HPWW441-450
Chapter 441
As the witch slowly walked towards the door, Harry
slipped into her seat at the desk.
Croaker saw Griselda walk out and turned back. As
soon as he saw Harry sitting at the desk, he grinned.
"Bravo; Lord Potter!"
Harry just smirked back.
Croaker gave a nod and said, "Before I get into why
I'm here, do you mind if I throw up Unspeakable level
privacy charms?"
Harry thought about it only for a moment before he
replied, "No. So long as you do not cast any magic at
me."
"Only at the room," said Croaker.
Harry gave a nod as Croaker drew his wand once
more.
Less than two seconds later, he grinned at Harry and
said, "Since I've given you my oath I have no intention
of harming you, do you mind sending your house elf,
Dobby, away?"
Harry gave a snort of amusement and said, "Dobby.
Thank you. You've done your duty and you may go. I'll
call you if I need you."
Croaker waited a moment, staring into the corner to
where Snape's 'stool' used to sit. Then he gave a nod
and started casting again.
Harry watched and felt as the magics took effect. He
noticed as all the portraits of past Headmasters and -
mistresses either left their frames or simply froze in
place, the air became quite still and he believed he felt
a slight change in air pressure in his ears as well.
Once he was done, Croaker took a quick look around
before giving a single nod of satisfaction.
Resheathing his wand, he said, "No sound will leave
this room. No recording charms or similar will be in
effect; nor will any spying charms. We are secure."
"Alright," said Harry. "That's a great deal of security
for what I thought was going to be a chat. I take it
you're going to want an oath or similar at the end of
this?"
Cocking an eyebrow back, Harry thought the man was
showing surprise. "Good guess, but no. I'll be casting
a modified Fidelius on the knowledge with me as
Secret Keeper and you being given the knowledge."
"Hunh!" said Harry. "Clever. That way I'll have the
knowledge, but won't be able to speak about it."
"Nor can it be taken from you," said Croaker. "We're
more worried about that, than you giving it freely."
"How do you know I'm not immune to it?"
"We don't," replied Croaker. "However, when better to
test it than now?"
Harry chuckled.
Croaker gave that a moment before he said, "Now for
why I'm here." He donned a glove covered in runes
embroidered in with silk and drew a murky grey orb
out of his robes, together with a little wooden stand
for it.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
A little over an hour later, Harry left the
Headmistress's office.
After his 'chat' with Croaker and the Unspeakable had
cast his Fidelius, Croaker cast a messenger Patronus
that brought Marchbanks back to the office. When she
arrived he asked Harry to try to tell her about 'the ball'
he'd shown him.
When Harry couldn't, Croaker seemed satisfied. "As I
thought," he said. "That's because the secret is in
your soul; not your mind."
After saying goodbye, Croaker left via the floo and
Harry left via the door.
He wandered towards the Lords' Quarters, completely
not bothered about attending the last class of Muggle
Studies. He had a lot on his mind and needed to
mentally work through it.
Croaker had started the discussion by playing the
recording of the prophecy direct from the prophecy
orb. And told him the prophecy was, in effect,
complete. Then told him what the Department of
Mysteries had analysed it to mean.
He then told Harry about how the Unspeakables had
Dumbledore - that it was them, who kidnapped him
from the hospital - and how they were pumping him
for all the information the man held. He did not say the
old man was already dead.
"What do you plan to do with him once you've got
every piece of information out of him?" he'd asked.
"You do not need to worry about it, Lord Potter,"
replied Croaker. "The man will never bother you again.
You have my word."
The confidence of the answer was enough for Harry to
know the old man would be killed, or had been. So, he
didn't push it.
It wasn't learning the contents of the prophecy that
had him worried, either. It was finding out what
Dumbledore believed would happen during the Third
Task.
"The old man firmly believed that, irrespective of the
prophecy, Riddle sees you as his greatest failure. You,
or your mother, was the cause of his initial downfall.
For someone like Riddle, that cannot be allowed to
stand. Therefore, he will keep after you until either he
kills you, you kill him or someone else kills either of
you.
"That's where we, the Unspeakables, come in. Riddle
represents a true threat to the security of the
wizarding world. As such, handling him falls under the
purview of the DoM."
Then Croaker went on to explain Dumbledore's belief
Riddle would strike on the night of the Third Task. And
how that was the true reason Crouch had put his
name in the Goblet and confunded it to spit out his,
Harry's, name.
While that might not be the case, the Unspeakables
would still be ready for it.
Some time very shortly before the Third Task he
would be taken aside and a tracker embedded into his
skin. That tracker would have both apparation and
portkey co-ordinates, so the Unspeakables could get
to him within moments of anything out of the ordinary
happening.
That, at least, gave Harry some comfort.
"Once we're there, Lord Potter," explained Croaker.
"You just need to get the hell out of our way. We'll deal
with Riddle. Alright?"
Harry just nodded. He was too relieved to even voice
his affirmation.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Once classes let out, all the Heirs were quick to go up
to the Lords' Quarters and see Harry.
He was sitting on one of the sofas and still mentally
going through everything when Hermione came
running inside.
"Harry!" she exclaimed, throwing herself at him in a
Hermi-Hug of old.
After the hug she began to babble through her
multitude of questions, which Harry calmly waited out.
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Chapter 442
Finally she wound down and glared at him. "Well? Are
you going to answer my questions?"
"Are you going to give me time to, or are you just
going to ask one question after the other without a
pause between, just as you used to do before the First
Task?"
That was when Daphne walked in, much more calmly.
She didn't look happy.
"Hermione Jean Granger," she firmly said. "I know
you were anxious to return to see Harry, but that does
not excuse you running through the corridors of the
school like a small child loaded up on sugar!"
Hermione immediately blushed.
"Your conduct was completely unbecoming of a future
Lady of a Noble and Most Ancient House," Daphne
continued. "Have you not been told your behaviour
reflects on Harry?"
Harry looked to her and asked, "Is this true?"
"Yes," she quietly replied, looking down and ashamed.
Harry sighed and dropped his head into his hands,
"Hermione..." he whined, before lifting his head again.
"Look. I understand. But this... impetuousness, you
must get control of. Alright?"
Still not looking up she sadly nodded.
With a sigh he patted the seat on the sofa next to him
and said, "Come here."
As Hermione moved to obey, he turned to Daphne,
patted to cushion on the other side and said, "You,
too."
And Daphne moved to obey.
When he turned back he was just in time to wrap
Hermione in a hug as the girl sniffled in sorrow. "I
don't expect miracles," he said. "I just expect effort."
