, and an idea occurred to him as the two of them stepped apart. "Shall I spend some time with Gabrielle then, while you and Appoline dive through our memories?"
"I'd appreciate the time with my mother, and Gabby misses you dearly…" In the moments following Fleur's reply, she saw her husband bodily flinch over the idea that Gabby was unhappy, and she wanted to jump his bones right then and there… She didn't… She controlled herself… There would be plenty of time for that kind of thing later… Instead, she pulled her mate towards the front door of her home, and thumped the knocker several times.
A butler by the name of Theo answered the door and smiled broadly upon seeing Fleur. "Welcome home young Lady," he greeted, while stepping backwards and waving an arm in encouragement. "Come in, come in. I shall go and inform your mother about your arrival, so that she may join you in the living room."
After moving into the suggested room, Harry and Fleur sat down on a couch with plenty of room to spare in between their bodies. In their current mood, they were legitimately concerned about doing inappropriately… passionate… things, while waiting, and then having Appoline discover them in that fashion. Nevertheless, they were all over each other in the bond and both of their faces were tinged just a little bit red.
Thankfully, not even a minute after Harry and Fleur arrived in the living room, Appoline suddenly joined them, flanked by a visibly ecstatic Gabrielle Delacour.
Gabrielle didn't waste any time at all before she sprinted across the room, swan dived through the air, and received a very thorough hugging from both Harry and Fleur at exactly the same time.
"'Arry, sister," Gabrielle all but screamed, in her wild-eyed excitement. "I missed you both so much and I'm soooo bored!" Even as Gabrielle said those words, she started releasing a slightly stronger allure in Harry's direction, at which point he found himself proud of her growth.
"So you two are finally together now?" After looking up at both Harry and her sister's faces, Gabrielle suddenly called out the question as if she'd known it would happen from day one.
Harry didn't quite know how to respond to the little girl's very astute observation. Gabrielle was frequently a weird mixture of extremely perceptive of small, intimate things while being extremely innocent/naïve at the exact same time.
"Yes Gabby, we are a fully bonded couple now." Fleur began squeezing the life out of Gabby again even as she broke the news to her mother.
Appoline beamed a smile at both of her daughters and then winked salaciously at Harry, because she always enjoyed making the boy blush. Shaking off her enjoyment, Appoline turned towards her daughter again and then arched an eyebrow. "How strong is the bond?"
Fleur immediately conveyed through the bond her desire for Harry to take Gabby out of the room. Harry gave his wife a split second glance, hoisted Gabby into the air like a damsel, and began carrying her out of the room.
"That strong huh?" After catching on to Harry and Fleur's split second, completely non-verbal, no physical gesture, communication, she shivered in anticipation of the story that her daughter was about to tell her. It was completely obvious that things were quite a bit different from the norm between the two of them, and knowing Harry's tendency to do things in extremely big ways…
After Harry finished carrying princess mode Gabrielle out of the living room, Fleur beamed a smile towards her mother with happy tears forming in her eyes. "Our bond is strong like never before seen on earth, mama. In fact, our bond began forming almost an entire day before we were even physically intimate…"
At first, Appoline blanched at that news, but then her facial features rapidly smoothed out again, and she drew in a very deep breath. "I've decided I won't say that's impossible, but only because it's 'Arry… How though?"
"I think we're going to need the Pensieve," Fleur suggested, while blushing red and fussing with the tips of her hair.
Appoline just loved it when Fleur looked bashful. It was rare enough that it was like meeting a unicorn. She decided it was completely vital that she tease her daughter just the tiniest little bit. "Are you going to show me the bonding process?" Appoline adopted a perverse leer and leaned in towards her daughter.
Fleur immediately blushed an even brighter red as she yelled out the word "No!" Then she abruptly realized that she was being teased, and she pouted cutely with both of her hands curled up in her lap. After taking several deep breaths, to take control of her flush, Fleur squared up with her mother and then smiled. "What I can do, is show you why the bond began forming while 'Arry wasn't even touching me, while describing how I felt at the time. After that, there are several events that you must see and understand. A ton of things have happened in the last two days…"
Off in Gabrielle's bedroom, Harry and Gabrielle both drew a charcoal drawing of one of her stuffed animals sitting on the table, while chatting about this and that. Gabby was the ultimate stress relief, as the girl was free of concern and innocent in the extreme.
It goes without saying that Harry adored her.
"Are you going to become my brother, 'Arry?" Gabrielle asked the question both very suddenly, and very quietly, and Gods bless her she looked just a little bit afraid of rejection (Harry's heart just couldn't take it!).
"I already am your brother by the standards of Veela, but yes, at some point, I'll also be your brother by the standards of wizard society..." Harry kneeled on the carpet next to the seven year old, put his hands gently on her shoulders and beamed a smile at her. "The only standard I care about is the one where we're already family, little sis..."
By the time Harry had finished calling Gabrielle little sis, the girl had launched towards him and was throttling his neck within an exceptionally tight embrace… Suffice it to say, Adrien would find an ally in Harry when it comes to protecting Gabrielle from boys with bad intentions... In the future, the term 'my elder brother, 'Arry Potter' would protect the girl from many a man looking to take advantage.
Around the time Gabrielle allowed Harry to start breathing again, he was notified through the bond that the two of them could begin returning to the living room. Then, as Harry led Gabrielle back across the house, she explained all of the topics and events that they covered via Pensieve over the last hour, and he thanked her for the update even though he'd been at least partially aware of their conversation the whole entire time.
In reality, Harry almost blushed for seemingly no reason up in Gabby's play area, due to some of the explanations that Fleur gave her mother, as well as her exceptionally detailed description of their first time together… At some point, Appoline must also have caught on that he was eavesdropping through the bond, because some of the questions that she'd asked were specifically designed to make him squirm.
Both Fleur and Appoline were having a fantastic time at the moment, and it was mostly at his expense...
By the time Harry arrived back in the living room, he was piggybacking Gabby, which allowed Fleur to scoop up the girl when he sat down on her right hand side. Then they were fussing over the girl together, because they weren't going to be able to stay for very much longer, and they knew she was going to take some damage when they left.
