I don't own anything related the the Harry Potter franchise
Harry awoke early, after a good night's sleep spent studying wards and trying to make contact with his inner Animagus animal. By this point, he'd read three different books on the subject that all claimed a Mindscape is a must. They claimed it was the only platform that worked to reach out towards the different elements of your soul. What that meant was that for a portion of each night, he was going to be meditating in his Mindscape, while waiting for something to take shape.
After completing his morning stretches, Harry walked down to the lake, to complete his daily run of the obstacle course. As he walked up to his usual starting line, he felt something tickling his awareness, causing him to stop in place and turn around.
There she was, just three steps behind his back.
Harry's mouth dropped open in his surprise and excitement, as an early rising Fleur had somehow managed to sneak up on him, wearing some extremely tight athletic gear and running shoes. He was especially surprised because his wife had managed to hide her actions from him within the bond.
As she stared up at her mate, Fleur grinned at her own bit of sneakiness in surprising him. Then, when she bounced forward to wrap her arms around his waist, she felt like she could actually hear the sound of the Lightning Bolt fangirls moaning in the distance.
Taking in Fleur's completely innocent/evil smile, Harry couldn't help but think that French women are scary. With that in mind, he bombarded said scary woman with his intense desire and love for her, so that the emotions driving her sinister smile might ease away.
Fleur shivered while feeling Harry's arousal in the bond, and then smiled more naturally in response to his attentions. She knew that his intention all along had been to relax her, but since the emotions he'd used couldn't be fabricated, it had worked anyway. Harry had just earned both some brownie points and an explanation. "If I am to compete, I will need more cardio exercise," she stated simply.
As he nodded his understanding, Harry decided to have Aethir do something that she'd never done before. He asked her to tie him down and slow him, so that every movement he made was extremely hard. The little wind sprite didn't want to do it at first, until he pointed out that it was a game. She would oppose every movement he made like a dance. Aethir loved dancing and after making this comparison she decided that she'd give it a try. Bringing his attention back to his wife, Harry decided to just tell her the unadulterated truth. "Okay Fleur... I'm very advanced at this form of exercise. Under normal circumstances and with Aethir's help, I can finish this course faster than humanly possible. Today, Aethir's going to be grinding me to a halt, so that I'll be going way slower than normal. I'm not making fun of your level of physical fitness. I'm just leveling the playing field, so that we'll finish in a comparable time."
At first, Fleur looked a little bit annoyed, but she eventually nodded that yes he would demolish her under normal circumstances. "I will be running to the side of the course today, for I am nowhere near advanced enough to climb and roll ten miles. Are you still going to do the obstacle course today with such a disadvantage?"
"I'll be trying to, yes," Harry replied. "I'll attempt to keep pace with you until I can't anymore, then I'll start running. I've never done this before, so I don't know how hard it'll be."
"One last thing before we go, 'Arry..." Stepping up to her husband until their bodies were flush with each other, Fleur leaned up to plant a sweet little kiss on his lips. Soon enough, their kiss wasn't sweet anymore, as they devoured each other's mouths in a frenzy. By the time they finally split apart, both Fleur and her mate were panting for breath and were wound as tight as springs.
"Okay, uhh okay, Harry gasped out, with a healthy flush upon his face. Let's stretch while I try to catch my breath from that kiss."
Fleur gave her lover an extremely sultry smile, as she slowly turned away from him. Then, when she knew that Harry was staring at her ass, she made a huge production of bending over to tighten her shoelaces.
Ouch... Harry's control over his body was completely destroyed like a Deathstar laser strike. He shook his head as if he could vent the heat, and then he retaliated by projecting an extremely visceral and realistic empathic image into Fleur's mind regarding what he wanted to do to her... Sure enough, Fleur immediately stiffened, and he saw her face flush a healthy pink.
This whole projecting images thing was turning out to be an extremely fun pastime.
"Oooh, 'Arry, you foolish, foolish man… We shall be making very good time around the lake this morning, do you understand?" Once again, Fleur was giving Harry a very predatory look, but this time it was for a completely different reason, and he shivered in response.
It was a very hot and bothered Harry that finished his stretching and tightened up his shoe laces. Thankfully for his sanity, they started running soon after, at which point Harry found that yes, Aethir could indeed make a major pain in the ass of herself when she desired to. He was running through air that felt like mud, and every time he left the earth his momentum came to a screeching halt. This meant that jumping was next to impossible, forcing him to roll over the obstacles whenever he arrived at them. He must have looked like a very determined amateur to anyone looking at him from the outside. Finally, an hour later, they completed their lap of the course, and Harry was officially a sweat soaked mess.
When Fleur jogged up, she didn't look tired at all, but she did end up giving her mate some bedroom eyes. "Room of Requirements?"
"Neville... weights..." Harry gasped out.
"Carriage, now, become invisible," Fleur demanded.
Harry nodded from his bent over position and then disappeared under a Disillusionment spell.
"Follow me," Fleur commanded, in a voice that demanded obedience.
Harry walked behind Fleur, while applying sound and smell concealing spells on his body. He rested the palm of his hand on Fleur's right hip, but then he couldn't seem to keep his hand from straying left to curl up under her butt..
Fleur shivered and quickened her pace in response.
Opening the door to the carriage, Fleur started walking down a very large central corridor. As she'd described earlier in the year, the carriage was huge on the outside but it was absolutely gigantic on the inside. It looked like a mansion with hundreds of rooms fanning out in all directions. Fleur led her invisible stowaway to a secluded hallway away from all of the others, containing only three or four rooms in total.
"These rooms are for the very best students of the school, who are afforded more prestige," Fleur quietly explained. She opened the farthest and most removed door in the hall, to a room that was... elaborate. It was a perfect mock-up of her room at home, right down to the smallest details.
Harry had only been in Fleur's real bedroom for about thirty seconds in the past, but right away, he could see that this place looked exactly the same. Closing the door behind himself, Harry watched his wife interact with the space, skimming her mind and learning a lot about her past. This room had played a big part in his wife's childhood and formative years. Not only that, but it made her comfortable enough that she'd recreated it…
Without a word, Fleur pointed her wand in her man's general direction to end his invisibility with a Homenum Revelio spell, before pulling him towards the bed with a preternatural level of seduction glowing within her eyes…
An hour later…
As Harry and Fleur lay in an extremely satisfied, tangled mass of limbs on her bed, Harry took the opportunity provided to look around the room... Fleur's bedroom was pretty typical all things considered, with pale blue walls offset by enough pink and frilly things to make it obviously a girl's room. Next, Harry turned to look at her bedside table, where he saw a photo of him at the beginning of the summer, sitting right next to another photo of him at the end of the summer.
"Those are two very interesting photos to have sitting right next to each other," Harry whispered into Fleur's ear. "It's a study in contrast…"
"I gaze at them before I sleep, feeling our bond and the charm around my neck," Fleur sleepily replied. "I think I actually look at the before picture a little more than I do the after…"
"Oh? Why's that?" Harry nuzzled his face into Fleur's hair as he held her close.
"I fell in love with you, as I got to know you over the summer," Fleur murmured into Harry's hair, before rousing herself enough to rest her chin atop his chest. "After I realized my feelings, I briefly wondered if I'm shallow, which led me to ask my mother about it, at which point she sent me this photo of you. I stared at it for several hours, and I found peace of mind. I love that boy sooo much. He is you, 'Arry, and I love him. Your nobility is the same, your kindness and bravery as well. He was an unassuming hero like a Peter Parker while you have more public appeal, but it's both you. I look at that first photo and find myself in awe of the things you did with the cards you were dealt. Do you ever take a moment to be proud of your actions? Do you consider the circumstances of your health, your magic and your upbringing, and then just allow yourself that satisfaction?"
