Chapter 15: Dinner for Schmucks

He'd only just arrived, and only had enough time for a cursory look, but the place felt wrong. He heard footsteps approaching the room and had his wand drawn, a quick series of flicks had him disillusioned, silenced and masked for scent. He waited for the footsteps to enter the room and put himself in the corner, so he could have a full view of the person entering and be at their back when they moved into the room.

A single man entered, scruffy hair down to his neck, a few days growth of facial hair smattering his neck and face. The man was in dark robes that looked older but were in good condition still. The man did not have his wand drawn yet he still unnerved Harry upon entering.

"Harry… is that you?" The voice was desperate with a hinge of excitement.

Harry waited until he passed him by. There was no mistaking whom it was that entered; it was Sirius Black. Knowing the man is an unrepentant prankster, Harry decided to take advantage of the situation.

Sirius was in the middle of the room where Harry had the perfect position to execute an ambush. Harry's wand was already drawn and pointed at the man. He crept forward to ensure the distance between them was point-blank. A silent petrification spell later and Sirius was frozen without having sensed Harry's presence in the room.

Harry cast a voice modification charm at his throat and then spoke. "You should be careful. There are many dangerous things in the dark and decrepit places such as this." The voice modulation had the desired effect. A low menacing growl took the place of regular voice.

Harry circled the frozen-in-place man. He placed an obscuration charm of his face and dropped the disillusionment before he plucked the man's wand from his grasp. "Now what shall I do to such a notorious mass murderer? Would you like a visit with your cousin Narcissa by chance?" Harry enjoyed the widening of Sirius' eyes as he comprehended the drawled-out sentence.

"You know, those Malfoys, they are such good friends of our dear minister. Lucius would be overjoyed if I gave you to him!" Harry watched with glee as the blood drained from Sirius' face.

"After all, we can't have a degenerate mutt like Snuffles roaming around free, now can we?" With supreme effort, he barely managed to contain his laughter. He waited for the animagus to catch the full meaning of his words. When he did, Harry dropped all his charms and broke out in laughter having successfully pranked the marauder.

After getting his laughter out, he let the bound man move again. "Laugh it up. You get this one free because I'm so glad to see you!" The man pouted outrageously and then flashed him a grin.

"I was so worried, nobody knew where you were! Are you okay?" The words tumbled out of his mouth. He realized there was something more important to discuss than the perfectly executed prank.

"I'm actually doing really well, probably the happiest I've ever been." Harry smiled at him, failing to recognize how the other man might take it as a slight, or barbed remark.

Sirius winced. He'd desperately wanted to provide a proper home for him at the end of his third year, just as Charlus Potter and Aunt Dorea had for him when he ran away from home. Instead, he'd made another blatant error of judgment. Just as he did by chasing Pettigrew, he'd put his safety and his happiness ahead of his godson. He'd gone off to a tropical island to enjoy being free again. He'd entrusted others to continue to look after his godson.

"That's great. I trust spending evenings with women like Natalia Pavlova and Fleur Delacour on your arm would make things pretty good." He waggled his eyebrows with insinuation. "I'd have given up my right paw to have either of them on my arm at your age. I mean, two older drop-dead gorgeous women are all over you, one of them a Merlin-forsaken veela, and you're not even 16 yet!" Sirius exclaimed.

"You do us all so proud!" He wiped a fake tear out of his eye in exaggeration of his awe.

Harry scoffed, "Well, I'm not dating either of them," he retorted back, "and I went with Natalia to both of them. She let me open the Delacour Ball with Fleur as she did not have a date for the evening. Most of the press coverage seemed to be unclear as to who my date actually was. In France, they thought it was Fleur. In England, they noted I was dancing with a Pavlova but was 'awfully chummy' with the Delacour heiress and her family." He shrugged. "I guess that's why Lacroix, Patrice, and Ivan all suggested I get an agent."

Sirius gawked at the young man. "What?" His jaw had not found a way to shut yet.

Harry ignored the comment; he didn't feel like getting into a discussion on that with Sirius. He had his own agenda for being here. Critique of his recent actions and decisions was at the bottom of the list. Frankly, he didn't care what was on their agenda for this morning.

"Are you alone here, or are there others here?" Harry asked.

Sirius debated asking more about the previous comment but decided to hold off for now. Harry had shown a strong independence streak and he didn't want to upset him especially not even before he got out of the floo entry room.

He responded to Harry's question, "Just Moony and me."

Harry nodded and followed Sirius through the home, which was as dark, depressing and dreary as the entry, if not worse. They made their way into the library where Remus Lupin was sitting at a small round table set for three.

He stood when he saw Harry enter the room. "Harry! It's so good to see you. We were all so worried when not even Dumbledore knew where you were." His voice actually reflected his words, though Harry doubted their authenticity to a degree.

"Did you not read the interview in the paper?" He didn't see comprehension on the werewolf's face so he elaborated quickly, "The interview where it was explained, very clearly, that I withdrew from Hogwarts and, as an emancipated minor, I struck out on my own for the duration of the tournament." He had raised his eyebrow, sceptically, while speaking. He found it rather unbelievable that they wouldn't have read the international headline-making news that was plastered, literally, everywhere in the magical world.

Remus grimaced slightly, "I did, but until the First Task, nobody had heard from you. Dumbledore hadn't informed us of your withdrawal. I'm glad our fears were not actualized." A strained smile found his face.

"How could we have missed all those headlines with all those pretty girls on your arms! Eh Moony?" Sirius said as he elbowed Lupin in the ribs and laughed in mirth when the elbow hit his unprotected ribcage.

Even Harry smiled at the little altercation. Remus wasn't one to let a cheap shot like that go and retaliated with his wand. He shot a silent spell to Sirius's feet and used the palm of his hand to push his best friend off balance. Sirius' feet stuck and he went arse over tea kettle.

Any tension left unresolved, between the three, ended with Remus and Harry doubling over in laughter when Sirius fell into the sticking charm and was stuck in an unnatural position on the floor. It was as if he was playing a solo game of twister where he had horrid luck for body positions. Needless to say, the two couldn't contain their mirth.

"Laugh it up Moony. You've just broken our truce and there will be revenge! Sweet, glorious, unholy revenge!" Sirius declared brazenly, or well as well as he could from the ridiculous position he was stuck in. He'd meant to inspire terror, but he'd made them laugh harder. He was completely at their mercy, unable to grab his wand.

"Free me!" Sirius pouted. Remus took pity on the man and released him, but only after getting confirmation, they were resuming temporary truce on their prank war.

"Well, Harry, we're both glad you came. We just wanted to see you, talk to you, or whatever." Sirius didn't really have a great way with words for all this godfathering he was hoping to do.

"I'm guessing you guys talked to Dumbledore and know what he knows?" Harry asked while joining them, he sat at the table with them.

"Hard to say. We know what Dumbledore has told us but not how much of what he knows. The man plays his cards close to his chest." Remus responded.

