Harry was still sleeping when he was woken with a start.
"Harry?" A voice asked quietly, now standing over him and the couch he had been sleeping on.
"Yes?" He answered blearily, now recognizing the voice to be Pansy's.
"Can I talk to you?" She asked him nervously.
"Sure." He replied, getting out of bed. If she had taken the time to wake him up, he supposed it must be important.
She led him out of their hotel room and into the hallway outside, where there was another couch outside. Sitting down, he asked her what was going on.
"I keep having nightmares." She confessed.
"I'm sorry." Harry tried to say.
"They're about you and me." She further admitted, "I keep dreaming that someone takes you away from me. Malfoy, my father, a monster, anything."
She unexpectedly threw her arms around him in a hug, which he returned, recognizing that she must need comforting.
"Its okay, nothing is going to happen to you," he soothed.
"You don't know that..." She answered, before getting up to look directly into his eyes, "but there is a way to make sure nothing can happen."
"How so?" He asked.
"I could bind myself to you." She suggested.
"You could what?" he asked.
"I could bind myself to you, its a ritual where a witch can choose to bind themselves to a wizard, effectively making them that wizard's property." She explained.
"You mean like a slave?" He answered, shocked.
"It would depend on the severity of the bond." Pansy explained hesitantly, "The one I'm talking about would be the most basic, where I'd still have rights and essentially have what I have now, but it would prevent me from ever being able to be with anyone else without your permission."
"What if I died?" Harry asked.
"If I were able to see you just before you died, you could relinquish control back to me and I would be able to marry whoever I wanted. If you died suddenly however I would be unable to ever be with another man." Pansy admitted.
"You really want to do that?" Harry asked.
"If I do this, it means that under wizarding law, Draco or anyone else for that matter can never force me to marry them." She said, "No matter how unlikely it may be, I know it would give me some comfort. I trust you Harry."
"I'd have to think about that." Harry answered, not really sure what to make of her offer.
"Just give it some time and seriously think about it, I know I have." Pansy told him, patting him on the back.
She then unexpectedly changed the topic of conversation, noticing that he wasn't quite ready to talk further about her offer. "Are you nervous about your second duel tomorrow?" She asked.
"A little." He admitted.
"I'm sure you'll do fine, you did fantastic against that Czech wizard." She said supportively.
"It could have gone better, but at least I won." He said.
"I wonder how far each of you will go in the tournament." Pansy confided.
"Well Fleur got all the way to the top 16 last year," Harry answered, "so I expect she'll make it at least that far this year or close to it. The way Fleur raves about Gabrielle she'll probably go far too. Su will... well you know Su, I wouldn't be surprised if she goes far too."
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Pansy reminded him cheekily.
"Well I'm just trying to focus on winning this next fight, and we'll see after that." He replied diplomatically.
"You are always too modest Harry." Pansy said, "I think you're a great duelist, I'll bet most of your competition hasn't trained as hard as you or as good at it."
"I'm not that great Pansy, you're probably just biased." Harry reminded her.
"Maybe so, but I still want you to win." She told him.
"I still have a long way to go before then," He tried to say, but Pansy interrupted him by kissing him on the lips.
"A kiss for luck." She said sweetly before getting up to go back inside the room.
DUELDUELDUEL
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the two of them, Note Isme Nott sat in his hotel room not far from them.
One of his spies had reported seeing his target Harry Potter just outside his hotel room, largely unprotected other than his strumpet Parkinson.
It would have seemed the perfect opportunity in the dead of night while everyone was asleep were it not for one thing: he now wanted more than that.
While he did have a legitimate position on the international dueling committee, he also had a far more lucrative business in human trafficking. Whatever he could get his hands on and his various customers wanted he would get, muggles, witches or wizards, near-humans, it didn't matter to him. While Britain was a very difficult market for him, many other countries were far easier, and he had employees in many different countries, including the one he was currently in.
The reason for his hesitancy to take out Potter was his worry that it might spook and alarm his other targets. He'd recently received an order from an extremely wealthy Guatemalan wizard, someone he had been trying to do business with for quite some time. He owned a rather large plantation of valuable plants and was in constant need of laborers to work it. The magical government, as corrupt as it was, simply allowed it to occur as long as he continued to pay them a share of the profits.