Appoline beamed at Harry from atop her loveseat, as she leaned forward to drape her hands atop of his. "You've made me a very happy mother, 'Arry, not just because Fleur is so happy, but because I enjoy you and now I get to keep you… Adrien will come around soon, as at this point, he's mostly putting in a token effort for appearances sake…"
Harry was extremely pleased to have Appoline's blessing, even if Adrien's was out of reach at the moment, but he could also see the anxiety couched behind Appoline's smile, he knew that she wanted to talk about it, and he understood the reasons why. With a nod of his head, he squeezed the woman's hands within his own, and gave her a meaningful look "Bonding with Fleur is the best thing that's ever happened to me, Appoline, and I'm thrilled to join the family… although I can't say I'm thrilled about some of the circumstances that are surrounding us at the moment…"
"Yes, so I have seen…" Appoline immediately agreed while biting her lower lip in her rising anxiety. "The events that Fleur just showed me on the family Pensieve have me extremely worried, 'Arry, but I am encouraged by the fact that you two are so capable, and even more importantly, that you're together." At this point, Appoline was really digging deep into her emotional repertoire, bouncing back and forth from extreme concern to the highest levels of elation with every moment that passed. "You and my daughter are tied together like nothing I've ever heard of… And as such, I don't believe there's anything you two can't handle while working as a team…"
As Appoline's words resonated within his mind, Harry looked over at Fleur, and without any verbal prompting their hands met atop Gabby's lap. Unbeknownst to the two of them, they'd just completed a scene so damned adorable that Appoline immediately memorized it in her Mindscape. She would begin painting it in her free time in the days that followed...
After giving Appoline a grateful look for galvanizing them as a team, Harry leaned a little closer to display how seriously he was taking this next question. "Appoline… Do you have any idea what this Krum boy even is?"
"Not yet," Appoline immediately replied. "I have every intention of approaching the Veela council and asking for information regarding what I've seen. They've ignored all of my requests in the past, but they will not be able to just dismiss me this time... Krum is like a perversion of us, and I will get them to meet with me!"
Nodding seriously at her mother, Fleur stood up, straightened her skirt and then gently pulled Gabby off of her waist. "We need to go mama. I just wanted you to have all of the information and gossiping is always more fun than letters."
Appoline nodded at her daughter, dramatically leered at Harry's crotch for a few seconds, and then broke into a fit of musical laughter over the boy's rapidly forming blush.
Harry also stood up with a seven year old newly attached to his back (Gabrielle was very clearly against the idea of them leaving) and started walking towards the door. "Okay Gabby… Give me everything you've got and hold nothing back. Let's see if you can make me blush as well."
Gabby smiled as she nuzzled into her brother's back. "You're way too strong for that, 'Arry, but I will try."
As Harry and Gabby left the room, Fleur turned back to Appoline.
Appoline was smiling at Harry and Gabby as they walked out of the room. "I really do love that boy, and he's become so much more than he was when we first met him. Gods... He was dying just a few hours ago and pleading for you to stay out of danger. Now he's playing around with my youngest as if it was nothing. I don't know anyone else in the entire world that can roll with the punches like he does."
"'Arry has me now, mama, and I help him." Fleur sighed and sat back down on the couch for a moment. "'Arry has already admitted to me that he will need to put aside some mental scarring, surrounding those moments in the tunnel. He admits to Occluding terror the likes of which he's seldom experienced in his life, because it's not just his life to be concerned about anymore. He identified, and then segregated his fears, in order to get the job done, and I am proud of him. I am also pretty sure he knew I was going to aid him in healing his mind long before I offered..." Fleur smiled while looking in her husband's direction. "'Arry is honest with me about his feelings. It's one of his strengths..."
Appoline swooped in to pull her daughter into a tight embrace on the couch. "Yes, yes we did good work with him this summer. I am both satisfied and proud. Let me see you two off and tease 'Arry some more about his impressive… masculinity."
Fleur immediately started giggling, causing Appoline to give her a curious look.
Fleur started trying to choke out an explanation, but it was hard because she was laughing harder with every single second that passed. "Gabby…(snicker) Gabby is now jumping around in triumph… (pfffft)… in our Entry Hall… (snicker) She believes she has succeeded for the very first time (giggle). She believes she just made 'Arry blush, because of what you just said. 'Arry doesn't have the heart to tell her otherwise."
For the next half a minute, both women howled with laughter, until tears were welling up in their eyes.
The next morning, Harry bounced out of bed full of energy and with a lot of things on his agenda for the day. After running down to the lake and breaking through the obstacle course in record time (and to hell with how unnatural it would look to the lightning bolts), Harry Disillusioned himself to meet up with Nev in the RoR, where he spent his entire workout explaining the following things.
-How he learned to Apparate the day before (and all of his mishaps in the process)
-That he completed a Family Bloodline Test at Gringotts, and the various skills that it revealed
-How the Bloodline Test revealed that he was the heir apparent of the Peverel Family
-His trip down to the Peverel Vault, and the dangers involved in accessing said vault.
-How he assumed the mantle of Lord Peverel, with access to Peverel style Battle Magic
-The way that he exploited the fact that he's the only living Potter/Peverel in order to make Fleur his legal wife in the eyes of his two families' magics.
Needless to say, by the time Harry was finished relaying everything that happened the day before, Neville was laying limply atop his bench-pressing bench, having been overwhelmed several times over…
Equally needless to say, Harry Potter was very, very amused.
Not long after Harry slid into a seat next to Hermione and across from Nev at breakfast, he started smelling something wonderful approaching from the Entry Hall… at which point he felt his wife investigating her own scent through his nose via their bond, and then begin to feel extremely self-satisfied. She smelled like seduction amped up to an incredible extreme mixed with warmth and endless acceptance. She smelled incredible… and she was extremely pleased that the two of them suffered through the attunement process.
Outside of the bond, Fleur whispered a quick, "Good morning, mon amour," into Harry's ear, as she took her seat on his left hand side.
"Good morning, love," Harry whispered back, while saying the word wife in the bond.
"Do you plan on attending any of your classes, now zat you are exempt from zem as a Champion?" As she spoke, Fleur dragged Harry's hand firmly into her lap. The night before had been especially lonely without her husband nearby. She'd missed her mate when she awoke all alone in her carriage bed, and she'd spent some time just feeling his amulet resting against her chest before falling back asleep.
After checking the bond, Harry found himself enjoying the fact that his wife had been missing him, despite feeling bad about the discomfort that she'd felt. He'd spent the night in his Mindscape, where he was extremely busy with a wide variety of different projects. That isn't to say that he didn't miss his new bond-mate, but it was easier for him to distract himself away from the issue…
Speaking of distracted... Harry almost forgot to respond aloud to Fleur's spoken question, as he'd been far too involved with her thoughts within the bond. It was a juggling act that he'd have to practice if he wanted to remain in the here and now.
