HPWW451-460

Chapter 451

"My only other rules are: You must never do anything

that brings discredit upon the Houses of Potter or

Black; or me, personally.

"Next, you must never let a problem fester between

us. If you have an issue relating to our 'family', I

expect you to bring it to me... us... so we can discuss

it and try to solve it, together.

"And next, we have two house elves at the castle with

us, plus others at Potter properties. We three treat

them as family and friends. Mistreating them is one of

the fastest ways to really upset me."

Fleur nodded along and said, "I understand. Thank

you for telling me."

Two minutes later, Sirius walked back in and said,

"She organising it now. It'll be the apartment at the

end of the hallway in the Lords' Quarters. She said

there's only the one four bedroom apartment and it's

the end one."

He then paused and thought a bit as he sat. Finally, he

had a bit of a confused look on his face and said,

"When I tried to explain about why Harry needed it,

she actually laughed at me and called me an idiot."

Harry chuckled and said, "That's because you were

treating her like an idiot, by trying to tell her why we'd

need a four bedroom apartment. She already knew

why, remember?"

Sirius had the grace to look a little sheepish. "Oh,

yeah." A moment later, his eyes widened in alarm and

he said, "Now I have to add a room for Fleur on the

Potter floor, here!"

Harry grinned and said, "I'm sure you'll figure it out.

It's not as if you're skint for room here. And you've got

over three months before Hogwarts breaks for

summer."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

When the Potter three returned to Hogwarts in more

than enough time to first return to their apartment

before dinner, they went as the Potter four. Fleur and

her parents joined them.

Stopping with the Headmistress for a while, where

Jean-Paul filled out and signed for his daughter to

transfer to Hogwarts but be taught by private tutors,

Marchbanks reminded them Fleur would need a set of

Hogwarts uniforms.

"You have my permission to come up, tomorrow

morning, to floo to Diagon Alley to be fitted," she told

the four. "You'll need them to be Sorted and sorting is

mandatory, even if you'll be undergoing private

tutoring."

Then Harry and his two - his first two - escorted the

Delacours up to the Lords' Quarters.

Once there, he led them down the hallway to the end,

where stood a lone door with the number '11' upon it.

Remembering the procedure, he soon had himself and

the three girls cleared for direct access and opened

the door.

Inside, they were immediately greeted by Dobby and

Betsy; who, on seeing they had company,

bowed/curtseyed and greeted them in welcome.

The living room was wider and longer, there were now

eight doors coming off the room, the dining room was

larger, the table now sat eight with three each side and

one each end and the kitchen was bigger with more

storage. However, the office was about the same size

as were the bedrooms, there was just one more of the

latter.

Harry learned he had the 'Lord's' bedroom on one

side, while the three girls had bedrooms side-by-side

opposite. It was easy to tell which was Fleur's

bedroom, as it was the one that wasn't already

containing unpacked personal effects.

As soon as they saw that, Daphne turned to Fleur and

said, "Give your effects to Betsy and she'll put them

away for you."

It was Apolline who drew them out of her pockets in

shrunken form and the elf popped away with them.

"So, Fleur," asked Harry. "Do you think you can be

comfortable here?"

She smiled back and immediately hugged him. "Yes,"

she quietly replied. "Thank you."

When she backed away a little, he smiled and said,

"Did you know your French accent is disappearing?"

"You're only just noticing that now?" asked Hermione.

"We noticed that at the Second Task," said Daphne.

Harry blushed a little and said, "I... had my mind on

other matters?"

"Or you weren't paying attention," said Hermione.

"Hey!" he whined.

The Delacours watched on, amused, and relieved by it

all. Here was a 'family' that were happy and

comfortable with one another.

"Right," declared Harry. "I'm going to go prepare

snacks for an afternoon―"

"Ah-hmm!" coughed the slightly high pitched voice of

Dobby, interrupting.

When Harry whirled to where he heard the voice, as

did everyone else, he saw Dobby standing there with

his arms folded and the hand of the 'top' arm pointing

the index finger at a large afternoon tea serving on the

coffee table.

There was a large pot of tea, half a dozen cups, plates

of little quarter-cut sandwiches - just as Harry liked

them - plus sugar, milk, etcetera.

"Do-obs!" he whined.

"Master Harry be entertaining," snipped Dobby.

"Master Harry be lettings Dobby and Betsy be doings

elf work when Master Harry be entertainings. It be the

rules!"

Before Harry even had a chance to argue back, Dobby

had already popped away again.

"Damn it, Dobs!" he said the air.

Jean-Paul stuttered and tried, "Errr... Signeur... I mean,

Lord Potier―"

Hermione, giggling, cut in and said, "Jean-Paul."

When Jean-Paul turned to her, she said, "Harry loves

cooking. Dobby and he have different views on just

who should be doing the cooking. Don't worry about

it."

Harry grumped, "The ratfink little hobgoblin won't let

me cook."

When the Delacours could see both Hermione and

Daphne were trying to stifle laughter and were

snickering behind hands, they didn't push it. They

understood it wasn't their place and a demonstration

of something they were unaware of was happening

before them.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

After afternoon tea and the two adult Delacours left,

Harry was trying to figure out something to do when

Hermione and Daphne grabbed Fleur.

Hermione told Harry, "Us ladies are going to talk for a

while. It's Saturday. See if you can convince Dobby to

let you cook dinner."

Harry's eyes widened as he froze for a moment before

he suddenly ran for the kitchen, yelling, "I'm cooking

dinner tonight, you little mongrel!"

Fleur, stunned, was dragged into her room by Daphne

and Hermione.

As soon as they were inside with the door closed,

both Hermione and Daphne practically howled with

laughter as Fleur seemed totally confused.

The first to calm down, as she was more used to it,

Hermione said to Fleur, "Harry's relationship with

Dobby is... odd. But, it works. You'll come to

understand why it does in no time at all."

Still confused, but willing to learn why, Fleur asked,

"'Arry likes to cook?"

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Chapter 452

Hermione replied, "Harry is a very good cook; or, as

he prefers, chef."

Daphne tried to explain. "Dobby sees his role as

'servant', as would be considered proper. However,

Harry sees Dobby's role as 'friend'; a friend who

insists on waiting on him hand and foot.

"Now, Harry is okay with Dobby waiting on him. But,

he also thinks the elf overly-mothers him.

"Then there's specifically the cooking issue. Harry

loves to cook. It relaxes him. However, Dobby sees

that as house elf work; and Harry doing it, to him, is a

sign he is not being a good enough house elf for his

'master Harry'."

Fleur thought about that and then asked, "Then why

does 'Arry not dismiss 'im?"

"Because, as Daphne said, Dobby is also his friend,"

replied Hermione. "And Harry would never fire Dobby,

as he knows how it would make Dobby feel and how

he'd be treated by the house elf community."

Hermione walked over to the door, cracked it open

and peeked outside. She could hear what sounded

like a Happy Harry in the kitchen so softly closed the

door again.

Looking to Daphne she said, "He must've won his

argument with Dobby. He's happily working in the

kitchen."

Daphne smirked and said, "You mean, Dobby let him

win the argument and has decided to step out of the

way to let his master work."

That had both girls snickering again.