However, his first order was set as a test, not simply the easily accessible laborer, but he wanted a far more valuable prize: two virgin Veela girls.
Veela were some of the most highly sought after and difficult to get for any trafficker for good reason. Several hundred years ago Veela were hunted down and captured by wizards for sexual purposes leading to the Veela being forced to band together into secret communes for protection. They proved to be very well hidden to begin with and any that might have discovered them were killed by them in order to maintain their secrecy.
Over the years, new laws were enacted in most countries protecting them but the Veela for the most part still remained rather isolated and inaccessible.
It was while searching for any potential prospects that the tournament took place and he spotted the two Veela girls evidently taking part in the tournament. The opportunity was too much for him to pass up, he'd have to chance killing the Potter boy and capture the two Veela at the same time. That would require more organization and planning, along with more men then he currently had. After all the boy and the two Veela were found to be accomplished duelists even though young and those protecting them would also prove to be a problem. Then there was the chance of alerting each other or those around them, and he didn't fancy having to fight his way through while carrying his two victims through a hotel full of duelists.
He'd have to either wait for a better opportunity or come up with a better plan.
DUELDUELDE
The next afternoon, Gabrielle was currently lying on her bed, resting after having just won her duel that morning, followed by a practice duel with Harry.
"So how did it go?" Fleur asked her.
"You saw how it went." Gabrielle replied.
"I wasn't talking about your duel, I was talking about your time with Harry." Fleur answered, having been going to get something to eat at the time.
Gabrielle blushed, "It went fine."
"I'm sure it went 'just fine.'" Fleur said coyly while smiling at her younger sister.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Gabrielle asked.
"I think you know what it means, you like him don't you?" Fleur suggested.
Gabrielle blushed, "All right maybe a little."
"Try a lot, I've never seen you act that way around a boy." Fleur said with a fond smile.
"So what if I do like him?" Gabrielle countered.
"There's nothing wrong with it sister, he is rather attractive and he is a very good duelist." Fleur said, pointing out just a couple of his positive attributes.
"He doesn't seem affected by your Allure either," Gabrielle commented, "he seemed to at first but it wore off really quickly and hasn't seemed to affect him since."
"I must admit he certainly is intriguing." Fleur allowed carefully.
"The only problem is he's betrothed, to 3 different girls!" Gabrielle exclaimed, "Go figure my first real crush is taken 3 times over..."
"That's only a problem if that bothers you. As for him I imagine being betrothed to more than one girl is something he's used to." The older blond commented.
"It doesn't bother me," Gabrielle admitted, "just that I would have a lot of competition that's all."
"Neither Susan, Su, or Pansy seem the jealous type, quite the opposite really, and it's not like they really have a choice in sharing anyway." Fleur pointed out.
"We live in two different countries and go to two different schools, I think it would be best if I didn't cause any potential strife if we are just going to go our separate ways after the tournament." Gabrielle said.
Fleur nodded as this was true, as depressing as it was, and went to go prepare for her next duel.
DUELDUELDE
Over the next few weeks, the tournament continued on, but inevitably there had to be a loss on 'their side'. Fleur got all the way to the top 32 in her 14 year old bracket before losing to a Bangladesh witch, but she wasn't too upset as her opponent was widely considered to be the favorite in the tournament and had won the year before.
Su was next to lose, placing in the top 16 before losing to a Mongolian witch. Su certainly wasn't happy and they all felt she should have won but her opponent got in a lucky hit.
It was to Harry and Gabrielle's great surprise, but not to anyone else that they made it all the way into the top 4 in the semi-finals, where they realized they would be facing each other.
As was customary in later duels, they each were given a tent to mentally prepare in, and Harry was being given some last minute advice by Flitwick.
"I know you're her friend Harry but remember when you see an opportunity you go for it. Holding back shows you don't feel your friend can handle your full strength." Flitwick suggested.
Harry nodded, he knew from his previous duels with Gabrielle that she certainly would not be an easy opponent, she won just as many duels with him as he won with her, and it was even money who would win in the end.