"No, I won't be attending classes for the rest of the year," Harry finally announced at great length. "I do have some extracurricular work being assigned by McGonagall that I want to continue, and Flitwick is doing the same, but other than that, I'm at least a year ahead in all of my classes, and I don't think it's wise to waste my time just to keep up appearances. We have work to do and magic to learn if I'm to survive the various tasks… Truth be told, I almost feel guilty for pursuing my Quidditch career now, because of all the time I'll have to spend at practices..."
Fleur knew exactly what magics Harry had in mind, and he wasn't wrong that they demanded his full attention. Between her, Hermione, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Flitwick, there was a comprehensive and growing list of spells that her mate needed to start learning ASAP. Still... Even though she understood exactly how Harry felt, Fleur also had something that she needed to clarify.
"I love ze sight of you on a broom, 'Arry," Fleur interjected with a warm smile upon her face. "More eemportantly, I 'aave no desire to see you give up on some-zing zat you love..."
As her mate busied himself in the bond loving her as hard as he possibly could, Fleur turned to address the Gryff girls, Neville, Hermione, Fred and George... "And what are ze rest of you doing wiz all of your free time today?"
"The Goblet will
Be
Releasing
Its
Second
Choices
Today," announced Fred and George, in unison.
"We want to see who's taking part," ended George.
"Ah I see," Fleur replied, while nodding. "I find I am all but certain eet will be Francine Petit hoo gets eet for Beauxbatons… She ees a perfect pain een my derriere as well as an extremely unkind young woman, but no one doubts 'er talent wiz a wand... We will need to be careful of 'er 'Arry."
Without missing a beat, Harry saluted his understanding like a soldier would. "Female French Malfoy, got yah."
All of the men at the table nodded their instant understanding, in response to Harry's extremely succinct summation.
At the thought of Fleur's female classmates, Harry suddenly remembered something that he'd wanted to do. "Fleur, he began along with a sideways glance. "I want to meet that young witch, Bella. When the Goblet released your name, she and Selene were cheering for you. I want to thank her for her support."
With a smile, Fleur squeezed Harry's hand even harder in her lap. "I will arrange eet zen, 'Arry… She will most likely pass out when you approach er zough."
"Our Harry does have that effect," Alicia added, while smirking at the rather shameless fangirls all around the room.
"Eendeed…" Fleur very slowly drawled.
Harry merely squeezed Fleur's hand, as she already knew his thoughts on the matter, and wasn't in need of any real support.
"Where is Selene today?" Hermione suddenly asked, partly to fill the lull in the conversation, and partly because she was already becoming close friends with the (overly) friendly, French witch…
Fleur smiled at Hermione, even as she finally got around to eating her breakfast. "Selene ees completing a potions Mastery Session wiz er Professor Mr. Derde. 'Ee ad to come to 'Ogwarts zis year een order to make ze 'ealing potions and such for our champion (Fleur gestured at herself), and as such she came along as well. I am 'appy zat Selene was forced to come by circumstance, as she 'ad no eenterest een being a champion, so she wouldn't 'aave come ozzerwise..."
All of the sudden, the Great Hall experienced a large increase in volume, as all of the newspaper delivery owls flew throughout the room all at once, dropping off packages to their proper recipients.
Hermione had a longstanding subscription to the Daily Prophet, which is why she raised a hand palm up for a paper to land atop of it with all the smoothness of a well honed ritual. At this point, Hermione had read the Daily Prophet every morning for two years, despite the fact that she often complained about how slanted, sensationalized and unsubstantiated all of the articles were. Literally the only reason she read it in the first place is because magical Britain only had the one major Newspaper. She had no other option but to try to glean out what truth she could find through all of the dross and irrelevancies.
And today would be no exception…
Hermione only needed to scrutinize the front page article of the newspaper for a little under fifteen seconds before a look of extreme frustration suddenly bloomed across her face. "Harry... Grab my bag and get out some of my writing supplies before you read the trash the Prophet's trying to pawn off as legitimate news. I have in front of me some of the worst journalism I have ever seen, and it needs to be addressed by your legal representation, ASAP. I'm not joking either. You need to contact Mrs Tonks immediately..."
Hermione had finished reading the news article by the time she finished speaking, at which point she threw the paper down in front of Harry in a fit of indignant rage.
By the time Hermione finished her rant, Harry was just staring at her because he didn't have even the slightest clue what in the hell she was talking about. Despite his confusion however, he dutifully pulled over her book bag even as he picked up the offending newspaper.
It didn't take very long at all to see why Hermione was so upset…
SCANDAL, ANGST AND CHEATING AT TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
Here at the daily prophet we diligently follow the world's largest events, looking to bring you, the reader, good news. Unfortunately, there isn't much positivity about the news coming out of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry these days. Many of you are aware that the fabled Triwizard Tournament has come back to Hogwarts, for the first time in several centuries. This past Saturday, the Champion Selection took place and the completely unthinkable occurred. Out of the fabled Goblet of Fire came a fourth Champion's name! That's impossible you may claim, and normally you would be correct. Unless of course there was blatant cheating taking place!
The fourth champion selected for the Triwizard Tournament was none other than Great Britain's own teen heartthrob and mystery man Harry Potter. Accusations of cheating by him or Headmaster Dumbledore have been flying throughout the halls of the school all weekend. One of Harry's school peers, a Mr. Ronald Bilius Weasley, was quick to give a statement.
"Potter's always been all about the glory, but he's really kicked it up a notch this year after growing a bit over the summer and deciding he's a God. Of course, Potter's been given favorable treatment ever since enrolling here, but the school's blatant favoritism became completely obvious to everyone at the school when he was appointed Hogwarts Quidditch Team's Seeker despite committing huge amounts of violence during his tryout. I have no doubts whatsoever that Harry Potter put his name in the Goblet of Fire… I don't know how he faked a magical oath stating otherwise, but I know that he did…"
After following up on Mr. Weasley's words, this paper was informed from several sources that Mr. Potter did in fact appear to give a magical oath stating that he did not enter his name into the Goblet of Fire…
Was the oath a fake?