"'Arry does not know his 'ouse elf does that?" asked

Fleur.

"No," said Hermione. "It's part of the dynamic of the

relationship between Harry and Dobby. Everyone else

knows Dobby could simply take over at any time; but,

we all let Harry think he's getting one over on Dobby.

It's good for him and their relationship."

"Now, between us girls―" said Daphne.

And the light-heartedness was gone from the room

within a moment.

"Hermione and I, as does Harry, know what you need

to do with Harry because of this life debt," she

explained. "Your mother sent a book over and

everyone that needs to know about this now knows."

Fleur nodded.

"The first thing you need to know is..." said Hermione.

"Harry's a―"

"Vierge," added Fleur. "Virgin. Yes, I know."

While both Hermione and Daphne were a little

embarrassed by the topic, Fleur didn't even bat an eye

at it.

"As are you two," she said, glancing between the two.

Both, blushing a little more each, just nodded back.

"Yes, well," said Daphne. "Hermione is nearing the

point when she'll be ready to take that step in her

relationship with Harry; as is he with her. But, until we

learned about the life debt, that step was still... likely...

a couple months off."

Fleur nodded.

Hermione tried, "How soon do you need... with Harry."

Instead of answering directly, Fleur thought about it

for a moment before she replied, "You and 'Arry wish

to be each others 'firsts', no?"

When Hermione nodded, she continued, "Then I must

ask you to... 'urry that up... a lot."

Hermione sighed and asked, "By how much? Lay it

out for me, girl."

"Now that I am here and am nearby, now that I can

sense that 'Arry is not ready, no more than a...

month?" she replied. "'Owever, it would be much safer

and less stressful if it could be within the next

fortnight - two weeks. Sorry."

"No," sighed Hermione. "Never believe we feel this is

your fault; because, we don't. None of us do. As such,

you have no reason to apologise for it."

Daphne added, "All the people you met at Lord

Black's place earlier all understand you are even more

of a victim here than anyone else. No one holds you in

any way culpable."

Fleur could only sadly nod. She was full of gratitude;

not just for Harry accepting her, but these two ladies

also.

"You two are as wonderful as 'Arry," she quietly said.

That led to a three-way group hug.

A little while later, Daphne had her own confession to

make.

"I know that the original plan for me to become

Harry's concubine is to only protect me and House

Greengrass from... those putting pressure on my

father," she said. "However... Hermione, I have already

decided I do not wish to activate the escape clauses."

With a light smile, Hermione replied, "I didn't think

so."

"You know what that means, right?" Daphne pressed.

"Of course," she replied. "You will do, willingly, what

Fleur has to do, imperatively."

"Sleep with Harry," she firmly said.

"Have sex with Harry; unprotected sex," said

Hermione. "And, yes, that will probably include

sleeping."

Shaking her head slightly, Daphne said, "I don't want

it just to be for... procreating. Understand?"

"Daphne," said Hermione. "Believe me; I understand."

Relieved, Daphne nodded back.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Over in the kitchen, Harry was working on dinner that

night. Dobby had gotten for him a decent sized beef

roast and he was planning on steam-poaching it,

rather than roasting it, in a covered large pot in the

oven. That is, instead of laying down a decent swipe

of lard in the bottom of the baking tray, he wiped down

a very thin layer of pure olive oil, just enough to coat

the bottom, then upended a litre of water into it and

finally laid the roast in and on a slightly elevated rack,

before covering it with the lid.

With that cooking, he moved on to preparing the

vegetables. He'd be roasting the potatoes, sweet

potatoes, carrots and baby onions in with the beef

once the water boiled off a little; but be steaming the

corn, garden peas, broccoli and cauliflower. Later,

he'd make cauliflower cheese sauce and the beef

gravy, but that was a while off yet.

Next, he moved onto the soup starter dish. Expecting

a full-house sitting at their 'new' eight seater table -

Fleur brought their group up to eight - he knew he'd

need to probably also make an entrée. For that he

made a simple tomato soup with ground herbs for

flavouring. Dobby was 'allowed' to blend the tomatoes

right down to a smooth consistency and grind the

dried herbs into a powder. For richness and fullbodiment he added a little skim milk powder, rather

than water.

For desert he went with a cake. Cakes were always the

foodstuff of celebrations - such as weddings,

birthdays, graduations, etcetera - so he decided to

bake an extravagant cake to welcome Fleur to their

'group', in general, and the Potter household, in

particular. He went with a chocolate mud cake; always

a favourite. And added a thick hot chocolate sauce for

going over the top of it, something like an upside

down pudding.

He'd been working for about an hour when he first

noticed all three of his 'ladies' were sitting on stools in

the corner and quietly watching him and Dobby

working. He just grinned at them before turning back

to what he was doing; madly mixing the ingredients

for the cake.

Knowing they'd been spotted, Hermione called out,

"Chocolate cake?"

He called back, "Not telling you! It's a surprise for

dessert!"

"Have you let the others know that dinner is still on

tonight?" asked Daphne.

That caused Harry to pause. "Errr―"

She gave a little huff and said, "I'll organise contacting

them, so they know." And hopped off her stool.

"Tracey too!" he called back. "Us four, Neville and his

two and her makes eight. And we've now got a proper

eight-seater dining table."

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Chapter 453

Unknown to him because he was already focussed

back on beating cake batter, she rolled her eyes at

Hermione and walked out of the room. Hermione just

grinned at Fleur. Fleur, however, was simply amazed

at what Harry was doing and was watching him in

action.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Dinner was as good as ever and Fleur was amazed at

how wonderful all the food tasted. With Harry sitting at

the head of the table, Hermione sat to his left while

Fleur sat to his right. Daphne sat next to Hermione in

the middle with Susan to her left. Neville sat at the

foot with Hannah on his left and Tracey sat between

Hannah and Fleur in the middle and opposite Daphne.

With the slightly larger dining room they all had a bit

more room and it was quite comfortable.

Of course, all the girls, especially Tracey and Neville's

two, wanted to talk to Fleur and were just as willing as

Hermione and Daphne to welcome the newest 'Potter'

to their midst.

"Harry," said Neville, as he was savouring the taste of

the roast beef, "You've outdone yourself again."

Indicating the beef on his plate, he declared, "This is

fantastic."

Harry grinned back. "Make sure you leave room for

dessert."

"That's going to be a struggle," said Neville. "I don't

want to stop eating this roast."

Fleur was looking at Hermione and Daphne in

amazement. "This eez even bettair than our own 'ouse

elfs preepare."

"We told you he was good," grinned Hermione.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

The Potters were up reasonably early the next

morning and went down to breakfast in the Great Hall.

For that morning they all sat at the Hufflepuff table, as

they knew the 'Puffs to be more accepting of unusual

visitors. The Ravenclaws, though, still weren't

completely accepting of how students could sit at any

of the House tables except for the feasts. Apparently,

it did not gel well with their sense of communal order.

Thankfully, as a weekend, students weren't dressed in

school robes. The oddity of Fleur sitting among them

would have been even more odd, if that was the case.

However, her attendance definitely wasn't missed.