"I did actually," Harry admitted as he picked up the photo and stared at his old self. "I made sure to do so when I was fixing my Mindscape. I knew that I needed more self-confidence, so as I sorted my memories, I filed things into categories such as personal triumphs, things to improve, down to outright failures and so on. In doing so, I made sure to make positive memories have a spotlight because that's how I'll be the most healthy. In the process, I did feel pride in my own actions and especially in light of the circumstances. The tightrope walk was to avoid becoming an arrogant ass in the process…"
"You've done well, my 'Arry, which is for the best, as I'd have beaten humility back into you otherwise... Besides, your friends would not love you like they do, if you were arrogant. You would only have followers like I used to have." Fleur shoved her face in between Harry's neck and the pillows before continuing in a quiet little voice. "I learned many lessons about arrogance over the course of the summer..."
Harry held Fleur very tight in the bond until it was time to get up for breakfast.
As Harry sat at breakfast with his friends, students sitting all around the Great Hall kept giving him weird looks, and he had a pretty good idea as to why. The fact of the matter was, even disregarding the fact that he looked like an extremely… satisfied man… he was currently leaking completely repulsive amounts of happiness into his expression…
Oh yeah... It was bad.
While Neville was the only one to actually react to Harry's nearly ambient levels of contentment and self-satisfaction, he only arched his eyebrow at the boy and then returned his attention to his breakfast. Just one look at his friend made the reason he'd missed their morning workout perfectly obvious.
The rest of the Gryffindor team were far too busy talking about what the various events for the Tournament would end up being over the course of the year. There were apparently quite a few Mini Tasks (or trials) that the Champions would need to accomplish that happened at random times in between the three main tasks, and everyone was betting their pocket money on their predictions regarding what they would be.
A few moments later, when the Daily Prophet owls dove into the hall in order to deliver their subscriptions, Hermione snatched hers right out of the air and was halfway finished reading it even before the owl was back out of the Hall. By the time the very well-read brunette finished scanning the first and second page articles and then dropped the newspaper in front of him, Harry already knew that Andromeda had come through for him, because she was smiling from ear to ear and looked satisfied in the extreme.
The Daily Prophet news article that was released on the second page had Harry smiling right along with Hermione, as it was everything that he wanted and more… The article contained a complete retraction of the news column from the day before, as well as a sickly sweet and effusive apology on behalf of the newspaper. The Daily Prophet was quick to throw Rita Skeeter under the bus by claiming that they'd relied on an irresponsible writer, who'd sworn that her sources were checked. They claimed that they'd be approaching Harry and Fleur with better journalists as soon as it could be arranged.
So far as apologies go, this one was clever because it all but assured that they'd get an interview out of both Harry and Fleur. Then, Harry had a thought, and he almost kicked himself for how inconsiderate he was being. "Hey Cedric!"
As soon as Harry called over to the Hufflepuff table, the boy's head shot up to look back at him. Harry gestured at the newspaper in his hands and then shrugged. "The more the merrier Cedric. Will you join Fleur and I if there's an interview? The Prophet seems to be forgetting that you're Hogwarts's champion."
Cedric smiled at Harry as he called back his answer. "I'm tempted to say no anyway because the Prophet scares me, but I'll think about it this morning, during classes."
Harry nodded in complete understanding. "Okay. I'll keep you informed."
A very old owl suddenly careened into the Great hall and swerved drunkenly across the room before crash landing directly into Ron's breakfast and sending bacon into his lap. As the redhead smacked at his newly greasy robes and then picked up the letter that the owl had been carrying, Harry kept him in his peripheral vision. While the boy wasn't dangerous like Krum, he'd become far too unpredictable over the course of this school-year, and he wasn't going to like what he was about to read…
Sure enough, as Ron's eyes bobbed back and forth down the lines of the letter, his face started flushing a deeper and darker red, until finally his skin was matching his hair. Then, when the boy finally looked away from the letter, it was to stare over at Harry with pure, unadulterated hatred, burning in his eyes. A split second later, the boy was storming out of the room with the letter he just received squeezed into a teeny tiny little ball within his white-knuckled grip.
Fred and George watched their brother march out of the Hall, before sighing loudly, dramatically and in concert.
"Excuse us everybody," Fred began.
"We are duty bound to try to save our younger brother from himself," George finished.
When the twins left the room in Ron's direction, it was with pained looks upon their faces. They were getting very, very tired of these long 'talks,' that appeared to be getting them nowhere.
A small, cool hand rested on Harry's shoulder, breaking him from his thoughts to rejoin the rest of the world. His wife was offering him what support she could, despite the fact she'd enjoyed every second of Ron's anger.
Fleur had zero time for Ronald Weasley, and she couldn't care less if he ended up financially ruining himself. The redheaded nuisance had accosted her mate over and over all year long, and yet because of their back history together, Harry continued to let it slide.
Well, no more.
Fleur had no intention of allowing her husband to suffer merely for nostalgia's sake, thus, she would be the bad guy for him if doing so was necessary…
"This is none of your making, mon amour," Fleur whispered to her mate, as she continued to rub his shoulder and arm. "Both this boy's actions and their consequences are his own. Be lenient with him if you absolutely must, but do not suffer for him, for he does not deserve it. Now... Let us go cram the last of the Wards and Ward-breaking notes into your head. Then you can watch me perform every single charm I've ever learned, with both our bond and your aura shroud."
"I know what'll make it even better practice," added Harry, with a newly reborn smile. As Fleur turned to look at him expectantly, he Occluded his idea from their bond. It was hard, but it was worth it because he enjoyed the grand reveal.
Fleur immediately saw what Harry was up to, but she loved him, so she gave him exactly what he wanted from her. "What is this big mystery, 'Arry? You are killing me right now…" Fleur's desperate sounding words didn't mesh with the look of fond indulgence written all over her face, but she'd never claimed to be a world class actor, and she stood little chance of fooling her bonded even if she was.
When Fleur's plea was just a little too good to be true, Harry saw that he'd been completely seen through by his wife, causing him to grin, then laugh, and then smile from ear to ear. "Okay, okay you win, Fleur... I think you should practice casting all of your spells using my magic while submerged inside a body of water. You should use my magic as often as possible to get used to it anyway, and it shouldn't be a problem to sit in a hot-tub and fire off my magic all day. Unlike if you used your own magic, you should actually stretch your core this afternoon and feel stronger by dinner."
"Ooooooh 'Arrie," Fleur purred out into her mate's ear. "You are blending together so many different fun ideas for me…"
"I need the knowledge and you need the core power," Harry replied as he finished his meal. "If we can lounge in a hot-tub and get both of those things squared away, then I say let's do it." After wiping his mouth with a napkin, Harry leaned closer and whispered into his wife's ear. "I'm not a fan of seeing you in more than a bathing suit anyway, love."
With barely enough noise to alert the Gryff table to its presence, an unknown owl suddenly swooped in, dropped a letter quickly but carefully next to Harry's plate, bobbed its head in a quick bow (cute) and then flew off without any further ceremony.
Harry had a good idea whose letter this was based purely on the demeanor and efficiency of their owl. Picking up the letter, he opened the envelope to find that it was as he suspected. The letter was indeed from Andromeda Tonks. Once Harry was done reading its contents, he smiled at Fleur to let her know that it wasn't bad news. Then, he suddenly realized that Fleur was following his thought process through their bond, and had read the letter through his eyes.
At first, Harry felt just a bit chagrined in response to Fleur's use of his senses. At the moment, his wife was quite a bit better than him at exploring his end of their empathic connection in real time. His bloodline test had labeled him as a 'Mastery Capable' Leglimancer rather than a Prodigy, and now he knew why. It appeared the art of mind sleuthing just wasn't his gift. Along with that thought, Harry decided that he was happy at least one of them was talented at it, as it looked like he needed some more time and practice.
Either way, Harry decided to speak out loud, so that he and Fleur wouldn't look like some sort of pod people from a science fiction B movie. "In this letter, Andromeda says that two journalists will be arriving at Hogsmeade later this afternoon, around two Pm. She's already secured Dumbledore's permission for me to meet with them... I assume that you'll be allowed to go?"
