Chapter Fifty Eight - Accepting a Veela

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to the proverbial Duchess of Magic, JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. No matter how much I whine about not owning anything related to the HP universe, other than a few fanfic plots, I do not profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world... Damn it!

A/N: The author sighs. Again being stupid I scanned through reviews and I again wonder where these masochistic tendencies of mine are coming from. This time it deals with people kvetching about me introducing Fleur to the Potter apartmenthold.

Folks; at the top of every page, even above the disclaimer, is what I call the 'header box'. It contains: a photo of Harry from his fourth year; the title of the story; my name (with a little envelope next to it); a one and a half line story summary; then, in a slightly lighter text, little details about the rating, language of the text, characters involved (up to four), date last updated, how many chapters, how many words, etcetera.

Now, lets go back and take a closer look at the summary. The last line of that summary is: 'Eventual HP/HG/DG/FD NL/HA/SB and others. Unapologetically!AU.' From that it provides, AS FULL WARNING, that Harry would be in a relationship with three others, just as Neville will be in a relationship with two others.

If they're completely against harem relationships in a story, how the bloody hell do people NOT read that first?! If you read that and don't like harem stories, you wouldn't read my story, would you? And it's not as if it's odd me doing that either, as I've seen very similar from other authors for their stories. It is, after all, where I learned to do the same. Sheesh!

Chapter Fifty Eight - Accepting a Veela

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

As the time was for the lunch period, Sirius and Harry headed directly to the Great Hall. Once there, they quickly found both Hermione and Daphne and asked them to come up to the apartment.

"Harry?" asked Hermione. "Has something happened?"

"We will discuss it in the apartment, Hermione," he firmly returned. "Do not, at the moment, badger me on this. Please."

After being told off for forgetting herself and bombarding Harry with questions after and on top of running through the castle from Arithmancy to the apartment only a couple weeks earlier, Hermione had definitely taken it on board and was, again, trying to think things through before acting... or reacting, in this case. She didn't press.

The walk to the apartment was in silence, with Daphne's only sign of concern a slight beetling of the brow and Hermione's was her customary nibbling on her bottom lip.

Once inside, Harry asked Sirius, "Could you tell the girls? I need to get changed out of my Wizengamot robes."

"Thanks, Harry," Sirius snarked.

"Your magical ward," said Harry, as he walked to his bedroom door. "Your responsibility to inform and educate her."

Harry took his time getting changed, but not into school robes. He only had Potions after lunch and had already decided to skive off it. This was too important a subject to leave it partly explained.

When he came out, Sirius was explaining about Fleur's Veela life debt to Harry. Harry stayed well out of it. Instead, he walked into the small dining room and called for Dobby.

Soon, he had a bit of a scrumptious feast for a lunch laid out before him.

He was just about to dig into it when...

"Harrison James Potter!" yelled Hermione.

With a sigh, he set his cutlery back down, rose from the chair and walked back into the living room.

"Not my fault!" he quickly said.

Hermione was glaring at him while Daphne looked sad.

"You will do right by Fleur," Hermione demanded.

"I've been trying to get out of it," he defended.

"Then, stop," she said. "According to Sirius, if you don't allow this to happen, Fleur dies."

"I know," he sighed. "But that does not mean attempts should not be made to find a workable solution. I... am furious... that saving Fleur's life has put the poor girl in this predicament."

Hermione turned to Sirius and asked, "Do you have a copy of that book?"

Sirius pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to her. "I expected you to ask for it."

Accepting it, Hermione said, "Daphne and I will read this, then pass it on to Harry to read."

Sirius nodded and said, "In the meantime, both Lord Greengrass and I will continue to search our own family libraries for anything that may head this off without the young lady losing her life in the process."

Harry offered, "Search the Pottermore library, while you're at it. You have my permission."

"Will do, Pup," Sirius replied.

Harry was watching Daphne and could see how glum she was. "Daphne?" he asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"

She was hesitant to reply, but eventually did. "If Fleur Delacour becomes your concubine, where does that leave me?"

"Nothing changes for you," said Harry. "There is no limitation, under law, for me only being allowed one concubine. If anything, because the Venerable House of Delacour is located in France, it changes nothing with regards to bloodlines."

That had the blonde clearly relieved.

