- Next Morning -
Waking up the next morning in bed with Cho and Marietta was a new experience. Harry was worried that it would be awkward between them, but the girls acted like nothing was different as they kissed him good morning and got up to head into the showers.
When he tried to leave, the girls giggled before telling him to join them. After all, there wasn't anything left that they all hadn't seen.
The shower wasn't sexual by any means, but it was intimate. The girls helped wash his back, and he in turn helped wash their hair before they all got clean and dressed for the day.
Everything quickly settled down after that; the year was almost over, and their final exams were coming up.
- Timeskip: End of Year Feast -
The exams turned out to be fairly easy for Harry. He was already studying O.W.L. material with Cho and Marietta in preparation for next year, and Minerva said his skills with Transfiguration had reached a point that he needed to wait for his body and magic to grow before he could move on to the harder spells.
Sitting down at the feast, Harry noticed someone absent from the head table. "Where's Professor Lupin?" He asked.
"Didn't you hear?" Michael Corner, his former dorm mate asked from further down the table. "Professor Snape told all of Slytherin, who told everyone else, that Lupin's a werewolf. The man packed his things early this morning and disappeared."
Su Li spoke up from the other side of the table, "I can't believe we had a werewolf as a professor. Imagine if he accidentally bit or scratched one of us!" Several students began whispering to each other about how the Headmaster could let someone like that into Hogwarts.
Harry was stunned to hear that the man had already disappeared. While they were never close, he would have at least thought that Lupin would make some attempt to talk to him before leaving.
'Then again, this is the same guy who ran out on his pregnant wife in the storybooks…'
Shrugging, he turned back to eat his meal. If the man preferred to run away at the first sign of trouble, that was his business, not Harry's.
- Hogwarts Express -
In their usual cabin on the train, Cho and Marietta sat cuddled together on one seat while Harry laid out on the other.
Their exam results came back, and it turned out that Harry and Cho had both tied for First in their year. Something that had them laughing and congratulating the other over.
Marietta had gotten Third, having scored slightly lower in Arithmancy, and therefore was just behind them in rankings. Cho congratulated her with a deep kiss, while Harry settled for a simple kiss and a hug.
That was something else that had changed. After the night they shared together, the girls were more affectionate to him. Not to the point of making out with him or anything overly sexual, but they would kiss him on the cheek or lips in the mornings, and they would cuddle together with him whenever they were relaxing.
Harry was perfectly happy with it, and would reciprocate whenever he had the chance. It was a small change to their friendship, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
"Are you going to be back from France in time for the Quidditch World Cup, Harry?" Cho asked while she ran her fingers through Marietta's hair. The girl in question laid with her head on Cho's lap as she looked out the window.
Thinking for a moment, Harry responded, "I should be…I'm gonna be leaving the day after tomorrow, and then I'll be there for the whole month. But I should be back a week or two before it starts."
He couldn't wait to head to France. Hermione had sent him a letter the other day saying that they would meet him at the French Ministry after he arrived by international Portkey. The letter was entirely in French, her way of testing to see if he had kept up with his studying of the language.
"Then do you want to join us? My family always buys tickets to the Cup, we could save you one." Cho offered.
"Hey, yeah! We could even see about getting our own tent and everything!" Marietta cheered at the idea. While she loved Cho's family, it would be nice to get away from the parents and just spend the whole time together.
Chuckling at Marietta's excitement, Harry nodded. "How could I say no to that?"
"Great!" Cho replied, "I'll send you a letter with your ticket and where to meet us."
For the rest of the train ride, the three discussed which teams they thought would make it to the Finals, and what other plans they had in mind for their summer break.
- Timeskip: Next Day -
After returning to his apartment in Diagon Alley and getting things together for his trip to France, Harry figured it was best to get his interview out of the way now before he forgot about it.
Before leaving Hogwarts for the summer, he had gotten Dumbledore to send the Daily Prophet a letter requesting an interview once Harry was finished with the school year.
They had eagerly replied, saying that they would keep their schedule open for the next few weeks, and Harry simply needed to send a letter when he was available and they would get everything ready.