Releasing her, he sat back and said, "Now. I expect
both of you are very interested in what my meeting in
the Headmistress's office was all about, right?"
"Yes," both replied. But Daphne added, "If you're
willing to inform us, of course."
He replied, "I can't give you specific details because
the person who I met with, not Lady Marchbanks, has
locked it all within a modified Fidelius charm acting as
a secrecy charm. Think about it, I cannot speak about
them."
When he saw both understood he continued,
"However, in general terms, what we spoke about had
to do with the prophecy I was told about, my part in it,
Dumbledore and his part in it and even Tom Riddle's
part in it. Yes, he's involved.
"Issues like this are almost always handled by... those
people. It's one of their mandates. However,
Dumbledore got in the way of that and interfered. If
Dumbledore had done the right thing from the get-go,
there's a decent chance my parents would never have
been killed and Neville's parents would never have
ended up in Saint Mungo's."
As Harry explained what he could, Hermione settled
again. By the time he was finished, she was almost
back to being her usual self, just a tad bit less chipper.
"Oooohh... when I get my hands on that old man..."
she grumped.
"Errr... I want you to forget all about the old man,
Love," he said. "I do not believe we'll ever have to
worry about him again."
When she gave him a very direct, demanding look, he
sighed and said, "I... cannot tell you why I know that. I
just do."
"Then," she said. "We can tell Madam Bones that."
"No, we really can't," he said. "For two reasons. One:
we have no proof he'll never be seen or heard from
again. And, two: supposedly, Dumbledore is the only
wizard Riddle has ever feared. Just knowing
Dumbledore could turn up at any moment to deal with
him has, in the past, been enough to send Riddle and
his lickspittles running away as soon as people start
showing up to fight him."
"Ah!" said Daphne. "Of course. And, if it is learned
Dumbledore is gone for good, then, if Riddle does
come back as it appears he may, he won't have to
worry about Dumbledore showing up."
He nodded and said, "Which will lead to even more
people dying and, possibly, the Statute of Secrecy
being broken."
Once he finished, he suggested both girls go and
change before dinner. "I'll be doing the same," he
said, rising.
And they did precisely that.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Late that evening, Pettigrew was in a grungy pub in
Knockturn Alley called the Warlock's Curse and was
under a rune-based glamour. He was sitting in a
'discussion' stall at the back. It was the place where
dodgy deals were made. On his lapel he wore a small
gold pin of a snake wrapped around and through a
skull. It was not the same as the dark mark, but it held
the same components.
He'd been sitting there for almost an hour when
Lucius Malfoy walked in, looked for him and walked
over.
Barely acknowledging the once politically powerful
man, Pettigrew quietly said, "Lucius, take a seat." And
indicated the seat opposite.
Malfoy sneered and said, "I'll take your seat. Switch to
the other side."
Pettigrew gave a snort of amusement and moved to
take the seat he'd directed Malfoy to take.
Then, before he sat down, Malfoy cast detection
charms across the whole area.
Once both were seated, Pettigrew said, "I'll allow you
to erect the privacy charms."
Malfoy merely cocked an eyebrow, but still cast the
charms.
"Good," said Pettigrew. "Now we can speak freely."
With his wand still drawn, Malfoy turned it on
Pettigrew. "Who are you, to know that phrase?"
Knowing which phrase Malfoy referred to, the one
Voldemort told him to include in a letter he'd sent to
the man opposite, Pettigrew smirked and said, "The
one who gave it to you in the first place. He's back
and he wants to see you."
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Chapter 443
Malfoy froze on the spot. Though of pale skin already,
he still managed to turn even paler.
"He's back?" he quietly asked.
Pettigrew nodded. "And wants to see you."
He then slipped a small card out of his sleeve and slid
it across the table. It was the size of a muggle
business card. Though neither knew it, that's exactly
what it looked like, except it had no writing on it.
Instead, a pin similar to the one Pettigrew wore was
pinned through it.
"A portkey," said Pettigrew "It is timed to
automatically activate at ten minutes to the hour of
seven in the evening, tomorrow evening. You are to be
wearing it as I wear mine. No one else is to be in your
presence at the time. And you are not to be holding
your wand in your hand when it activates. Finally, you
are to speak of this with no one, not even your wife or
son.
"If you do not adhere to these instructions, your life is
forfeit. Do you understand these instructions as they
have been given to you?"
Sliding the card to himself, Malfoy nodded and quietly
said, "I do." His voice did have a little break in it,
though.
Pettigrew gave another single nod and started to slide
out of the booth. Just before he left, he quietly said,
"Pura regula." {Latin: Pure rule}
"Pura regula," muttered Malfoy. His mind was on other
matters, though. And his response was more of the
knee-jerk variety.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
When the other Heirs joined the Potter three, they
were all curious as to what had led to Harry being
called to the Headmistress's office. However, he only
told them that someone important from the Ministry
came to give him some important information that was
for his ears alone. Then apologised he couldn't share
due to secrecy charms.
All of them then dropped it, but Neville did later look
at Harry with curiosity.
Once they were sitting for dinner, Neville asked, "The
matter in the Headmistress's office. It wasn't because
you made the Ministry look like idiots again, with the
Second Task?"
Harry smiled and replied, "No. It had to do with why
Dumbledore has always had such a focus on me. It
was about why Dumbledore was doing all those
things over the past three years. They were tests for
me and those who were my friends."
Neville stared back for a few moments and said, "He
was testing you, why?"
"That's part of what I can't tell you, Nev," he replied.
"Sorry."
Neville just nodded and said, "If I ever get my wand on
him―"
Harry wanted to tell him he'd never get the chance,
but it was not his information to share just yet. First
chance he got, though; he would. But, he'd also try
and make sure his friend's parents were also there
when he did, as it was just as important for them to
hear.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The next evening, a few seconds past 6.50pm, Lucius
Malfoy appeared on a lawn before a dilapidatedappearing old tudor-style wooden manor-house
As he got his bearings, he heard a voice from behind,
"Good, you're here."
Spinning around and reaching for his cane, he froze
when he saw who it was. "Pettigrew?!"
"Lucius," smirked Pettigrew. "I certainly hope you
weren't planning on getting yourself killed by drawing
your wand from that cane."
Malfoy immediately pulled his hand away from the
grip, but didn't say another word.
Indicating the manor, Pettigrew said, "He awaits you,
inside. You are to lead and I shall follow."
Turning to look back at the old manor, Malfoy turned
more fully and began to walk up the slight incline of
the lawn to the main doors. While he was doing so, he
was making sure within his mind that all his secrets
he did not even want the dark lord to know were
locked behind as impregnable shields as he could
erect.