For safety, she sat between Hermione and Daphne

with Harry outside of Daphne and closest to the head

table. Opposite sat the Longbottoms with Tracey next

to Susan and closest to the head end of the table,

opposite Harry. On the other side of Susan sat Neville,

then Hannah. It might have looked as if the seating

arrangement wasn't pre-arranged, but it was.

Sitting that way and in that order showed that Fleur

was both considered part of their group and accepted

by both Hermione and Daphne.

They did not know if the story of Fleur's Veela life debt

would break in the Daily Prophet that morning, but the

sitting arrangement would send a message if it did.

They'd be sitting in a similar organisation the next day

if it didn't and, instead, broke then.

They'd only been sitting and eating for a while when

Malfoy finally couldn't restrain himself any longer and

sauntered over.

"Potter," he sneered.

"Malfoy," said Harry. "Having a good weekend?"

"Why is the Beauxbatons Champion here?"

"Malfoy, that's rude," Harry firmly said. "Your question

should be; 'Lord Potter, may one as humble as I

enquire as to how Miss Delacour came to be our

guest, this morning?' Try that. Until you do, I suggest

you depart our presence until after you've reviewed

your uncouth behaviour." Then waved him off and

promptly ignored him.

Malfoy stood there for a moment, clearly unsure of

what to do. Eventually, he over-obsequiously and

smarmily asked, "Potter. How are you honoured by

the presence of th- Miss... Delacour among us, this

morning?"

Placing his cutlery down in a gentlemanly fashion,

Harry took his time to wipe his mouth with his napkin

before he looked to other boy and said, "Malfoy, it is a

family matter - of the Potters, rather than the Blacks.

However, as you are so curious, I will say that Miss

Delacour is a transferee to Hogwarts for the remainder

of the school year. You will learn more, tonight, at the

evening meal; and again in tomorrow morning's Daily

Prophet. I recommend to you that you read it. Will that

be all?"

Knowing he'd just got slapped down, though

exceedingly politely, and knowing he'd get slapped

down even harder if he pushed, Malfoy just sneered

back, spun about and walked away. That message of

family business meant he couldn't request/demand

more information, no matter how he worded it.

Daphne, with her head bowed a little, looked askance

to Harry with a smirk and murmured, "Very nicely

handled, Harry."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

When the other girls found out Fleur needed to go into

the Alley to buy a set of Hogwarts robes, they all

begged to be allowed to go, too. Harry shrugged and

said, "I'm not the one you need to ask. You'll need

permission of your Heads of Houses. However, I'm not

going.

"With the threat of Dumbledore out there, plus the

girls should have some quality girl-time together to

get comfortable with one another, I've already begged

off. Hermione and Daphne will accompany Fleur to do

her shopping. And both girls have access to plenty of

funds to pay for it all."

Susan, Hannah and Tracey all looked to one another

before turning puppy-dog eyes on Neville.

"If you can get permission to go," he said. "And

Harry's ladies don't mind the company, you have my

permission to join them"

That had the other three excited.

However, such would not come to pass. All three were

refused by their Heads of Houses. Only Daphne and

Hermione were allowed to accompany Fleur.

They left about an hour later, again via Marchbanks's

floo.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

When the girls returned to the apartment about fifteen

minutes before the lunch period, they were empty

handed. However, they were all happy and chatting

like old friends or close sisters.

Harry frowned in confusion and asked, "Where's all

your shopping?"

Hermione grinned and said, "Harry; house elves,

remember?"

Harry immediately winced and groaned. "Oh, gods! I

just had another daft moron moment, didn't I?"

She giggled at him, walked over and kissed him on the

cheek. "You're allowed to have them, every now and

again. You'd not be human, otherwise."

As she headed for her room, he called, "So what did

you three end up buying, besides school robes for

Fleur?"

Hermione grinned again and called, "Lay-dies!

Fashion parade for Harry after lunch!" And, giggling,

ran into her room.

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Chapter 454

"I didn't want a fashion parade," he muttered to the

table before him. "A simple itemised list, would have

sufficed."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

During lunch, the girls were excitedly telling the other

girls about what they bought in hushed whispers that

were obviously meant to exclude Harry and Neville.

Neither boy was interested, so just talked between

them.

On returning to the apartment after lunch, all three

girls headed directly for Fleur's room.

"Out in a minute!" called Daphne. "Don't go

anywhere!"

Harry sat back, sighed, then leaned forward and

packed up the assignments he was working on before

lunch into a neat pile.

It appeared he was going to get that fashion parade,

after all.

Ten minutes later, Hermione came out wearing a

wizarding outfit he'd not seen her wearing before. It

was upmarket casual, but of lighter material. Clearly,

more autumnal for the warming temperatures.

She walked over and did a slow twirl for him with a

wide grin. "You like?"

"Yes," he firmly replied. "The colours definitely suit

you. And I like the fit, too."

She gave a happy nod back and turned back to the

doors of the girls' bedrooms, "Next," she called.

Out came Daphne, wearing a very similar number. "I

hope you don't mind?" she asked. "It was a little

expensive."

"Not at all," he replied. And, he didn't. "It looks very

nice on you. Are you happy with it?"

She grinned and nodded.

"Next!" called Hermione, again.

This time Fleur came out wearing a plain Hogwarts

witches' uniform without House affiliation. Even her

tie was the flat black with the small Hogwarts crest of

an unsorted student. However, she wasn't wearing

long socks or low heeled shoes. Harry could see the

slight sheen of stockings on her legs and her feet

were in plain black high heels with covered toe, sides

and heel. Harry later learned they were called 'midheel pumps', as they weren't considered high heels

because the heel wasn't as high as some arbitrary

'set' benchmark.

That's when he looked to both Hermione and Daphne

and noticed similar footwear.

To Hermione, he happily said, "You've bought your

high heels and stockings!"

Clearly pleased he'd noticed, she grinned back and

said, "Yes, thank you."

When he stood and walk closer, he noticed she was

now not as short as him in comparison. Her head now

came up to about the bridge of his nose. The height

difference between he and Daphne hadn't changed, as

she'd been wearing mid heels since well before he

had his potion-induced growth spurt. However, it now

appeared Hermione was visibly taller than Daphne and

about the same height as Fleur.

"Next," Hermione suddenly said, and led the other two

back to Fleur's room.

For the next hour or so the three girls gave him a full

fashion parade. Harry was actually surprised by how

much they bought, especially Hermione.

He also found out a little later it was Daphne that had

put her foot down about the minimal wardrobe

Hermione had, to that time, of witches' wear and

practically ordered the girl to greatly increase the size

of it right then and there. Hermione was not prepared

to listen until Daphne explained how it made Harry

look like a 'knut-pinching bastard' if she didn't have a

wide and various wardrobe. She didn't want to do it

for herself, but she'd do it for Harry; and Daphne knew

that and played on it. She wasn't a Slytherin for

nothing.

He mentally doffed his hat to the girl, because even he

couldn't get Hermione to buy a lot more. She still had

some self-esteem issues regarding her appearance,

but Harry's love for her was clear. It was what others

thought of her appearance that still gave her issues.

After the fashion parade, the girls all disappeared

back into Fleur's room for a while. Then Hermione and

Daphne came out and sat either side of Harry. Both

appeared quite serious.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," said Hermione.