Walking down the cobblestone path towards the Daily Prophet main office, he had already sent a letter ahead letting them know that he wanted to do the interview today. He was nervous to do it; worried about what questions they might ask and who might be interviewing him, but Dumbledore had already told them in no uncertain terms if Skeeter was the interviewer, then it would be called off immediately.
- Daily Prophet -
Walking into the office, a secretary spotted his scar as he entered and quickly got up from her desk to greet him. After making small talk with the excited woman, she directed him towards one of the rooms off to the side.
The room was fairly small; it had a single large window looking out over the street to make it seem less closed-in, and there were two comfy chairs that sat angled diagonally towards the window so that they wouldn't be facing directly at the other person.
A short, brown-haired wizard with a thick beard and a kind face stood up from one of the seats and reached out a hand in introduction. "Andy Smudgley, Mr. Potter. Reporter for the Daily Prophet."
Shaking the man's hand, Harry greeted him as they sat down, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Smudgley."
"Please, Andy works just fine. I've been doing this for many years, there's no need to stand on ceremony with me." He smiled happily. This was the interview of a lifetime, and he knew from experience that keeping interviews friendly and relaxed was the perfect way to make the guest willing to come back and be interviewed by him again.
Nodding, Harry replied, "If you're sure…Andy, then you can call me Harry."
"Wonderful!" He clapped once excitedly, pulling out a quill and pad of paper. "Now then, shall we get into it?"
Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Harry agreed.
"Let's start with some simple questions shall we?..."
- Timeskip: Ministry International Portkeys -
The interview went very well, in Harry's opinion. The man was completely professional with his questions, never pushing too far, but not willing to let it be a puff piece praising him.
- Flashback -
"Now, let's talk about what happened in your second year with Gilderoy Lockhart. Why don't you describe it from your perspective?"
Nodding, Harry cleared his throat before replying. "Honestly, I had no idea what he had done. In our first lesson, he had us take a quiz with questions asking 'what was Lockhart's favorite color?' and 'what was his dream?'…"
"And how did that lead to him thinking that you knew he was erasing other's memories?" Smudgley asked, trying to see how the two connected.
"Well…" Harry blushed slightly in embarrassment. "I was upset that the class seemed to be focus on Lockhart instead of actual lessons, and I may have made the reference that he was gay, and that his dream was to stop hiding it from the world."
Blinking, Smudgley paused before continuing, "And…he mistook you saying to reveal he was gay…to meaning you were telling him to reveal that he was a fraud?" He asked.
Shrugging, Harry replied. "I guess. I'm not proud of what I wrote, but I genuinely had no idea that he was a fraud." That was a lie of course, but only because of what he knew from the storybooks. "The next thing I know, he's asking me to join him in his office before he attacked me."
"Hmm…" Smudgley hummed while he wrote onto his notepad. "Rumor has it that you single-handedly fought him off, is there any truth to that?"
Laughing, Harry shook his head emphatically. "No, I didn't fight him off. He missed his first spell, and I ran out of the room as fast as I could. He blew up the door leading into the hallway before I could escape, and that's when Professor's McGonagall and Flitwick arrived to stop him."
Technically it was Dobby, but the last thing he needed was to add a house-elf defeating a wizard into the story. If he did, he was worried that people would find it unbelievable and decide what he was saying was all a lie just to be humble.
"There was no way I could take on an adult wizard on my own, and the only thing I could think of was getting as far away from him as I could." Harry finished.
Smiling, Smudgley replied, "A smart decision, Harry. And one that may have saved your life."
The interview continued in that same trend, and before long Harry was being ushered out of the office by a thankful Smudgley, who said that he appreciated Harry doing the interview and that he would like to do another one later on to cover the events surrounding the dementors.
That was fine with Harry, and after agreeing to do another interview sometime in the future, he returned home to finish packing for his trip.
- Flashback End -
Pushing the thoughts about his interview to the side, Harry grabbed onto the large metal ring that was acting as his portkey, along with the five other people with him. Feeling a tug on his navel, his surroundings began to spin rapidly, everything around him turning into a blur as the portkey transported them to another country.
Moments later, his knees shook slightly as the spinning stop. Looking around, Harry found himself in a completely different room. Noticing the others moving out the door, he raced to catch up with them, his much smaller trunk in hand.
Thankfully, he had discovered how to shrink and unshrink the trunk recently. A small feature that Death had apparentlyforgotten to tell him about.