"Oui, yes, I am at the age of majority and can go wherever I please, especially if I have real business to attend to." Fleur turned up her nose, as she adopted a very embellished snooty persona. "Madam Maxine was very angry at the Prophet for slandering me and Veela in general. She is very Liberal and forward thinking."
"I can't say I'm all that surprised to hear that," Harry replied with a grin, only to get a soft elbow to the ribs in return (Apparently he wasn't supposed to notice that Madam Maxine is over eight feet tall). Rising up to his feet, Harry looked around at his gathered friends. "Okay everyone... I'll see you all at lunch, but I have some training to do this morning and there's no time like the present."
After extending a hand to Fleur and then helping her to her feet in a very solicitous fashion, Harry took his time placing Hermione's newspaper, quill and assorted nicknacks, back into her book bag. In reality, Harry was just waiting for a certain faction of people in the Great Hall to begin observing his actions.
It didn't take long.
Soon enough, all of the usual suspects were staring at Harry from all around the room, and he could feel it even without his aura sensing his surroundings… It was time…
After stretching his back and dropping his hands back to his sides, Harry took a hold of Fleur's hand again and then slowly, softly, he kissed her on the cheek.
Nearly silent oomphs of jealousy and heartbreak sounded out from all around the Great Hall. The sound could just barely be heard and only because the disparate sounds had all combined together.
Moving on as if he hadn't just delivered a very pointed message, Harry approached and handed Cedric the letter that he'd just received from Andromeda. "Personally, I think it's a good idea that you come along Cedric. From what I saw of the Skeeter article, you were barely mentioned and I think that's a travesty... I'll leave it to you to make up your mind, but we'll be leaving at the beginning of afternoon classes. You can tell us whether or not you're going to go then, so take your time deciding."
Cedric nodded and smiled. "Thanks. I'll get back to you at lunch."
"Good then. We'll see you in a few hours then." Turning towards the Entry Hall, Harry very visibly and very possessively wrapped his arm behind Fleur's waist.
As soon as they walked out of the Great Hall, Fleur beamed a grateful smile at her husband. Harry was, without a doubt, an excellent partner, because he never let her down. He was always willing to do what is necessary for her, and now that they were bonded there didn't appear to be any explanation required for him to do so. He'd been showering her with public displays of affection all morning without her even needing to ask, as if he'd instinctually known what she needed most from him.
Fleur couldn't help but be a little satisfied at the broken-hearted looks that all of Harry's fangirls were making. It wasn't (all) petty jealousy that made it a satisfying sight for her, but rather, she was growing tired of dueling angry and possessive lightning-bolt girls. Five more girls of several different years had approached her over the last twenty-four hours, shouting out their absurd demands that she stay away from THEIR Harry. It wasn't that it was difficult to disarm these girls, but it got Fleur's back up in a big way that they continued to miss the point…
Harry Potter was hers.
Fleur took comfort in the fact that Harry was just as frustrated as she was, if not moreso. She also appreciated that neither of them were against a massive dose of PDA when it was required.
After moving up into the RoR, Harry sat on a pool's edge, reading Fleur's notes on Advanced Ward-breaking and watching the Veela train. A feat of multitasking that was only possible because of his Mind Occlusions and well organized brain... He'd be screwed otherwise, because Fleur was currently wearing only a bikini, and was about as distracting as a volcano eruption. His wife was having a blast though, firing off every spell that she knew while submerged in water up to her shoulders, which was extremely out of the ordinary for her.
At the moment, Fleur was casting all of the spells that were written on an exceedingly long list that was sitting next to the pool. The list of spells had been compiled between her, Dumbledore and Hermione, and if you had to describe it in just a single word, then that word would have to be… comprehensive…
Over and over again, Fleur would explain a spell's purpose, its wand movements and mentality, and then she would perform the spell two or three times for Harry to scrutinize. This was an extremely effective formula for Harry since Fleur was casting the spell with his magic, which made her body feel like an extension of himself... Not only that, but Harry's shroud also took in the magic that his mate was using at exactly the same time, doubling the efficiency of an already effective training regimen… For those reasons, as well as the fact that he'd become extremely quick on the uptake, Harry was developing into a much more experienced, much more knowledgeable wizard, at an extremely rapid rate.
Whenever Fleur finished demonstrating a spell, Harry would cast a version of his own, and he was finally getting a little better at not massively overpowering magic that he was trying out for the first time.
Just a couple of hours into their morning training montage, Harry watched as Fleur managed to cast an enormous Incendio Maxima under water, which, by the way, is a great way to create massive amounts of steam. While Harry blocked the superheated water-vapor with a Protego shield for self-preservation purposes, Fleur just giggled as she allowed the scalding hot cloud to enfold her entire body. Thankfully, Harry could feel that Fleur was fine because of her Veela heritage, so he never had to worry about her as he waited for the cloud to drift away.
"Woah... Fleur. That was badass," Harry enthused as the woman reemerged from within the fogbank she created. "It looks to me like you're already gaining some magical muscle. That's way more of my magic than you could channel all at once before."
Fleur smiled sultrily at Harry, as she waded over between his legs, wrapped her arms around his waist, kissed his stomach and then pressed her cheek against his navel. "'Arry… I'm the very first Veela to ever perform strong magic while submerged inside a body of water. You have done this for me..." By the time she'd finished that sentence, Fleur was nuzzling her cheek against her man's abs like a cat (Harry's heart took a cannon blast). "I don't think you even understand how special this is to me, 'Arry. I have always been instinctually afraid of water and now that fear is easing away... You always do this kind of thing for me."
Running his hands through Fleur's hair, Harry leaned down to kiss the crown of her head. "I always thought it was because of the cupboard, but I don't like tight places. I'm beginning to think it's because of my air affinity."
"Definitely a mixture of both," Fleur replied, while her arms tightened around his body. "That near death experience in the tunnel couldn't have helped either."
"You helped me put that one to bed, Fleur. I'm healthy right now." Harry smiled and ran his hand along his wife's cheek. "I don't see fears as a sign of poor mental health, but if I can help you get rid of them, then I'm happy to do so."
Both Harry and Fleur suddenly noticed a warded dueling area manifest itself on the other side of the room... They figured that Cedric would be joining them any second now, so they separated a little bit, and Fleur Transfigured her bikini into a much more modest one-piece bathing suit.
"I appreciate that, Fleur... Even though I do trust Cedric, I still find myself..." Harry pantomimed breaking someone's neck and then waved his arms in defeat. "I suppose you understand?"
"Possessive feelings that are of several magnitudes beyond your expectations," Fleur replied knowingly. "You are mine and I am yours, 'Arry... There is nothing to explain..."
"Hello," Cedric called out, loudly, from near the door. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?!"
"No," Harry called back to his very considerate friend. "Fleur's practicing spells underwater. I'm reading up on Ward Schematics and Ward-breaking."
"Oh good," Cedric cheered as he walked across the room. "I wanted to use the warded area in here to practice some offensive spellwork. I only hesitated because I was present in the Great Hall this morning and…"
Fleur grinned and Harry looked chagrined. They both knew exactly why Cedric might hesitate. They'd made a PDA assault for the ages at breakfast, so Cedric most likely feared they'd be naked when he arrived…
After deciding to just skip Cedric's unasked question, Harry launched right into their next topic. "The warded dueling area you've created is a good idea, Cedric, but you're thinking too small..." With that said, Harry found himself waiting for the best possible timing to continue. Soon enough, Cedric started looking a little bit pained and he suddenly felt bad for overindulging in his newest habit. "Okay, okay, I'll say it. This room can create simulacrum dolls that both fire back and dodge."
"No way," Cedric exclaimed, with a stunned expression upon his face. "That's professional quality."