"However," said Daphne, "Fleur needs you to accept

her through a special ceremony for Veela. For her,

Harry, you need to go with this; alright?"

"Ummm." he stuttered. "I'm not ready f-for―"

"This isn't sex, Harry," said Hermione. "It's an

acceptance ceremony that relates to the life debt.

Please, just go with it."

Warily, he nodded and said, "Alright. I trust you both."

With a breath of relief, Hermione said, "Thank you."

Then she got back to her feet and went to Fleur's

room. Daphne stayed sitting beside him.

"Relax, Harry," she said. "You are just to affix a

special ribbon around her neck. This is for her

protection. It means no other male, but you, is allowed

to touch her."

He took a deep breath, firmed up and said, "If it's for

her protection, I can do this."

She smiled back, pleased. She knew Harry would

accept it if she used the magic word, 'protection'.

A long moment later, Hermione came back out leading

Fleur. Instead of being properly clothed and looking

confident, Fleur was dressed in an almost gauzy,

sleeveless one-shouldered toga Harry was later told

was called a chiton from Ancient Greece, the believed

original home of the Veela people. And a pair of plain

leather sandals that laced up to almost under her

knees.

Through the chiton, Harry could see she was naked

underneath. Though covered, he could see that her

nipples were of lighter than normal colouration, as

Hermione described the differences back at her place,

and that her pubic hair was the same blonde as the

hair on her head. She also appeared to be carrying a

small cushion of a rich blue colour with something on

it.

Harry immediately blushed, looked away and tensed,

but Daphne tightened her grip on his arm to signal he

was to remain where he was and whispered, "Be at

ease, Harry. She needs this ceremony."

Hermione led a head-bowed Fleur around to stand

before him. As soon as Fleur was about three to four

feet in front of him, she lowered herself to her knees,

before resting back on her heels with her hands

holding before her chest the small blue cushion. Harry

could see the object on the cushion was a threequarter inch wide rose pink silk ribbon, with the Potter

crest in gold on a black background in the form of a

small metal pendant, medallion, affixed.

She softly said, "Harrison James of the Noble and

Most Ancient House of Potter, I, Fleur Isabel of the

Venerable House of Delacour, come before you in

supplication. Through chivalrous act, you saved my

life and caused between us a life debt to be formed.

My life is yours, my body is yours, my soul is yours. I

humbly entreat you accept me - life, body and soul -

into your hands, so I may live."

Daphne whispered into his ear, "Say, 'I, Harrison

James of the Noble and Most Ancient House of

Potter...'"

Harry repeated it.

"... accept you, Fleur Isabel of the Venerable House of

Delacour..."

Again.

"... into my hands."

Again.

"... Your life, your body, your soul are mine, so you

may live."

And finished.

Daphne next whispered into his ear, "Take the ribbon

and affix it around her neck, Harry."

Harry bent forward and did just that, plucking the

ribbon off the cushion and, bending further forward so

he could reach, used the clasp sections on each end

of the ribbon to affix the ribbon together behind her

neck. He even felt the two halves of the clasp almost

pulling toward one another, until there was an almost

snap sound and a muted flash of pink light from the

ribbon.

As Harry finished the act and sat back, Fleur raised

her head and smiled at him. "Thank you," she softly

said. Then she pressed back up onto her knees, as if

in prayer, and leaned forward, raising her head

slightly.

Harry didn't know why he was urged to do so, but he

just leaned forward to meet her and kissed her, long

and deeply. He didn't know both of them glowed a

little because his eyes were closed.

When she pulled back, she smiled again and rose to

her feet. Then walked away, back towards her room.

Daphne immediately leaned in and kissed him on the

cheek, before she pulled back and whispered, "Well

done, Harry." Then she rose and hurried after Fleur.

A smiling Hermione, who had been standing back

behind and off to one side of Fleur as the

ceremony/ritual took place, stepped forward, bent

over to him and also kissed him on the cheek. As she,

too, pulled away with a smile, she allowed her hand to

come up and lovingly caress his cheek for a moment,

before she, too, followed Fleur to her room.

She called over her shoulder, "We'll be back in a

couple minutes."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------

Chapter 455

When the girls returned a little later, Fleur was

dressed more... appropriately; she was wearing her

unaligned Hogwarts uniform in readiness of her

Sorting at dinner. This time when she sat, she sat next

to Harry. Both other girls sat opposite.

Fleur's eyes sparkled when she smiled at him and

took his closest hand in hers. "Thank you, 'Arry."

"I was happy to go along with that little... ceremony,"

he said. "But, what did it all really mean?"

"It means my magic recognises both of us have

accepted my life debt to you. I'm now bonded to you

through the debt," she explained.

"That was a bonding ritual?" he exclaimed.

"I was already bonded to you. This was more a

ceremony than a ritual," she explained. "One that had

a magical component."

He huffed and said, "A ritual, by any other name―"

"I understand," she said. "But, it was still necessary

for me."

He sighed and frowned at both his other two girls.

They now knew he was annoyed at them both, just as

he knew they'd effectively pulled the wool over his

eyes on this.

It would be something they'd discuss between them

after dinner. And they both clearly knew that.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

At dinner, the now eight sat together at the Hufflepuff

table again. That House, at least, were being more

accepting.

However, before dinner was served, Madam

Marchbanks moved around to the front of the dais

where the Sorting Hat already sat on it's Sorting stool.

Before she stopped to speak, she already had silence.

Anyone with eyes could see that Fleur was currently

wearing an unaligned Hogwarts uniform and knew

what she and the Sorting Hat's 'attendance' meant.

"For those who have not already figured out what is

going on," she began in a clear voice, "We have a

Sorting to get through before we all eat."

"Sitting among you and currently at the Hufflepuff

table is Miss Fleur Delacour, late of Beauxbatons

Institute of Magic, but still the current Beauxbatons

Champion for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Miss

Delacour is here because of a unique magical event

that developed between her and Lord Potter at the

conclusion of the Second Task.

"In saving Miss Delacour's life, magic deemed Miss

Delacour owed Lord Potter a life debt."

That had a few people gasping and immediately

chatting with their seat mates.

Marchbanks firmly tapped her cane on the floor of the

dais three times, causing loud bangs each time. It got

her the silence she wanted.

"As I was saying," she snapped, before staring around

the room. "Miss Delacour found herself owing Lord

Potter a life debt. For one of Miss Delacour's heritage,

it is literally a matter of life and death.

"Lord Potter's family, together with other members of

the Potter-Longbottom Alliance, researched as much

as possible for a way for Miss Delacour to be free of

the debt without harm to her. They were unsuccessful.

"As a result, Lord Potter was not willing to allow Miss

Delacour to perish, when he could do something to

save her life. As such, he has accepted the life debt

owed to him by accepting Miss Delacour in

concubinage.

"Because Miss Delacour is now a concubine of Lord

Potter, she has transferred to Hogwarts from

Beauxbatons. However, as she only has a few months

remaining of her Beauxbatons education, she will not

be formally attending Hogwarts classes, other than to

audit them. Instead, she will be studying with private

tutors to complete her Beauxbatons education. She

will also be sitting her NEWTs in France this summer.