Making his way through the French Ministry, Harry was eternally grateful to Hermione for all of the French language books. Otherwise, he would have been completely lost.
In fact, Hermione had taken to challenging how well his studying had progressed by writing more and more of her letters in French. By the time she sent the last letter days before the trip, it was entirely in French.
Part of him wanted to be annoyed by it, but it was her own way of showing that she cared.
"Harry! Over here!" A voice called out.
Looking around, he finally spotted a young witch his age waving energetically at him. Moving through the crowd, Harry took a moment to observe how much she had changed.
To put it bluntly, Hermione looked amazing.
Her originally bushy hair was straitened into curls that framed her tanned skin nicely; the tan showing that she had been spending plenty of time at the beach. She stood at 5'7 with a nice sized B-Cup chest that showed slightly underneath a pink blouse, a pair of hip-hugging blue jeans, and wedge sandals on her feet.
Her wide smile as he came closer revealed that her buckteeth had been fixed, and her smile now looked perfect; not surprising considering her parents were dentists.
"Hey Hermione! Good to see you!" He replied, giving a small wave before having to brace himself at the sudden hug.
"I'm so happy you're here!" She replied, squeezing the breath out of his lungs, her curly brown locks smooshed against his chest as she bounced up and down happily. Pulling back, she exclaimed, "Come on, I want you to meet my parents."
Jokingly, Harry teased her, "Meeting the parents already, Hermione? You've gotten bolder since you came to France." Seeing her blush, he chuckled as she playfully swatted his arm.
"And you've become a bit of a flirt yourself." Hermione teased back, the two of them laughing as she directed him out of the Ministry to where an older couple was waiting. "Mom…Dad, this is Harry. Harry, these are my parents."
The older gentleman had greying light-brown hair, and was dressed in collared shirt and slacks. The older woman looked like a grown-up version of Hermione with short, curly dark-brown hair and wearing a modest summer dress and sandals.
"Hello Harry, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm Emma Grangers, but feel free to call me Emma." Hermione's mom greeted, smiling pleasantly at him.
"And you can call me John, it's nice to finally meet you." Curiously, her father was smiling happily a him as he stuck out a hand to shake. "Hermione's told us so much about you. We never got the chance to thank you for saving her life in your first year."
Oooh…that's why he's being so nice. "It's nice to meet you both. And I'm just glad she's okay."
"As are we." Emma replied kindly, noticing the slight awkwardness in his tone. "Now then, let's show you where you'll be staying."
- Dijon, France -
The Granger's home in Dijon was a cozy four-bedroom, three-bath house in the city. One of the rooms had been turned into a library, filled with shelves stuffed full of books, ranging from muggle studies to magical texts. Harry was given the spare guest bedroom, painted in comforting cream colors with a nice sized bed.
"I hope this will be comfortable enough for you." Emma said as he placed his trunk on the ground by the bed.
Nodding, Harry turned to her. "It's wonderful, thank you for letting me stay with you all."
"Nonsense, it's the least we could do." She waved off his thanks, "I'll let you get settled, if you need anything or have any questions, John and I are happy to answer them for you."
Closing the door behind her as she left, Harry began unpacking some of his things as he enjoyed the quiet moment. After they left the Ministry, Hermione's parents drove them to Dijon while they chatted away about school life.
Hermione spoke about the older student who had taken her under their wing, and helped her get through some of her difficulties.
- Flashback -
"I never realized now bossy I was being to others, and that I was causing just as many problems for others as they caused me." Hermione admitted, ashamed at her past actions. "I just thought that no one was taking their schooling seriously. I was trying to get them to understand how amazing this gift of magic is, and how lucky we all are to experience it."
"Yeah…you were kind of heavy-handed in your approach, but nobody's perfect." Harry replied. "You were eleven-year-old at the time; we all make mistakes at that age."
Smiling at his kindness, Hermione thanked him. "My best friend at Beauxbatons told me something similar. Had it not been for her helping me out, I'm not sure if I would have ever grown out of it."
"She sounds like a good friend, I'm happy for you." Harry said, inwardly thankful that she had someone there for her.
"She is," Hermione's tone turned excited as she spoke, "She's been helping to teach me so much about the magical world, I can't wait for you to meet her tomorrow!"