"Okay, then what do you want to know?" Harry had assumed there would be a bit of an interrogation session today, both here and upcoming at the Burrow.

Remus looked to Sirius but got a signal to start. "Well, let's start at the beginning. Why did you leave Hogwarts?" He asked with no accusation in his tone; he seemed genuinely curious. Sirius was antsy in his chair watching his godson.

Harry ran his hand through his hair and down the back of his neck. He rubbed it as he debated exactly how to answer the question. The silence between them stretched. "It's kind of hard to explain. It's a real combination of things and it just kind of got to the point where I'd had enough." He gave a half-hearted shrug and a frown etched his face.

Neither man was pleased with the answer and Sirius probed for more. "What kind of things combined together?" There was a longing in his tone to understand the boy who should have been raised as his surrogate son, or a favourite uncle at the very least.

Harry looked between them and mentally considered telling them the bare truth or just a version of it. He went for the cold hard truth. "You sure you really want to know? You probably won't like what I have to say, it's scathing."

"We do, no matter how scathing it is," Remus replied, without missing a beat. Sirius had started to say something at the same time but deferred to the man who had spent more time with Harry.

"Well, I've been in a deadly scenario every single year since I started at Hogwarts. Through it all, Hermione and Ron were there for me. Ron was jealous and his actions ended our close friendship. Hermione refused to get in the middle and, in doing so, abandoned me. I'm not sure she meant it like that but she was the only person who I expected would never betray me like that. Ron's always been a bit jealous and he has an inferiority complex too. The school populace turned nasty, the teachers didn't step in to help at all…" He trailed as he could tell Sirius wanted to jump in and ask or say something.

"What about us? When I heard about the tournament from Dumbledore, I immediately made my way back to England. Moony would have too." Sirius said with emotion.

Harry gave them a bland look. Giving his unfiltered thought on that would not be kind, but hiding it wouldn't fix anything. If it ruined things, he could live with it. "Honestly, I didn't trust it would be enough." He could see the shock on both their faces but ploughed on. "Moony didn't send me a single letter the entire time since I saw him last. And what good would a man with a death warrant do to help? I needed real help . I saw what happened with the Death Eaters this summer. I saw Voldemort in my dreams and nobody did anything but pat me on my head and tell me to be a good dog." He thought he'd dealt with his anger. He could feel the latent fury building within him and it was evident, to both older men, in his speech.

"I've faced Voldemort multiple times! I've killed a bloody basilisk, a werewolf, tons of dementors, crazy professors, acromantula, and death eaters. Yet, I'm kept where I was hated and never taught how to properly defend myself." Harry didn't come here to rant and rave at them. He needed to get his emotions back under control. He took a deep breath and tried to soothe away his anger. "I just decided if nobody was going to step up, I'd have to figure it out myself. The results have been great so far. I understand the wizarding world much better and am fully independent to do what I think is best."

Harry stopped there. He'd unloaded enough and it was time to let them respond.

Both men looked incredibly pensive. Harry thought they'd be impulsive and try and absolve some of the accusations. They hadn't, not at all, as of yet.

Remus spoke first. His eyes had trouble meeting Harry's but he made sure they did, even if his entire posture was downcast, with his face drooping. "Sorry. I'm sorry, Harry… I left the wizarding world when news broke. I was so ashamed I'd forgotten to take a potion. A small mistake that almost killed students, that let Pettigrew escape, that almost had Sirius and you kissed . I thought… I thought you'd want nothing to do with me." The defeatism pissed Harry off and that leaked onto his face while Remus was speaking.

"I was wrong. Thinking back now, I know you would have preferred me to contact you. Just like you let me off the hook when I was your teacher. I've done this twice. However, I won't do it again." He punctuated the final six words.

Harry didn't respond. He saw Sirius was ready to speak.

"You really don't trust me?" Sirius asked completely downtrodden.

It's a hard thing to speak the truth but Harry didn't lack for courage and he wouldn't pull his punches now. "You chased Pettigrew and left me with Hagrid. Then, you broke out of prison, not to reconnect with me, but to kill Pettigrew. I know you offered me a place to live, but, it was after you thought you had revenge on the rat. And since then? A few letters. I told you what happened in my life and how much I loathed where I lived. I told you about my dreams and what good did it do? Being thrown into the tournament with no tangible support was the result. What would you have done? Sent letter suggestions about how to handle a dragon? Write a letter on how to behave at the ball? You're not here and I'm not your priority. I'm nobody's priority. What's best for Harry doesn't top anyone's lists!" The frustrations he had been holding back were all rising to the surface now and there was nothing lethargic about it. His voice was heated, his skin flushed and he was flustered. "I'm in a better place now. I'm actually learning magic at a fantastic rate. I'm branching out beyond only having two friends. I'm independent, doing whatever I think is best, and I'm finally happy now that I have some control!"

A melancholic tension poisoned the air between them. Harry wanted to get one thing in first before they responded though. "Look, if I wanted nothing to do with either of you, I wouldn't have come. You both know I can hide myself away from the world without issue. I came because I think we can work at it. Sometimes it takes pointing out the issues to overcome them. What do you think?"

"You've matured a lot, Harry. I've already screwed up, badly, twice, and words are wind. I will do what I can to show you I really mean to not make it a third time." Moony spoke solemnly first in reply.

Harry gave him a hard look and simply nodded, there wasn't a need to say anything. He looked expectantly to Sirius.

The man had unshed tears in his eyes, a foreign look of seriousness on his face, it was plain weird to see. "I should have been your godfather your whole life. I've been in prison instead. I thought… well, I didn't think you really needed me. I left to stay safe and rehabilitate myself. I was eating scraps and hunting rats to eat. I was tortured by dementors for over a decade and I was a mess. I thought healing would be the best way to help you in the future." He paused and ensured he had direct eye contact with Harry. "You're right, I didn't put you before my need for revenge and I'm sorry for that. It won't happen again." The man was radiating with the strength of his revolve and Harry could sense it, yet, until the chips were down he wouldn't know if it was true.

Harry decided a shift in the mood would be a good chance. "Well, I didn't come here to be all depressed or anything. So, where exactly are we? I got the address but this place is nasty with a capital N."

"This is my house, the Black Family's home, where I grew up. Didn't my mum do such a great job decorating? You can really feel the doom and gloom!" Sirius gestured to the horrid paint job and dark corners of the room.

Harry laughed at his godfather's antics. It was nice to spend time with people where he did not have to be on alert the entire time.

"You need to be careful here. We've just started and we've already found a number of deadly magical items here. Don't touch anything you're unsure of and don't wander." He told Harry seriously.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm here to chat, not touch random objects in a super creepy house." He replied drolly. "Do you mind if I ask you more about your family, Sirius?" He'd known it was a sore subject since his third year but as a Black, he wanted to know more.

Sirius scowled and saw the look his godson was giving him. "What do you want to ask about?" He asked cautiously.