"For the duration of her stay with us, Miss Delacour

will be housed in Lord Potter's quarters in the Lords'

Quarters wing. However, Hogwarts rules still require

her to be Sorted into a House. That is the reason the

Sorting Hat joins us, tonight."

She gave that a few moments before she gestured to

Fleur. "Miss Delacour, please join me and be Sorted."

As Fleur rose and made her way to the dais, the noise

of students quietly chatting about this development,

rose.

Marchbanks moved slightly to her right and lifted the

Hat from its stool in readiness.

Having it already explained how it happens by Harry,

Hermione and Daphne, Fleur stepped up onto the dais

in front of the stool, smoothly pivoted and sat. A

moment later, Marchbanks lowered the Hat onto her

head.

"Ahhh... mmm..." said the Hat. "Interesting..."

A few moments later it bellowed, "RAVENCLAW!"

And Marchbanks lifted the Hat back off as Fleur

beamed in delight, looking back at Harry. The

Ravenclaws were clapping in pleasure. However, so

were the Heirs.

As she stood her robes, tie and under-uniform

changed from unaligned to Ravenclaw colours.

"And now we represent all four Houses," said a

grinning Harry to the others, just as Fleur returned to

sit between Daphne and Hermione.

Both girls were quick to wrap her in a hug from each

that turned into a three-way group hug.

No one could see the look of hate on Draco Malfoy's

face as he was sitting with his back to them.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Back in the new apartment, after first making the

mistake of returning to the first apartment, the group

sat talking for a while before Tracey left for the

Slytherin dorms and the three Longbottoms left for

their own apartment. Again, as per his orders, a

disillusioned Dobby followed Tracey.

With a curious expression on her face, Fleur asked

Harry, "You 'ave your elf follow Miss Davis to make

sure she safely gets back to 'er own dorms?"

"Yes," he firmly replied. "There are too many mini

Death Eaters in this school for my comfort. That is,

too many who are the children of known Death Eaters.

I would not put it past any of them to ambush Tracey

as a way of getting back at me.

"Her friendship with me places her at higher risk.

Therefore, I see it as my duty to ensure she is safe. I

do the same with Daphne's younger sister, Astoria,

also a Slytherin."

Daphne asked, "What do you know of the events that

led to me becoming a concubine of Harry?"

"Very little," the old girl replied. "It is considered

family business, so Papa never investigated further

than to learn the overall effects of it."

Hermione frowned and asked, "Your father

investigated it?"

"Oui," she replied. "Papa is the... in your terms 'ere...

Deputy Minister for Magic for Wizarding France. It is

part of 'is job to watch and know what is important in

other nearby countries. The concubinage of Heiress

Daphne Greengrass of the Noble and Ancient 'Ouse of

Greengrass to Lord 'Arrison Potter of the Noble and

Most Ancient 'Ouse of Potter and Heir Tertiary of the

Noble and Most Ancient 'Ouse of Black is an

important 'appening. Another, of course, was the

earlier betrothal of the same Lord to a muggleborn

witch named 'Ermione Granger."

Hermione sat back and said, "Hunh! That actually

makes a lot of sense."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------

Chapter 456

"When Papa and Maman first discovered the life debt,

Papa investigated the public records of both the

betrothal and the concubinage. 'E didn't do that earlier

as it was not important then. 'E was able to get 'old of

a copy of both documents and 'e said 'e was very

impressed," she said before she gave a little giggle.

"'E was even laughing at a couple of points."

"She turned to Hermione and asked, "Is it true you

only need to make one small statement for the

betrothal to be cancelled?"

"Yes," said Hermione. "The same applies for Harry."

"And similar are in the Concubine Bond Agreement

between Harry and me," said Daphne.

"So the real purpose of both agreements is... what?"

she asked.

"Protection," replied Hermione. "At least, that was its

original intent. However, both Harry and I are of a

different mindset now. We want this to work. As things

stand, neither of us intends to utter those words. We

will marry and I will bear the Potter children."

Daphne glanced at Harry and said, "Honesty time for

me, too, I guess." Turning to look more at Harry, she

said, "I know the reason for the Concubine Bond

Agreement was conceived from the idea of the

protection of me and my House.

"However, sooner or later I would still need a

Concubine Bond contract or another very willing

partner, who would be willing to risk not passing on

their own line through us. I'm sorry, but I cannot see

that happening. Therefore, the first option is the only

way.

"If I was to look around and wonder who would make

a good father... sperm donor, as Hermione put it... for

any children I was to bear through a Concubine Bond

contract, which I have already done many times, there

is only one who I can see fulfilling that role and me

remaining happy about it. That's you, Harry."

With an expression of self-deprecation, Harry gave a

grunt and shook his head. "You're fifteen, Daphne.

You have years before it would become an issue."

Daphne shook her head and said, "I don't think you

recognise what a 'catch' you are, Harry. You're,

without a doubt, one of the best looking boys in the

school, now. That malnourished, undersized... waif...

who wore hand-me-downs and poorly fitted glasses is

gone.

"On top of that, you are easily the most magically

powerful student in the school. Merlin, you're

probably the most magically powerful student this

school has seen in fifty years! That, alone, is an

aphrodisiac for one such as I, who is looking to bear

children to continue my House.

"And, on top of even that, you are kind, considerate,

chivalrous, and a whole heap of other similar words

too numerous to list out."

She gave a sigh and said, "My nightmares, until you

and my father signed that agreement, consisted of

things like... Ronald Weasley or Vincent Crabbe

coming into a room where I'm lying naked on a bed.

He leers at me, strips off and... cl- climbs on, you

know?"

Starting to clearly become more upset, she continued,

"Then, not even w-waiting until he knows I'm r-ready,

he just... sticks his... in me.

"Wh-Once he's done... not even wo-worrying about

how I felt about the whole thing, you know?... he just

climbs off and gets dressed. Then, just before he

walks back out the door, he looks at me and sa-says,

'Thanks for the fuck, Greengrass. Let me know if I

need to come back and give you another one'."

By the time she was finished, she was sobbing. She

curled up and rolled to her side on the sofa, clearly in

emotional pain. Harry silently rose from where he was

sitting, walked over, sat down beside her and wrapped

her in his arms.

"That will never happen, Daphne," he firmly said. "As

long as Hermione is alright with it..." he looked over

and could see she was nodding, "... then I'll be the

only man you'll need."

Gently moving her, he picked her up and placed her in

his lap, as she remained in a ball and sobbed her

heart out. He began to using soothing sounds and

rocking her back and forth as he rubbed her back.

A few moments later, Betsy popped in with a small

vial. Hermione accepted it and offered it to Daphne by

way of placing the opened mouth of it directly onto

her bottom lip. "Calming potion," she firmly said.

"Drink!"

As Daphne allowed her mouth to open, Hermione

upended it directly into her mouth.

Daphne wrinkled her nose for moment, gave a small

shudder as she swallowed and almost immediately

calmed.

'So much for telling these two off tonight for

manipulating me,' thought Harry.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

After getting Daphne calm, she very soon drifted off to

sleep in Harry's arms.

Harry noticed and sighed, "Hermione, could you go in

and turn Daphne's bed down for me?"