That was news to Harry, he knew that she would have plans for them to explore France and it's magical and non-magical sides, but this was the first he heard of actually getting to meet one of her friends so soon.
"Tomorrow?"
"I know, it's a little soon. But, she's really nice, and I was nervous about how you'd both would get along. And I wanted to go with you both to some of my favorite locations and…" Hermione started to ramble on nervously as she fretted.
"Hermione!" He called out, getting her to stop as she realized what she was doing before blushing in embarrassment. "It's okay. I'd love to meet your friend, and I'm sure we'll both get along just fine." That helped calm her down slightly, and she smiled at his attempt to ease her worries.
While his words were confident, his internal thoughts weren't.
France wasn't as bigoted as Britain, but the people living here were rumored to be more…disapproving of British wizards and witches. While Britain continued to languish in a medieval styled society, clinging to the past, the rest of the magical world moved forward with the times. The clothing alone was proof of the differences between Britain and the other magical communities.
It was a major point of contention between Britain and the other magical countries, and many foreign magicals saw Britain as a backwater country.
If nothing else, it would be an interesting experience.
- Flashback End -
The next day, Hermione and Harry left her parents' house and made their way to a small café that was going to serve as their meeting point for her friend.
France's summer weather was beautiful, with only a few puffy white clouds in the sky, and a warm sun shining down on them. Harry had made sure to dress for the weather, with a thin white button-up and the long sleeves rolled to the elbows, beige slacks, and brown leather shoes and belt.
As they sat at a small table outside the café waiting, Hermione's eyes lit up as she waved towards someone nearby while speaking French. "Fleur, over here!"
'Wait, Fleur?' Turning his head, Harry's emerald eyes widen at the vision of beauty walking towards their table.
A tall, willowy goddess walked towards them with a grace in her movements that made it seem like she was gliding rather than walking.
She wore a white sundress with gold bangles on her wrists, and a gold necklace and earrings that glinted in the sun. Her white-gold hair was tied in a half-braid that rested over her shoulder, and she wore thin sandals on her feet.
Her very presence seemed to emanate a faint, silvery glow that drew stares from every man in the area, and some women.
He knew that Hermione had gone to Greece for one summer, but he didn't think that she had also made friends with Aphrodite.
"'Ermione, it is good to see you!" The French-Greek goddess replied as she pulled Hermione into a hug and kissed her on both cheeks. "You are well, I hope?"
"I am, I'm so glad you could make it!" Hermione replied as she kissed Fleur on the cheeks in return.
Harry was grateful for their distraction as it allowed him to pull his thoughts together. It was a near thing too, as he heard Hermione add, "And this is my friend that I've been telling you about, Harry. Harry, this is Fleur."
The goddess made flesh seemed to study him for a moment, as it looking for something.
Whatever it was, it made her smile as she stretched out a hand. "It's nice to finally meet you 'Arry." The way his name sounded from her lips was like velvet, and he almost wished she would say it again before pushing the thought aside.
Grabbing the soft, flawless hand, Harry shook it lightly as he replied in his accented French, "It's nice to meet you too, Fleur"
Fleur's eyes widened slightly at his reply, and Harry found himself wanting to swim in her gorgeous sapphire eyes. "Your French is very good! 'Ermione had told me you studied our language, but I was unsure."
His French wasn't perfect, but it was more than enough to allow him to converse with them and keep up with their conversations. The only difficulty he had was when they would get excited and start speaking rapidly, at that point the most he could identify were a few words here and there.
Fleur made for surprisingly wonderful conversation, and he found himself quickly enthralled in their conversations together.
"So, you want to become an Enchanter?" Harry asked curiously, he had only met the ones at Diagon Alley, but they never cared to talk about their craft outside of what he wanted to buy from them.
"It is Enchantress," Fleur teased with a grin, her perfect, pearly white teeth peeking out between her plump pink lips, "And yes, it is something of a passion of mine. I have wanted to be one ever since I was a little girl."
Leaning forward eagerly, he asked, "What made you want to become one?"
Hermione apparently knew all of this already as she sat back, she was having more fun watching her two friends get to know each other while she nibbled on a croissant.
"My family." Fleur replied, as if that was telling enough.