All of the students present at Hogwarts claim that Mr. Potter said he wouldn't enter the tournament out of love. They claim that he appears to be under the thrall of fellow tournament Champion Flower Delacour. The French beauty from Beauxbatons is a Veela, which is a species that Magical Britain's laws classify as a dark creature. As such, many people have been claiming that she's using dark magic to ensnare our young Mr. Potter. Is Ms. Delacour the real reason behind all of Potter's shameless cheating?
Both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's cries of outrage have indeed been heard, and one more champion for each school has been entered to join the tournament. This newspaper will stay on top of events and get back to you, the reader, as soon as more info becomes available.
Written by Rita Skeeter
For more information on Harry Potter page 6
For more information on the Triwizard Tournament page 9
Harry slammed the newspaper down, only to immediately grab a hold of the quill and scroll that Hermione had provided him. By the time he was finished writing, Dobby was standing at Harry's side with his hand outstretched. A single instant later, the house elf was heading in Andromeda's direction, and Harry was in the midst of calming back down.
Just as Harry sent off his letter, Fleur finished reading the news article for herself... You could tell because she looked absolutely incensed. "Eet ees bad enough zat zis so called 'newspaper' disrespects both my 'eritage and my eentegrity, but zis rag didn't even bozzer to get my name right!" Fleur's attention rapidly swiveled towards Harry as she was preparing to raise nine kinds of Hell on the Prophet. "What did you do, 'Arry? I 'ope eet was... thorough..."
"I just sent a letter to Andromeda Tonks, my lawyer slash sports agent, asking her to file any lawsuit that she can justify against the Daily Prophet and Ron Weasley for Magical Britain's version of libel, slander and defamation of character," Harry quickly explained. "I also offered to increase her pay to keep her on retainer for the two of us, because I don't believe this will be an isolated incident…"
Even as Harry and Fleur began calming down again, due to their faith in Andromeda's skills, the twins looked down the Gryffindor table towards their brother, sitting about a meter to Seamus's right with a very self-satisfied expression upon his face.
"I wonder if Ron will be expelled from our family," George began.
"When our father realizes the boy is willing to cause us financial ruin, all in the name of petty jealousy and spite," Fred finished with a murderous quality to his voice.
"I'd never allow that to happen to your family and you know it." Harry replied while giving Fred and George a very meaningful look. "I want you two to understand that my intentions aren't to cause your family problems. I just need Ron to realize that there are very real consequences to both his actions and his words. I fear that I'm partially to blame for this happening in the first place. I've allowed that boy to verbally abuse me far too often this year… I just... I couldn't make myself deal with him the way that I should have..."
The twins nodded solemnly and it was clear to everyone that they did in fact understand.
When Harry leaned on his right elbow closer to the twins and directly in front of Fleur, she immediately began rubbing his lower back, causing him to hug her in the bond. His physical attention however, was centered upon the twins.
The twins soon noticed that Harry wanted to whisper to them, at which point George leaned in and Fred left his seat to lean over his brother's shoulder. Despite the situation they were in, Harry smiled at the twin style teamwork. "Fred, George... Your mother's always been very kind to me, but I'm worried about how she's going to react to both this news article and my reaction to it. Can you send your father a letter explaining my side of these events and Ron's behavior? If you don't get your dad on side, I fear all the windows of the Great Hall will shatter tomorrow, because of the howler that your mother'll send me."
Harry saw the reality of the situation hit the twin's like a bolt of lightning, as their spines straightened out in an instinctual dislike for that particular variety of… letter. The twins had been the unhappy recipients of many a howler during their tenure at Hogwarts, and they wouldn't allow it to happen to someone who was far less deserving than they may or may not have been at the time.
"Will do," the twins declared in sudden unison, as they performed a picture perfect salute.
"Although... Your life is so damned dramatic these days, it'll be a very thick letter," Fred added as an afterthought.
"Touché," Harry muttered, while sitting back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling.
In a bid to distract her mate from his ex friend's foolishness, Fleur was about to ask the man if he wanted to go straight to the RoR when...
"I loved the English newspaper today," a rather conceited voice called out in French, from the aisle between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. "I never knew that you were a dark creature until today, but I can definitely understand Magical Britain's opinion on the matter."
Fleur and Harry turned to see a short and curvy brunette, looking at Fleur, with a very amused expression upon her face.
"I'm sorry, who are you?.." While forcing his face to reflect boredom rather than the outrage that he was really feeling, Harry conveyed to Fleur through the bond that he was about to butcher this bitch's name and then thoroughly dismiss her as unimportant…
Fleur conveyed back her amusement.
"Francine Petit," the short girl replied, the tone of her voice filled with annoyance.
"Ah... well... good morning... umm… Francheska... We're a little bit busy here, so if you'll excuse us, we need to get back to far more important matters." With a pleasant smile, Harry turned back towards Fleur, physically dismissing Francine from his notice. "Now, where were we Fleur? Oh yeah! I much prefer whole wheat bread to white bread..."
Harry made this latest declaration as if it was the cure for all of the world's worst illnesses
Snicker
...
giggle
Several of the Beauxbatons girls over at the Ravenclaw table were having a pretty good time with Harry's most recent dismissal of Francine, and the Gryffindors were even less discreet about their amusement. In the bond, Harry could see through Fleur's eyes that Francine's face was cycling through several different shades of red. It reminded him of his uncle Vernon. A comparison that made him dislike this girl even more.
"My name is Francine... not Francheska."
After adopting an elaborately surprised look upon his face, Harry turned both his body and his attention back towards the bitchy French girl... "Oh! Miss, umm... Petty... I didn't know you were still there. I was sure I'd said we were busy with much more important matters."
...
Snicker
Giggle
snort
Francine had her teeth grinding together by the time she replied. "It's Petit, not Petty."
Harry adopted an exaggeratedly confused expression upon his face with quite a bit of poorly concealed condescension mixed in for good measure. "Ooohhh... well then... good for you, I suppose." After turning his entire body away from Francine again and then waiting for juuuust the right moment, Harry began speaking in a stage whisper to Fleur. "I think some of the girls from your school should wear name tags... How am I supposed to remember the name of some random and forgettable girl, who just walks up and rudely interrupts our breakfast?"
Snicker
Snort
Giggle
Of course that was the exact moment when Francine Petit completely lost her cool and started to draw out her wand.
Even then, Harry never once returned his attention to the girl…
He knew he didn't have to.