"Well, I'm apparently in position to take on the role of regency and I wondered why it fell to me. As I understand, there are no eligible heirs. Do you know why?"

Both men had slackened jaws when Harry dropped the tidbit about being eligible to be the regent for the Black family.

"Grandfather did that?" Sirius whispered to himself, just loud enough for the other two to hear.

"Did what?" Remus asked in a calm reassuring voice.

The dark shoulder-length haired man was lost within himself. He was too spaced out to hear the question. His eyes snapped back to Harry, "Was this grandfather's a message? I thought he'd washed himself of the family… he was so disappointed." His eyes were on Harry but he spoke to himself, voicing his thoughts out loud with a faraway look.

Harry waited for him to go on but he did not. Remus seemed to be comfortable waiting but Harry was not. He had to meet up with Fleur and make it to the Burrow for lunch.

"Sirius," Harry exclaimed loudly getting the man to focus back on him, "why are you not the heir? Why am I the regent? I wanted to understand more about the Black family before I considered taking up the role. I am a legal adult now and am able to legally." His crisp voice brought the man out of his reminiscing. Moony was happy to watch and see how his best friend answered.

"I was never eligible to be the heir. It's why my family loathed me, a firstborn male unable to carry on the family. They took out their failure on me and I resented them for it. It's why your father was my best friend growing up. Aunt Dorea was always so kind."

Harry sighed, this was like pulling teeth with pliers. "And you were never eligible to be the heir because?" He let his voice drift off with the obvious conclusion being Padfoot was supposed to continue the sentence.

"Because I shoot blanks. My whole generation had reproductive issues," he stated blandly, though it wasn't hard to see the man had regrets about it.

"I knew your swimmers were no good but your whole generation?" Remus asked with a raised eyebrow, the comment had piqued his interest.

Sirius leaned back in his chair and slumped into the dusty cushioning. "Bella was barren; she could never have children. Andi was supposedly as well but she had Dora…." The man sported a massive grin when he thought of that. "She slept with Teddy Tonks so she didn't have to get her hands dirty in herbology, or that was what she claimed at the time. She was always a bit too friendly knowing what awaited her after graduation." Harry shot a glare at him, he did not want to have to keep asking to be told the whole story. "Then you have myself and Regulus, both impotent and unable to father children. All that inbreeding caught up, they tried to keep our bloodline gifts strong, and within the family, but all they got was the end of the mainline of the Black family. Arcturus knew about the danger. It's why he insisted his sister married into a family that hadn't mixed with ours for centuries. His own child married his cousin, even though he tried to forbade it. Good ol' mum wanted to be the Lady Black and got herself pregnant out of wedlock. Grandfather could either shame his own family or allow the match."

"I never knew about that, let alone your brother and cousins," Remus told him. "It does kind of explain the reputation of your cousins. Is it why you never got serious with anyone?"

Harry groaned when he saw the grim-faced man smirk. "Really, Moony? I was always serious, for I am Sirius Black!" He had his hands on his hips and his chest thrust forward, even though it was awkward given he was still seated. "The eternal bachelor, the Gryffindor Ladykiller!" He laughed at his own self-proclaimed titles. "Just another Black too inbred to produce progeny." The humour died as he ended, it turned melancholic for the final bit. "I could not produce children and could never have a family, it drove our family apart and made Grandfather set up this plan. For Harry to be the Regent and, if he so chose, to let him bear the next heir naming him a Black from birth, the Black lineage would extend through his sister's line."

Harry was stunned. An entire generation almost incapable of having children. The entire male line dying out from a family with such a strong history. It was surprising and he didn't know if he should or how to empathize. "I'm sorry." It was all he could come up with, Sirius hadn't asked for it.

"Did you tell anyone?" The ashen-faced Remus Lupin choked out.

Sirius scoffed. "James knew. His mother knew and had probably told him. Aside from them, it was a family secret. Couldn't let something as inconvenient as that get out and ruin the family name," he said with faux haughty arrogance.

Remus seemed to want to avoid keeping the conversation heading in the direction and decided to turn it in a new direction. "So because the main line was not going to continue the Black family through James?"

Sirius stared at him blankly for a moment. Then he frowned, "Possibly? Honestly, I've no idea. I was the black sheep, the Gryffindor gaffe. If I had to guess, it would likely have been decided after Prongs and Lils had more kids, see how they turned out."

"So to find out more, I need to visit Gringotts and see if there was anything left? I had been meaning to go, just things have been so busy." Harry added to his godfather's guess.

Both men gave him the kind of look that said 'we don't know but your idea sounds like a good one' and left it at that.

For being mostly familiar with each other, things were still awkward. Their conversation had lapsed and none of them had continued to a new topic naturally. The absence, lack of trust and this being their first meeting culminated in the weirdness between them. Neither man wanted to do anything that would upset the boy and Harry was still ill at ease with the two. Remus had the experience as a teacher for bridging these chams.

"Was there anything else you wanted to ask about or anything we could help with?" He had an involuntary grimace with how much he sounded like a teacher, he should be Harry's uncle figure.

Harry smiled, understanding what Remus was trying to do. "Yes, there is actually," the political discussion of the previous night on his mind, "what do you know about the Tragedy of the Commons?"

"Oh, Lily used to always rant about that!" Padfoot exclaimed. "She hated it! Your mother was fierce when she got into one of these kinds of topics she got passionate about, and this was one of them." Remus gave him a questioning look which he did not notice. Harry caught it but was always interested in hearing more about his parents. "She always railed, on and on," he gesticulated dramatically as he spoke, "how unfair the muggle-borns had it. No representation in the government, not officially allowed to hold prominent ministry office nor start new businesses. She ranted and raved about it for years! This one time she even was in the common room and was spitting with fury to….?" He paused unable to recall the bloke's name. "Moony who was the guy I accidentally broke the nose of, when I was trying to knock Prong's snitch and wallopped the kid's nose instead? I think it was in 4th year?" He looked at his friend whose face was in his palm.

Slowly Moony extricated his face from his palm and looked at his idiotic brother. "It was Jenkins and that was 5th year, not 4th. And that's not wh-"

"Right! Jenkins!" He laughed loudly. "The git had it coming! I still say James put the snitch in the position so my swing would do exactly that! With the way he laughed his arse off at me, even in front of McGee of all people, he definitely set that up!" He got a faraway look in his eyes. "And what a marvellous prank it was, even if it was on his dear ol' Paddy." His eyes lost the glimmer and gave way to a forlorn expression. "Anyways, what was I going on about again?" His eyes twinkled in merriment once more, though a morose shadow still kept him firmly in its grasp.

"Tragedy of the Commons and mum in the common room." Harry helpfully offered up.

Remus facepalmed. He caught Harry's eye when he gave the helpful hint for Padfoot to continue, hence the facepalm.

"Right! Lily was going off and.." He looked quizzically at his friend. He knew something was off when Moony had his head dropped into his hands.