Voldemort had made no such requirement for Malfoy
to lead, but Pettigrew like the idea of Malfoy having to
succumb to his orders. It made him feel quite pleased
he was able to 'lord' it over the pompous prick.
Following the quiet directions from Pettigrew from
behind Maloy made his way through the manor, up the
stairs, down a hallway and told to wait outside a door.
It made his skin crawl, knowing a threat stood that
close behind him and he couldn't 'order' the man to
walk before him.
He could see the room he was directed to was one of
the few rooms in the manor that actually had lighting.
The flickering told him a fireplace was within, at least.
Before entering, though, Pettigrew quietly told him.
"Wait here." Then slipped past him, entered through
the door and quietly closed it behind him.
As Malfoy worked on controlling his breathing
through light meditation, he waited.
Seconds later, Pettigrew was back, opening the door
and gesturing him within. As he passed, Pettigrew
snatched his cane out of his hands.
Malfoy was about to snarl at him when Pettigrew
smirked back and said, "His orders."
Feeling somewhat naked without his wand, Malfoy
walked to where a large wing-backed padded chair
was placed, slightly turned to the fire. Next to it sat a
small occasional table with the top level with the arm
of the chair. There was no other furniture in the room.
'I'm expected to remain sta- no, I'm expected to kneel,'
thought Malfoy. He was glad he had the forethought of
placing cushioning charms on his knees.
Moving around the chair, giving it a reasonably wide
birth, he came before what he thought to be his fully
reformed master, with his head bowed.
'Kneel, Lucius," came the voice he had come to both
loathe and love. However, the voice sounded quite a
bit more sibilant and of a higher pitch than he
remembered from more than a decade past.
Malfoy instantly dropped to his knees, still looking at
the floor.
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Chapter 444
"Master," he softly said. "For many years I have
awaited―"
"Sssilencccce," the voice snapped.
He instantly obeyed.
A long moment later, the voice said, "You may look
upon me, my slippery friend. Look upon what I have
become."
Malfoy allowed his eyes to rise. Finally they were on
the small homonculus form. He was horrified.
"M-master!" he blurted.
"This is what I have become, Lucius," said Riddle.
"For me to regain my true form, I have already devised
a solution. It is already in play.
"First, though, tell me of what you have been up to
these past thirteen years. If I am unhappy with what I
hear... have no qualms, you shall be punished."
It was more than three hours before Malfoy was
'allowed' to leave. When he did, he could barely walk
from repeated Cruciatus curse exposure and had a
massive headache from repeated Legilimency attacks.
However, he also had his own task to complete. One
he both didn't know how to accomplish and thought
endangered his life so effectively he did not see a way
to survive it.
His biggest problem was how he could get into
Hogwarts with the dark mark on his arm. The dark lord
would not remove it and only smirked when he
claimed so. From the... man's... reaction, he expected
Malfoy to figure it out on his own.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
As the time to the March sitting of the Wizengamot
approached, on the Saturday before - the thirteenth -
Harry had already been alerted to a meeting of the
Alliance having been called, just as with the previous
month. This time it was being held at Bones Manor
and again during the afternoon.
The Heirs all trooped up to the Headmistress's office
and flooed direct from there.
One of the main items of business was the escape of
Dumbledore from auror custody. And Harry had to
firmly bite his tongue from saying anything. Just prior
to the meeting he told both 'his' girls that they weren't
to talk about it and both replied they wouldn't.
However, the full Alliance all agreed that, if
Dumbledore was spotted, Marchbanks would be
immediately alerted so that Harry's whereabouts
could both be confirmed and his security alerted.
It was during the meeting he also learned that his
personal protection had again been increased. But
their location would only be made known, even to him,
when he was away from the castle. He was also told
that same security was watching over both his girls
and Astoria, which allowed him to breathe a sigh of
relief.
He'd be willing to 'allow' it to continue if it meant his
girls and protectee were also protected. He knew there
was no risk to them from Dumbledore, but it meant
they'd be protected from Malfoy and his ilk as a 'side
effect'.
Because Daphne was now under concubinage with
Harry, it was Astoria who sat behind her father during
the meeting; even though that wasn't the case at the
previous meeting. Daphne was with Hermione and the
other 'ladies' in their own meeting.
Samuel told him after the meeting that her mother
insisted and Samuel admitted to not wanting to sleep
on the couch in his study for something so minor.
When Harry chuckled in amusement, Samuel said,
"Just you wait until it's your turn, Harrison. We'll see
who's laughing then." But, Harry was glad to see there
was no spite in the man's voice or expression when
he said so.
"You may rule the family, Lord Potter," the man had
added. "But, it is the ladies who rule the manor... and
the bed."
That shut Harry up. And it was Harry's subsequent
expression which caused Samuel to grin back.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Three days later and because there were no criminal
matters to deal with, Harry was able to stay later for
breakfast before making his way back to the
apartment to change into his Wizengamot robes.
By the time he was changed, classes had already
started; so he met no one on the walk from the Lords'
Quarters to the Headmistress's office.
Less than a minute after arriving, he was escorting
Lady Marchbanks - not Headmistress Marchbanks -
across the floor of the atrium to the security gates.
Again, he was immediately surrounded by aurors.
Almost snarkily, he said to Lady Marchbanks, "Look
how important the aurors consider you to be, My
Lady; to have all these strapping young aurors escort
you."
She cackled in amusement and gave him that little
arm tap she appeared fond of using. Only one of the
aurors, he saw, turned a smirk on him.
Harry had to admit, at least to himself, he loved
making the old witch laugh. Her laugh sounded like
the old crone witch that used to appear in Bugs Bunny
cartoons he very occasionally managed to get to
watch at the Dursleys.
That led him to thinking about them. He'd try to
remember to ask Madam Bones about the result of
that matter, when he had a chance.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
With no prior criminal case, Harry had settled into his
seat to wait the meeting out until it came to the
second reading of the Bill on Ministry inspections of
commercial sales of potions ingredients.
He'd spent a little time, here and there, writing down
his 'speech' as a speaker against. He even researched
how the Statute was first posited and implemented,
together with the why's. And included that, where
relevant, in his speech.
When it came time, he was surprised to discover he
wasn't that nervous at all. Daphne had told him he
wouldn't be if was prepared.
After the second reading, the Chief Warlock called for
a speaker against and Harry rose to be recognised. No
one else did. The looks of surprise on other faces led
him to believe no one thought someone would speak
against the matter moving to become a Statute; or, in
this case, an amendment to an existing Statute.