"Excuse me Mr. Potter?" A Panamanian wizard asked from the tent door, "I thought I would give you some of our famous ceviche, it is customary for the champions taking part in their later duels and those in their party to have a taste of our local heritage right before their duel."
Harry nodded, taking the proffered small bowl of food laid out for him while the others did the same.
"Hold on a second, never can be too careful," Amelia said, scanning her wand over the food. After a minute, she nodded, "Its fine, I don't detect any poisons or spells."
As Susan was the first to try it, her eyes widened. "This is good!" She admitted, going to try another bite.
As for himself he didn't feel like he could eat anything, as nervous as he was, instead he offered his to Susan, who seemed to truly love it.
When it came time for his duel he left the tent and went out onto the arena, now facing Gabrielle.
As he waited for the announcer to begin the duel, he took the time to study his opponent. The good news was he already knew her fighting style and weaknesses, but the downside was she also knew his. Which, all things considered, would have happened even if they hadn't been dueling privately, a fact they had both already accepted.
Gabrielle was also taking the time to study him, no doubt evaluating what she could do.
After the duel began, he immediately went into action, launching spell after spell at Gabrielle, who was doing the exact same thing.
With the duel being a real one neither of them were leaving any room for error, as the duel continued to wind down and he began to grow tired.
However, he noticed that Gabrielle was also growing exhausted, visibly winded, with both of them now trying to preserve their strength for when they would most need it.
It was at that moment that the unthinkable happened. He got hit by one of Gabrielle's spells, a low aimed concussor that failed to knock him out due to it being so low but immediately caused his legs to buckle and go dead, dropping him to his knees.
With his ability to walk now gone, he knew that one more hit would take him out.
Yet as he waited for it, instead Gabrielle herself seemed to grow faint and unexpectedly collapse and fall to the ground.
What had happened? He wondered, he hadn't hit her with any spells or even a delayed reaction one. She had seemed tired but not enough to simply collapse from exhaustion.
Nevertheless the crowd was clapping and cheering as if he had done something unexpected and unseen, no doubt also concluding either of those two possibilities.
Harry tried to go over to Gabrielle to see if she was alright, when one of the dueling tournament staff grabbed his arm.
"Come on, Mr. Potter, let's go get you checked out for injuries." The man said.
"I'm alright, let me go check on Gabrielle." Harry insisted.
"We'll take her as well Mr. Potter." The man said, gesturing for two other men to lift up the girl and take her.
Going along with them, Harry entered the medical tent behind Gabrielle. However he was only in there for a second before Fleur suddenly burst in.
"That's my sister." Fleur informed the men casually to explain her presence, but before she could take another step she also collapsed.
"What the?" Harry asked, going over to look at Fleur. Gabrielle was one thing but Fleur as well?
"Not to worry Mr. Potter, they'll be fine, you should be fine as well soon." The man who had accompanied him said.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, now quite confused.
Before anything else could happen, another man burst in with a handlebar mustache and wearing black robes.
"The rest appear to all have fallen asleep, they won't be able to interfere, by the time anybody realizes what happened we should be long gone." The man said before looking over at Harry, "He should be asleep by now." He said, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
By this time, Harry had figured out something was definitely amiss, and what the man had just said, and how the two men were still hovering over both Fleur and Gabrielle certainly was enough for him.
"Who are you?" He demanded, brandishing his wand at them, "What do you want with us?"
The men only laughed, still behaving like they were waiting for something from him.
He guessed that it was whatever drug had been given to them, probably that ceviche just before the duel even though he wasn't exactly sure how they had gotten it past Amelia's scrutiny. They probably didn't realize that he hadn't had it, however.
Deciding to ask questions later, he hit the first man with a spell, knocking him out before going for the 2nd man.
It was at this time that more men began to enter the large tent.
With as many as there were in such an enclosed small space, he knew he couldn't stay there, he'd be no good to the others, or to Fleur and Gabrielle if he was killed.
"Kill him." A man just now entering the tent commanded.