Very suddenly, Francine found herself the target of no less than seven wands in return. Alicia, Katie, Angelina, Neville, Fred, George and Hermione, all had their wands in hand and menacing smiles upon their faces. Under the concentrated attention of the entire Great Hall, Francine had no choice but to back off at wandpoint.
The whole entire time Francine Petit flounced away, Harry talked about his preference for sunny weather over overcast days, as if the girl didn't even exist.
With a smile and a nod for his very reliable friends, Harry eased back in his seat and returned his hand to Fleur's lap. To his surprise, when Fleur grabbed up his hand, she pulled it tight against her inner thigh. Harry was instantly aroused, but decided she only wanted the comfort of contact. With that thought in mind, Harry gave up on his hand and tried to go back to his meal. He didn't succeed. Very suddenly, he coughed, when he was pummeled with intense arousal through the bond. Looking to the side, Fleur was eating happily, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
After arching his eyebrows in Fleur's direction, Harry once again attempted to focus on his food, only to clumsily drop his spoon when Fleur started projecting a scene into his mind. She filled the bond with a fantasy, a powerfully focused bit of imagination, in which she was doing some exceedingly sexual things to Harry right there in the Great Hall…
Needless to say, Harry immediately clamped down on his Occlumency controls, but he couldn't completely prevent his body from… reacting... Turning to look at Fleur again, Harry tried to act as casual as he possibly could. At some point while he'd been looking away, Fleur had picked up a banana, and she was eating it very, very slowly. Damn... The Veela was good at what she does.
"Something on your mind, 'Arry?" Fleur was currently sporting a cheerful and innocent smile that was completely at odds with the intensely carnal mental imagery that she was projecting into his mind…
Harry stared at his mate/wife for a few seconds longer before turning back to his plate of forgotten food. After a few seconds, and in an act of retaliation, he sent Fleur back a vivid scene of his own. He really poured his focus into creating a scene that would drive his wife up the wall...
When Fleur began blushing, Harry smiled in satisfaction. Then, after they spent a few moments in a stalemate, he stood up and straightened out his clothing. "Well love... I'm going to that place we talked about earlier to get some studying done. If you'd be so kind, I could really use some help learning Wards and Ward breaking."
With a slow and thoughtful nod, Fleur began rising up to her feet.
As Harry and Fleur walked out of the Great Hall, the whole Gryffindor contingent looked back and forth at each other.
"I think we were completely forgotten," declared Fred.
"Yes, yes, I think we were," added George.
Neville shook his head and snorted quietly. "Do you think they thought any of that was the least bit subtle?"
Hermione smiled but then she began blushing in a similar fashion to Fleur. "I don't think they were thinking about anything at all Nev."
Everyone nodded in unison. Not one of them thought that Harry was going to learn anything that wasn't carnal in nature for the rest of the morning...
After walking into a version of the RoR that was set up to look like a dueling arena, Harry and Fleur forced themselves to undergo all of their usual daily training exercises together, as a way to work off some of the… tension they were feeling. They had many, many things to accomplish with their daylight hours, and having sex with each other all damned day (unfortunately) wasn't one of them…
Over the following hour, Harry practiced avoiding Fleur's relentlessly probing allure, acting as if it was Krum's miasma seeking to hurt him, while Fleur expanded her magical core around Harry's magic over and over and over again. To make this practice quite a bit more challenging, they conjured a dozen training simulacrum dolls around the room that began casting tickling spells in their direction, forcing them both to block or dodge incoming spellfire as they trained.
Finally, after a magical egg timer in the corner chimed, denoting the end of their daily training ritual, Harry altered the RoR to look like the Delacour living room, and Fleur altered the coffee table in the middle of the room so that it had a chalkboard top.
Sitting down on the nearby couch, Fleur smiled at Harry as she crossed her legs like Sharon Stone from basic instinct (It's supposed to be an act of modesty but it somehow just screams sex instead). "Okay 'Arry... Show me what Wards you've been using up until now."
After pulling his mind out of the gutter, Harry nodded and began explaining in the same French that Fleur was speaking. "I've been cheating with my Rune inscription technique. What I mean is, I know very little about advanced Rune techniques and a whole lot about power."
After placing his backpack atop the chalkboard, Harry leaned over with a glowing finger, warded his bag using the bare minimum Rune configuration, and then channeled a boatload of magic down into the glowing green Runes... "This Rune structure will work to keep out most wizards, because of the strength that I put into it, but it's crude. My magic can help me do more if required, but I really am just a second year student in Runes, and I don't know much of anything about wards."
"How did you create such a complicated Rune configuration on my necklace then?" At this point, Fleur was extremely confused. Her amulet was a masterpiece of Runic engineering.
Sitting down next to Fleur, Harry raised his hands in a gesture of defeat. "Fleur... Your protective amulet is hundreds and hundreds of times more complex than it really needs to be. Instead of layering and structuring the Runes in a technical way like a professional would, I just added more and more layers, to fill in the gaps that I kept finding... I just kept pouring more of myself into the amulet, until it felt like it would do what's required of it. The word felt is important here. I use intent and power to overcome knowledge and technique. On the bright side, I wanted that necklace saturated with huge amounts of my aura shroud, and the process of having to overload it in the extreme actually helped me accomplish the desired outcome… The problem with the way I've been operating up until now, as I'm sure you can already tell, is that I won't always have the time and energy to make use of my enormous stores of power. I want to know what I can do with Runes once I have a real background in the subject."
Fleur shivered at the implications of what Harry had just admitted... "You are a prodigy 'Arry, just as the Line Test indicated. Your aptitude for Runes might even be just a little frightening due to the scope of it. The answer is simple then... You will read my detailed notes all this afternoon, while asking me lots of questions. I'll be sitting behind you, running my hands through your hair and cuddling you. It's time well spent so far as I'm concerned. I want you to have all of my knowledge in your newly ingenious brain, so that you can learn it all back to front in your sleep."
Even as Harry stood up, shuffled two feet over and sat down in between Fleur's legs, he pulled a silver necklace out from under his t-shirt and enlarged one of the two small books attached to it. "This, my dear Fleur... is the Potter Grimoire. It's a terrible waste of time having you just sitting around waiting for me to catch up, even though the cuddling does sound wonderful. If you learn the Potter spells while I toil over your notes, when the time comes, I can probably learn the casting techniques faster using both our bond and my shroud. I'm going to wait for us to read the Peverel Grimoire together though… It's far more dangerous in every conceivable way... The Potters are undeniably powerful, but in the end they're essentially conventional in nature. There isn't anything in the Potter Grimoire that can break the world around you. The Peverels, on the other hand, were inventors and Battle Mages of the most deadly variety. They could and did circumvent the rules that govern reality."