"Moony?" He asked hesitantly, he didn't want to know he did something to elicit that again, this was a hauntingly familiar situation.

"Yes?" Remus asked without looking up.

"Am I missing something here?" He questioned slowly.

Remus sighed and Harry snickered. "Yes."

Padfoot pouted.

"Tragedy of the Commons is not referring to the commoner, the muggle-borns. It's an economic term."

"Ah," he replied sheepishly, still not comprehending.

"It's an issue we have in the magical world. Why are you interested in it?" Remus asked curiosity brimming, fourteen-year-olds are not normally interested in anything like this.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't sure how much he wanted to divulge. Nobody really knew he had met with Natalia's family as of yet. "I was trying to find out more about magical governance and it was brought up to prove a point." He thought that was a good vague answer.

"Magical governance? I'm surprised you are interested in that." Remus responded honestly. "What brought that on?"

Harry shrugged. "I need to educate myself, especially now that I'm emancipated, and there is a lot that I don't know because I was raised in the muggle world. I've been trying to find out more about the Ministry, the Wizengamot, and the ICW."

"Wait. Don't move on, what is the Tragedy of the Commons?" Sirius asked.

Remus raised an eyebrow in a challenge at Harry, he wanted to see what Harry knew.

Harry turned his head towards Sirius. "Well, it's probably easiest to explain in an example, or that's how it was explained to me…" Seeing he had Sirius' attention, he continued. "Unicorns were how it was explained to me. They are a finite resource. They are virtually impossible to domesticate let alone breed. In captivity, they seem to wither and die off. Making it worse, they are long-lived and reproduce very slowly. Foals come along maybe twice a century. Yet, they are in high demand. They are so magical, they have extensive uses from potions to wand cores. There used to be quite a lot more unicorns in the world but they were hunted. They were captured to be used to make money. Countries, families, and clans stole them from each other and even had them killed off to prevent an enemy from having the resource. As a whole, their population was being pushed to extinction. So, the ICW heavily regulates their habitat and what they can be used for. Essentially, the commons is a public resource and the tragedy is the propensity for humans to overuse them until they are gone."

"A decent summary," Remus commented casually.

Sirius looked at Harry like he was an alien. "If you guys are going to go on about this, wake me up when it's done," he said and dramatically flopped his head down onto the table whacking his forehead against it repeatedly.

Harry laughed at his godfather's childish antics and then turned to focus on Remus, who he could have an intelligent adult conversation with.

"I was trying to learn about how the magical world is governed and got quite an interesting education, but I was hoping to get other viewpoints." He offered back to the grizzled man.

"And who gave you the education? Dumbledore?"

Harry smiled, "Nope, it was someone else."

Remus frowned wondering who else it could be. He knew Harry hadn't been in touch with the Weasley family and had few other friends at Hogwarts. He seemed chummy with his date Natalia and Fleur Delacour. He assumed it would have been one of them and would wager on it being the Delacour's.

"What can you tell me about the political climate when Voldemort was launching his war?"

"So, the first time I saw the house I thought it was amazing, awesome. A towering monstrosity held together only by magic. A household of mischievous chaos and loving affection. Their mother helped a bespectacled little boy at the transition and sent a Christmas present to a boy she only knew from that one instance and the letters her children sent home. Warm, loving, caring and she gives hugs that crush the air out of you. I may not call Ron my best friend anymore, but I really respect the family. If you don't want to join me, it really won't bother me."

Fleur frowned, not because of what the young man had said, but from the distance that was between them. She glomped onto his side against, pressing herself against him to maximize physical contact and told him what she felt. "Non, I wouldn't miss this. I get to spend the rest of the day with you, non? What more could one want? C'est magnifique," she gave him a dazzling smile and looked back towards their destination.

Harry's face reddened, even if he was getting used to being teased by the picturesque beauty hanging off his arm. He nodded and the two began the walk up to the Burrow together.

His time meeting with Sirius and Remus had been cathartic. He did not trust them implicitly, or anything of that nature, but their motivations for being around him were so much more concrete than most. A connection to his dead parents and a perceived obligation to them to help their only child. They had spectacularly sucked at it, but it didn't change the ease of which Harry understood their angle.

That is not to say it was exactly clear as a glacier-fed mountain stream. Remus seemed to have a lot of loyalty to the headmaster. Remus and Sirius had their uses and could be rather beneficial to keep around. They told him stories of his parents, they were both accomplished, to varying degrees, in their own right and would probably straightforwardly answer most things. Their association with him was obvious and it eased his mind to see they still accepted him, even with him keeping secrets from them and associating with Natalia.

Harry felt the alluring skin of the Delacour heiress as it rubbed up against his. He was in a plain dark grey short-sleeved shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans, both with comfort charms so the weather didn't bother him. She wore tight-fitting jeans that showed off her figure, a skin-tight undershirt, that did not show any cleavage, and a shawl that drew down from her shoulders to her mid-thigh. Her outfit was casual, enticing and somehow perfectly conservative. It went wonderfully with her long hair flowing down her back.

"Gabrielle was so upset you didn't stay longer the other night. I can't even imagine how sad she will be that she missed you picking me up. She's going to pout and get this big blue eyes that you can't resist. Can't you just picture it?" Harry grimaced; he knew the exact look she meant.

"You'll just have to be sure to visit soon." Fleur laughed at him. They both had been under the spell of Gabby's adorable pout, with her sky blue eyes and trembling lower lip.

"I'll visit you soon," he scowled at her, halfheartedly. He rather did like the little veela. He imagined it would be like having a little sister of his own.

"Don't think I don't know you're playing the cute little sister card to make sure I spend more time at the Delacour home with you." He gave her a shrewd look, he may still be young but he was learning.

She blushed. "Oui, that is part of it. I was worried you'd say non if I just asked. I would like you to date moi but I will not force that. The Potter and Delacour families should be close friends and I'd like that too, even if it's not my first preference."

Harry didn't reply to that. He needed to think first and not respond with emotions. With Fleur, he felt more prone to that. It was, possibly, a part of the veela allure? The books he read and all the conflicting resources didn't leave a clear indication one way or another. Books ranged from veela are half-demons that seduce men for their own flights of fancy before brutally murdering them and then repeating the plan. On the other end, some books said veela were normal women with magical physical traits. There appeared to be such a variety of information that distinguishing the misinformation from empirical evidence was impossible for him. He already had realized he would have to do his own study. He'd focused on his mental occlumency barriers and there was no effect on them. Given what Fleur had told him already, he assumed they were more emotionally driven. Him being more prone to responding with emotions seemed to indicate that. Along with veela being able to sense emotion or the intention of those that are in physical proximity to them, there does appear to be some actual evidence he was onto something.

"I'm not dating anyone yet," she looked at him oddly.