With no choice other than to flee, Harry tried to run for it by burning through the back of the tent, but before he could an explosion hit just to his side, jarring his head as he struggled to keep his eyes focused and keep from losing consciousness from the nearness of the explosion. Touching his cheek he saw blood, although he couldn't be sure how severe the injury would be.
The explosion however also finished making a hole in the back of the tent and he ran for it as fast as he could.
Now on the run, he ran through the crowd, wondering what the commotion was about near them. Fortunately he managed to squeeze through before his pursuers could follow, now hampered by the crowd.
As he thought about where he could go he realized he couldn't return to his hotel room, they might have more men there, he'd have to find somewhere else to hide.
He opted instead in running straight to the tournament headquarters building, hopefully he could find protection there and also warn them of the attack before his pursuers could get away.
However as his head pounded, and his vision began to grow blurry, he only made it just inside before collapsing, his last sight being someone now standing over him, a concerned looking Panamanian man.
Then his eyes fell closed and he knew no more.
DUELDUELDE
When he finally opened his eyes again, he awoke to find Pansy's face looking down at him.
"Pansy?" He asked blearily, a sense of deja vu coming to him.
"Are you all right?" She asked.
"I'm fine, glad to see you're all right." Harry answered.
"They apparently just drugged us, they apparently used some potion that Madame Bones didn't detect, some potion that's normally untraceable without greater scrutiny." Pansy explained, "Susan is actually still asleep. She had your share as well as her own, remember, so they expect her to take longer to reawaken."
"I think they were there to kill me." Harry informed her.
"We think so as well," Pansy said, "but we can't be sure exactly what they had in mind. The local Aurors are questioning the one man they managed to capture, the rest managed to escape."
Harry grunted, unhappy that they hadn't managed to get the rest, but hopefully whoever they had caught would be able to lead them to his accomplices.
"There's something else..." Pansy admitted nervously, "they got away with Fleur and Gabrielle."
"What?" Harry asked in complete disbelief and anger. He struggled to rise.
"You need to stay right where you are, you had a pretty bad blow to the head." Pansy cautioned.
"I need to get Fleur and Gabrielle back." Harry replied.
"Rest first, let the authorities handle it." Pansy said, "Madame Bones is there as well, once she woke up and learned what was going on she's been there as well, offering her expertise in interrogation."
Wishing that there was more he could do, but recognizing that he was still in no condition to, he was forced to wait a few hours and talk quietly with Pansy and Su, as well as Susan as soon as she awakened.
Finally Amelia came back, looking grim.
"Have you managed to glean anything?" Harry asked immediately.
"We have, the man we caught told us of the general plans, to kill you and kidnap the two girls, apparently as Veela they were considered valuable enough to capture." She said.
"What are they planning to do with them?" Pansy asked.
"Be sold as slaves no doubt, the man heard that they were planning on selling them to a man in Guatemala." Amelia told her.
Each of them were appalled, no doubt realizing what both girls would be forced to do as slaves.
"So that's good then, they can just follow them to Guatemala and get them back." Susan suggested.
"Unfortunately that's not that simple, by now they have no doubt gotten out of Panama, and outside of the Wizarding Government here, and unfortunately the Guatemalan Ministry is denying access to the country or involvement in the plot. I suspect they have been paid off in some way, but with them being so uncooperative it could take weeks before the International Confederation of Wizards takes action against them allowing someone to enter the country. We also don't know the exact location or the name of the buyer which could also complicate matters. There is even a chance we may never find them."
Looking shocked, Harry said, "Certainly we can't just sit around and do nothing."
"That's exactly why Mr. Delacour and I have already booked flights into Guatemala," Amelia answered.
"What about us?" Su asked, "We want to come too."
"Absolutely not, it would be far too dangerous," Amelia refused, "I've already spoken with Flitwick and he has agreed to accompany you back to Britain and make sure that you are safe. Harry, concerning the finals..."
"I'm not going to them," he said, as how could he really focus on the competition considering the circumstances, "not after what happened to Gabrielle and Fleur. Gabrielle should be the one in the finals, not me, she would have won had it not been for that sleeping potion."
Amelia nodded, making no argument against that decision, but Harry spoke up further, "You need to bring me with you, I saw the faces of most of the men who took them, I'd know who they are." He insisted.