"Yeah, it is, and we can materialize as many of them as we want for increased opposition as we improve. We're going to be very, very good, the lot of us." Harry smiled as he slid into the water and rested both of his arms on the deck to look up at Cedric. "It's a good thing too, because I'm not allowed help from the Professors and I have a lot of catching up to do."
Cedric gave his friend a disbelieving look, as he sat down cross-legged on the deck in front of him and Fleur. "Harry, seriously... If all you knew how to cast was an Expelliarmus and a Protego you'd still somehow do well in the tournament. We all know that you're no stranger to dangerous situations. With Fleur's knowledge crammed into your head, you'll soon be a right scary wizard."
Both Harry and Fleur beamed at the very classy teen sitting in front of them on the deck. Harry looked at them both and then shook his head while letting his smile turn into a lopsided grin. "I don't think we should be too complacent guys. Dumbledore asked me to warn you both that the tournament's danger level is climbing with every day that passes. When this all began, I was confident you'd both crush the tasks, but now I think we need to train like a Rocky montage every single day. According to Dumbledore, Crouch and an unpleasant woman named Deloris Umbridge, are piling on more and more dangerous creatures and magical traps whenever they can. Not only that, but Karkaroff managed to squeal out of making the oath not to help his Champions. Both Dumbledore and Madam Maxine made their oaths, while unaware that he wasn't going to be making one. We can all take for granted that Krum and that other kid whose name I've forgotten, will be prepared for both the trials and for us."
"Any idea why the tournament is getting so out of control?" Cedric looked troubled, but he also looked resolute.
"None," Harry immediately replied. "Just like I have no idea why I'm involved in the first place. Someone behind the scenes is plotting something. What this means is it's probably my fault that the tournament skill level is rising..." Harry raised his hands, to stop his fellow Champions from interjecting. "I'm aware that I'm not to blame, but what I just said is true nonetheless. I'll feel much better once we're all as prepared as possible."
Both Cedric and Fleur had been breathing in to argue, but they quieted because Harry had a point.
After Accio summoning a list from their work table in the distance, Harry put it down on the floor between the three of them. "This list that Hermione made for us, contains every dangerous creature ever featured in the Triwizard Tournament. Over the next month, we should make plans for every single one of these..."
When Cedric looked down at the list, some of the creatures it featured made him pale just a bit. "Acrumantulas, Trolls, Minotaur, Cyclops, Occamy, Runespoor, Wampus cats, Lethifolds. Dementors, Quintapeds, Hydras, Manticores, Erumpent, Magicameleon, Tebo, Cerberus, Sphinxes... Dragons…
"Wait no way! They had an Eastern chimera," Cedric exclaimed in a shocked senseless voice. "Every champion would die if they were forced to face one of those, even if they all worked together. They might as well have put in a Nundu or a Basilisk at that point, because the end result would be the same."
Harry nodded at Cedric because the teen had hit the nail right on the head.
"The very last tournament on record had an Eastern Chimera in it, and you're right Cedric. There was a one hundred percent loss of Champions, during the single event where it was featured. Body similar to a Swedish short snout, multiple lethal stinger tails and five snakelike dragon heads." Harry whistled because he was impressed despite himself. "If the five heads aren't bad enough. The fact that the different heads all have a different offensive power makes it even worse. They have fire, freezing and an acid poison breath, as well as a head that can regenerate even mortal wounds. I've also read the stronger an Eastern Chimera is the more it affects its environment. It apparently has a fear effect, that can make you too scared to even move if you're not careful, prepared or strong enough."
Harry wiped some water off of his forehead as he finished his explanation. "You know... Growing up muggle, I always thought that Chimera were an animal with three different types in it, usually dangerous types. I had nooo idea they were the most dangerous creature you can find shy of Nundus."
Cedric nodded at Harry, while fidgeting with his wand. "You weren't far off the mark, Harry. There is a chimera based in England with the body of a lion, tail of a scorpion and the head of a human. Those magical beasts are rather intelligent because of their human head. They're docile by nature, love board games and are pleasant in conversation. They wouldn't make good creatures for a trial. It would be like being pitted against a centaur, hired to take part in a task. You'd know all along that they didn't actually mean you any real harm. The Chimera described in this list was middle eastern or Egyptian. They guard the biggest baddest tombs, and Gods only know how they come into being. They've been recorded as just showing up in places of great evil out of nowhere and so they're frequently called chimera demons."
"Well zey'll never 'aave eizer Basilisk or Nundu een a task," Fleur declared in English. "Zose creatures are weapons of mass destruction by zeir very nature and would cut down an entire stadium of people within just a few minutes. Ze tournament committee may not be worried about us Champions, but a mass slaughter of ze audience would be bad PR."
"There will be a lot of your level four monsters as well, and a lot of them have something in common." Harry glanced aside at Fleur and then gently butted his head against her shoulder. "How good are you at dealing with bugs, love?"
"I am elementally aligned wiz fire and zat suits my attitude towards bugs." Very suddenly, Fleur looked just a little bit green.
"Very sensible, but according to this list, we can expect a lot of magically enormous bug species in the Tasks, like Acrumantulas and Manskitos and such," Harry admitted, with a newly sympathetic expression upon his face. "Hell… Sensipedes are on this list, and just reading about them made me cringe."
Both Cedric and Fleur shivered at the very thought. The idea of a forty foot, aggressively empathic, centipede monster, was completely awful.
Harry grinned at his friends' reactions, even though he completely understood them. "There's also going to be large versions of everything else that creeps and crawls on this list. I didn't even know what an Army Anthilla Queen was until I read this list and now it haunts my dreams."
"What's that?" Cedric had never heard of such a thing. While most of the people in his family were wizards, his mom was a first generation witch and all of her six brothers were non magical. Due mostly to the makeup of his family, Cedric considered himself pretty well rounded and was surprised to have no idea what Harry was talking about.
"An Army Anthilla Queen," repeated Harry, "Is an African magical creature that's like a nine foot tall, one ton heavy, bipedal ant with scythe-like claws and a thorax. It's dangerous beyond just its size and claws, mostly because it houses about a hundred thousand hotdog sized army ants inside of its body. If you run into an Anthilla Queen, I think Fleur has the right idea. You should Incendio Maxima the whole damned area down. The Queen releases the ants in a swarm and things go south fast. As a magical creature, it's useful to Wizards because its body naturally creates an antidote to most venoms that can be stolen from its nest. On the other hand, procuring the ANTI-venom is quite dangerous, even for the teams that do it professionally."
"Isn't it usually just one beast per task?" Cedric had never heard of there being multiple adversaries, but right now he was hearing a lot of history that had been swept under the rug on purpose.
A one hundred percent death-toll to a Demon Chimera…
"Yes and no," Harry replied with a shrug. "Historically, the first task is generally against just one beast, and what it will be is usually a surprise. However, there have been several occasions in the past where there's two or even three beasts per champion. I'm not going to advise you to assume you'll only have just the one."
Harry looked down at the warding book sitting on the pool deck in front of him, as he moved on to the next topic. "Every task involves traps, runic structures to complete or obscuring wards of some kind, so be on the lookout for those even while approaching larger beasts. I'll admit that I don't know as much about the Mini Tasks. They seem to have way more variety and Champion interaction, so I don't have a clue what to do to prepare..."
With a nod of her head, Fleur answered her mate's unspoken question. "Usually zese mini tasks are less 'acts of 'eroism' and more showing off basic skills een out of ze ordinary ways. Speed and accuracy wiz spells, Spell diversity and problem solving, Strength of spells, Transfiguration, Apparition, Shield strength, Resistance to outside manipulation, flying on a broom, etc. Zere ees also usually a trial zat eenvolves fabricating a tool a-'ead of time to get past an eempassable barrier of some kind."
Cedric and Harry nodded, grateful that Fleur was so knowledgeable on the subject.