"What about Natalia?" she asked. "I thought you were not dating her publicly and actually dating her in private. Don't you kiss each other, and maybe more?" Her eyes were narrowed and her face scrunched as she asked the question.

Harry knew they still had a couple of minutes before they got to the Burrow. They actually had time to talk. "I don't think that's an option. Besides, we've never talked about it. She kind of just started kissing me", Harry's voice went low and he mumbled the last part, "and it's not so bad kissing a pretty older girl."

Fleur gave him an absolutely predatory grin. "I'm older and don't you think I'm pretty too?"

Harry nodded instinctually and then realized just what she was getting at.

"Won't you kiss me moi?" She asked, far too sweetly.

Harry immediately backpedalled verbally. "I'm not the kind of guy to go around just kissing every pretty girl that will kiss me." Harry saw Fleur's monstrous pout and made a swift attack to defeat it. "You are very pretty but I-"

Fleur silenced Harry with a delicate finger being pressed to his lips. She moved forward and embraced him in an engulfing hug. He could smell her scent and feel all of her developing curves. "I know 'arry; I was just teasing you," she whispered into his ear.

The two broke apart and resumed their arm-in-arm walk towards the Burrow.

The two didn't talk for half a minute but the quiet, between them, was nice. It allowed Harry to regain his equilibrium and realize she had been teasing and messing with him. She was dangerous.

"Are you really going to be okay with today? Things won't be anywhere near what you grew up with. There is only one bathroom and they have seven kids, though two don't live at home anymore." Harry watched her to see how she took what he was saying. He hadn't expected her to giggle.

"Oh 'arry, that's not a problem. Your observation is correct. I do enjoy the finer things in life that our wealth can provide. Us Delacour are not so shallow. Bonds of family and friendship are far more important than a nice dress, a luxurious home, and all the gold in Gringotts. I'm working on our bond of friendship and meeting those close to you. That's more than enough to make this an excellent day."

Harry acknowledged her words, but let his focus turn inward. He'd met a few wizarding families now and they were so different. Natalia's family so proper and though there were obvious familial bonds they were somewhat cold. The Delacour family was so natural, relaxed, carefree and blessed. Everything there allowed him to bask in the gloriousness of being a part of a family. The Burrow had always felt busy, loving, overbearing, caring, and suffocating. There was an undercurrent of feeling cramped and longing for more. Arthur may have been the antithesis to overbearing and suffocating but his wife was the personification of it and he let her rule the roost. It was quite the oxymoron, like her hugs both loving affection and overpowered bonecrushers. He had no idea how today was going to go, but he felt Fleur's presence would magnify everything.

"So Harry you didn't tell us how you got so chummy with the Beauxbatons Champion. Aren't you two supposed to be competing?" Bill Weasley asked.

"It's not much of a secret really. My grandparents and her grandfather fought Grindelwald together and our families had maintained close ties. Patrice, Fleur's father, was friends with my father and our families used to vacation together every summer. I had no idea, but even Dumbledore confirmed our connection. Fleur approached me and invited me over and I've started to get to know them. It's been nice; I got a picture of my grandparents from him." Harry had that rare glow that came to him when he spoke of his family.

Harry was seated outside on the grass. Fred, George, Ginny, Charlie and Ron were braving the cold flying and playing two on two with Charlie smacking around a softened bludger at any of his siblings. It left Bill and Harry sitting watching. Fleur had offered to help Mrs Weasley in the kitchen, surprising everyone, and Harry hadn't felt like flying one of the old brooms. After flying a Firebolt, it just wasn't quite the same and they didn't have enough brooms with them for every single one of them. With the possibility of Fleur coming out, he didn't want to leave her on her own.

Things had gone quite well, though there was an obvious strain in their relations. Just like it was with Sirius and Remus, they didn't want to jeopardize making things worse with him and were being careful and cautious. However, there did seem to be tension between the female Weasleys and Fleur.

"Isn't it odd that she would suddenly get so close to you?" The question Bill asked had an air of incredulity to it though it was lacking in any sort of accusation.

"How so?"

Bill shifted from his leaned back position. He had been seated on his bum with both arms behind him leaning back to keep his neck from straining from looking up so high, following the quidditch match. He pushed himself to be upright and his eyes only flickered to the game here and there. "If they were such good family friends, why did you not know about them until a chance meeting at a tournament that had been dormant for years? Doesn't that seem fishy?"

It did, until Harry had reflected on it. It would be interesting to see what Bill made of what he'd put together himself in the chamber. "Bear with me, this is related. What do you know about my parents?"

Bill leaned closer. "Well, I know they were hunted and died protecting you. They are heroes. They were Head Boy and Girl, respectively and not much more I'm afraid. I'm too young to have known them personally."

Harry inclined his head. "Yes, and those are the facts everyone seems to have. I didn't know anything beyond that until I met Remus Lupin in my third year. Even he was reluctant to share personal stories with me even though he was like a brother to my father." He took a long, slow breath. How much should he reveal?

"I grew up with my mother's sister, her husband and their son who are muggles. They loathe everything to do with magic, including my parents. They tried to stop me from going to Hogwarts and my aunt has not told me a single thing about my mother that was not a lie or hateful comment. I didn't receive a single wizarding owl until I got my Hogwarts letter. Since that fateful day, I've only received correspondence from the Ministry, Ron, and Hermione." He drew out the break before the next sentence to ensure Bill had time to process what he'd been told.

"Now, you tell me, how suspicious is it that I never heard from the Delacour's until a chance presented itself this year?"

Bill's eyebrows were furrowed as close to each other as they could be. There was a tenseness to his body now that had been lacking all day. "That doesn't make any sense." He stopped himself just before he said another word and jerked his head up frowning deeply at himself. "You've figured it out already?"

"Yeah. All mail is blocked coming to me except those on an approved list. Not that it matters as the place I stay doesn't allow any mail except from my personal owl."

Bill whistled. "That's quite the warding scheme if it allows for that distinction. Any chance I could have a look at it?"

Harry grinned and shook his head. He laughed when Bill tried to pull off a pout but an older dude with a dragon earing and long hair just didn't compare to a pouting little veela

"Can you at least tell me how you get her so interested in you? I've seen the papers of you with that Pavlova girl and Fleur. Not even Charlie and I were that good at your age." He playfully pushed Harry's shoulder.

"There's not much to tell really. I met Natalia through my dance instructor and Fleur is a good friend."

"A good friend . Is that what they call it these days?" Bill teased.

"If I say she's a girl that is my friend, are you going to call her my girlfriend too?" Harry riposted back.

Bill gave him a wry grin and let the topic wane.

They both turned their attention back towards the gusty winter match. Harry's eyes tracked Charlie. The second eldest Weasley was supposed to have been one of the great Gryffindor seekers. He noticed that Charlie's broom did not have any form of footrests. His legs dangled and moved more freely. He also had unique ways to make use of the free appendages.