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Chapter 445
And Harry laid it all out for them. He spoke of the
reason for the Statute existing in the first place, the
arguments put for its implementation, even the
arguments that had been put against its
implementation. Then covered the period since the
implementation, including the significant drop in
hospital admissions from contaminated potion
ingredients, which showed the existing Statute was
effective.
However, he even covered how parts of the mover's
arguments were sound, in that there were procedures
that had arisen in the Ministry's handling of such
inspections that had become too onerous.
"Therefore," he said, coming to a close, "I understand
Lord Strickland's clear frustration with the current
inspections by the Ministry as they are, today, carried
out. Instead of scrapping or making significant
alterations to the existing Statute, as this Bill
demands, I recommend the Ministry inspectors,
themselves, have their procedures inspected and
audited toward better handling of such inspections
and, of course, corruption.
"Chief Warlock, House Potter thanks you for this
opportunity to present its views."
And sat.
The entire chamber was silent. It took a long moment
before the Chief Warlock said, "Errr... thank you for
those views, Lord Potter. Do I have a speaker for?"
In the end, the Bill lost. Strickland wasn't happy, but
another immediately suggested a motion to have
Ministry inspectors inspect the Potion ingredient
inspectors, 'as Lord Potter suggested'. The new
Minister was very quick to agree, without it needing to
go to the vote. That seemed to placate the older Lord.
This time, Harry was happy to hang back and speak
with other members, both about his speech and about
his views on other matters. His normal response was,
"As it is a busy time at the moment, perhaps I can
impress upon you the need to write down your
thoughts and owl me with them. I promise to pay them
due attention."
As Harry left, again escorting Lady Marchbanks, she
asked, "When you promised to pay matters due
attention, what did you mean by that?"
Harry smirked, mimicked opening a letter and said,
"Ah! From Lord Parkinson." Then mimicked screwing
it up into a ball and lobbing it. "Bin! That's rightful due
attention to something Parkinson wants."
Again she cackled, which had Harry grin.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
As soon as they returned to the castle, Harry was
about to leave when Marchbanks said, "Stay a while,
Lord Potter. Tea?"
Surprised, Harry gave a shrug and said, "Leave and
miss the chance to have tea with such a wonderful
lady? Perish the thought."
Again with the cackle.
As she called for an elf to serve tea, there came a
whoomph from the fireplace and Sirius stepped
through. "Hi!" he cheerily said.
"Sirius!" said Harry, laughing. In a stage whisper he
said, "I think Lady Marchbanks is trying to seduce me
with tea."
That had the woman laugh again, but also Sirius. Her
cackling was in great counterpoint to Sirius's barking
laughter.
"Don't ever change, Lord Potter," she managed to get
out.
"Score!" cried Sirius.
A moment later Marchbanks flicked her wand at him
and he was spitting up soapsuds.
The look of shock on his face had Harry laughing.
Meanwhile, their tea had arrived. Harry noticed four
teacups. 'We're waiting on one more?' he thought.
Harry cast a finite at his godfather, which had the
soapsuds vanish.
"Lady Marchbanks!" said Sirius. "Really?!"
"You deserved it," she smirked. "If not this time, then
another."
He seemed to think about that, as he moved to sit next
to Harry. "True," he muttered, as he sat.
There was another whoomph of green flame from the
fireplace and Samuel Greengrass stepped out.
"Aaaand, here comes the reason for the fourth cup,"
said Harry.
When Sirius gave him a funny look for the odd
comment, he smirked and pointed at the tea service.
Marchbanks, who saw it, looked for herself, grinned
and laughed, "Well spotted, Lord Potter!"
Once everyone was seated, Harry said, "Alright, Lady
Marchbanks. Perhaps someone can now come clean
as to why I've been shanghaied into a meeting?"
Watching it happen, Harry was quite shocked when it
was as if someone had doused everyone with cold
water. Mirth suddenly became serious business.
"An... issue has arisen," said Samuel.
'No kidding,' thought Harry. 'Your reactions told me
that.'
"Well, don't go casting about the forest, willy-nilly," he
said. "How can I help?"
"You?" asked Samuel. "What makes you... oh. Of
course. Why else would we have you in the meeting."
Harry just cocked an eyebrow back with a slight
smirk.
Samuel looked uncomfortable and not wishing to
explain. Sirius, however, did. But, even then, he didn't
get directly to the point.
"Harry, an issue has cropped up relating to what
happened during the Second Task," he said.
"What?" he asked. "Did Bagman decide he couldn't
live with the shame of being a daft moron and tried to
top himself? I say 'tried', because he probably
couldn't get that right, either."
That had Sirius give a snort of amusement.
"No, pup," he replied. "It has to do with the young lady
you rescued from the lake."
"Fleur?" he asked. "Is she alright? Did she suffer from
complications?"
Sirius sighed and said, "Yes, she's currently alright.
However, there were... are... complications... or, rather,
unforeseen complications because you saved her
life."
Harry frowned and held up a finger before tapping it
with the index finger of his other hand. "Point." Then
used that second finger to circle around the first from
above. "Sirius."
That had Marchbanks give a snort of amusement and
for Sirius to grin for a moment before the grin
disappeared from his face again.
Instead of then answering, Sirius looked at
Marchbanks with a pained expression.
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Chapter 446
"Alright," said Harry. "Now, I'm worried."
Marchbanks asked, "Lord Potter, what do you know
about Veela?"
"Always pretty, stacked in all the right places,
supposedly have something called an allure, which is
supposed to turn men into gibbering idiots," he
replied. "Doesn't work on me. Yet another mind magic,
I suppose; and I'm, therefore, immune."
Marchbanks sat back and said, "I'd forgotten you
claimed that immunity from magics of the mind. So,
it's true."
Harry just nodded back.
"No effect, at all?" she asked.
"I get slightly woolly-headed for a few moments, but
it's easily ignored," he replied.
"What do you think of her, Pup?" asked Sirius.
Harry thought about it for a few moments before he
replied, "When I first saw her, I thought she was a bit
of a haughty bi... errr, person. Then came the night of
the draw from the Goblet and, when I was sent into the
antechamber off the Great Hall, she called me a
'leeeetle boi'. I was right tempted to drop trou, point at
my groin and ask, 'Who you calling little?'."
That had Sirius and Samuel laugh. Even Marchbanks
appeared amused.
He continued, "After the First Task, though, she
voluntarily came over and apologised to me for her
behaviour and remarks. She was the only one who did
of the three. Hell, she's the only one who did of all the
students who treated me with contempt that three
weeks. She had my respect, for that.