"You are way more Peverel than Potter zen, 'Arry..." Fleur pointed out in a serious voice.
"I'm both, Fleur... I'm a mixture." Harry leaned back into Fleur's body, and he smiled when her arms wrapped tightly around his ribs. In response to his happiness, Fleur began kissing his neck and nibbling on his ear in a way that made him shiver from his head to his toes.
"Fleur... As I said, I'm a mixture of the Potters and the Peverels," Harry persisted, despite the intense distractions being applied on his neck. "After reading the family history that Dobby procured for me, I've become exceedingly proud of my heritage in the Potters, because over and above being extremely capable wizards, they've always been very moral, seeking the most positive outcome for everybody involved in everything that they do…"
Harry twined his hands in tightly with Fleur's as he thought about his next few words. "On the other hand... According to the recognition process and what I saw in the Peverel vaults, I'm just barely strong enough to be a member of that particular family, let alone its Noble Lord, and I'm all but certain they were capable of doing much more than the energy siphoning ability that I discovered in that cave... Granted, anyone born into the Peverel family would've had magical training that I haven't had. They would've understood exactly what is required to open the vault. Still... The results are as you've seen... At this point, I am just barely a Peverel, and now I have a very dangerous mystery to solve. What other skills or tests does being the Peverel family Lord actually entail... I've also had an identity crisis dropped onto my lap and it's been causing me some anxiety..."
Leaning forward a bit, Harry turned to look over his shoulder. He wanted Fleur to see the concern on his face as he continued. "Fleur... I know I'm a mixture of the two families because the Peverels were aggressive and violent throughout their family history... Without a doubt they were dutiful to Magical Britain, but they were also a very dangerous group of people as a whole. As a family, the Peverels were far more willing to sacrifice the individual for the greater good than I want to be, both as a wizard and as a man... A few minutes after killing that Black Band mercenary, I admitted to your father that I was concerned about my lack of remorse. I think I've found where that unfeeling callousness for my enemies' lives comes from. I think I get it by virtue of my Peverel bloodline. The capacity for great violence was a family trait and magically ingrained into the Peverel genetics."
While Fleur did release a small shiver in response to Harry's words, a split second later, she was wrapping both her arms and legs tightly around her husband's waist. "'Arry Potter you listen to me! You are not callous!... Callousness involves a cruel disregard for others, and you went out of your way to spare those men! I refuse to allow you to suffer guilt over killing evil men that are committing evil deeds! I will not allow it! It's madness of the highest caliber to wish pain upon yourself, in a foolish desire for better morality. You are a good man, 'Arry. One of the best and most moral I've met in my life. If this Peverel Bloodline of yours allows you to defend yourself, free from all of the emotional slings and arrows others may feel in your place, then I am happy about it!"
Harry had known that he could trust Fleur with his deepest, darkest fears. He'd known it with a certainty that had been almost frightening in its intensity. It was as if he was laid completely bare to his mate, which was a distinctly alien feeling for someone as inherently shy as he was (he was working on it). Nevertheless, having Fleur so violently defend him, was one of the most rewarding experiences of his whole entire life. It was a paradigm shift. It was a new perspective... Fleur was his wife, his mate, and he wanted to share everything with her, including even the painful/shameful things. A feeling that he could sense reflected in the bond…
"The Peverels were without a doubt famous 'Arry, but not to the extent that you are explaining." Fleur finally breathed out after several minutes passed where they simply held each other tightly. "If the Peverels could accomplish magics as strong as you're describing, how were they not all Merlin caliber famous?"
In response to Fleur's question, Harry thought about how powerful magic tends to act upon and alter genetics towards specific family traits and abilities. It was fascinating stuff really, and it was also taken for granted just like every other branch of magic.
Then Harry was snapped out of his own musings, when Fleur started fussing at his neck again.
"The magical abilities of the Peverels were indeed great, but they were also secretive and rather small in numbers," Harry finally explained out loud. "The tendency to keep to smaller family units is actually something that the Potter family received from the Peverels as a branch family. The Peverels, as a rule, only had one child per husband wife pair, which was usually a son because of a magic designed into the family genetics. Daughters can and have occurred, but far, far less frequently and never the first or second born child. While the Peverels were obviously capable of having several children, it was a high priority that they avoid such a thing from happening. They had way too much power to throw around, so infighting was a very real concern. Another reason the Peverels aren't all that famous is because they never left witnesses behind. Any battle where the Peverels were forced to go all out, inevitably ended up as a wholesale slaughter. They weren't necessarily bloodthirsty or evil… but they were extraordinarily thorough when it came to protecting their secrets. They were agents of the country and they didn't answer to anyone else, so if you pushed your luck enough that they were asked to get involved, you were in some seriously deep shit. You were essentially asking for your entire family or organization to cease to exist. I've been reading a family history that I retrieved from the Peverel vault, and what I've read so far... Fleur... The entire family history and social structure reminds me of nothing so much as it does a Special Forces group."
Despite the fact that Harry had just said all of these completely remarkable things, the one thing that had Fleur's undivided attention was unexpected. At this point, she had her head canted to the side and she was looking at Harry as if he were some kind of miracle. "'Arry... It sounds like our respective genetics are going to fight for dominance…"
At Fleur's carefully contained but growing feeling of elation, Harry just stared at her in confusion. He wasn't all that accomplished at fishing out her specific thoughts yet. He was working on it.
"I'm speaking of the Peverel/Potter trend towards male firstborn children and the hybrid Veela trend towards daughters," Fleur clarified. "While male babies are born amongst full blooded Veela, these men are rare to the point of numbering in the triple digits. Despite the myth, these male Veela aren't actually known for having especially powerful allures, but they are singularly beautiful men. They, of course, spend their entire lives being pampered in Veela enclaves, where they act as breeding stock. On the other hand, hybrid Veela such as my mother and myself are exceedingly unlikely to have male offspring. I'm not going to use the word impossible, but it's so improbable it might as well be… By the time a part Veela woman has a male child, they are usually about six or seven generations removed from their full blooded Veela heritage. This male child is the cutoff, at which point any further offspring are considered fully human."