Charlie would blast the padded bludger at the twins, like any normal beater, and he also had a way of dislodging the quaffle from them. He'd buzz past the twin holding the quaffle and hook his ankle around the arm holding it. His foot would catch on the arm and wrench it out of its ability to hold the quaffle. Harry hadn't really seen that kind of manoeuvre before.

"Is that a legal seeker move to use your ankle like that?" Harry asked Bill.

He chuckled. "Kind of. You're not allowed to try and directly fly into someone. It's a penalty if it pulls them off their broom or completely changes their direction of flight. He spent years trying to master it. When he just wrenches their arm, it's not normally ever called as a penalty."

Harry listened. Oliver Wood had told him about the various styles of being a seeker. He was more of Krum's style. Occasionally, he would help out his chasers but Gryffindor's squad typically outmatched or equalled their opponent. It was why his role of just focusing on the snitch was the one Wood had pushed him towards. It was interesting to see a more interfering in the game style.

A flash of silver-blonde hair turned Harry from the sky back to the Burrow. Fleur was making her way over to them. Harry noticed that Bill had lust in his eyes as she walked over to him.

"'Arry" She greeted him warmly, sat down, and leaned over onto Harry. Bill watched this and raised his eyebrow. The way the two were so close together seemed to indicate they were more than just friends. He raised his eyebrow at the younger man with a questioning look. Harry shrugged the shoulder Fleur was not glued to.

"Ze introductions were so quick; I had missed your name," Fleur said politely to Bill. Harry laughed internally at the dour look Bill flashed before he did his best to turn the circumstances around.

"Bill Weasley" he stuck his hand out to greet her again, even though they had already been introduced today. Fleur pushed her arm forward and Bill took her hand and kissed the back of it. "It is certainly a pleasure to meet someone as radiant as you." He gave her a roguish smile, which matched his overall look of dragon hide jacket, long hair, fang earring and confident demeanour.

"You must be very skilled and score well in your classes to have been picked by the Goblet of Fire," Bill said, entreating Fleur into a conversation.

Harry wasn't really sure exactly how to take the situation. Fleur wasn't his girlfriend, but it was awkward for her to be almost clinging to him and have another guy try and chat her up. He didn't think he was jealous, per se, but having guys hit on her wasn't on his agenda for the day. Yet, he didn't want to scowl and do something that would be taken as him being overtly interested in Fleur.

"Oui, I'd like to think so, and I did score the top in my year three years running." Her free hand ran through her hair and she flipped it from behind her to her front. It ran over the more elevated shoulder, the one not touching Harry. Her hand ran through it pulling it in front of her chest and when the hand ran down, it fell back.

Harry thought the movement was kind of odd. He'd not spent a great deal of time with Fleur but he'd not seen her do this set of movements before. He'd seen her play with her hair a handful of times and it was normally done with the hair bunched in one hand and the other stroking it off to the side. It seemed more like she was using it to cover herself further. He'd felt the slight shiver when Bill kissed her hand. He noticed how quickly she withdrew it and how she grasped onto him a little more than usual for the few seconds afterwards.

"Not just a pretty face then." Bill grinned. "You're smart as well. Are your wand skills up to the same level?"

This last comment did bring a frown to Harry's face. He wasn't perfectly convinced it was meant as a double entendre with a perverse connotation but he knew Bill was bright enough to have avoided it if he'd realized it.

"I am the duelling champion at my school this year as well." She gave him a forced polite smile then smirked at him. "'Arry though is already more skilled than I and his OWL marks were prodigieux, 'e is so impressionnant," she dropped her head onto his shoulder and maintained eye contact with Bill as she did so.

"Is he now?" He answered with a question and then a nonchalant remark. "I've heard tales of the boy for years."

"Oh, he's not all talk that' for sure." She flashed a wicked grin at both males. "I've been on the end of his wand . It was almost more than I could handle. I was exhausted, I couldn't walk right and I was so very sore. We'll just 'ave to keep practising. Practice makes prefect, you won't mind, will you, 'arry?" The combination of the sultry purr in her voice and the wicked grin was quite something. Adding to their constant body contact, Harry had no chance to stop a full flush descending across his body, from head to toe.

"Practice makes perfect, not prefect." Harry muttered while trying to recover from being teased so effectively.

"Oh see," Fleur clung to his side even further, "'arry knows exactly what I meant." Her brilliant smile radiated her enjoyment.

Bill laughed good-naturedly at the young woman's antics.

It brought a sigh of relief when the players all landed around them disrupting further conversation.

"Undefeated in two vs two." George proclaimed loudly, to the annoyance of Ron and Ginny.

"Nobody's on the same page as we are. Can't beat perfection such as us." Fred continued.

"Shut it, you gits. Of course, you two would win when you both play on the quidditch team!" Ginny was visibly annoyed when she landed and now she was even more put out.

"Aww, ickle Gin Gin, it's okay. Don't worry, we'll make it all better." With a not so inconspicuous wink, they latched onto her in a big sweaty hug and ruffled her hair.

"Eep! That's disgusting!" Ginny raged at her brothers. "Get off!" She futilely tried to push them off her. Her only chance to get away was to wiggle out and use her small lithe figure to her advantage.

Harry looked at Ron, who had been red-faced and quiet around him since he arrived. He saw his cheeks were tinged in red and his jaw a little too slack. His line of sight targeted to just beside him. If there was a chance at reconciling, it no longer existed. Bringing Fleur brought forth a seething jealousy. Harry didn't bother to acknowledge nor call him over.

He stood now, as both Fleur and Bill were doing the same, and got Charlie's attention. "Quite the move there with your feet." He complimented the older dragon tamer.

"Thanks! I was hoping to fly against you today, but I can see you have better things to keep you occupied." He gave a meaningful glance at Fleur, who was talking to Bill.

"I didn't think it was appropriate to abandon her just so I could fly a little, though she did leave me to help your mom prepare dinner."

"I bet that went well, eh Bill?" Charlie responded having seen the two had turned their attention to Harry and Charlie's conversing.

"A girl, who is a friend, helping mom in the kitchen." He barked out a laugh. "That never goes well. Everything has to be done her way by the exact process that she likes." Bill ruefully added.

"Being French won't help too." Charlie chimed back in.

"Being so close to 'poor Harry dear', Gin-Gin's crush, that just seals it. Good luck getting her to be anything more than politely glared at." Bill shook his head while grinning.

"She might think you corrupted the poor boy with your wily charms ." Charlie put in another remark, not wanting to let Bill get the last word.

Fleur scowled playfully. "If only he would let me corrupt him with my charms. 'Arry is too much of a gentleman to let little ol' moi do anything of the like." She wiped off a fake tear. "Plus Natalia has the track as they say."

"The inside track you mean?" Harry muttered petulantly.

Fleur beamed at his and wrapped him in a side hug. "See! 'e always helps moi."

"Natalia Pavlova… you're a braver man than I." Charlie said with some disbelief.

"Do you know her or her family?" Harry curiously asked.