Harry rubbed his chin as he thought of all of the things he needed to learn. "It appears we have a lot of preparation to do. All of us have a specialty, and if we work together we can get way more out of our training than if we do so alone." After suddenly hopping out of the pool, Harry completed a silent and wandless drying spell on himself, before he remembered that Cedric was watching. Then, as Cedric stared up at him in slack jawed awe, Harry found himself rubbing the back of his neck in chagrin.
Ouch. So much for my newer, better brain…. Suffice it to say, Harry definitely hadn't meant to do that…
Over the next few seconds, Harry saw Cedric come to grips with his reflexive use of silent/wandless magic and then put the matter aside. He decided during that moment that he would be trusting Cedric with more of his secrets in the future because Cedric could A) be trusted and B) he wouldn't freak out.
In the meantime, a distraction was in order… "Here Cedric," Harry called out in an enthusiastic voice. "I'll set up the simulacrum dolls for you."
As Cedric began dueling three simulacra on a slow setting to warm up, Harry returned to Fleur's side at the pool.
After pulling Fleur out of the pool, Harry led her in the direction of the hot-tub instead. He'd decided that they needed a break... "This is going to be a very hectic year, wife."
"I have seen you accomplish every spell I cast this morning with decent results," Fleur pointed out, once again speaking in French. "Practice them in your Mindscape and we will complete the list tomorrow. No one picks up magic as fast as you, 'Arry... You are blessed."
"I'm essentially stealing the knowledge from you, Fleur. I feel the way you mold the spells because it's my magic that you're using to cast them..." Harry couldn't prevent himself from feeling just a little bit embarrassed.
"So you will absorb my knowledge as time goes by through the bond," Fleur replied, in a cheerful tone of voice. "Good! I am stealing massive amounts of your power and becoming several times stronger than I would be otherwise. You are not a parasite, 'Arry. We have a symbiotic relationship, exactly as a marriage should be."
Over the next few moments, Harry squeezed Fleur tightly to his body and smiled into her neck. "That was a very cute thing you just said, Fleur."
"I know right!" Fleur appeared to be extremely pleased with herself. "I never once in my life desired to be cute, but I would be so for you."
"Well you've succeeded, but for the record, you've also pouted in the past and you did so on purpose. Don't act like you don't know how devastating your cuteness can be." Harry pouted at Fleur when she elbowed him in the ribs.
"You're far too strong and handsome for that to be effective," Fleur pointed out with a deadpan expression upon her face. Then her mouth crinkled up at the edges and she grinned. "If you looked like the old 'Arry... I may have given you an ice cream cone for your efforts."
"I can drag out the old glasses, if you wish." Harry was aiming for deadpan as well, but a small grin was leaking out from the beginning.
"I love your gorgeous emerald eyes, 'Arry, and would be inconvenienced if you covered them." Fleur dropped her head onto Harry's shoulder and closed her eyes. She sighed lengthily, as she was feeling massively conflicted at the moment. "Let us get back to work, 'Arry, so that I may take in more of your power. It is better than an espresso and a nap to me..."
It was very obvious to the both of them, that it was herself Fleur was trying to convince and not Harry.
"Deal," Harry immediately replied. "We're about halfway through the list of charms and curses at this point anyway. If we get them all done soon, we can start practicing the bigger Potter family stuff." Harry was doing what he could to get Fleur motivated. He knew that she loved the idea of the extremely obscure, secret and hugely powerful, Potter family spells.
Fleur did in fact perk up at that idea, but then she thought better of it and calmed back down. She'd come to realize that she needed to focus on Harry learning everything in the right order, just as much as how much he learned. "Arry... I love that idea, but we're not at that point yet... I think you should practice your Transfiguration and Vanishing spells first. These two skills make up the lion's share of dueling, along with shielding and cursing. You're very good at the latter but have literally no experience with the former. If I turn a rock into a jaguar that attacks you, what would you do?"
"I assume the answer is Vanish it." Despite the cavalier answer, Harry did in fact look thoughtful.
"Yes, yes, but only if you have the magic required to do so. In your case, yes," Fleur began. "Vanishing real flesh and blood creatures is impossible because they have their own animus of some kind, and it interferes. Vanishing physical non magical objects is easy, just point your wand and say the spell. If you want to Vanish a Transfigured creature or a Summoned item you must put more power into the Vanishing spell than was used to create it. I am not terribly worried for either of us anymore in regards to power output. When we finish this list, we will begin working on that, as well as the opposite, Transfiguring inanimate objects into moving creatures."
Abruptly Fleur pressed herself to Harry's side to whisper directly into his ear. "Zen we shall find some… privacy… before we re-enter the Great Hall for lunch, as we need to continue with my little… project."
Harry shivered violently at Fleur's sudden, sexually charged change of gears, even as he grinned at the woman's unusually erotic plan…
As Harry walked down the hallway to the Great Hall for lunch, he turned to Fleur and grinned. "I'm grateful that Cedric showed up in the RoR this morning."
Fleur was surprised by Harry's random statement and turned to face him as they walked. "Why is that, 'Arry?"
"Because, as planned, I look like I've been having sex all morning, so I'm going to need Cedric to vouch for me that we did indeed get some work done…" At this point, Harry had a new hickey on his neck, he was flushed, and his hair was much wilder than even its usual messy style. Somehow, Harry noted, Fleur still looked runway ready, just like after every other time they'd been 'aggressively intimate' so far.
Fleur smiled as she picked up Harry's latest thoughts through the bond. "I may have messed you up a little more than normal for the benefit of these lightning-bolt women... It's a good look on you, 'Arry, so you needn't worry."
While at first, Harry smiled in amusement, his lips slowly thinned out as he thought about the lightning-bolts, the reason he currently looked rode hard and put away wet… "Is this really going to work, Fleur? I'll admit, I'm growing tired of watching in the bond as you duel these girls one after another…"
"While your current appearance will certainly help break their spirit, I still need to assert my dominance on the girls of your school," Fleur replied, with an air of extreme confidence. "Soon enough, these girls will realize that I am not to be trifled with, and that you - are - mine. It is the same with the men of my school. Have any of them given you a hard time?"
"Not once," Harry conceded with a sly grin on his face. "In fact, they've disappeared every time I'm nearby. They do give me hateful looks though."
"That is because these boys know I will hunt them down if they cause me problems. I love you, so if they interfere with you, it's a problem." As Fleur gave Harry a sidelong look, her expression was a mixture of immense self-satisfaction and tightly controlled aggression.
After a second of hesitation, Harry just asked the question that he'd been thinking of for several months now. "How did you get such a strong image at your school, Fleur?"
Fleur looked like she'd been waiting for Harry to ask that question, because over the next few seconds a large smile bloomed all over her face. "It is simple 'Arry. You exist as a Veela in a school filled with hormonal teenaged boys. You defend yourself against every lust-fueled, chauvinist male that appears, until you are standing alone atop a mound of broken men. Why do the men of your school not attack you for my affections?"
Now that he'd been asked the question, Harry realized that he wasn't all that sure why his pseudo threat in the Great Hall had worked so effectively. Even after thinking about it for several seconds, he ended up just shrugging his shoulders. "Well, there's probably several contributing factors, but I think it's mostly just the rumor-mill at work. If you pay attention to the gossip about me, then I'm either a hero of light or the next Dark Lord. None of the rumors describing me ever claim that I'm your average Joe. I think that all of the sensationalism is keeping the lion's share of my haters away. I've had three or four people attack me this year, but nowhere near the amount you're encountering."
This was the first that Fleur was hearing about Harry being attacked, so her eyes immediately swiveled towards her mate in her interest. "You have been attacked this year? By who? When?"