"We might have a male child, sure… but if we don't, it won't matter," Harry pointed out with a small smile and a shake of his head. "If we have a daughter, she'll have no end of suitors willing to adopt the Potter family name, which is why I'm going to need Adrien's help fending them all off…"
"Perfect…. My husband is perfect," Fleur breathed out, as if to herself…
"I'm far from perfect, and at the moment, I'm reliant on you and your abilities," Harry replied directly into Fleur's ear. "Right now, with your knowledge and ability to channel my magic, you're way scarier than I can even pretend to be. I have some major catching up to do, if I hope to match you."
Fleur shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't understand how her super-self-aware husband was so blind to just how frightening he can be... "'Arry... The things you accomplish in dangerous situations leave everyone shaking their heads in amazement. You're instinctual in the use of your magic like no one I've ever heard of. I may beat you in a structured duel with my greater experience and knowledge, but there is no way I'd beat you in a life or death struggle."
While Fleur's praise felt good, Harry still found himself shaking his head. "The things I do in dangerous situations look dramatic and cool, because they're the dramatic and dangerous way to solve the problem. Smart people don't need to defy physical reality to solve problems. You're way more capable than I am Fleur. If a massive fireball was flying at you right this second, what would you do instead of casting a barrage of Aguamenti spells at it?"
"I would flame-freeze charm as much of the incoming fire as possible, while banishing away the oxygen that was fueling it," Fleur immediately replied. "I'm essentially immune to normal fire, but I understand the spirit of your question. With a crowd of innocent people sitting behind me and all of your magic at my disposal, I'd have used a charm designed specifically to render flames harmless."
"See!" Harry waved his arms out in Front of Fleur, in an expansive 'well there you have it' gesture. "While I had a high drama showdown and did a lot of so-called 'cool' things, you would've just rendered the problem moot with that big brain of yours."
At first Fleur smiled at Harry's easy charm, but then she bit her lip. She didn't like how her mate was belittling his own intelligence. "'Arry... the dueling tryout incident happened so very fast, and you're still a fourth year. The flame freezing charm that I just described to you is a very complicated seventh year charm, and under normal circumstances, it takes at least three seconds to cast. Don't you think you're being a bit unfair to yourself?"
"I never called myself dumb, but there's a lot of magic that I'm currently ignorant to," Harry easily replied. "As things stand, you're the heavy hitter between the two of us."
"We shall get you up to speed then, 'Arry, so that you can look less heroic. I'll get to worry about you less, and your fan-base may even decrease." At that thought, Fleur leaned her chin over Harry's shoulder, craned her head to the side and reapplied the hickey on his neck, preventing it from fading. Then she smiled when Harry shivered in response.
"I completely agree, wife," Harry enthused as Fleur continued to fuss at his neck. "Lets shove all this knowledge into my brain as well as every other charm from now til the end of seventh year. Only after I've caught up to the seventh year standard, should I focus on battle magics beyond mortal understanding. If I focus on the big and flashy stuff first, without knowing any of the basics, I'll become nothing but a hammer. I don't want to be a hammer and treat every obstacle like a nail. I want to know the elegant solutions to complex problems..."
All of the sudden, Harry found himself on his back on the couch with his face covered in silvery blonde hair. Fleur had pounced on him and was straddling his waist to stare at his face from above.
In her out of control excitement, Fleur spent several moments in a row kissing, licking and nibbling, at her husband's mouth, cheek, jaw and neck. Then, when she finally managed to speak again, she whispered into his ear in hot little gasps. "'Arry... That was... the sexiest thing... I have ever heard... a wizard say. How am I supposed to focus on anything with you being so alluring…"
"We're sharing this room with Cedric, and he'll be coming here after he finishes his Potions class," Harry pointed out in little more than a breath. "If we wait until tonight just before bed, we're far more likely to find some privacy, and you might suffer less from missing me overnight…"
Harry was right. Fleur knew that Harry was right… but she still groaned her abject suffering as she climbed off of Harry's lap, and then pulled the Potter Grimoire into hers.
At dinner that night, Harry received a reply from Andromeda Tonks.
Andromeda had anticipated Harry's need, and was already working on the problem, which didn't surprise him in the least.
Over the course of the afternoon, Andromeda stormed the Ministry with lawsuits aimed towards the Daily Prophet and Ronald Weasley for slander, libel, defamation of character, and maligning the honor of a Noble Lord (a law that only exists in Magical Britain). At first, she hadn't done any of these things under Fleur's name, but since Fleur was directly involved, it wasn't hard to add her name in after the fact.
In a vain attempt to avoid the (many) lawsuits that the Daily Prophet had received, the paper would be retracting all of its statements regarding Harry and Fleur in a column on the second page of the following day's paper. Andromeda also arranged for two consummate professional journalists that she personally vouched for to meet with both Fleur and Harry, in order to set the record straight.
While Andromeda did note that Harry might be leery of being interviewed, she strongly advised him not to alienate the media. People who avoid journalists tend to make themselves a target for scrutiny, and he had a high profile career in mind as a Seeker. The interview would be happening at some point over the next few days, and she strongly urged him to take part in it.
After reading the letter from Andromeda, Harry handed it over to Fleur, who smiled in satisfaction as she scanned its contents.
"I am eenexperienced wiz giving eenterviews, but we will feegure out what to say togezer." Fleur enthused with an untroubled expression on her face.
Neville perked up at Fleur's words, and turned away from his mashed potatoes to look at her. "Wait... What Interview?"
"Fleur and I will be giving an interview with the Daily Prophet in the next day or two," Harry replied with a sigh and a shake of his head. "Andromeda has arranged for us to meet two REAL journalists rather than this Skeeter woman. She vouches for them." Harry shrugged and returned his attention to his excellent dinner (Dobby takes good care of him).
Across the table, Harry saw that Hermione looked nervous for them, so he smiled casually at her. "I'm confident and self assured now, right Mione? I can handle this, and Fleur here will have these journalists eating out of the palm of her hand in moments. Hell, I'll even plug Fred, George, Cedric and the Gryff girls if I get the chance."
The twins both adopted elaborate touched looks and then laughed.
"Oh! By the way... Before Quidditch practice this afternoon, we did manage to cobble together a letter for our father." At the moment, George looked very serious, and it was such a rare occurrence that everyone at the table was staring at him by the time he finished his sentence. "We told our father that the family wouldn't be financially ruined, but that Ron was in for a world of hurt."