"You do not need to worry about that, Daphne," he said. "I made a promise and I will, come Hell or high water, honour it."

"Why aren't you in school robes?" asked Hermione.

"I'm skiving," he firmly replied. "I've just had one hell of a shock. Please don't hold it against me."

"Hermione," said Daphne. "He's right."

Hermione huffed and said, "Fine. I'll collect and collate for you notes for the classes you missed and any details about assignments."

"Thank you," he said. "Now, I haven't eaten yet. So, I'm going back into the dining room to eat what Dobby's laid out for me." And put actions to word.

After a tour of the apartment by Hermione, Sirius left a little while later. His final words were, "We may have to ask Headmistress Lady Marchbanks to provide a four bedroom apartment for you."

"Not 'may'... 'will'." Harry firmly replied.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Harry didn't hear anything back about Fleur, or anything else of specific note from outside the castle, until the next Thursday. Then he and his two ladies were told to make ready for a meeting on Saturday afternoon, after lunch, away from the school. Again, they'd be using the floo in Marchbanks's office to travel.

When that time arrived, the three were dressed quite well for lunch, with all three dressed in smart upmarket wizarding casual. The rest of the school noticed.

Once lunch was finished, Harry gave Marchbanks a nod and she gestured them up to the head table to her.

As they arrived there, she quietly said, "You know what the password is to get into my office. I can trust you will simply pass through and touch nothing that doesn't belong to you?"

"Of course, Headmistress," all three replied.

Sitting back again, she made 'shoo' gestures and a little louder said, "Off with you, then, dears."

Five minutes later, they were stepping out of the floo into a very tastefully decorated welcoming room that appeared to double as a small library.

Sirius and Remus both walked in with wands drawn.

As soon as both groups saw each other, wands were resheathed and hugs were exchanged. Even Daphne found herself shocked by being suddenly grabbed by Sirius and dragged in for a hug. After first rolling his eyes at Sirius's antics Remus only smiled and shook her hand after Sirius released her.

"Now," said Sirius, rubbing his hands together in glee. "I asked for you three to come a little earlier so I can show you each your rooms I've set aside for you."

Spinning about and starting to walk back to the door, he called over his shoulder, "This way!"

Remus just gestured for them to follow Sirius and then brought up the rear.

They were shown Hermione's room with attached ensuite first, as that was the first they came to. But, instead of heading back out, Sirius led them to another door on the side wall furthest from the stairs.

After opening it, he gestured them all through. "And this is Harry's room!" he happily declared.

It was decorated exactly as Harry ordered. White ceiling and cornices, cream coloured walls and dark red wooden furniture. It also had a red and gold comforter on the queen-sized uncanopied bed. And the ensuite was in plain white walls with cream fixtures.

He then led them to a door opposite the one they entered through and Sirius said, "And, finally, this is Daphne's room. It was in a more 'wizarding' style, with lots of green and silver. Both Harry's and Hermione's were in 'muggle' style.

Standing in Daphne's room, Harry said, "Sirius; they're brilliant! Thank you!" And gave the man another hug. Hermione and Daphne, not to be outdone, also gave him hugs; with Daphne a lot more eager to do so after discovering she had her own room.

Sirius was beaming in happiness at all three.

Daphne turned to Harry and said, "Don't even think about using that door between your and my room until I'm ready, either."

"Or the one between ours," Hermione was quick to add.

"Take a look," said Sirius, indicating the door in question. "Double locks; one for each side."

Both girls checked them out, before turning back to Sirius and again saying, "Thank you."

Sirius nodded and said, "Now, let's go and explore the rest of the house." He cast a quick Tempus and added, "We've still got ten minutes before Hermione's parents turn up."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

After trooping right up to the attic and down to the basement, with Sirius pointing out his and Remus's rooms; together with what other rooms were for, including guest rooms; they returned to the welcoming parlour - as Sirius called it.

Their tour included the actual library, which was about ten times larger than the few shelves on the wall cases in the welcoming parlour would at first indicate.

Right on time, Wendell and Monica stepped out of the floo into the room. Harry was just a bit miffed they were so much more elegant at it than his own still-slightly-stumbling on occasion efforts. Surprisingly, both were wearing 'wizarding casual'.