It was Harry's turn to smile in a somewhat aggressive form of self-satisfaction. "Malfoy has tried to surprise attack me several times to get revenge for slapping him in front of an audience. He cast a few embarrassing and painful jinxes but nothing truly life threatening. In the end, I attached him to the bottom of a moving staircase, Silenced, Disillusioned and Tickle-Charmed. I'll admit that I enjoyed messing with him, but for the most part I was only trying to demonstrate just how much I outclass him now. I made it pretty obvious that he's no match for me anymore, and he should back the Hell off if he values his safety. I also put about a hundred time released jinxes on his body… I really took my time. Malfoy must be having a hard time living his life even now almost a month later..."
"I've also done something exactly like what you're describing," Fleur enthused, as she wrapped her arm possessively around Harry's waist. "Tiring but satisfying isn't it?" Fleur's face softened as she fondly recalled the reckoning she and her mother wrought on the Dursleys.
At first, Harry arched an eyebrow at Fleur in question, but at her mental suggestion that he let this one drop, he just shrugged and continued his explanation. "The second attack this year was a Ravenclaw guy named Shawn Borgin. About a week after you first arrived, he pulled his wand on me while I was on my way to Charms, screaming that he and you were meant to be together. He screeched that he needed to get rid of me so that you could stop suffering without him. He was foaming at the mouth about it, and looked completely deranged. After dodging some clumsy but powerful cutting curses, I stunned the kid and took him directly to the hospital wing. After listening to him rant, I was more concerned for his mental health, than I was angry over his attack. I was pretty sure that he needed some medicine or counseling or maybe both. Shawn has since apologized and seems to be doing better mentally. I don't know exactly how wizarding mental health potions work, but he's no longer a concern."
A smile appeared on Fleur's face at the idea of Harry worrying about someone's mental health while dodging maiming curses. It was a very Harry Potter type thing to do and completely adorable because it worked. With a nod of understanding, she gestured for her mate to continue his story.
After squeezing Fleur's hand to get her to look at him, Harry made his face studiously calm and composed. "This last story is over and done with, so there's no need to worry, okay?"
Fleur nodded but then her face set into one of utmost authority. "Tell me everything, 'Arry."
While this last story frustrated Harry, he launched into it anyway because he had no intention of keeping secrets from his wife. "Okay, so... The last attack that was launched on me this year was mostly caused by the Hogwarts house system and had nothing to do with our relationship. While I'm extremely well regarded with most of the school for the very first time, the Slytherins hate me now with an unbridled passion. The last two people to attack me were both seventh year Slytherin guys. They apparently wanted to make a name for themselves among the Slytherin graduates by destroying my body. They attacked me shortly after I was named assistant captain on the Quidditch team and a few days before you arrived. It could've been a really bad scene too, because they weren't holding back in the slightest. They surprise attacked me with bone breaker, melting, cutting, gouging and blasting curses while I was running through a secluded spot on the far side of the lake… Thankfully, I was trying to run at somewhat normal speeds that day, with my aura shroud outside of my body. With just a few moments to spare, my shroud caught the two of them hiding behind the rocks."
"That sounds really dangerous, 'Arry. What did you do about them?" Despite the fact that this story was past-tense, Fleur was still extremely concerned. She hadn't heard of Hogwarts missing any students, but Harry would obviously have needed to kill these attackers, to keep them from trying such an attack again. Dumbledore was far too forgiving in these matters, and Harry knew better than to trust him to take care of it.
As Fleur's anxiety grew, she suddenly decided she couldn't wait for Harry to tell the story and that it was time to look for herself. Focusing inwards, she started moving her consciousness through the bond and into Harry's mind. The closer she came to his memories of the attack, the more she started recognizing the feelings her mate associated with it. He felt a mixture of both chagrin and guilt, as well as the fact that he wasn't all that proud of what he'd done. After recognizing the emotional baggage involved in his memories, Fleur immediately backtracked into her own body and took a hold of Harry's hand. It felt like this was a story that Harry might want to tell at his own speed.
Having felt all of Fleur's thoughts as she moved around within the bond, Harry smiled his appreciation at his wife. "Yeah... I'm sure in the long run you'll end up viewing that memory, but it's not my favorite, so maybe I'll tell it normally first. It goes like this... These Slytherin boys were about to ambush me, and their auras felt hostile in the extreme. I briefly thought about catching them and taking them to Dumbledore, but… yeah... Useless. Next I thought about just slicing open their necks, and giving them a watery burial in the lake. It wasn't a compelling option, and it came with a lot of risks. In the end, I decided instead of killing the boys or trusting Dumbledore to take care of them, I'd try something a little... creative..."
In an unconscious movement, Harry started raising his hand to rub at the back of his neck, then he caught himself, stopped in place and dropped it again. "I uhhh. I decided to scare them…"
Gods help her she tried, she really, really tried, but she just couldn't help it. Fleur gave her husband a full power disbelieving look.
After catching the look that his significant other was giving him, Harry threw up his hands in a fast stopping motion. "Just… Hear me out, okay Fleur? Look... The two attackers were good wizards, of upper-average power, but they weren't duelists or highly skilled, and they were also underestimating me in a massive way. That's the reason why my plan wasn't as hard to pull off as you might think. I decided to use every trick I have available to me, to make them believe that I am A) godlike powerful and B) an insane sociopathic killer. I was especially thorough on the insane killer part..."
By this point, Fleur was completely hooked and was hanging on every word of Harry's story.
"Hoookay..." For the second time in just as many minutes, Harry resisted the urge to rub at his neck. "I started my plan by dodging the boys' curses at a slow and predatory walk, instead of running around. I quietly walked up to them, as they fired more and more spells. I could sense the direction that their slow moving curses were traveling with enough accuracy that I only really needed to move the bare minimum. The effect ended up looking like I could read their minds or predict the future. I also smiled that scary Quidditch tryout smile the entire time, because you and everyone else I know has informed me that it looks both creepy and violent. Over about thirty second's time, I moved in really close to these boys and just allowed them to attack me as I sidestepped their best efforts. After about a minute of this, I silently Petrificus Totalized them, with my wand concealed in my pants. I wanted them to think that I'd just decided that they wouldn't move anymore… and then they couldn't."
Drawing in a deep breath, Harry adjusted his mussed up and wrinkled shirt, before giving up on it and continuing with his story... "As I silently approached these two boys with that evil smile upon my face, I cocooned them both in my aura shroud and then I injected it full of murderous intent. At first, it was difficult to project a feeling that I wasn't actually experiencing. In the end, I had to dredge up old memories of the Dursleys, to generate just the right kind of hate and bloodlust. The two boys instantly broke out in a cold sweat, as I stalked closer to them, because by that point I must've both looked and felt like a demon. After pulling their wands from their hands, I just stood there right in front of them, staring at them for a full minute, without moving a single muscle. It had its desired effect... They looked completely terrified. Eventually, I switched their clothing with air, tied them together facing each other, and then floated them behind me with several Levitation charms, as I completed my run. The Hufflepuff and lightning-bolt girls were grossed out when I ran by with two naked men, tied facing each other, floating behind me."
At this point, Harry's story ground to a momentary stop, because this next part was where he may or may not have gone too far... "When I… got back to the castle, I remained silent, while I Disillusioned both myself and the two boys. I extended tendrils of my magic to surround the boys, so that they'd continue to feel bloodlust emanating from me and so that I'd be able to see them while we were Disillusioned. I also performed a Caecus charm to seal the boys' eyes shut, as we moved throughout the castle. It was a useful spell for the occasion, both because I didn't want them to learn the way to enter the Chamber of Secrets, and the fact that sensory deprivation is a well known torture technique."