"After that, I didn't interact with her for the remainder
of the time I was in the castle before heading for
Hermione's place. And didn't see her again until the
night before the Second Task.
"If I remember correctly, we talked a bit about the
Task, that night.
"Then I didn't talk to her again until after she'd woken
or been revived in the hospital tent after the rescue.
She was a lot more pleasant to me, then. And
Hermione and Daphne also seemed more comfortable
with her."
That had the three adults all look to one another
again.
Samuel said, "It is serendipitous you are immune to
her allure, Lord Potter."
Again, Harry frowned at how none of the three could
seem to get to the bloody point.
"Alright," he firmly said. "You've all set the scene;
now, please stop dragging your proverbial feet and
get to the point."
Samuel said, "I think I should be the one to start,
since I was the one who was first contacted."
That had the other two nod.
Looking to Harry he said, "As Lord Black mentioned,
there has arisen an... issue... that is related to you
saving the life of Miss Fleur Delacour, of-age student
and current Beauxbatons Champion of the Tri-Wizard
Tournament."
When Harry's frown at him deepened, he was quick to
continue, "As a... pardon me, but it's relevant...
magical creature, Miss Delacour and her magic are
more in tune and connected to magic that are we,
wizards and witches.
"If you were to give a vow on your magic, but not your
life, if you broke that vow you would be stripped of
your magic. However, at your age, the chance of you
dying from that loss is rather insignificant; unlike
someone of Griselda's age. And that's because you
are not sustained by magic. It's only an extension of
you.
"For Miss Delacour, however, she is a creature of
magic. If she was to give a similar vow and break it,
the loss of her magic would kill her. A vow on her
magic is also a vow on her life."
Confused a little, Harry asked, "She's given a vow on
her magic and it relates to me?"
"No. I was just using a vow as an example of how
intrinsic magic is to a Veela compared to a witch or
wizard."
Harry nodded and said, "Oh-kay... I get that."
"Good," said Samuel. "Because a Veela is more in
tune with magic, magic has a stronger effect upon
them. Its demands can be and are greater that it is for
normal witches and wizards."
He hesitated a long moment before he said, "That
leads us to last Sunday afternoon. I was contacted by
Jean-Paul Delacour about an issue that has arisen
relating to his daughter, Miss Fleur Delacour. And it is
related directly to you and your actions regarding her
at the Second Task."
"What?" pressed Harry. "Magic thinks she should
have died so it's killing her?"
"That's... not far off the mark," muttered Sirius.
"Not quite," said Samuel. "Because you saved her life,
magic has deemed she now owes you a debt."
"Greeeeaaat," sighed Harry. "How much does she
have to pay me?"
"No, Harry," said Sirius. "The debt is not a financial
one. Because you saved her life, in a way, her life now
belongs to you."
Harry was a long moment, attempting to parse that,
before he shot to his feet and bellowed, "WHAT?!"
None of the adults even reacted. Clearly, this was
expected.
"Harry," said Sirius, "Please sit down. There's more
you need to hear."
"MORE?!" he bellowed. "Is magic saying I must do
something with this young woman's life?"
"Lord Potter," said Marchbanks, quite sternly and
getting Harry's attention. She then pointed back at his
chair, jabbed her finger at it and commanded, "Sit!"
Harry glared back for a long moment before he said,
"No. Not yet. I need to be on my feet. It helps me
think."
As Harry began to pace behind the other two Lords
Samuel said, "In a nutshell, Lord Potter... from what
we have so far discovered... Miss Fleur Delacour of
the Venerable House of Delacour owes you a Veela life
debt."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 447
"She owes me nothing!" Harry snapped back. "I did it,
because it was the right thing to do!"
"And therein lies the problem," said Samuel. "You did
it simply because you could. You did it without
thought of what it could mean to you; how you could
benefit from it. You did it in a purely altruistic sense."
Confused again, Harry stopped and looked at Samuel.
"Hunh?"
"Harry," said Sirius. "Because you saved that young
woman's life, without thought of how it could benefit
you to do so, magic has deemed she owes a debt to
you."
Harry thought for another long moment, trying to
figure out how to get out of it. Eventually he asked,
"How do I... absolve her of the requirement to pay it?"
"You can't," said Samuel. "Magic has deemed it so."
In frustration, Harry threw his arms in the air and spun
about as if to leave, before spinning back and saying,
"Un-fffflipping-believable!"
Lowering his hands and carding his fingers through
his hair on the way down, he eventually sighed and
asked, "How does she pay this... debt."
Again, the three adults looked to another before Sirius
quietly replied, "We've checked. We've done our
research. There's only one way... two. Slave bond or
concubinage."
Throwing his hands in the air and stomping around
again, Harry exclaimed, "Oh! How... fffreaking...
wonderful! This poor girl is going to be forced to...
to―"
"Have sex with you," said Marchbanks.
Harry spun on the spot and stared at her. His
expression was one of horror. "No!"
"Harry―" started Sirius.
"No!" said Harry, cutting him off. "No... no... no... NO!"
Feeling himself starting to hyperventilate, he began to
pant as his chest felt tight and his heart felt as if it
wanted to escape through his ribs. "I... I gotta―"
He spun towards the door and began to run. Then...
blackness.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
When he came-to later, he was looking into the eyes,
up close and personal, of medi-wizard Robinson. And
he tasted the remains of a calming potion in his
mouth.
He was again sitting in the chair before Marchbank's
desk with both Sirius and Lord Greengrass beside
him.
"Yyyuck!" he said, trying to clear the taste from his
mouth by using his tongue to wipe all the inner
surfaces clean.
Robinson backed off a little and, with a smirk back,
said, "Nope. Medi-wizard Robinson; not 'yuck'."
Harry just gave him a filthy look, which only had the
man grin wider right back.
The man cast a couple of healer's charms on him and
said, "He's a lot calmer now. The developing panic
attack is gone."
Harry, who'd been thinking, moaned, "Oh, God!
Hermione's going to kill me!"
Confused, Sirius asked, "Why?"
Harry gave a slight snort of amusement and said,
"She always told me my 'saving people thing' was
going to get me in trouble, one day. Well, it seems that
'one day' is here."
With a sudden thought he sat up straight and said,
"Oh, Fleur! I forgot what this means to her! She... does
she know what this means?"
"Harry," said Samuel. "I think you need to know more
about what this means for a Veela; for Miss Delacour."
"I think I already know that," said Harry. "It means she
has no choice, whether she likes it or not, but to strip
naked, lie on her back, spread her legs―"
"Lord Potter!" barked Marchbanks. "You will not be so
crude in my presence!"