Seeing his confused face, she explained. "The Delacour family has always produced Enchantresses of great renown. My grandmother is renowned for having founded a clothing company tailored to creating enchanted clothing that most of the world now uses today."
"I've never heard of the Delacour family before." Harry said, the name had never come up in any books or on the Daily Prophet.
"They're the premier fashion designers in the magical world." Hermione spoke up, "They've even branched out into the non-magical world. You probably know their store, Victoria's Secret."
Blinking, Harry turned to Fleur in surprise. "Really?"
"Yes." She nodded. "My grandmother's name is Victoria. She created the store as a way to bring new clothing into the non-magical and magical worlds." Fleur replied, her tone filled with pride at her grandmother's accomplishments.
Their conversation continued for quite a while before eventually leaving the café to explore the city.
Fleur and Hermione showed Harry to several of the historical areas, touring some of the buildings and looking through all of the shops that were set up. It was a fantastic new experience for Harry, and his excitement proved contagious and the girls also got into it.
- Timeskip: Evening -
It was nearly nightfall by the time they were finished exploring, and the three decided to sit down at a nice restaurant for dinner before the day ended.
"You should try some of this Chicken Basquaise, Harry." Hermione said emphatically, sticking her fork into the peppered chicken before offering it to him with a smile.
"Sure…" Harry replied as grabbed her fork to try a taste. The chicken was colorful, and had a light spice to it. It was far more delicious than the grease heavy foods in Britain that he did his best to stay away from. "Mmm, that's really good!"
"Would you like to try the Bouillabaisse, 'Arry?" Fleur offered teasingly, gesturing towards her plate.
"Um…sure." Harry replied, grabbing a spoon to bring it over before being playfully batted away by Fleur.
"Non, like this." She replied with a grin, bringing her own spoon up as she held it out to feed him. Harry stared wide eyed as Hermione giggled.
Coughing, Harry tried to refuse, "Ahem, or maybe not." His cheeks flushing a little at the thought of her feeding him, the imagery too much like something a couple would do for him to be comfortable with it.
The initial shock at her beauty had faded as they spent more time talking throughout the day, and he was able to keep his eyes focused on hers fully without becoming mesmerized or glancing down at her figure. But that didn't mean he saw her as any less beautiful, because she truly was breathtaking.
Admittedly, as much as it embarrassed him, he was coming to enjoy her teasing personality.
"Come now, 'Arry. No need to be nervous." Fleur knew exactly what she was doing, and how it would look. Harry's reactions at her teasing were just too priceless for her to pass up.
Hermione was trying her hardest to smother her giggles.
Usually, she was the one on the receiving end of Fleur's teasing, and now that it wasn't directed at her, she could see how enjoyable it was to watch.
Fleur was usually very closed off with people, and only expressed herself amongst those that she felt comfortable around. Hermione was ecstatic that Fleur was willing to give Harry a chance for her, and it seemed like it was going along wonderfully.
"Go on Harry, don't be shy!" Hermione teased, finally losing her battle to keep her giggles quiet as she watched his face flush bright red.
Sighing in defeat, Harry leaned his head over as Fleur brought her spoon up to his mouth.
Trying the stew, he had to admit that it tasted delicious, if not a little strange, considering how outside of his usual choices it was. "That's very good."
Fleur's eyes practically sparkled at his deeply flushed cheeks as she smiled prettily. "Would you like me to feed you some more?"
Seeing Harry nearly choke on his food, she laughed happily. "I am just kidding, 'Arry. No need to be so embarrassed. After all, you are on a date with two beautiful women, that is something to be proud of."
Now it was Hermione's turn to blush as she stammered out, ""W-What! This is not a date Fleur!"
Smiling at her friend, Fleur lifted an eyebrow in response, "Non? Then you do not intend to date him? I thought that was why you brought him all the way to France."
It wasn't an unreasonable thought. She had brought Harry to another country to meet her parents, and now her best friend at school. Anyone would have presumed that the two were a couple.
Blushing bright red, Hermione shook her head frantically. "N-No! I'm not dating him. He's not really my type." Turning to the wide-eyed Harry, she added, "No offense, Harry."
"N-None taken." He muttered, wondering how the hell their conversation had detoured to where it was at now.