At first she looked curious, then she clearly noticed

and smirked at him. "Alright, Harry," she said, rising

and walking to Daphne's room.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------

Chapter 457

Standing up with a bit of difficulty, Daphne's mass

upset his balance, Harry rose and followed.

Walking into the room he thought to himself, 'The first

time in her room and I'm carrying her in, sleeping in

my arms.'

Hermione already had the right side of the bed turned

down for him to lay her on the bed with her head on

the pillow. Gently lowering her down, he said, "When I

leave, can you call Betsy to dress her properly for

bed?"

"Of course, Harry," she softly said.

Harry walked out and returned to the sofa, which he

collapsed upon with a sigh. Fleur hadn't moved. In all

honesty, he'd somewhat forgotten she was there. She

was sitting with one knee cocked up onto the seat,

sitting slightly sideways and facing him and with an

arm resting along the back.

"She needed to get that out," she quietly said.

Harry nodded. "Mmm."

"And you 'andled it quite well," she just as quietly

added.

He was quiet for a few moments before he tried to

explain his thinking. "I treat people how I would like to

be treated if the situation was reversed. In that way, I

hope I'm doing the right thing. If I treat someone the

same way I want to be treated, then I believe it must

be the right way."

"I think you're right," she said.

"There are only a few people I don't do that with," he

replied. "At least, intentionally. And then it's only

because they've proven to me they do not deserve to

be treated well by me. For some, it's because they're

being daft morons. For others, it's because they did

not or do not treat me well in return.

"I... have trouble tolerating mindless fools. I think

them no better than human-shaped sheep; someone's

proverbial dinner, just marking time until they're

devoured. I find most witches and wizards fill that

category."

"Ouch," she said. "I take it you treated me 'arshly on

first introduction because I called you a... 'leetle boi'?"

He gave a snort of amusement, smirked and replied,

"Knowing me now, do you think you deserved it?"

She blushed a little, but firmly replied. "Yes; I did."

He looked to her and she was looking directly back.

He explained, "It is your ability to recognise you did

wrong, and then apologise for it, which first had me

look to you as more than one of the sheep."

Hermione came back over and settled onto the sofa

next to Harry where Daphne had sat. She sighed and

leaned into him. "She's deeply asleep. She didn't even

twitch when Betsy changed her into her sleep robes

and covered her with her comforter."

Fleur said, "She will likely 'ave the most peaceful

night's sleep she's 'ad in a long time. Getting that...

burden of fear off 'er chest will give 'er peace."

Hermione said, "God, I don't know how she was able

to stand that sort of pressure and fear for so long."

"It would have built up over time," explained Harry.

"Ten years ago it would have been something to worry

about in ten or fifteen years. Five years ago it would

have started to become a concern, but not something

she really needed to worry about yet. Two years ago is

when the pressure started to really build up. And three

months ago she was living in terrified fear and unable

to find a way out of her... predicament.

"For her, it was like a pressure cooker, where the

pressure is building and building. Then came the First

Task."

"Then you reactivated the Potter-Longbottom

Alliance," said Hermione. "That reactivated the

Greengrass membership of that alliance. And Lord

Greengrass felt he'd finally found a way to save his

daughter and his House.

"You're approached, as you fully expected you would

be. The agreement is made. You both sign."

"Yes, but even then it wasn't enough," said Harry. "I

don't think it was until tonight she was ready to

accept she was now safe. That was partly my fault, by

including the escape clauses in the agreement.

Unknowingly, I made it feel for her as if I'd rip the

carpet out from under her feet at any moment."

"It was me," said Fleur. "'Arry being willing to accept

me... life, body and soul... means 'is promise to 'er is

real. It's 'onest. She no longer 'as to fear 'Arry will, as

'e puts it, rip that carpet out from under 'er feet."

Harry groaned and sat forward, "I am such a daft

moron. I didn't even realise that. I should have, and

didn't."

"No, Harry," said Hermione. "We all should have. You,

me, everyone."

"I need to make it clear to her, that is not the case," he

sighed.

"Unless you want to rewrite the agreement, or have

sex with her, I don't think you can," she said.

He sat back and sighed. "No," he quietly said. "I'm―"

"You're not ready," said Fleur. "Besides, I believe

'Ermione is always going to be, as you put it, 'first'.

You will be each other's first."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------

Chapter 458

Hermione seemed to think for a while before she

asked, "Do we have anything planned for next

weekend?"

"No," he immediately replied, then added, "Other than

cooking on Saturday night and completing

assignments." Snapping his head around to look at

Fleur, he asked, "Which reminds me; when will we see

your tutors?"

"When Papa organises them and lets me know," she

calmly replied.

Hermione asked, "You're not worried it's going to take

time? You're in your final months of your final year."

"'Iring the best should take time, 'Ermione," she

returned. "I can delay taking my NEWTs, if I need to."

That had Hermione thinking for a bit before she

returned to why she was asking about the

forthcoming weekend.

"I want you to keep this weekend as free as possible,

Harry," she firmly said.

"Because, between now and then, I want you to

consider the idea of having sex with me then," she

replied.

He looked at her in shocked surprise.

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to be ready by then," she

smiled. "I hope you will be, too."

"I..." he tried. "I... will give it much thought," he said.

"Thank you," she smiled.

Fleur just smiled as well. At a later time, she'd talk to

Hermione during a 'girl talk' session about what

potions could aid her on her 'night'.

It was not too much later that the three went to bed. It

had been an emotional evening and classes restarted

for a new week the next morning.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Fleur was not starting any classes or tutoring

sessions, the next morning. However, she still

dressed in her new Hogwarts Ravenclaw robes and

joined them for breakfast.

Today, they decided to sit at the Gryffindor table to

break their fasts.

Harry was very happy to see that Daphne had

recovered from her breakdown of the previous

evening and was actually showing, even now, she was

both happy and relaxed. She was sitting on Harry's

left with Fleur on his right and Hermione on Fleur's

right as the four sat opposite the three Longbottoms

and Tracey.

He was also very thankful no Gryffindor even batted

an eye at how two Slytherin Fourth Years were sitting

at 'their' table. He did not want that sort of bigotry in

front of Fleur, just yet, if he could help it. She was, as

with he and his, still new to their new dynamic and her

new 'station' in life.

However, before he could breath a sigh of relief, one

of the older Ravenclaw males approached. "Miss

Delacar―" he said.

"It's Miss Delacour," she replied. "What can I do for

you, Mister―"

"Miss Delacour," he said, with a slight bob of his head

at the correction. "I am Roger Davies, the new Sixth

Year Prefect for Ravenclaw. I have come over to

inform you Ravenclaw students are expected to dine

together for―"

Harry gave a loud snort of amusement.

Davies frowned at him and asked, "Something I said

amuses you, Potter?"

Harry cocked an eyebrow at the boy, set down his

cutlery and sat back before affixing the boy with a

stare.

"Yes, dead man walking, you did say something that

amused me; multiple somethings, actually," replied

Harry. "Then you said something that pissed me off.

Think about how you just addressed me with

disrespect and you may just be in time to apologise

and save yourself a very quick and probably unwilling

trip to the Infirmary and medi-wizard Robinson's

skilled care."