"I can't put you into that kind of danger, especially after they just tried to kill you." Amelia said firmly, "What kind of person would I be if I did that?"
"One who wants to make sure the ones responsible for this is caught." Harry countered.
Amelia looked at him a moment longer before sighing and said, "Very well, but at the first sign of danger you have to promise you'll run for it."
He nodded before she said, "We'll need to hurry. If we have any chance of a rescue we'll need to catch up to them before they arrive at their final destination. If what I've heard about such places is true, it may be their only hope if we hope to get them out unharmed."
DUELDUELDUEL
It was Harry that suggested they take brooms and fly to Panama, rather than having to wait for their flight to leave, and also help to avoid anyone knowing of their coming should they check flights going from Panama to Guatemala.
Amelia and Mr. Delacour insisted on purchasing their own Nimbus Two Thousands, leaving him to purchase his own, wanting to travel as fast as they possibly could.
Fortunately all 3 of them proved to be excellent fliers and the insane speeds that they maintained proved to be of little difficulty.
When they finally arrived, they were understandably exhausted, having decided to risk flying all night, yet now had no idea exactly where to begin, only knowing that it was somewhere near the capital.
Finding the International Wizarding Office of Trade, Amelia claimed at first to be a witch looking to buy el chupacabras, a magical creature indigenous to Guatemala and Mexico, known for occasionally sucking the blood from goats by muggles.
"We have many chupacabras," The trade officer informed her, "for the right price and from the right supplier."
"Who would be a big supplier I could purchase them from?" She asked.
"Lopez, Hernandez, and Tomas are the biggest." He informed her.
She nodded and then reached into her hand pulling out some gold and placed one onto the desk, before lowering her voice considerably. "I'm also looking for some less... legal... creatures to buy. I have a nephew in need, you see." She announced, "I would be willing to reward you if you would be willing to point me in the right direction."
The man looked at the gold before answering quietly, now taking the bait, "I'm sure I'd be willing to help you...for the right price."
Amelia grinned before plopping another gold piece onto the desk. "I heard that someone had some Veela they were planning to sell." She said.
The man's eyes widened, "I'm afraid I don't know anything about that."
"Are you sure?" Amelia said, putting several more gold pieces onto the table.
The man looked around before saying, "You didn't hear it from me, but I heard that someone had captured two Veela. The only problem is I heard that they were already spoken for, Hidalgo was planning on buying them."
"Who is this Hidalgo?" Amelia asked him.
"The biggest slave and plantation owner in Guatemala, he owns everything they say, even the government, you had better not mess with him, he's a killer." He answered, moving to pull the gold off the table.
"Tell us where the Veela are being held and you'll receive all this." Amelia said, pulling out an entire small bag of gold.
The man looked at the gold, clearly tempted by the prospect of gold but also afraid of whoever Hidalgo was.
Finally his greed won over as Mr. Delacour also produced his own small bag of gold and put it on the desk.
"All right, they are keeping them in a house over on Vino Street." The man informed them in a hurried whisper, "But don't say I said anything to you, I get paid well to keep secrets like that."
"We won't say anything to anyone." Amelia promised.
After leaving the office, they flew over to Vino Street and quickly found the house, being guarded by at least two men, one of which Harry recognized. Using a scrying spell Amelia found that there were 6 more inside.
"There are too many of them for us to have a good chance of taking them all out." she concluded.
"We can't just leave them, these are my daughters we're talking about." Mr. Delacour said in a panic.
Harry felt great sympathy for Mr. Delacour, a father no doubt at wit's end trying to rescue his daughters that he so clearly loved.
"Don't worry, we'll just have to come up with something else," Amelia said, even though she clearly looked worried.
"What if we could somehow buy them back?" Harry suggested.
"I already used up all the money I had on me on that greedy trade officer. I don't carry much on me for security reasons." Mr. Delacour confided.
At a glance at Amelia, she nodded too, confirming they were without any gold in which to bargain with. He doubted that they would have had enough to buy both of them anyway, they would no doubt be expensive, especially if they were to beat the previous offer.