Harry cringed, blushed and looked sheepish. He
muttered, "Sorry, Lady Marchbanks."
"Harry, magic is not that cruel," said Samuel. "Yes,
Miss Delacour will have to... you know. But it will not
be like that for her."
When Harry turned an almost pleading look on him, he
said, "Her magic is urging her to do this. And, as she
is so in tune with her magic due to her heritage, this...
will not be unwelcome to her.
"Actually, it's been her recent behaviour which
triggered the investigation into what was discovered."
When Harry looked even more confused, Sirius said,
"She's pining for you, Pup. Apparently, you are about
the only thing she talks about of late. She wants to be
with you. She's driven to be with you... that way."
"Is there no way to free her of this... compulsion?" he
asked.
Samuel replied, "We've been searching for the past
few days to find a way. However, Lady Apolline
Delacour, her mother, gave us a couple of English
translations of a book on this very subject. The only
way for her to be free of this, is to die.
"Actually, if she doesn't... meet... the conditions of the
debt soon, she will die. But only after she first goes
mad from the unfulfilled need to... mate... with you."
"So," sighed Harry. "We have to have sex or she
dies?"
"It's more than that, Harry," said Sirius. "The bond is
for life. Yes, she has to have sex with you or she will
die. However, she will also die if she's not with you all
the way through life."
With the jerk of shock from Harry, Sirius was quick to
clarify. "I do not mean you have to keep having sex
with her over and over again, day after day. No; I
mean, she has to consider herself part of your family,
as mentioned before, like a concubine... or slave."
"Definitely not a slave," muttered Harry.
After it went quiet for a while, Harry said, "We have to
have a family confab. We need to get together with
Hermione... Hermione's parents... Daphne... You and
Adeline, Samuel... You, Sirius... Hell, even Fleur's
parents. Maybe they can explain it to Hermione and
her parents. I certainly can't! Can Fleur be there
without trying to jump my bones, or something? I'm
already thinking Wendell is immediately going to
clean his gun and sharpen his shovel, when he hears
about this."
Sirius said, "A family... confabulation... sounds like an
excellent idea, Harry. Good name for it, too."
Samuel said, "Hmm... Tell me when and where and I
think I'll have no problem convincing the Delacours to
attend."
"And I'll organise the time and place and the
Grangers," said Sirius. "I think my place can host this.
"Besides, I want to show my godson and his two
ladies what my new home looks like before they come
for a visit next summer."
After organising things a bit more, Harry left. He was a
bit reluctant, though; knowing what he'd be facing.
"Problem, Pup?" asked Sirius.
"Hermione," he sighed. "I... don't know how I'm going
to explain it to her."
"I will, as her magical guardian," he said. He turned
back to Marchbanks and asked, "Do I have your
permission to address family business with my
magical ward, Miss Hermione Granger, before I
leave?"
"You do," she nodded.
"Thank you," he immediately replied.
Rising, he walked with Harry out the door. "Come on,
Pup. Cheer up. What's the worst that can happen?"
"I don't know," replied Harry, as they walked out the
door. "But I'm sure Hermione will exceed even my
expectations."
As the door closed and they heard Sirius's laughter as
the two went down the stairs, Marchbanks smirked at
Samuel and said, "That went about as well as I
expected it would."
The hidden auror in the room immediately removed
her invisibility charm and said, "I'll need to alert The
Boss as to the change of circumstances relating to
Lord Potter."
"It won't happen for a while, dear," said Marchbanks,
unsurprised to find the young woman there, while
Greengrass was. "Two or three weeks, is my guess."
The auror nodded and said, "In that case I can hold off
on alerting her until shift change. However, I should
go catch up with those two." And indicated the door.
"Then go, dear," said Marchbanks.
The young auror quickly made her way out of the
office to catch up with Sirius and Harry.
"How long was she there?" asked Samuel.
"She came through the floo from the atrium a few
moments before I did," smiled Marchbanks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 448
As the time was for the lunch period, Sirius and Harry headed
directly to the Great Hall. Once there, they quickly found both
Hermione and Daphne and asked them to come up to the
apartment.
"Harry?" asked Hermione. "Has something happened?"
"We will discuss it in the apartment, Hermione," he firmly
returned. "Do not, at the moment, badger me on this. Please."
After being told off for forgetting herself and bombarding
Harry with questions after and on top of running through the
castle from Arithmancy to the apartment only a couple weeks
earlier, Hermione had definitely taken it on board and was,
again, trying to think things through before acting... or
reacting, in this case. She didn't press.
The walk to the apartment was in silence, with Daphne's only
sign of concern a slight beetling of the brow and Hermione's
was her customary nibbling on her bottom lip.
Once inside, Harry asked Sirius, "Could you tell the girls? I
need to get changed out of my Wizengamot robes."
"Thanks, Harry," Sirius snarked.
"Your magical ward," said Harry, as he walked to his bedroom
door. "Your responsibility to inform and educate her."
Harry took his time getting changed, but not into school robes.
He only had Potions after lunch and had already decided to
skive off it. This was too important a subject to leave it partly
explained.
When he came out, Sirius was explaining about Fleur's Veela
life debt to Harry. Harry stayed well out of it. Instead, he
walked into the small dining room and called for Dobby.
Soon, he had a bit of a scrumptious feast for a lunch laid out
before him.
He was just about to dig into it when...
"Harrison James Potter!" yelled Hermione.
With a sigh, he set his cutlery back down, rose from the chair
and walked back into the living room.
"Not my fault!" he quickly said.
Hermione was glaring at him while Daphne looked sad.
"You will do right by Fleur," Hermione demanded.
"I've been trying to get out of it," he defended.
"Then, stop," she said. "According to Sirius, if you don't allow
this to happen, Fleur dies."
"I know," he sighed. "But that does not mean attempts should
not be made to find a workable solution. I... am furious... that
saving Fleur's life has put the poor girl in this predicament."
Hermione turned to Sirius and asked, "Do you have a copy of
that book?"
Sirius pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to her. "I
expected you to ask for it."
Accepting it, Hermione said, "Daphne and I will read this, then
pass it on to Harry to read."
Sirius nodded and said, "In the meantime, both Lord
Greengrass and I will continue to search our own family
libraries for anything that may head this off without the young
lady losing her life in the process."
Harry offered, "Search the Pottermore library, while you're at
it. You have my permission."
"Will do, Pup," Sirius replied.
Harry was watching Daphne and could see how glum she was.
"Daphne?" he asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"
She was hesitant to reply, but eventually did. "If Fleur
Delacour becomes your concubine, where does that leave
me?"