Davies frowned before Harry saw he got it and stood

up with an almost sneer on his face. "I am a Prefect,

Potter."

"And you're also an idiot," Harry shot straight back.

"What... is going on here?" asked Professor Sinistra

in an annoyed voice. She had just come down to find

out what was going on.

Davies whirled on her and replied, "I have come over

to inform Miss Delacour that we Ravenclaws all dine

together for meals, Professor."

"Keep going!" said Harry. "Tell her the rest of where

you completely shoved your foot into your mouth."

Davies scowled at Harry a moment before returning to

the Professor. He continued, "Potter seems to think

something I said was amusing and, when I asked him

to explain, threatened me."

Turning to Harry, she asked, "Mis... no, Lord Po... oh,

crap," she said before she raised her off hand to pinch

the bridge of her nose and sigh. It was a gesture very

similar to the one Madam Bones often used.

"I see you've just recognised one of Mister Davies's

errors and why I told him I was on the verge of

creating a situation where he'd be in the Infirmary,

with great alacrity and under medi-wizard Robinson's

care, Professor.

"His first error was believing he had any right to

practically order... my bonded... Miss Delacour, to sit

at the Ravenclaw table for meals. His second error

was to act in complete defiance of the school rules,

where it states students are to be encouraged to dine

at other tables to promote inter-house unity within the

school. His third error was referring to himself as the

Sixth Year Ravenclaw Prefect, when I must assume

there is a second Sixth year Ravenclaw Prefect, one

who is female. His addressing me simply as 'Potter'

was his fourth, fifth and sixth errors. From that you

can accept he's now done that three times in less than

five minutes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------

Chapter 459

"Therefore, I have to ask, Professor," he continued.

"Are all your new Prefects this stupid?"

She sighed, looked at Davies and said, "Answer my

question only with a yes or no. Do not extrapolate.

Keep you mouth otherwise shut... Is what Lord Potter

just told me, true?"

Davies looked ready to shout and visibly reined in his

temper before he gritted out, "Yes."

She just shook her head at him and sighed. Then she

raised her off hand, palm out and flat, and said,

"Badge. Now."

When he gaped at her in shock, she said, "Now;

Mister Davies."

Clearly angry, Davies removed his Prefects' badge and

almost slapped it into her hand.

"Right," she said, closing her fist around it. "It

appears I now have to address the entire House, yet

again, to let them know they most certainly are not

required to sit at the Ravenclaw table for every meal,

except the three feasts; and that it is, in fact, a breach

of the school rules for anyone to tell them otherwise.

"Secondly, if you had bothered to open a book on the

subject of life debts, as a true Ravenclaw would have

done first, you would have learned that Miss Delacour

is expected to sit with Lord Potter and that no one

may interfere in that. It is the law, let alone also being

a school rule.

"Thirdly, it is Lord Potter; not Potter. He is entitled to

the address and you will use it when addressing him

or referring to him. Right now, Lord Potter is fully

within his right to hex you into next week. And there is

nothing I, or the rest of the staff, can do to prevent

him from doing that other than ask him not to. Only

after he has finished punishing you can medi-wizard

Robinson step in and set you to rights, if he can.

"Fourthly; yes, you are no longer a Prefect. As Lord

Potter incanted you are clearly too stupid to hold the

position. I'll have to see if I can appoint another.

"Now, return to your breakfast and do not bother Lord

Potter or his bonded again."

Davies stood there, at first, angry. However, as

Professor Sinistra laid out what he'd done wrong, his

anger abated and he became embarrassed. When she

finally sent him on his way, he muttered, "Sorry,

Professor." Turned tail and hurried away, back to his

seat.

The Professor then turned to Harry and said in a clear

voice, "Thank you, Lord Potter; for not just dealing

with the idiot as you could have done. Five points to

Gryffindor." Then she spun to stare at Davies, who

had managed to get back to his seat and hunch over,

"And ten points from Ravenclaw for your unRavenclaw behaviour, Mister Davies."

Then she spun away and walked back to her oversized mug of black coffee she often sipped from each

morning.

Harry had to give her credit for turning up for each

and every breakfast, considering she was the

Astronomy Professor and her classes went on late

into the early hours of the morning. Harry guessed

she'd sleep between breakfast and lunch, but not if

she was drinking so much coffee.

Relaxing with a sigh, he took up his cutlery again and

returned to his breakfast. As he did, Fleur gave him a

nudge and smiled at him.

"He was one of the boys whom my allure turned into a

dribbling idiot," she softly said.

"Not possible," he returned. "I'll give you the

dribbling, but he was already an idiot."

She gave a light laugh back.

When the mail owls entered Harry was one of the first

to receive the Daily Prophet. Hedwig delivered his.

Before he even opened it up, he could see the lead

story was the 'discovery' of Fleur's life debt to Harry.

Reading through it, with Fleur leaning over his

shoulder and also reading it, Harry could see Ted

Tonks's hand in it. It was a near perfect copy of the

press release Ted had HEEDed to Harry, with only a

few additions.

Clearly, Ted had been in and dealt with the idiot

Skeeter woman. He could no longer see her byline, or

even a byline that had any anagram of her name

including 'Kate Erister', her latest. He'd forgotten

'Teaske' had been outed, fined and, a short while later,

fired.

The article again included the wizarding photograph

of Harry rescuing Fleur from the lake, but included

another of him helping in saving her on the stage and

a third as he whisked the canvas flap of the tent aside

as medi-wizard Robinson carried her into the tent and

Harry following close behind. It was from that photo

he saw when the auror was first stationed outside the

tent. It was within two seconds of him following

Robinson inside.

"Well, it's a fair article," he said. "It includes the truth

and only lightly embellishes. Even then, it clearly

states how that embellishment is guesswork with 'We

believe...' and 'It appears...' used to show it isn't

purported as straight fact."

"The Daily Prophet are afraid of you, aren't they?"

asked Fleur, in a manner which suggested she knew it

to be the truth.

He smirked and replied, "They're afraid of my Lawwizard of Record, Ted Tonks. He's very good at

threatening Barnabus Cuffe, the current Editor, to get

him to toe the line and not print lies and fabrications

about me."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Because Fleur did not yet have her tutors at the

school, she decided to join Harry for his classes that

day. So, directly after breakfast, she joined him and

the other Heirs, except for Daphne and Tracey, in the

walk out to the greenhouses.

When she asked if she could join the class as an

observer, Professor Sprout had no problem with it.

Neither did Professor Senkinhall in CoMC, Professor

and Deputy Headmaster Goodstone in History of

Magic after morning tea, or Professor Claystock in

Muggle Studies before lunch.

For lunch the Heirs all sat at the Hufflepuff table. Then

the Potters, now including Fleur, went to the Ancient

Runes double period. Again, Fleur was not refused

attending.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

That evening, after dinner, Harry sat his three ladies

down and had a firm talking-to with them all.

He spoke to them about how they, Hermione and

Daphne, had manipulated him into that bonding ritual

with Fleur and how he really did not appreciate it.

"Yes, I know it was important," said Harry. "However,

you led me to believe it was just a tradition... simple

ceremony... and something Fleur wanted. That was a

misdirection. That was very unfair of you pair.