With his mind involved in telling the story, Harry stopped walking to lean against a nearby windowsill. Soon enough, Fleur was leaning beside him and he was staring down at her feet. "When I arrived at the Chamber of Secrets with the Slytherin boys in tow, I had a hell of a time Conjuring the items to make it look like what I needed. I was aiming for medieval torture chamber, which was hard because I've never actually seen one before. The one I ended up making had all of the stereotypical horror movie torture devices you might expect, like suspended cages, an iron maiden, a wooden horse, a pillory, a few heretics forks, a breaking wheel and of course two torture racks facing each other. What came as a surprise to me was that it also contained an unbelievably massive Basilisk corpse. Apparently Basilisks take a long damned time to decay, because the poison they contain kills even the microorganisms that do the job. Either way, between the gothic creepiness of the chamber itself, the bones strewn everywhere, and the dead Basilisk, my job was made considerably easier. Nevertheless, I went all out. I Conjured violent tools of every variety, like saws, knives, pins, whips and chains. By the time I was done, the floor was littered with the stuff, as if I was a devout collector or a connoisseur of pain. Finally, to complete the image that I was looking for, I had Dobby splash animal blood from the kitchens all over everything, to make it look like it was a scene from a slaughter..."
"At first, I worried that since the two Slytherins were pureblood wizards, they might not understand the import of a bunch of purely physical torture devices," Harry admitted with a rueful quality to his voice. "I needn't have worried... Immediately after I ended the Caecus blinding spell on their eyes, the two Slytherins started completely freaking out. Well… I presume they were freaking out at least. I mean, hell… They were visibly trembling even through a full Petrificus spell... The boys were scared. They were really, really scared. I made it worse... I continued to pour cold, hate fueled malevolence into my aura, as I floated the two boys across the room and secured them to the torture racks. I made myself look positively gleeful about the whole thing, as if their ambush attempt had made my entire day. When I manacled them into their torture racks, I Jerry rigged the chains and pulleys involved so that the two boys were set in opposition to each other. If one of them pulled on the ropes holding them down across the length of their torture rack, they'd be painfully stretching out the arms and legs of their companion. It was a good way to sow division between the two of them without actually having to hurt them. I also used a Silencing Charm on their mouths so that they wouldn't be able to communicate when I finally released them from the immobility spell. Sure enough, when I finally ended the Petrificus spell keeping them still, the two boys immediately started pulling on their manacles, causing each other pain and discomfort, but no real injury to speak of. In less than a minute, the two silenced boys were staring daggers at each other and were pulling as hard as they could against their bonds…"
Leaning even further back against the window, Harry found himself looking up at the ceiling of the hallway and the way the sunlight revealed dust motes in the air... He couldn't quite make himself look at Fleur right now, and the cool glass felt pleasant on the back of his neck. He forced himself to continue his story… "By the time the two boys were done hurting each other for the moment and were panting for breath, I was making a big production of sorting through my 'tools.' I lovingly stroked the various weapons that I picked up as I meticulously sorted them by type, size and sharpness. I lingered on especially bloody tools as if fondly remembering the source of all the mess. I'm not proud of it, but I'm well aware that it was a masterful bit of acting on my part. I... looked… insane... When I finally spoke to the two boys, I channeled the tone and cadence of Hannibal Lecter from the movie Silence of the lambs in order to be as off-putting as possible. In a twisted, smug and self-satisfied voice, I told the boys that there was a reason why I'd grown over a foot in height over the summer. I told them that I'd found some very interesting reading material in Salazar Slytherin's archives. I explained in low, exultant tones, how I'd been stripping random and forgettable wizards of their magical essences 'the fun way' all summer long, and that I'd become fifty times more powerful as a result. The two boys believed me... and they pissed all over themselves as a result. I only nodded my head in response to that, as if I was used to seeing people pee themselves in fear. After patting my Basilisk corpse mascot goodbye, I left the two boys there for over eight hours. I went to all of my classes, all day, mostly to establish an alibi, and then I returned to the Chamber at the end of the day. The two boys had stretched each other until their wrists and ankles were raw, and they were babbling silently towards the ceiling like mental patients."
Suddenly losing his nerve, Harry paused in his storytelling to check in on Fleur. She was in very firm control of herself at the moment, and wasn't emoting anything at all. He was a little too cowardly to check her feelings in the bond, because he might end up never finishing his story and that would be unfair. Fleur needed to know what kind of guy she was getting involved with. She needed to know what he was capable of... For that reason, Harry continued his tale, without any idea how Fleur was feeling about it... "When I returned to the Chamber of Secrets, I covered the two boys in the same bloodlust aura that I'd used earlier in the day and then I ended the silencing spell on their voices. By this point, both boys were a hundred percent certain that I was going to perversely torture them to death and then rip away their magic. I was making it even worse for them, by projecting extreme violence and brutality through my shroud. As the two boys quivered from head to toe, I let the silence extend, twirling my wand in my hand in a casual and yet menacing fashion. Finally, after several minutes of just standing there in front of the boys, I severed the manacles holding them to the torture racks and let them slide down to their knees on the ground. As I moved in to within just a few feet of the boys, they both cowered and cried out in fear... and I knew that I was almost done."
"When I finally talked to my captive Slytherins, I spoke to them in a quiet and deadpanned voice," Harry concluded with a sigh. "I asked them if it was necessary for me to pay their families a surprise visit, such as the one they'd tried to give me. I asked them if they wanted me to collect their loved ones, so that they could all be together for the rest of their very short and painful lives. One boy completely passed out, and the other explosively voided his bowels. I immediately woke up the unconscious one with an Enervate spell, and they both started sobbing again. A minute later, when the timing was right, I told the two boys that as pissed off as I was about their attack on me, I usually didn't allow any connection between myself and my victims, because I don't want to link myself to a long string of disappearances… I told them that they had just one opportunity to survive my wrath… but… it came at a price. Over the next few minutes, I returned their wands to them, and they both gave me magically binding oaths. The oaths were to stay out of my affairs, refuse to speak about me, and never cause me any kind of harm, by deed, word, or omission. They were eager to do so, just as long as I made a normal promise to release them and leave their families alone."
With a heavy sigh, Harry looked at his upraised hands before dropping them back to his sides. "You know... Those boys were trying to kill me, and… I know it… Still... I'm not a fan of how cruel I was back then… Long story short, I caused both those boys seriously debilitating mental and emotional damage. They've both developed persistent, physical tics and stutters, startle easy, cower often, and fear essentially anything that reminds them of me. Nowadays, they both start trembling and sweating whenever I join them in even huge areas, such as the Great Hall, and I've very clearly ruined their friendship. They won't even look at each other anymore. I frequently wonder if there was a better way, but you can't argue with results. Allen Foremen and Daniel Baleman of Slytherin, will never be a danger to anyone, ever again. They're far too afraid of even their own shadows at this point, to be a threat to other people."
When he was finally finished telling his story, Harry bit his lip and waited. Fleur hadn't responded to his story… like, at all, and it was unnerving in the extreme…
For the entirety of Harry's story, Fleur had been desperately holding in her reaction, so that she could hear him describe it all without interruption. She couldn't even breathe anymore from the effort of it. Harry's story just went on forever and every... single… moment of it... was pure comedy gold. When her mate finally finished telling his story and was looking down at the floor with an adorable hangdog expression, she just couldn't contain herself anymore. She giggled, then she laughed, then she roared out, in a long series of laughs, full of honest to Gods joy, and for the life of her she just couldn't stop. She bent over, gasping for air, not just one but two snorts escaped her mouth, and she didn't give a damn. She thought she might hyperventilate again, because of Harry! She was mated to an apex predator badass of the highest caliber, and she loved him soooooo damned much!
Since Fleur was far, far beyond speech at the moment, she started sending Harry her intense love and satisfaction through the bond, so that he might feel her approval of his actions. Finally, after a solid minute of completely uncontrollable laughter, Fleur was able to calm down enough that she could successfully breathe again... Rising off of the windowsill, Fleur hemmed Harry against the wall and pressed her hands firmly against his shoulders. "Gods and Goddesses 'Arry… You are soooo scary sometimes. You physically did no lasting harm to those boys at all, and yet they are both scarred for life! Do you really wonder why there hasn't been any attacks on you since that day? Several students saw you floating around these two boys and now they're merely husks of who they once were!"