"Nothing changes for you," said Harry. "There is no limitation,
under law, for me only being allowed one concubine. If
anything, because the Venerable House of Delacour is located
in France, it changes nothing with regards to bloodlines."
That had the blonde clearly relieved.
"You do not need to worry about that, Daphne," he said. "I
made a promise and I will, come Hell or high water, honour
it."
"Why aren't you in school robes?" asked Hermione.
"I'm skiving," he firmly replied. "I've just had one hell of a
shock. Please don't hold it against me."
"Hermione," said Daphne. "He's right."
Hermione huffed and said, "Fine. I'll collect and collate for you
notes for the classes you missed and any details about
assignments."
"Thank you," he said. "Now, I haven't eaten yet. So, I'm going
back into the dining room to eat what Dobby's laid out for
me." And put actions to word.
After a tour of the apartment by Hermione, Sirius left a little
while later. His final words were, "We may have to ask
Headmistress Lady Marchbanks to provide a four bedroom
apartment for you."
"Not 'may'... 'will'." Harry firmly replied.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Harry didn't hear anything back about Fleur, or anything else
of specific note from outside the castle, until the next
Thursday. Then he and his two ladies were told to make ready
for a meeting on Saturday afternoon, after lunch, away from
the school. Again, they'd be using the floo in Marchbanks's
office to travel.
When that time arrived, the three were dressed quite well for
lunch, with all three dressed in smart upmarket wizarding
casual. The rest of the school noticed.
Once lunch was finished, Harry gave Marchbanks a nod and
she gestured them up to the head table to her.
As they arrived there, she quietly said, "You know what the
password is to get into my office. I can trust you will simply
pass through and touch nothing that doesn't belong to you?"
"Of course, Headmistress," all three replied.
Sitting back again, she made 'shoo' gestures and a little louder
said, "Off with you, then, dears."
Five minutes later, they were stepping out of the floo into a
very tastefully decorated welcoming room that appeared to
double as a small library.
Sirius and Remus both walked in with wands drawn.
As soon as both groups saw each other, wands were
resheathed and hugs were exchanged. Even Daphne found
herself shocked by being suddenly grabbed by Sirius and
dragged in for a hug. After first rolling his eyes at Sirius's antics
Remus only smiled and shook her hand after Sirius released
her.
"Now," said Sirius, rubbing his hands together in glee. "I asked
for you three to come a little earlier so I can show you each
your rooms I've set aside for you."
Spinning about and starting to walk back to the door, he called
over his shoulder, "This way!"
Remus just gestured for them to follow Sirius and then
brought up the rear.
They were shown Hermione's room with attached ensuite
first, as that was the first they came to. But, instead of
heading back out, Sirius led them to another door on the side
wall furthest from the stairs.
After opening it, he gestured them all through. "And this is
Harry's room!" he happily declared.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 449
It was decorated exactly as Harry ordered. White
ceiling and cornices, cream coloured walls and dark
red wooden furniture. It also had a red and gold
comforter on the queen-sized uncanopied bed. And
the ensuite was in plain white walls with cream
fixtures.
He then led them to a door opposite the one they
entered through and Sirius said, "And, finally, this is
Daphne's room. It was in a more 'wizarding' style, with
lots of green and silver. Both Harry's and Hermione's
were in 'muggle' style.
Standing in Daphne's room, Harry said, "Sirius;
they're brilliant! Thank you!" And gave the man
another hug. Hermione and Daphne, not to be
outdone, also gave him hugs; with Daphne a lot more
eager to do so after discovering she had her own
room.
Sirius was beaming in happiness at all three.
Daphne turned to Harry and said, "Don't even think
about using that door between your and my room until
I'm ready, either."
"Or the one between ours," Hermione was quick to
add.
"Take a look," said Sirius, indicating the door in
question. "Double locks; one for each side."
Both girls checked them out, before turning back to
Sirius and again saying, "Thank you."
Sirius nodded and said, "Now, let's go and explore the
rest of the house." He cast a quick Tempus and
added, "We've still got ten minutes before Hermione's
parents turn up."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After trooping right up to the attic and down to the
basement, with Sirius pointing out his and Remus's
rooms; together with what other rooms were for,
including guest rooms; they returned to the
welcoming parlour - as Sirius called it.
Their tour included the actual library, which was about
ten times larger than the few shelves on the wall
cases in the welcoming parlour would at first indicate.
Right on time, Wendell and Monica stepped out of the
floo into the room. Harry was just a bit miffed they
were so much more elegant at it than his own stillslightly-stumbling on occasion efforts. Surprisingly,
both were wearing 'wizarding casual'.
Hermione was quick to give a little girlish squeal and
dash forward to give her parents a long hug each,
before Harry stepped forward to hug Monica and
warily shake Wendell's hand.
"It's good to see you both," he said to them. There
was only a little trace of nervousness in his voice.
"Relax, Harry," said Monica. "Sirius has given us
some idea of what's going on. He also made sure to
tell us you aren't at fault in this.
He gave a nod of relief before turning to indicate
Daphne. "Wendell, Monica, this is Daphne of the
Noble and Ancient House of Greengrass. She is the
young lady who has found herself in a concubine
agreement with me and under my protection."
Turning to indicate the Grangers, he said, "Daphne,
this is Doctors Wendell and Monica Granger,
Hermione's parents."
As they exchanged greetings, with Monica
comfortably drawing Daphne into a hug and shaking
Wendell's hand, Harry breathed a slight sigh of relief.
It was easy to see that neither Granger parent was
disapproving of her.
Sirius said, "Remus, would you mind escorting our
guests to the formal dining room while I await the rest
of our guests?"
Remus gave a slight head nod and said, "Of course."
Then he turned to the Grangers, gestured to the door
and said, "This way, please, folks."
Everyone, bar Sirius, followed him out.
They didn't need to go far, though; only to the room
next to welcoming parlour, the formal dining room,
where things had been set up to meet and talk.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
While they were in the formal dining room with its
sixteen-seater table and chairs, no one sat. They
stood in a somewhat circle and chatted. Except for
Harry's short time speaking with Wendell at the
February session of the Wizengamot, it was the first
time in two and a half months Hermione and Harry had
a chance to speak in person with Hermione's parents.
And they didn't want to waste it.
Harry was also pleasantly surprised how well Monica
and Daphne seemed to get along so quickly. But, even
Wendell was easily opening up to her. Mind you, once
away from other Slytherins except her sister and
Tracey, Daphne was quite the emotionally open young
lady.
After a couple minutes, Monica dragged Hermione and
Daphne away for a quick 'girls talk', leaving Harry and
Wendell to talk one-on-one. Remus had already
returned to the parlour to await the next guests with
Sirius.