"I thought I had made it very clear in the past how

much I despised Albus Dumbledore for his

manipulations and how I was very much relieved he

could never try that again. And, now, you two have

been doing it.

"Stop it!"

Both girls didn't argue as they'd done precisely that.

Instead, Hermione said, "Sorry, Harry. But, I thought

there was a slight risk you might have refused."

"And, is that not my choice?" he pressed.

"Dumbledore kept taking away my choices because of

his much self-vaunted greater good. Is that going to

be your excuse; we did it because it was for the

greater good?"

That had both girls wince.

"Have faith in me," he snapped. "I'm not an idiot. If it

was explained to me in a logical fashion, I would have

gone through with it. Haven't I already stated I was not

prepared to let Fleur die?"

"Sorry Harry," both girls returned.

"And I apologise for not ensuring Hermione and

Daphne told you," said Fleur. "I should have."

"No, you didn't know," he sighed.

"Anyways," he said. "What's done is done and I will

not belabour the point. Just know you upset me doing

that."

Both girls nodded.

"Well, moving on," he said. "What's happening with

the rest of our family? How are your parents coping

with discovering I have a second concubine? I felt

Wendell and Monica were holding back out of

politeness on Saturday."

"They're fine with it, actually," replied Hermione,

grateful for the change of topic. "And that actually

surprises me. I was actually worried something was

wrong and they were being very good at covering it

up, but they weren't."

He gave a nod and turned to Daphne. "And what about

Astoria and your parents, Daphne?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------

Chapter 460

"My parents were only worried about what Fleur's

debt would have on my relationship with you. They're

now happy it has had minimal effect," she replied. "As

for Stori, she wants to meet Fleur, but won't come up

unless she gets an invitation to do so."

"Then invite her," said Harry. "She's family; no matter

how much of such an oddball family we're turning out

to be."

"I will," she smiled.

"Now that I have all that off my chest - and thank you

for listening and accepting - I guess we should make a

start on the rest of today's assignments."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Later, after Harry had gone to bed, Fleur grabbed

Hermione and dragged her into Daphne's room.

"What's going on?" asked the Slytherin.

"We need to talk," said Fleur, 'And I do not want to

involve 'Arry in this. As far as 'e's concerned, it is 'girl

talk'. Something it is clear 'Arry does not want to know

about."

"Alright," said Daphne, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"What is so important it could not wait until

tomorrow?"

Fleur turned to Hermione and said, "'Arry was right

about 'im not being informed prior to the bonding

ceremony what it would mean. I 'ad thought either or

both of you would 'ave explained it to 'im, first. Please,

do not put me in that position, ever again."

"We won't," said Hermione and Daphne agreed. "He

was right. It was wrong of us to do so."

Fleur gave a nod of acceptance and said, "From

recent discussions it is also apparent you have both

chosen to soon engage in sexual intercourse with

'Arry. Are you aware of certain potions that can make

that first night easier for you?"

Hermione frowned in confusion and annoyance that

she didn't know something, but Daphne appeared to

know.

Noticing their expressions Fleur said to Daphne,

"Which one's 'ave you been told about?"

Though a little uncomfortable, Daphne replied,

"Maiden's Relief, Prima Nocte and... Witch's Pleasure.

Oh... and, of course, Ne Gravidam."

Hermione said, "I'm on Ne Gravidam, already. Madam

Pomfrey recommended all post-menses witches be on

it, just in case. Healer Robinson is of the same

opinion. I don't know what those others are."

Fleur nodded and said, "Ne Gravidam is, of course,

the anti-pregnancy potion. Maiden's Relief is for that

time of the month, to alleviate cramp―"

"Wait, what?" asked Hermione. "There's a potion that

gets rid of the cramps?"

"Yes," replied Fleur. "See the school 'ealer about it. If

your cramps are that bad you should be on the

potion."

Hermione frowned and muttered under her breath

about old biddy Heads of Houses keeping secrets.

"Prima Nocte is the one I wanted to talk to you two

about," Fleur continued. "It is useful for reducing the

amount of pain you may suffer as a result of... your

first time. I recommend it to the both of you if you are

soon to give your virginities and, especially, if you still

have your... maidenheads.

"And, then there's the remaining one Daphne

mentioned. I do not recommend you take it for your

first time, or even at all, if you can get away with it. It

is to enhance and promote... la petite mort... the little

death... what you call an orgasm."

"Oh!" said Daphne. "Mother said I should consider it

if... and I think her exact words were... 'If you found

Lord Potter wanting'. I did not know until now and you

explained it, what she meant by that."

Hermione said, "I don't think Harry is going to be the

sort of wizard to hop-on-shag-and-hop-off. He's been

reading... let's just say, a certain kind of book. One

which talks about not just receiving pleasure, but also

providing."

"You've made sure of this?" asked Fleur.

She nodded and replied, "His godfather, Lord Black,

recently gave him the book to read. It's laughingly

called a book on how to 'woo' your witch." Then she

firmly nodded and said, "Oh, yes. And let's just say, I

told him that if he finishes the book I'll be giving him a

practical examination on what he read."

"In that case," said Fleur, grinning. "Don't even think

of taking WP. If you do you might not end the night

conscious, or un'ospitalised."

That had all three laughing.

Finally, Fleur said, "Tomorrow. After classes. Us three

shall take a short excursion to the Infirmary to discuss

matters with 'ealer Robinson.

"If 'e asks where we're going we'll just have to tell

'Arry the three of us need to see the 'ealer dealing with

latent witches' 'ealth issues. It will be true and 'e

should not press for details."

"He won't," said a confident Hermione. "Harry finds it

very difficult to speak plainly about issues dealing

with sex in general, other than the clinical biology of

the act. If you try and press him, he's likely to run for

the hills.

"When it comes your time, you're going to need to be

careful with how you interact with him in the... lead up.

He is very insecure about the subject and dealing with

it in an intimate manner. And it's taken me months to

get him to this point with me."

Both other girls nodded back and took the advice onboard.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

With Fleur now settled into the Potter household at

the school, the rest of the week, to Harry, appeared to

get slower and slower... and slower.

By the time Friday came around, he was so distracted

in Potions he'd nearly made a terrible mistake with a

brew that would have had severe consequences. The

Professor, Potions Mistress Grimsfield, yelled at him

for a good two minutes about inattention, before

throwing him from the room 'with a T for the day' a

good twenty minutes before class should have

finished.

The mark didn't bother him, as it was irrelevant to his

OWLs. He was just thankful neither Daphne, who was

working with him, nor Hermione and Neville, who were

working at the station in front of them, were injured

due to him causing a potion to explode due to

inattention.

It was actually having Hermione sitting in front of him,

knowing what either that night or the next would

bring, that had him so badly distracted.

At lunch and as the Potions lesson was a combined

Gryffindor/Slytherin one, only the two 'Puffs and Fleur,

the latter of whom had been attending various

Seventh Year lessons for the last three days, were

unaware of Harry's distracted state in Potions.

However, it seemed Fleur already knew from her

abilities as a Veela, as she just smiled at him in an

expression that reflected understanding. Neville also

knew Harry was distracted, but would not ask. He

knew he'd be told why in due course, if Harry felt he

should know.