"Is there a Guatemalan equivalent to Gringotts?" Harry asked.
"There is, but my account isn't set up to handle international withdrawals or withdrawals outside Britain." Amelia answered, "It would take too long to set that up."
"What about my account?" Harry asked.
Amelia's eyes widened, "Actually I do remember when going over your account info that it did include that, but it would be a lot of money to be giving up no doubt."
As Harry looked over at Mr. Delacour, the man pleaded, "I know that you don't know me that well, but you are the only person who has even the chance of saving my daughters, I promise that I'll be pay you back every knut as soon as I have the means."
"I would do it without asking for anything in return." Harry told him, "Fleur and Gabrielle are my friends and if I have the means to save them, I will."
With tears of gratitude, Mr. Delacour embraced him, giving him a huge relieved hug.
As fast as they could, they traveled to the Guatemalan Wizarding Bank and withdrew a very large sum of money, also paying to have the gold put under a spell to be transported back to the bank in 3 hours if not for a counter spell known only to them should Fleur and Gabrielle's captors try to simply steal it and leave them high and dry.
"I want you to stay here until we get back." Amelia told him, "I can't risk your safety any further than I already have."
He nodded, as he had already promised to stay behind in a sign of danger, and watched them Apparate back to the house.
Approaching the door cautiously, the two of them went right up to the two men guarding the door, pulling out a gold coin from the bag full of gold to show what they had.
"I want to speak to whoever is in charge, I have a business proposition for him." Amelia told them.
One of the men went inside before returning with another man wearing gold chains around his greasy neck. "I am Ruis, what can I do for you?" He asked.
Ruis seemed to know exactly who they were, along with several of his men, but chose not to say anything. Undoubtedly he didn't care who they were as long as he could make a profit off them.
"I heard that you have two Veela. I wish to buy them." Amelia informed him.
"The Veela are already spoken for." Ruis replied mechanically.
"I'd be willing to pay you more than what that offer was." Amelia pressed.
"You don't understand, the Veela are spoken for; the man who is buying them will certainly not be happy if I renege on the deal, nor the man who I am holding them for." Ruis informed her.
"Just who is that?" Amelia asked, but Ruis shook his head, "It would cost you too much gold for that information."
"The Veela girls then at least," Mr. Delacour burst out, "We'll pay you double."
The man's eyebrows rose but then said, "The first offer is for ten thousand galleons each, that would cost you 40 thousand galleons total, and I wouldn't sell them to you even for that price."
Evidently Ruis recognized just what they were willing to pay to get the girls back. Family members were usually valued for far more than their apparent value as slaves.
"We'll triple it then." Amelia told him, hoping that that would finally get him.
He now looked like he was contemplating it, but it still wasn't enough.
"One hundred thousand galleons, take it or leave it," Amelia said, knowing that that was how much was in the bag having taken out way more than what she had expected to end up needing, but now glad that she had.
Ruis looked at her, then looked at the bag while Amelia silently hoped that it was enough before saying, "Very well, you have a deal. Show me the gold and let me prove you have that much."
"Not until you bring out the girls." Amelia demanded.
Ruis grunted and pointed at two of his men, who promptly went into one of the bedrooms before coming out with both Fleur and Gabrielle, currently with bags over their heads.
"Let me see their faces first." Amelia asked.
Both of Ruis' men pulled off the bags, revealing a drugged up Fleur and Gabrielle, who seemed just lucid enough to remain standing but not enough for them to recognize either herself or their father.
As Amelia handed over the bag to Ruis and she informed him about the safety measure she had on the gold.
"This man and I," She said, pointing at Mr. Delacour, "will take them both outside out of your anti-apparition wards, and he will Apparate out the younger one as a sign of good faith. Then I will remove the security charm on the gold and immediately Apparate out the other."
Ruis nodded, agreeing to the terms as they all headed outside.
When it came time, Mr. Delacour Apparated out with Gabrielle, and Amelia then cast the counter charm on the gold before immediately Apparating away with Fleur in front of the bank where Harry was waiting for them.
Scanning them over, however, as soon as she felt they were safe, she frowned and said, "I think we have a problem."