"I'm sorry about this, Wendell," sighed Harry.
"For what?" asked Wendell. "Rescuing a young lady,
who would have drowned if you hadn't acted as
quickly as you did?"
"If I'd known a life debt would have been the result―"
he began.
"You still would have acted," Wendell firmly cut in. "It
is in your nature to help others, Harry. From what
Monica and I have come to understand, the life debt
would not have been created if your intent was
untoward."
Harry sadly nodded and said, "Yeah. But, if I had
known about it, I could have done something that
would have made it so the debt would not have been
created. Had evil thoughts, or something."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 450
Wendell chuckled and said, "Somehow, from my
limited understanding of magic, I do not think trying to
fake your intent would have worked."
Harry gave a slight shrug and said, "I still think it is
unfair for Fleur to be forced into this... arrangement."
"And what about you being forced into this
arrangement?" asked Wendell.
"I'm not," Harry replied with a firm shake of his head.
"It will not harm me if I do not go ahead with this."
"But it will harm her if you don't, right?"
"Yes," he sighed. "I'm told it will slowly start to drive
her mad, before it finally kills her."
"And that means you are forced into this
arrangement," said Wendell. "You would never allow
that to happen when you could prevent it; such as this
case, right here. As I said, it's in your nature."
That had Harry thinking over the man's words. It didn't
take him very long at all to figure out he was right. He
did nothing wrong and, even if he'd known about
Veela life debts, he'd have still done everything
exactly the same. He couldn't not.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Once the Greengrasses arrived escorting the
Delacours; with Fleur also, surprisingly, in
attendance; they sat down at the table. No one,
though, really knew where to start.
Harry looked to a very nervous Fleur and said, "Fleur,
I'm really sorry this has happened."
Surprised, Fleur shook her head and replied, "Not
your fault, 'Arry. It is... magic... taking its due."
"It's still very unfair on you," he quietly said.
"For Veela, this 'as always been a... risk," she replied.
"I do not... begrudge that."
He nodded and turned to Sirius. "Sirius. Find
anything?"
"A lot, but nothing that will get Miss Delacour out of
this with her life," replied Sirius. "And that includes
the library at Pottermore."
When Harry turned to Samuel, the man replied, "Same
as Lord Black, I'm sorry to say."
Harry sat back and carded his fingers through his hair.
Finally he sighed and said, "I cannot... will not... just
sit back and let you die, Fleur. I just can't.
"What do we... I... need to do to make this work?"
There was a very slight pause before Fleur
immediately broke down, sobbing. Her mother, sitting
to her left, immediately wrapped the girl in her arms.
Her father, sitting to her right, slumped slightly and
looked at Harry with gratitude. Clearly heartfelt, he
said, "Merci, Lord Potier. Merci. Thank you for my
daughtair's life."
Trying to make light of how the older man's words
made him a little uncomfortable with his clear
gratitude, Harry said, "Well, I couldn't just let her die
when I went to so much trouble to save her from the
lake, could I?"
The comment at least earned him a couple of smiles,
albeit weak ones.
Sirius spoke up. "Though it's kind of pointless," he
said. "I'll contact Ted Tonks, Law wizard of Record for
the House of Potter, so he can draw up a set of
concubine contract documents. At least, that way, no
one from outside this group can question it."
Harry nodded to him and said, "Thank you, Sirius.
That would be appreciated." Then was lost in thought,
for a few moments.
"Something has been bugging me," he said. "How is it
that medi-wizard Robinson wasn't also, or either, the
individual targeted by the life debt?"
"Becuz it wuz 'is duty, as a... medi-'ealer, to werk 'ard
to safe my... Fleur's life," replied Apolline. "'Is oathsworn duty... exempted 'im."
"Whereas, I had no such obligation," nodded Harry.
"Thank you. I understand better now."
Looking around, he asked, "Is there anyone who has a
problem with this? Now's the time to speak up. If you
want to speak privately, we can do that too."
All he got back were head shakes in the negative;
though there were a few sad faces.
Looking back to Jean-Paul first, he then turned to
Apolline and asked, "When will Fleur... I mean... how
soon―"
"The soonair zee bettair," she replied. "'Owevair, eet
weel need to be within zee next couple of weeks. In
zee meantime, eet would be best eef she wuz to move
een weeth you, 'Er-my-onee and Daph-nee as zoon as
eez possible.
"Zee closair she ees to you, zee more she weel be
able to control zee... urge."
"It's just that... ummm―" he tried before his blushing
got away from him.
"You are not ready for... zat," said Fleur, who had
managed to get herself under control again. "I know."
When he gave her a curious look, she gave a watery
smile and said, "It is part of being Veela, 'Arry. We can
tell when we are... physically close."
He smiled back.
"Nice to know," muttered Wendell.
Harry knew to what he was really referring; he and
Hermione.
"What about schooling?" asked Hermione. "You're in
seventh year, right?"
"Eighth," she replied. "However, it is zee same as your
seventh year. It is my final year."
"Yes," nodded Hermione. "Surely, it is far too late to
consider switching schools. I, for one, don't want you
to miss completing your education."
"Neither do I," agreed Harry.
"I will arrange for French tutors for 'er," smiled JeanPaul. "I do not believe your 'eadmistress, unlike
Dumbledore, would refuse."
"No, I don't think she will," agreed Harry.
Sirius said, "I'll ask Griselda... Headmistress Lady
Marchbanks... to move these three into a four
bedroom apartment in the Lords' Quarters, where
they're currently in a three bedroom apartment. It
won't take her long to achieve."
"Then that just leaves a date," said Harry.
"It can be today, Lord Potier," said Jean-Paul. "We
already haf Fleur's... effects with us. Anything elz she
might need, can be zent. I would not like to see my
daughtair in pain for one day longair."
"Wow; okay," said Harry. Turning to Sirius he said,
"Can you contact Headmistress Lady Marchbanks
now?"
Sirius gave a nod, rose and said, "On it," before he
walked from the room.
Harry then turned to Hermione and Daphne to see how
both of them were handling it. By the expressions on
their faces, a lot better than he was.
When he turned back to Fleur he said, "I'll tell you the
same thing I told Daphne and Hermione already knew.
Believe me when I tell you, this does not mean you
have to say goodbye to your family. If anything, it
means your family just got a great deal bigger.
"I expect you to remain in contact with them to let
them know how you're doing. If you don't and I get
letters of worry from them, I shall be cross with you. I
also expect them to remain in regular contact with
you.
--------------------------------