Hermione was quick to give a little girlish squeal and dash forward to give her parents a long hug each, before Harry stepped forward to hug Monica and warily shake Wendell's hand.

"It's good to see you both," he said to them. There was only a little trace of nervousness in his voice.

"Relax, Harry," said Monica. "Sirius has given us some idea of what's going on. He also made sure to tell us you aren't at fault in this.

He gave a nod of relief before turning to indicate Daphne. "Wendell, Monica, this is Daphne of the Noble and Ancient House of Greengrass. She is the young lady who has found herself in a concubine agreement with me and under my protection."

Turning to indicate the Grangers, he said, "Daphne, this is Doctors Wendell and Monica Granger, Hermione's parents."

As they exchanged greetings, with Monica comfortably drawing Daphne into a hug and shaking Wendell's hand, Harry breathed a slight sigh of relief. It was easy to see that neither Granger parent was disapproving of her.

Sirius said, "Remus, would you mind escorting our guests to the formal dining room while I await the rest of our guests?"

Remus gave a slight head nod and said, "Of course." Then he turned to the Grangers, gestured to the door and said, "This way, please, folks."

Everyone, bar Sirius, followed him out.

They didn't need to go far, though; only to the room next to welcoming parlour, the formal dining room, where things had been set up to meet and talk.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

While they were in the formal dining room with its sixteen-seater table and chairs, no one sat. They stood in a somewhat circle and chatted. Except for Harry's short time speaking with Wendell at the February session of the Wizengamot, it was the first time in two and a half months Hermione and Harry had a chance to speak in person with Hermione's parents. And they didn't want to waste it.

Harry was also pleasantly surprised how well Monica and Daphne seemed to get along so quickly. But, even Wendell was easily opening up to her. Mind you, once away from other Slytherins except her sister and Tracey, Daphne was quite the emotionally open young lady.

After a couple minutes, Monica dragged Hermione and Daphne away for a quick 'girls talk', leaving Harry and Wendell to talk one-on-one. Remus had already returned to the parlour to await the next guests with Sirius.

"I'm sorry about this, Wendell," sighed Harry.

"For what?" asked Wendell. "Rescuing a young lady, who would have drowned if you hadn't acted as quickly as you did?"

"If I'd known a life debt would have been the result―" he began.

"You still would have acted," Wendell firmly cut in. "It is in your nature to help others, Harry. From what Monica and I have come to understand, the life debt would not have been created if your intent was untoward."

Harry sadly nodded and said, "Yeah. But, if I had known about it, I could have done something that would have made it so the debt would not have been created. Had evil thoughts, or something."

Wendell chuckled and said, "Somehow, from my limited understanding of magic, I do not think trying to fake your intent would have worked."

Harry gave a slight shrug and said, "I still think it is unfair for Fleur to be forced into this... arrangement."

"And what about you being forced into this arrangement?" asked Wendell.

"I'm not," Harry replied with a firm shake of his head. "It will not harm me if I do not go ahead with this."

"But it will harm her if you don't, right?"

"Yes," he sighed. "I'm told it will slowly start to drive her mad, before it finally kills her."

"And that means you are forced into this arrangement," said Wendell. "You would never allow that to happen when you could prevent it; such as this case, right here. As I said, it's in your nature."

That had Harry thinking over the man's words. It didn't take him very long at all to figure out he was right. He did nothing wrong and, even if he'd known about Veela life debts, he'd have still done everything exactly the same. He couldn't not.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Once the Greengrasses arrived escorting the Delacours; with Fleur also, surprisingly, in attendance; they sat down at the table. No one, though, really knew where to start.

Harry looked to a very nervous Fleur and said, "Fleur, I'm really sorry this has happened."

Surprised, Fleur shook her head and replied, "Not your fault, 'Arry. It is... magic... taking its due."

"It's still very unfair on you," he quietly said.

"For Veela, this 'as always been a... risk," she replied. "I do not... begrudge that."

He nodded and turned to Sirius. "Sirius. Find anything?"

"A lot, but nothing that will get Miss Delacour out of this with her life," replied Sirius. "And that includes the library at Pottermore."

When Harry turned to Samuel, the man replied, "Same as Lord Black, I'm sorry to say."