Very suddenly, Fleur flushed and groaned, as she became aware of what absolutely must happen now. "Oh my Gods 'Arry, we need to find some privacy right this very second!" Fleur had an extremely predatory expression on her face, and was giving Harry a very meaningful look.
Harry Potter: Unleashed: Uncensored - The Broom Closet - Chapter 19
"Broom closet," Harry brainstormed, as he recognized the look in his wife's eyes.
"Broom closet," Fleur agreed, while grabbing a hold of her husband's hand.
End Of Edited Scene
When Harry walked through the Entry Hall, on his way to lunch, it was with clothing, hair and a demeanor that was distinctly… ruffled. His clothing was hanging off of him just a little oddly, there was lipstick on his chest (almost but not quite completely hidden under his shirt) and his hickey was currently a very vibrant and healthy purple. He was also grinning like a loon, and he couldn't seem to stop himself…
Even using Occlumency, Harry simply couldn't stop the manic happiness that he was feeling from leaking into his expression, which, he knew, was exactly the point…
As he walked into the Great Hall, Harry's suspicions about how the lightning-bolts were going to react were almost instantly proven correct. Over the course of his trip across the Hall towards the Gryffindor table, all of these girls' noticed his arrival, at which point their jaws dropped into stereotypical gawking expressions. By the time Harry pulled out Fleur's chair for her, and then all but collapsed into his own, he was being watched by many, many young women with completely devastated expressions upon their faces…
Fleur, in a direct contradiction to the triumph that she was feeling in the bond, sat down next to Harry with all of her normal poise, grace and dignity, plus just the faintest of Mona Lisa smiles. After grabbing up his left hand, she pulled it firmly into her lap like always, and then settled in to eat.
When everyone at the table looked up from their food, they proceeded to unabashedly stare at Harry, as if he was a zoo animal. Selene, Hermione, Alicia, Katie, Angelina, Fred, George, Neville, Hannah, Cedric, Cho, Seamus and Dean, were all openly staring at him, and they all appeared to be completely mesmerized.
All of the sudden, the first people to react were the twins, who started giggling like they were ten years old again. They were sharing a moment between the two of them, and they rubber stamped it with a shared, perfectly timed, high five.
The girls at the table blushed almost immediately after that, because for once they were on the exact same wavelength as the twins.
Neville and Cedric just grinned and then tried to maintain their composure...
While attempting to act completely nonchalant, Harry started grabbing up some food, but he was interrupted, when out of nowhere, a protein shake popped into being with perfect comedic timing (Dobby enjoys the little things).
It was the protein shake that had Neville snorting out in a quick laugh and Cedric choking into his hands. Hermione gave Neville a betrayed look, but in the seconds that followed, she looked like she might begin laughing herself. Finally, the moment cracked like an egg, and every single one of Harry's friends started giggling like perverse little children. Not one of them would ever discuss this again, but they were all united in a moment of very juvenile amusement at Harry's expense...
After firming up the Occlumency containing whatever stray embarrassment he might be feeling, Harry just allowed the moment to flow over him like a wave. He was beyond human desire at this point in time, and about as close to zen as he could possibly become. Harry Potter had been through a sexual hurricane and he... looked... like... it.
Of course, that was the exact moment that Ronald Weasley decided he would try to make his public apology.
"Lord Potter, may I have a moment of your time?"
When an extremely surly voice loudly called out from behind Harry, he was so far gone, he didn't even think to try to straighten himself out. Harry just slowly and despite himself, sloppily turned around, and then leaned back against the table so that he could look up at Ron's face. "How may I help you Mr. Weasley?" Harry had been aiming to ask the question in a casual tone, but despite the fact that he hadn't injected any emotions into his voice, it somehow seemed to hold both extreme self-satisfaction and exhaustion...
Now, Ron Weasley has been described as thick, dozens and dozens of times by scores of different people. He's been described as having the emotional depth of a teaspoon and the observation skills of a mountain troll. It was essentially common knowledge at Hogwarts that he wouldn't know romance if it tap danced on his face... Which is why it was extremely telling that when Ron Weasley saw the state of Harry Potter, even he knew exactly what it was that he was looking at.
Ron took in Harry's disheveled state. He saw the hickey, he saw what appeared to be lipstick on his chest below his ripped open collar, and he saw his extremely relaxed and exhausted demeanor. Ron saw all of these not so subtle clues, and he came to the correct conclusion, for the very first time in his whole entire life. That was the moment when Ron Weasley began to lose his temper, as he is prone to doing. Ron started his tantrum by going several shades of red. Next he shook from head to toe with it, and his fists clenched tightly at his sides. Finally, he decided to express himself, the only way that he knew how…
"You right bastard," Ron yelled, all of the sudden, very loudly, and for the entire Great Hall to hear. "I will never apologize to you!"
Without even an instant's hesitation, Ron performed an immediate about face, and then he stormed out of the Great Hall in yet another massively undignified, hissy fit.
Harry was indeed winded at this point, but even in his current state, he did have some idea of what had just happened. After slowly turning around and squaring up towards his food, Harry slid his hand back into Fleur's lap. Belatedly, he looked up at everyone, only to find that they were all staring at him again. He softly cleared his throat, and then spoke in a low, calm voice, laced with just a hint of amused self-awareness... "Well now... I wonder what has our dear friend Ronald Weasley so upset?"
Harry's friends tried. Gods bless them, they tried, but not one of them had the mental fortitude to keep it from happening... Not even the ever classy Cedric could stop himself in that moment. His only saving grace was that Cho beat him to it. The entire group of them sat perfectly still for several moments, before they exploded into a helpless state of mad laughter. They were howling in it, and couldn't stop for several minutes. Tears were spilled, and knees were pounded. Most of them were blessing their new cardiovascular routines, because breathing was hard right now despite taking part in them...
When Harry and Fleur looked at each other, and then just shrugged, it somehow made the situation even funnier for everyone else. Harry and Fleur tucked in, and started eating lunch to a cacophony of mad, infantile laughter (in the end, Harry did drink the protein shake, because it was delicious). By the time his friends finally stopped their out of control laughing, Harry was over half finished eating his lunch and they all looked just as exhausted as he did.
When Fred and George slowly rose to their feet, George was the one who turned to speak to Harry. "It was all completely worth it, even if Ron ends up in debtor's prison..." Both brothers looked like they could laugh all over again, but they controlled themselves (barely) as they walked off. They had an enraged younger brother that they were going to have to reason with…
Again.
It was getting very old.
Now that most of the laughter had passed, Harry decided to change the subject. He turned towards Cedric, and he gave the boy a smile. "Have you given any thought about going to the interview?"
"Cho and I were sitting here so that I could discuss that with you. Then again... I might end up sitting here more often, if it's always going to be food and a show." Cedric smiled at Cho as she grabbed his hand in support. "I think I will come to the interview this afternoon, if I'm welcome. It would please my father."
"Of course you're welcome," Fleur replied, with a mischievous smile upon her face. "Eet ees 'Arry ere, hoo ees ze eenterloper. We are our school's champions."
Both Cedric and Fleur gave Harry shit eating grins, to which he just shrugged in easy surrender.
"Okay then. I'll meet you two at the gates in an hour," Cedric announced, as he finished eating his, now, rather cold food.
Contrary to what the general public thought, Reginald Harkenen of the Black Band Mercenaries had many resources and a rather large spy network scattered throughout all of Europe. For example, he had no trouble at all finding out through his local spy network that Harry Potter and his whore Veela had an appointment in Hogsmeade later that afternoon.
While it was very expensive to arrange, it wasn't difficult to gather a few hit-wizard squads at the last second… They'd be ready and in place to act while Harry schmoozed the media at the Broomsticks.
Reginald was going to make sure it was a memorable afternoon for everyone involved.
To Be Continued
Author's Note:
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