"Eh, not really. If you work in Romania and find yourself exchanging stories over too many firewhiskys, you get to hear about them eventually."

"In curse-breaking expeditions, there are stories here and there told about them," Bill commented after Charlie.

Harry looked at them expectantly.

"They have a reputation for being ruthless and doing anything to get what they want."

"Pretty well the same in the camps."

Ron used the lack of response from Harry to interject into the conversation. "You just had to bring her, didn't you! it wasn't enough to get all the press, you had to bring her to humiliate me too!"

Harry looked to his two eldest brothers and neither had any clue what Ron was upset about. Fleur looked confused, though she might have an inkling of what was going on.

"Didn't you listen when they said their families were close for years and they wanted to continue that?" Fred or George loudly interjected before things could escalate.

"Plus you humiliated yourself anyway! Asking Fleur to the Ball by yelling out at her then grabbing her wrist when she tried to walk past. How did you think blurting out 'bemydateyoureagoddess' at the top of your lungs was going to get her to agree."

"Ron, just go inside and get cleaned up. Dinner will be ready soon," Ginny's may be the smallest and the youngest but none of the brothers liked dealing with her when she was angry.

Ron, who was in full tomato mode, stomped away without saying anything further.

"Did he really do that?" Harry asked, knowing it was possible after how strong Ron had reacted to veela at the World Cup.

"I don't know? I turned down many boys and settled for Viktor after I couldn't ask the one I wanted to go with," she fluttered her eyes at him and threw her hair back over her shoulder so it draped down her back.

Two pops of apparition sound from within the ward line.

"Dad and Percy, that'll mean dinner then," Charlie observed and informed their two guests. "C'mon we are inside today."

The group of them trotted into the home after all the equipment was put away. Fred and George had gone purposefully close to Harry and isolated him to get a quick word in.

"We're all good, Harry ol' boy?" Fred asked; the twins had solemn looks on their faces.

"I was upset for a bit but we're all good. You can pass that to Katie, Angelina, and Alicia too."

"We'll let them know. They'd asked if we'd see you more over break." George added with a grin. "They wanted to see if they should plan to apply to switch houses or not."

"Switch houses?" Harry parroted back with a frown.

"It's all the rage. Like a boy in Ravenclaw, why not try and get closer?" George swooned in reply.

"And if you need a new keeper, recruit for your quidditch team!" Fred added, making sense for why the chasers were so interested.

"Oi, stop lollygagging and get in here," Charlie yelled at them ending their brief chat.

Harry entered after Fleur, and they moved to the table.

"Harry dear, there's a spot between Ron and Ginny, where you always sit." Mrs Weasley informed him, kindly.

"I should sit by Fleur; I did bring her." He frowned and then replied.

"Nonsense. Charlie and Bill can entertain her for dinner. They are closer to her age anyway, dear."

Harry didn't fail to notice the tightening of her face when she saw how close the two stood. By this point, Harry was getting rather used to having a girl close to him. Natalia enjoyed physical contact with him and Fleur had been upfront that she would be tactile with him, and frankly, he enjoyed it.

"She's barely spoken to them, and she is my guest, I should stay with her. Plus, I wouldn't want her beside the twins, that's just cruel," he smirked at them, trying to diffuse anything before it got started.

Without waiting for a response, he took the two seats beside Charlie. Charlie was on the end where Arthur sat, and directly across from Bill. The twins sat across from Harry, Ginny sat beside Fleur. She was across from Percy. Ron and Molly were on the far end of the table and were the furthest from Arthur, Charlie and Bill.

The food was served and it was a free for all.

"So why are you still around? I thought Charlie would have gone back after the First Task, and Bill you didn't mention you'd be here during the year when we talked this summer." Harry began a more frivolous line of questioning to get the table conversation going, now that they'd all had a decent start on their meals. The dinner had lacked much in the way of a conversation after Mrs Weasley and Harry had their awkward exchange.

"The Ministry had requested a dragon expert to stick around and help the investigation into the first task. It should have been over quickly but some political games are being played with the issue. I think who is going to shoulder the blame is the issue." Seeing Harry's interest, he elaborated further, "Bagman, Crouch, Bones, Fudge, and who knows who else, are involved to varying degrees."

Bill cut him off. "Yeah, we've heard it all from Perce. Crouch is the frontrunner due to his absence but his department didn't have anything to do with it so it's hard to scapegoat him. Bagman should take it on the chin but the man has spent his whole life dodging bludgers and it's carried over well." He impersonated his brother, much to his chagrin.

Harry smirked and added on, "Cauldron thickness might have been the culprit. Might have mixed something wrong in a faulty cauldron," he sighed overdramatically. "If only they'd read Percy's report, this would never have happened, definitely not Crouch." Harry grinned and his glance at Percy showed he was too busy droning on about something to his mother to have heard.

Both boys chortled, the twins snickered, Fleur was out of the loop not having been around for the World Cup, and even Arthur snorted.

Arthur coughed, to hide his amusement, and put a lid on the topic. "Well, the department heads will sort that out. Hopefully, Crouch gets over his illness so we can put it all behind us. Twas quite the tragedy." Charlie nodded vigorously. Harry disagreed, he rather liked the result of the ritual, not that anyone here had an idea it was him.

"I'm still around because Gringotts has been contracted to provide some warding services. The expedition I was supposed to be on got cancelled, over who got what percentage of the loot, and so I got volunteered to be the Gringotts liaison for any services they could provide for the tournament." He shifted forward a little, "Not a big fan, but it might be worth it now." He said looking directly at Fleur.

The young woman didn't show any kind of reaction. She'd met his gaze and not let it affect her one way or the other. "I see." He wasn't too pleased with Bill making overt moves on Fleur, but it was subtle enough he didn't think it elicited a response. Besides, Fleur had said she was rather used to amorous pursuers.

"Anything interesting in your department, Mr Weasley?" Harry asked politely, not actually curious but he'd asked the other two.

"Just follow-ups from the World Cup. Perkins and I aren't caught up from all that yet. Far too much paperwork and with many of the culprits being non-nationals it makes it a big mess." He looked a bit forlorn as he finished.

Harry didn't want to hear any further about that and moved onto the twins. "So have I missed anything not being at Hogwarts? Anything new, aside from trouble?" He gave them a mischievous look that the twins returned easily.

"Us, trouble? Perish the thought!" George snickered.

"You'd never prank Ron with a spider wake-up call, or charm Percy's prefect badges." Bill drawled to everyone's amusement.

When the chuckling died off, Fred answered Harry's query. "There is a big event and it is the opportunity for re-sorting."

"I'd heard a little at the Ravenclaw table but what is the big deal with sleeping somewhere else in the castle?" Fleur asked, speaking for the first time at the dinner table.

"Ah, ma belle femme, it is so much more than just where you sleep." Fred winked when he complimented Fleur in french.

Fleur giggled at Fred. "Tu parle en francais? Je suis impressionné."