Harry sat back and carded his fingers through his hair. Finally he sighed and said, "I cannot... will not... just sit back and let you die, Fleur. I just can't.

"What do we... I... need to do to make this work?"

There was a very slight pause before Fleur immediately broke down, sobbing. Her mother, sitting to her left, immediately wrapped the girl in her arms.

Her father, sitting to her right, slumped slightly and looked at Harry with gratitude. Clearly heartfelt, he said, "Merci, Lord Potier. Merci. Thank you for my daughtair's life."

Trying to make light of how the older man's words made him a little uncomfortable with his clear gratitude, Harry said, "Well, I couldn't just let her die when I went to so much trouble to save her from the lake, could I?"

The comment at least earned him a couple of smiles, albeit weak ones.

Sirius spoke up. "Though it's kind of pointless," he said. "I'll contact Ted Tonks, Law wizard of Record for the House of Potter, so he can draw up a set of concubine contract documents. At least, that way, no one from outside this group can question it."

Harry nodded to him and said, "Thank you, Sirius. That would be appreciated." Then was lost in thought, for a few moments.

"Something has been bugging me," he said. "How is it that medi-wizard Robinson wasn't also, or either, the individual targeted by the life debt?"

"Becuz it wuz 'is duty, as a... medi-'ealer, to werk 'ard to safe my... Fleur's life," replied Apolline. "'Is oath-sworn duty... exempted 'im."

"Whereas, I had no such obligation," nodded Harry. "Thank you. I understand better now."

Looking around, he asked, "Is there anyone who has a problem with this? Now's the time to speak up. If you want to speak privately, we can do that too."

All he got back were head shakes in the negative; though there were a few sad faces.

Looking back to Jean-Paul first, he then turned to Apolline and asked, "When will Fleur... I mean... how soon―"

"The soonair zee bettair," she replied. "'Owevair, eet weel need to be within zee next couple of weeks. In zee meantime, eet would be best eef she wuz to move een weeth you, 'Er-my-onee and Daph-nee as zoon as eez possible.

"Zee closair she ees to you, zee more she weel be able to control zee... urge."

"It's just that... ummm―" he tried before his blushing got away from him.

"You are not ready for... zat," said Fleur, who had managed to get herself under control again. "I know."

When he gave her a curious look, she gave a watery smile and said, "It is part of being Veela, 'Arry. We can tell when we are... physically close."

He smiled back.

"Nice to know," muttered Wendell.

Harry knew to what he was really referring; he and Hermione.

"What about schooling?" asked Hermione. "You're in seventh year, right?"

"Eighth," she replied. "However, it is zee same as your seventh year. It is my final year."

"Yes," nodded Hermione. "Surely, it is far too late to consider switching schools. I, for one, don't want you to miss completing your education."

"Neither do I," agreed Harry.

"I will arrange for French tutors for 'er," smiled Jean-Paul. "I do not believe your 'eadmistress, unlike Dumbledore, would refuse."

"No, I don't think she will," agreed Harry.

Sirius said, "I'll ask Griselda... Headmistress Lady Marchbanks... to move these three into a four bedroom apartment in the Lords' Quarters, where they're currently in a three bedroom apartment. It won't take her long to achieve."

"Then that just leaves a date," said Harry.

"It can be today, Lord Potier," said Jean-Paul. "We already haf Fleur's... effects with us. Anything elz she might need, can be zent. I would not like to see my daughtair in pain for one day longair."

"Wow; okay," said Harry. Turning to Sirius he said, "Can you contact Headmistress Lady Marchbanks now?"

Sirius gave a nod, rose and said, "On it," before he walked from the room.

Harry then turned to Hermione and Daphne to see how both of them were handling it. By the expressions on their faces, a lot better than he was.

When he turned back to Fleur he said, "I'll tell you the same thing I told Daphne and Hermione already knew. Believe me when I tell you, this does not mean you have to say goodbye to your family. If anything, it means your family just got a great deal bigger.

"I expect you to remain in contact with them to let them know how you're doing. If you don't and I get letters of worry from them, I shall be cross with you. I also expect them to remain in regular contact with you.

"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?"

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 full-bodiment 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."

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)==―

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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)==―

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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)==―

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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.

"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 'mid-heel 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 three-quarter 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."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