"I'm not even sure what the outcome of this will be if I'm being honest." Harry admitted with yet another sigh. "Andromeda already knows that I don't intend to cause the Weasley family any financial or legal harm, but she's been told to raise all hell for Ron and Skeeter, in a way that'll make a lasting impression. I have no idea what she'll do, but she knows what I have in mind and we all know how good she is."
"A public apology will most likely be demanded or Ron will incur heavy financial losses," Hermione replied, joining the conversation for the first time. "Even though your father's been informed via your letter that Harry won't actually take money from him, he can still demand the apology of Ron when he approaches him for the money. After Ron is ordered to make the apology by his head of house in an official capacity, unless he wants to be removed from the family entirely, he'll have to do it."
Fred had a twisted grin on his face as he turned towards his brother. "Ron
Will
Probably
Have a stroke," the twins announced, confidently and in perfect unison.
Selene giggled because she would never, ever get over the twin speak.
"Well, it's becoming hard to sleep in the same dorm room as Ron these days." Harry admitted, as he actively avoided rubbing his neck. "I have both my belongings and the perimeter of my bed warded up to the nines, to keep out both spells and people. I needed to do all of that so I can sleep at night with Ron staring daggers at my bed curtains (Harry didn't explain how he knew what Ron was doing, and thankfully no one asked). He's most likely just angry and jealous, but the way that he glowers in my general direction late into the night creeps me the hell out. Oh and one more thing... If Ron shows up to breakfast with the word thief written across his face in pimples, he tried to get into my belongings."
Everyone eating nearby laughed until they realized that Harry was being completely serious.
"Aren't you just trying to make an excuse to room wiz Fleur een ze carriage…" Selene asked this particular question while smiling wickedly at 'Arry and waggling an eyebrow.
"Am I that transparent?" Harry grinned, when in reply to his question, Selene nodded her head both immediately and emphatically. "I actually would like to see Fleur's rooms, now that you mention it. The carriage feels a little like enemy territory though... I'm not sure how welcome I'd be."
Selene's wicked grin transformed into a full on (fake) perverse leer as she leaned in even closer. "Oh 'Arry… Ze Beauxbatons girls would try very, very 'ard to make you feel welcome, zat much ees for certain." When Fleur scowled in response to her words, Selene only grinned at her friend and continued undaunted. "Ze boys of Beauxbatons 'ate you on principle, 'Arry. Zey fear Fleur's wrath far too much to act on zeir 'atred zough, so you are probably safe to visit ze carriage."
"So far, the Beauxbatons men seem to have very little presence," Harry mentioned, with curiosity in his voice. "Is the Beauxbatons Quidditch team entirely composed of women as well? It might mean they're all extremely nimble."
"Ze men of our school are all trained to be very genteel and posh." Selene mimed polishing her nails and coiffing her hair before she continued. "Ze Beauxbatons Quidditch team 'owever, ees full of ze boys who feel zey are ze baddest of bad boys. Eet could be compared to a boy's club or gang or some-zing 'ere. Zey are talented zough so you should not take zem lightly."
Selene smiled conspiratorially at Fleur who smiled back. "Ze snooty behavior of ze boys at our school makes ze normal eemmature boys at 'Ogwarts refreshing to a certain extent," Selene continued, with a smile for the Gryff boys. "Not zat a leetle bit of class eesn't eemportant..."
Selene's attention when she said those words turned towards Ron, who was sneering at them all from down the table.
"Do you want to see ze carriage everybody?" While Fleur had asked the question to the entire table, no one misunderstood her real intentions. Fleur wanted Harry to visit the carriage and she was unable to fully conceal her desire.
"I'd like that," Hermione replied as she pulled her attention away from a Muggle murder mystery that she was reading. "It'll have to wait though, because I promised to help Roger Davies study for a Runes test that he has in a few days."
At those words, Harry's head rapidly swiveled towards Hermione, only to find her already giving him a warning look, mixed with a violent looking smile. Without a second thought, Harry immediately threw up his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay, I get it Mione... No teasing or kissy faces coming from me, I promise." Harry paused for just a few seconds before continuing. "Even though Davies is three years older than you, and should know waaaay more about Runes than you do."
"I'm a genius Harry and that's all you need to know about it," Hermione replied, with an extremely haughty demeanor.
"Fair enough sis," Harry conceded, while rolling his eyes.
"Oui, Yes, big seester knows best!" As she came to Hermione's support, Selene leaned in and began hugging her again. She made a huge production of it, with cheek rubbing and everything.
Everyone laughed at Hermione's blush.
Up at the head table, Dumbledore stood up in front of the school, along with Madam Maxine and Karkaroff, where he gestured for everyone to be quiet, and was soon standing in an eerily silent Great Hall. "It is now time for the Goblet of Fire to announce the next round of champions from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. If you will all give the Goblet of Fire your full attention, it will begin."
After the Goblet was through, Francine Petit became Beauxbatons's second champion, and a man by the name of Chadwick Harden became Durmstrang's.
Much like Fleur, Francine rose to her feet while surrounded by weeping girls. Unlike Fleur however, she was positively gleeful about rubbing it in, by calling out to people and lording her superiority over them. When Francine was finally finished torturing her fellow students, she turned her attention to where Harry and Fleur were sitting, in order to give them both an over-embellished smirk.
Of course, Harry had made himself very busy talking to Neville during Francine's entire moment, as if her ascension to Champion meant literally nothing to him.
Fleur projected Francine's angered expression to Harry, as well as her amusement at his actions. In physical reality, her face remained cool, calm and under control. It wasn't actually all that hard to act unaffected. So far as she was concerned, Francine was playing for third.
The Durmstrang student that was chosen was a man with the face of a hatchet. Chadwick was angular and slight and completely forgettable, except for the fact that he displayed a visible lack of human emotion when he was chosen as a champion. After the boy sidled up next to Krum, the two of them both looked towards Harry and Fleur…
In the end, the rest of the champions didn't even try to hide the fact that they wanted to cause Harry and Fleur problems. Harry even saw Malfoy approach Francine and after a tense dialogue they shook hands. Harry almost shivered in violent revulsion over the newly made douche couple.
Well, bring it on, Harry thought to his mate, at which point he felt Fleur's competitive spirit catch fire within the bond.
To Be Continued
Author's Note:
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