Fred, and George's, blank face wrecked any prank or joke they might hope to pull from the little French flirting they knew.

"Désolé," she shook her head in disappointment.

"Anyways," Harry drew attention back to the topic of conversation before it got sidetracked. "The house system is supposed to be more like a family. You take your classes together, hang out in the common room, sleep in the dorms with your best friends, and you look after each other. There are rivalries from the points system that encourages academic, behavioural and quidditch excellence."

"And with the decision to allow changes, it's the first time there will be allowance for major re-sortings in the history of Hogwarts," Bill informed them.

"It's the major story for all the gossip it creates. Does so and so like someone in the House because they are thinking about switching? Well, could it be they had a falling out with their housemates? And so on. Quidditch captains are campaigning to recruit players from other teams. It's great for business!" Fred exclaimed.

"We thought the tournament was a good place for betting, but, wow, it has nothing on the re-sorting. Odds on how many people are leaving Slytherin, which house a person will get into, how many will be allowed to switch, etc. You name an angle and we have odds for it." He flashed a broad grin across his face.

"What are the generic odds for houses?" Charlie asked intrigued.

"7:1 Slytherin, 4:1 Gryffindor, 2:1 Ravenclaw and 1.5:1 Hufflepuff. The early betting skewed things, we had to make a few adjustments too." George told them all.

"Why is Gryffindor so high?" Bill wanted to know.

"Shame. All the papers writing nasty things about Gryffindor turning on Harry. Many just want to avoid the vaunted Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry. Though, with how many are considering leaving Slytherin, the rivalry might die. They already have been neutered; Snape can't shield them anymore." Fred told them.

"Then why is Slytherin not worse than 7:1?" Charlie wanted to know.

Fred and George exchanged an amused look. "That, my dear brother, is the Daphne Greengrass Effect."

"Err wot?" Bill bemusedly questioned.

"Don't you know her Harrikins? You've already got Natalia and Fleur fawning over you, she isn't too?"

Harry couldn't help the flushing of his skin. "It's not like that." He stammered out too quickly.

"Non?" Fleur asked, betraying him. "Natalia was enamoured with you at the Yule and Delacour Balls, and I'm besotted with you as well." She fluttered her eyelashes at him. Her amusement plain for all to see.

There were some muttered, or not so muttered, comments directed Harry's way from the unmarried males. The loudest being "lucky sod".

"Wasn't it a Daphne that you danced with a couple of times at the Yule Ball? Was that Daphne Greengrass?" Harry had wanted to get to know Fleur a little better. He now knew something about her that he would have appreciated finding out by observation, not by being the target. She was bloody vicious. Her earlier teasing and now throwing him to the Weasley wolves!

"Oh, we know" George gleefully replied. "They did look close when they were dancing."

"But if you're besotted with Harry, why would you point out the other competitor?" Ginny asked, looking like she hadn't meant the words to come out of her mouth. She clamped her hands over her mouth as soon as she said it.

Ensuring it wasn't taken as a rhetorical question, Fleur remarked right away. "Why would I be concerned? Top duellist at Beauxbatons, best academic marks in France, champion of my school, and veela," she ran through her hair drawing every male eye to her hair and gorgeous figure, "from a distinguished family. I know what I want, and I'm not afraid to go for it."

She gave a meaningful glance at Harry, or more aptly, a leer. "Why would I worry about another girl ?" She gave a dismissive look to the young red-haired girl. Fleur had her full haughty demeanour coming through, the behaviour that made Harry think she would be out of sorts at a dinner like this.

The temperature in the room did not change, despite what the males in the room may have thought. The frigid air between the two Weasley women and the young Delacour woman would make an arctic gale seem warm.

A pin drop could be heard if one were to drop. Harry frantically thought of a way to dissolve the pervasive tension, but he needed not.

With his mouth still half full of food, Ron obviously broke the disquiet Harry was feeling. "Pass potatoes please." He called out with a hungry look at his targeted prey. Harry reached for the bowl and handed it to Fred who then passed it to Ron. Everyone followed the passage of the bowl bewildered at the comical change.

Cathartic. Harry laughed, followed by Bill Charlie, then the twins, and finally Arthur.

Not letting the previous comments come to the forefront again, Harry asked, "Just what is this Greengrass effect?"

"A stud like you might have natural immunity but us regular hormone-addled teenage boys notice things like a mysterious dark-haired beauty, like one Daphne Greengrass, Slytherin's elegant enigmatic beauty."

"Us mortal men, us poor peasants that dare to dream of having such perfection notice us! She keeps to herself, doesn't date, and only has the time of day for her best friend and younger sister. She's from a well-known family, said to be rich and powerful, but no mere mortal can deign to date fear dread and despair."

"Another Ice Queen?" Charlie asked looking pleased.

"An Ice Queen?" Harry wondered what that was.

"You know, the untouchable girl. The one so cold to any man that would dare to ask them out that nobody but the bravest knight would ever ask her out. They're rumoured to be so frigid to their suitors they freeze their genitals off." He, and all the other males, shuddered involuntarily reaching to protect their precious parts. "Each generation had one. Narcissa Black was said to be one and for our year it was Katie Bell's sister, Amy.." His eyes clouded over just thinking about her.

"Amy was no Ice Queen; she didn't freeze mine off." Bill grinned unrepentantly.

"William Weasley!" Molly Weasley's shrill voice overpowered the laughter. She glared at her eldest son. "How many times have I told you? None of that disgusting talk at the dinner table." Her sightline shifted to Fleur. "It will encourage those younger with wanton ideas."

Fleur, for her part, didn't raise to the barb. She turned back to Charlie. "I'd be considered an Ice Queen, zough I'm more of a Fire Queen, a princess of passion, wouldn't you say ' arry ?" She looked at her younger friend with a sultry look.

"Err… yes." Harry had no idea how he should respond to that. He looked at her and fought off the gulp. It was a quite different being teased in private versus public, especially when the Weasley family was the audience.

She caught the eye of the twins and started giggling, wrecking her sultry look. The twins caught on to her essentially pranking Harry and joined her laughing too.

Harry shook his head, he had to be careful with the vixen beside him.

Bill had found his way out of his mother's ire, thanks to Percy's dull monologuing about the glorious ministry reports he had conceived through rigorous labour, "There's no such things as an Ice Queen. It's more likely a beautiful girl who is introverted and has high standards. Amy was just like that. She did her best to avoid being the centre of attention and reacted poorly when it made her anxious. She was sweet; things just didn't work out."

"Enough of your tales of your imaginary conquests, let's get back to the real importance, betting odds." Fred's rueful look at his annoyed older brother was entertaining to those not named Bill at the table. "There are many males with intent to join the snakes just to slither close to one such as she." He waggled his eyebrows for effect.

"And our stud just happened to have already gotten all close to her!" George added triumphantly.

Harry just shook his head.

How did he get into these situations?