"Oh?" Fleur asked surprised, before turning to smile predatory at Harry. "Then maybe I shall take him for myself. After all, I dolike them younger." She purred out as she raked her eyes across his growing muscular form.
'Wait…what?!' Harry though, keeping his emerald eyes fixed on her sapphire ones as he tried not to faint from the amount of blood rushing to his cheeks.
Laughing softly, Fleur reached out a hand to pat his cheek. "Calm down, 'Arry. While you are indeed my type, we have only just met! And I do not date strangers."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the burn of his cheeks start to fade.
He would love nothing more than to get to know Fleur better, but he didn't think he was comfortable dating her right from the start either. His life was…chaotic, at times. And he needed to be sure that he could trust the girl he dated if it was ever going to get serious.
"Do not think you are safe, 'Arry. We may be strangers now, but that can always change." Fleur commented.
She trusted Hermione's opinion on others, and if she thought that Harry was a good guy, then Fleur was not about to ignore it simply because of his age. Her mother was a few years older than her father, and in a few short years they would both have graduated from school. At that point, no one would question the age difference.
The fact that he seemed to be immune to her passive Allure was another important factor. While Harry had checked her out a few times with desire in his eyes, they were never glassy; an obvious sign of those who had fallen under its spell. She always released a passive Allure that drew men in, it wasn't something she could control, but it helped her see what man was at least worth getting to know better.
Gulping, Harry stared back shocked. In the back of his mind, he was already dreading what Marietta and Cho would say when he told them about this. They were never going to let him live it down.
- Timeskip: One Month Later -
Harry's time in France was amazing. Every day saw him exploring some new place, or learning some new thing about France. Hermione had continued to be his guide and companion throughout his stay, with her parents accompanying them on some of the trips whenever they had time away from work.
Fleur also joined them on several of their trips, teasing Harry whenever the chance presented itself.
As a result, he and Fleur found themselves quickly becoming friends.
When Hermione and her parents went on a weekend trip to see a family member, Fleur had offered to take him to her family's home and show him around her home town.
- Delacour Estate -
The term 'home' was a bit of a misnomer. The Delacour's home was a massive, beautiful French Chateau that sat on a vast stretch of land with its own private beach. The nearest house was over a mile away, and it had dozens of gorgeous trees and flowers all over the grounds.
"Welcome to my home." Fleur replied, smiling at his shocked look as she led him through the front door.
The interior was just a beautiful as the outside, with soft colored walls and lots of windows that let light in. The décor was fancy, but functional, and the house gave off a welcoming feel that relaxed him.
"'Arry, I would like you to meet my parents. Jacques and Apolline Delacour." Fleur introduced, gesturing towards a man and woman who came over to greet him.
Her father, Jacques, was a shorter man with dirty-blond hair and a stocky build. He wore a beige suit and had a jovial grin on his face as he stuck a hand out to Harry. "It is nice to meet you, Harry. We have heard much about you from Fleur and Hermione."
Shaking the man's hand, Harry smiled pleasantly. "Thank you for allowing me into your home, Sir. It's very beautiful."
Letting go of the hand, he turned to Fleur's mother.
Although, 'mother' seemed to be less likely, 'older sister' was much more appropriate.
Her mother, Apolline, was an older version of Fleur. Beautiful white-gold hair cascading in gentle waves, with sapphire blue eyes and a tall figure.
In fact, both Fleur and Apolline were slightly taller than him and Jacques, but he was lucky in that Harry still had some more growing to do.
Apolline was dressed immaculately in a form-fitting dress that drew attention to every single one of her curves. Where Fleur had a more willowy figure, with C-Cup breasts and slightly wider hips, her mother was the definition of an hourglass. Large DD-Cup breasts that stretched against the material of her dress, and wide child-bearing hips with a full ass that proved Jacques was a very lucky man. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Harry; you may call me Apolline if you wish. Welcome to our home." The older goddess replied warmly, holding out a flawless hand for him to shake.
Trying, and failing, to control his blush at the sight of Fleur's mother, he smiled politely as he gently shook her offered hand. "It's nice to meet you…Apolline." It was a little weird to call Fleur's parents by their first names, but he didn't want to seem disrespectful.
Jacques and Apolline led them out onto the back patio where a table and chairs sat with drinks and small snacks.
Sitting down, Jacques asked Harry, "Hermione has told us that you saved her life from a troll in your first year. Is this true?"Apolline and Fleur looked at him curiously, wanting to know the same thing.
"Not exactly." Harry shook his head, "I just distracted the troll so we could get away from it. It was her Head of House that killed the troll." Harry knew that they both had been extremely lucky that Halloween night. If they had made even one small mistake, or Minerva had been a minute slower, they could have died.
Impressed, Apolline replied, "Still. That is quite an impressive feat for one so young."
"We read from that newspaper, the Daily Prophet, that you were attacked by a professor in your second year as well?"Jacques mentioned, pulling out a newspaper before handing it over to Harry.
On the front page of the Daily Prophet was a picture of him and Andy Smudgley facing the window as they chatted.
"Exclusive First Interview With:
Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived
By: Andy Smudgley"
The article actually covered what they had talked about, with quotes corroborating his story from Professor Flitwick and Minerva. Several questions were raised in the article about how Lockhart had been able to fool everyone for so long, and what had happened to the people who he Obliviated.
One of the smaller side articles with a curious title caught his attention.
"Ministry Employees Disappear"
It seems that Walden Macnair, the man who was sent to kill Buckbeak in the storybooks, had disappeared alongside a Bertha Jorkins in Albania, after being sent to kill a dangerous animal on request from the Albanian Ministry.
'Shit. That's where Wormtail was supposed to find Voldemort.' Harry cursed mentally. If a Death Eater had returned to Voldemort's side, then that meant they would make a play for him during the Tri-Wizard Tournament.
Hearing Jacques speak up, Harry turned his attention back to the man. "The reason I ask, is because the Tri-Wizard tournament is going to take place at Hogwarts this year, and Beauxbatons is one of the schools attending. Fleur will be traveling to your school to attend the tournament and take part in it." He nodded towards Fleur with a proud look.
"I need to know of any dangers that might be a threat to my daughter, and you seem to find them better than anyone else." he said, the concern clear in his tone as he worried for what might happen to his daughter.
Thinking about his response carefully, Harry replied"Hogwarts is…dangerous."
"The Forbidden Forest alone is home to a massive nest of Acromantula, and after Minister Fudge sent dementors to the school, I'm not sure how good any protections they place for the tournament will be."
Nodding, Jacques and Apolline appear unsurprised. "Yes. That is what my sources have also said. Thank you for confirming my suspicions, Harry. I apologize for putting a damper on your visit, but a father worries…" Jacques said.
Waving off the apology, Harry smiled back at the man. "It's alright, sir. I understand."
The Delacour family smiled at his good nature, and shifted the conversation towards lighter topics as they enjoyed the refreshments on set out.
"Will you be attending the Quidditch World Cup in a few weeks?" Apolline asked.
Nodding, Harry replied, "Yes. A friend of mine got an extra ticket for me, so I'll be there."
"Wonderful!" Apolline clapped, "We will be there as well. We shall send you the location of our tent, and you can stop by before the game."
"I'd love to..."
- Timeskip: Last Day in France -
Harry was sad to be leaving France. The country was beautiful, the weather was amazing, and Hermione's and Fleur's families were delightful people to be around.
Fleur's parents had given him an open invitation to come back and visit, and Fleur's little sister Gabrielle excitedly said that if he needed to, he could stay in her room. Everyone chuckled as Harry blushed embarrassed, thanking the smaller girl for her offer before giving his thanks to Fleur's parents for their generosity.
On the last day before his departure, Fleur had pulled him aside for a moment before he left. "If I don't see you at the Quidditch World Cup, then I will see you at Hogwarts this year, Harry. Perhaps you would like to take me to go see this 'Ogmeade?"
Blushing, Harry replied, "I…sure…Just so you know, at Hogwarts that sort of thing is considered a date."
Laughing, Fleur replied, "All the better then." Winking at him, Harry stared back at her wide-eyed. "W-What?"
Fleur lifted up a hand to cup his blushing face, "I told you that I do not date strangers, 'Arry." She explained with a seductive smile, "And we are not strangers anymore."
Leaning in, she places a light kiss on his cheek before grinning mischievously. "Au Revoir, 'Arry."